Page 89 of Vicious Temptation
Gabriel smiles, one side of his mouth quirking up. “I always want you, Bella. You know that.” His eyes have darkened, and they sweep over me again, backing up everything he says. I can see his desire for me in his face, plain as day.
“I mean—” I reach for the wine again, finishing what’s left in the glass, and setting it down once more far enough away that I won’t accidentally knock it over. “I want all of it. Tonight.”
Gabriel goes very still. “I need you to be clear, Bella,” he says huskily, and I remember the first time he said that, when I proposed all of this. “You want to have sex? Tonight?”
I nod, biting my lip.
“I need you to say it out loud,” he says softly, that hoarse rasp that tells me just how badly he wants it lacing every word. It sends a ripple of desire through me, and I take a slow breath.
“Yes,” I whisper. “That’s what I want.”
Gabriel moves closer to me in an instant, his hand sliding into my hair, cupping the back of my head as his mouth presses against mine. It’s a soft, slow kiss, and I can feel how much he’s holding back. How careful he’s being with me. I know he’ll be that careful throughout all of it, and even though that’s undoubtedly what I need tonight, I can’t help but wonder what it would feel like if he let go of that control. If I were able to feel safe enough to let him do whatever he wanted to me, in any way that he wanted to do it.
I have no idea how long it would take, for that to be something I could handle. It makes me want to suggest a different arrangement, one where we keep sleeping together, one where he shows me everything that goes beyond tonight. But I know better than to suggest that—for both our sakes.
Gabriel’s tongue slides over my lower lip, and I open my mouth for him, letting his tongue tangle with mine as I reach down for the buttons of his shirt. He groans against my lips, and I let out a soft sigh, feeling his chest beneath my fingertips. I undo every button as he kisses me, until his shirt has fallen open, and I can lean in, pressing my palms against his chest and scratching my nails down to his abdomen.
The sound he makes sweeps through me, making everything in me tighten with need, and I break the kiss, sliding down to the floor. Gabriel’s eyes widen, and his hand grips the edge of the sofa. “Bella?—”
“I want to try.” This is the most difficult thing for me, more difficult than the idea of sex—but if this is our last night together, I want to find out what Gabriel feels like in my mouth. I want to make him feel the same pleasure that he gives me, every time he goes down on me. I want to make him groan and plead and tangle his hands in my hair, and I want to find out what he tastes like.
I move between his legs, sliding my hands up his inner thighs, and I feel the muscles there quiver. “If you come like this,” I murmur, looking up at him under my lashes as I reach for his belt, “can you get hard again? So we can have sex tonight, too?”
Gabriel groans, his head falling back against the couch. “Bella,” he murmurs, reaching down to run his fingers through my hair, “There’s probably no end to the number of times in a night that you could get me hard.”
A thrill of satisfaction runs through me at that, and I slide his zipper down, my fingers slipping inside his boxer briefs. Gabriel sucks in a breath as my fingertips brush against the hard, hot length of his cock, and he moans softly as I slip him free, my hand wrapping around the shaft.
He’s already rock-hard, pre-cum pearling at the tip, eager and ready for me. His hand drops away from my hair, both hands curled against the edge of the couch, careful not to push me. To let me go at my own pace.
I slide my hand up his length, brushing my thumb over the tip, the way I’ve learned he likes. I’m rewarded with a shudder, and he stiffens, his cock throbbing in my fist as I stroke him again. I feel his thigh tense under my other hand, his breathing faster.
“God, you look so beautiful,” he murmurs. “On your knees like that, for me.”
I want him in my mouth. My pulse beats hard in my throat, and I lean in, on the verge of wrapping my lips around him. But a sudden wave of memories hits me, of being pushed down onto my knees, a strange cock rubbing against my cheek, and I jolt back, letting go of him as if he’s burned me.
“I—” My throat feels like it’s closing up. “I’m sorry.” I push myself backwards, sitting up on the couch, trembling. Guilt washes over me, seeing Gabriel aroused and breathing hard, looking at me as I tell him I can’t stand to go down on him, after everything he’s done to please me.
He shakes his head as if bringing himself back to the present, reaching down immediately to tuck his cock away—with some effort, he’s so hard. “Bella.” He leans forward, stopping himself just shy of touching me, and once again, I think I fall a little more in love with him. It doesn’t matter that I’m not supposed to feel it, that we won’t have anything after tonight—I’m always going to love this man a little bit, I think. Clara was right about that, at least. It’s impossible to do what we’ve done together, and not feel something.
“We don’t have to do anything tonight,” Gabriel says gently. “You don’t have to go faster than you want to.”
I swallow hard, and I think of going back up to my room. Of stopping this here, for now. I feel a wave of disappointment wash over me, and I shake my head.
“I still want it,” I whisper. “Just—not that.”
I wait for that disappointment to show on his face. After all, it’s supposed to end after he takes my virginity. He’ll be disappointed if I never go down on him, won’t he? But there’s no sign of that on Gabriel’s face. Instead he leans forward, gently cupping my cheek in one hand as his mouth presses firmly against mine.
“Come with me,” he murmurs against my lips, and he takes my hand, helping me up off of the couch and leading me to the stairs.
My heart trips in my chest when we walk into his room. I’ve been in here before, of course—even slept in his bed—but it feels different in this moment. When I thought of what we could do together in his bed before, it felt abstract, uncertain. But this is real, and immediate. It’s happening right now.
Gabriel turns to face me, and I realize that his shirt is still hanging open, his belt undone. In his haste to get upstairs with me, he didn’t bother rearranging anything other than the most necessary things. A flood of warmth rolls through me at that realization, and I step forward, grazing my fingertips over his chest. The soft hair feels good, and I go slowly, wanting to draw it out. I want everything, but I want to remember it all.
He leans in, threading his fingers through my hair, one hand resting against my waist as he draws me closer. “There’s no rush,” he murmurs, as if he heard what I was thinking. “And we can stop anytime you want, Bella. I don’t care when. If I’m inside of you and you want to stop, we stop. Alright?”
I bite my lip, nodding. Gabriel’s hands slide down to my hips, slowly pushing up my dress. “I like this one,” he murmurs. “The color suits you.”
I start to say that I’ll wear it again for him sometime, and then I remember that there is no again after tonight. If I wear this dress, it’ll be because I want to, not to turn him on. But I push the thought away as soon as it comes, focusing on this moment, on the now. On tonight, and everything I want it to be.