Moonlight Seduction_A de Vincent Novel

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  Her thoughts were spinning. Her body was coiling tight. There was no holding herself back. She was moving against him, riding his hand just like she’d fantasized.

  “That’s it.” His voice was almost guttural, a tone she’d never heard from him before. “Fuck my fingers.”

  His words scorched her skin, and maybe tomorrow she’d be embarrassed by them, but tonight, those words turned her on. Her blood turned to lava and every point of her body seemed to be tightening all at once. His fingers pumped inside her as he thrust against her ass. He must’ve felt her start to come and known she wasn’t going to be able to be quiet. His hand folded over her mouth, muffling her cries as she came.

  Ripples of pleasure were still coursing throughout her as Gabe made this deep sound that came from the back of his throat. He ground against her, stilling as his entire body shuddered. She felt him then, pulsing against the cheek of her ass as she rested her head on his chest.

  All Nikki knew was that they both were out of their minds.

  Chapter 21

  Luckily Gabe had an extra shirt in the back of the car and was able to use it to clean Nic up as best as he could. And for some fucked-up reason, he was way too into the fact that it was his come he was cleaning off of her.

  Once in the car, he glanced over at her. She was holding on to the edges of her skirt and staring straight ahead. If it wasn’t for the sated little half smile on her face, he’d be really worried.

  Still, he was concerned.

  Things had progressed further than he anticipated. Wasn’t like when he left the shop to put an end to her stupid date, he’d planned on ripping off her panties and fucking her with his fingers.

  Gabe hit the ignition button and the engine purred to life.

  Honest to God, he didn’t even know how it all escalated so quickly, but fuck, wasn’t like he could turn back time.

  “Hey.” He reached between them, placing his hand over one of hers. “You okay?”

  “Yeah.” She cleared her throat. “Yes.”

  His gaze searched every square inch of her face, searching for who knows what, but then that tiny smile spread. She looked away, but not before he saw the deepening in her cheeks, the pink turning rose-colored.

  This night was . . . different.

  He almost killed a man in the middle of a restaurant and then he had one of the best orgasms of his life in a parking garage without actually having sex.

  Not exactly a normal Saturday night.

  “You know what I could go for right now?” he said, backing out of the parking garage.

  She glanced over at him. “A nap?”

  He chuckled as he drove through the garage. “That would be nice, but not what I had in mind. I think I could go for a smoothie.”

  When he glanced over at her, she was grinning. “Yeah, I could go for one myself.”

  “Then let’s do it.”

  And that’s what they did.

  He drove to the closest one, which turned out to be Smoothie King. He went in and grabbed her a strawberry one while he ordered a blueberry one that she would most definitely turn her nose up at.

  “Thank you,” she said, taking it from him when he slid into the driver’s seat.

  “No problem.” He reached to turn the car on, but stopped. Depending on the traffic, it wouldn’t take more than twenty minutes to get her home. “Mind if I finish this before we get back on the road?”

  “Of course not.” She took a sip of her smoothie.

  He suddenly remembered her plans last night. “What happened with that apartment you were looking at?”

  “Oh! It’s perfect. I filled out the paperwork and I’m just waiting to hear back from the property management. If I’m approved, it’s mine.”

  “That’s awesome.”

  “Thanks. I should know something this week.”

  “Then you need to get a dog or something.”

  She laughed softly. “Maybe a cat.”

  “Or an armadillo.”

  “An armadillo? What?”

  Grinning, he lifted a shoulder. “I remember you trying to save an armadillo when you were like thirteen.”

  She was quiet for a moment. “Oh my God, I can’t believe I forgot that. Mom flipped out because I was trying to pick it up—”

  “An understandable reaction to seeing your child trying to pick up an armadillo.”

  “It wouldn’t have hurt me. It liked me.”

  Gabe shook his head.

  “I still think armadillos are the cutest things ever.” A moment passed and then she peeked over at him. “You’re staring at me.”

  “No, I’m not.” He totally was.

  She turned her head to him. “You’re not? You’re doing it right now.”

  “Okay.” Grinning around the straw, he looked up at the front of the smoothie joint. “I’m not staring at you now.”

  “But you were.”

  “Maybe.”

  She laughed, but it faded all too quickly. “Gabe?”

  “Yeah?” Tipping his head back against the seat, he looked over at her. God, she was . . . There really weren’t words.

  “What . . . what are we doing?” she asked quietly.

  He didn’t know how to answer that. While he’d been at his shop, sitting there staring at the damn rack, all he could think about was her on that date. Before he knew what he was doing, he was in his car, calling her and driving to Crescent City Steaks. Irritation of a primitive nature had overcome him, and if he was being honest with himself, so did another emotion. One that fueled his decision to basically bust up her date, which he was glad about for multiple reasons, because God knows Ross would’ve tried to get between her legs, investigating his family or not. Look at her. She was fucking gorgeous.

  “I don’t know,” he answered, meeting her gaze. “Honest to God, I really don’t. I just . . . I didn’t like the idea of you being on that date.”

  Her brows rose as she took a nice, long drink of her smoothie. “So, you didn’t like the idea of me being on a date and you decided giving me an orgasm in a parking garage was the way to go?”

  Unable to help himself, Gabe laughed. “You weren’t the only one who got off.”

  “Oh. I know,” she replied dryly.

  “I didn’t plan that.” And that was the truth. “It . . . just happened.”

  She lowered her smoothie as she stared at him. “It’s kind of hard for something like that to just happen.”

  “You have a point.” He scratched his fingers through his hair. “I guess I felt the need to prove that you’re into me as much as I’m into you.”

  “You’re into me?”

  “You sound surprised.” Gabe laughed. “What just happened—me coming like that? Pretty sure that hasn’t happened since high school.”

  “Oh.” She shoved the straw in her mouth.

  He watched her for a moment, amused by her, and there was something else going on inside him, an odd feeling he hadn’t experienced in a while. Tenderness? Of course, he’d feel tenderness for Nic. “Anyway, when you said you weren’t into me anymore, I guess I rose to the challenge.”

  Nic seemed to consider that for a moment. “Was that what it was? To prove something or a challenge?”

  “Shit. No. That’s not what I meant.” He took a drink of his smoothie, trying to make sense of what he was thinking, but that was no fucking use, because he had no idea. “Not at all.”

  She exhaled raggedly, drawing his gaze. Hers flitted away. “Do you regret it?”

  Her question was barely above a whisper and at first he couldn’t believe she’d ask that since he hadn’t given any indication that he did. But then he got it. Their history was like a damn viper between them.

  “No.” Reaching over, he cupped his fingers around her chin and turned her gaze to his. What he felt about what just happened and how he felt for her was one hell of a confusing ball of emotion settling in his chest. “I don’t know what that was. Or what it means tomorrow, but know one
thing, Nic, not one fucking piece of me regrets it.”

  The jarring ring of Nikki’s phone was what woke her finally. She had the distinct impression that it had been ringing for a while.

  Groaning, she rolled over and slapped around on the nightstand until she found the stupid phone. One eye opened.

  Rosie.

  Hitting the Answer button, she brought the phone to her ear and croaked, “What time is it?”

  “Time for you to tell what the hell happened last night!”

  Last night felt like a dream, not at all real to her in the early morning hours. “I’m guessing you talked to Gerald. Oh wait, what’s his real name? Ross Haid, a reporter—”

  “I knew he wrote for the Advocate every once in a while, but I didn’t think that was going to be an issue. He texted me last night, but I didn’t see his messages until this morning. The first text was, and I quote, ‘Gabriel de Vincent just kidnapped my date.’ At first I thought he had to be joking,” Rosie said. “But then there was another text where he explains that he’s doing a story on the de Vincents. He swears that’s not why he wanted to go out with you, but I’m going to murder him for real. What the hell happened, Nikki?”

  How in the world could she explain this when she wasn’t even quite sure she knew what happened herself? “Well, you got the brief version of what happened.”

  “So Gabe figured out it was Ross?” Rosie’s voice rose, causing Nikki to wince.

  Groaning, Nikki rolled onto her back. “No. He had no idea until he got there. He said he was coming to save me from what was probably an awful date.”

  “Really?” Her tone was dry.

  “Yeah.” Nikki tossed an arm over her eyes. “I was caught off guard by him showing up and finding out who Gerald was. It was crazy.”

  “And then what happened?” Rosie demanded. “Did he take you home and tuck you in?”

  Nikki’s lips pursed. “No.”

  “So, he just came out and whisked you away and that was it?”

  “Not really,” Nikki muttered as she dropped her arm to the bed.

  “I feel like this conversation needs to happen in person,” Rosie decided. “You need to get up—”

  “I’m not getting up.”

  “Then you need to tell me what happened last night.”

  There was a part of her that didn’t want to tell Rosie, because it felt like it would tarnish what happened. But she also knew Rosie. She wouldn’t put it past the woman to show up at the house, demanding to know answers.

  “Something did happen between us,” she said, glancing at the closed bedroom door. Having this conversation in her parents’ house was weird. “I don’t even know how it happened.”

  “How what happened?” Rosie’s voice was calmer, which meant instead of being at a level ten, she was now at a level seven. That was progress.

  “We were . . . kind of arguing. I guess? About him wanting to ruin my date without knowing who Gerald really was, which, looking back, is a ridiculous argument, but whatever. He said something about me still being into him, and I said I wasn’t.” She rubbed at her eyes. “Then he sort of proved that I was lying.”

  “Okay. I’m going to need more detail,” Rosie said. “How did he prove you were lying?”

  Feeling her cheeks heat, she shook her head. “We sort of, kind of made out.”

  There was a stretch of silence. “How does one sort of, kind of make out?”

  She sighed heavily. “Imagine making out, but not kissing and fingers were involved.”

  “Holy shit,” Rosie breathed.

  “Yeah.”

  “Fingers? As in plural?”

  Nikki laughed as she rolled onto her side. “Yeah.”

  “Holy shit,” she repeated.

  “I know. Things kind of escalated pretty quickly and . . .” And he’d given her the best damn orgasm of her life. “And I don’t know. It happened. Afterward, we grabbed a smoothie.”

  “Wait. What?”

  “You heard me correctly. We grabbed a smoothie.”

  “I don’t even know how to respond to that, Nikki.” There was a pause. “Did you guys talk about what happened?”

  “Yeah. We did. I asked him what was going on, and he said he didn’t know. He also said he didn’t regret it.” Nikki pressed her lips together as she flopped onto her back again. “I believe him. I don’t think he planned on that happening and I don’t think he regretted it.”

  “Nikki,” sighed Rosie.

  “Look, I know it was crazy. Given our history that was the last thing we should’ve done, but—”

  “But you still care for him.”

  “I wasn’t going to say that, but yeah, I care about him. Obviously.”

  “You know what type of caring I’m talking about,” she replied. “What were you going to say?”

  Nikki frowned. “I was going to say that I’m not reading into what happened. I don’t have expectations.”

  “Girl.” Rosie’s tone was heading upward again. “Like I told you last time, you need to start reading into his actions. I’m also going to tell you something new. You also need to stop lying to yourself.”

  “I’m not lying to myself.”

  “Yes. You are. Look, I’m not judging you. Obviously. I don’t know Gabe or what type of guy he is, but there’s something between you two. There has been, and I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but what I do know is bad is you pretending like this is no big deal. It is.”

  She opened her mouth to deny it, but Rosie was right. Nikki was totally lying to herself. Well, she hadn’t really given herself a chance to even fully process everything, but what happened between them was a big deal. It was either a step toward a future or a step toward a disaster, but it was a step she damn well knew she’d be taking.

  “I hate you,” Nikki muttered.

  Rosie laughed. “Can I ask you something and you be real honest?”

  Oh God. “Go for it.”

  “Did you ever stop loving him?” she asked.

  Nikki’s breath caught, not mistaking what Rosie asked. She didn’t ask if Nikki was in love with Gabe. She’d asked if Nikki had ever stopped, and that question tore through her. A cyclone of emotions whirled. Fear. Anticipation. Dread. Excitement. Just for a tiny second, she let herself feel it all, everything, and it was wonderful and terrifying.

  Could it be possible that she’d actually been in love with Gabe when she was younger? That it hadn’t been a silly infatuation, and that what she was feeling again, what she’d felt last night in his arms, wasn’t an infatuation? That it wasn’t just lust?

  She couldn’t answer Rosie’s question.

  Rosie sighed. “That’s what I thought.”

  Chapter 22

  It took one phone call for Gabe to find what he needed Sunday morning and that was why he was standing in front of the chocolate-brown door of one of the newer shotgun-style homes over on Pritchard Place.

  He banged the side of his fist on the door and then waited and he didn’t have to wait that long. Footsteps neared the other side and then the door cracked open, revealing half of Ross Haid’s face.

  “What the hell?” Ross blinked rapidly as he opened the door to reveal he was wearing nothing more than a white undershirt and flannel bottoms.

  Without saying a word, Gabe pushed forward, forcing Ross to take a step back as he walked into his house. Gabe caught the door and closed it shut behind him.

  A healthy dose of fear filled Ross’s wide eyes. “What are you doing, man? You know who I am and who I work for—”

  Cocking back his arm, he slammed his fist into Ross’s jaw, knocking his head back. Ross dropped like a sack of potatoes, landing on his ass as he palmed his jaw.

  “I wanted to do that last night.” Gabe opened his fist as he bent over Ross. “Took every bit of my self-control to not lay you flat on your back right then and there.”

  “Fuck.” Ross spit out a mouthful of blood. “I think you cracked one of my teeth. Are y
ou out of your mind?”

  “You should be asking yourself that question,” Gabe replied, straightening. “You can sniff around my brothers and me all you want, but you stay the fuck away from Nic.”

  “Shit.” Ross rolled onto his back. “Pretty sure you made that clear last night.”

  “I’m making damn sure it’s clear right now.” Punching Ross had given him a moment of satisfaction, but he wanted to rip the man apart for embarrassing Nic and trying to use her. “Because next time will be your last time.”

  “You’re seriously going to walk into my house, punch me, and then threaten me?”

  “I know you’re going to keep your mouth shut about this. Want to know why? Because you’re not that fucking stupid. You report this, and then I make sure the whole damn world knows exactly why I about knocked your ass out. Sure your bosses over at the Advocate want that kind of press? Using a woman?” Gabe asked. “I’ll give them a story and it won’t be the one you were hoping to report.”

  “Damn.” Ross coughed out a wet-sounding laugh. “And here I’ve heard you’re the calm and levelheaded de Vincent. Got to think people have that wrong.”

  “They do when it comes to people I care about.”

  “And you care about Nikki? A twenty-some-year-old daughter of your house staff?” Ross laughed again, and Gabe thought there might be a good chance that he’d punch the son of a bitch again. Ross lowered his hand as he rose onto his elbow. “What is she to you?”

  Gabe knew where he was going with this. “If I see one thing written about her anywhere, I’m going to hold you personally responsible.”

  “I’m not going to write about her. I actually like her.”

  “That last part was the wrong thing to say,” Gabe warned him.

  “Was it?” He curled one leg up. “I’m beginning to think my theory about your family is correct.”

  “I don’t give a fuck about what you think.”

  “You should.” Ross sat up, wiping away a trail of blood leaking from the corner of his mouth. “I don’t think your father committed suicide. I think he did something and one of you—one of you killed him for it.”

  Nikki was so nervous come Monday morning that she walked by the deep freezer twice before realizing she’d gone into the pantry to take out the steaks for dinner.