Page 117 of B & E Ever After (Fairy Tale Quartet 3)

“Jesus Christ,” he ground out, his eyes wild as they found mind. “Gabby. Please. Dammit, please!”

I gasped out a surprised breath, never in a million years guessing he’d actually beg. But seeing all that faith and trust and passion in his eyes was my undoing.

“Ah, fuck,” I whispered, completely overcome. This was more than I could take.

I kissed him hard and started to come, unable to stop myself as I crushed my body down on his with everything I had until he shouted in surprise and pulsed inside me, the heat of his release melting my resistance completely.

This man owned me.

As my body convulsed around his and he shuddered in me, he let go of the headboard to lock his arms around me and tuck his face into my neck, holding on to me as if I were the only thing left on the planet that felt real to him.

From there, we bulldozed our way into euphoria together. And I had a feeling, there was no coming back from this. We’d both just been intrinsically altered.

Chapter 28

Gabby

“Strange fact,” Hayden panted, slipping his hand over my hair as I began to climb off him, my legs as weak as jelly and heart still racing with a mixture of fear and panic.

Because I loved him, I realized. Holy shit, I loved this aggravating pain in the ass. Dazed, I licked my dry lips and mumbled, “What’s that?” hoping he couldn’t tell what I was feeling.

“I didn’t much like walking in the door to find my brother in bed with you,” he answered casually, seemingly unaware of the crisis that was happening inside me.

But fuck me, I loved a man who drove me crazy, who had insane family issues, who could piss me off like no one else. And, holy hell, I think I liked loving someone who was so messed up.

I lifted my face to peer into his eyes. At the moment, he didn’t seem too upset about seeing Brick and me stretched out on the bed together. But he’d also just come so hard he might’ve broken all the blood vessels in his medulla oblongata, preventing him from experiencing anger ever again.

“So you decided to fuck the shit out of me to show me who I really belong to, huh?” I guessed.

His eyes darted to me, and a rueful grin graced his sexy mouth. “Too archaic?”

“A bit.” I nodded only to run my hand up his hard, chiseled chest. “But I can’t say I didn’t enjoy your technique. You give a girl a good orgasm, Carmichael.”

With a satisfied sigh, I climbed off the bed and smiled down at him as he gazed up at me, his eyes glittering with warmth and awe. It was an overwhelming experience to have someone look at you as if you hung the moon. Made you realize how much you didn’t deserve it, and yet

how much you wanted to at least try to.

No man had ever made me want to put that much effort into him before. So I reverted back to my usual smarminess to deal with it, hiding all the fluttering nerves that quivered through my dazed system.

“To really seal the deal with me, however,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest and lifting one eyebrow, “you’re going to have to feed me because now I’m starving.”

Hayden chuckled and reached out his arm to snag the to-go bag off the nightstand. “In that case, I have bagels.”

“Bagels?” I wrinkled my nose, hoping for something full of a hell of a lot more sugar and sweetness to combat these jittery emotions. Like donuts maybe.

“With your choice of garlic herb, strawberry, or cinnamon schmear,” he added.

My eyebrows perked with interest. “Really?” I climbed back onto the mattress and reached out. “In that case, gimme!”

When he held the bag away before I could snag it, I glowered at him, non-impressed.

But all he said was, “Thank you.”

The seriousness in his tone made me melt until I dropped all playfulness as well. “For what?” I asked quietly.

His gaze went wistful as it wandered over my face. “For last night,” he answered. “For this morning. For every moment I’ve breathed since I met you.”

And that was it for me.

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