Concern filled his gaze as he pulled out of the Fyra lot. “Rough day?”
God, she was slipping. How had he realized that instantly? Gage shouldn’t be the one person who saw through her, the only person who looked at her long enough to see her internal struggles.
She started to deny it but couldn’t. What would be the point? “Yeah.”
He drove in silence for a few minutes, but veered off the road after only a couple of miles. The Hummer rolled to a stop under the shade of a large oak tree near a deserted park.
“Come here,” he commanded as he pulled her into his arms easily despite the gearshift and steering wheel.
She should have struggled more. Should have pushed him away. Sex only, nothing more. That’s why she was here—for a much-needed release at the hands of a man very capable of delivering it.
But his soothing touch bled through her and nothing else could penetrate the little bubble surrounding her and Gage as he held her. Nothing, not the various parts of the car, not all the weight of Fyra’s troubles, not the difficult past between them.
Everything faded under his tender strokes against her skin. She’d needed this, needed him. Needed someone to be there to catch her when she fell, to be on her side. His shirt was soft against her cheek and his woodsy scent filled her head, spreading the oddest sense of peace through her chest.
A tickle in her hair alerted her to the presence of his fingers a moment before both chopsticks slid free, releasing the tight chignon. Her scalp nearly cried in relief as her hair billowed down her back. He gathered the strands in his strong hands, winding them around his palms. Threading them through to his knuckles. Caressing her back.
It was relaxing and stimulating at the same time. How was that possible? But with the binding hairstyle gone, a weight lifted, almost as if he’d studied her and pinpointed precisely what she’d needed.
A groan rumbled in Gage’s chest, vibrating her own, and in a snap, the atmosphere shifted. Awareness spread across her skin, sensitizing it. Switching cheeks, she rested her head in the hollow of his shoulder, but oh look, there was Gage’s ear just a millimeter from her lips.
Grazing it lightly, she inhaled him, letting his powerful masculinity wash through her. The slow tide picked up speed, flowing like lava toward her toes, heating her in its wake.
Riding the flood, she arched her back, pushing her aching breasts against his chest, seeking more of his touch. She nipped at his throat, slowly working her way back to the tender lobe. When her teeth closed around it, he exhaled hard. It was ragged and thrilling, filling her with bold desire.
She licked him and oh, yes, he tasted amazing. More. And then his mouth was on hers and she drank from him, drawing out even more of that essence she craved. Hot and masterful, he kissed her back, meeting her tongue thrusts with his own, changing the angles to go deeper, and she moaned under the onslaught of sensation and Gage and everything she’d been missing for so long.
“Cass,” he murmured against her mouth. “Let me take you to my hotel. It’s five minutes away.”
Five whole minutes? Too long. She didn’t bother to respond and pulled him half into her seat as she went on a survey of that wicked, gorgeous body.
He sucked in a breath as she dipped into his pants and found the heated length of flesh she craved. So hard and thick and she wanted it. “Now, Gage. Don’t make me wait.”
With a curse, he pushed her hands off his body and moved from behind the steering wheel to slide into her seat, shoving her against the door. He promptly picked her up and resettled her on his lap, facing him, and watched her with a hooded, wicked glint to those hazel eyes as he pushed his palms against the hem of her skirt. The fabric gathered under his hands, riding up to her waist where he grabbed on and fitted their hips together, aligning his hard shaft against her center.
Perfect. Almost. Not enough. She rolled her hips, grinding against him and the answering shadow of lust shooting through his gaze heightened her own pleasure.
Without another word, he cupped her head with both hands and pulled her against his mouth, ravishing her with a long, wet kiss. Frantically, blindly, she worked at his pants until he sprang free into her eager hands. Her very own velvet-wrapped present. With her first stroke, his head fell back against the seat, flopping his too-long hair against his forehead and he groaned, eyes tightly shut.
That was...inspiring. She did it again, awed that she could command the body of such a powerful man.
“Back pocket,” he rasped. “Hurry.”
She wasted no time rolling on the condom. Pushing up on her thighs, she guided him to her entrance and plunged until they joined fully in one swift rush. They moaned in tandem as he flung his arms around her to hold her in place, rocking her so sensuously, so soul deep, she felt tears pricking at her eyelids. He filled her body, filled her head, filled every millimeter of her.