Chloe was exhausted the next morning. Trace had been gone by the time she returned, but Gabe had been waiting for her. She’d updated him on the mare’s condition, which was good, and then she’d gone to bed.
Unfortunately, she’d tossed and turned most of the night, waking up before her alarm because she couldn’t sleep.
I’m ready.
She munched on a piece of toast nervously as she waited for Gabe to join her for breakfast. She had a proposition to put to him, and it wasn’t going to be easy. But she felt like she needed to try.
I’m ready.
She couldn’t keep on trying to ignore her attraction to Gabe. It was exhausting, and she wanted to truly be able to live again, experience things she never had before.
I’m ready.
The minute Gabe walked into breakfast, Chloe’s confidence started to deflate. He was the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen, and there wasn’t a moment that she spent in his company that she wasn’t fully aware of just how attractive he was.
Taking a closer look at him as he sat across from her, she noticed he looked just as tired as she felt.
“Good morning,” he muttered as he reached for the pot of coffee in the middle of the table.
“Good morning,” she echoed automatically.
“You okay?” His head came up as soon as he’d poured his coffee and he perused her face. “You look tired.”
I am tired. I’m tired of fighting a need that I don’t understand. I’m tired of being in the same room with you and wanting to be closer. I’m tired of not understanding what I’ve been missing. I’m tired of being afraid.
“I’m okay, but I am tired,” she admitted. She took a deep breath. “Gabe, I don’t want to fight our attraction anymore. I want you to teach me what it’s like to find sexual satisfaction. Are you willing to teach me?”
He nearly choked on a piece of toast. “What?” he said, sounding startled.
“I want to have an affair, the hot and heavy kind involving lots of sex.”
Gabe swallowed and grabbed at his coffee, taking a large gulp before he started to cough. “Jesus, Chloe, you nearly killed me.”
“I know it’s a lot to ask, but I don’t expect anything else from you. Just sex. You’re the only man I’ve ever met who makes me want him that way. Please.” She wanted him to say yes. If she didn’t at least have a fling with Gabe, she was more than a little afraid that nobody would ever make her feel the way she did when she was with him. She was ready to experience the sexual high that women talked about but she’d never understood.
“You just want to have an affair?” he asked, now recovered from his coughing fit.
She nodded, so nervous she couldn’t speak.
“For how long?” His eyes were dark and turbulent.
Chloe shrugged. “As long as we want each other.” Things were bound to cool off once they’d been together a few times. Right?
“That could be a long time for me, sweetheart,” Gabe drawled.
“Then we can set a time limit. A week?” she asked hopefully.
Gabe started to laugh. “It will take me longer than that.” Sobering, he added, “You need to think about whether you’re ready for this, Chloe. You have to trust me.”
“I do. And I’m ready.” She trusted him more than she trusted any man except possibly her brothers. He was the only man she’d trust with her body.
Gabe searched her eyes, and Chloe met his gaze frankly, never looking away as he seemed to be deciding what to do. He dug his cell phone out of the pocket of his jeans without looking away and glanced away quickly to search out and press a button on the phone. He immediately looked back at her as he put the phone to his ear.
“Cal, Chloe and I are going to be tied up in a very long meeting this morning. Handle the rounds, and contact us only if you have a real emergency,” Gabe instructed his manager, still staring directly at Chloe.
Chloe’s heart started racing, the intent in Gabe’s eyes perfectly clear. Certainly he didn’t mean now. They’d barely had their morning coffee. She’d thought he might think about it, that she’d have time to prepare. She certainly hadn’t expected that he’d jump at the chance to take her to bed without a moment’s hesitation.
“Yeah. Thanks,” Gabe muttered, pressing the Off button on the phone before throwing it on the table.
“Now?” she asked him breathlessly, feeling like she could barely breathe.
“Sweetheart, you don’t make that kind of offer to a guy who is as desperate as I am for you and expect him to wait until later.” Gabe rose and strode over to her chair, lifted her into his arms, and literally sprinted up the stairs.
Chloe laughed, her heart feeling light for the first time in a very long time. She sobered as he lowered her feet to the floor in his bedroom. Chase scrambled in behind him, but Gabe shooed him out of the room and closed the door firmly behind him.
“Poor Chase,” Chloe said, suddenly nervous.
“He’ll live. This is one thing I’d really prefer to do without him,” Gabe answered huskily. He hesitated before he asked, “You have to tell me how it was before. Tell me what you don’t like. I don’t want to screw this up.”
Chloe’s heart clenched at the way he let her see his vulnerability. “You know I have body issues.”
“Completely unnecessarily,” Gabe answered as he started to undress slowly.
“You haven’t seen me naked,” Chloe countered, hating the thought that he might be disappointed.
“No, but I plan on it very shortly. I’ll show you how much I love your body. What else?”
“I don’t like to be forced,” she answered, nearly swallowing her tongue as Gabe casually shrugged out of his shirt and tossed it on the ground, appearing to be totally comfortable with getting naked.
“That would never happen. What else?”
“Oh, God. You’re perfect,” Chloe blurted out, unable to take her eyes away from the rippling muscles in his arms and chest. Gabe was perfectly made. He did hard physical work, and it showed.
Her fingers itched to touch his bare skin, run her hands over his defined six-pack abs. Her eyes darted down and noticed a distinctive happy trail that disappointingly disappeared at the top of his jeans.
“I’m just a man, Chloe,” Gabe answered in a grave tone. “I have my share of scars from working with the horses, and I’m a long way from perfect.”
He looked pretty damn incredible to her, but she knew what he was trying to say was that attraction was a matter of perception. Maybe she hadn’t looked beautiful to James, but maybe she was attractive to Gabe. “You look pretty damn amazing to me,” she said honestly. “I want to touch you.”
He shook his head. “Not yet. It’s too hard for me…literally. Anything else you want to tell me?”
She shook her head as their gazes locked and held. “Just the dominance thing, and the body thing.” Chloe listened to her words, wondering if her IQ had just decreased enormously from staring at Gabe’s naked upper body. She was so flustered she couldn’t think straight, or speak well either, apparently.
“Now that’s a shame about the dominance thing, darlin’, because I kind of like being the boss in the bedroom sometimes,” he replied, his Texas accent heavy with desire.
“You do? Painfully?” Chloe knew Gabe was a dominant man, but he was so very tender sometimes. Maybe she didn’t have him figured out.
He moved toward her and put his hands on her shoulders. “It can be pleasurable, Chloe. I’d like to see how many times I can make you come before I break.”
She nearly melted into a heated puddle at his feet. “Okay,” she agreed readily, thinking that letting him be in charge might not be such a bad thing.
“Do you trust me, Chloe?” he asked seriously as he grasped the bottom of her sweatshirt.
“Yes,” she answered breathlessly, letting him pull the shirt over her head, raising her arms obligingly.
“Then let me show you how it can be,” he demanded in a persuasive voice.
“Yes,” she whispered again, taking in a swift breath as he opened the front clasp of her bra, pushing it down and off her arms, as a cool rush of air wafted over her nipples.
“Gorgeous,” Gabe said reverently, lifting his strong hands to cup her breasts. “Take your hair down for me.”
Without a word, she reached up and tugged the tie from her hair, letting the dark locks fall to her shoulders. She sucked in a breath as Gabe’s thumbs moved insistently over her hard nipples, sending ripples of pleasure down her spine.
Unable to wait any longer, Chloe put her hands on his shoulders and moved her hands down his chest, shuddering with pleasure as she felt his heated skin beneath her fingers.
“Gabe,” she whimpered as he rhythmically teased the sensitive peaks of her nipples, making her pussy flood with heat.
“Easy, baby,” he crooned into her ear, gently taking a lock of her hair and pulling her head back so he could cover her mouth with his.
Chloe wrapped her arms around him, eagerly opening to him as he devoured her mouth and moved his hands to her ass. Her body seemed to roar to life as he pulled her core flush with his enormous erection, Chloe eager to have him fill the emptiness that had existed inside her for so long.
Her breasts abraded his chest as she struggled to get closer, threading her fingers into his hair just to feel the coarse strands. She let go of everything that had happened before Gabe, focused only on his touch.
“You’re going to kill me, Chloe,” Gabe grunted as his mouth left hers and his tongue trailed along the sensitive skin of her neck.
“Do you care?” she panted.
“Hell, no. It would be the best way to go,” he grumbled seriously, his hands moving to fumble with her jeans. “Step out,” he insisted as he dropped to his knees to lower her panties with the denim, pulling them away as she stepped out of the remainder of her clothing, leaving her completely naked.
Not certain how to feel or what to do, Chloe waited for Gabe’s reaction to her body, her uncertainty hanging in the air.
His hands ran sensually down the outside of her thighs. “Your skin is so damn soft. No more body issues, sweetheart. You’re fucking beautiful.”
Chloe bit her lip as he ran his hands back up the sensitive flesh on the inside of her thighs. She held her breath when he stopped short of her pussy. “Please,” she whimpered softly.
“What? Tell me what you want,” Gabe prompted.
“Touch me,” she begged, needing his hands on her like she needed her next breath.
Gabe slowly moved a hand between her thighs, sliding a finger along her wet folds, teasing her before he slipped two fingers inside. “Jesus, you’re so wet,” he said gutturally in a mesmerizing voice. “Open for me.”
Chloe widened her stance, giving Gabe complete access to her pussy. He rewarded her by seeking and finding her clit.
Her entire body trembled as he circled the sensitive bundle of nerves, teasing it before stroking over it boldly.
“Oh, God,” Chloe cried out helplessly, sensation overtaking her body and mind.
“Pleasure yourself, Chloe. Touch your nipples, make yourself feel,” Gabe ordered before he leaned forward and buried his head in her pussy.
The first touch of his tongue licking along her folds made Chloe crazy. She reached up and cupped her breasts wildly, pinching and caressing her nipples blindly while Gabe cupped her ass and brought her pussy flush against his face.
It was like nothing she’d ever experienced before, and his mouth alternately teased and devoured, finally focusing on putting pressure and stimulation where she needed the sensations the most.
She moaned as he speared two fingers into her channel, his fingers fucking her as his tongue got bolder, more demanding on the tiny nub of flesh that needed more pressure.
“Harder,” she begged, feeling her belly tighten as she finally speared her hands in his hair and pushed his head harder against her.
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Chloe’s climax seized her, and she threw her head back, screaming Gabe’s name as her world appeared to tilt, her core clenching and releasing on his thrusting fingers.
He caught her as her legs gave out, laying her gently on the bed, her body still trying to recover.
“I’ve wanted to see you like this for what seems like forever.” Gabe’s heartfelt words both humbled and excited her as he slowly shucked his jeans and boxers.
She looked at him, feeling almost like she was in a wonderful dream as she took in his naked body standing beside the bed, his cock so engorged she could almost see it throbbing. “What?” she questioned, her gaze hungry as her mouth went dry from the sight of him completely raw and naked.
“You in my bed, looking like you’ve just been completely satisfied.” His eyes devoured her hungrily.
“I have.” Chloe’s brain was still on meltdown from her orgasm. “I’ve never felt like this before.”
“You’ll feel better,” Gabe promised in a voice hoarse with arousal and desperation.
Chloe let her legs drop apart and held her arms out to him. “Show me.”
He swooped down so quickly that Chloe was stunned when his mouth closed over hers in a kiss so sweet it made her want to weep. He was demanding, but sensual, his tongue cajoling its way between her lips.
She tasted herself on his tongue, and it reminded her of how Gabe had just rocked her world.
He lifted his head to gaze down at her, his eyes like liquid fire. “I’ve wanted you for so long, Chloe. I’ve wanted this since the first time I saw you when you came back from vet school.”
“You have me exactly where you want me, then,” she teased, feeling as desperate for him to join their bodies as he did.
“Almost,” he retorted in a stoic voice.
“Fuck me, Gabe!” Chloe was desperate. “I need you.”
“I have to.” His tone was harsh, almost pained. “I can’t wait this time.”
“No waiting.” Chloe wrapped her legs around his back. “Now.” She needed Gabe buried inside her. She couldn’t wait another second. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she moved her hips up, feeling the head of his hard cock slide along her folds.
So close. I need to be closer.
He didn’t wait. He buried himself inside her with one smooth stroke.
He hesitated. “Okay?” he grunted.
She felt stretched, but there was no pain. Gabe was a big man everywhere, but Chloe loved the feeling of having their bodies joined this way. “Amazing.”
He pulled back and slid back into her slowly, making her long for more.
“More. Harder.”
“I’m trying to be careful,” he growled.
“No need,” she assured him, ecstatic when he began a faster, more demanding pace. “Yes,” she encouraged.
He claimed her over and over again, his cock entering and retreating at what seemed like almost an impossible pace. Chloe’s head thrashed from side to side as she felt her entire being start to fly free, her impending climax starting to build.
“Mine, Chloe. You’re mine,” he told her on a strangled groan.
She felt conquered.
She felt adored.
She felt overwhelmed.
And she felt amazingly…free.
“Gabe,” she cried out as her orgasm overtook her mind, her body a mass of burning need.
“Come for me, Chloe,” Gabe cajoled, shifting positions so his shaft rubbed along her clit with every pummeling stroke.
His demand was unnecessary because her core began to clench down hard on his cock.
She lifted her hips as she rode the tumultuous wave of her climax, milking Gabe to his own release.
“Fuck! Chloe!” Gabe groaned as he continued to bury himself inside her.
His mouth crashed down on hers almost violently as he spilled his hot release inside her. Overwhelmed, Chloe stroked her hands over his sweat-dampened back, her nails sinking into his flesh as she quivered in ecstasy.
He lifted his mouth from hers and rolled onto his back, leaving her connected to him and sprawled over his body in a sweaty heap of tangled arms and legs.
Resting her head on his heaving chest, Chloe panted for breath, still unsure of what had just happened. It wasn’t that she didn’t understand orgasms. Granted, no man had ever been patient enough to make her get off before, but now she completely understood what it felt like to have a man worship her body. It felt frighteningly divine.
“I think you’re right,” she whispered against his chest after she had caught her breath.
“About what?” Gabe asked curiously, his hand stroking her hair.
“It’s going to take more than a week.” She couldn’t imagine one week with him and then…nothing.
Gabe laughed so loud that the happy noise echoed in the large bedroom. “I knew I was right about that one even before I took you to bed,” he said smugly.
He was silent for a while before he spoke in a low voice. “I didn’t use a condom. I’m sorry. I got carried away because I’ve wanted you for so long. But I’m clean. I had a check recently, and I haven’t wanted to be with anyone else but you after that.”
Chloe’s heart melted. “I had the shot. I’m covered. And all of my tests were negative. I think you already know I haven’t been with anyone either.”
“You’ll never want to be again,” Gabe grumbled. “I’m going to keep you so happy that you won’t want anybody else.”
Chloe’s heart skipped a beat at his declaration. “I am happy,” she admitted, her gaze meeting his.
“I know,” he said without false modesty.
“But I should be getting to work,” she said regretfully. It felt so good lying body to body with Gabe that she didn’t want to get up.
“Make one move to get up and I’ll come after you,” Gabe threatened. “We’re taking the day off. Now that I have you in my bed, you aren’t getting out any time soon.”
Chloe sighed and got comfortable, knowing it was going to be an amazing day. For once, there was something more important than the horses.
There was Gabe.