Chapter 6 #2
“Any tighter, Tori, and I won’t be able to breathe.” The grip didn’t relent. “So, I’m guessing this is the last of our beach trips?”
Head turning to me, she frowned. “No, it’s not.”
My brow quirked as I waited for her explanation.
“We can stay on the sand.” Her voice was a high-pitched question that had me grinning.
“We can do that.” I repositioned my arm so that her butt dipped into the water, and she rolled her body further into mine to avoid it. “We’ll stick to the pool at my place or yours for the swimming.”
“We have pools?” she asked as I made my way back to shore.
“Did you bother to even look at your apartment complex when you rented there?”
“Cash found it for me,” she admitted, giving me a bashful look. “I was too busy putting things in place for my parents, interviewing a new bookkeeper and prepping to leave.”
“So, your brother found the place, and that was it?” I lowered her onto the blanket, fighting the image of climbing over her as I removed my hands from her skin.
With a shrug, she replied, “I trust Cash.”
I tipped the umbrella back to let the sun hit her and dropped next to her. She wiggled her toes and dipped her neck back while she rested on her elbows, and I couldn’t help but stare at how alluring she was.
“Tomorrow, we explore your complex.” I averted my eyes and stared at the pounding waves.
“That sounds good to me. Where is the pool in your complex?”
“Further in. It’s nice, but I’ve never used it.”
A gaze weighed on me, but I didn’t turn to meet it.
“You’re complicated, aren’t you, Gabe?”
My chuckle came freely. “That’s the best way to describe it. Although that’s coming from the woman who is terrified to go into the ocean because of jellyfish.”
“They’re nasty things, and they hurt,” she said with a shudder.
“Has one ever stung you?” I glanced at her, waiting for her explanation.
“Well, no. But one stung Cash when he was on a trip in middle school. He told me it was horrible. They had to peel it off of him, but its suckers stuck in his skin, and it kept electrocuting him…”
I was laughing so hard by then that I had to hold my stomach. Bewilderment had her brows stitched and an expression of indignation sat on her face.
“How can you laugh? It was horrible.”
“How many years older did you say Cash is?” I asked, trying to calm my laughter.
“Six. Why?”
“So you were what? Maybe six or seven?”
She sat up and crossed her arms. “I don’t think this is funny, Gabe.”
“It’s hysterical. Jellyfish don’t do that, Tori. He played you. I’m guessing you don’t get to the beach often?”
Brows drawn, she said, “No. We went to the lake. The shore was too far.” She scratched her nose. “Cash went to the Jersey shore with his best friend’s family that summer.”
“And came back with a horror story to traumatize his little sister.”
Her mouth dropped, understanding lighting her eyes. “That bastard. You wait until I talk to him again. He’s so dead.”
“Ready to go back in the water?” I asked her.
Her head swiveled to the water, then back to me. “Let’s enjoy the sun for a while, maybe read some like you wanted?”
“Ha, chicken.”
I knew she was too competitive to let me get away with that insult.
Blue eyes darkened to navy, and she was on her feet, running to the water before I could catch her.
We spent the rest of the day between the water and the blanket, and my adoration for her shifted further to something I didn’t want to admit yet but couldn’t deny.
Rain pounded on the windshield as I pulled into a spot at Tori’s complex. She leaned forward and looked up at the sky.
“I think we have to make a run for it,” I told her. We’d fled the beach just in time to avoid the storm, but it hadn’t ceased.
She glanced over at me.
“Leave your bag and I’ll get it when the rain stops,” I told her, unbuckling. “Race you there.”
Her irises sparkled with amusement as she unbuckled and put her hand on the door handle.
I readied myself, knowing she wouldn’t let me off easy.
She ran for it, and I followed right behind, my long strides catching up to her as she lost a flip-flop.
I caught her when she stopped to grab it, bringing her against me and laughing as I kissed the rain from her nose.
Giggling, she wiggled out of my arms and took off again.
I hadn’t felt this free and unburdened in years.
Rain-soaked, I chased her up her stairs, pinning her against her door before she could get inside.
“I still won,” she said, turning to face me.
Hair drenched, raindrops running down her face, and panting, she was beguiling, and I lost my hold on myself.
Threading my hand into her hair, I pushed her head toward me and captured her mouth.
All the resistance I’d been giving myself to take this at a pace that ensured I wouldn’t lose her and gave me time to come up with a plan to keep her crumbled, and I let it go. Freedom had never tasted so good.
My hands roved over her body, pushing at the straps of her sundress as hers slipped below my T-shirt. Currents shot through me at the contact, and I gripped her hip, pulling her into me so she could feel how badly I wanted her. She moaned, and my lips slipped down her chin to her neck.
“Open the door, Tori.”
“Gabe,” she breathed.
I tore my mouth from her skin and looked at her, seeing the lust in those baby blues. “Open the damn door, Tori, or I’ll take you right here.”
Her lips parted, a sexy exhale escaping her.
Dragging my hands up her body, I said, “Unless you don’t want that, and we can go back to waiting.”
Fire lit her irises, and she grabbed my shirt, jerking me closer. “I never said we had to wait. That was your thing, and I respected it, but if you’re done waiting, Gabe, then so am I.”
That was all the permission I needed. Mouth crashing into hers, I bunched her dress in my hand, desperate to take it off her. “Open the damn door before I pin you against it and ravage you.”
Her inhale was sharp against my lips, and I stopped it with my kiss as she struggled to get the key in the lock.
The door opened, and we fell into her apartment, our feet fighting to keep us upright.
I slammed it shut with my foot, hearing her key fall to the ground right before I had her sundress joining it.
She shoved my shirt off, and it landed with a thump steps away from her dress as I walked us to her bedroom.
My hands smoothed over all the open skin her bikini wasn’t covering until they found the ties to her top.
With two quick movements, I had it untied and was pushing it from her body.
Her bare chest met mine, and any semblance of control I had disappeared like a summer storm.
I lifted her and pressed her against the wall before I could even get her to the room.
Her legs circled my back, and I pressed into her, need throbbing through me.
I was moving too fast, lost in the feel of her, and I wanted to relish every moment of our first time together, to memorize every inch of her body, every birthmark, every moan.
I didn’t want fast and hard; I wanted more with Tori. It was the reason I’d waited so long.
Dropping my head, I kissed her neck, loving how her hands roved my muscles, causing goosebumps. Drawing back, I met her hazy eyes.
“This isn’t how I want to take you,” I told her.
Her lips pursed, and I gave them a gentle kiss. Adjusting her, I walked us into her room.
“And how do you want to take me?” she asked, her fingers running through my wet hair.
I lowered her onto her bed and hovered over her. Nudging her neck, I dipped in to kiss it, dragging my lips down to her collarbone as I cupped her breast and ran my thumb over her nipple. “Like I’m worshipping you, luna mia,” I said, sucking her nipple into my mouth.
Her hands tightened in my hair as her back arched.
“Every inch of this gorgeous body.” I dragged my teeth over her nipple and untied the string on her bottoms. My hand drifted over her stomach as I kissed the sweet flesh of her breast, flicking my tongue over her nipple. Her hands dug into my scalp as she whimpered.
I bumped her legs apart, slipping my hand between them and palming her warmth. Within moments, my only focus in life became Tori and having her fall apart for me. I brushed my lips up her neck and stole her lips again, sliding my finger through her and groaning at the sensation.
“Gabe,” she purred.
“Do you still want this, Tori?” I asked as I slipped my thumb over the spot that had her legs twitching.
“God, yes.”
I drove my finger into her, watching as she threw her head back, her fingers digging into my shoulders.
“Good,” I said, kissing my way down her neck again. “Because stopping right now would kill me.” I kissed my way down her stomach. “Time for me to worship you, luna mia.”
Her sigh turned to a cry as I added another finger.
My lips slid down her stomach, the scent of vanilla and cherry blossoms invading my senses.
Pushing her legs further apart, I watched my fingers fill her, taking in the beauty that she was as I slid my tongue up her thigh.
Back bowing, she moaned, a sound that sent sparks through me.
Replacing my fingers with my tongue, I continued to feast on her until she was so close, her legs were quaking around my shoulders.
Wrapping my arms around her thighs, I yanked her closer and took her over the edge.
I peered up to see the gorgeous display as her body shook around me.
Swiping my tongue over her while she descended from her climax, I trailed my kisses up her thigh, her hip, over her stomach, taking time to taunt her nipples, then up her neck until I hovered over her again.
“Tell me how you want it, Tori, because I’m about to lose it after that sight.”
Her eyes were misty, the effects of her orgasm rife in her vivid irises. She pulled my head down and devoured my mouth.
“I want you so bad,” I muttered between kisses. My hardness grinding into her.
Lithe legs wrapped around me.
“I’m on the pill,” she said, and I drew back to look at her. I never went without a condom, but those words gave me an opening I didn’t think I’d refuse. Everything about Tori had me throwing aside my judgment and my rules. “I trust you, Gabe.”
Those words pounded through me, evoking guilt for the secrets I still harbored. Swallowing it back, I said, “I have a condom in my wallet.”
She shook her head. “It’s okay. I want you without it.”
My brow pinched, my eyes narrowed, but she thinned her lips and smacked my shoulder. “Don’t make it a jealousy thing. I’ve only ever gone without it in one serious relationship.”
That didn’t help, and I tipped my head as I waited for more.
“Really? You jealous ass,” she teased. “It ended four years ago.”
“That’s not the answer I was waiting for,” I said, nipping her lip.
She cocked her head, squinting as she tried to understand.
“Are we in a serious relationship?”
Her lips parted with her deep inhale. “Very.”
The answer was what I’d wanted. I didn’t care what she’d done in the past. She was mine now, and I planned to keep it that way.
Lips crashing into hers, I kissed her again, pulling her body further into mine when I slid my arm below her.
Our brief interruption had done nothing to calm my yearning for her, and I peeled her legs from me and stood.
“Scoot back,” I said, standing over her.
She questioned me with her eyes as she moved further onto the bed. “Shit, you are the most ravishing creature I’ve ever seen,” I told her as my eyes perused her body. “And I’m about to claim every piece of you.”
Her shiver was violent, and I couldn’t help but grin as I dropped my pants. She didn’t shy away from taking a long look at my body before I climbed over her.
“It’s all yours,” I said, resting at her entrance.
“Good, because I’m all yours, Gabriel Hughes.”
A shot of guilt surfaced that she didn’t even know my real last name and wouldn’t until I could tell her the truth.
I shoved it aside and found her lips again, sliding further into her until I could no longer be patient.
I kept my eyes on her, observing the expression of ecstasy as I filled her completely.
Heaven couldn’t compare to what it was like being inside of Tori, and as she wrapped her legs around me, I knew there was no other place I wanted to be than with her.
Our bodies moved as one, our kisses deep enough to drive me to the edge.
I dropped my head to her neck, my teeth gritting as my release threatened to pounce.
Hand sliding over her breast, I teased her nipple, rubbing it between my thumb and my finger and slowing my thrusts.
She trembled, her body bowing as another climax teetered on the precipice.
“That’s it, luna mia, fall apart for me again.”
She dug her heels into me, sending me so deep she cried out.
Sucking her nipple, I shoved my hand into her hair, fisting her locks as I fought my impending orgasm.
The move sent her over the edge, and she broke, her muscles bearing down on me and causing me to lose control.
Slamming into her, my climax exploded through me.
Like an avalanche collapsing, it buried me.
I lowered my head to her chest as the remnants of my orgasm rolled through me. She shivered and moved her hands to my head, her fingers drifting through my hair as my body calmed.
“That was…amazing,” she breathed.
I picked my head up to meet cornfield blue glazed with satisfaction. Giving her a gentle kiss, I slid from her, hating to leave her warmth.
“Worth the wait?” I asked.
“Definitely, but no more waiting.”
I laughed, kissing her nose before disentangling our limbs. “I’ve had a taste of you, Tori. There’s no stopping me now.”
Her laughter joined mine, and I pulled her to my chest, burying my face in her hair before she pushed away and went to clean up.
As I lay there, I stared at her ceiling.
The sensation in my chest that had been building over the past weeks pressed to be acknowledged, and with it, the understanding that I could never give Tori up.