between
both hands. “I think I’ve already been fucked raw, Mr. Banner.”
He grinned at her. “I mean without a condom. I’m
clean. Are you?”
She nodded.
“Do you trust me to pull out in time?”
“You don’t have to; I’m on the pill. Come inside
me.”
“Do you trust that I’m clean? I am, but if you’re
worried, I won’t.”
“I do trust you. You haven’t lied to me yet. I
want . . . to
feel . . . closer.”
He smiled and brushed the hair from her sweat-damp
cheeks. Kissed her gently. “I’m crushing on you so hard, Melanie
Anderson.” In his adult life, he’d never asked a woman to have sex
without a condom. Melanie was already special to him, but this,
this trust, this flesh touching flesh, cemented their connection.
He wanted nothing separating them.
He eased out of her body, removed the condom, and
then slowly slipped inside again. He sucked a stuttering breath
through his teeth. Her slick, tight heat was his own piece of
heaven on earth.
He claimed her with slow, deep thrusts, delighting
in each stroke. The skin along his spine began to tingle. The soles
of his feet dampened. Every muscle in his body tightened. He never
wanted it to end, this time with her. He never wanted it to fucking
end.
There was a loud knock on the door.
“Force,” Adam yelled from the hallway. “The bus is
about to leave. Get your sorry ass downstairs!”
“Shit,” Gabe muttered under his breath.
He lifted his head to look down at Melanie, stunned
to see her lips trembling and her eyes watery. A lone tear slipped
from the corner of her eye and glided down one smooth cheek. She
hugged him and buried her face against his neck.
“Finish,” she whispered.
“What’s wrong?”
She shook her head. “I’m not ready to let you go.
I’m sorry. I knew this was coming; I just didn’t expect it to
hurt.”
He eased away so he could kiss her tears, kiss her
lips, kiss her lovely face while he slowly thrust into her
welcoming warmth. He wasn’t fucking her anymore, he realized, he
was making love to her. He not only felt the pleasure her body
provided, but the comfort her soul offered his.
“We’ll see each other again,” he promised.
She clung to his shoulders and nodded. “I want that.
You. I want you. Gabe.”
A hard spasm gripped the base of his cock, and his
mouth dropped open in wonder as he claimed his release inside her.
She stroked the skin of his back as he shuddered. Her touch was so
tender. So loving. Exactly what he needed. Even if the sweetness of
it did rip his heart in two.
His body went limp, and she wrapped both arms around
him. He turned his face into her throat and inhaled deeply.
They lay like that for several moments, entwined in
the aftermath of togetherness.
“Gabe?” she whispered.
“Hmm?”
“I think I want to get a tattoo. Will you go with me
to get one?”
He lifted his head and looked down at her, framing
her lovely face with hands tangled in her thick curls. “I thought
you didn’t like tattoos.”
She swallowed and avoided his gaze. “Actually, I was
sort of afraid of them. I . . . when I was
thirteen, these four bikers cornered me and said all sorts of
suggestive things. I used to have nightmares about their tattooed
bodies and gruff voices surrounding me. Trapping me against the
wall. I couldn’t get away.”
He kissed her cheek. “You should have told me
sooner. I would have kept my shirt on.”
Her eyes flashed. “Like hell you would. I love your
body.” She bent her head to kiss his collar bone. “Including your
tattoos.” Her small hands glided over his back and the tattoo of
the phoenix which decorated the skin there. “Why are they all
animals?”
He frowned, not sure how to answer. “I don’t know.
No one’s ever asked me that before.”
“Are you a nature geek too?” she asked with a
grin.
He laughed. “Maybe. You’d better keep that just
between you and me.”
She smiled. “I like learning all your secrets.
Timothy Zahn
Desmond Seward
Brad Strickland
Erika Bradshaw
Peter Dickinson
Kenna Avery Wood
James Holland
Lynn Granville
Edward S. Aarons
Fabrice Bourland