talked.
“My parents are both gone. One brother still there.”
Because she was so engrossed in him, she noticed how his expression and tone changed. There was a mix of sorrow and bitterness in his voice.
“Do you see him often?”
His features hardened. “No.”
Uncomfortable with the glacial demeanor, she blurted, “I’ll bet your other women love all this, huh?” As she figuratively fell to her knees and flopped on the floor like a deflated balloon—had she always been so socially inept?—his expression turned wry.
“I’ve never brought another woman up here, sweetheart.”
Uh-huh. She doubted that but had enough sense not to call him a liar.
To his face, at least.
† † †
Gabriel studied his wildest fantasy in the flesh. She was here. In his place. Looking endearingly apprehensive. She wasn’t practiced. Didn’t have the coy, come-get-me look some women got in their eye the minute you had them behind closed doors.
Fuck. He wanted to tie her to his bed and keep her there for-fucking-ever.
He pushed off the door, loving the way her eyes flared. Placing a finger under her chin, he tilted her head up when she didn’t do so herself. So slowly, he ran the pad of his thumb across her full lower lip, inhaling her honey scent deep into his lungs.
“I want you to relax, Eva,” he ordered softly. “I meant what I said at the club. I will not disrespect you by treating you in any way you would find upsetting. If I do something you’re not comfortable with, you’ll tell me. I promise I won’t take offense.”
Those glittering sapphires gazed up at him and he tensed when he felt the brush of her fingertips at the base of his throat. “You speak a lot about respect.” She tentatively drew on the chain he always wore—a gift from Vincente’s late sister, Sophia—and glanced at the black crystal wolf tooth that had Matthew 6:14 engraved on it—For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. She tucked it away without asking about it—or what it meant to him. Respecting his privacy. Very nice.
“Respect, trust, and loyalty are more important than people think.”
“Because without them, even with love, a relationship is weak. I agree.” Her warm breath wisped over his hand as she impressed him.
Reached him.
As he stood there staring down at her, he felt her in a place that had nothing to do with getting his cock inside her. The lust he’d been battling for weeks, the basic, primitive need for nothing but sex with her, that simple want, continued to morph into something different. Something with fucking emotion attached. And that soft, tender something was nudging and coddling untouched territory in the area of his chest.
Disturbed, he dragged it back to the sex by saying, “I will respect your body, sweetheart. Be loyal while we’re together. And you can trust that I’m going to make you scream through more orgasms than your system will be able to handle.” His fingers gripped her hips, and he leaned down to whisper in her ear. “I’d like to begin. Tell me we’re done with this conversation so I can get you naked.”
She made a breathy sound and his cock hardened fully, pressing uncomfortably against his pants zipper. The air around them became sultry and hot as she placed her palms on his cheeks and pulled his head down to mesh their lips together. And, holy hell, did he like that. Her taking the initiative. Beginning, because she was as ready as he was.
When her tongue stroked delicately over the seam of his lips, his blood thundered in his veins. He didn’t hesitate to open and plunder the moist depths of her mouth. Feeding his need for her. Taking what he couldn’t fucking resist. His downfall. The goddamn woman was his downfall.
Slipping his fingers into her hair, he loosened the knot by fisting a handful and pulling her head back far enough to break the kiss. He didn’t want their first time being against the wall in his foyer.
“What’s wrong?” she whispered dazedly.
He bent and scooped her up, curling her into his chest. “Not a goddamned thing,” he assured her as he stalked to his bedroom.
† † †
When Gabriel all but tossed Eva into the center of a huge bed, she bounced once, her dress riding up around her upper thighs while she watched him reach back to swipe his shirt over his head. Without warning, her worries and what-ifs and maybe-I-shouldn’ts receded to the back of her mind.
Her focus realigned,