Page 27

King

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Gabby whispers.

“It’ll be fun,” I tell her with a grin.

Her hand is grasped in mine and we’re walking through the Golden Hawk casino shops.

It took some work, but I got her to agree to come to North Carolina with me to get the rest of my shit I left at the Saint’s Outlaws clubhouse.

Since there’s no way I want to stay there—especially with Gabby—we’re going to spend the night at the casino. I’m looking forward to spoiling her.

“I’m not even sure why you want to be seen with me in public,” she mutters under her breath just as we get to the boutique I wanted to bring her to.

I’m eager to get her inside and buy her some clothes and spoil her.

I know she’ll fight me, but I’m going to win.

Yet when I hear that garbage come out of her mouth, I stop at once.

Irritation and aggravation mix and push through me.

I tap it down because I don’t want Gabby to feel the brunt of that.

It’s sure not a fucking easy task to accomplish, however.

I move her so she’s pinned against the shopfront window, caging her in, but doing it slowly so that I don’t freak her out too much.

I’ve learned with Gabby this last week that slow and steady movements work best.

“What have I told you, Sunshine?”

“King …”

“What did I say?”

She moistens her lips, rubbing them together, all the while having no idea the effect of what she did is something I feel in my dick. “To stop questioning …”

I lean down to whisper in her ear. “Stop questioning what, baby?”

“Us,” she puffs out, her breathing increasing.

I can tell she’s responding to me. She likes having me close to her, almost as much as I like being here.

We’re coming together in a slow dance that just might kill me.

Case in point, it has been five days since we shared our first kiss.

Four nights of kissing, some light petting—clothes on—and sleeping together.

It has been the best form of torture I could ever imagine. I’m loving every minute of it.

Hell, even sharing toast and coffee with her in the morning before she goes to work makes my day better.

If I allowed myself time to think about it, I might be concerned that I’m falling under her spell so quickly.

It has never happened before, but then, Gabby and I connected in ways most people will never understand.

We both were suffering from loss, and we were adrift—torn apart.

The bond we formed was intense, and it just seems to get stronger.

Most of all, there is a trust between us I would have never thought possible.

“Give me your pretty mouth,” I softly order, squeezing our joined hands a little tighter. That’s my signal to her that we’re together in this. That I have her back. I haven’t put that in words to her, but I know she understands.

“King! I can’t. We’re in the middle of the casino.”

“Give me your mouth.” Again, her tongue peeks through her lips, moistening them.

I can tell she is debating telling me no.

I’m prepared for it. Instead, she surprises me by going up on the tips of her toes and bringing her lips to mine.

Gabby squeezes my hand a little tighter.

I can’t even be sure she knows she’s doing it, but I like it.

“I’m going to kiss you until you remember how good this is between us, baby,” I rumble against her lips.

She opens for me, and I slide my tongue inside and just like every day since our first kiss, the taste of her ignites something inside of me I never knew was there.

She tastes like cherries. It’s the lip gloss she wears.

Fucking lip gloss undoes me. I never would have thought that in a million years.

I was never a lip gloss kind of man. I don’t think I’ve ever kissed a woman who wore lip gloss.

Not until Gabby. I have kissed women with different shades of lipstick.

I’ve never really cared. It was just something they wore and something I enjoyed smearing off—preferably by my cock ramming in and out of their mouth.

Shelby used to wear an orchid color lipstick.

It was a dark red, so dark that it sometimes appeared brown.

It wasn’t my favorite, but she had a thing for all things purple, and I guess that color was as close as she could get to without doing the actual hue she wanted.

Maybe she thought wearing purple on her lips wouldn’t be accepted by the hospital patients or higher ups.

I didn’t ask. I just let her do her thing.

I didn’t care enough to find out the details and maybe that was a big fucking red flag I should have paid attention to.

When we break apart, Gabby breathes deep and the air shudders through her body in a way that I love. For all the twisted shit that she did and survived, there’s an innocence in her that can’t be hidden, and it appeals to me. “Do you know your eyes change colors, Sunshine?”

“They do?”

“Mm … When you laugh and are happy, they’re the prettiest color blue I’ve ever seen.”

“King—”

“I want to see more of them like that. It doesn’t happen enough and I’m kind of addicted to it.”

Gabby closes her eyes as her forehead drops against me. “King, I don’t …”

I bend down into her a little deeper, so my mouth is next to her ear. “But after I kiss you, they are full of need, and they look almost green with flecks of brown in them.”

“They aren’t.”

“Oh yeah, baby. They are and every single time I see them like that, I ache.”

Her body stiffens slightly, but her hand squeezes mine, right before she relaxes, giving me her weight. “What are you doing to me?”

“Do you like it?”

“Maybe.”

I grin. “C’mon, I’m taking my girl shopping.”

“What?” she says, looking around, a blush coming to her face.

“I’m taking my girl shopping and then I’m taking her out to eat. There’s a great Mexican place here in the casino. We’ll shop, then go get ready. After I make sure you and jellybean are fed and happy, the two of us are going to see if the slots and dice are lucky for us.”

“King I can’t afford to?—”

“This is my treat, Sunshine. I have the money, and I want to have a weekend where it’s just us and jellybean and none of the bullshit that surrounds you. Let me give that to you.”

“It’s too much,” she argues, shaking her head.

“I’m ten years older than you, Gabby. I’ve been in a club a fuck of a long time.

A very successful club and I was one of the higher up officers.

Despite the divorce where I ended up having to pay off a loan and some credit cards I didn’t know about, I still have most of my money.

Enough of it I didn’t feel a damn thing when I bought the stuff at the store, or those televisions you’re still worried about.

So, I’m going to take you shopping. I’m going to spoil you.

Then I’m taking you out to dinner. Finally, the two of us are going to enjoy ourselves in the casino before retiring upstairs to our suite and enjoy lying in our huge king size bed and look out over the city lights and just enjoy being together. Are you with me?”

“Who are you? Men like you shouldn’t exist.”

“Gabby,” I chuckle, shaking my head.

“I’m serious, King. I don’t think I’ve ever known anyone like you in my life.”

“I tell you what. It’s not a pretty story, but if you give me tonight, I’ll give you pieces of who I am that I’ve never shared with anyone.”

I see the indecision on her face, but again she squeezes our joined hand and nods. “I’d like that.”

“Then we have a deal.”

“I’d be okay with retiring to our room and just talking so that you can save most of your money.”

“Nope. I want what I want. Plus, you already agreed,” I argue at once, leaning down to kiss her forehead.

I pull her into the store, smiling. I have a great feeling about this weekend. I’m going to make sure that Gabby experiences at least one complete night of being normal and not waiting for the next shoe to drop.