Page 39 of Beautifully Used
Brodie
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When a beautiful woman kisses you, I mean really kisses you—with passion and desire—you don’t turn away. At least not in my book. Particularly not when that woman is someone you’d only dreamed about kissing. So, yeah, I let her kiss me. And yep, I kissed her back. I had a fleeting thought about the slap over a year ago when I had tried to kiss her. But circumstances were completely different now. I wasn’t the one who’d started it. I wasn’t groping her the way I had back then. She deserved much better treatment than that. I let her kiss me until she slowly stopped and pulled away.
She hovered over me, licking her lips like she’d just tasted the flavor of the month from Baskin Robbins. For me, the kiss was like a slice of heaven. I didn’t wait a second longer. I pulled her back to me and kissed those lips the way I’d always wanted to. There was no slap this time. Only a lovely moan that came from somewhere deep inside of her. Sort of like a purr. The sensation of her body so filled with passion on top of mine felt amazing, every bit as wonderful as I had imagined. The intensity of her tongue in my mouth made my body react in ways I knew I had to keep under control.
I needed to take things slowly with Gabrielle. Not only because I wanted to savor every moment of the magnitude of her touch and the way she tasted, but also because she deserved to be treated with the utmost care and tenderness. At the same time, she needed to be shown she was desired. It took every ounce of control I had to keep myself in check. I took hold of her shirt, fisting it in my hand to make sure I wasn’t dreaming, to have something tangible to hold on to.
I allowed her to take the lead, but I also wanted her to know that I was very much involved. The kiss went on much longer than I had anticipated, and when she pulled her lips away from mine, I couldn’t do much except gaze into her eyes.
“This might complicate things,” I said, finally finding my voice.
“Mmmm … possibly. Are you mad?” she asked.
“Mad? Do I look mad?”
“No.”
“Well, then.” I took her face in my hands and gently tugged her back into another kiss. By the time we’d stopped kissing, the sun had sunk down well below the horizon creating a beautiful landscape of purples and oranges. As the reflection from the sinking sun illuminated the edges of the clouds, they looked like they were on fire.
With the ambience of the sunset, the sand beneath me, and the way her wet body clung to mine, I lost all my resolve and admitted the one thing that had been so difficult to even admit to myself. “The real reason I stopped ‘sleeping around’ with a bunch of different women all the time is you. I didn’t want you to think I was that guy.”
“I… I was going to say I never thought you were that guy, but that would have been a lie. Last year, when you kissed me, you took me by surprise, even more so by the groping. Back then, I thought you were that guy. But not since I’ve known you now. You’re definitely not that guy.”
“Before Beth, my ex, I’d never really been the type of guy to use women, or let them use me as the case was so many times after her. What she did was inexcusable and selfish, and at the time, all I wanted to do was hurt her. I couldn’t do that, so I guess maybe I lashed out and took advantage of others instead. I’m glad you don’t think of me in that way. I’ve always liked you, Gabrielle. Having you living at the house has been beyond amazing.”
“I hope this doesn’t ruin it,” she mumbled.
“Don’t say that. This won’t ruin anything as far as I’m concerned.” There was no way in hell I wanted to make the same mistakes I’d made in the past. I liked Gabrielle, and since we’d been living under the same roof, I thought I knew her pretty well. I was fairly sure there was some big secret looming over her from her past, but I had mine, too. Giving her a little of that secret tonight had been difficult. Someday, I’d give her the rest of the story.
I’d gone over and over it in my head the past two years trying to figure out what had made Beth do what she had done. Why she hadn’t felt the same way about me, how I hadn’t known. Little things, like when she’d go get coffee for herself and not for me. Or when I’d ask her what she was doing or where she was going, and she’d get all defensive and accuse me of being jealous. It had never occurred to me that the reasons she got so upset by those questions was because she didn’t really want me to know. That she didn’t love me.
As much as I loved this moment with Gabrielle, I thought it would be best if we took things very slowly. “It’s getting dark now. We should probably go in and put some dry clothes on,” I suggested.
“Yeah. Thanks for getting me all wet, and I think I lost my wine somewhere way down that-a-way.” She pointed back toward the hotel we were staying at.
“We’ll get you another one.” I gently flipped her off of me and stood, holding my hand out for her to take. When she got to her feet, I pulled her in; wrapping my arms around her waist I kissed her again. I savored every centimeter of her lips, her taste, her scent, and took them into memory, not knowing where this would lead, if anywhere. I just didn’t want to forget.
Back at the entrance to the bar, we slipped on our shoes. Our clothes were soaked, but not dripping. Gabrielle’s hair hung down her back in wet, curly strands. Some of the shorter curls around her face stuck out, while others seemed to be plastered to her cheeks. Her wet, tousled look made me think of a beautiful mermaid set free from the sea, ready to conquer her mate into submission. And I was her willing victim. I opened the door for her, smiling a bit, fantasizing about the future, hoping there would be one with Gabrielle however long or short it might be.
As expected, Kipper and Denny were still sitting at the bar watching the TV. I wasn’t sure if Gabrielle felt comfortable enough to let them see her—us—all wet. I turned to her. “If you want to head up to the room so you can get dried off and change quicker, I’ll order some more drinks and bring them up.”
“No, that’s okay. I’ll wait for you.”
“Okay,” I said, feeling a bit like a high school kid about to run into some of the guys who would no doubt give us a hard time about what we’d been up to.
As we approached the bar, Kipper turned around. “Hey, how’s the water?”
“Um… great,” Gabrielle supplied, and I couldn’t help but notice the flush in her cheeks.
“You and Denny should go for a swim,” I added to take the focus off of us.
“Nah, maybe tomorrow. I like the sun. It’s dark out now. Hey, what time are we getting together for practice and setup?”
“Sometime around eleven.”
“Sounds good,” Kipper said, and Denny nodded. “Hey, look who’s risen from the honeymoon suite!” he added, gesturing with his head toward the doorway where Lena and Jackson had walked in holding hands. Great, two more people I didn’t feel like seeing right now. I hoped the questions about us being wet would hold off until tomorrow.
