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