Two orgasms and I still wanted more.
“I should have cut this evening short. Made some sort of excuse and come home to fill you up.”
He walked around the table and scooped me up, this time placing me at the edge of the oak. “I think you just need a good, hard fuck again, don’t you?”
He grabbed a condom from where he’d left the packet from the first time, but I didn’t want him to use it.
“I’m taking contraceptives,” I said. “And I was tested before I left the U.S.”
He stalked back from where he’d left me with my legs open, waiting for him. “You want me inside you, skin to skin,” he said as a flat statement. “I was tested after my ex-wife left and there’s been no one since.”
“Yes, Gabriel,” I said, clawing at his chest.
He stood between my legs and positioned himself at my entrance. “You want it?”
I nodded.
He pushed in so slowly, our eyes locked on each other as if we were stepping over some kind of line in the sand.
“It’s so good, Gabriel.” He felt so perfect. As if my body had been waiting for him my entire life.
“Because you’re amazing.”
“With you,” I replied. I was amazing with him. There were no reservations about the strength of my feelings, about what kind of man he was or how he cared for me. And he cared for the whole me, not just the piece of me that I chose to show the world. He liked my shade as well as my light. I didn’t think that was possible. The only obstacles between us were external, and the longer I knew him, and the deeper my feelings grew, the more the issues that once looked unsurmountable seemed to diminish in size and importance.
Was that what love was? Something that could conquer all?
Twenty-Three
Gabriel
I loved fucking Autumn. So much so that I wondered if I’d ever be able to exist without having her naked beneath me. I certainly didn’t want to find out. But more than fucking her, I loved being with her afterward and before and all the times in between. It felt so natural and right. And she was so funny and interesting—I was becoming completely captivated by her.
“It’s late,” she said as she took her legs from where they laid over my lap as we recovered on the sofa. I’d managed to pull on some boxers and trousers. Autumn was wearing my shirt, which made her almost unbearably tempting, and we’d just been sitting together, chatting about nothing and everything. “You have to be up early for work.”
She was right. It would be dawn soon, but I wasn’t ready for her to go to bed alone. I wanted more time with her before I had to give her up. “I haven’t given you your birthday gift yet.”
“I think you gave me your gift already,” she said. “Four times, if I’m counting correctly.”
I grinned as I stood and held out my hand. “Well, I know nothing can top that, but I do have an actual gift for you.”
“Honestly, Gabriel, I’ve had a more than enjoyable evening. Eaten out at a fancy restaurant. Been eaten out by a fancy guy. And of course, there was the singing. What more can I ask for?”
I chuckled and led her to my workshop. “It’s only a small gift, so don’t get your hopes up.” Since Autumn and I had started sleeping together, I’d spent less and less time in my sanctuary. But when I had been in here, I’d been working on Autumn’s gift. I flicked on the light and looked over at the bench where I’d wrapped what I’d made with a red velvet bow.
“My hopes are always high,” she said. It was true—despite her clouds, she was relentlessly optimistic about everything.
“Here,” I said, indicating the box on the bench. “Usually I refinish, restore, and bring something back to life. This is the first thing I’ve made from scratch.”
Her wide, innocent eyes peered at the box. “Gabriel,” she said softly. I wasn’t sure I’d heard the catch in her voice before. I could tell she was surprised, but was she trying to save her feelings by masking her disappointment? “This is beautiful.” No, Autumn’s truth always shone through. She stroked her hand across the waxed walnut lid of the square jewelry box.
“I could have bought you something but—”
“This is the best present you could have ever given me. I can’t believe you made this for me.” With one hand still on the box, she slid the other up my chest. I grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles.
“It’s a jewelry box. I know Hollie gives you her designs and I know how important your sister is to you . . .”
Her eyes went glassy and she looked away, dipping to examine the box in more detail.