Always Been Mine by Victoria Paige

distraction, really. When your dad found out, he was furious. I couldn’t blame him. It was the worst possible timing.”
    “So you were going on a mission, and then you asked me to be exclusive anyway?”
    “No. I said I was the top choice, but I wasn’t the only one. Ryker, a good friend of mine, had the same skill set as I had. Had the same background as I do—no immediate family to wonder if we were gone for a long time or if we never came back. I chose to be with you, Beatrice. I bowed out of the mission.”
    “But you still left . . .” her voice trailed off.
    Gabe closed his eyes as he remembered the memories of that night, and the harsh decisions he had to make. He was breathing hoarsely when he spoke, “Something went horribly wrong. There were so many vendettas within the organization we were going to infiltrate—Ryker got killed when the plane he was in exploded.”
    “Oh, my God,” Beatrice whispered.
    “It should’ve been me.”
    “Gabe—”
    “There was only a small window of opportunity to insert myself into the op, otherwise, we would have lost the chance.”
    “You blamed yourself that night—”
    He shook his head.
    Beatrice’s face contorted in anguish. “You blamed me?”
    She tried to pull her hands away, but Gabe held on. “It was a fucked up night, babe. As soon as I drove off, I blamed myself and did for a while. What I regretted these past three years was every single hurtful word I said to you that night, because they were a lie. I cared for you more than the mission. I could walk away from it—all things being equal. But a friend died because I chose to be with you, and I knew if I didn’t see this mission through, I could never live with myself.”
    “If you only told me, Gabe—” Beatrice choked.
    “What?” Gabe snapped, letting go of her hands and pushing out of the chair. He paced the room. “Ask you to wait for me? I wasn’t even sure I was coming out of this alive. As much as I regretted saying those words to you, in the end, I felt it was best for you to forget me. I just wish I handled it differently.”
    “You have no idea how damaging those words were.” The expression in her eyes chilled him.  
    He walked back to the table, bracing his hands across, he leaned in. “They were a lie.”
    “The words festered inside me, you know,” Beatrice said softly.  
    Gabe’s heart rate quickened with the direction the conversation was taking.
    “Babe—”
    “That I will never be worth more than a job. That I was so pathetic I almost begged you to stay.”  
    His chest was hurting with the pain his words had inflicted on her all those years ago.
    He couldn’t take it anymore. He walked to her side and hauled her to her feet. He needed to kiss the pain away, so he pressed his mouth against hers. He tasted the salt of her tears, so he pushed his tongue between her lips and she opened beneath him. He devoured her, wanting to absorb her hurt into him.  
    “I’m so sorry, Beatrice,” Gabe whispered hoarsely against her lips. “So fucking sorry.”
    Her arms came up around his neck as he lifted her and spread her on the table. His hands sought her heat. Finding her bare almost short-circuited his brain. He bent over her and continued kissing her, rubbing his hardness against her core. She moaned into his mouth, so he quickened his thrusting until she convulsed against him as he swallowed her cries. He swept her up from the table and headed straight for his bedroom. Kicking the door shut so Rhino wouldn’t follow, he carefully lowered Beatrice on the bed.
    “I don’t think—” she protested.
    “Shh . . . let me show you just how much you mean to me.” Gabe pushed her legs apart and buried his face between her thighs. He hungrily licked, stroking her from the base of her sex and hovering just around her clit. Her hands dug into his hair. “Please, Gabe.”
    He stimulated the bundle of nerves with his tongue, fastening his lips, and gently sucking the tender