Page 60 of The Talk Around Town

Gabe closed his eyes, needing a moment to calm himself. If he didn’t he would lose all control. The sight of her bare skin tightened his body to the point of release in the space of one heartbeat.

Calm, Gabriel. Calm.

He wanted this woman so much.Neededher.

He kissed up over her shoulder to the curve of her neck. Emma turned her head, her hair sliding and falling to the side, giving him access to the soft, tender skin there.

He slipped his hand under her arm and trailed over her ribs to cup the weight of her breast, resting it in his palm. He brushed his thumb over her nipple. She thrust the rigid peak against his hand.

A soft moan floated on the air around them, knocking one more chink into his armour of control.

Dropping his hand from her breast, Gabe kissed her neck. Scraping his teeth across the sensitive skin, he trailed up to her ear, taking the soft lobe into his mouth just as his fingers slid between her legs.

Emma moaned and her head fell back onto his shoulder, her whole body limp in his arms. He moved, positioning himself, so ready for her he only held on to his control through sheer determination.

“Do you have any protection?” he whispered.

*

Emma forced hereyes open. She nodded and pointed at the nightstand. “Top drawer.”

Her voice wasn’t working properly. She could barely breathe, let alone hold a conversation. Gabe’s scent was all around her, inside her, part of her.

He reached over and grabbed the small box he’d left there last time from the drawer, repositioning himself behind her. The crackle of foilreached her ears. She felt him move, his chest pressing more firmly against her back, too drunk on sensation to do more than wish he’d hurry. His fingers returned, stroked, played her.

Velvet hardness pressed against her, beneath her.

His fingers kept up their rhythm, stroking, guiding, pressing. She needed him so badly, almost desperate to have him inside her. Gabe grasped her thigh with his free hand, moving her up and leaning her forward.

Air erupted from her mouth, her eyes flying wide open as he filled her, burying himself inside her, his mouth on her neck licking, teeth scraping, turning her into a slave for the release only his body could provide.

Emma speared her hand into Gabe’s hair, holding his mouth to her neck while he owned her, pushing deeper each time. Her breath caught, shuddered, stalled in her lungs. The feel of him inside her overtook her mind. Ecstasy built, winding around her bones, teasing each nerve, spiralling through her blood in a whirlwind.

Emma bit down hard on her bottom lip, her head thrust back, her eyes shut against the storm rising within her.

Gabe grasped her hips and pulled her harder, tighter, faster onto him.

Emma’s cry burst from her, echoing around the large room. Her chest heaved with the effort to take in enough air, her lungs burning, straining for relief as ecstasy ricocheted through every nerve in her body.

Gabe’s hand clenched hard on her skin. Emma collapsed, her back plastered against his front, boneless. He raised her that little bit more, that one infinitesimal amount, his hands holding her in place.

Mouth pressed hard to the smooth, sweat-slicked nape, Gabe moaned, “I love you, Emma.”

Moments later, Gabe came apart behind her. The relentless pleasure of his fingers on her and force of his climax, along with his declaration, thrust Emma over the edge once more, her body surrendering to him.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Emma lay onher side where she’d collapsed moments earlier. There was no way she could move. She no longer had any muscles.

Gabe’s hard body pressed up against her back, his heavy breathing slowing and evening out. One arm draped over her hip possessively, his hand splayed flat on her stomach.

She managed to catch her breath. A small smirk started at the edges of her lips and wound up into a full smile, refusing to be quelled.

I love you, Emma.

She bit her bottom lip, trying to stop her happiness from leaking out all over the place. They said you could never believe a declaration of love from a guy trying to get you into bed. Well, Gabe wasn’t eighteen and he’d already had her in bed. He didn’t need to give empty promises to get what he wanted. She’d been more than willing and hadn’t asked for a guarantee.

She wriggled farther back, squirming into Gabe’s chest. His whole body wrapped around her.

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