by Faye Avalon
* * *
Maddie had forgotten how easily Gabe could push away every barrier, every wall, leaving her achingly defenceless.
One touch of his mouth between her legs and she’d soared, free of constraint and limitations. Feeling everything, wanting everything. She’d known it would be that way, and she hadn’t been able to resist.
This was just sex. Fabulous, exhilarating sex.
She felt wild, uninhibited as she lay there, loving the way Gabe looked at her, as if he were an artist familiarising himself with every curve and sinew of his naked model before he began to paint.
She gave the slightest wiggle of her hips and looked at him beneath lowered eyelids. It had the desired effect, and Gabe positioned himself over her, bracing himself on one hand beside her shoulder.
The palm of his free hand slid to her abdomen, his fingers pointing down toward her pussy, until Maddie reached for the clasp of his trousers and he clamped that hand over hers.
“This isn’t especially even,” she said, keeping her hand where it was. “You’re still half-dressed.”
“Not for long.”
His finger slid through her wetness, through her heat and pushed deep inside her. Her head lolled to the side as her entire body went boneless, the whole of her focus centred on the steady, relentless push and retreat of Gabe’s touch.
She looked up at him. At the heavy-lidded gaze that met hers. His mouth was slightly open, his lips still glistening from having tasted her and his nostrils flared a little. His whole expression was sexy as sin.
“Look down,” he drawled. “Look how deep I can get when you open your legs for me.”
She didn’t need to look—she already felt how deep he was. She was so close to coming that her pulse was off the scale. Yet unable to resist, she looked down.
The sight of Gabe’s large tanned hand moving as he pushed inside her snapped the final thread of her control. Mesmerised, she kept her heavy gaze on what he was doing, her hips rising and falling with each determined thrust of his fingers.
“Gabe... I...”
“Let me have it,” he grated, his voice like gravel. “Come for me.”
She already was. Over and over. Her intimate muscles grabbing greedily at his fingers as sensation rocketed through her, shooting her high, spinning her there, before slowly tripping her back down.
Gabe kept his fingers inside her, but his touch stilled. He leaned over, kissed her deep. “You look so damn sexy lying here wide open to me. I want to fuck you so hard right now.”
Since she had trouble getting her breath back, Maddie just bit gently into her lower lip. She brought her hands to his shoulders, slid her palms along his upper arms and back again. When she felt she could speak, she smiled lazily at him. “That works fine for me. So why don’t you get on with it?”
His sinful mouth kicked up at the sides. “Yeah. Why don’t I?”
He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her up and into his arms. Maddie clung as he carried her through to his bedroom, letting her head drop to his shoulder. His chest felt hot against her breasts, and as he walked the material of his trousers grazed against her sensitive core.
She had a moment to think that his bedroom appeared much the same as two years ago, except for different drapes and bed covering. They had been deep plum before; now they were navy blue and white. Bold masculine stripes, very much a man’s bedroom.
Gabe laid her down on the duvet, watching her as he stood to unfasten his waistband and unzip his fly. Maddie moistened her lips, her gaze following the movement as he shucked out of his shoes, then his trousers and boxers.
His cock was wide and large, standing proud of his abdomen. He stood, feet planted, hands on his hips, every inch a marauding warrior intent on claiming his spoils.
Her.
Maddie’s core clenched. She wanted him to take her. Wanted him to set every part of her on fire. She wanted him to fill her. Remind her of what she’d been seeking in the two years since they’d parted.
Oh, she might be playing with fire, would maybe be forced to pick up the pieces of this folly when it was over, but right then she couldn’t summon the energy to care. She wanted this. Wanted this time with Gabe.
It was, she realised, as if she’d been living in a kind of strait-jacket, dancing to different people’s tunes. Now she wanted to break free, dance her own frenzied dance, even if it was temporary. Even if it was dangerous.
“Looked your fill?”
Maddie smiled. “You looked yours. It’s only fair.”
Gabe came onto the bed and leaned over her. “I haven’t even scratched the surface of what I want to see.” He slid his thumb over her nipple. “I want to see these hard and begging for my mouth.”
She pursed her lips, thrust her breasts toward him. “Like this?”
He drew his hand down and cupped her. “I want to see this pink and swollen from my fingers, my mouth, my cock.”
She swallowed, sensation already building in her core again. “Well, two out of three achieved so far.”
He bent and kissed her, a long and sensual slide into oblivion, while his hand remained firm between her legs. She was wet and ready and she raised her hips, attempting to signal that to Gabe, but despite his cock pressing hard into her thigh, and his breathing turning ragged and rapid, he seemed in no hurry to be inside her.
It niggled her a little that he could be so intent on taking things this slow when she was already fit to explode around him.
He pulled back, raising himself onto his knees and settling between her thighs. He slid a finger inside her, making her jolt, then bent down and pressed his mouth to her just above where his finger pushed deep.
His tongue slid slowly and easily over her slickness while he continued to pump his finger. One touch, brief and slight, to her clit and she arched up.
“Gabe...”
He made a sound that was half groan, half reproach, and continued the double onslaught to her core.
She tried to hold back, tried to keep from losing herself into the rapidly approaching orgasm, but she wasn’t strong enough to withstand Gabe’s determined attack on her body. She came. Hard. Fast. Relentless.
While she snatched in breaths and willed her beating heart to steady, Gabe raised his head but kept moving his finger inside her just enough that sensation threatened to build again almost immediately.
“Do something for me,” he said, his voice husky and firm.
Maddie shifted her hips. “I thought I already did.”
“Funny.” He leaned down and kissed her. “Since I’m a bit busy here, reach out and grab me a condom.”
Maddie looked to where he indicated. “In the drawer?”
He nodded, his eyes gleaming with intent, his jaw tight. His expression belied the easy way he manipulated her, and she knew he was holding tight to his desire. She was tempted to make him suffer, to take her time, tease him, make him wait. But since he’d already been so generous with her, giving her amazing orgasms with his hands and his mouth, she couldn’t quite bring herself to torture him that way.
“Why don’t you just take your time,” he said, his tone thick with sarcasm. “It’s not as if I’m ready to blow.”
Maddie laughed softly, then reached out to the drawer. She fumbled around until she found the small box.
“Is this what you want?” Unable to resist, since he really did look ready to explode, she fluttered her eyelashes.
“Get the packet out, roll one on me and I’ll show you what I damn well want.”
His mouth hiked up, returning her grin.
Maddie ripped at the packet, took out the condom and leaned forward a little to roll it over him. She took her time, enjoying the way he jerked and shivered when she touched him lightly with her fingers. Not only was he impressive lengthwise, but he had the girth to match. Her intimate
muscles clenched with the memory of how amazingly he filled her, and her urgency suddenly matched his.
Having finished the job, she lay back. Her breathing came thick and fast, her pulse hammering with heady anticipation.
With one hand he opened her up, using his thumb and forefinger to separate her folds. With the other he took himself in hand and pressed forward. She let her eyes close for a moment, savouring the exquisite sensation. He moved, pressing down until he was a couple of inches inside her. When she felt his hands slide under her backside, Maddie opened her eyes. He watched her with that sinful gaze, like steel over velvet, then hiked up her hips so that he moved deeper inside her.
Maddie’s breath came in short, sharp gasps. She tried to reach for him, but her arms felt weak and heavy. All she could do was grab the duvet and hold on.
With one breathy grunt, Gabe was all the way inside her. Maddie relished the sensation of being filled so that not even a centimetre of her feminine channel remained untouched by him. He was everywhere. Not only did his cock fill her, but his whole aura seemed to wrap around her, consume her.
He held on to her, bringing her hips up to meet his imperious thrust, then allowing his grip to loosen momentarily as he withdrew before pushing in hard again. Maddie moved with him, wanting him deeper, ever deeper. Her hips bucked against his firm hold, her breathy gasps and Gabe’s low grunts filling the otherwise silent room.
Her head swam, the room spun, and she let her head roll side to side, helpless to control anything right then. All she seemed capable of doing was clenching around Gabe’s long, hard length as he took her relentlessly forward to a place she had only ever gone to with him.
Releasing one hand, he brought it between them and pressed his thumb to her clit. He circled it slowly, in harsh contrast to the way his cock pistoned inside her.
The climax didn’t build slowly, but exploded so fast, so violently, that Maddie cried out. Again and again, as she hurtled up toward nirvana, circled there while her core went into delicious spasm and Gabe enjoyed his own release.
He threw his head back, gritting his teeth. She clenched around him, drawing out the pleasure for them both.
He collapsed down, breathing hard, and braced himself on his hands either side of her shoulders. “Fuck. Maddie.”
She shared his sentiments but imagined he was having none of the thoughts that came flooding into her head as soon as the last shudder of pleasure faded.
Had she done something foolhardy? Opened herself up to heartache again?
Whatever, she could handle it. As long as she remembered all this was temporary. That it was just a bit of fun. Some hot sex with an extremely hot guy.
Silence stretched while they regained their breath, then Gabe pierced her with a steady gaze. “You’re thinking.”
“Of course I’m thinking. It’s a faculty I have that I tend to use from time to time.”
“Right about now you’re convincing yourself that this was a mistake.”
Hell. The damn man could read her better than just about anyone. “Not a mistake. Although maybe it wasn’t one of our better ideas.”
His eyebrows came together, and he dropped a kiss on her mouth, brief and light. “Stay right there.”
He strode into the bathroom, leaving Maddie alone with her thoughts. She wasn’t going to overthink this. She was a different person from the one she’d been two years ago. She’d made the decision to have some fun, relive the physical attraction she shared with Gabe. There was nothing wrong with that. Two people, basically incompatible, but who shared amazing sex.
End of story.
Gabe came back, and Maddie focussed on getting an eyeful of firm, muscular man. Even naked, he carried himself with authority, with a kind of commanding presence that was not only due to his tall, powerfully built physique, but also because of the general aura he possessed. He was a man who controlled his world and everyone in it. Including her, if she allowed it. Which she wouldn’t.
“Shove over,” he said, lying beside her and hooking himself up onto one elbow. “Okay, let’s have it.”
“Have what?”
He tapped the area between her eyebrows. “It’s creased. That means you’re mulling over a problem, and I don’t need a crystal ball to know that the problem involves us screwing.”
“You’ve got such a way with words, Gabe.”
“Doesn’t matter how I wrap it up, pretty words or not. We just fucked, and now you’ve gotten your panties in a twist.” He slid his hand down between her legs. “If you were wearing any, that is.”
“Ha. You’re a real comedian.”
“So, if it’s not that, what’s the problem?”
Aware that her hair must look a right mess, she stroked it back off her face. “Okay. How about the one where I woke up this morning anticipating saying I do to one man, then I end up in bed with a different man.”
“Thank fuck for that.”
“Hmm. But it does feel weird when I think about it.”
“Then don’t think about it.” He traced a finger lazily around her nipple, the flicker of a grin on his face. “Going to tell me you regret it?”
“What? The whole aborted I do thing?”
He tweaked her nipple, and she feigned an ouch.
“No,” he said, leaning down to kiss the nipple he’d tweaked. “The whole you’re-in-bed-with-me thing.”
“No regrets. Although I should be focussing on more important things than jumping into bed with you. I’ve got responsibilities, and screwing around doesn’t figure in my plans.”
“Then change your plans, princess.”
CHAPTER FIVE
MADDIE SHIFTED OFF the bed. She wasn’t going to drop everything just because they’d ended up back between the sheets. “I’m not changing my plans.”
Without waiting for his response, she headed for the living room, where she slipped back into her underwear and pulled on her dress. She wasn’t surprised when Gabe joined her.
His trousers were on, but he’d left them unfastened at the waist. The look was decadent as hell, and as he made for the kitchen, she admired the gleaming breadth of his back and the tight, sculpted backside filling his trousers to perfection.
As she finished dressing, he returned with two glasses of wine and a plate of sliced uneaten pizza. He sat opposite to where she stood smoothing down her dress, and put the food and drink on the coffee table between them. “If you want me to warm up the pizza, just say.”
Since she was ravenous, Maddie sat and grabbed up a slice. Despite being cold, it tasted like heaven, and she washed it down with a swig of wine.
The fact that he hadn’t commented on her refusal to change her plans put her on high alert. He wasn’t the type to let a flat-out refusal of his wishes go unchallenged, which meant he obviously had some ace up his sleeve.
Maddie took another bite of pizza before pre-empting that ace. “Are you going to share more of this alternative plan that would allow me to get back the shares from Oscar? Or was that just a line you spun to get me in the sack?”
“No spinning needed. You didn’t take any persuading.”
While she couldn’t argue, she wasn’t going to respond to his baiting her. Maddie recognised the teasing tone, his easy grin as he sat back on the sofa enjoying his pizza. “Hmm, avoidance of my main question,” she mused, picking up another slice herself. “That can only mean one thing. That you cocked up my plans with absolutely no alternative to offer.”
“I wouldn’t say that. Certain irons are in the fire, so to speak.”
She put down the half-eaten pizza and reached for her wine. “But nothing concrete. Well, that’s just bloody brilliant.”
He crossed an ankle over his opposite thigh and stretched an arm along the top of the sofa. The casual and confident posture made Maddie’s pulse kick up, probably because he looked so impossibl
y virile. She could already feel dampness spreading between her legs again, could feel the blood heating in her veins. If she wasn’t careful, they’d be back between the sheets before he could blink those steely long-lashed eyes at her.
“It doesn’t pay to rush these things.”
“Maybe not for you.” She eyed him, suspicion layering over the lust. “Especially if I’m right and you’re planning something that will benefit you.”
“You really have grown a cynical streak.”
“Once tricked, twice wary. Or have you forgotten that little scam you pulled two years back? How would you react? Remain trusting and naive and let it happen all over again?”
His eyebrows came together in that fierce scowl that was both scary and sexy at the same time. “I’d like to think I’d get my facts straight, give the person the benefit of the doubt, before making assumptions and walking away without a fucking word.”
“How bloody big of you. Although I’m not sure how I was supposed to give you the benefit of the doubt when the facts were staring me in the face.”
“You can’t take everything at face value.”
“Give me a break. You set your sights on my shares even before we met. Made up some cock and bull story about wanting to join forces with my father to bring Mallory Hotels to the French Riviera, when all you really wanted was a stake in the company without offering anything in return.”
That was what hurt the most. Gabe had obviously known that she would receive shares in Mallory Hotels on her twenty-first birthday. He’d hardly given her time to blow out the candles on her cake, or for the signatures to dry on the paperwork, before swooping in to grab his spoils.
She’d been so ridiculously besotted with Gabe that she hadn’t thought twice when her father handed her said paperwork and told her she needed to sign an additional page. Little did she know that she was signing away her shares.
It was one of the most painful times of her life. Not just because of Gabe’s betrayal, but her father’s duplicity in gambling her shares in a high-stakes poker game. To Gabe. She’d known her father enjoyed visiting casinos, but she hadn’t realised that he played with such high stakes. And she hadn’t known of his addiction until several months ago.
