Consent (The Loan Shark Duet 2)

“Perfect.” She gives me an encouraging nod. “You’re running late.”

She knows I’m stalling. I’m stalling because I’m nervous. How will this night turn out for us? For me, Gabriel, and Connor? When she leaves with Connor, I slip the gift I kept for Gabriel in my bag. Depending on what he says, I’ll offer it to him or bring it home. A part of me wants to put tonight off, but we can’t carry on living in our make-believe world.

I say a quick goodbye to the guys. It’s pizza and movie night, so Charlie is sorted. Then I drive to Gabriel’s house.

He waits outside, dressed in dark slacks and a white shirt. As always, my mouth goes a little dry. He’s perfect in every physical sense, but to me he’s still the scarred man I fell in love with. On the inside, he’s as torn up as I am, and that pain is a bond we share.

Instead of getting the door for me like he usually does, he remains standing on the lawn, drinking me in with a hungry expression as I walk up the path. We don’t need words. I know what he’s thinking just as he knows what I am, because his eyes drop to the hard points of my nipples under my dress. I stop short of him. My emotions are raw, but so are his. A war rages in his green eyes, the color so wrong and so right. His hands flex as if he’s trying not to touch me, but then the fragile cord of his restrain snaps.

Grabbing a fistful of my hair, he jerks me closer. The action makes me stumble into the hard barrier of his chest. He catches me with one arm around my waist, trapping his erection between us.

“Fuck.” He buries his nose against my neck and runs it along my jaw. “Just one touch.”

That hurts. He says it like a farewell greeting.

“I need you inside the house. Now,” he whispers in my ear.

Taking my hand, he leads me to the door. When it’s locked behind us, he turns on me, one hundred percent Gabriel. “That’s a very pretty dress.” For all of one second, he looks indecisive, as if he’s fighting an internal battle, but then he takes my face between his hands and kisses me hard.

“Aren’t you going to tell me to take it off?” I ask when he sets me free.

“There are things I need to say.”

I want to hear, and I don’t. I’m afraid of losing him, forever, this time, but I’m not afraid to fight for what I want. I’m not giving up, yet. I push the straps from my shoulders and let the dress fall to the ground. Not wearing underwear, I stand naked in front of him, except for my shoes.

His gaze caresses me with approval, but the battle continues to rage in his eyes. “You came here like this?” He closes the distance, staring down at my mouth. “Why?”

We both know why, but he wants me to say it. “I want you to fuck me.”

The taught skin of his cheekbones darkens. “How?”

“Hard. Rough.” I deal my trump card. “While you spank me.”

The lines of his face turn rigid, and the green of his eyes becomes smoky. “Why?”

“Because it makes me come harder.”

His chest deflates with a breath of defeat. “I can’t deny you.”

“Then don’t.”

He cups my breast, flicking a thumb over my nipple. “Lie down on your back and spread your legs.”

I shake my head. “If you want it, you’re going to have to take it.”

His body tenses. “I don’t want to hurt you, not any––” He bites back the rest of his words, giving me a pained and needy look.

“It’s what I need.”

His resolve crumbles like a dry piece of bread. His carefully guarded lust unravels, giving me a part of the true man as he folds his fingers around my neck and pushes me to my knees. Holding me in place with one hand, he unzips his slacks with the other, leaving the waist buttoned but freeing his long, heavy cock.

He lets go of my neck to grip my hair. “Touch it.”

Our position turns me on beyond anything I’ve ever experienced with me naked on my knees and him towering over me, fully clothed. Gathering the drop that spills from the slit, I rub the wetness around the crest before dragging my nails along the underside. His skin is hot velvet, his flesh hard granite. I catch his eyes as he stares down at me, reading me like the open book I am, knowing exactly what I need.

“Lick it.”

At the permission, I drag my tongue over the head, all the way down and back up. I don’t want to play nice, today. With a look of defiance, I suck him deep into my mouth.