“Sweetheart…” He rocked his hips slowly and gently at first, then faster and harder. “Goddamn perfection. Just like I knew you would be.”
NINE
The dull light of a typical West Coast morning brought Gabriel into full awake mode. He aimed a drowsy glance at the clock on the bedside table and wasn’t surprised to find it was later than he normally slept. On any other day, he’d be settled in his office by now.
Not this morning. No way in hell.
Shifting his attention to the warm body cradled in his arms, he considered never going to work again. Eva was sleeping soundly, her hair spread all around. She had one hand fisted and tucked under her cheek and one of her long legs was draped over his.
A virgin.
A fucking virgin.
Christ. He couldn’t get over that. Humbled didn’t even come close to how he felt once he got through the possessiveness now coloring his every thought.
His cock hardened as he remembered how often they’d come together through the night. She’d been responsive. A sensual creature. One he couldn’t wait to have again and again…
Dread snaked its way into his thoughts, the reality of what he’d done threatening to ruin his morning.
Fuck. He was a selfish, egotistical asshole who deserved everything her father was bound to throw at him. How could he lay there replaying what they’d done when danger seemed to be lurking around every goddamn corner?
He ran a lock of her hair through his fingers as something dark and evil formed in his chest at the thought of someone harming her. He had to fix this. Make things right. And that meant a face-to-face with his brother.
Slipping his legs out from under hers, he got up and covered her with the sheet before shrugged into a robe and snagging his crumpled pants off the floor. After digging his phone out of his pocket, he turned it on but ignored the series of vibrations—messages begging for attention. He scrolled through and found a number for the hotel manager covering this shift. After he told her what he needed from the boutique downstairs, he disconnected.
His nape tightened in a way that told him he was being watched and he turned to find Eva in the same position he’d left her, only now her eyes were half-open and looking right at him. He dropped his pants and moved toward her like a magnet to metal, settling on the edge of the bed with a hand on her hip.
“Good morning.”
“Morning.” Her soft smile and sleepy voice was foreplay.
She stretched as she pushed herself into a sit with one arm, keeping the sheet across her breasts as she flipped her long hair over her head so that it fell like a waterfall down her back.
“What time is it? I should be getting dressed, huh? You probably have to leave for—” She gasped, her eyes widening. “Oh, nooo!” Between one blink and then next, she was on her knees, all traces of warm sleepiness gone as if they’d never been. “What time is,” she demanded, jumping off the bed. “Shitshitshitshit!”
He surged to his feet and tried to avoid getting slapped by hands that were flapping around like little birds. Even in her agitated state she’d, unfortunately, taken the sheet with her to keep her naked body covered.
He grasped her shoulders firmly, stilling her. “What the hell’s wrong.”
“I start my new job today!”
Her endearing wail had him fighting a smile. That was it? “Eva. Sweetheart, it’s not even seven yet.”
She blinked up at him. “Oh.”
“We have plenty of time to get you to work.” Not that they couldn’t be late. He considered tumbling her back into the messy sheets but killed the idea when he remembered he had some explaining to do once they reached the office.
“Why don’t you shower while I take care of getting you something to wear.” Disappointment crushed him when he had to settle for kissing her and leaving her to clean up while he went out into the main room to wait.
When the knock came, he accepted the offered garment bag without thanking a grinning Jak, then went through to the bathroom to hook the hanger on the back of the door. He took only a few seconds to admire the tempting shape behind the frosted glass of the shower, then left to get his own shit together.
As he chose one from the many Armanis and Tom Fords hanging in his walk-in, he made some loose plans. He’d leave late this afternoon. Him