One Night with her Bachelor (14 page)

“Hell no. Are you kidding? Josh paid a princely sum for you to have a good time, and I’m not letting him down. Neither are you. The Thai food will have to wait, and the dancing—” He tried to control his grimace. “—we can do that if you really want. But why don’t we work on that other thing?”

“What thing?”

“The woman thing.” Neither of them was going to get their lives back, but together they could detonate some of their frustration.

She silently stared at him, her quickening breaths the only evidence she’d heard him.

He undid her seatbelt, drew her into his arms and kissed her.

‡

G
abriel’s kiss caught
Molly completely off guard. One minute she’d been consumed with keeping a lid on her mounting frustrations so she didn’t break down in front of him, and the next she was clutching his arms as if he were a lifeline thrown to her while she battled to stay afloat. His kiss was passionate, uncontrolled, just like all the turbulent emotions inside her. Finally,
finally
she stopped trying to control them. Finally she let the storm break her apart.

His palms cradled her cheeks as he slanted his mouth across hers, and she opened up to taste him. To breathe him in and steal some of his strength, his confidence. And when she’d shored up her own strength, she pushed forward and became the aggressor.

“Molly,” he murmured against her lips. “
Fuck me
.”

She didn’t know if it was a curse, a prayer, or a request. She was good with it, any which way he meant it. “Yes. That. I want to do that.”

He pulled back a little, blinking as he stared at her with passion-glazed eyes. “Do what?”

“What you just said. Please.”

His jaw hardened, a muscle ticking there like a time bomb. He seemed to assess what she’d said, as if he weren’t sure he understood. But then clearly he got it. Silently reaching across her, he grabbed her seatbelt and snapped it back into place. His arm brushed against her breasts, and she shivered. It’d been so stinkin’ long.

After buckling himself back in, he turned the key. The truck’s ignition roared to life, and they started the endless journey back to her place. “How long do we have?”

Till Josh got back? “A few hours, at least. Lily said she’d text to see if I’m home before she drops him off, just in case.”

Gabriel grinned. “Smart woman, that Lily.”

A strange lightness filled Molly’s chest. She was high on giddiness and hormones, probably suffering the effects of exposure to so much Gabriel. Ever since she’d opened the door to him tonight, she’d been almost overwhelmed by simply being close to him. Her body sang with hyperawareness. His scent, so natural and woodsy, making her think of the stunningly creative bouquet he’d made her. His touch, at once rough and gentle, just like the man himself. His voice, so beautiful it made her realize her ears were an undiscovered erogenous zone.

She reached across the space between them and stroked his thigh. It went hard under her curious palm. As her fingertips trailed higher, he sucked in a breath and shifted in his seat. “You’re getting close to the danger zone.”

“Good. I’ve never lived dangerously before. I want to start now.”

Maybe she couldn’t in most parts of her life, which had become hemmed in and constrained since Josh’s accident. But being with Gabriel felt freeing in ways she desperately needed. Being with him felt dangerous, yet she knew she’d never find someone safer, someone who would treat her better.

Her fingers brushed over his straining erection, and he twitched. “Hey. When you do that, all I see is you naked, not the road in front of us. Better stop till we get to your place.”

She pulled her hand away and clenched her fists in her lap. The truck filled with sounds of their barely controlled breaths. Judging by the tension radiating off him, Gabriel was just as affected as she was. By the time he pulled into her driveway, she was ready to mount him right there.

As soon as he cut the ignition, she launched herself at him. He caught her, dragged her across his lap and fumbled for his door handle. The door fell open, and the two of them nearly tumbled onto the snowy driveway. Gabriel broke her fall, but he landed hard against the truck, one hand still clutching the door and the other arm wrapped around her. He sucked in a pained breath, and Molly jerked. “Are you okay?”

He nodded, but he pressed his lips together and let his head tip back against the extended cab’s window.

“Gabriel?”

“Fine.” He bit the words out and then let out a long breath. “Fine,” he said, a little more evenly. “Let’s get inside.”

She tried to keep her arms around him, but he maneuvered her so she walked in front of him. He moved more slowly than he would if he were really fine. He’d hurt himself somehow, but clearly he didn’t want her sympathy.

She could understand being fed-up with sympathy. She pretended not to notice how careful his movements were. She tried not to let him see how she slowed her pace to match his. He appeared to be limping. Maybe he’d aggravated an injury from the helicopter crash. Or maybe he’d twisted his knee or ankle.

She unlocked the front door and shoved it open. He nudged it closed behind him and gave her no time to think before he was all over her. His hands swept through her hair to hold her head still for his kiss. His mouth devoured hers. His chest pressed against her breasts, and his legs walked her backwards down the hall.

But instead of asking where her bedroom was, as she’d expected him to do, he marched her to the living room and pulled back just far enough to pant, “What do you want?”

“Everything.”

His brows rose. “Everything, as in sex.”

“Yeah.” Not a ring and a white picket fence. Well, the fence might be nice to keep her neighbors’ dogs off her lawn, and he could probably make it for her, too. But she had too many challenges right now to add anything else. This interlude with Gabriel was just that—a brief respite from an increasingly difficult reality.

A passing car’s headlights threw light and shadows over his face, but neither helped her read him. He walked over to the window and closed the curtains. When he came back to her, the fire inside her stoked up again. He still limped a little, but it didn’t dampen the lethal confidence in his movements. Desire welled up inside her belly and she licked her lips. His gaze narrowed in on her mouth, and he brushed her lower lip with the pad of his thumb. “Again.”

She tasted his finger with the tip of her tongue before daring to show him what she’d wanted to do for so long. She dipped her head, closing her mouth over his whole thumb and gently sucking.

“Oh damn.” His free arm whipped around her waist and he swung her around so she sat on the arm of the couch. He stepped between her widespread legs and pushed her skirt up higher, higher, higher until it exposed her knees, her thighs, her damp panties. He stared down at her in reverence.

“I should go slow,” he murmured, as if trying to convince himself.

She wrapped her legs around his waist. “No, you shouldn’t. You should go hard, you should go fast, and you should go
now
.”

He let out a shaky breath. “God damn, Molly.”

His mouth attacked hers, urging her to open for his deep kiss. His strong hands grasped the backs of her legs, lifting her off the couch so she was forced to clutch him with her arms and legs. The first feel of his hard, rough jeans pressed against her throbbing flesh almost too much for her to bear. She needed him naked, needed him now.

He was carrying her somewhere, though judging by the sounds of things falling and the muffled curses he kissed her with, he was none too steady on his feet. He plowed down the hallway, stumbling over Josh’s backpack and making her cling to him harder. Every step he took rubbed her just right. Every step ratcheted up the fire in her belly.

He kept up his assault on her mouth the whole time, kissing her with an urgency she’d never experienced before. With just a few more steps, she found herself falling backwards, her stomach plunging until she realized Gabriel’s arm had wrapped around her back and he was lowering her to her bed. He followed her down, lying on top of her and threading his fingers through hers. He lifted her hands above her head so she was stretched out and pinned beneath him. He kissed her again, his tongue playing with hers, his lips cradling hers. His whole body moved with an innate rhythm, every bit of him rubbing against every bit of her from mouth to core. Adrenaline and pure animal desire took over. Her whole body was an erogenous zone. Maybe because it had been so long. Maybe because she’d built him up in her fantasies. Maybe because he was so freaking skilled.

His fingers found the buttons of her shirt and popped one open. Breaking away for a scant second, he murmured, “You’re sure about this?”

“So sure.” If she’d had doubts five minutes ago, they’d evaporated into a cloud of lust. He popped open another button, his knuckles brushing her breast and making her head fall back in pleasure. Straightening her shoulders and drawing in her mama tummy as much as she could, she faced him with bravado she didn’t really feel. She’d seen his bare chest and muscular arms. She’d seen them working hard as he’d swung an ax. His body was a ten. Hers had a ten-year-old. Sure, she stayed active and her job meant she rarely had a chance to sit down, but it also gave her access to a constant supply of birthday cakes.

Gabriel did not look like a cake man.

One by one her buttons slid open until he parted her shirt and pulled back to stare at her lace-covered breasts. His jaw hardened as he swallowed and traced the tops of her breasts. The gentle touch made ribbons of desire unfurl low in her belly, and her legs shifted restlessly. She’d never felt so empty, so in need of being filled, yet he was taking his sweet time. Maybe he needed a subtle shove in the right direction. “It unsnaps in the front.”

“Yeah, I see that.” His fingers made quick work of the clasp, and cool air hit her sensitive nipples. They instantly hardened into agonizingly tight buds.

“Jesus,” he whispered.

The oath filled her with confidence. She was a siren. A seductress. About as far from a single-mom kindergarten teacher and full-time caregiver as she could possibly get. She stretched her arms farther over her head and arched her back, teasing him. “Kiss me. I need to feel your mouth on me.”

*

The beauty stretched
out before him made the agony of getting her to her bedroom worth it. His bad leg had made it challenging enough to rescue Josh, but at least then Gabriel’s blood had been flowing
through
his brain, not pumping away from it toward his dick. But knowing the prize in store for him had given him the stamina he’d needed.

He must’ve been a really, really good boy to deserve an unexpected gift like Molly and her incredible breasts, pale skin topped with dark-brown berries, ripe for his mouth’s plucking. He shifted down the bed, careful not to knock his leg against the bed post, lowered his head and ran the tip of his tongue around her nipple. Her breasts shivered and he cupped the one he was loving on to hold it captive. He kissed everywhere but her tip, making her writhe beneath him.

His free hand wandered lower, lower, over her soft belly to the band of her skirt. When he slipped his hand inside, his fingertips met damp lace and curls. Keeping his fingers on the outside of her panties, he circled and rubbed until her breath caught in her throat and her hips bucked. He couldn’t tangle his legs with hers—not without this whole adventure coming to a grinding halt—so he used his shoulders to force her to lie still. Now she couldn’t escape the torture he meted out to her swollen flesh. Damn, if just this little bit of attention made her so wet and ready, what would happen if they had sex?

He didn’t plan to find out. Getting her off was one thing. Getting naked with her was something else entirely.

Molly squirmed and tried to get closer, but he kept teasing her with light kisses and circular touches.

“Please, Gabriel. I can’t take it. Please.”

When he thought he’d pushed her to the edge of reason, he slipped his finger beneath her panties and rubbed around her clit as he sucked her nipple hard. Her whole body spasmed and she gave a hoarse shout of release. She clenched around his fingers, nearly making him lose control.