Page 14 of Always Been Mine (Always #2)

“Looks like someone else is in love with you,” Gabe said gruffly as he walked past them.

What did he mean by that? Beatrice looked past Rhino’s massive head to see Gabe walk into a room.

She rose from the floor when he came back and handed her a shirt—a freshly laundered one judging from the smell.

She resisted the urge to inhale deeply to absorb the essence of him.

“There’s a full bath in the room down the hallway. Everything you need should be in there, shampoo, towel, stuff.” He headed up the stairs. “I’ll clean up as well and then take Rhino for a walk. Make yourself at home.”

Beatrice heard the door slam and the scuffle of feet approach. Rhino’s head poked through the door of the guest room. She had finished drying her hair and was now wearing Gabe’s shirt, which came about mid-thigh for her. No panties.

“Hey, boy,” Beatrice held out her hand. The dog came into the room and immediately nosed her palm, trying to snort it. She laughed.

“He really likes you.” Gabe was standing by the doorway.

“Shame on you, Sullivan, using your dog to get to me.”

“That obvious, huh? ”

Silence.

This went on for a while. Beatrice playing with Rhino’s muzzle, feeling Gabe’s intense stare on her. She felt herself squeezing her thighs together. Maybe no undies wasn’t a good idea after all. What was she thinking?

“Got a minute?” Gabe finally said, exhaling deeply. “I need to tell you something.”

Gabe wasn’t sure it was a good idea now to bring Beatrice home with him. Seeing her in his shirt, hiked up, exposing her bare legs, sent all the blood in his head to his dick. Was she even wearing panties?

He cleared his throat and jerked his head toward the living room. Seeing her sitting so close to the bed was wreaking havoc with his resolve to talk and not screw. “Uh, I’ll wait for you in the dining room.”

He sat on the chair and scooted it under the table to hide the growing bulge in his crotch. Going commando in sweatpants was not helping the situation at all. He linked his fingers together and bent his head. Shit. Down boy.

Beatrice took the chair right across from him. She was right to put the table between them.

“Okay, Gabe. Talk.”

“Remember when we met?”

Beatrice smiled, her face wistful. “How can I forget? I bumped into you on your way out of Dad’s study. It was during a cocktail party. You weren’t supposed to be there.”

“There was an op that was brewing. There were months of prep work to be done. I was the top choice to go on that mission. It was going to be deep cover, dicey, and a long one.” Unable to help himself, Gabe reached across the table and linked their fingers. “You took my breath away.”

“Gabe— ”

“You really did, babe. That night, I couldn’t get you out of my head, so I stalked you, bumped into you on purpose, and asked you out. I couldn’t afford the distraction, really. When your dad found out, he was furious. I couldn’t blame him. It was the worst possible timing.”

“So you were going on a mission, and then you asked me to be exclusive anyway?”

“No. I said I was the top choice, but I wasn’t the only one.

Ryker, a good friend of mine, had the same skill set as I had.

Had the same background as I do—no immediate family to wonder if we were gone for a long time or if we never came back.

I chose to be with you, Beatrice. I bowed out of the mission. ”

“But you still left . . .” her voice trailed off.

Gabe closed his eyes as he remembered the memories of that night, and the harsh decisions he had to make.

He was breathing hoarsely when he spoke, “Something went horribly wrong. There were so many vendettas within the organization we were going to infiltrate—Ryker got killed when the plane he was in exploded.”

“Oh, my God,” Beatrice whispered.

“It should’ve been me.”

“Gabe—”

“There was only a small window of opportunity to insert myself into the op, otherwise, we would have lost the chance.”

“You blamed yourself that night—”

He shook his head.

Beatrice’s face contorted in anguish. “You blamed me?”

She tried to pull her hands away, but Gabe held on.

“It was a fucked up night, babe. As soon as I drove off, I blamed myself and did for a while. What I regretted these past three years was every single hurtful word I said to you that night, because they were a lie. I cared for you more than the mission. I could walk away from it—all things being equal. But a friend died because I chose to be with you, and I knew if I didn’t see this mission through, I could never live with myself. ”

“If you only told me, Gabe—” Beatrice choked.

“What?” Gabe snapped, letting go of her hands and pushing out of the chair.

He paced the room. “Ask you to wait for me? I wasn’t even sure I was coming out of this alive.

As much as I regretted saying those words to you, in the end, I felt it was best for you to forget me. I just wish I handled it differently.”

“You have no idea how damaging those words were.” The expression in her eyes chilled him.

He walked back to the table, bracing his hands across, he leaned in. “They were a lie.”

“The words festered inside me, you know,” Beatrice said softly.

Gabe’s heart rate quickened with the direction the conversation was taking.

“Babe—”

“That I will never be worth more than a job. That I was so pathetic I almost begged you to stay.”

His chest was hurting with the pain his words had inflicted on her all those years ago.

He couldn’t take it anymore. He walked to her side and hauled her to her feet.

He needed to kiss the pain away, so he pressed his mouth against hers.

He tasted the salt of her tears, so he pushed his tongue between her lips and she opened beneath him.

He devoured her, wanting to absorb her hurt into him.

“I’m so sorry, Beatrice,” Gabe whispered hoarsely against her lips. “So fucking sorry.”

Her arms came up around his neck as he lifted her and spread her on the table.

His hands sought her heat. Finding her bare almost short-circuited his brain.

He bent over her and continued kissing her, rubbing his hardness against her core.

She moaned into his mouth, so he quickened his thrusting until she convulsed against him as he swallowed her cries.

He swept her up from the table and headed straight for his bedroom.

Kicking the door shut so Rhino wouldn’t follow, he carefully lowered Beatrice on the bed.

“I don’t think—” she protested.

“Shh . . . let me show you just how much you mean to me.” Gabe pushed her legs apart and buried his face between her thighs. He hungrily licked, stroking her from the base of her sex and hovering just around her clit. Her hands dug into his hair. “Please, Gabe.”

He stimulated the bundle of nerves with his tongue, fastening his lips, and gently sucking the tender flesh.

When she undulated her hips to shove her pussy closer, he knew she was close.

Her taste was heaven and he wanted more.

He wanted every last drop of her arousal.

He released her clit and licked down to her entrance, plunging his tongue inside, seeking the source of his addiction.

She shrieked, screamed, and moaned. He welcomed the warm gush of sweetness into his mouth.

The starvation of the past three years for her taste came to a fore in this moment where he had her.

“You taste so fucking good,” he growled as he crawled up her body, pulled the waistband of his sweats down and thrust into her.

“Fuck, babe.” He leaned his forehead on hers as he savored the initial sheathing of her warmth around his cock.

He started to move. “So good, so good. Fucking tight. So slick . . .”

Shit, condom.

Gabe was tempted to blow his load inside her, but he didn’t want to push his luck. He pulled out reluctantly. Beatrice’s whimper of protest almost made him want to thrust back inside her. His fingers shook as he ripped the foil of the condom.

Fuck. Fuck .

He quickly rolled it on. Lifting her hips, he punched forward, burying himself so deep inside her; a feral sound escaped him.

He wouldn’t last. He would never get enough of her.

Beatrice’s hands came up his shoulders. He grabbed her wrists and slammed them above her head as the need to dominate surged inside him.

Their eyes locked, watching each other as he moved above her.

He lost himself once again in her emerald depths.

When her eyes shut, the grip of her silken channel tightened around his girth. “I can’t hold back . . . FUCK!”

It started from the base of his spine, the pleasure shooting up his back, his neck muscles tensing as his astounding climax took over. He continued pumping his hips furiously until he was spent, and all he could do was collapse on top of her.

He rubbed his cheek against hers, their faces slick with sweat. He was overtaken with contentment. She was back. She was once again his Beatrice.

There was a deep indrawn breath that sounded suspiciously like a sob. Frowning, Gabe levered himself on his elbows, and what he saw splintered his heart.

Beatrice was crying silently.

“I can’t,” she whispered brokenly.

Two words. She shattered him with two words.

They avoided each other’s eyes after having had mind-blowing sex.

What did she expect? That they could simply pick up where they left off three years ago?

She wasn’t ready and she let lust control her actions.

She could blame Gabe for taking advantage of her moment of weakness, but she knew that wasn’t his intention.

He wanted to comfort her the best way he could.

Things got out of hand and they both gave in.

So, they were adults, right? It was just sex. Big freaking deal.

But it was a big deal.

She and Gabe hadn’t discussed the present Colombian problem. They let their personal issues come between them. They couldn’t work together like this.

The doorbell chimed. Beatrice sighed in relief.

She had called Doug to bring over a change of clothes and be her ride home.

Gabe gave the command for Rhino to settle down and opened the door to her assistant who promptly glared at Gabe.

Not bothering with any greeting, he headed straight for Beatrice and hugged her.

Fortunately, she didn’t cry. She’d had enough of that.

It wasn’t funny because she rarely cried.

Doug handed her her clothes and she disappeared into the guest room.

She could hear harsh whispered words being exchanged in the other room. She quickly donned her clothes because Doug’s voice was getting louder. Gabe’s was still a steady baritone cadence, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t come to blows.

“Doug, can you wait for me outside, please?” Beatrice gave her friend a nudge when she returned to the living room.

“No, Bee. Enough is enough; you don’t need to say anything more to this asshole.”

“Wait for me outside,” Beatrice repeated in exasperation. When her assistant still hesitated, she added, “Please? I’ll be fine, truly.”

Casting one more dirty look at Gabe, Doug said, “I’ll be right outside the door.”

When they were alone once more, their eyes finally met.

“I don’t want to see you for a while,” Beatrice said.

Gabe’s eyes flashed in anger. “Is that your answer? Avoiding me?”

“I need to process what you told me, Gabe. I can’t just turn off three years of hurt. I understand more of your reasons now, but it doesn’t mean I want us back together.”

Frustrated, guttural sounds worked in his throat. “Bullshit.”

“Excuse me?” This time her temper flared .

He prowled toward her. She held her ground as they both stared challengingly at each other.

“You heard me. I call bullshit,” Gabe repeated. “Fireworks. You deny we just burned those sheets between us.”

“A relationship is not simply about sex.”

“I agree. But the most honest reaction I’ve ever gotten from you is when I watch you come when I’m buried deep inside you.

I want you back. I’m not about to let you push me away because of some fear that I’m walking out on you again because I won’t.

I swear. I’m all in, babe. All yours.” His hand came up to cup her face. “So tell me, what’s the problem?”

“I . . . I just need some time.”

“I’ll give you a day.”

“What the hell kind of time is that?”

“I give you a day. I need to get some shit done anyway, and you’re not leaving your condo tomorrow.”

“I have a meeting with BSI.”

At Gabe’s unbending stare, Beatrice sighed. “I can have Nate pick me up.”

“What is Nate to you?”

“He’s a friend.”

“Have you fucked him?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but no,” Beatrice retorted.

“Oh, I’m making it my business, babe.” He bent low, his warm breath fanning her ear.

Releasing her jaw, he trailed the back of his fingers down the length of her torso, her hips.

“Everything to do with this sweet body of yours, down right to here”—he cupped her between her legs and she couldn’t bring herself to stop him—“is my business. Do you know why?”

“No, but I’m sure you’ll tell me.”

He grinned at her defiance. “Because you’ve always been mine. Your brain has not caught up yet, but your body cannot fucking deny how it wants mine. ”

“Again, sex, no matter how good it is, does not make us together.” Beatrice wanted to pull her hair out.

“We will be.”

“WE ARE NOT TOGETHER!”

Gabe sighed. “Take some time tomorrow and think about us.”

“There is no us!” Gah! What an annoying man!

“Beatrice,” Gabe whispered, brushing her lips gently. “I love you, babe.”

She melted into a puddle right there.