Page 17 of Gabe (Blue Team #2)

What the fuck just happened?

Some foreign emotion had taken over and clogged my throat.

How had I gone from…what the hell had I gone from? Fucking her to practically making love? Or as close to making love as I could ever get.

I did not kiss women during sex. Before.

After. Sure. During? That’s a hell to the fucking no.

That type of intimacy led to mixed signals.

But I hadn’t tasted Evette before I started fucking her.

That was why I broke my rule and kissed her during .

Right? She wasn’t some barfly I’d picked up for the night.

I promised her respect. That was why I’d slowed things down and kissed her. Yeah, that had to be it.

Liar .

And why was I still on top of her?

I lifted my head and caught Evette’s eyes. There was no missing the trepidation that shone.

Fuck me running .

“Did I hurt you?”

She shook her head but I couldn’t miss her unease.

“What’s going on?”

Without understanding why I did it, my fingers untangled from her hair and I cupped her cheek.

I didn’t stroke women’s faces. I didn’t lie on top of them after sex and ask questions.

No, I disengaged. I wasn’t a dick about it but I certainly carved a long, deep line in the sand so there was no mistaking my intentions.

“Nothing.” Evette smiled and added, “You’re good at that.”

I was fairly certain she’d meant her statement as a compliment but for some ungodly reason it pissed me off. It shouldn’t’ve. I should’ve been pleased she seemed to understand. But the pesky emotion in my throat filled my chest and burned.

Maybe she was smarter than I was and had felt nothing beyond the orgasm I’d given her.

Yeah, that pissed me right the fuck off, too.

“Right,” I clipped and pulled out.

I forced myself to ignore the ache I felt at the loss of her. Fought the impulse to gather her in my arms and hold her.

Condom.

A poor excuse to run away but a necessity all the same.

“Be right back,” I said and rolled off the bed.

I took my time ridding myself of the evidence.

Evidence of what?

That I fucked her?

Christ, was I seriously standing in the bathroom staring at a spent condom?

The sight of the thing grated my nerves.

What would it be like to take her bare ?

I’d seriously lost my mind. Never in my life had I considered sex without a condom.

Never wanted to spill myself into a woman. Never wanted the intimacy .

There was that word again.

Fuck .

I washed my hands and splashed water on my face hoping the shock of the icy cold would wake me up from whatever delusional world I’d fallen into.

But when I lifted my head and looked at myself in the mirror I didn’t recognize the man staring back at me.

I couldn’t find the cool detachment that was normally present.

I did not mix sex and feelings. I did not mistake a great orgasm with emotion.

A sound coming from the bedroom pulled me from my stupor.

Pull yourself together, idiot .

Unfortunately, I didn’t pull my head out of my ass so when I saw Evette standing by the bed dressed my temper flared.

“Thanks for grabbing my clothes off the kitchen floor.” She gestured to the pile of clothing.

I didn’t tell her I’d only picked them up because I’d needed a moment to calm myself before I followed her into the bedroom. That she’d awakened something inside of me that I’d kept buried.

No, admitting that would give away too much.

“You got dressed?”

“Well…” Her words hung between us like a heavy fog.

Then her gaze dropped to my chest and her teeth sank into her bottom lip as her eyes lowered.

“I thought I heard Cooper come home and I figured you were done with me,” Evette said with her eyes glued to my cock.

Done with her?

That’s a negative .

“Evette?”

“Hmm?”

Totally distracted.

Lust roared back to life.

In three…two…one.

There it was—my cock stiffened and Evette’s eyes snapped to mine.

“Do I look like I’m done?”

She shook her head but a loud knock on the bedroom door cut off her answer.

“Anyone in there?”

Owen.

Sonofabitch.

“Yeah. Be right out,” I called back.

Evette tossed me a dirty look and narrowed her eyes.

“What? Was I supposed to let him open the door?”

Her gaze flicked back to my erection then her brows pinched and her gaze lifted. What she didn’t do was respond.

“What’s got you thinking so hard, honey?”

I needed to stop with the stupid endearment shit.

I had to hand it to the woman. She snapped out of her daze rather quickly and pulled herself together. I would’ve felt relief if her loss of interest wasn’t so goddamn infuriating.

“Nothing. You should get dressed.”

I definitely needed to do that. Owen was impatient.

I tagged my pants off the floor and pulled them on commando, carefully tucking my hard-on before I zipped up. Once I had my tee back on I reached for my socks and told her, “To answer your earlier question, I’m not done with you.”

A sick jolt of pleasure zapped through me when I saw Evette react. It was a full-body quake as much as a tremor but the twitch coupled with her biting her bottom lip told me she wasn’t unaffected. That was all I needed to see.

As much as I wanted to walk across the room and toss her ass back onto the bed, I refrained. But I did stop in front of her on my way to the door and when I did, I dropped a chaste kiss on her forehead.

“And later tonight, we’re gonna test just how real you want it to be between us.

” I brushed the pad of my thumb over her puffy lips.

Filthy visions flooded my mind and since she’d proclaimed to want all of me, I voiced my thoughts.

“Didn’t get a chance to taste you. And I’m seriously looking forward to getting your gorgeous mouth around my cock. ”

Evette stared at me wide-eyed. There was shock in her eyes but a healthy dose of hunger, too.

“I don’t think—”

“No, honey, you don’t think. When we’re in this room, all you need to do is let go and I’ll give you everything you need.”

“But—”

“Did I hurt you?”

“No.”

“Did you get off on what we did?”

Fuck me, pink tinged her cheeks and I swear to all things holy the sight was cute as hell.

An hour ago, bold as brass, the woman had taken off her clothes in front of me.

Made the decision to walk across the kitchen knowing I was going to fuck her.

And for all she knew that was going to happen right there on the floor.

She’d talked about wanting my mouth on her tits, called our banter foreplay, then straight-up let me bend her over and fuck her.

Without so much as a kiss. And without reservation, she’d said she wanted to suck my cock.

Yet, there she stood flushed with color.

Hell yeah, that was cute.

There was a lot to be said about a man wanting a lady on his arm and wildcat in bed.

That was Evette. Outside of this room, she’d likely twist my balls off if I commanded her to so much as pick up a pen off the floor.

But naked, she loved every minute. The more I took charge the softer she became.

The less she thought the more lost in her desire she became.

In a word she was stunning.

Perfect, really, but I refused to allow myself to go down that road. For both of us, I had to stay in control of my emotions. Anything less than total detachment would lead to catastrophe.

“Don’t answer that, honey. I know you did.”

“Cocky much?” she spat.

Evette throwing attitude with a blush on her pretty face wasn’t cute, it was downright sexy.

I dropped my head, kissed the skin right below her ear, and whispered, “I know you haven’t forgotten.

I sure as fuck will never forget. Your body can’t lie.

You can’t fake what we shared. But on the off-chance you need the reminder…

” I trailed off and let my tongue do the dirty work.

By the time I traced a line down to her clavicle, she was trembling.

Never had I known a woman to be so responsive.

I stepped away, not needing any more temptation from Evette.

Owen was there which would’ve caused me alarm if I didn’t know him so well.

If there was a problem he would’ve saved time and called.

He’d come by for one reason only—to break my balls.

Cooper had taken to giving Owen daily updates.

These reports had nothing to do with the investigation.

They were a running commentary about Evette.

Talk about fucked-up timing.

I was walking out of Evette’s room and had no good excuse for being in there with the door shut. I found my friend with his head in the refrigerator but he quickly straightened when he heard me enter the kitchen, a smirk firmly in place.

“I was getting worried,” Owen announced .

“Worried?”

“That you got lost.”

Lost?

Christ, Owen had no idea how close that came to hitting the bone. Thirty minutes ago, I had been lost in a sea of lust and emotion. It was the ‘and’ in that sentence that scared the hell out of me.

“What are you doing here?”

“What? I can’t come visit my good pal?”

Good pal .

“Are you drunk?”

Owen ignored me and glanced over my shoulder.

“Where’s Evette?”

My eyes narrowed on my friend. I had no good answer. Anything I said would be used as ammunition against me.

“Better question is why are you here? And don’t call me pal.”

“I’m here because I’m hungry. Nat’s working until close at the store and I didn’t feel like cooking.”

He was so full of shit.

“We’ve eaten,” I lied, not wanting him to stay.

A wide smile curved up the corners of Owen’s mouth and I realized my mistake.

“I’m sure you have,” he retorted.

“Are you ten?”

“Turnabout, pal . All is fair in the payback game.”

“And what am I being paid back for exactly?”

“Meat.”