Chapter Nineteen
Gabi
The front door closed quietly, leaving Gabi listening to her own heavy breathing in the silence of her bedroom.
Shit, shit, shit.
She hobbled to the window and stared out at the moonlit garden, waiting for her pulse to return to normal. Wrapping her arms around herself, she felt the tug of desire still very much present and wished her arms were his.
She felt as though she’d just ridden a roller coaster.
Once he’d touched her, she was gone and there was no going back.
In terms of the light entertainment he’d suggested, it couldn’t have been better.
And although it hadn’t been the kind of pick-me-up she had in mind when she said it earlier, she’d never had a pick-me-up-and-carry-me-home before and it surpassed all expectations.
Gabi breathed out, very long and very slow. Was he going to come back?
The front door opened, and Gabi’s stomach felt hollow.
She held her breath to hear. Noises in the corridor.
Was it him returning straight away? Maybe it had been a false alarm.
She hoped it was. Then voices in the kitchen, low and laughing, the clink of glasses and the slam of the fridge door.
Footsteps on the stairs, then Amber’s whoop from her bedroom, and the soft sound of a guitar.
Hmm, who would have thought it? At least someone was getting some. She checked the time. 12.43 a.m.
She hobbled to her dressing table and sat, taking out wipes and lotions to remove her make-up.
Her face was flushed and her eyes bright.
Walker’s face flashed into her mind, his eyes lowered to her chest. How long would it take him to sort out what was needed and come back?
An hour? Two? What if it was a major incident?
He could be gone all night and then feel too tired to even think about this, about her.
Stripping off her clothes, she let them fall where they landed and pulled on a T-shirt.
Edging to the bed, she lifted her boot and got comfortable, pillow behind her head, iPad on her lap.
She flicked through the film library, wanting to choose something to distract herself.
Nothing with sex. Nothing starring handsome men with big shoulders.
She bit her fist and chose a film about a woman explorer who single-handedly saved a jungle species.
Halfway through, she became aware of some animalistic noises closer by, coming from upstairs, and then the bang of the bed, and she screamed silently into her pillow before turning up the volume on her iPad. Dear God, she was horny. 1.47 a.m.
The credits rolled at 2.30 a.m. and she threw her iPad aside in frustration. He obviously wasn’t coming back, and she couldn’t wait any longer. She was reaching under the bed for her vibrator, ready to satisfy herself instead, when her phone rang.
Walker.
She felt a rush of surprise, and then disappointment. It obviously meant he was stuck at the station. Dammit.
‘Hello,’ she murmured, her voice low in the quiet of the house.
‘Hullo.’ His accent sounded stronger over the phone. It felt strangely exciting and surprisingly intimate to have a late-night phone call, given how they’d just been naked with each other.
‘Where are you?’
‘At the station. I just came outside to call you.’
She lay back on the pillow, imagining him there in the dark.
‘One of the crew has had to leave with a migraine,’ he said. ‘I have to stay and fill in.’
‘Shame,’ she said. ‘But needs must, I suppose.’
‘I’d rather be focused on your needs,’ Walker said, and she heard it as though he’d whispered it directly into her ear. She smiled.
‘Really?’ she murmured.
‘What have you been doing?’ he asked, and his voice was urgent.
‘Just lounging in bed,’ she said, wiggling in her sheets, feeling the rise of anticipation again.
‘What are you wearing?’ he asked and she caught her breath.
‘As little as possible, hoping you’d make it back,’ she said.
‘Tell me exactly, so that I can picture you.’ His voice had lowered.
‘Just a T-shirt,’ she said. ‘With nothing underneath.’
He groaned down the line.
‘Now you’re going to have to trust me, Gabi. I know what you need and you’re going to do exactly what I say.’ Gabi moistened her lips that suddenly felt dry with excitement. His voice was doing things to her.
‘Put your hand on your throat,’ he said. Her pulse felt fast beneath her touch as her heart beat faster for him. She waited.
‘Open your fingers wide and move them down your body,’ Walker said. ‘Think about my hands there, my fingers covering your nipples. My palms cupping your breasts.’
Gabi’s breath felt ragged. Her breasts pushed against her palm, desperate for his touch. She felt the peak of her nipples, the tightening that seemed to send signals between her legs.
‘Remember how my mouth felt on yours . . .’ Walker’s voice was intense. She could imagine his lips against her neck.
‘Keep moving down,’ Walker said. ‘Over your belly button piercing. Down to the bottom of your T-shirt.’ Gabi could feel the tremble in her own hands, as she followed his command without thinking.
For once happy to be told what to do. She held her hemline between her thumb and forefinger and awaited his instruction.
‘Lift it,’ he said simply, and she did, exposing herself as she did so.
‘Are you naked there now?’ he asked. She had to swallow before she could speak.
‘Yes.’
‘Spread your legs,’ he said quietly.
She closed her eyes and opened her legs.
‘And now?’
‘Touch yourself,’ he said. His voice was an order. She trailed her fingers up her thigh to her centre. She was soft and slick and wet and her whole body arched as her fingers began to stroke her core. She was so ready. She heard a noise, a low moan, and realised it had come from her.
‘Be my hand,’ Walker said into her ear. ‘Use my fingers.’ A gasp broke from her as her thumb brushed her clit.
‘Yes.’ Her voice broke.
‘Let me make you come,’ he breathed.
She felt the tension build inside her. Her hand moved as if it was under his control, her eyes fluttering as she increased the pace.
She remembered the look on his face as he moved over her body.
The concentration, the intensity, the absolute desire.
Her clit was swollen with need. She rubbed it and thought of him and reached the edge of the precipice.
‘Walker,’ she gasped as she threw herself off.