Chapter 45

Ally

I sat on the sofa, staring out of the window at the snowfall. It was Valentine’s morning and Kelly had called at least twenty times to chat. I’d deal with her later. Right now, I needed to think.

Things with Gabe were not easy. I wanted to be with him and believe everything he said, but as soon as we got close to anything real, another problem seemed to crop up. This engagement thing was… ugh, I couldn’t deal with that thought.

Faith with a huge rock on her finger and Donovan Moreno’s smug smile.

But I still couldn’t resist Gabe. He felt like the other half to my whole. And I hadn’t heard from him since the rushed note he’d left on my fridge. Had he changed his mind? Decided that Faith was the one for him after all? Caved to his daddy? There was nothing worse as a woman than feeling so damn insecure. It needed to stop. I had to go all in. Or not.

I chewed my bottom lip but stopped when I tasted blood. God, no use assaulting myself because I couldn’t have the feeling of control that I so desperately wanted. Control was simply an illusion anyway. A weak straw that we clutched at in times of discontent.

Codsworth hopped onto my lap and settled in, purring gently.

“This is all your fault, you know,” I whispered, scratching him between the ears, appreciating that furry sweet spot which made him raise his chin. His tiny teeth peeked out of his lips and I transitioned to scratching his bearded chin instead. “If you hadn’t been upstairs, I would never have met Gabe.”

Thank God he’d saved my cat. I could do without the turmoil, especially on a holiday glorifying love. Snow tinkled against the window and settled on the sill. This was the whitest February I’d ever seen.

I shifted Codsworth and curled up under the knit blanket I’d pulled off the end of my bed. I grabbed my cell and swiped my thumb to unlock the screen. I tapped through to my music and selected a track: Elastic Heart by Sia.

I couldn’t get enough of her music.

“You won’t need an elastic heart,” Gabe spoke up from the doorway.

“I didn’t think I’d see you again this soon,” I said, then clicked the song off, so we could talk properly.

Amusement twitched the corners of his luscious lips. He straightened them and his expression darkened. “You don’t believe I’ll do right by you.”

“Can you blame me, Gabe? Yesterday was amazing, but I can’t help but wait for the other shoe to drop. Every time we get close—”

“Yeah, I know,” he said, raising his calloused palm. “I know. We get close and then we’re pulled apart, whether it’s from your side or from mine.”

“Mostly from yours,” I replied and stuck out my tongue to lighten the mood.

He chuckled. “Allegra, I told you I want to be with you for good. You’re my woman and I’m your man. I’m sure there will be bumps in the road just like in any relationship, but nothing will pull us apart for good. And that’s a promise.”

“That remains to be seen.” I pointed and Codsworth sprang off my lap, wandered up to Gabe and curled around his legs. “Traitor,” I growled, and it was too playful. How would he take me seriously — Gabe, not my cat — if I couldn’t express how I felt without joking about it?

“The bakery’s closed,” Gabe said, glancing over his shoulder.

“I left it unlocked for Kelly, in case she decides to come over. It’s Valentine’s. She said she got me a present.”

“That’s right. I have news. Good news,” he said, then sucked in some air, almost like a last gasp before he took a plunge.

“Do I want to know?”

“Definitely,” he said, then beckoned and stepped out of the room. His footsteps rang on the wooden boards and came to a halt in my bedroom.

He had to know I wouldn’t be able to resist him. This was his way of getting the upper hand. I licked my lips, tasting the remnants of hot cocoa, and rose from the sofa.

I walked through to my bedroom, fingers crossed behind my back, pinched together until the circulation cut off and they went all tingly.

Gabe had positioned himself by the window and stared down at the road below.

“Another Valentine’s. Another winter almost over.”

“I think that every year. Time’s passing us by.”

Gabe balled his hands into fists and faced me. “I won’t let that happen. Man, I—” He broke off and laughed out loud.

“What is it?”

“I’m fucking this up.” He shook his gorgeous head, then sucked in a breath of cozy bedroom air. “I’m trying to tell you I won’t waste any more time. Life’s short and I want to spend it with you.”

My eyelids fluttered like a starlet out of a Hollywood movie. It seemed cheesy, but this had to be how it felt to be stuck in a romantic moment on the silver screen. Apart from the lack of candles. Candles and roses made everything better.

“Allegra?”

“Sorry, my brain cut out for a second there. Could you repeat that?” Yeah, I was going to milk this moment for all it was worth.

Gabe walked up to me and took me by the arms. “I’m going to spend my life with you.”

“How?” Not the most eloquent reply.

“I spoke to Faith. I told her to take the ring off her finger, it’s never going to happen.”

“Are you serious? You did that?” I slid my hands onto his chest.

“It’s you, Allegra. You’re it. You’re my life.”

I couldn’t help falling deeper for him. Each moment that passed drew me closer and made me want more, even though I was terrified it would fall through again.

“I love you,” he said and bent his neck, lips inches from my own. “Only you.”

“Only you,” I whispered.

Our kiss revived my soul. I was destroyed and sucked into him, parts of me mixing with the person I believed he was.

I couldn’t pull away.

Gabe slipped the straps of my top from my shoulders, he kissed the bare skin there, sending tickles across my skin.

He undressed me slowly, peeling pieces of clothing from my flesh and tracing his path downward with kisses until he kneeled in front of me and parted my legs.

“You’re a queen, Allegra,” he murmured. He licked over my clit and sucked gently. “My queen.”

I lost myself in the noises he made, the gentle licks, nips and groans. His need for me was what got to me the most. My legs shuddered from the pleasure and my knees caved in, but he caught me in one, strong arm and picked me up.

He carried me to the bed and laid me down, then buried his face in my folds again. He wanted me to lose myself in the pleasure, in our love.

I grasped the sheets in both fists and arched my back, gasping. Pleasure twirled through my core, a thread which started at his lips and arced through my insides, all the way to my mind.

Gabe paused and I groaned a complaint. “So close.”

He stroked between my lips, collecting my wetness, then sucked his finger. “You taste fucking fantastic.”

I gulped and slapped my palms onto his shoulders, then tried tugging him upwards. “I want you inside me.”

It was his turn to moan, a long, throat-scratching growl of desire for me. Just for me.

I placed the soles of my feet on the bed and played with my pussy, bringing myself even closer to climax. Putting on the show for him now that I knew how that move made him lose his mind, I wanted to use it. A lot.

“Jesus,” he said, watching me, running his thumb along his lower lip. His breath was hot against my skin.

I shivered, lifting my ass off the sheets, lost in the moment. I wanted to come for him, I wanted him to see my pussy tighten and release, inches from his lips. I wanted him to know how badly I needed him. That the thought of him could send me straight over the edge.

I turned my head, bit down on the sheet and exploded into my climax. An ass clenching, mind-searing orgasm. I yowled through the fabric, my vision blurred with white lines of passion.

“Fuck,” Gabe said, hoarse with desire. “Holy fuck.”

He scampered up my body and entered my swollen entrance with a swift thrust.

“Now it’s my turn.”

I screamed his name. The only sound that I could push past my lips.