Page 12 of Soul of the Mountain (Curves in Hope Mountain #2)

SULLIVAN

I rub my eyes and blink a few more times, positive that I’m hallucinating. Gabby, my Gabby, is hopping out of her car and storming up the porch steps.

The front door swings open with a bang, revealing the woman I haven’t stopped thinking about for one second since she left yesterday. Her eyes are filled with anger, hurt, and betrayal, but she’s here. She cared enough to drive all the way up here to yell at me. That has to mean something, right?

“Who gave you the right to come into my life, say all these sweet things to me, make me fall for you, and then abandon me at the earliest convenience?” she accuses.

Her hands are on her hips, and she’s glaring at me like she’s hoping to summon a demon to drag me to hell.

God, she’s so damn sexy when she’s yelling at me. Wait. Did she say she fell for me?

“Gabby, I–”

“I’m not done,” she continues.

I take a few steps closer while she gears up for another rant. I don’t mind. I’ll stand here and take whatever punishment she has in store. As long as she’s here, I have a fighting chance.

“I was fine on my own before you. Then you… you… you went and made me believe in stupid fantasies like staying here forever, when clearly, you had no intention of following through. Did I mean nothing to you?”

Fuck, the tears in her eyes gut me. Heath was right, I should have been the one who asked her to stay. My grandma never gave up on my grandpa, and I should never have let Gabby leave without laying my feelings out for her. At least then she would know what she was leaving behind.

“Gabby, you mean more to me than anything,” I tell her.

We’re only a few feet apart, standing in the entryway of the inn. Anger, disbelief, and pain radiate from her trembling body, and I want to throw myself off the nearest cliff for making her feel this way.

“Bullshit,” she spits out. “I thought I was coming here to tell you I miss you and want you in my life, but if you weren’t even going to make an effort to… What is that?”

Gabby pauses her rant and steps to the side to get a better look at what I have spread out over the front desk.

I shove a hand through my hair and rub the back of my neck, unsure of what to say.

“This is my attempt at getting you back,” I start.

“I was an idiot. I thought… I took your silence yesterday as you wanting to leave and get back to the big city as soon as possible. It hurt like hell until a friend helped me realize I could have said something. Maybe if I told you how I felt, you wouldn’t have left. ”

Gabby darts her eyes between me and the desk. “And how do you feel?” she whispers. Her voice tugs at the frayed edges of my soul.

“I love you, Gabby. We haven’t known each other for very long, but I know I’ll never meet anyone like you again.

I thought if you didn’t want to stay in this tiny town, I’d try my luck in Denver.

I, uh, I didn’t have a suit, so I went shopping for a few.

” I point toward the dress pants and blazers draped over my office chair.

Gabby hasn’t said anything, so I continue rambling.

“I couldn’t decide on the right tie, so I grabbed a bunch and was sorting through them when you showed up.

Red felt aggressive, but the pastels felt, I don’t know, not serious enough.

I know stuff like that matters in the business world.

I haven’t interviewed for a job since I was a bag boy at Old Man Dawson’s grocery mart in high school, but I’ve been reading LinkedIn articles on the appropriate outfits and how to put together a resumé. ”

“And the hairdryers?”

“Oh. Yeah. Well, I thought in case you wanted to come back here instead of staying in Denver for some crazy reason, I should get a hairdryer for you. Did you know there are like a hundred different kinds of hairdryers? One for curly hair, another for straight hair, plus a million attachments and heat levels. I ended up getting one of each model available, but I’m sure I can order another one online if–”

I catch Gabby as she throws herself into my arms, just like I always will. Her cheeks are wet with tears, but the smile on her face lets me know I must have said something right.

She cuts me off with a kiss that tells me everything I need to know. Gabby’s body speaks to mine in a way words don’t have to.

When we come up for air, Gabby looks at me with those hazel eyes that pierce my fucking soul and break me and heal me at the same time.

“I love you too, Sullivan.”

I breathe in her words and let them fill my lungs, seeping into my bloodstream and pumping through my heart. Every beat is for her. I don’t have words, so I show her what she means to me in a way I know she’ll understand.

I cup the back of her neck and draw her in for another kiss. She opens up for me, and I savor her taste, caressing every inch of her mouth. It belongs to me.

Continuing my exploration of Gabby, I run my hand down her throat and over her collarbone, my mouth following close behind, nibbling and sucking on her sweet skin as I go. Her breath hitches, her back arches, and her chest presses against my lips as I devour her.

“I’m so sorry,” I murmur once we break apart for air.

“I should have told you all of this before you left. I guess I was insecure, too. You have my heart in your hands, princess. It’s all for you.

I’ll move to Denver if that’s what you want.

Or buy a house here so we don’t have to live at the inn.

I’ll drive you to work every day if you want to keep your job.

I just need you in my life, Gabby. I don’t care about the details. ”

“Sullivan…” She sniffles and buries her head into my chest. I rock her back and forth, feeling complete for the first time in over twenty-four hours. “I didn’t want to admit how much you meant to me. I tried to fight it, but I quit my job and drove like a madwoman up here to yell at you.”

“You quit your job?” I ask in astonishment.

Gabby tilts her head up, a flicker of hope igniting her beautiful eyes. “How could I work for such an evil corporation? How could I live every day knowing I had something real, something so much more important here with you? I’m sorry I didn’t realize it sooner.”

“There’s nothing to apologize for. We’re here now, yeah? I’m never letting you go again. You know that, right?”

“I was kind of hoping you’d say that. I’m jobless and soon to be homeless without a way to pay rent,” she replies with a grin.

I cover her mouth with mine, tasting her sassiness and sweetness with each swipe of my tongue. My hands crawl down her sides and cup her thighs, lifting my woman in my arms so I can carry her to my bed, right where she belongs.

Setting her down, I take a step back, only to peel off her shirt and bra.

I cup her perfect breasts, weighing them in my hands and flicking her pebbled nipples with my thumbs.

Pushing them together, I lick her cleavage and kiss the tops of her perky tits before sucking a nipple in my mouth.

I kiss a trail to her other breast and give it the same treatment.

My hands slide down her torso, giving my mouth access to the sensitive underside of her breasts. I nip at one and then the other, earning me the most delicious whimpers from Gabby.

I peel the rest of my sexy woman’s clothes off and gently guide her to lie on the bed. I need to worship every inch of Gabby and memorize all of her most sensitive spots. She’s wriggling underneath my soft touches and kisses, but I’m not done yet.

I take her left leg in my hands, gripping her calf with one hand and running my other hand up the inside of her thigh. I lift her leg and kiss the inside of her ankle, up, up, up, until I reach the tender skin behind her knee, where I bite and kiss away the sting.

Ghosting my nose and lips up the inside of her thigh, I bring both of my hands up and spread her legs to reveal her decadent pussy.

My tongue snakes out and licks the seam where her leg meets her torso.

Gabby bucks her hips, so I lick her there again before moving to her other leg, repeating the process until she’s shaking.

I swipe my tongue through her soaked slit, and she moans for me, rubbing her wetness against my face. I can tell she’s on edge already, worked up from the way I just devoured her body.

My hands steady her hips while I drink from her, lapping her juices and sucking her folds. She's trembling, whimpering, and writhing. I love knowing I'm controlling her with the tip of my tongue.

I could stay here for hours, teasing her, tasting her, keeping her on the razor’s edge.

But I have so many other things I want her to experience with me, so I suck her clit into my mouth and graze my teeth over the sensitive ball of nerves.

Gabby cries out and convulses underneath me, her back arching, knuckles turning white from gripping the sheets, legs snapping around my head as I suck down her cum.

She’s squirting into my mouth, and I’m embarrassingly close to coming in my damn jeans.

When the last tremors of her orgasm fade, I crawl back up her body and take her mouth in a sloppy kiss, spreading her cum all over her mouth. It makes me so fucking hard getting her messy.

I sit up, and Gabby follows me like a magnet, still panting from our kiss.

She grabs at my shirt, and I help her get it off before quickly stepping off the bed and stripping off my jeans and boxers.

She’s spread out before me, offering herself up.

I can’t believe she’s all mine. This fucking goddess laid bare before me.

I’ll make sure she never regrets letting me in.

“You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Love your body, your curves, your skin. I’m addicted to you, princess. Can’t believe you’re all mine.”

She meets my gaze and bites her lip, still unable to really take a compliment, but trying for me.