Chapter Nine - Harper
Harper
GAbrIEL”S EYES ARE dark and intense as they roam over my face, his hands restless on my hips as if he can”t bear to stop touching me for even a second.
Tears sting my eyes at the naked adoration shining in his gaze. I’m so grateful this brilliant, beautiful man loves me back.
Against all odds, despite every obstacle and fear, he wants our babies and the future we”ll build together.
Overwhelmed with gratitude and a love so fierce it steals my breath, I capture his lips with mine again. He responds instantly, his mouth slanting over mine with a hungry groan that sets my blood on fire.
I pour everything I”m feeling into the kiss, every ounce of joy and relief. I need him to feel how precious and cherished he is, that he means the world to me.
His tongue delves deep to tangle with mine in a sensual dance that makes me ache. I mold myself to the hard lines of his body, reveling in the way we fit together.
He pushes me onto my back and pins me to the mattress.
I arch up into him, savoring the way his chest hair rasps against my sensitive nipples, sending sparks of pleasure skittering down my spine.
“Let me love you.”
His eyes flutter shut, a shuddering breath escaping him.
I roll us gently, settling astride his hips with a soft smile. He gazes up at me with hooded eyes, his hands coming to rest on my thighs as I lean down to pepper his chest with soft, open-mouthed kisses.
I take my time, worshipping every inch of his golden skin. Tracing the ridges of his abdomen with my tongue, nuzzling into the crisp hair arrowing down from his navel. He”s beautiful like this, laid out beneath me like an offering for my hungry eyes, hands and mouth.
”You taste so good,” I murmur against his hipbone, nipping gently at the sensitive skin. ”I could spend hours just exploring your body.”
He makes a strangled sound, his hips bucking up involuntarily.
”You”re killing me, baby.” His voice is tight with need. ”I won’t last if you keep that up.”
I grin wickedly, trailing my fingers along the straining length of his cock. He”s so hard, hot and heavy in my hand as I stroke him from root to tip.
I take him into my mouth. He cries out, his hands flying to my hair as I swirl my tongue around the sensitive crown. I love the taste of him, the weight of him on my tongue. Love the way he trembles beneath my ministrations, completely at my mercy.
I bob my head slowly, taking him deep into the wet heat of my mouth. Hollowing my cheeks and humming around his thickness, delighting in the broken moans spilling from his lips. He”s close already. I can feel it in the tension in his thighs. In the way his fingers clench almost painfully in my hair.
”Harper,” he gasps, tugging at my curls. ”Baby, I”m going to...you need to stop.”
I suck harder and pump faster until he”s babbling incoherently. And then he”s coming with a hoarse shout, spilling hot and bitter onto my tongue.
I swallow every drop, licking him clean with tender swipes of my tongue before crawling back up his body to curl against his heaving chest. He wraps his arms around me, crushing me to him as he tries to catch his breath.
”You”re incredible, Harper. I don”t deserve you.”
I press a finger to his lips, silencing the self-doubt before it can take root. ”You deserve every ounce of love I have to give. You, Gabriel Cross, are worthy.”
His throat works as he swallows hard. And then he”s rolling me beneath him, his mouth finding mine in a deep, drugging kiss that leaves me breathless.
”My turn to worship you.”
And worship me he does. With hands and lips and tongue, he maps every curve and hollow of my body. Exploring, teasing, driving me to dizzying heights of pleasure I”ve never known.
He feasts on my breasts until I”m arching off the bed, keening his name like a prayer. Blazes a trail of fire down my stomach with hot, open-mouthed kisses until I”m writhing beneath him, desperate for more.
And when he finally settles between my thighs, when he parts me gently with strong, clever fingers, I nearly fly apart at the first touch of his tongue against my aching clit.
He moans at the taste of me, a low, guttural sound that vibrates through me. And then he”s licking into me with long strokes that have me fisting my hands in the sheets as I fight not to scream.
”Gabriel,” I pant, my hips rolling mindlessly against his face. ”Oh God, please.”
”I know what you need, baby.” His breath is hot against my slick folds. ”I want to feel you come apart on my tongue.”
And then his mouth is back on me, suckling at my sensitive bundle of nerves as he plunges two fingers deep into my clenching heat. I shatter instantly, my back bowing off the bed as ecstasy crashes over me in wave after wave of molten bliss.
He eases me down with gentle licks and soothing caresses. And when I finally collapse back against the pillows, boneless and sated, he gathers me in his arms.
”I love you.” I nuzzle into the crook of his neck.
”I love you too,” he whispers back, his voice rough with emotion.
We lay like that for long moments, just breathing each other in. Savoring the closeness, the connection that feels unbreakable.
And then he”s shifting against me, the hard length of him nudging insistently at my entrance. I shiver in anticipation, my body already aching for the exquisite stretch and fullness of him inside me.
But he hesitates, a flicker of uncertainty crossing his face. His hand drifts down to splay protectively over my belly.
”The babies. I don”t want to hurt them. Is this okay?”
My heart melts at the tender care in his eyes as he gazes down at the place where our children grow. I cover his hand with my own, lacing our fingers together.
”The doctor said sex is safe, as long as I”m comfortable. We won”t hurt them.”
Relief and renewed hunger flickers in his gaze. ”I need inside you.” His hips rock against mine in a slow, sultry grind. ”Need to feel you all around me, Harper. Like I”ll die if I don”t.”
I hook my leg over his hip.
”Hurry then.”
He surges forward with a groan, sheathing himself to the hilt in one powerful thrust. I cry out at the exquisite invasion, my body stretching deliciously to accommodate his girth.
He stills inside me, his forehead dropping to mine as he fights for control.
”Christ, you feel incredible,” he grits out, his voice strained with pleasure. ”So hot and tight and perfect. Like you were made just for me.”
”I was.” I roll my hips in a sinuous circle that makes us both moan.
And then he”s moving, driving into me with deep strokes that set every nerve ending ablaze. I cling to his shoulders, my nails digging into sweat-slicked skin as he takes me higher, harder, faster.
The world falls away until there”s nothing but the slap of skin on skin, the sultry drag of his body in mine. The broken praises and pleas falling from our lips as we climb together towards that shining pinnacle.
”I”m close.” My head thrashes on the pillow as the tension coils tighter in my core.
”Yes,” he hisses, snaking a hand between us to rub tight, focused circles over my throbbing clit. ”Come for me, baby. Let me feel you.”
My body clamps down hard around his thrusting, hard cock as rapture crashes through me in dizzying waves. He follows me over with a hoarse shout of his own, spilling hot and deep inside me.
Boneless and spent, I collapse against the pillows, drawing him down to rest his head on my chest. We lay like that, sweat cooling on our skin as our breathing slowly returns to normal.
”That was...wow.”
He chuckles against my collarbone, presses a kiss to my damp skin. ”Wow, indeed.”
I run my fingers through his hair, marveling at the silky texture. At the fact that he”s mine to touch and hold and love.
“I”m so glad and grateful you found me, Gabriel.”
He lifts his head to gaze down at me.
”I”m the grateful one.”
He brushes a tender thumb over my cheekbone. ”You”ve given me everything, Harper. You”ve made me the happiest man in the world.”
“Funny, I was just thinking the same thing.”
I trace the lines of his face.
He kisses me, a slow and sweet caress brimming with promises of forever, of a love that will weather every storm and only grow stronger for it.