Page 39 of Always Been Mine (Always #2)

Chocolate shavings swirled in a saucepan filled with heated milk.

Gabe whisked along the edges of the pot, allowing the chocolate to melt and turn the bubbling liquid into a dark, thick mixture redolent with the addictive aroma of cocoa.

A smile played on the edges of his mouth as he remembered the first time he prepared his version of hot cocoa for Beatrice.

They were on their fourth date. It was late February and there was snow on the ground, but they went out for a walk after dinner anyway.

Gabe had his arm around her, hugging her close as he savored the feel of her arms around his torso.

They traversed the National Mall at a leisurely pace, their breath vaporizing into visible swirls on a chilly winter evening.

“How is it, you’ve had that big steak dinner and your abs are still hard and flat?” She felt him up playfully. “Well, hard ridges of muscle.”

Gabe chuckled. “Just made that way, babe.”

“It’s not fair. I have to work hard to stay in shape.” Beatrice pouted so prettily Gabe wanted to capture those luscious lips with his mouth and explore their depths. Self-control was a challenge around her.

She stopped walking and extricated herself from his embrace. She unbuttoned her coat and revealed the black, tight-fitting dress that Gabe had been imagining the different ways of stripping off her all evening. “ This is hours of Pilates and running, and I’ll never have the zero body fat you have.”

He circled her back into a hug. “I don’t have zero body fat, but I love your curves; although, I have yet to see them bare.”

She pulled back slightly from him. “My, my, Mr. Sullivan, that sounds like a blatant proposition.”

“Come back to my place,” Gabe said abruptly.

Indecision spread across her face. “I have an early meeting tomorrow.”

Gabe sighed. He wasn’t sure if Beatrice was simply stringing him along.

It had taken him a couple of attempts before she even agreed to go out with him.

She told him outright she didn’t date military men, more so when she found out he was a former Navy SEAL.

It was ironic that his emergency meeting with the admiral regarding an upcoming op made him rethink what he wanted in life.

Because that was when he saw her, and a craving he had never felt before electrified him.

He thought, maybe after a date or two, he’d find there was nothing beneath that beautiful facade.

He’d never been more sucker-punched in his entire life.

She had such sass, intelligence, and a beguiling personality under all that gorgeousness.

She captivated him in such a way that he never wanted to break free.

But he had no right to claim her at that time. Not yet.

“Can I see you Friday night?” He wasn’t going to let her brush him off so easily. It was Wednesday right now.

An evasive expression shadowed her face. “Um, I already have plans.”

Gabe’s jaw clenched. “A date?”

Her eyes flashed emerald fire, her chin tipping up defiantly. “Yes.”

“With whom?” Fuck him. Why couldn’t he keep his mouth shut?

“I don’t think it’s any of your business, Gabe.” She attempted to pull away from him, but he tightened his grip.

“I’m sorry,” No, he wasn’t. He was going to seduce her tonight and pleasure her until she forgot every single asshole she was dating.

“I’ll make you hot chocolate so good, you’ll forget your name.

Then I’ll take you right home. It doesn’t need to be a late night.

” After I’ve fucked you so hard, you will never want another man inside you .

“Make hot chocolate?”

“The works—milk and chopped Belgian dark chocolate—meticulously simmered for a perfect emulsion of pure heaven,” Gabe coaxed.

“Tempting, but we just finished dinner.”

“It’s freezing. Our bodies are burning more calories to stay warm. We’ve walked a mile, and if you want to feel less guilty, we can go another mile. By the time we get to my place you’ll be asking for it.”

“Hmm . . . That sounds like a double-entendre.”

Gabe could taste triumph. “I won’t deny I want to feel the heels of your boots digging into my back.”

Beatrice laughed nervously. “You’re very sure of yourself, aren’t you?”

“I can read body language, babe,” Gabe whispered, drawing her close. “Your mind is fucked up with all your own rules, but I bet you’re wet for me right now.”

Her breath hitched. Gabe went in for the kill. “I can’t wait to fuck you.”

It worked. He had her up against the door with his cock driving inside her within seconds of crossing the threshold of his apartment.

He did keep his promise to make her the hot decadent drink and then took her home afterward.

The following day, he made his intentions known to Porter that he was bowing out of the op.

It would be another two months before he was released from his obligations, but it was worth it. And then he fucked up.

“That chocolate is going to burn, Gabe.” Slender arms came around him lightly. The hand not holding the whisk came up to her bandage-covered forearm.

“Is Rhino okay?” Gabe asked.

“Yes. He’s snoring on his dog bed. I think he knew he wasn’t getting any of this delicious concoction.”

Gabe added a bit of brown sugar and then a pinch of salt to the hot beverage before turning off the stove. He poured the dark, thick liquid into two mugs and handed one to her.

“What were you thinking about? ”

He grinned crookedly. “The first time I made this for you.” They sat on the barstools around the kitchen island.

A blush stole up Beatrice cheeks. Damned cute.

“I remember that night.”

“You still insisted on going home,” he chided. “I wanted to fuck you all possible ways that night.”

“Judging by our lack of control when we got to your apartment, I’m thankful that one of us was still thinking of the consequences,” Beatrice retorted. “I don’t think I would have been able to walk the next day if you had your way.”

Gabe snorted. “Damn right. You were a very difficult woman to pin down.”

“I couldn’t trust you,” Beatrice said. “You would disappear for weeks, and then suddenly you would hound me every single hour of the day. All along you were still working for Dad.”

“Not after I’d asked you to become mine,” Gabe said. “You had no idea how much I wanted to tear apart every man you’ve dated, especially that fucking lawyer.”

“You expected me to pine for you?”

“In a selfish way, yes.” Gabe’s hand tightened around the mug. “You certainly had no shortage of men taking my place.”

“I never slept with them, Gabe,” Beatrice said quietly. “It never got that far. Contrary to what you think, I dated, but I don’t sleep with two men at the same time.”

Gabe nodded. When they first got together, he had been wary of asking her if she was sleeping with anyone else, thinking it would drive him to extreme jealousy and destroy their relationship even before it began.

It didn’t take long before he destroyed it himself, and it had been the biggest regret of his life. “It killed me to leave you.”

“Gabe, we’re past that. It’s done.”

“Is it?”

“Why are you bringing this up again? ”

Gabe finished the hot cocoa before he turned on his barstool to face her.

“I killed the person inside me when I thought I could never have you. It was the only way I could function and do my job. Now, having you back, it scares me that I actually have this second chance with you. I can’t lose you, Beatrice.

If you leave me, I’m nothing. If you get taken away from me, I’ll have nothing left.

Nothing and no one will ever be enough to make life worth living. ”

“Gabe, I don’t define you—”

“You do. More than you know. The man I am now is the man I’ve created to be what you need. Do you understand what I’m telling you, Beatrice? Everything I’ve done for the past three years destroyed the man you knew, except the part that loved you.”

Beatrice lips trembled, her eyes glazed. “Gabe—”

“I hung on to the memory of you,” he whispered.

“It was buried deep down, but that was the only part of me I couldn’t let go.

The promise of you saved me, Beatrice. That’s all that’s left of me now.

My love for you. I’m not telling you this so you’ll pity me or think I’m emotionally blackmailing you to stay with me.

I need you to understand why I’m consumed with keeping you safe.

Because keeping you safe is keeping my sanity safe; it’s keeping my heart safe.

It’s a selfish reason in a way. You need to know I’m not the same.

” Gabe clenched his jaw. “You’re not getting a whole person. ”

“Oh, Gabe, you’re so wrong.” Beatrice reached out and cupped his jaw.

He caught her hand and turned his head to kiss it.

“I can never define you, because no person, entity, or words can define you. You defy limits. I loved the man you were before, but I’m crazy in love with the man you are now.

Telling me you’ve been able to come back from all the ugliness because you’ve kept your love for me burning inside you?

You have no idea how romantic that sounds. ”

Gabe snorted. “I’m the least romantic person. ”

“Uh, I’m pretty sure everything that came out of your mouth in the last two minutes was romantic.”

“In a needy kind of way, maybe,” he grumbled.

“Hey, even superheroes can be needy once in a while. You’re arrogant and domineering 99% of the time.”

“Sass,” Gabe’s eyes crinkled at the corners. “You’re sassing me right now, right?”

“You’re denying that you’re bossy?”

“You don’t listen to me anyway, so I can’t be that bossy.”

“We’re such a pair,” Beatrice said. “We’ll never be a boring couple.”

Suddenly, he had a vision of him and Beatrice, older and with graying hair, walking along the neighborhood of Old Town Alexandria holding hands.

“What?” Beatrice’s question interrupted his thoughts.

“Nothing.” Gabe grinned at her. “Nothing at all.”

He liked that vision of them very much.