Chapter Twenty-Seven
T he keys rattled in Emma’s hand as she slid one into the front door. Her hand shook so much that she couldn’t turn the key in the lock. Gabe covered her hand with his own and turned the knob. The door yawned wide in front of them.
“You don’t have to be nervous.”
She threw him a tentative smile over her shoulder. Nervousness screamed out at him from every pore.
Gabe turned her around by the shoulders. “I don’t have to come in if it’s too much. We can go as slow as you want. I’ll come back another time.”
Desire, equally mixed with patience, washed through him. Resolve brightened her eyes, followed by trust. That simple look drew him in and sucked him under.
“I don’t want slow. I want you.”
She stepped backward over the threshold and turned. She walked down the hall, turning toward her bedroom at the end of hallway. She glanced at him, still standing in the doorway, then disappeared from sight.
That was all the encouragement he needed. Gabe shut the door and hurried down the hall after her, his shirt unbuttoned and in his hands by the time he reached her bedroom doorway. He stopped dead, all air sucked from his lungs, from the room, at the sight before him. Emma knelt in the middle of her king-sized bed, upright, with her back to him.
Naked.
Gabe grabbed hold of the doorjamb, certain that if he didn’t he’d fall to his knees and have to crawl to her. He made no sound as he moved toward the bed, his hands busy removing his shoes and jeans.
He knelt on the bed behind her and reached out a hand, stopping just shy of the creamy-white skin of her back, hesitant now that he had her within his grasp.
His knuckles grazed the ridges of her spine, following them from her neck down to the dip above her ass. Goose bumps erupted and spread outward from the path his hand took, encompassing her entire body. Unable to help himself, he leaned in and pressed a kiss to the velvet skin of her shoulder.
A shudder rolled over her. Muscles twitched beneath his touch, clenching, anticipating.
Gabe closed his eyes, needing a moment to calm himself. If he didn’t he would lose all control. The sight of her bare skin tightened his body to the point of release in the space of one heartbeat.
Calm, Gabriel. Calm.
He wanted this woman so much. Needed her.
He kissed up over her shoulder to the curve of her neck. Emma turned her head, her hair sliding and falling to the side, giving him access to the soft, tender skin there.
He slipped his hand under her arm and trailed over her ribs to cup the weight of her breast, resting it in his palm. He brushed his thumb over her nipple. She thrust the rigid peak against his hand.
A soft moan floated on the air around them, knocking one more chink into his armour of control.
Dropping his hand from her breast, Gabe kissed her neck. Scraping his teeth across the sensitive skin, he trailed up to her ear, taking the soft lobe into his mouth just as his fingers slid between her legs.
Emma moaned and her head fell back onto his shoulder, her whole body limp in his arms. He moved, positioning himself, so ready for her he only held on to his control through sheer determination.
“Do you have any protection?” he whispered.
*
Emma forced her eyes open. She nodded and pointed at the nightstand. “Top drawer.”
Her voice wasn’t working properly. She could barely breathe, let alone hold a conversation. Gabe’s scent was all around her, inside her, part of her.
He reached over and grabbed the small box he’d left there last time from the drawer, repositioning himself behind her. The crackle of foil reached her ears. She felt him move, his chest pressing more firmly against her back, too drunk on sensation to do more than wish he’d hurry. His fingers returned, stroked, played her.
Velvet hardness pressed against her, beneath her.
His fingers kept up their rhythm, stroking, guiding, pressing. She needed him so badly, almost desperate to have him inside her. Gabe grasped her thigh with his free hand, moving her up and leaning her forward.
Air erupted from her mouth, her eyes flying wide open as he filled her, burying himself inside her, his mouth on her neck licking, teeth scraping, turning her into a slave for the release only his body could provide.
Emma speared her hand into Gabe’s hair, holding his mouth to her neck while he owned her, pushing deeper each time. Her breath caught, shuddered, stalled in her lungs. The feel of him inside her overtook her mind. Ecstasy built, winding around her bones, teasing each nerve, spiralling through her blood in a whirlwind.
Emma bit down hard on her bottom lip, her head thrust back, her eyes shut against the storm rising within her.
Gabe grasped her hips and pulled her harder, tighter, faster onto him.
Emma’s cry burst from her, echoing around the large room. Her chest heaved with the effort to take in enough air, her lungs burning, straining for relief as ecstasy ricocheted through every nerve in her body.
Gabe’s hand clenched hard on her skin. Emma collapsed, her back plastered against his front, boneless. He raised her that little bit more, that one infinitesimal amount, his hands holding her in place.
Mouth pressed hard to the smooth, sweat-slicked nape, Gabe moaned, “I love you, Emma.”
Moments later, Gabe came apart behind her. The relentless pleasure of his fingers on her and force of his climax, along with his declaration, thrust Emma over the edge once more, her body surrendering to him.