CHAPTER TWELVE
Food was brought to their doorstep in the form of two trays filled with roasted chicken, potatoes and vegetables. Gabby was pretty sure the vampires at Raz’s mansion didn’t eat any of these things, which only testified to how the second-in-line was going out of his way to be nice to them. Gabby wasn’t sure of the truth anymore, but there were two things that were a constant, the first being she still couldn’t allow herself to trust Raz, no matter how nice and diplomatic he was being.
Second?
Jake was the only one she could rely on for real here.
They ate in companionable silence, with her no longer feeling those waves of dislike she felt from him before. It was supposed to reassure her, but for some reason, it only served to make her feel tense—something that Jake noticed right away as he finished eating early and went to sit right in front of her.
She took her time meeting his gaze, and he waited. He waited so patiently, just like he did before, and it made her feel that certain longing again. When she finally did look at him, his eyes were probing but calm, and he didn’t utter a word as she tried to find what to say.
Finally, she sighed. “I’m sorry. I messed up and got you into this mess.”
A slight frown touched his mouth, momentarily drawing her gaze there. “We’re in this together now. I just want to get you home.”
So I could return you to your life, and we could go our separate ways.
The words were left unsaid, but she figured that was what he was going to say, anyway. The thought bothered her when it shouldn’t because he was basically a stranger. She knew nothing about him beyond his protective instincts and his past dalliance with someone like her—someone who hurt him in the end.
Unable to help herself any longer, she leaned forward.
“Who hurt you?”
“Hmm?”
“Who was it? The one who made you so prejudiced against women like me?”
His mouth flattened, but he didn’t move away. She didn’t break their eye contact, and neither did he.
“Lucy.”
Her heart dropped. Her cousin.
So he and Lucy had an encounter before.
“What happened?” she asked softly.
Jake shrugged. “I rescued her. We got stuck somewhere. Relied on each other and trusted each other. I wanted her. She didn’t want me. That’s about it.”
No, that wasn’t about it, she realized. He didn’t just want Lucy…he wanted to mate with her. The thought oddly left her hollow, but she pushed through.
“Do you still want…her?”
“That was years ago,” he replied, looking away. “I’ve moved on.” A few seconds passed before he looked back at her. “What are you hiding, Gabby? What are you so scared of?”
The question didn’t take her by surprise, knowing he was going to bring it up sooner or later. But she found her wall of defense building up all the same, and she tried very hard not to shut him out completely—no, not this time.
“I think Raz and the kidnappers are connected.”
“How?”
“I don’t know yet,” she admitted. She took a deep breath. “I have a secret. A terrible one. They need it. They need me. And I want them to get rid of it.”
His hand went to her wrist, shocking her with the heat of his touch.
“Let me help you,” he whispered. “Let me help you, whatever it is.”
Her heart skipped a beat. But she shook her head, already too afraid of her own reaction to him—of what she was seeing in his gaze. It wasn’t love or anything of the sort, but the lust was there, and so was the concern.
He wouldn’t do anything to hurt her.
But she might do something to hurt him.
This time, it was her who broke the gaze as she stood up. She watched him stand up, too, before she turned around to face the door. Realizing it was rude, she turned back to face him, and wished she didn’t, because there was no denying the longing in his before he shut it down.
Something in her ached, something deep and unsettling.
“What do you want, Jake?” she asked, feeling helpless.
“No. What do you want, Gabby?”
“I want things I can’t want,” she said.
Jake shook his head stubbornly. “That’s bull. Why don’t you stop feeling sorry for yourself and fight for what you want for once in your life?”
He didn’t understand what she meant, and her hand fisted beside her as she tried to control herself. Then he turned around, and she found that she didn’t want him to.
Gabby stepped forward. She reached out, using her regained strength to clutch at his shoulder and turn him back to face her. He looked at her in shock, but she didn’t give him time to say anything as she pushed him back. Then she was leaping towards him, and his hands automatically reached out to steady them when she straddled him standing.
Jake’s hazel eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to say something. But she was kissing his cheek, then his chin, his scent seeping in her senses and making her drunk with it—musky, earthy, masculine.
“What are you doing?” he asked through gritted teeth.
“What does it look like?” she asked back.
There was no other explanation needed because he knew deep inside him what she wanted. She felt his hands tighten around her waist as he used one arm to lift her up for better grip. She gasped, and he swallowed the sound as he was the first to cover her mouth with his.
The kiss in the limousine had nothing on this one, and Gabby found herself sinking into him. He kissed like he meant it, and it was filled with passion and desire so raw that all she could do was kiss him back and hang on. All her troubles left her for that moment, as all she could feel was Jake’s hard body against hers and the proof of his erection pressing against her belly.
He sat down on the bed and let her straddle him. His hands moved, sliding down her dress and touching her thigh. His mouth cruised down to suck on the sensitive skin of her throat, eliciting a moan from her that he later swallowed again. His tongue then came out to play, tracing a path down as he slid her dress down and exposed her breast, which didn’t have any bra on.
It was already puckered from their kiss, but now her nipples stiffened further when he used his fingers to tweak and rub them. Then he was leaning down to capture one between his lips, and the ensuing fire that spread through Gabby had her going deaf and blind to everything else.
It was like being assaulted by the most delicious pleasure, and she couldn’t get enough. She felt herself lowered in bed, even while her hands scrambled to remove his clothes. He took off his shirt, but not his pants, and his mouth slid further down to tease, stopping on her stomach before he finally used his hands to spread her legs.
Then his tongue delved in to lick, taste…suck.
Gabby covered her mouth with her palm as her moans turned to cries at the sensual touch. He was taking his time, and he was lapping her up like an ice cream cone. He teased, and he played, and he did it with so much intensity.
Then shock ran through her system as her body bucked out of her control before she was exploding for him. He cursed under his breath and murmured that he wanted inside her, and she nodded her head and rolled them over until she was the one on top and straddling him.
She made quick work of his pants, sliding her hand in to wrap around his cock. It was larger than she expected, pulsing around her fingers and making her mouth dry. It was long, with a perfect mushroom-shaped tip…thick. She squeezed him softly, then moved her hands up and down. He groaned, the sound so devastatingly sexy. He positioned his shaft at her entrance.
Then he plunged in.
Pain sliced through her and she gasped at the suddenness of it. His eyes widened—and then he was cursing again and trying to push her off, but she held on and leaned down.
The pain intensified.
“You didn’t tell me it was your first,” he began but froze when she cut him off with a kiss on the cheek.
“I just want to feel good,” she murmured. “Please, Jake.”
Jake’s gaze bored into hers. She kept kissing him, letting him feel how much she wanted this. Then he was nodding his head and kissing her again, keeping it slow and steady this time. His hands caressed her everywhere, a reassuring, soothing touch that eased the pain bit by bit. He rained kisses on her face, slowly building up the pleasure for her until no pain existed anymore, and she could feel her hips moving and trying to find satisfaction once again.
He moved along with her, his hips rocking against her and his cock sliding in with such exquisite pleasure that she could no longer hold back her moans this time. Jake rolled them around until she was once again on her back, and he changed the angle of his thrusts, plunging inside her harder and deeper as he swallowed every sound she was making with his mouth and tongue. A ball of heat was building up in Gabby’s stomach, and all she could do was let herself go and feel the rhythm of her body and soul as it called out to him.
Only him.
Once again, he took her to that release she needed.
Then he was thrusting faster, pounding inside her and repeatedly calling out her name as he finally exploded inside her, too. Gabby clutched at his shoulders, her heart beating a mile a minute and everything in her torn between wanting more and wanting to run away.
She’d found her mate.
But she was the only one.