Page 59 of The Pretender

Chapter 16

She felt free. Gabby couldn’t remember the last time her heart soared when someone kissed her or her stomach jumped when a man’s palm traveled up her thigh. Both happened now.

After sorting through old horrors, a new feeling settled in her. Hunger. For him.

She leaned over, letting her mouth hover over his cheek. She didn’t touch him at first. She inhaled. Let the charged distance pull them in deeper. Then the room spun around her. He had her off the coffee table and on his lap. His hands traveled over her back as their lips met.

The kiss shocked her as it had every time. He didn’t linger. He dove in and took over. Told her with his lips that he wanted her and couldn’t hold back.

The need coursing through him was the sexiest thing ever. He didn’t play games or hide the way his body readied for her. His erection pressed against her thigh as his fingers clenched and unclenched against the material of her shirt.

The baseball style T-shirt he wore had her concentration cutting out. It fit snug over his biceps and chest but hung loose near his belt. It showed off every bulge and every line. Highlighted his lean stomach and gave her a peek of the elastic band of his underwear sticking out of the top of his jeans.

This man made unsexy white cotton hot. Hell, he made everything look good.

She had no idea what he really did for a living. He studied the artwork in the main house with a lot of interest, but that could all be for show. It didn’t matter to her because here, now, on the couch with her thighs pressing against his, clothes and careers were the last thing on her mind.

Her fingers went to the buttons on her shirt. She got the first undone, then the second. At the third he leaned forward and pressed his mouth against her skin. Nibbled a little bite then sucked on the skin where he’d just inflicted the sensual torture.

The move made her weak. She grabbed on to his forearms for balance as his mouth toured her chest. Just as his lips dipped down and his tongue slipped along the edge of her bra, he shifted again. He licked up her neck then went higher. When he hit that sensitive space behind her ear and blew a hot breath across her skin a tremor ran through her. She almost jackknifed off his lap.

“That is so fucking sexy,” he said with a deep voice that vibrated through her.

Without missing a beat, his hands slipped to her waist and held her steady. She refused to give in that easily. She rocked her hips from side to side, grinding her body against his until she heard him moan.

Those long fingers tightened on her waist and he brushed his lips over hers. “Much more of that and this will end early.”

That was all the incentive she needed. Oh, she wanted to savor every minute, but there was something so tantalizing about watching him squirm. About seeing that admirable control seep away from him.

“How does this feel?” She rotated her hips, pressing the V of her thighs against his length.

“You are playing a dangerous game.”

“You.” She kissed his neck. “Should.” Her mouth moved to his chin. “Teach me a lesson.”

Her mouth met his and an explosion of need fired off in her brain. Heat flushed through her as his tongue met hers. Her arms wrapped around his neck and her fingers slid through his hair. She pulled his body closer, aching to feel his chest rub over hers.

Through it all, her hips kept moving. She practically rode him through his jeans. Lifted her hips up and down, sliding over his bulge, tempting him. Destroying her control in the process.

His breathing kicked up and a desperate panting filled the room. When his fingers skimmed under her shirt to the clasp at the front of her bra she almost shouted for joy. She needed his touch. Wasn’t sure how she’d survived the last fourteen months without any meaningful human contact.

He peeled the cups of the bra down and stared at her. He did not try to hide the heat in his eyes or the appreciation in that smile. His gaze roamed all over her. Then he bent down and took her nipple in his mouth.

Her head fell back and her body tensed. She could hear his kisses, feel them. Smell the need building between them.

She lowered her head until her mouth grazed his ear. “I want to ride you.”

“Fuck yes.” He mumbled the words against her breast.

She was convinced he’d make her wait, keep torturing her with that tongue. But in one fluid move, he rose to his feet with her body wrapped around him. She linked her ankles behind his back and let them drop down to his butt. As her body adjusted to fit against his, she grabbed fistfuls of his shirt and dragged it up his back.

She fumbled to get him naked as they walked. He headed for the bedroom, kissing her with each step. She marveled at how he could concentrate. If she had to lift a pillow right now she wasn’t sure she could do it. All of her energy had centered on getting her shirt open. Now she put it into getting his off.

The kissing, the touching. Hands sliding over each other as their breathing failed. The tension pounding between them ratcheted up. She’d lost the ability to think. All she wanted was his hands on her and her legs open on the bed.

“I’m going to make it last.” This time she bit down on his earlobe. Sucked it between her teeth until he hissed.

His shoulder smacked into the doorjamb, but the uncharacteristically clumsy move didn’t stop him. He bounced and kept going. He fell back on the mattress, turning and twisting so his body took the brunt of their weight. The move left her sprawled on top of him. A sexy friction had them both gasping as they moved over each other.

---