Surprise Bidder

Shit. Shit.

Gavin keeps moving. Each powerful, precise thrust rips through my body and keeps the fire in my veins burning. Moan after moan spills from my lips. Tears sting the corners of my eyes.

“Coming.”

As soon as he’s said that, he grunts and buries himself inside me. My mouth opens wide to let out a silent cry. My hands grip his shoulders as his fingers dig into my thighs. Our bodies tremble in unison.

Only afterward do I feel the tide of pleasure begin to recede. Exhausted, I let my arms fall to my sides. My chest heaves as I pull air back into my lungs.

Gavin lets go of my thighs as well. The backs of my knees hit the bed, which gives one last creak as he climbs off me. Through tear-blurred, half-lidded eyes that I can barely open, I see him fixing his clothes.

I should probably put mine back on too, but I have hardly any strength left. I simply crawl under the quilt. As soon as my head rests against the pillow, my eyes close once more.

“Good night,” I hear him say.

“Good night,” I mumble.

What was it I was going to ask him again? I can no longer remember.

The last thing I do is tuck my hand beneath my cheek before I allow myself to slip into oblivion.

Chapter Six

Gavin

“Slept well?” I ask Leah when she shows up to the breakfast table the next day.

I know I did, thanks to the whisky and the sex, which was even more amazing than I expected. And something tells me it’s not just because I hadn’t had any in a while.

“Yeah,” Leah answers just before letting out a yawn.

I stare at her from the other side of the table as I sip my coffee. She looks radiant this morning. A sleeveless, pale blue dress hangs from her shoulders. Her cheeks are practically glowing, still with a bit of blush left on them. Her gray eyes glisten beneath long lashes.

Gray, not blue. For a moment last night, just before she turned away from me to crawl beneath her quilt, I thought those were blue eyes looking at me. It must have been another trick of my imagination… but then that means that I’m still thinking about the waitress, which is strange. I should have forgotten her by now. Well, I’m sure I will, especially since I have this equally fascinating woman in front of me.

“You’re staring at me,” Leah points out as she pops the other half of a fresh apple slice inside her mouth. “May I ask why?”

I put my cup down. “No reason.”

She snorts. Of course that didn’t convince her.

“I was just studying you in a different light,” I tell her. “Or should I say under the light?”

Maybe next time I’ll have her join me for skinny dipping in the middle of the afternoon so I can see every inch of her clearly.

Leah pauses in the act of picking up her knife. Her cheeks grow slightly darker.

I lean forward. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” she answers as she picks up the table knife and starts cutting her waffle. “I just remembered… a bad dream I had.”

So it seems she has her walls up again.

I frown. “And here I thought you had the most wonderful dream. You looked so content while you were sleeping.”

She looks at me with arched eyebrows. “You were watching me sleep?”

I just grin.

Leah pouts. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

“Why not? I don’t mind that you snore. It sounds a little cute, actually.”

She glares. Ah, there’s that look on her face that makes me feel like she wants to kick me in the balls. Ouch. Shouldn’t she be in a good mood after last night?

“What?” I shrug. “I was paying you a compliment.”

“It didn’t sound like one.”

“It was one,” I insist.

“No.” Leah shakes her head as she chews on a piece of waffle. “You were teasing me.”

I give her a mischievous grin. “Trust me. If I was teasing you, you’d know it, and you’d love every second of it. Just like you did last night.”

Now she’s looking at me like she wants to shoot me. Okay, maybe that last bit was too much.

She picks up her table napkin to wipe her mouth, then throws it on top of her plate as she stands up.

“You know what? I’m not hungry after all.”

I scratch my chin. Now she’s just acting like a spoiled little girl.

“Leah, sit down,” I tell her. “That’s an order.”

She puts her hands on her hips. “You just love to give orders, don’t you?”

“Sit down and eat,” I say in a louder voice.

“Or what? Are you going to spank me?”

Tempting. “You know you have to eat. Skipping meals isn’t good for the baby.”

She holds up a finger. “Don’t talk like you care about the baby or like you know what’s best for it. That’s one thing you don’t get to act like an expert about.”