Page 31

Chapter 31

GAbrIEL

I ’d tried to rest while waiting for April to come over, I really did. Freshly showered, I lay on my couch. Chuck picked a spot next to me, and I rubbed his back, which usually put me to sleep. At least it sent one of us over. He snored while I stared at the ceiling and thought about April.

How incredible she was: her determination, her strength, her resilience.

Her curves. Her lips.

I pressed the heels of my hands to my eyes. She was going to be the death of me. Luckily, Coach Rick messaged, knocking me loose from April’s hold.

Rick: Congratulations on such a quick run.

Coach Rick wasn’t quick to praise, so I stared at my phone warily until, sure enough, the second message came through.

Rick: You must really like ice baths, Torres. See you tomorrow.

“Fuck,” I said to the ceiling .

That did it. I wasn’t going to sleep. Careful not to wake Chuck, I pushed up from the couch. My calves and abs were the most tender. They weren’t too bad yet, but tomorrow they would be. Slowly, I moved around the kitchen, marinating chicken and cutting up vegetables.

Anything to keep my hands and mind busy.

When the doorbell rang, I was just finishing the training plans for the next week. Chuck beat me to the door, but he’d have to get in line. My blood hummed as I swung it open for April.

We took a long moment to drink each other in. She had on this black romper that cinched at her waist and stopped mid-thigh. She looked great in it. But I was already imagining peeling it off her.

Similarly, I watched her eyes roam from my legs up to my chest—a savoring perusal. I was just wearing basketball shorts and the finisher shirt from the Sugarland Triathlon, but judging by the blush on her cheeks, she liked what she saw.

Then her hazel eyes slipped past me, and she shook her head laughing. I followed her gaze to the massage table, which was taking up half of my living room.

“I didn’t realize how serious you were about the massage thing.”

I stepped aside to let her in. “I never joke about post-race care.”

“Nice place,” April said, eyes roaming over my cozy apartment. There honestly wasn’t much to look at. Besides the massage table, I had basic, nondescript furniture. The second bedroom—that I used as an office—had a little more personality, but only because that’s where I kept my racing memorabilia. However, I was aware that displaying racing medals and plaques rode a fine line between being impressive and douchey. On the plus side, Chuck and I did manage to keep the place clean. At least we had that going for us.

“Thanks.”

I guess Chuck figured he’d been patient long enough because he jumped up on April, paws on her knees, tail going a mile a minute. I started to scold him, but there was no point when she crouched down and cooed, “You are by far the cutest Chuck I’ve ever laid eyes on.” Chuck managed a lick under her chin, eliciting an adorable giggle from April.

I can’t keep them , reason warned. I knew the sooner I came to terms with that, the better. But I wasn’t ready.

“You okay?” April asked. She stood, but her movements were slow, and she winced ever so slightly.

“I’m fine,” I lied. “But I can tell you are sore from the race.”

“I’m a little stiff,” she admitted.

I nodded toward the massage table. “Let’s fix that.”

“Right now?” she asked, eyeing it warily.

“You’ll feel better after,” I said, removing her overnight duffle from her arm and placing it on the couch. She scowled, so I said, “No deep tissue. I’ll keep it light.”

She put her hands on her hips, obviously unconvinced.

I ducked my head to be closer to her level. “No waterboarding or bamboo under the fingernails today. Promise.”

The corner of her lip twitched. She tried to subdue it, but then a full smile cracked. “Fine,” she said. The smile turned wicked. “Last time I kept my clothes on during the massage. Do you mind if I make myself more comfortable?”

And that’s how I knew I was going to be the one tortured today. Right in my own home.

“Be my guest,” I said, barely managing to keep my voice even.

Her eyes bounced between mine for a moment before she reached to the back of her neck and pulled a string. The top of her romper fell loose around her collarbone. She held my gaze as her shoulders rolled out of the fabric. The material fell to the cinched part of her waist, stopped by another tie.

Her breasts strained against a lacy black bra. Just above one of the cups, that little silver butterfly charm she wore stuck to one of her voluptuous curves. A piece of jewelry had never looked so good.

Fuck.

I’m not going to survive having my hands on her.

How was I supposed to behave myself when she looked like that ? I imagined throwing her over my shoulder and taking her to my bedroom—fucking the tension out of us before it ate me whole.

Then I chided myself. She’d feel so much better—enjoy sex so much more if she weren’t stiff. I didn’t want her to leave my apartment tomorrow in worse shape than she’d come. I invited her over to take care of her, and that’s exactly what I would do.

I forced my eyes back to hers and closed the distance between us. I slowly pulled the string at her waist, and her lashes fluttered. The rest of the fabric fell to the floor.

My hands slid down to her hips, and a small moan escaped April. My fingers found a strappy thong, and my dick strained in my shorts, desperate for me to rip the lace off her body and bury myself inside her again.

“These can stay on,” I said, my voice sandpaper.

My palms rode her hourglass figure up. “But this—” I traced around her bra straps until I reached the clasps. “Has to go.” April shivered as I undid them. Her breasts bounced free, and I salivated at the sight of perfect nipples.

Both previous times with April, we’d been frantic, like two people getting one last lay before the end of the world. Tonight, I’d take my time savoring her—worshipping her.

I backed away from her to lift a corner of the sheet on the massage table. “On the table, Baird. Face down.”

She blinked, looking lost in her own lustful haze. Then she gave a slight shake of her head as if to clear it. “Yes, Coach.”

At this rate, I’d have to ban the other athletes from calling me Coach. She’d turned it into something so sweetly salacious for me.

With her comfortable under the sheet and my hands oiled, I started on her back. I knew she’d have a lot of tension there, the same with her shoulders and neck. Hours hunched in aero position, holding up a head—made heavier by a helmet—will do that. I’d stretch, smooth, press, and pull until she was all better.

The goosebumps sprouted instantly. Then came the first moan as I swept my hands from shoulders to hips. I eased up.

“That little sound you just made,” I said, beginning at her neck again. “It was from pleasure, right? I’m not hurting you?”

“No hurting,” she murmured. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but can you add more pressure? Just a little?”

I grinned and pressed deeper with my next pass.

She responded with an, “Oh, Gaaaabriel.”

My dick twitched. She wasn’t done moaning my name tonight. That much I knew.

I worked her until she was boneless. After I’d eased all the stress from her back, legs, and ass—massaging those curves had taken every ounce of restraint—I moved up to her neck again. I remembered how, back at the hotel, she’d played with my hair. I’d practically had an out-of-body experience. I wanted the same for April .

“April?” I asked quietly, sitting on the table next to her.

“Hmmm?” she murmured in a way that made me wonder if she’d fallen asleep.

I draped her arm over my leg and rubbed circles around her shoulder. My other hand snaked into her hair. My forearm rested along her spine as I rubbed her scalp. “Are you tender-headed?”

“No. Why?” I grabbed a handful of hair and held, giving a gentle tug right at the roots. “Oh!” April froze for half a moment before melting with another moan. I felt all the blood in my body flow to one eager appendage.

When I released her hair, she let out a shuddering sigh.

“That okay?” I asked hoarsely, fingers running along her scalp again.

It sounded like she mumbled, “New kink unlocked,” but it was so quiet I couldn’t be sure.

“What?” My question released with a huff of a laugh.

“Feels so good.”

I chuckled. That’s definitely not what I’d heard the first time, but I decided to let it slide, reaching to grab another fistful of hair.

She gasped.

My other hand squeezed and pulled on her bicep. “I love making you feel good,” I admitted before releasing my grip.

“Part of the job? Right?”

“No, this is.” I blew out a breath, then placed both my thumbs on her neck, applying pressure and sliding them upward into her hairline. She hummed her approval. Her pleasure was my pleasure. I wanted to be her chauffeur to ecstasy every single time. “So different.”

I had her flip over, and it was almost too much being able to see the pleasure on her face when I hit just the right spot—her hips, her deltoids, when I gripped her hand while I rubbed down her forearm.

Towards the end, I washed the oil off my hands and pulled a chair so her head was practically in my lap. She melted as I erased the tension from her forehead, cheeks, and jaw.

I placed a hand on her chest and leaned her head against my forearm so I could give her neck another stretch while I massaged the scalp just beyond her temple. The way she relaxed into my arm made my chest pinch.

Hermosa.

She was so beautiful it hurt.

Then her full lips parted, and I couldn’t help myself. I raked a hand down her face, watching my thumb catch on that bottom lip.

She opened her eyes slowly.

“I’m obsessed with your lips,” I confessed.

“Just my lips?” she asked with a breathless smile.

“No. I’m obsessed with all of you, April.” I swiped my thumb down her jaw. “I can’t get you out of my head.” I brushed my knuckles ever so lightly across her throat. “I think you know this already.” I elicited a shiver from April as my fingers skated over her collarbone. “But you torture me in all the best ways.”

She blinked up at me, and I wondered if I’d gone too far when she grabbed my face and pulled me down to her. Kissing her upside-down gave me a whole new perspective of her mouth. I let myself enjoy just the press of her lush lips before I slid my tongue from corner to center. She opened, and we were tasting each other. I stood, wanting to have more control, more reach.

That’s when she found the waistband to my shorts. She propped up on her elbow, yanking me closer, then stopped, laughing. “Your kid is watching. ”

“My what?” I whirled to find Chuck sitting up on the couch, tongue lolling out of that smiling mouth, tail wagging.

“Pervert,” I tossed over my shoulder to him as I whipped the sheets off April and hiked her up. It was becoming a favorite pastime of mine, feeling her legs around my torso, my fingers pressing into her ass cheeks. Her core against me, right where it belonged.

“Bye, Chuck!” April said, still laughing. She relieved me of my shirt and tossed it right before I shut my bedroom door with my foot.

Moving with purpose, I carried us toward the bed.

“Wait!” April said. Reluctantly, I paused. If I had to wait any longer to be inside her, I thought I’d lose a year off my life.

What would be a legitimate reason not to continue?

Tornado?

There weren’t any windows in my closet. We could do it in there.

She felt like she was coming down with something?

I made killer tortilla soup. We could be sick together.

Nuclear war?

All the more reason to get one last fuck in.

The only reason I’d stop was if she wanted me to, which was why I was so relieved when she said, “I’m covered in oil. Couldn’t that stain your bedding?”

I laughed. “Fuck the bedding.” I tossed her onto my comforter, and she landed with a delighted giggle.

I felt predatory, shucking off the rest of my clothes and heading for the space between April’s thighs, but she stopped me with a hand on my chest.

“I don’t think so,” she said. “On your back.”

My jaw worked. That massage had depleted my self-control. I was ready to let desire engulf me, not hand over the reins. But it was April. Her wish was my command.

“Yes, April,” I said, using the same tone she did with her, Yes, Coach.

Her eyes sparkled as my back sank into the mattress. April knelt next to me and set a hand over my sternum. My heart banged against her palm, and she gave a slight smile. She knew exactly what she did to me.

Her hands slid over my ribs, across my abdomen. I shivered as she went lower and lower. The reward for handing over control came quickly.

“What do you think about when you look at my lips, Coach?”

She wrapped a hand around me, and I short-circuited. I was already hard, of course. I’d pretty much spent the entire fucking massage hard.

“Do you want to know what they’d feel like? Here?” Her mouth hovered over my head.

My brain scrambled for purchase, but every thought was a slippery surface, feeling her breath on me. “April—” Her tongue swirled over the head, and it tore a sound I didn’t recognize from me. April’s hazel eyes were bright as she lowered her mouth, lips stretching over me.

I threw my head back against the pillow. As she moved up and down, taking me deeper, I forgot how to breathe. That was fine. I didn’t need oxygen.

She kissed up the side. When she got back to the top, she paused to say, “Keep breathing for me, Torres.” I wanted to retort, but my mind went blank when she put me in her mouth again. I was proficient in two languages, but when April’s plump lips were sliding down my dick, my vocabulary dropped to zero.

I could die now. This was the peak of my existence.

She picked up the pace, and I knew an orgasm was on the horizon. April didn’t seem like she had any intention of stopping. And, shit, I didn’t want her to either. The idea of her sucking me to completion almost sent me over the edge, but I got a hold of it. She felt too far.

“April,” I tried, but she kept going. My head rolled against the pillow as I fought for control. I asked her to stop, or at least, I meant to.

She was so mind-numbingly good that I didn’t realize I’d spoken Spanish until April paused to say, “?Qué?” with a playful spark in her hazel eyes.

I placed my fingers under her chin, knowing if she put her mouth back on me, I was a goner. “Get up here,” I said, sounding guttural.

She obeyed, crawling on top, but I flipped us over. She let out a surprised little squeal at the sudden shift. Her eyes danced with laughter until I discarded her thong and dropped to my forearms between her thighs.

“Gabriel,” she gasped, a hand pushing up her forehead as if just the idea of my mouth on her drove her wild. I knew the feeling, and it was time to return the favor.

I lowered my mouth and devoured her.

Her body immediately tensed—like paper curling in a flame. Her thighs clamped my head, her fingers in my hair.

I didn’t let up.

She was delicious.

So incredibly delicious. I thought back to the first time I’d caught a whiff of her scent. How she smelled like some sort of dessert. If only I’d known.

I was intoxicated by not only her taste but those little whimpers she made. How she gasped and squirmed when I sucked just the right spot.

“Gah—” she panted, her legs clamping tighter against my head. “I’m gonna—I’m close.”

“I’m aware,” I said, kissing the bud before grabbing those legs and spreading her wide. I latched back on and, within a minute, had her arching off the bed, screaming my name.

I absently wondered if the neighbors could hear. I didn’t mind. Let the entire world know the intimate, vile things we did together. I couldn’t promise her a future, but I selfishly claimed her as wholly mine in the present.

As her body relaxed, I crawled my way up to her, kissing her stomach as I went. With a flushed chest, mussed hair, and rosy cheeks, she was devastatingly—beautifully—spent. I loved that I’d done that to her.

“It’s not fair,” she panted. “You didn’t let me finish you.”

I ran my nose along her jaw as I positioned myself at her entrance. “Let’s fix that.”

Her swollen lips parted, and her eyes rolled as I slowly moved into her. Meanwhile, I palmed different parts of her greedily: her shoulders, her hips, her breasts. She registered every subtle shift, gasping and moaning at the different spots I hit as I pushed into her.

I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to make April come again, but I took it slow, trying to give her enough time to recover. It was so hard to keep the pace controlled, but my resolve paid off when April tensed beneath me.

I slid a hand into her hair. What had she said about a new kink? I lightly pulled a handful. She cried out in pleasure and gripped my back, nails digging in. We were both close. I wanted to look her in the eye as she came, but her lids were already closed.

“April.” Her name sounded like a beg out of my lips. “Look at me.”

Slowly, her lids parted, and her eyes reminded me of the sun cresting a hill—the gold spilling onto green earth. That’s when I came undone, and so did she. We clutched each other as we orgasmed. I was pretty sure April was leaving scratch marks on my back, and I was okay with that. More than okay. The pleasure was so intense, so bright, it was like watching a star being born. A nova, right here in my vast, empty galaxy.

After ecstasy released its hold, I collapsed on the bed next to April, listening to our lungs try to find some sense of normalcy. When I felt stable, I looked over at her. She had an arm thrown across her forehead, features completely relaxed.

“That was—” I started.

“Ruinous,” she rasped.

I propped myself on an elbow, not sure I loved that description.

She peaked open one eye, still shaded by her elbow. “You’ve ruined all other sex for me. How am I supposed to ever enjoy myself with another man after that?” Her tone was playful, but the words were serrated.

April with another man?

Pressure swelled in my chest, and it took me a second to clock it as jealousy. I was jealous of simply the idea of another man taking her like I just had—of being able to enter her, grip her hips, listen to her gasp his name, watch her come undone.

But that’s what would inevitably happen. We weren’t anything close to permanent. Our time together was sand in the wind, and that was my fault. I’d prescribed casual for our relationship, just like all the other relationships I’d had, except none of the other times had felt like this. Just the idea of letting her go barbed.

It was getting harder and harder to ignore the fact that having sex with April was different. I didn’t just feel a release or the normal appreciative companionship that came with friends with benefits. I felt connected to her, and that scared me.

“You sure you’re okay?” she asked, removing her arm from her eyes .

The question made me realize I was clenching my jaw. I forced myself to relax. I didn’t have to worry about saying goodbye tonight. “Yeah. Sorry, I’m always a little out of it after races.”

She nodded, and her necklace caught my attention again. The tiny silver butterfly rose and fell with her shallow breaths.

“Mariposa,” I said, tracing a finger around the wings. “You wear this a lot.”

“My mom used to look for meaning in everything, and butterflies were always a sign of magic to her.” April gave a sheepish smile. “And I know it sounds silly to think of an insect as magical, but I like the idea that there’s more out there.”

I picked up the butterfly, and the silver winked in my palm. I had April Baird naked in my bed. How could I not believe in magic? “That doesn’t sound silly at all.” I thought of my own mom’s culture and beliefs. “Did you know that when the Day of the Dead is celebrated, Monarch butterflies migrate through Mexico? They’re often viewed as souls of loved ones stopping by.”

“That’s—” Her eyes shined. The emotion there was so raw, I almost regretted telling her. That is until she smiled that gorgeous smile of hers. “That’s beautiful,” she finally managed. “I had no idea.”

Her fingers curled around mine over the necklace, and I could have spent the rest of the night there, just like that, enjoying April’s warmth. Unfortunately, it was bittersweet, knowing every moment we drew closer to our impending end. For all I knew, this could be the last time I had her in my bed, the last time we held hands. That kiss could have been the final time my lips touched hers.

Just in case, I leaned in, catching her mouth with mine. She sighed into me, and I was frantic, trying to memorize her delectable lips, but I already knew I’d never accurately capture April. Breaking things off with her was going to rip me to shreds.