Safe from Harm (Protect & Serve #2)(50)
Emboldened, she slid her arm around his waist and forced her tone to be casual and lighthearted when she replied, “I think this qualifies.”
“Well then, Ms. McCoy,” he said, “I should probably get you home before we break curfew.”
She laughed. “I can’t imagine a little thing like a curfew ever mattered to you in the least, Dawson.”
He lifted both brows at her this time. “Oh yeah? I’ll have you know I made it a point to always get my dates home no later than five minutes before their curfews.” He shrugged, qualifying his accomplishment a bit as he added, “That made it a lot easier to convince the parents to let me hang out with their daughters after they’d gone to bed…”
Elle shook her head on a sigh, trying to keep her mind from wandering to what might happen once he got her home. “Do you ever not get what you want, Dawson?”
“That remains to be seen.” He turned his eyes down to her, giving her a look so heavy with meaning Elle’s pulse kicked into high gear.
The fact that he hadn’t answered her question with his trademark arrogance told her he was still keeping his distance, waiting for her to give the green light. As they approached his Charger, her heart hammered in her chest.
C’mon, Elle, c’mon. Make a move. This isn’t high school… You know he wants you. Show him you want him, too.
Gabe opened the door for her and turned to hand her in, but instead of sliding into the passenger seat, Elle impulsively threw her arms around his neck and kissed him hard on the mouth. She felt his initial surprise in the hard line of his mouth, but it lasted only a split second before his arms came around her, pulling her into the curve of his body so tightly that she was pulled up onto her toes.
She teased his mouth with the tip of her tongue. His lips parted on a groan and his tongue plunged deep, stroking hers with rhythmic insistence. The kiss was savage, hungry. His hands slid down, gripping her bottom and pressing her against him. She ground her hips against his, another moan of need escaping her before she could check it.
He abruptly broke their kiss. “Jesus, Elle,” he practically growled. “You’re killin’ me here.”
Holding his gaze, she slid her hand between them, over the rock-hard bulge beneath his zipper. “Then we’d better get home. Now.”
His eyes snapped shut and he shuddered, cursing a blue streak. “Get in.”
It wasn’t a request.
Without a word, she hopped into the car, not entirely surprised when he seemed to make it around to the drivers’ side within seconds. His lips were pressed together in a harsh line as he started up the car and threw it into reverse.
Elle watched him intently as they drove. He kept his eyes on the road, his hands gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles were white. “Gabe? Is everything alright?”
When the grim line of his mouth turned down in a frown and he remained silent, she reached over and placed her hand on his thigh. He flinched at her touch and she saw him swallow hard.
“Gabe?” she prompted. “Are you okay?”
*
Was he okay? Was he okay?
He was in fucking agony! Shit. His cock was pounding like a fucking drum. The twenty-minute drive back to her house was going to be sheer torture unless he could get rid of the raging boner pressing against his zipper. But he sure as shit wasn’t going to tell her the thought of burying himself balls deep in her sweet heat was making his hands tremble and his mouth dry.
He was nervous, for fuck’s sake. What the hell was that all about? He hadn’t been this jacked up the night Suzanne Parsons had talked him into handing over his virginity at Tracy Wilkins’s seventeenth birthday party, when they’d stolen away to the barn’s hayloft. Okay, so she hadn’t exactly had to twist his arm, but still.
He shifted in his seat to try to relieve some of the ache and finally chanced a glance at Elle. “Yeah, I’m good.”
She gave him her “bullshit” look. “Liar.”
He quickly looked back to the road and eased off the accelerator, suddenly realizing he was going about twenty-five miles per hour over the speed limit. He risked letting go of the steering wheel with one hand to wipe some perspiration at his hairline. “I’m…” He paused, not sure what to say.
She withdrew her hand from his thigh and pulled back, her spine stiffening a little, as if she was offended. “Sorry,” she said stiffly. “I shouldn’t have come on so strong. It’s not like me to be that forward. I just thought…” Her words trailed off and she heaved a harsh sigh. “I just thought…”
What the hell? She thought he was having second thoughts because she’d made the first move?
“Jesus, Elle—are you kidding me?” he managed, his voice shot to shit. “That was sexy as hell. Everything about you is sexy as hell. I’m hangin’ on by a thread here just sitting beside you.”
Her voice was little more than a whisper when she said, “Oh.”
Now that he’d started the ball rolling, though, he couldn’t shut the hell up. “Seeing you in those cutoffs all day has been torture. All I’ve been able to think about is you wrapping those gorgeous, long legs around me. But I respect you way too much to have made a move on you when we were back at your house. Shit. Taking you to the fair was just as much to distract me as it was to help you find a little happiness today. But when you kissed me… Well, let’s just say, I’m not so sure how much longer I can be a gentleman.”