Page 54 of The Villain Edit

Hell, maybe I’ll walk away from everything. Buy a house on a mountain and get a kitten. Find a life where I don’t have to fake date someone to find work.

“You still love Nic,” Gabriel says quietly, breaking into my thoughts.

What?My first instinct is to deny it and that shocks me to the core.

I picture Nic. His smile. His voice.

And I feel nothing.

I don’t love Nic. The possibility that I have never loved him is too terrifying to contemplate. I have done some shit for Nic and if it has no meaning…

Shit. My entire life has shifted off course somewhere in the last nine days—possibly within the last five minutes—and I didn’t notice until Gabe said his name.

Nic has been my end game for so long, and now he’s not. It’s disorienting, an entirely new world suddenly in front of me. One I never realized was there. I’m not going after Nic, so what am I going after?

I rest my forehead against Gabe’s chest. “Fuck,” I whisper into his shirt.

“I don’t care if you love him,” he says softly, and I’m not sure I believe him, but I can’t find the words to correct him. It’s too new. All of this. His voice hardens as he says, “As long as you aren’t thinking about him when you’re with me.”

“I won’t.” I doubt I’ll think about Nic much at all anymore. “And I can walk away.” If Gabe can do it, so can I.

The pot of water starts to boil, and Gabe kisses me. “Stay in my room tonight?”

Dinner takes forever, and the heated looks from Gabe have my blood buzzing with anticipation before the dishes are cleared away. We say good night to Cora, and Gabe takes my hand, leading me through an atrium and down some stairs to his room. I’m half in a daze, my heart pounding and feeling too big in my chest.

The bedroom door barely snicks shut before I push him against it. His dark eyes flare and I can’t look away. I don’t waste time with kisses—not yet. This man likes me. What was I thinking, admitting I like him too?

The prize I get for that moment of weakness is straining against his jeans, so I unbutton them and shove them down as I sink to my knees to claim it.

Goddamn, he fills out a pair of boxer briefs. I could stare, I could tease him through the fabric. Instead, I free his erection and push the boxer briefs down his thickly muscled thighs.

He watches me with hooded eyes as I wrap my hand around him, stroking him until he’s hard. Like every other Foley, I’m competitive as hell—he gave me the best orgasm of my life and I need him to come as hard as I did.

I lick the bead of precum, welcoming his salty taste, swirling my tongue over the wide head of his cock, teasing him where his head meets his shaft, while his soft moans fill the air.

“Ash.”

My name comes off his lips like a prayer and I take him deeper, the muscles in his thighs trembling under my hands.

His head hits the back of the door and he swears under his breath as I hollow my cheeks and suck, sliding up and down his length.

He likes me, everything about me. The ugly dark stuff too. I don’t know how to feel about that or him. I’m off balance, but right now, blowing Gabriel Sinclair, the world steadies and I’m back in control.

The dim light of the room catches the planes and angles of his face, the dark shadow of stubble on his jaw, and when he looks down at me, his expression is one of surrender. Warmth spreads over me, tenderness I didn’t think I could feel with it.

He’s beautiful like this—all mine.

I don’t know where that thought came from, but I’m not examining it now.

My hand takes over and I pay some attention to the head of his cock, sliding the tip in and out of my mouth, licking and sucking, using my hands on his length. He moans again when I gently play with his balls, and the sound he makes when I tease his perineum is downright obscene. I’m so turned on I can’t stop myself from squirming, seeking out whatever friction I can find.

When I take him deep again, he whispers a stream of endearments and praise that make me glow with warmth, punctuated with profanity that turns me on. The way I cling to every word from his lips should terrify me. Maybe it does because suddenly I need this to be rougher. I need him to use me the way I used him in the car.

Gabe’s hands are balled into fists, digging into his thighs. He’s trembling and the effort it’s taking him to hold still is impressive. I slip my fingers over his and his fists relax. When I guide his hands to my hair, his fingers tangle before he pulls me off him.

“I’m close, baby,” he says softly, his thumbs brushing across my cheeks. “Where do you want me to finish?”

“Fuck my mouth.” I gather my hair up for him and he hesitates for a heartbeat before taking it, shifting his grip to get it how he wants it. A few hairs pull and the sting makes me moan as I take him in again.

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