Gabe threads his fingers into my hair, and I close my eyes. It’s only been three weeks since a man has kissed me, since I let a man get this close. Mace had been the last, but with Gabe, it’s so different. It’s the piece of me I didn’t know was missing, it’s like coming home.
I sigh and press my lips to his warm chest. “What if ... what if we don’t—”
“Shh.” Gabe strokes my hair. “It’s gonna work, Lo. You and I were made for each other.”
“I can’t afford to lose you, Gabe. You mean too much to me.”
He grabs my left hand, forcing me to lift my head so I can look him in the eyes. He traces the tattoo on my ring finger, a promise made between the two of us, his brand. “I didn’t give you this because you were a backup plan. You’re the endgame, Freckles. You and me.”
Tears fill my eyes because this is too much, too good, too unbelievable. Gabe brings my hand to his lips and kisses it, and then he takes my ring finger in his mouth and sucks, twisting my insides into knots. I pluck my digits free and stand up, holding a hand out to him. He grabs it and pulls me down on top of him despite my protests. I slide my arms around his neck and hold on as he stands. A beat later, I wrap my legs around his hips and let him carry me up the stairs to his apartment.
I know our clothes are in a heap in the courtyard, and if one of the guys happens to open up shop early, my rumpled dress will be a dead giveaway that we slept together. There will be no end to the torment from our friends, but I can’t bring myself to care. I finally get to kiss Gabe whenever I want, and I’ll take as much prodding as they can dish out and it will still be worth it.
Ibite my lip as I ride Gabe’s face. He moans, warm and deep and it reverberates through my pussy, sending all kinds of shockwaves through me. I lean my head against the pillow as I give in and come for him for a fifth time today, just like he promised I would. I don’t even care that the shop is clearly open downstairs and the guys—along with their clients—can probably hear us.
“Oh god. Oh god, right there,” I cry.
He grabs my ass and squeezes, helping me rock my hips against him. I hold on to the headboard and ride out the rest of the high.
“Oh my god.”
Gabe climbs between my legs and positions himself at my entrance. He drives in deep and I stare up into those emerald eyes. My lust covers his beard and I giggle as I wipe it away, but my laughter is stolen from my lungs as he drives into me so deep my back arches off the mattress.
“So long. I’ve waited so fucking long for this.”
I smile. “Me too.”
“Then why the fuck didn’t we do this sooner?”
“Because we’re idiots like that—oh ...” The words are stolen from my throat with the ferocity of his thrusts.
“Jesus. Even your moans are spectacular.”
I pull his lips down to mine as he rocks inside me, and we both climb toward oblivion.
Yesterday, I had no intention of sleeping with my best friend, but after today, I can’t imagine ever not sleeping with Gabe. Mace was right, this man is my whole world, he always has been, and I’m an idiot to believe that we could have been anything other than made for one another.
He groans his pleasure, and thrusts deeper into me. Gabe closes his eyes and gives himself over to his orgasm. I kiss his face, his neck, his shoulder and he tucks his face into the pillow beside my head as he pants in my ear.
“Christ. That was—”
“Everything.”
“Everything,” he agrees, easing his dick from between my legs. He sits back on his haunches, and I pout with the loss of his body from mine. “Relax, Freckles. I’m just discarding the condom.”
He rolls it off and tosses it in the wastepaper basket by the bed. I reach out, making grabby hands for him and he settles between my thighs again, though instead of filling me this time, he cradles my head with his forearms against the mattress and smiles down at me.
“Hey, bestie.”
I chuckle and bite my lip. “Hi.”
“You look good in my bed, Lo. Practically fuckin’ edible.”
“I’m pretty sure you already ate me like eleventy billion times.” I wrap my arms around his neck. “Just on that, what are the chances they didn’t hear us?”
“The boys?”
“The boys.” I grimace. “And their clients?”