Page 61 of Cowboy SEAL Christmas

Gabe fancied himself something of a broken, selfish man, but he was none of those things. Even in this temporary get-it-out-of-our-systems moment, he was offering whatshewanted.Sheneeded. He would enjoy it too, but it wasn’t the same as just going after whatever he wanted.

She placed her palms on his chest and moved into a sitting position. His eyes glittered, and his hands came to her hips, clamping there again. She moved her body forward, and he hissed out a breath.

She was affecting him, torturing him maybe, and there was such an amazing power in that. It gave her a patience she didn’t know she was capable of—and maybe she only had it because he employed it on her. She’d absorbed his ability to draw out a moment until it nearly hurt, until you thought you would break.

And then you did.

She moved slow, so slow she nearly hated herself, but every time he gasped, as his breath went from shallow to panting, something new and brighter sparkled to life inside of her.

“Monica,” he murmured, hushed and holy, like a prayer. Then he mumbled something that sounded like aplease. It crackled through her like lightning. Like power.

She leaned forward, breasts brushing his chest, mouth going to his ear. “Are you begging me?” she whispered.

He laughed so dark and edgy, it sent a shudder of anticipation through her. The kind of shudder that felt almost like fear, except she was too excited, too far gone to ever be afraid.

“Baby, I never beg.” He held her hips hard and tight, moving himself slow and deep inside of her. “But you might be a first,” he said on a loud exhale.

The power, no matter how much of a lie it might have been, coursed through her at his words. Almost as if he’d known it would eradicate all the patience she’d been using.

She moved against him, faster and faster, chasing her own pleasure as though it were the answer to all of life’s problems. When the orgasm rushed over her, hard and shuddering, she barely noticed Gabe’s fingers digging tighter into her hips as he arched up into her, growling low and feral.

She collapsed forward on the wide, hard expanse of his chest. Remembering the way he’d covered her before, she attempted to do the same to him. She stretched out and then pressed her nose into his neck and kissed the underside of his jaw.

“I guess it’s my turn to say wow,” he offered, his hand gently brushing up and down her back.

She managed to chuckle. “You damn well better.”

She wanted to lie here for possibly ever. Happily sated and warm and in Gabe’s arms. On top of him as if she had bested him in some way. No, she didn’t want to leave this place.

But he was probably uncomfortable and maybe she shouldn’t be a needy post-sex cuddler. She didn’t know what casual sex was like. As the lingering edge of her orgasm began to wear off, anxiety crept in. They did have to spend a lot of their future lives dealing with each other, and she didn’t want to be the silly, desperate-for-more-of-him woman.

But as she made a move to get off of him, his arms only tightened around her so that she couldn’t move.

Her body immediately relaxed. It wouldn’t last. It couldn’t last. But for right now, in this moment, he wanted her there, and she wanted to be there. She was going to let that be comfort enough.

Chapter 16

Gabe had no idea what had possessed him to hold her there. Sure, she felt amazing on top of him. Like heaven. Like one million things he hadn’t had in forever. Or forever period.

He had to let her go. Partly because this was all too much and partly because he wanted more than he could ever allow himself to have.

Still he didn’t let her go. How could he when she sighed happily into his neck? When her fingers traced gentle, soothing patterns over his arms. She had no qualms about touching his scars or his burn marks. He hadn’t been with all that many women since he’d gotten them, and most of his partners had avoided them. Because sex then had just been…sex.

He squeezed his eyes shut and finally allowed his arms around her to loosen. “I should take care of the condom.”

She rolled off him fast as a shot. As though the words had broken her from some trance. Some trance he wished she would’ve stayed in.

“Bathroom’s in the hallway. You can’t miss it,” she said, weirdly overbright about the whereabouts of her bathroom.

He nodded and slid out of bed. He didn’t bother for clothes at this point. The fire was high and crackling, he was warmed all over, and she’d seen it all.

He entered the hall and the first doorway was open but dark. Still, he could make out a window, maybe the corner of some furniture. Definitely not a bathroom.

Colin’s bedroom—a stark reminder of so many things. Because he liked the kid, but he knew what being the kid of a single mother was like. He was aware of all the complications that came with your mom having relationships. If Colin ever found out about this…

Gabe couldn’t even let himself think about it. How it might sour Colin’s opinion of him. How it might change everything.

One of the things he liked so much about Monica was that she was a good mom. She would never, ever make Colin feel like a second-class citizen in his own home, but it could still change how Colin saw Gabe.

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