Taking the Heat (16 page)

“Just...” she started, then had to swallow to wet her tongue. “Just go slow, okay?”

“Slow,” he agreed, fisting his cock.

He was about to do it. He was about to guide himself into her and fuck her. Oh, God.

But then her world fell into pleasure again. Gabe's thumb feathered over her clit. She gasped.

“Better?” he asked. She nodded, clenching her teeth against a groan. He rubbed her clit and she arched up, eyes closed as she pressed her head into the mattress. “I like watching you, Veronica. I like the way your neck gets tight, the way you bite your lip.”

She gasped as he circled her clit faster.

“Stop me anytime,” he murmured. “I don't want to hurt you.”

The blunt head of his cock rubbed between her lips. She felt it press against her, and then it was pushing her open, sliding inside her, stretching her. Just when the tightness became too much, he eased out again, then slid a little deeper, just a little. And the whole time his thumb rubbed her clit, making her squirm against him.

“How does that feel?” he asked, the words a little breathless.

She nodded, keeping her eyes shut tight. It felt...full.

“Raise your knees, sweetheart.”

Her thighs opened wider like that and some of the pressure eased.

“Yeah,” he rasped, moving slowly inside her. In and out, just an inch at a time. She could feel it get easier, feel herself get wetter. “You feel so good, Veronica. You feel so fucking hot and tight.”

“Yes,” she groaned.

“Here. Feel it.”

He took her hand and eased it between them. He was still kneeling, his knees spread under her thighs, raising her hips a little. Her fingers touched her clit first, and then they brushed his hard, thick shaft.

“Do you feel that?” he murmured. “How good that is?”

Yes. His cock was wet and so hot from her pussy. And she could feel how tight her own flesh was, stretched around him as he slowly pulled out and then pushed back in.

She opened her eyes. There was no mistaking any of this. Gabe hovered above her, his chest widening up to his gorgeous shoulders, his arms flexing as his hands curved around her knees and his eyes locked on her pussy as he carefully sank himself into her again. And not only could she feel him inside her, she could feel the slide of him through her fingers right where her body took him in.

She was really fucking. She smiled just as his gaze rose to her face.

His laugh sounded pained as he leaned closer, bracing himself above her. Her eyes widened at this shift of his body inside her. “You look so sweet,” he murmured, bending closer to press a slow kiss to her mouth. “Now...touch yourself.”

“Oh,” she breathed against his lips. “Okay.”

She shifted her fingers up and pressed them tight to her clit. He withdrew and then sank himself deep. Deeper than he'd been before. Her eyes fluttered closed.

The logical part of her brain was confused. She didn't know why it should feel so good, so
needed
, but each slow, steady thrust seemed to fill up a part of her that had never felt empty until now. She knew, logically, that her sexual pleasure was centered on the stroking of her clit, but somehow his cock added to that, increasing the weight building inside her and pulling her down, down, down.

He kissed her then, kissed her deep and slow, just like his thrusts. This was
sex
. Real sex. This was the thing that made people foolish and stupid and willing to give up everything. Just for this feeling of fitting together over and over and over. This was what people risked their souls for.

She turned her head, needing to draw a deep breath. “Don't stop,” she begged. “Please don't stop.” She moved her fingers faster.

“I won't stop,” he growled. “I'd fuck you forever if I could.”

“Please,” she gasped again. It was so close. Right there. But despite the way his shaft dragged over every nerve, she couldn't get there. She was outside herself,
thinking
about it. “I'm sorry,” she sobbed.

“Stop.” He paused, his cock pushed deep inside her. “Stop. It doesn't matter. Doesn't this feel good?”

“Yes,” she sobbed.

“Look at me.” He smoothed her hair back from her forehead and waited for her to open her eyes and look at him. She didn't want to, but she did. “This feels so fucking good to me,” he said. “Do you like it?”

“Yes,” she choked out past her frustration.

“You'd tell me if you didn't?”

“No!” she admitted. “But I do. I love it, I swear. I just can't...”

“Shh...” He kissed her forehead again, then her nose, her mouth, before he pushed up to balance on his hands. “Look at that,” he whispered, gazing down her body. “Isn't that beautiful?”

He'd raised himself above her and she could see straight down to her fingers disappearing into the hair between her legs, and then she could see his cock sliding slowly out as his hips rose.

“Yes,” she hissed.

“Watch that,” he ordered.

She watched as he disappeared in slow inches into her body.

“Rub your clit.”

She did. She rubbed her clit and watched as he moved his hips in a slow, steady rhythm.

“Does that feel good?”

“Yeah,” she sighed.

“Tell me.”

“It feels good,” she repeated. “You feel good. You feel so big.”

He growled out, “Yes.”

“You fill me up.”

He sighed and she felt him shake his head against hers. “Look at you,” he said, his voice going dark and rough. “Look at you, Veronica.”

He lifted her hips, sliding his knees beneath her thighs again, raising her up so he could crouch over her and fuck her more deeply. He curled around her, ducking his head, and he sucked her nipple into his mouth.

She cried out in shock at the new pleasure. His teeth against her nipple, pulling too hard at her, as he fucked her faster, harder.

“Oh, fuck,” she whispered, circling her clit, pressing desperately at that pleasure. “Please,” she gasped, begging her own body, begging him. She just wanted this once. Okay, she wanted it a thousand times, but just one time to start. One time with Gabe, coming with him deep inside her, coming while he fucked her, while the muscles of his neck and shoulders and arms strained.

She slid an arm around his back, trying to clutch him, but he was slick with sweat and her fingernails slipped along his spine, making him grunt against her breast.

It was that one little thing that pushed her to the edge. The feel of his sweat under her hand as he fucked her, the rawness of that, the knowledge that he was fucking her so hard, that it was real for him, too.

“Gabe,” she ground out, her teeth clenched against the pressure building suddenly inside her. “Oh, God...
Gabe
.” She tried to hold back a scream, but she couldn't. The cry escaped her in a ragged animal sound, and then another one as her orgasm rolled through her in waves. He kept fucking her, moving faster as she rubbed her clit until it all became too much and she had to stop. She sobbed as the orgasm began to fade.

He held himself still then, his cock tight inside her as his chest heaved. He waited until her gasps quieted to sighs. Then he raised his head from her breast and watched again. She watched, too, marveling at the sight of his body disappearing over and over into hers.

“Fuck,” he finally whispered, his thrusts growing a little rougher. “Ah, fuck, Veronica.” She watched his face as he came and felt so thankful she hadn't missed it. His teeth were bared in a grimace, his eyes shut tight as he pumped into her. She scratched her nails up his shoulder, then tangled her fingers in his hair. His cock jerked inside her.

He finally relaxed with a drawn-out sigh as his eyes opened. He stared at her for a long moment. She stared back.

“Please,” he finally said, “tell me that qualified as really fucking.”

She laughed, wincing at the strange feeling of his penis still inside her. “That definitely qualified.”

“Thank God. I was going to have to write in for advice if it didn't.”

She squeezed her eyes closed as he slid free of her and rolled to the side.

“Dear Veronica,” he said, “I gave it everything I had, and still...”

Her laughter dissolved into giggles, and tears wet her eyes. She pressed a hand over her mouth to try to stifle her hilarity, but it took a few moments.

Gabe kissed her shoulder and got out of bed. Right. They were done now. She wiped the tears from her eyes and looked around, regretting that they hadn't gotten under the covers before they did it. Now she was just sprawled naked and wet on the bed with no defenses, and that was not the position she wanted to be in when he left.

When she heard the water in the bathroom come on, Veronica scrambled up to climb to the head of the bed and pull the covers back. Unfortunately, the bedding was caught under her knees. She shifted several times from one knee to the other, trying to tug the blanket down, and she'd just barely gotten it free when Gabe walked back in, looking lean and hot and very, very naked.

She froze, kneeling and half-bent on the bed and feeling very, very naked herself.

“Good idea,” he said. “I'm freezing.”

He took the blanket from her hand and held it a little higher so she could scoot in. She did, if only to get her naked body underneath
something
. Gabe followed her and even though she scooted over as far as she could, he was still pressed against her side when she stopped. She clutched the blanket tight under her chin and stared at the dark space of the ceiling.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She could feel him watching her and she felt acutely embarrassed about the whole thing. He knew too much about her, and right now she just wanted to play it off as nothing. Just sex. Just an orgasm. Because now she felt convinced he was treating her as if she were fragile. If she hadn't revealed her secrets, would he still be here? Would he be cuddled so close? Would he be reaching up to gently tip her face toward his?

“Veronica?” he whispered.

She hoped that her expression was as hard to read as his was, but she was facing the light leaking in from the other room. He could probably see every anxious thought written on her skin.

“I'm sorry,” she whispered. “This is weird.”

He frowned. “What's weird?”

“Pillow talk?” she guessed.

His frown vanished and he kissed her. She could feel his chuckle against her mouth. “I guess it is weird. Do you want me to go?”

“No! I mean, only if you want to. It's just such a weird shift. To be so utterly intimate, to be at your most...animalistic...”

“Grr,” he growled.

“And then it's over and you have to be...just...normal again.”

“You don't have to be normal,” he said. “You know I like it when you're weird.”

She laughed and smacked him on the arm. “Did you just call me weird?”

“Yes. But you called me weird first. You're supposed to tell me I'm amazing and I did a good job.”

“You need reassurance? I'm the beginner here!”

“You're right.” He propped himself up on his elbow and watched her, his hair flopping forward in a way that was already precious. “I don't need reassurance, but I'm just a man, and we like to be told what good boys we are.”

She shook her head in exasperation, then reached up to stroke his beard. “You were a very, very,
very
good boy tonight.”

He grinned, looking like a kid swelling up with praise. “Thank you.”

“And me?”

“You,” he murmured, the grin falling away as he leaned down to press another soft kiss to her mouth. “You were exquisite. And I lied a little. When I said I wouldn't stop, I was so close to coming that it hurt. You felt so good, Veronica. And you looked like sin.”

This time her laughter wasn't amusement. It was shock. The loveliest slap of shock she'd ever felt.
Exquisite sin
. She'd never been either of those things, and tonight she was both. The idea settled in to her skin and felt surprisingly comfortable. She didn't even blush. She didn't deny it. Maybe she should let her boss know that she was a sexual savant, after all. Maybe the world needed to know.

She was just reaching up to pull him in for a longer kiss when her phone rang. She raised her head and looked around, spotting her purse on the floor near the doorway. Exquisite or not, she wasn't climbing naked over Gabe to stroll over and retrieve it.

She waved a dismissive hand and relaxed back into Gabe's body. A few seconds later, the message chime dinged and she winced.

“Here,” Gabe said, sliding out of bed to get her purse. He seemed entirely un-self-conscious, and frankly, she was happy for it. His body was a work of art. Strong thighs and a tight ass, and that lean stomach leading up to strong shoulders. She wanted to lick him everywhere. She wanted to
bite
him, which seemed like an odd impulse, but her jaw tensed with the desire.

She was so distracted by the idea that she forgot to pretend she wasn't staring at him as he delivered her purse. “Thank you,” she said, eyeing his naked hip as she pulled her phone out. She felt a little sad when he was beneath the covers. Then again, she could touch him now. She could even bite him if she wanted to.

She probably wouldn't, though. Probably. She was so distracted by the thought that she barely registered that the call had come from an unknown number. The voice on the message was unfamiliar for a moment, and then her eyes widened.

“Oh, my God,” she breathed as she listened.

“What's wrong?” Gabe asked.

She shook her head and listened to the rest of the message, then sighed in shock. “My dad gave Dillon my phone number,” she groaned as she shoved her phone back into her purse.

“Why?”

“Something about a development deal, I'm sure. Dillon wants to get together for a drink sometime. Jesus.”