Page 14

She woke with a hoarse cry, her body soaked in sweat. She was disorientated, her heart beating a mile a minute, and she didn’t even have to look to know they were there .

The remnants.

She could see their shadows, but she never heard them.

Gabriel rolled on top of her, his hands covering her ears, his ruffled hair falling to caress her sweaty forehead, his large body blocking out everything.

“Isobel,” he mouthed the word, or maybe he spoke it.

Her blood was rushing in her ears, and he was covering them so tightly, she couldn’t hear anything else.

“I’ll protect you.”

She stared at his mouth like it was her lifeline, aware that tears were flowing freely down her face.

“Help,” she whimpered, feeling like the panic would swell to a point of explosion. She would combust from this terror, and there would be nothing left of her.

“I love you.”

Her heart stopped, her breath halted, her attention fixed to his mouth.

Did he just …

“I love you.”

He said it again, and then he pressed his lips to hers.

I love you . He crooned it into her mind through the bond, and her heart exploded, a sob tearing out of her throat.

He swallowed it, kissing her so softly and thoroughly that she couldn’t do anything except cling to him.

She lost herself in his strength, his steadiness, the firm press of his lips.

The smell of fear and sweat was overtaken by the most beautiful, delicate scent of linen twisted with a burst of sweetness, and she was confused by the sensation of her sweat sticking to her skin, because, for a moment, it smelled like the sticky syrup of crushed cherries.

Gabriel kissed her until her tears dried up and her sobs turned to whimpers, and then his hands slipped from her ears.

“Give us a moment?” he rasped out against her lips.

She opened her mouth to voice her confusion, but he quickly covered it with his again, and she felt the mattress dip.

Elijah .

The door opened and closed, but Gabriel’s tongue quickly distracted her as it licked inside her mouth, his kisses turning hungry and deep.

She moaned, gripping his shoulders, and he eased back just far enough to yank the blanket from between their bodies.

He licked down her neck, kicking her legs apart, and then he shocked her by dragging her shirt all the way to her neck, exposing her breasts and stomach in a blink.

The cool air of the room immediately raised gooseflesh along her sweat-dampened skin.

He dragged his tongue down over her sternum piercing, groaning lightly.

She never would have guessed that Gabriel of all people would groan at the taste of her sweat or want to put his mouth anywhere near her piercing, but he couldn’t seem to get enough of it.

He licked over her nipple, immediately tightening it into a hard and aching point, and then he moved to the other and did the same thing before kissing down her stomach.

He tugged her panties down her legs so fast, she didn’t even have a moment to check in with him before his mouth was fastening to her centre.

Are you sure about this? she wanted to ask, but his tongue plunging into her slick channel seemed pretty fucking sure.

He pressed her thighs to the bed, and she quickly drew a pillow over her face because he was no longer being soft and gentle.

His tongue was thick and strong, digging into her as his thumb found her clit.

She moaned into the softness pressed to her face, suddenly hit with a wave of Elijah’s scent from the material.

Because she was a sick individual, the combination of Gabriel’s tongue and Elijah’s scent tipped her into an orgasm so strong, there was a moment where she lost all sense of where she was.

She came back to her senses with Gabriel’s body pressing into hers again, his palm wrapped around her mouth, both of them breathing heavily on either side of his hand. When he loosened his grip, her throat felt raw.

He was still wearing his clothes, and even though his erection was hard and long against her inner thigh, he was making no move to do anything with it. He was just staring at her, hunger slashed across his perfect features.

“I don’t want to pressure you,” she whispered, her voice croaky. Contrary to her words, her fingers were sneaking beneath his shirt, skirting across his muscled stomach.

He hissed in a breath, closing his eyes. “I don’t want to pressure you either.”

“What if I need you?”

“Then you have me.” The words were barely out of his mouth before he was kissing her again. She could taste herself on his tongue.

“W-Wait.” She managed to squeeze the word out between kisses.

He planted his arms either side of her, lifting up slightly, waiting. There was no rejection on his face. No frustration. He was just waiting.

“Do I have you just for tonight?” she asked quietly.

His brows drew in, eyes clouding. For a moment, he just puzzled out why she was asking that question by staring at her, before he blurted, “Will you be my girlfriend?” He sucked in a shaky breath.

He seemed nervous. He quickly revised his words, turning them into a puffed-out demand. “Be my girlfriend.”

She burst out laughing, and he pulled back another inch, giving her a look of surprise.

“That’s exactly how Eli asked,” she explained.

To her surprise, he growled, his face suddenly only a breath away from hers. “And then did he fuck you so hard you forgot your name?” He didn’t wait for her answer. “I didn’t fucking think so.” He pulled his body away, leaving her cold despite the sweat still clinging to her skin.

He pulled his shirt off and she was so distracted by the flexing of his abs that she didn’t even realise he was … folding it.

She almost giggled, but he shot her a warning look, so she quickly shut up.

He placed the shirt neatly on the bedside table and then slipped his thumbs into his sweatpants, pushing them down just enough to stall her brain and make her mouth water.

“Are you going to laugh?” he asked.

She dumbly shook her head.

He shoved them down, and she had no idea what he did next with them, because she was suddenly staring at Gabriel Spade’s cock.

It was long and graceful, a light-honey colour just like the rest of him, with gentle veins mottling the smooth skin.

She blinked when his hand wrapped around it, squeezing like he needed to ease a painful ache.

When he didn’t move any closer, she finally looked up into his face and saw something shiver in his eyes.

This was hard for him.

Intimacy. Sex.

She crawled to the edge of the bed and sat on her knees before him, reaching for his free hand, their fingers instinctively twisting together.

“Is this something you do a lot?” she whispered, like she might spook him. “I mean, did a lot,” she revised.

He shook his head.

Her mind was reeling, trying to piece together the sexy, reserved, dominant—and occasionally robotic—Gabriel she knew so well with this man before her with the shivering indecision in his eyes.

“What you just did …” She flicked her eyes back to the bed. “It felt practised?—”

“First time,” he rasped.

She tried to stop her mouth from dropping open, but he could surely feel her shock through the bond.

“Are you a virgin?” she asked, confused for a moment.

“No.” He huffed out a rough laugh. “I’ve had sex. It’s just different than this. And I haven’t done that, specifically.”

Gabriel had hoped to avoid this conversation. Possibly forever. He had been caught up in the heated moment, fixated on distracting her, and then addicted to the taste of her, but then the second he stepped away, the doubts rushed back in, almost paralysing him.

“If I feel out of control, I have panic attacks,” he explained, wondering if she realised his dick wasn’t going to go south with her kneeling on the bed for him, all pretty and mussed and confused, her tangled hair sticking to her skin.

He should hate it, but he only wanted to make her messier.

“Gabe …” She swallowed. “You’re going to have to spell this out for me.”

He felt so fucking exposed. She could see how his dick twitched when she called him Gabe . And she could see that he was hesitating.

“Do you remember when the bond pulled me into your head while you were in the shower?” he asked, trying not to get distracted by the way she ran her tongue across her soft lips, wetting them as she considered him.

“Of course.” She seemed to be struggling to keep her eyes on his face.

“I told you back then it takes a special person to get me past a certain point?”

She nodded, her eyes wide, searching for his meaning.

He forced the words out. “I can only have sex with people I don’t care about. I mean, I have to actively dislike them. That’s how I feel in control. I know my emotions won’t get involved. I know my heart will feel nothing.”

She blinked once, twice, her throat working.

“How do you …” She nervously motioned to his erection. “If you hate them? ”

“I get off on hating them,” he admitted, feeling like the most fucked-up person in the world.

But she wasn’t looking at him like he was disgusting.

“You’ve never slept with anyone you liked,” she said, nervously licking her lips again.

“I’ve never liked anyone,” he specified, because he might as well just tell her everything. “I’ve definitely never loved anyone.”

“But you love me,” she said, looking up at him.

“Yes,” he rasped, his fingers flexing against hers, their joined hands still hanging between them, their only point of contact. Her other hand was planted against the bed, apparently not feeling the need to cover herself as their night took this strange turn.

“And you want to have sex with me?” she asked.

He didn’t like that she might doubt that. It caused something hot and angry to tear through his body, and he needed to expend effort to keep the emotion out of his tone when he replied.