Page 19 of Playing Doctor

“I have no room for romance or a relationship in my life, nor do I want it. I want no complications, and you can expect the same from me. This is for one night only,” she said.

Gabe nodded. The relief on his face told her they were of the same mindset where emotional involvement was concerned. Good.

“You should know that I’m free of any sexually transmitted disease. I was tested after my husband died.” She continued when he nodded again. “What we’re considering is sex, pure and simple, between two consenting adults, nothing more. Are we agreed?”

“No.”

For a moment, Beth wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly. “No?”

“No. I have a couple of stipulations of my own.”

Well, she certainly hadn’t expected this. Beth shifted in her seat. Wary and more than a little apprehensive, she said, “Please, go on.”

“First off, you should also know that I’ve never had an STD in my life. Secondly, I agree with the no romance, no relationship, no complications part and that we’re considering consensual—emphasis on the sensual—sex,” he corrected.

Gabe leaned across the seat, drove his fingers in her hair, took her mouth and her breath along with it. It was quick and thorough, a little rough with urgency. “Now, my stipulations.” He looked at her, his eyes grave. “You set the comfort level in everything we do. I want you to know you’re safe with me. I’ve been hard for you since the moment I first saw you. I want you easy and slow, hard and fast.” His gaze dropped to her mouth, the rough pad of his thumb skimmed over her bottom lip, and what he said next took her breath away. “I want to feel you come around my cock and against my mouth, and more than anything, I want to feel you swallow me deeper than I’ve ever been swallowed before. I want you on your back, straddling my hips, and on your hands and knees. It can be sweet and innocent or I can flat out fuck you until you can’t walk if that’s the way you want it, but there will be nothing pure or simple about it. Are we agreed?”

Heat rippled over her sex. Her nipples tightened until even the soft satin of her bra felt abrasive. She couldn’t form a response, could only nod as she stared into his heavy-lidded, lust-filled eyes. His words were dark and erotic, his voice deep and rich with promise, and she wanted it all. She’d never been so turned on in her life.

“Are we agreed?” he repeated.

“Yes, we’re agreed.”

He held her gaze a moment longer, and then slid out of the car. There were no words of praise for her vehicle this time when he helped her to stand. His focus remained solely on her.

She felt the power, the hunger within Gabe as he adjusted his long stride to match hers. They crossed the hotel lobby and stepped into the elevator.

“What floor are you on?” Gabe asked, studying the numbered panel on the wall. He slid his arm around her waist, holding her to his side with a possessiveness she found both soothing and arousing.

“Eleven.” Now, having made the decision to spend the night with Gabe, Beth fully intended to take Connie’s advice to set her inner vixen free. Tonight was about sex. About dropping her insecurities and inhibitions for one night with the first man she’d wanted to go to bed with in years. A man she would walk away from in the morning and never see again. He wanted her, no doubt about that. The things he’d said to her in the car made his intentions explicitly clear, his voice, rough and deep as he told her in no uncertain terms what he wanted to do to her…and for her to do for him. A shiver of anticipation moved through her.

Chapter Six

Following Beth into her room, Gabe closed the door and blew out a silent whistle of appreciation. Spacious and decorated in shades of cream and white, there was a small sitting area with a pair of overstuffed chairs and a large flat screen TV mounted on the wall over a fully stocked wet bar. Tucked in a corner, a compact office area was already in use, a laptop and several open folders occupying the desk.

To his right, an open door revealed a bathroom, but the focal point of the room was the California King.

She set her purse on the entry table, looked around, and ran her hands down her hips. Her teeth worried her lower lip and he could almost see the wheels turning, thoughts swimming in her pretty head, thinking, Now what?

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