“Fuck,” he hisses.
I smile coquettishly. “I thought I wasn’t supposed to be able to talk at this point.”
Gabriel fists my hair and shoves my face into the mattress as he starts to pound into me. I gasp and let out a guttural moan. I want to taunt him more, see how much further I can push him, but the sensation is so intense, so wicked, that I can’t find the words.
Gabriel leans over, and his hand snakes under me to squeeze my breast. He kisses and nips at my neck, his hot breaths fanning against my ear. I can feel the urgency in his hips, his kiss, the way his fingers find my clit almost clumsily. He needs this. I need this too. I need the passion, the unbridled lust. I need him.
Gabriel pulls out and flips me onto my back, hoisting my legs over his shoulders before entering me again. He kisses me hard and deep as his hips continue slamming into mine. I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him closer. I missed this closeness. I missed the feel of his skin, hot against mine. I’ve missed too much.
Pleasure swirls deep in my core. His pubic bone grinds against my clit with every thrust, and the resulting spike of bliss makes me cry out against his lips.
Gabriel pauses and lifts his head. I blink my eyes open and stare up at him. Why has he stopped? Have I done something wrong? How have I fucked this up? I haven’t said a word!
But the look he bestows on me isn’t angry or stern. It’s...tender, almost. His eyes are soft, and the way they flit over my face makes my cheeks heat. Gabriel is doing more than looking at me.
He’s seeing me.
Completely. Wholly. Without guise or pretense.
Gabriel kisses me again, slower this time, and lets my legs down so our chests can press flush together. His hips grind into mine at a teasing pace. I moan and try to pull him closer, digging my fingers into his back.
Tension coils in my belly, and I’m ready to burst. I just need a little more. And I know how to get it…
“Please, Gabriel,” I beg. “Please fuck me hard. So hard that I can’t breathe. I’m so close.”
This drives him into a frenzy, and with an approving growl, he starts jackhammering into me. I come apart with such intensity that my vision goes black. My nails bite into his back. My mouth falls open in a wordless scream. Pleasure blasts through me like a rocket soaring through the atmosphere, unlike anything I’ve been able to achieve on my own since we were kicked out of the mansion.
Gabriel grunts and shudders, and I feel him release inside of me. I wrap my arms around him and tighten, afraid that he’ll disappear the second this is over. I wish this moment could last forever.
We lie like that for a bit. Breathing. Feeling. Our hearts beating in time. When Gabriel rolls to the side, I am surprised when he drags me atop his chest, just like he used to do when we were lovers. He traces patterns on my back, and I close my eyes.
After a long silence, Gabriel says, “There is something you need to know about the Cartel. Something I’ve been meaning to tell you.”
I blink open and look at him. “What is it?”
Gabriel keeps staring at the ceiling, his mouth in a grim line. “Do you remember when I told you about the woman who manipulated my father? Felicity Huffman?”
Suddenly it all clicks into place. The oddly personal text. The threat of truth from Clara’s kidnapper. The nagging feeling that I was missing something.
“She’s the leader of the Cartel,” I whisper.
He nods.
Not everything makes sense. I’m not sure why Felicity thought it would upset me to have her appear so suddenly back in Gabriel’s life. That shouldn’t affect me at all. Unless...Is there something I’m missing about their relationship?
“Gabriel,” I begin. “We could do this without the lies. We could be a family.”
He looks down, and his lips part, but he doesn’t say a word.
Gabriel rolls me off him, though not too roughly. He rises from the bed and walks to the sideboard, where he unstoppers a crystal decanter and pours himself a glass of whiskey. He downs it in one mouthful.
I sit up on my elbows. “Please don’t ignore me, Gabriel,” I urge. “Don’t you want to be a family again?”
Gabriel faces away from me, the muscles in his shoulders stiffening. He doesn’t answer.
14
Gabriel
I wake in the early hours of the morning, noting the pleasant warmth of Alexis’ body next to mine. I forgot how good it feels to wake beside her, to smell her fresh, flowery scent on my pillowcase.
I open my eyes. The room is dark except for a band of moonlight stretching across the bed, illuminating one of Alexis’ creamy thighs where it straddles the covers. She is lying on her belly, her face turned toward me. A lock of her chestnut hair covers her face, and I brush it back. She snores softly.
I didn’t mean to fuck her. She was supposed to bring Harry over for Dr. Green to check out, and then she was supposed to go. I thought I had purged her from my system, and the fact that I couldn’t resist her troubles me.
As long as it was just physical, I suppose I have nothing to worry about. I have needs, after all. It’s fine to fulfill them. What wouldn’t be fine would be if I fell for her again, or if I let her in again. Which I won’t. It’s just physical.
Speaking of, my cock starts to stir at the thought of just how physical we got last night. I’ll fuck her again and go start my day. That should make it clear to both of us where my head is on this.
I bundle Alexis into my arms and pull her on top of me, then start to kiss her neck. She wakes up with a moan and props up on her arms, blinking down at me. She looks as though she might be about to say something, so I pull her back down and kiss her hard.
Alexis sighs against my lips, opening for me. Her cheek is soft against my palm. Her thighs feel like silk against mine. My cock throbs with the need to be inside her, and I hike her up a little further and guide her onto it.
Alexis lets out a delicious moan as I sink into her wet heat. Her pussy grips me perfectly. I let out a low moan and start to grind my hips into hers, admiring the view of her bouncing tits in the dim light. I tighten my fingers on her hips and hold her in place, thrusting up into her over and over again.
Fuck, she feels so good. So wet. So hot. So tight.
I wrench her down and kiss her hard on the lips. Her nails dig into my chest. I suck her lower lip between my teeth and bite down, holding her there as I slam into her.
There is no love here, I tell myself. It’s physical. Purely, aggressively, physical.
I punctuate each thought with a rough thrust. Alexis hangs onto me for dear life. Her moans are the finest music to my ears. The dig of her fingers in my chest is the most divine sensation. Even as I fuck her into oblivion in the most primal way, I can’t deny that there is something unique about having sex with Alexis that I never had with other women. Something that will always keep me coming back for more. Even now, as she writhes in my arms, as I give her everything, I want more.
When it comes to this woman, I will never be satisfied.
My balls churn with hot pleasure, and I can feel my climax coming. I kiss Alexis long and hard. She whimpers against my mouth.
“Are you close, Tiger?” I whisper in the dark. “Are you going to come for me?”
“Yes!” Her voice comes out urgent.