The Rebound Pact (2 page)

“I’m glad to pass your inspection.” He nuzzled at her neck, kissing and licking at the little dip on her throat where he
r pulse beat fast.

“Oh,” was all she could say.

His hands were everywhere, touching the sides of her breasts, beneath, then cupping them fully. His thumbs brushed over her nipples and his mouth traveled from her neck to the tops of her breasts.

She arched upward, wanting to feel the heat of his mouth on her nipple. He didn’t waste time answering her body’s plea, taking the puckered tip into his mouth.

A cry burst from her lips at the sudden contact, even though she’d wanted it to happen. The sheer pleasure of his hot mouth on her took her by surprise. As he sucked at one nipple and then the other, he pressed his hot, hard length against crux of her thighs. She spread them wider, her knees coming up to cradle his hips.

Gabrielle
massaged his back, growing bolder and moving down to cup his firm buttocks. She raised her hips as she pressed on his perfectly formed rear, wanting him to thrust inside her, to feel him filling her up.

“Not yet,” he whispered, his teeth scraping over her earlobe before he captured her mouth for another searing kiss.

Oh. My. God
. He was so good at this. She’d only been with a couple of other guys, and the whole experience with all of them combined didn’t even come close to the pleasure she felt just from foreplay with John.

His kiss was no longer tender, but carnal, demanding.
Gabrielle strained to control herself, but she just couldn’t. Whimpers and moans escaped her. She lifted her hips again and again just to feel his hard erection press against her wetness. Her nipples ached for more of his mouth.

“Oh, God, girl…” he murmured. “I need to get something.”

She nodded, even though he probably couldn’t see it. He reached over the side of the bed and rummaged through his pants, pulling out a small, square package. He ripped it open with his teeth, and leaned back on his heels.

“Can I?” she asked, really just wanting the excuse to touch his shaft.

“Yeah.”

He handed her the condom. She gripped his erection in one hand, shivering at how velvet soft it felt—and how thick it was. Definitely the biggest she’d ever
touched. His head fell back and he groaned as she took a moment to explore, stroking up and down, brushing her thumb over and around the tip.

But torturing him was also torturing her. She wanted to feel him inside her. She rolled the condom down his length and as soon as she reached the base, he nudged her backward, coming down on top of her, his elbows holding most of his weight off her chest.

“You’re a tease.”

Before she could
respond, he’d claimed her mouth again, gripped his shaft and probed at her opening. She spread her legs wide, lifting her hips and encouraging him to come inside.

He slipped in an inch, then another. His slow insertion had her panting, unable to catch her breath. He was thick, stretching her in a way that
sent wild sensations of pleasure catapulting through her.

She could take it no longer, and gripping his hips hard, she
pulled him toward her. “Please,” she begged.

“Oh,
Gabrielle,” he moaned as he thrust home.

Both of them cried out, their mouths an erotic tangle of tongues as he drove into her again and again. Their coupling was frenzied, urgent.
Decadent pressure built inside her, threatening to explode with a force she wasn’t sure she could handle. His pace quickened.

“I want you to come,” he said, his voice strained.

“I’m going to,” she answered, surprised her voice even worked.

John increased the pressure, his pelvis angling up into hers, sending rockets of pleasure firing throughout her body. Gabrielle
moaned, arching her back, lifting her legs higher around his waist. Each stroke felt like heaven. Her heart pounded in her ears, her breaths unsteady gasps. The bed creaked from the force of his thrusts. His forehead pressed to hers and in the dark their eyes met, and the moon shone in just enough to light his crystal blue eyes. The moment her body broke apart with an earth-shattering climax, she realized two things: this was the best sex she’d ever had and this was
not
John. John had dark brown eyes.

The stranger
shuddered above Gabrielle, climaxing at the same time as her.

“Oh, my God,” she said with panic,
trying to regain control of her body. Her legs still trembled, she couldn’t catch her breath. When she was finally able to regroup, she shoved at his chest, scrambling from beneath him. She jumped up, trying to find her clothes in the dark.

“
Gabrielle, what’s the matter?”

No longer
a whisper, his voice was clear now. She knew exactly who’d just rocked her world.

Holden Bellamy—her older brother’s best friend—turned on the light, his face awash
with concern.

“Oh, my God,” she groaned again, yanking on
her lacy panties and bra, then yanking her dress over her head, suddenly realizing how short it really was.

“What is it?” he stood up and walked toward her.

What to say? He was only the love of her life… She blurted out the first idiotic thing that came to her lips. “What are you doing here, Holden?” She hadn’t seen him all night. The party was at Holden and her older brother Max’s fraternity house. Even though they had graduated two years earlier, both of them were doing grad school here and were still active members in the frat. She glanced around, looking for a way around him.

Confusion
flashed in his gorgeous eyes. “It’s sounding like I should ask you the same thing.”

She was totally freaking out.
Her brother would kill her. He would kill Holden. Gabrielle once told him she thought Holden was a hottie, and Max had nearly ripped her a new one. His best friend was off limits—mostly because he didn’t want his best friend sleeping with his sister. He said that would change everything. And now she’d done just that…

“I thought…” Her throat felt like it was closing.

Disappointment made Holden frown and she just wanted to rush up to him, take back everything she’d said and bring him back to bed for round two.

“You thought I was someone else?” he asked, sarcastically.

When she didn't answer, his eyes bugged
.‟
Dammit,” he cursed under his breath and stalked to the other side of the bed, yanking on his jeans. He glanced at her accusingly
.‟
You're fucking kidding me, right? Just how drunk are you? Are you playing games with me?”

She opened her mouth to say something, but
didn’t know where to begin. Thank him politely for the best sex of her life? Apologize for unintentionally tricking him? Beg him not to mention a word of this to her brother?

H
olden stalked toward her, his face only a few inches away. Tingles covered her skin, her body betraying her with its need to touch him again. His eyes connected with hers. Ice blue. She’d never seen him so pissed…so wounded?

“For a moment, just a tiny moment, I thought…” He swallowed, and she could see the hurt and anger darkening his eyes. “I thought maybe it was real.”

He tried to walk around her, but she grabbed his arm. “It was real, Holden.”

“Was it?” He gazed at her accusingly.

Gabrielle floundered for a way to make this better. For one thing she didn’t want to hurt him. She cared about him. She’d once—still—had a tiny thing—okay, huge thing—for him that she’d repressed at her brother’s request. Heat infused her cheeks at the memory of what they’d just done.

“I…um…I really enjoyed it.” There she’d said it.
“I’m glad it was you.”

He grinned, but it wasn’t pleasant.
“Me too. Too bad you thought you were fucking someone else the whole time. See ya around. And don’t worry, I won’t tell Max.”

With that he left, and she wished she could take back all of her panic and fear and come clean. Part of her had panicked because seeing him there had been
such a wonderful surprise. Another dream come true.

John had nothing on Holden.

No man had anything on Holden. She’d always used him as the standard to measure others against. But how anyone was ever going to measure up to what he just did to her, she had no idea.

Gabrielle
waited a few more minutes to leave the room in case any late night partiers still lingered in the hallway. The last thing she needed was someone to tell her brother she and Holden had been together.

She’d go home and try to get some rest before her flight to Paris in the morning.
As much as she regretted leaving things unsaid with Holden, there was really nothing she could do. She’d be in France for the next couple of years, attending Le Cordon Bleu and then working with renowned chef, Michel Blanc.

Tonight’s blunder would be forever in the past—and
forever ingrained in her mind.

Holden stormed over the lawn, his feet sinking into the soggy grass.
Sunrise had turned the sky a purplish pink.

When he got to his
Camaro, he slammed his hand on the roof, angry for having slept with Gabrielle, though he’d wanted to for years. But he wanted much more than to just screw her. He wanted to be with her. He loved her…

But
Gabrielle was off limits, and he’d just crossed the line.

“Damn.” There were so many things he wanted to say.
Things he’d swallowed as soon as he realized she’d been looking for someone else. He felt stupid. Hurt.

He slammed his hand on the car roof again and then yanked open the door. He slid onto the c
old leather seat of his Camaro and leaned his head back. What hurt the most was seeing the regret in her eyes. Strange how she’d sounded so sincere when she confessed that she thought it was real, that she’d wanted it.

He turned the key, igniting the powerful engine.
Whatever. He’d just have to move on. He’d always known little Gabrielle Dane was out of his league—he was a player and she deserved more than what he had to offer. One thing was for sure. He might move on, but he’d never forget her.

Chapter Two

Ju
ly 6
th
, six years later…

F
or the record, today was absolutely, positively the worst day in Gabrielle’s life.

She shoved the last box into her Prius and slammed the door, leaning her hands against the window for a minute to steady
herself. The glass was cool, soothing against her palms.

Deep breaths.
Take it slow.

Except that
breaths weren’t working. What she needed was a tall glass of wine—preferably a bottle.

Breaking hard before turning out of the complex, s
he glanced at the Georgetown condo building where she’d lived for the past year. Where she thought she’d continue living, with the man of her dreams—who turned out to be a total dick.

Everything went to holy hell the night of July 4
th
.

With a
long sigh, she put her foot to the gas and left. Better to leave now, to start over. Although the idea of starting over at the age of twenty-seven wasn’t exactly the future she’d envisioned.

First things first,
she needed that wine.

She drove up north on the beltway, toward the suburbs of Maryland and her father’s house. He’d agreed she could stay with him—insisted on it—until she found a place of her own.
And good thing she no longer had a job or else it would be one hell of a commute.

As she neared
the exit, a sign caught her eye with a picture of purple grapes inside a wine glass, below it said:
Belle Ami Vineyards.

“Perfect,” she muttered.

A stop at the vineyard to purchase a couple bottles of wine and then she’d head to her Dad’s place. She wasn’t ready for the conversation he’d want to have regarding Len. She stared at her empty ring finger on the steering wheel, tears already stinging her eyes. Her finger still showed the lines of where her ring had been.