Breathless (18 page)

Emma’s eyes flew open with the heavy heat of his cock pressing against her, then inside her. He shifted her slightly, then slid his full length into her, melding them together.

Gabe’s head fell to her naked shoulder, his moans of pleasure intensifying the bliss of feeling him begin to move. Emma wrapped her legs up and around his hips, increasing the friction of where their bodies met. Eyes closing in rapture, Emma gave herself over to the feeling of pure enjoyment.

“Emma… Oh hell.” Gabe’s moaned words slid over her skin like molten fire, igniting every last nerve and synapse in bliss.

Emma’s hands wound around Gabe’s neck, his strength holding her upright when she would have fallen.

“Please…I—” Emma’s body shuddered, her legs tightening painfully around Gabe’s hips, the spasm of muscles enhancing the feel of him inside her, filling her. Emma cried out, her reaction too powerful. She couldn’t hold on. He just felt too damn good, and she hadn’t been with anyone for so long. Sensation so intense she believed her skin would melt, ice and fire burning her. The inferno washed over her, inside her, branding her with his body.

Gabe licked and kissed her shoulder where his head rested. He was buried so deep inside her. The rush of sensations hit her harder than she ever thought possible.

Gabe’s yell of ecstasy resounded around the kitchen. He pulled her harder onto him, and succeeded in throwing her over the edge into her orgasm. It hit her, stealing her breath, her strength and her will to fight her attraction to him any longer.

She couldn’t deny herself this. Not when he seemed to want her as much as she wanted him.

Gabe sucked in a huge breath. “Bedroom,” he rasped, staring into Emma’s eyes.

She pointed at the door to her right. “That way,” she said, her husky, sex-satiated voice whisper-quiet.

Gabe picked her up. Her legs were still wrapped around his hips and holding his jeans in place as he strode quickly in the direction she’d pointed. This was going to be a night neither of them forgot in a hurry.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Gabe shifted his shoulder a little to settle Emma more comfortably against him.

What a night.

He regarded the clock on her nightstand and grinned. It was four o’clock in the morning, and he was having trouble keeping his eyes open. Emma’s warm body curved enticingly against his in the dark. He tightened his arm around her and grazed his lips over her forehead. She sighed and her warm breath dusted across the skin of his chest, sending goose bumps all over him.

How could a woman make you feel like this after only one night?
It wasn’t just sex.
He’d felt a connection he’d never experienced before.

Gabe let out a breath. The problem was, it wasn’t one night. He’d wanted this for weeks now, since the first time he’d laid eyes on her in Dan’s bar. He just couldn’t accept it, wouldn’t let himself get closer than friends.

Seeing her reaction to him, her need for him—now there was no reason to hold back. He stroked a finger over her creamy skin. A shaft of moonlight speared through the night, slashing across their chests. He never thought he could feel this way again. Not after what had happened.

Betrayal wasn’t a nice word.

Gabe tangled his fingers through the ends of her long hair where it lay across his chest. He would have to tell her the full story about his breakup with his fiancée. He knew Darby had told her about the cheating, but that was nothing compared to the rest.

Tomorrow would be soon enough. He kissed her forehead again and closed his eyes. He was going to need his sleep if they went another round like that. They’d been in bed since the previous afternoon, only stopping to grab something quick to eat when they thought they’d die of starvation. He’d only left the house long enough to run to his pickup and grab the box of condoms Darby had insisted on putting there a couple of weeks ago, arguing that it couldn’t hurt to have some. Just in case he and Emma got intimate. They’d had a blistering fight over it. He’d finally given in and sworn to leave them there for eternity, unused. So much for that.

Emma stirred gently, her soft moan muffled by his skin. Gabe held himself still, not wanting to disturb her. She needed her rest.

“Hmm. Alex.” Her soft voice caressed his ears as her arm moved across his chest.

Alex? Who the hell is Alex?

Gabe frowned into the dark. Hearing her say another man’s name wasn’t exactly an aphrodisiac, but he supposed he could understand. If Alex was an old boyfriend and she felt comfortable here with Gabe, her subconscious would associate them.

Nothing to worry about.

Gabe waited a few heartbeats, but curiosity got the better of him. “Who’s Alex?” he whispered.

He felt Emma’s mouth curve into a smile against his shoulder. “My husband, silly,” she answered on a breath of air, and sank back into oblivion against him.

Gabe’s heart stuttered to a halt. His blood turned to ice. He couldn’t breathe.

Husband?
She’s
married?

A vise gripped his insides and clamped down hard.

Oh Christ, no. Not again.

The first person he’d felt something for after Sami and she was the same? How could that even be possible?

Gabe had to move, had to get out of there before he did something stupid. He slid Emma gently off his arm and froze when she rolled over and sank back into the pillows. Of all people, he would never have taken her for a liar. She seemed far too genuine.

So much for him knowing anything. He spotted his jeans laying bunched up on the floor near his shoes in a shaft of moonlight and pulled them up hurriedly. He turned back toward the bed, his heart twisting and dying a little as he stared at her.

He’d thought—no, hoped—that there could’ve been something more. Gabe had denied his instant attraction to Emma to anyone who would listen. He’d nearly managed to fool himself into believing it too. They’d become friends, instead of jumping into something headfirst. He’d thought it might make a difference.

Obviously, he was very, very wrong.

Gabe grabbed his shoes and backed out of the room, imprinting the image of Emma lying in the moonlight. He wouldn’t be seeing her like this again. If there was a God, he wouldn’t see her again…at all.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Emma rolled over and stretched between the sheets. Her body felt used, abused and deliciously sore. Muscles ached that she hadn’t even realized she had until last night.

She breathed deeply, relishing the scent of Gabe’s aftershave all around her. She grabbed a fistful of sheet and lifted it to her face, inhaling the exotic mix of Gabe and sex. It was a heady aphrodisiac. Grinning to herself, she slid a hand across the bed to reach for him.

Nothing.

Emma’s eyes opened. She sat up and scouted the room. He wasn’t there.

She scooted to the edge of the bed and grabbed her satin robe from the floor. She belted it and wandered down the hall toward the kitchen. The neckline slid off her shoulder as she walked. It was always doing that—the robe was too big for her. She shrugged it back up onto her shoulder. Gabe must be making coffee, or something.

Emma rounded the doorway and stopped, frowning. No Gabe.

“Where on earth…” Emma bit her lip and glanced at the clock on the wall. Eight thirty. Where would he have gone at this hour? Work?

Her stomach started churning. Surely he hadn’t
left
, left? He was coming back, wasn’t he? From all indications, he’d enjoyed the night as much as she had.

Hadn’t he?

A horrible feeling writhed in the pit of her stomach, but she pushed it away ferociously.
No.
He wasn’t the type to get what he wanted, then run, pretending it hadn’t meant anything.

She knew there had been the bet to see who would date her first. Surely there wasn’t a bet about who would sleep with her first?

No. He isn’t like that. He’s my friend, not some scumbag lowlife. Isn’t he?

Emma’s knees felt weak. Where was he, and why hadn’t he let her know he was leaving? Or leave a note?

She scanned the kitchen for one, but there was nothing to be seen on the counters, except for the remains of their quick snack in the middle of the night.

A heavy knock at the front door made her jump.

A huge grin erupted on her face. The dope had locked himself out. Emma ran down the hallway, her robe slipping again as she pulled the door open. “I thought—” Emma’s smile drained from her face.

“Good morning, Emma. And I take it by those bites on your shoulder that it was a good
night
, as well,” said Darby, laughing. “Courtesy of my brother, I presume?” she teased.

Emma’s face flamed with embarrassment. “What makes you say that? Could’ve been anyone,” she said as she yanked up the errant sleeve of her robe.

Darby leaned against the doorjamb and raised an eyebrow. “
Was
it just anyone?”

Emma frowned and stepped back, making room for Darby to enter. “Of course not. What do you think I am?” she countered and wrapped her arms defensively around herself. She’d really thought that it was Gabe at the door. Now she didn’t know what to think.

Darby closed the door behind her and followed Emma down the hall and into the kitchen. “Well, it’s obvious
someone
gave you those bites, and I’m sure you weren’t playing Pictionary when it happened.”

Emma’s shoulders slumped. “No. Gabe spent the night,” she confirmed quietly.

“Ha! I knew it. So…was it good?” she inquired, a happy sparkle lighting her eyes.

Emma turned and fiddled with her new coffee maker to have something to do. She shrugged a shoulder. “Yes. For me anyway.”

Silence met her quiet statement. She busied herself, dumping coffee into the percolator to avoid Darby’s stare.

“What do you mean, for you? Just ask him. I’m sure he’ll tell you he’s in seventh heaven right now,” Darby said. “He’s been hankering after you since day one.”

Emma squeezed her eyes shut at the sharp pain from Darby’s words cut into her insides. This wasn’t what she wanted to hear right now.

“I don’t know so much about that. I would ask him…if he were here.”

Emma couldn’t look at her. She didn’t want Darby to see how much it upset her that Gabe wasn’t there. If she could pretend it didn’t matter, she might not think about it too much. But Darby was having none of that. She turned Emma around by the shoulder.

“Well, ask him when he gets back. Where is he?” she asked.

Emma finally raised her gaze to Darby’s. “I don’t know,” she whispered, her voice betraying her uncertainty. “He was gone when I woke.”

Darby opened her mouth to speak, but disbelief rendered her speechless for a moment. She took a breath and tried again. “What are you trying to say? That he left?”

Emma shrugged again. “I don’t know. All I know is that we had an amazing night, or so I thought. We made love so many times… Then I woke up just now, and he was gone. No note, no message. No Gabe.” She took a deep breath and said the words that resounded through her head. “I think perhaps he thought it was a mistake.”

Darby put both hands on her shoulders and stared hard. “No, Emma! If he thought that, he’d hang around and tell you himself. He wouldn’t use you and leave. There’s got to be a good reason he’s gone. Maybe he went down to the bakery to get you something for breakfast?”

Emma bit down hard on the hope that sprang up with those words. “Maybe, but I don’t think so. I have a funny feeling that something’s not right. Maybe last night he realized he didn’t really want to be with me at all. It wasn’t exactly planned. We were arguing. He told me he wasn’t attracted to me, and we…”

She looked away, not able to stand looking into the same eyes as the ones she’d spent the night staring at.

“No! I don’t believe that. The only reason he’s been telling anyone who’d listen he’s not interested is because he’s been trying to convince himself of that. He’s had a major thing for you since the first night you came to the Cow.” She continued when Emma nodded. “It wouldn’t have even happened once if it had been a mistake.”

Emma looked back at Darby. “Did he tell you that? That he was interested?”

Darby frowned. “No, but he didn’t have to. We could all see it. He just tried to pretend he wasn’t. He couldn’t stay away from you—even while lying to himself. No. I won’t believe it.”

Emma looked Darby in the eye. “Was there a, you know, a…a…bet, or anything like that? To see if…” she trailed off, unable to repeat what was going through her head. Just the thought made her feel sick even thinking it.

It took a moment for her meaning to click. When it did, Darby’s face went white.

She put her hands on Emma’s face. “No! He would never…and if there had been, he would’ve flattened anyone who dared take it. Dan would’ve had his turn too. There would’ve been a huge uproar about something like that,” Darby insisted.

Emma’s eyes teared up, despite her best intentions to keep control of herself. “Then where is he?”

Darby’s hands fell from Emma’s cheeks. “I don’t know. Have you tried calling him?”

Emma shook her head. “No. I only woke up not long ago.”