Page 19

Summer POV

My brain and body froze.

But I just saw him over by the grass with Goose. Grayson can’t be in the pool. He can’t be…

Gabriel shot out of his seat like it had been set on fire and sprinted toward the pool. Thankfully, my body unfroze, and I was only a split second behind him, running at his heels, anxiety for my son making me run faster than I’d ever had in my life.

As I neared the pool, my heart dropped when I saw Grayson struggling to stay afloat, his head breaking the surface of the water for only a second and then sinking back down , his little body struggling toward the edge of the pool.

Goose had run over, and he was barking at Gabriel, like he was yelling at him to save Grayson.

Gabriel jumped into the pool and grabbed hold of our son as I skidded to a stop at the edge.

My first instinct was to jump into the water, but I resisted the urge, knowing that Gabriel would be able to pull him out, and I needed to be ready to administer CPR if my son needed it. Instead, I kneeled down and thrust my arms forward, ready to help Grayson out of the pool.

Grayson's arms were still wildly swinging, not realizing that his dad was trying to save him. One of his elbows smashed into Gabriel's nose, and it immediately began to bleed. But Gabriel didn’t even flinch. Bright red blood flowed down Gabriel's face as he handed me Grayson, who had just now realized we were trying to help, and had stopped struggling.

When Gabriel handed me our son, I cried with relief. Adrenaline made my son weightless as I pulled him out of the pool and onto the concrete.

Grayson began to cough up water, his face red, his hazel eyes wide.

I scanned his face, checking to see if I needed to do CPR.

My shoulders sank with relief when I realized he was breathing.

Aunt Mia rushed up to us, Goose tried to lick Grayson’s face, and Gabriel came out of the pool dripping water and blood.

But the only thing I could focus on was my son.

“Grayson, sweetheart, can you speak?” I asked, rubbing his back. “Are you all right?”

“I…think so,” my son said and coughed again.

Gabriel kneeled down and put a protective arm around Grayson’s shoulder.

“Son? Are you all right?” he asked.

“Yeah…I think…I am, Dad.” Grayson cleared his throat and tucked himself closer to his father.

For a moment, the three of us sat there, catching our breath.

***

“If we watch him sleep all night, would that be creepy?” Gabriel asked from behind me.

“No, not at all. But I’m probably biased,” I answered.

We were in the doorway of Grayson’s room, looking in on our son peacefully asleep. Goose was stretched out on the foot of his bed. It was hours after Grayson had fallen into the pool, and after a quick trip to the compound hospital, he was deemed perfectly healthy. Gabriel was told that his nose might be broken, but he waved off the healers and set it back in place himself after he cleaned himself up.

A clean bill of health for our son didn’t stop Gabriel and me from standing outside his doorway for nearly an hour after he fell asleep, watching over him.

“How did he fall into the pool?” Gabriel muttered.

“He said he was running around chasing after Goose and wasn’t looking where he was going. He didn’t know he had been close to the pool,” I replied.

Gabriel sighed.

“Tonight could have been so much worse. I don’t even want to think about what could have happened if he tripped and hit his head on the concrete…” His voice was thick with worry.

“You’ll drive yourself insane if you think about everything that could go wrong,” I warned him. “It makes you never want to let him leave the house.”

“When I think about the possible dangers, it makes me want to never let him leave this room.”

“Welcome to being a parent,” I said dryly.

Without even thinking about it, I leaned back and rested against him, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Gabriel froze for a moment, then hugged me from behind.

“We should, um, let him get some sleep,” I said and softly closed Grayson’s door.

When I stepped out of his embrace, my body screamed at me in protest. I still didn’t know if I wanted to pursue anything with him. My issues with trusting him hadn’t changed overnight. And it also seemed silly to think about these things when our son could have been seriously injured tonight, my father was in a life-threatening coma, and we still had Axel and the Rogue threat to worry about.

But trying not to think about Gabriel and our connection was impossible. My love for him had grown tonight as I watched him save Grayson, but could I really give my heart to a man I didn’t fully trust with it? Would he hurt me again for the sake of “protecting” me?

“Would you like a drink?” Gabriel murmured. “There’s a bar cart in my office.”

I knew I should just go to my room and go to bed. But I wasn’t ready to say goodnight to him yet.

We held hands on the way to his office, his thumb tracing comforting circles on the back of my hand.

My legs trembled when I stepped into his dimly lit office. Memories from last night made my heart rate rise, and when my eyes landed on his wooden desk, I almost let out a moan. He only had two monitors still, and I bit my lip when I recalled how the other had smashed to the ground.

Gabriel strode over to the bar cart and began to rummage around.

When I closed the door with a small click, his back stiffened. Seeing his shoulder muscles in a tight black shirt made my thighs clench. I needed to relieve this ache inside of me.

I want this man.

But was it smart to have him?

Damn, I wished I could just turn my brain off for one night.

“Does a Moscow Mule sound good?” Gabriel asked.

“Uh, I’ve never had one before,” I admitted. “Whatever you’re having is fine.”

While he prepared our drinks, I looked at the spines of the many books he had displayed on the shelves.

“How many of these have you actually read?” I asked in a teasing tone.

His lips twitched as he cut up a lime.

“Probably two or three,” he admitted.

I smiled at his honesty.

Gabriel poured our drinks into fancy copper mugs. When he handed me mine, our fingers brushed, and I let out an embarrassing gasp, my cheeks heating.

His green eyes darkened with desire, and he glanced at his desk behind me.

“What’s in this?” I asked to try to distract myself from the intense need pulsing through me.

“Vodka, lime juice, and ginger beer,” he said, and took a sip of his.

Tentatively, I did the same.

“Oh, that’s delicious,” I said and grinned.

The drink was sweet, refreshing, but had a little bit of a kick from the ginger.

Gabriel took a long pull from his cup and then licked his lips.

My mouth went dry.

“This drink tastes like you,” he muttered, his deep voice even lower than usual.

My eyes went wide.

“W-what?”

He took a step closer to me.

“This drink tastes like you, Summer. Exactly as you described.” He took another long sip. “Sweet, refreshing, and with a little kick to it.” He took another mouthful and finished off his drink. “On second thought, you taste better.”

“I-I do?”

My drink was shaking in my hands.

He grinned and set his empty cup down on the bar cart.

“I want you, Summer,” he said. “I want to lose myself in you.”

His confession made me gasp.

My panties grew wet with need at the lust-filled look in his eyes as they slowly trailed down the curves of my body.

I shivered.

Would my undeniable attraction for this man ever go away?

Did I want it to?

“I…”

I took a large sip of my drink to stall. Of course, I wanted Gabriel. But I wasn’t sure if I wanted to have a relationship with him. He had told me he wanted to be with me, to be a family with me and Grayson. Was it fair to sleep with him if I could only offer this one night?

Gabriel could see the indecision in my expression.

“I know I still need to earn back your trust before you can be in a relationship with me,” he said and stepped closer until we were near enough to kiss. “I understand and respect that. But I can tell that you want me just as badly as I want you.” Gabriel slowly raised his hand and put it under my chin.

That simple touch nearly undid me.

“Let’s just have this one night to lose ourselves in each other, and we can worry about the rest in the morning,” he murmured and rubbed his thumb over my bottom lip.

Well, if he knew what he was entering into…but what about contraception? With our complicated situation, we couldn’t risk it. Not again.

“I don’t have a condom,” I said.

“Me neither. But there’s a million ways I can make you feel good while only using my hands and my mouth.”

My stomach swooped with anticipation.

Him and his dirty mouth.

Our gazes met and his eyes held enough fiery passion to ignite all the books in this room.

Tangible energy pulsed between us.

Even though our Mating bond was broken, it seemed like it was tugging me toward Gabriel, begging me to surrender to temptation.

I drained the rest of my drink, slammed my cup down on the desk, and threw my arms around him.

Our lips met, and all hell broke loose.

Oh, wow.

This kiss was somehow even more frantic than last night’s. In no time, I was moaning into his mouth as our tongues battled for dominance. He tasted like lime, vodka, and a spicy flavor that was entirely his own.

I slipped my hands under his shirt and traced every hard line of his stomach muscles.

“That feels so good,” Gabriel groaned against my lips.

I dragged his shirt over his head and threw it behind me, greedily staring at his naked torso.

He’s perfect.

Gabriel grabbed the back of my head, tipped it back, and leaned down to kiss my neck.

“Yes, more,” I moaned, my panties growing wet as he kissed, sucked, and bit my sensitive skin.

When we made eye contact, my heart skipped a beat.

His eyes were wild with desire.

“On my chair, now,” he ordered. “I want to taste you.”

I was dripping wet for this man.

He didn’t have to tell me twice.

On the way, I took off my loose blue shirt and threw it to the side. When I stood in front of his chair, I slipped off my black sweatpants and panties. I sat down fully nude, the leather cool against my back.

Gabriel strode toward me, his eyes scanning my body in a way that made me squirm. When he stood in front of me, he pulled down his pants, taking his boxers off along with them.

Oh my.

His hard dick strained toward me.

But I barely got to appreciate his naked body before he sank to his knees.

“How wet are you for me?” he asked and grasped both of my hips to drag me to the edge of his office chair.

“Why don’t you find out for yourself?” I challenged, feeling brave and confident with Gabriel on his knees before me.

A sexy grin crossed his face.

“You want me to taste your pretty pussy, Summer? While you’re sitting in my chair?”

“Yes,” I breathed out.

Gabriel cupped my ass, moving me forward, thrusting my pussy onto his face.

“Oh! Gabriel!”

Those were the only two words I could manage as his tongue licked my wet center. Black dots appeared in my vision, and I shut my eyes, threading my fingers through Gabriel’s hair and enjoying the ride.

One of his hands trailed down my leg then he pumped his long finger inside of me while he flicked his tongue on my clit.

“Yes,” I groaned, my breathing became labored as every muscle in my body tightened.

“Do you want to taste yourself, baby?” Gabriel whispered as he continued to slide one finger into me. “Do you want to taste yourself on my tongue?”

“Yes,” I moaned as his thumb swiped my hard bundle of nerves.

He licked my pussy again as he pumped his finger, and I had to clamp a hand over my mouth so I didn’t scream out loud.

“Gabriel, I’m close,” I panted. “I’m close already.”

He kissed my clit and then stood up. Gabriel shoved his keyboard aside, picked me up, and set me on his desk—all in the span of a few seconds.

Before I could even take a breath, his lips were on mine, his tongue in my mouth. And…oh.

I could taste myself.

It was like the taste of the drink he had served me.

When he pulled away to kiss my neck, I grabbed his warm, hard dick and pumped him.

“Summer!” he groaned against my neck.

“I like the taste of myself on your tongue,” I said as I swiped my thumb over the head of his dick.

Gabriel groaned again, cupped my left breast, and rolled my nipple between his fingers. He slid his finger back inside me and used his thumb to rub my clit.

I pumped him faster, knowing that we were both on the edge of oblivion.

“I want your eyes on me when you come,” he commanded.

With one more swipe of his thumb, my walls tightened around his finger, and I scratched my nails down his back as I climaxed.

As I looked into his eyes and pumped him, Gabriel came, spilling onto my stomach, my name on his lips.

We touched our foreheads together, both of our faces flushed, and panting.

He pressed the sweetest kiss to my mouth, just the faintest brush of his lips, but it made my heart melt.

And at that moment, I knew that one night with Gabriel would never be enough.