“Alex,” he forced out hoarsely. “Do I need a condom?”
“I’m on the pill,” she murmured. “Although we may need to take this slow. I’m a little out of practice.”
He flipped her on her back and stripped off his boxers. Her mouth went dry at the sight of his powerful, jutting masculinity. “Allow me,” he murmured, kissing his way down her body.
“It’s okay,” she protested when it became clear exactly where he was going. “I can’t do that again. And—I can’t do it at all during...intercourse.”
He raised himself up on his elbows, level with her belly, an amused smile playing about his mouth. “Intercourse?”
Her cheeks burned. “What else would you call it?”
“Not that.” He gave her a considering look. “You mean you’ve never had an orgasm that way?”
“I can’t. Lots of women can’t,” she added defensively.
He pressed his lips to the curve of her belly. “Let’s mark it as TBD.”
She could have told him it wasn’t going to happen. But arguing about it would be even more embarrassing. So she let him shift her thighs apart with his big hands, part her wet, aroused flesh and set his mouth to her. Her body clenched hard at the first slide of his tongue against her. Gentle, thorough, it washed over her like a heat wave. Again and again he lapped her, licked her, brought her flesh flaming back to life. She buried her hands in the soft bedding beneath her and conceded with a groan that maybe, just maybe she was capable of more.
Then he stopped.
Shock must have been written across her face, because he laughed low in his throat as he pulled her on top of him. “You didn’t think this was just about you, did you, Lex?”
Well, no, she’d told— Oh. She closed her eyes as the aroused length of him brushed against her slickness. Her insides contracted with the heated desire to go in a different direction—to have his thick length inside of her. To experience what it was like to make love with Gabe.
“Open your eyes, angel.”
She did. His gaze was heavy lidded and shot through with want. He guided the wide tip of him against her, cradled her hips in his hands and brought her down slowly on the thick length of him. Her gasp split the air. “Lentamente,” he murmured. “Slowly.” She sank down on him inch by inch until she had finally taken him to the hilt, and almost groaned with the fullness of it.
“I see why you make the lists,” she murmured, breathing in deep.
He gave her a half tortured, half amused look. “This is not always on offer.”
“Lucky me, then.” She started to move in slow, deliberate circles, shallower, then deeper, then shallower again. When she was looser, more comfortable with him, she slipped off him, then took him deep again. Gabe groaned and muttered something in Italian. Closed his eyes. Let her ride him until his breath came faster. His control shorter.
Then his hands clamped around her waist and he put her on her back again and used his mouth on her, his tongue a maddening torture. Quick, insistent, then slower, feasting on her. Bringing her back to where he wanted her—incoherent and desperate for him, her breath ragged. When she sank her fingers into his hair and begged him to let her come, he flipped onto his back and pulled her on top of him again. “Like this.”
She could have screamed her frustration. But he felt so good stroking up inside of her, his hands guiding her hips, her body aroused to a fever pitch that she could do nothing but feel. Stroke by stroke he massaged her until every nerve ending in her body was centered on the connection they shared. “Lean forward,” he encouraged roughly. “Use the friction. Use the angle.”
She did. Slanted her lips over the sensuous fullness of his because she couldn’t resist anything about him and let the sensations hit her exactly where she needed them to.
Her orgasm rolled over her like a tidal wave, deeper, stronger, more shattering than anything she’d ever experienced. A guttural moan left Gabe’s throat as her body clenched around his and drew his own release.
It was the sexiest thing she’d ever heard.
She rode him, drew out his orgasm until his big body was damp and spent beneath her. Without one more drop of energy left in her, she collapsed against his chest, smiling at the thunderous beat of his heart. And sighed.
“That sure as hell better not be disappointment,” he rasped.
“Oh, yes, very disappointing,” she murmured, dragging herself off his chest to look at him. “All two shattering orgasms’ worth.”
His low laughter filled the air. “Give me five minutes and I can supply more.”
It never happened. Not for a long time, anyway. She woke, groggy, wondering where she was and realized she had passed out on top of Gabe. He sank his teeth into her shoulder, rolled her to her side and took her in a slow, heated lovemaking that proved his exceptional stamina.
* * *
When she woke, light was streaming through the windows and six feet three inches of warm, hard male was plastered against the length of her body like a furnace. Apparently he was the touchy-feely type, something she had precious little experience with, since she never let a guy stay overnight. No muss. No fuss. They were just...gone.
It was a reminder how many rules she’d broken last night. She’d slept in a man’s bed. She’d slept with her client. And perhaps best of all, she’d slept with Gabe, the man she’d vowed never to cross the line with because he was dangerous to her. And guess what, Alex? You were right on the money with that one.
Images from the night before flashed through her head, too numerous, too blindingly hot to fully process. How Gabe had feasted on her, how they had feasted on each other in what would surely go down as the best night of sex of her life. She pressed her palm to her face and felt the heat. She was never, ever going to be able to look at him the same way again.
Had the sex been worth it? Worth the awkwardness of asking him to pass the salt at family meals and having that run through her head? Yes, she decided, breathing his masculine scent in. A woman should have that once in her life. It was only fair. However, in the cold light of day, the best course of action seemed to be getting out of this bed now and calling it a fait accompli.
She eased her body away from his. Jumped when his arm tightened around her waist in a lightning-fast reflex.
“Stay.” His husky, sleep-roughened voice sent butterflies swooping through her stomach. A woman could love to hear that first thing every morning.
“I’m thirsty.”
He loosened his arm. “Come back.”
She contemplated running. The fact that Gabe was a rich, powerful, sexy hunk of a man who was exactly the type she’d made a big, fat fool out of herself over before demanded it. And this one had the power to hurt her even more than Jordan had.
She stumbled into the washroom. Poured herself a glass of water and gathered her willpower. Then she wrapped a towel around herself and marched back out into the bedroom. “I really need to get going.”
Dreamy eyes of the lushest forest-green blinked back at her. “Where?”
“The caterers will be here soon.”
He glanced at the clock. “It’s eight a.m. on a Sunday, Lex. Are they coming this early?”
“I need to get a shower.”
His lips tilted. “Come here.”
She found for some bizarre reason she couldn’t resist. Perching herself on the side of the bed, she looked down at him. “So—” His arm snaked out, nabbed her around the waist and rolled her beneath him. She swallowed as he propped himself up on his elbows and kept her pinned there with the weight of his body. “Gabe,” she murmured, trying to ignore how all that testosterone made her insides melt. “I’m not very good at the next-morning-recap stuff.”
A sexy smile twisted his lips. “You are at the night-before stuff, so I’ll forgive you on that one.”
She grimaced. “Last night was fun. It was hot, actually. We satisfied our curiosity. Let’s end it cleanly.”
He let his body sink into hers, imprinting her with his potent masculinity. “Does this feel like we’re done?”
She pushed at his chest. “We should be done.”
He studied her face. “Why so uncomfortable?”
She pressed her lips together. “I realize this might be the first time a female has ever requested to leave your bed, but anomalies do happen. We said one night, Gabe. I need to go.”
He sat back so he was straddling her with his thighs. “You can go if you answer a question.”
She looked at him suspiciously. “What?”
“Tell me why you get those nightmares.”
“No.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Then you stay.”
“Goddammit, Gabe,” she glared up at him angrily, “Let me go.”
“After you tell me.”
“It’s nothing. It’s ancient history.”
“Then why do you still have nightmares about it? Why were you sleepwalking?”
She shook her head. “This was sex. One night. Your call. My call says it’s over.”
His jaw hardened, an emotion she couldn’t read flashing in his eyes. “The way you were, it’s been haunting me, Lex. I need to know what happened to you.”
The urge to run was stronger. “It’s not something I talk about,” she said flatly. “Forget about it.”