16. Alejandro #2
How he still managed to look so devastating with flour up his neck, in his hair, and covering the legs of his pants was beyond me. But with the sun glinting off the sunglasses he must have grabbed before heading my way, I had to admit, he was difficult to look away from.
Difficult, but not impossible. And I refused to let him think I was affected by his saffron-stealing self.
“Lapse in judgment,” I said, then turned and continued down the stairs to the Sea Gate.
Gabriel’s footsteps behind me let me know I wasn’t getting rid of him anytime soon, but maybe if he followed me all the way, I could push him into the ocean.
The idea made me smile as I got to the bottom of the cliff, where two enormous doors made of colorful mosaic were enclosed in the carved-out stone.
“Wow.” The awe in Gabriel’s voice was exactly what this place deserved. It was a historic site. One that went back centuries. “I’ve heard about the Sea Gate from others, but they didn’t do its beauty justice.”
Finally his mind was on something other than annoying the ever-loving hell out of me.
“It’s hard to put into words,” I said as he walked under the sweeping archway. “The time and skill it would’ve taken to make something so—”
“Breathtaking,” Gabriel finished for me, and gently smoothed his hand over the colorful tiles placed in painstaking patterns.
“Yes. It’s one of my favorite places on the grounds,” I said, not really knowing why I was telling him that.
Gabriel turned around and nodded. “I can see why. It’s stunning. What a first impression it would’ve made on visiting guests. To sail their boats up to the dock, step off their vessels, and walk through these.” He looked over his shoulder again and shook his head. “Magnificent.”
My annoyance at him from earlier got swept away on the breeze as he marveled at my culture’s wonders.
I walked over and gestured for him to come with me. I led him toward the right door and pointed to the burst of brightly placed pieces of yellow tile up the top.
“The Solterran sun,” I said before pointing to the blue beneath.
“The sea, and over here, the land.” Then I gestured to the clusters of crudely drawn figures.
“Here are the people, and if you look at the other door you’ll find the flowers, grapes, and fields, the bounty of the Solterran earth and what she gives us. ”
“It’s beautiful.”
I turned to see him directly behind me, looking up at the images depicted in the tile. The wonder on his face erased the arrogant ass I’d come to know with one genuine smile.
“I think so.”
His blue eyes found mine, and before I knew what he was going to do, he reached up to gently brush his thumb across my cheek.
I sucked in a breath at the soft look in his eyes. He held his hand up and chuckled. “Flour.”
“Ah, yes, don’t know how that could’ve gotten there.”
“Might be because you decided to pick a fight with a—”
“Saffron thief?”
“Thief is a bit of a strong word.”
“You think so?”
Gabriel nodded and stepped forward until my back was up against one of the massive doors. “I just wanted your attention.”
The admission of what I already knew had me reaching for his hips and drawing him closer. Exactly where we both wanted him.
“So that’s what that was about.”
“Well…that and irritating you to no end. You’re so hot when you’re bothered.”
I was about to tell him he was a pain in the ass.
But before I could get the words out, his mouth was on mine, stealing them from me in a scorching kiss that heated me from the inside out.
My fingers tightened at his waist as he cradled my face and slid his tongue deep into my mouth, sweeping the interior and tasting every part of me he could.
God, what was he doing to me? One minute I was plotting out my revenge, public humiliation, murder, and the next I was coming alive at his touch.
It was insanity. The kind of madness that could consume us if we weren’t careful. But the last thing I was thinking of, as I dragged my hands up to his chest and shoved him back with enough force that we parted, was being smart.
Gabriel’s eyes found mine, his chest moving as fast as my own as the fever kicked in and began to run rampant, then I stepped forward and pushed him back against the other side of the stone gate.
I reached for the button of his pants and popped it open.
“We don’t have long,” I said, then began to move down to my knees. “But I need more.”
Gabriel ran his fingers through my hair, tightened them in the back of the longer strands, and yanked my head back to look up at him, and my dick immediately hardened.
“Take what you need.”
I drew the zipper of his pants down and freed his cock from his briefs.
This. This was what I needed. What I wanted.
Thick, veiny, and long, Gabriel’s cock was as hard as mine was, and when I moved up to my knees and flicked my tongue over the flushed head, he cursed. The ragged sound echoed off the stone but was quickly drowned out by the crashing waves against the old dock.
I glanced up to see his blue eyes locked on me kneeling before him, his dick in my hand, and the thrill of being in such a wild environment with him looking like a hungry animal made me want to blow his fucking mind.
I gripped his dick and lowered my mouth, dragging my tongue base to tip, and swallowed him inside.
Gabriel’s hips thrust forward, driving his length all the way to the back of my throat, and the intrusion made my eyes water, even as my cock ached between my thighs, jealous of the treatment Gabriel’s was getting.
But the biting feel of his fingers in my hair, the salty taste of him coating my tongue, and the guttural sex sounds ripping from his throat were everything I needed and more.
I was driving him wild—so much so that when I moved up to my knees, grabbed his ass, and pulled him in deep and held him there to swallow, his curse sounded tortured.
I looked up to see his head had fallen back against the stone, his neck was corded, and he gnashed his teeth together in an effort to hold back.
But fuck that. I wanted him to lose it. I wanted to see him come undone.
I slid my lips off him and roughly pulled his cheeks apart.
This time when I sucked him, I rubbed a finger over his hole and pushed.
I didn’t enter, not the first time, not even the second—but the third time, when he was cursing and fucking my face so hard I thought he might just break my nose, I shoved my finger inside of him and hit his prostate.
“Christ,” he shouted, then gripped my hair tight, holding me in place as his body tensed, his hole tightened around my finger, and he came in a hot rush inside my mouth.
I swallowed every drop he gave, his cum as salty as the ocean spray floating around us every time the waves crashed against the rocks. Then he slumped back against the stone and his dick slipped free.
“Fuck, Alejandro.”
I wish. My dick was throbbing like a bitch. “No time for that, unfortunately.”
I got to my feet as Gabriel tucked himself away and promised myself…later.
“That was…”
“Amazing?” I winked at him. “You’re welcome. Don’t think I won’t expect reciprocal behavior later.”
“That’s too big a word for me right now.”
I snorted and wiped around my mouth. “Just know I’m going to get mine. But until then…”
“Yes?”
“You’re going to let me win this cookoff.”
“Oh, I am, am I?”
I started toward the stairs that led back up to the Sun Garden, hoping the walk up them would calm my cock down. “It’s the least you can do, since you cheated to begin with and I’ll be competing in a much more…frustrated state than you.”
Gabriel let out a sigh. “I don’t know. I’m not in the habit of throwing a challenge.”
I arched a brow. “Are you in the habit of being thrown into the sea?”
He glanced over his shoulder at the choppy waves. “Okay, you win. But I want it to go on record that I’m agreeing in a less-than-ideal cognitive state.”
“As long as you’re agreeing, I don’t really care.”
ONE HOUR LATER, I was crowned the winner of the Royal Charity Cooking Competition, though, truth be told, there was no saving those lava cakes after the flour disaster. All the charities walked away with money raised, and Elena somehow managed to save the headlines.
She really was a genius. I should give her a raise. Especially now that she had her hands full every time Gabriel and I were in public together.
It was a good thing she didn’t know about our current arrangement, or her pretty little head would explode.
Much like mine would once I finally got Gabriel alone again.