Chapter Two
Gabe entered the lobby of the Castillo San Antonio Hotel and Resort and paused a moment to take in the surroundings. The complete Texas ambience shot a jolt of adrenaline through his system. Not only did the Lone Star flag fly on a pole outside near the curb, but a framed version of it hung behind the reception desk. He noticed the same theme repeated in other furnishings scattered around the lobby, with another large Lone Star embedded in the center of the stone floor.
“I think there’s a reservation here in my name,” he told the reservations clerk who came to help him. “Gabriel Walker.”
She smiled warmly. “Oh, yes, Mr. Walker. We’re expecting you.” She typed his name into the computer. “You’re registered in the Republic of Texas suite. And your companion has already arrived.” She took a small folder from beneath the desk and handed it to him. “Your key card. Shall I call Miss Fitzgerald and tell her you’ve arrived?”
Gabe had absolutely no idea what the accepted protocol would be in a situation like this. All of his previous one-night stands had been far less formal.
“Uh, yeah, I guess you could go ahead and do that. Thanks.”
She picked up a phone. “Let me get a bellman to take your luggage.”
“No. That’s okay.” He lifted the duffle. “I’ve got it. It’s not much to handle.” He had packed light, not expecting to wear clothes very much during his stay. He frowned. “Did Miss Fitzgerald have much with her?”
The clerk dipped her head to hide a grin. “Just a small overnight case. Oh, Miss Fitzgerald,” she said into the handset. “Your friend has arrived. He’ll be up shortly.” She hung up and looked at him. “All set. Take the blue elevator to your right and push the top button.”
“Thanks for your help.”
Should he stop at the florist shop in the lobby and get flowers? What did one bring to a prearranged one-night stand? Okay, I’ll just wing it. But as the elevator rose, smooth and silent, he experienced his first attack of nerves since the age of sixteen. What if I disappoint her? What if it turns out we’re all wrong for each other?
Don’t overthink it, dumbass. You’re here for great sex with a smart, older woman. Enjoy it.
The word “older” sent messages to his groin that made his dick harden and his balls ache. He’d wanted this for a long time and now it waited for him just a few steps away.
He walked down the thickly-carpeted hallway, paused in front of the heavy oak double doors with Republic of Texas Suite on the wall beside them, and forced himself to relax.
Here it is, Walker. Your fantasy. Don’t fuck it up.
His fantasy. He knocked softly to give Maggie warning before slipping the key card into the lock and pushing the door open.
The first thing he noticed was the living room of the suite, decorated like a room from the mid-1800s, only with modern upgrades. The second thing—which should have been the first—almost made his heart stop. A nearly-naked woman lounged on the couch, wearing the shortest, sheerest…whatever the hell it was called, that he’d ever seen. He hoped his jaw didn’t become unhinged when it hit the floor, or that she expected a lot of conversation right off the bat.
No question about it. I am definitely locked and loaded.
“Hi!” She flashed him an incendiary smile, her low, seductive voice hinting at her Texas heritage. “Come on in. I’ve been waiting for you.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “Have you, now. All your life?”
“I don’t know. You tell me.” She laughed softly.
She rose languidly from the couch and the sunlight pouring in through the sheer curtains left nothing beneath her shortie to anyone’s imagination. If he’d ordered a dream woman, this would be her.
Oh, wait. I did. And here she is.
Gabe dropped his duffel by the door and strode over to where she stood on ridiculously high, slip-on stiletto heels.
“Well. Let’s find out.”
He grinned down at her, placed his hands on her shoulders, and bent his head. The moment his mouth touched hers, a jolt of electricity sizzled through him. Her mouth tasted every bit as good as it looked, and when his tongue slid inside, she tasted better than finely aged bourbon. She molded herself to him, her full breasts pressing against the hard wall of his chest, her slender fingers rubbing up and down his arms. He let his tongue wander everywhere inside her mouth, licking the slick, inner surfaces, drinking from her as if he’d never be able to get enough. When she glided her tongue over his, he tightened his grip on her and sucked her deep inside his mouth.
“Well,” she gasped when he lifted his head, the pulse at her throat hammering wildly. “Hello to you, too.”
His gaze raked over her, absorbing every line and curve, every dip and swell.
“I hope you don’t think that thing covers you very much.”
She smiled, a slow curve of her lips. “It’s not supposed to.” Her low, full-throated voice caressed his skin. She let her eyes travel over him, from his shoulders down and back up again. “But, I think you have too many clothes on for this party.”
Gabe’s groin tightened. A woman who didn’t play coy and still classy about it. Could his luck possibly get any better?
“I, uh, think you’re right.”
She nodded at the bar set up against one wall. “Why don’t I fix you a drink while you get comfortable?”
He laughed even as he began unbuttoning his shirt. “Isn’t that supposed to be my line?”
Her smile wavered briefly. “I didn’t mean to—”
He cut her off by cupping her cheeks and pressing his mouth to hers, his tongue sliding inside. She tasted just as good the second time as she had the first. He threaded his fingers through the rich, red silk of her curls as he slanted his mouth one way then the other.
“Your line is just fine,” he said when he finally came up for air. “In fact, I like it a lot. Come up with as many of those as you want to.”
Her smile was pure sin. “You got it, soldier.”
“First things first,” he joked, taking a box of condoms from his bag and placing them on the nightstand.
Maggie raised an eyebrow. “Confident?”
He chuckled. “Optimistic.”
By the time he gotten down to his boxer briefs, she had a cut crystal tumbler filled with dark amber liquid over ice cubes ready for him. He inhaled the rich aroma of the Jack Daniel’s blend and touched his glass to hers.
“To a great night.”
Her eyes sparkled with mischief. “And then some.” She took a slow sip of her drink then ran the fingers of one hand lightly down his chest, pausing to scrape her nails lightly over each flat nipple before halting at the waistband of his briefs.
He sucked in his breath. Just her light, feathery touch had him so hot, steam could rise from his skin. “Don’t stop now, darlin’. Go ahead. Touch it all.”
She took another sip of bourbon before sliding her open hand over the fabric of his shorts and cupping his cock and his balls. Heat flared in her eyes.
“Very impressive. Very impressive.” She looked up at him. “You know, you seem a lot older than thirty two. Are you sure you told the truth on that form?”
“I’ve packed a lot of living into my life.”
He stifled a moan when her hand left his groin and traveled up his chest again, one fingertip tracing the thin scar above his right nipple where he’d been knifed and then softly touching the scar on his shoulder where a bullet had hit.
“It certainly looks that way.” She pressed her lips to each scar.
The feathery touch sent a shiver skittering along his spine and his heavy erection flexed.
Her fingers continued to trail over his skin as she walked slowly around him, touching the muscles of his back, the curve of his biceps, and the muscles of his ass. If she kept up the light caresses, in a minute he’d grab her and throw her down on the couch. When she stood in front of him again, she gave him another slow smile.
“You’ll do, Gabriel Walker. Absolutely.”
He let out the breath he’d been holding. “Well, thank the lord for that. But I think now it’s my turn.”
Taking another deep swallow of the Jack Daniel’s, he put his glass down on the liquor tray and lifted Maggie so she sat on the bar. The color of her eyes had changed from emerald to forest green, her lips slightly parted and her full breasts moving with each rise and fall of her chest. The little item she almost wore only enhanced the shape of the mounds and the taut nipples pointing directly at him.
Gabe bent his head to place a soft kiss behind one ear, his hands sliding beneath the transparent fabric to lightly pinch her nipples, rolling and squeezing them. She caught her lower lip between her teeth and sucked in a breath, anticipation radiating from her body.
“Gorgeous,” he murmured, bending his head to pull one nipple into his mouth, fabric and all.
She moaned, a tiny sound of pleasure that made him harden more, a very slim possibility. He licked and sucked and tugged until the nipple swelled and firmed under his touch and then moved to the other one. As he pleasured her breasts, he slipped his hands beneath her shortie and smoothed them up her legs to the soft flesh of her tummy, finally easing his thumbs to the top of her slit and finding the nub of her clit.
Flipping up the hem, he took his fill, drinking in the sight of the sweet mound and the neatly trimmed, dark red curls. She whimpered again as he lightly stroked her hot button, and opened her thighs wider to accommodate him. Damn! A woman who gave him an honest reaction without waiting to be graded on her performance. And obviously, that performance promised to be outstanding.
The more he teased her clit, the louder the sounds of pleasure she made, head thrown back and breasts thrust into the tug of his lips. When he pulled his head back, she gave a cry of disappointment and reached for him. He brushed his mouth over hers, his thumbs still playing and teasing at the top of her wet slit.
He fought for control. “We’re going to finish this in the other room.”
He lifted her as if she weighed nothing and marched into the bedroom with her. Someone had thoughtfully turned back the covers, leaving the silken sheets ready for them. Gabe carefully placed Maggie on them, pulled the sheer red garment over her head, and stared down at the most mouthwatering body he could ever remember seeing.
***
Maggie looked up at him, wishing she had some idea of what his thoughts were. She raked her gaze over him, taking in every tough, sculptured inch of the man studying her. She knew from the first touch that his muscles were hard as concrete, his body honed to a condition that never came from a gym. The scars he carried were a testament to the danger of the life he lived, that of a warrior, with a warrior’s needs and desires. He might have aged a lot in his thirty-two years, but still young enough, with plenty of stamina to keep up with her all night, because she had no intention of ever giving him any rest.
She cupped her breasts and lifted them to him, wanting to feel the heat of his firm lips on her nipples again. When she widened her thighs slightly, his eyes narrowed and the slate gray turned the color of a storm-tossed sea. Hooking his thumbs into the waistband of his boxer briefs, he stripped them down his legs and tossed them aside.
And Maggie thought she’d died and gone to heaven.
Gabe Walker’s stomach was flat and hard, rippling with the same muscles as the rest of his body. The same midnight black hair arrowed down from his chest to a thick nest of curls surrounding a swollen and fully erect shaft, the broad head darkened with desire. A tiny drop of fluid sat on the slit and a very impressive sac hung heavy against his thighs. Touching it through his boxers hadn’t nearly given her the full sense of his size. Her nerves went on full alert and the walls in her pussy quivered and clenched. The thought of that magnificent cock inside her body made her mouth dry and her breath catch in her throat.
She let her legs fall loosely apart, reveling in the fire that flamed in his eyes and the way his nostrils flared as he caught her scent. A muscle twitched in his jawline and his cock flexed.
“Do I meet with your approval?” he asked.
Oh, god. On top of everything else he had that trademark Texas drawl, slow like thick sorghum on a hot day. And deep, the timbre of it resonated through her body. If he turned out to be a figment of her imagination, she hoped he didn’t disappear too quickly.
Maggie reached out a hand. “Come closer, big guy, and let me touch you.”
Gabe moved until his legs touched the edge of the mattress, his erection hovering over her face.
She closed her fingers around the wide thickness, extended her tongue and ran it over the head, licking the tiny bead of fluid. A groan rumbled up from his chest and he clenched his fists at his sides. She licked again, sliding her fingers up and down once. Then again.
“Jesus, Maggie,” he growled. “Have mercy.”
She glanced up at him, her mouth curving into a tiny grin. “Surely you’re not going to tell me you don’t like it.”
He chuffed an unsteady laugh. “Darlin’, I like it too much. I love foreplay, but I think at the moment I’m on fast forward.”
Maggie licked her lips. “I like a man who gets right down to business. Just as long as that’s not all you’re offering.”
His laughed, the sound hoarse with need. “Maggie, darlin’, that’s just the beginning.”
She widened her legs even more and arched up to him. “Then let’s get to it.”
He knelt between her legs almost before she saw him move. Broad, muscular shoulders spread her legs even more as he positioned himself between them, and his head dipped to the folds of her pussy, tracing a slow path with his tongue. Electricity sizzled through her, arcing to her already taut nipples and her breath trapped in her throat.
“Oh, oh, oh,” she sighed, bending her knees to give him greater access.
She felt his tongue everywhere–the sensitive lips of her pussy, the soft inner flesh of her thighs, the already swollen nub of her clit. His big hands slid beneath the cheeks of her ass, lifted her to him and he plunged his tongue deep inside her. That quickly, her orgasm began unraveling inside her, like a coil wound too tightly.
“Please,” she begged, wanting him to come with her.
Gabe nipped her clit lightly then rose to his knees. Grabbing a condom from the box on the nightstand he ripped the foil with his teeth, quickly sheathed himself and drove into her with one swift movement.
Holy shit!
He filled every soft, sensitive inch of her, thick and hot and hard. Balancing himself on his hands he loomed over her, his stormy eyes locked with hers, his face dark with passion. And for a moment, she saw the wild, yet disciplined jungle animal that he needed to become on a mission. Powerful. Hungry. Focused.
And then he began to move, slow in and out strokes that dragged against every nerve in her cunt, his balls slapping against the curve of her ass with every forward thrust. In. Out. In. Out.
“Faster,” she pleaded.
And he obliged, pumping into her, his breathing raw.
She wrapped her legs around his waist and lifted herself to take him deeper, meeting him stroke for stroke.
Ohgodohgodohgod.
“Get ready, darlin’,” he rumbled, moving one hand to her clit, stroking, stroking, stroking. Then, “Oh, Jesus, Maggie. Now.”
“Yes,” she cried. “Yes. Now!”
She exploded with him, spinning out of control, Gabe pumping into her as her slick, wet walls clutched at him like a vise, milking him. Her entire body shuddered, her hands gripping his hard shoulders, nothing existing except her, the hard-edged warrior, and the climax thundering through them both.
When at last the aftershocks subsided, her legs fell limply to the bed. Gabe rolled to the side, taking her with him, their bodies still connected, breathing still erratic, pounding hearts finally slowing. He brushed the curls back from her damp face, kissed her eyelids, her forehead, her cheeks. His large, calloused hand stroked down the length of her spine to her buttocks and up again.
“Jesus, Maggie,” he breathed at last, “you just damn do it for me. Have I died and gone to heaven?”
She gave a chuckle. “If you did, you took me with you.”