I start to cry as I look away. “No, I don’t.”
“Well, I’m telling you anyways. Wanna know why they kicked me out?”
“Gabriel—”
“Because the ministers wife took a little fancy to me, tried to get me to sleep with her, and when I said no, she didn’t take it too kindly. So she told the whole town I took advantage of her, and I almost got my ass shot off getting out of there! Worthington? You wanna hear about Minnesota?”
“Damnit, Gabriel—!”
“A mayor’s daughter with a crush, Delilah. That was it. She wrote a fictional story about us in a fucking diary, and her mom read it.” He swears under his breath., “For Christ’s sake, Delilah, she was sixteen.”
“Well I’m eighteen!” I snap.
“Look at me.”
I shake my head.
“Fine, let’s keep going,” he snaps. “West Virginia? I caught a couple of shitheads beating up on an older black guy and spewing racist shit, so I kicked the fuck out of them. Turns out one of them was a city councilman’s son, and that racist little shithole of a town decided to claim I was ‘preaching sin’ and again, I almost got my ass shot off.”
He sighs. “Goddamnit, Delilah, look at me.”
I shiver, and I feel him step closer to me. I close my eyes and breathe, and slowly, I turn to look at him. And the very second I do, the anger floods out of me. The rage and the jealousy melts away, until it’s just him and I.
“But you know the real reason all those places went sour?” he grunts quietly. “Because I am the sinner you thought I was when you first met me,” he growls. “I am a con man, Delilah. I’m a grifter, and a thief, and a cheat, and a liar, and I’ve been pretty goddamn happy being every one of those things until the very second I laid eyes on you.”
I blink, and the world stills.
“What?” I breath quietly.
“I’m a phony, Delilah,” he says gently. “I’ve never found God, or religion, or salvation.” He reaches out, and his hands clasp my arms. “But I’m pretty damn sure you’re the salvation I’ve always been looking for.”
Damn.
I step into him, and before either of us can speak another word, I’ve slipped my arms around his neck and leaned up into him. His arms circle me, and I whimper as our lips sear together. My mouth opens for him, and I whimper as his tongue finds mind. His hands tighten on my waist, and I cling to him as I melt against his strong, muscled body.
“I’m yours,” I whisper softly.
“Delilah—”
“I mean I’m really, really yours,” I breath into his lips. He groans, and he kisses me deeply and powerfully as we slowly start to sink to the grassy ground. The sun glows over the horizon as he rolls me onto my back, reaches down, and yanks his t-shirt off. I rip at his belt, yanking his zipper down and feverishly trying to push his jeans down as he chuckles and takes my wrists.
“You first,” he growls. He pushes my hands above my head, pinning them there with one hand. His other slips down over my cheek, and my neck, and down between the valley of my breasts as I gasp and arch my back into his touch. His fingers find the first button of my sundress, and he pops it open. Then the second, and then the third, making his way down every single one until the whole thing slips open to the sides. I shiver, gasping as his eyes slide over my almost bare skin.
“So fucking beautiful,” he murmurs, almost in awe, as he leans over me and kisses me deeply. I moan, clinging to him and pushing at his jeans as his fingers slip around me to unhook my bra. He slides it from me, and he growls as his mouth slips down my neck. I gasp, raking my nails gently over his muscled back and into his dark hair as he sucks and nips his way lower. He kisses over the slope of my breasts, and when he takes one aching pink nipple in his lips, I cry out in pleasure.
His hands skim lower as he kicks his jeans off, and his fingertips slip into the waist of my panties. He peels them down slowly as he kisses down over my ribs, and my tummy, and my navel, until I’m mewling in pleasure as his lips trail lower. He pulls my panties down to my knees and nuzzles lower between my thighs. I kick the panties away, and Gabriel growls as he spreads my legs open, baring me to his hungry gaze. He slips between my legs, his eyes blaze up into mine, and he moves in as I gasp in pleasure.
His tongue slides over my lips, and I moan, my hands sliding into his hair. His tongue pushes into me, spreading me open as he plunges into my opening, and I squeal breathlessly. He growls, and his big hands grip my thighs and push them wider apart for his eager tongue. He dances it over me, plunging deep and tasting me before he teases higher, to my clit. He sucks the aching nub between his lips, and my whole body jolts as he swirls his tongue over it.
“Gabriel…” I gasp, dropping my head back onto the grass and sinking into sundress at my back. His tongue delves into me, pushing and coaxing me higher and higher as my pulse races and my skin tingles.
This is no sin. This is no damnation. This is salvation.
He groans into me, teasing my clit in firm, swirling licks of his tongue, and he starts to slide a finger into me. I moan, writhing under his touch as he strokes his thick finger in and out, rubbing that spot just inside. His mouth on my clit and his stroking finger push me higher and higher, and suddenly, I can feel myself begin to tense and fall.
“Oh God, Gabriel!”
“I want to taste you,” he groans into me. “I want to taste this pretty fucking pussy when you come all over my goddamn tongue.”