Chapter 14
FOURTEEN
DANIEL
Well, I'd gone and fucked up again.
At least I'd made an apology and done something to make things right between us, even if what was right wasn't what I'd been hoping for.
What had I expected? That I'd show up with supplies and an apology, and she'd fall into my arms like some romantic movie?
That walking away from the Seattle promotion would somehow erase the fact that I'd taken it in the first place without even talking to her about it?
She didn't owe me a second chance just because I finally got my head out of my ass.
Hell, she didn't owe me anything at all.
I'd made my choice three months ago, picking ambition over us.
The fact that I'd realized it was the wrong choice—the worst fucking choice of my life—didn't change what I'd done to us.
My career would recover eventually. The Coast Guard wasn't known for holding grudges against good sailors, and my record spoke for itself.
I could do good work here on Hatterwick, serve the community, make a difference.
But God almighty, being this close to her and knowing she'd never be mine again?
That she'd moved on while I was chasing ghosts in Seattle?
That fucking stung worse than any Louisiana hurricane I'd weathered.
"I'll just—"
My words cut off as Gabi launched herself at me with the force of a rogue wave.
Her body collided with mine, the impact sending me toppling backward onto the narrow mattress where I sat.
My arms automatically came around her to stop us both from crashing into the wall behind us, muscle memory taking over.
Her hands fisted in the fabric of my shirt, desperate and fierce, and then her mouth found mine with a hunger that stole the breath from my lungs.
Thank God. Thank God.
My heart hammered against my ribs like it was trying to break free as the kiss deepened, desperate and hungry, carrying the weight of all our months apart.
Outside the clinic, wind howled through the streets of Hatterwick with a fury that matched the storm raging inside my chest, but I barely registered it.
My world narrowed to nothing but the press of her body against mine, the taste of her lips—familiar yet somehow brand new, like coming home after being lost at sea.
Her teeth caught my lower lip, tugging with just enough bite to make me groan deep in my throat, and I pulled her closer, needing to eliminate every inch of space between us.
One of my hands slid up the length of her back, feeling the tension coiled in her muscles like a spring wound too tight.
She arched into my touch like a live wire, electric and dangerous and everything I'd been craving during those long, empty nights in Seattle.
"I hate that I missed you," she breathed against my mouth, the admission torn from somewhere deep inside her.
"I hate that I left." My voice came out rough, raw with emotion I'd been choking down for months. "I hate that I was such a fucking coward."
Thunder cracked overhead like a gunshot, rattling the windows of the clinic and making the emergency lights flicker.
Gabi's hands moved to my chest, pushing me flat against the thin mattress with surprising strength.
Her dark hair fell around us like a curtain, shutting out the rest of the world as she braced herself above me, her eyes wild and wanting.
"This doesn't fix anything," she warned, but her eyes told a different story entirely—dark and desperate, reflecting the storm that raged both inside the clinic and out on the streets.
I traced my thumb across the sharp line of her cheekbone, memorizing the softness of her skin. "I know."
She kissed me again, harder this time, like she was trying to punish us both for wanting this, for needing each other despite everything that had gone wrong between us.
My hands found her hips, steadying her as another thunderclap shook the building to its foundations.
The emergency lights flickered again, casting strange, dancing shadows across her face when she pulled back to look at me with those fierce, beautiful eyes.
"Three months, Daniel." Her voice cracked on my name like ice breaking.
"I'm here now." I brushed my lips against the curve of her jaw, felt her shiver despite the warmth between us. "I'm not going anywhere ever again."
She made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob, broken and beautiful, and then her mouth was on mine again, stealing my breath, my thoughts, everything except the burning need to be closer, to erase the distance and time that had kept us apart.
Gabi's fingers clawed at my uniform shirt with urgent desperation, pulling it up and over my head in one swift motion.
With the same frantic energy, I reached for her, my hands finding the hem of her scrub top.
The fabric whispered against her skin as I peeled it off, revealing the smooth curve of her shoulders, the delicate dip of her collarbone, the constellation of freckles I'd memorized long ago.
She shivered, but not from cold—from anticipation, from need, from the same fire that was consuming me from the inside out.
Outside, the storm raged with increasing fury, but in here, it was just us, stripped down to the barest, most honest versions of ourselves.
Her hands were at my belt, fingers working quickly with the practiced efficiency of someone who'd done this before, who knew exactly how to undo me.
I toed off my boots, the sound unnaturally loud in the small room, and she dragged my pants and boxer briefs down my legs with impatient tugs, until I lay there in nothing but skin and scars and the memories of everything we used to be together.
Gabi leaned back on her heels, her eyes roving over me with a hunger that made my blood run hot, taking in every inch like she was trying to catalog the changes three months had wrought.
She reached behind her with graceful movements, unclasped her bra, and let it fall to the floor beside the cot.
She rose just long enough to shuck her own jeans and underwear, movements quick and efficient despite the tremor in her hands.
Then she was bare before me, beautiful and fierce and wild, a storm of barely contained passion that I wanted to drown in, wanted to lose myself in completely.
I held out a hand for her, an invitation and a plea rolled into one. Those long, slim, capable fingers closed around mine, warm and sure. She came back down to join me on the narrow mattress, and I pulled her against me with gentle urgency.
Her breath hitched as our bodies pressed together, skin on skin, no barriers, no lies, no more miles between us.
Her mouth found mine again, desperate and wild and tasting like home.
Her hands were everywhere, tracing the lines of muscles I'd built during long hours of Coast Guard training, the ridges of scars I'd collected over years of service.
I explored her body like it was uncharted territory, relearning the curves and valleys, the places that made her gasp, the sensitive spots that made her moan my name like a prayer.
She rolled us over with surprising strength, straddling me, her dark hair falling around us like a protective curtain. Her eyes locked onto mine, fierce and full of fire and something deeper that made my chest tight. "I haven't forgiven you yet," she said, the words both a warning and a promise.
My hands curled around her trembling thighs where they braced above me. "I know," I whispered back. "I don't deserve it yet."
The world narrowed to nothing but Gabi as she slowly, deliberately sank down, taking me inside her body with a control that spoke of both desire and defiance.
Her inner walls gripped me so tight and slick and perfectly familiar that it felt like coming home after years lost at sea.
Home. Her eyes fluttered closed, a soft gasp escaping her lips as she began to move with a rhythm that was both remembered and brand new.
I gripped her hips as she rode me, glorying in the dance of our bodies finding each other again, muscle memory overriding months of separation. Every movement sent waves of pleasure through me, building and cresting like the storm outside.
She leaned forward, her hair brushing against my chest like silk, her breath hot and ragged on my skin.
"Daniel," she whispered, and my name on her lips was a plea and a promise and a benediction all at once.
I lifted my hips to meet hers, driving deeper, chasing that edge where pleasure and pain blurred into something transcendent.
Her nails dug into my shoulders, leaving marks I knew I'd treasure later, her pace quickening as desperation took hold. I could hear her breath go short and sharp, her need as desperate and urgent as mine as moved against me, seeking something only I could give her.
Outside, the storm raged with biblical fury, thunder echoing our frantic rhythm, wind howling like a wild thing trying to break down the walls. But in here, it was just us, lost in each other, in the storm we'd created between these four walls.
I groaned her name, my voice ragged and broken.
Her eyes met mine, dark and fierce and vulnerable, and I saw it written across her beautiful face—the same raw need that was tearing me apart from the inside.
She was close, so close. It was in the tension of her muscles, in the hitch of her breath, in the way her rhythm began to stumble as she rocked and rocked, seeking her release.
I reached between us, finding the sensitive bundle of nerves at her center, circling her clit with my thumb and applying just the right pressure—the touch I remembered she loved, the one that always drove her wild.
Her body jerked as if she'd been struck by lightning, a cry tearing from her throat as she came apart in my arms, her inner walls clamping around me like a velvet vise, pulling me over the edge with her into blissful oblivion.
My release slammed into me like a tsunami, waves of pleasure crashing over me in relentless succession, leaving me gasping and spent and completely undone.
Gabi collapsed onto my chest, her body trembling with aftershocks, her breath coming in ragged gasps that matched my own.
I wrapped my arms around her, holding her close as her heart thundered against mine in perfect synchronization.
We lay there in the aftermath, our bodies slick with sweat, our breaths slowly returning to something resembling normal.
The storm outside seemed to have quieted, or maybe it was just that our own personal hurricane was louder, more intense, drowning out everything else.
I pressed a kiss to her forehead, tasting the salt of her sweat, feeling the incredible softness of her skin against my lips.
She lifted her head after long minutes, her eyes meeting mine, and I saw the same complex mix of emotions rioting in my chest reflected back at me.
Relief and satisfaction, yes, but also uncertainty, the knowledge that this desperate coupling didn't fix everything between us, that there was still so much left unsaid, so much damage left to repair.
But for now, holding her in my arms as the storm raged outside, it was enough. It had to be enough.