A Billionaire's Redemption(16)

Desperate to think about something other than steamy, hot sex with this bombshell, he asked, “Do you think the intruders are operatives from this secret senate committee?”

She nodded, her hair sliding silkily against his skin. Lord, that was distracting! “Honey, if you don’t stop wiggling, I’m going to embarrass us both. And I know you’re a bit...sensitive...about such things right now.”

Oh.” A pause as his meaning obviously sunk in. “Oh!” Damned if she didn’t settle more firmly against his chest and throw her arm around his waist. “I’m not scared with you here,” she whispered.

He about jumped out of his skin as she actually pressed her lips against his sternum, just below his collarbones. Crap. No, not crap. Good that she wasn’t terrified of touching a man. But he mustn’t think about sex. She felt safe with him? That was progress, right? His brain leaped from thought to thought, disjointed and...oh, God. So horny. Must control himself. Not gonna happen, buddy.

Willa. This isn’t going to work. I mean, I do want to comfort you. I’m glad to hold you. But neither one of us is wearing a lot of clothes, and umm...well, hell. You’re incredibly sexy and attractive.”

Her hand around his waist moved up his chest and curled around his neck, her fingers playing seductively in the short hairs at the back of his neck.

Gabe. Look at me.”

He stared down at her in distress. He wanted to make love to her right now just about worse than he wanted to breathe.

I’m not scared of you.”

Was she inviting him to... Oh, holy God. No way. He was not going to fall on her like some sex-starved beast. Like James Ward.

Yeah, well,” he retorted gruffly, “I’m scared of me.” He squirmed out from under her and surged to his feet. He turned his back fast to hide his arousal from her. No matter what she said, he wasn’t going to chance scaring her off men for good.

Arms snaked around his waist from behind, and her delicious chest pressed against his back. He could all but feel the firm globes cupped in his hands. Swelling sweetly into his mouth. He groaned aloud. “I’m trying to be a gentleman, here, dammit. You’re not helping, Willa.”

Kiss me, Gabe.”

He bolted forward, tearing out of her grasp. “No!” No way was he taking any chances with her. She was still too fragile, too afraid for that. She needed time to recover. To learn to trust men again.

Willa was quiet behind him. Too quiet. Cautiously, he looked over his shoulder at her. And swore. Tears were sliding down her cheeks silently as she stared down at her toes. She looked like a little kid who’d just had her puppy stolen.

He swore aloud as he turned and swept her into his arms. “It’s not you, baby. I swear. Believe me, you’re just about the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen. But it’s too soon.”

She made an impatient sound and shock exploded across his brain. It wasn’t too soon for her? Then that must mean...damn...was it too soon for him?





Chapter 7

Willa tossed and turned in her bed, so frustrated she could scream. No matter what she’d tried last night, Gabe Dawson flatly refused to kiss her. He kept spouting some drivel about her needing time to learn to trust men again.

Frankly, she expected she would never trust most men. But she did trust him. He’d charged to her rescue three times now. First at the police station when the media mobbed her, then again at the press conference when the reporters had overwhelmed her and most of all, last night.

He’d risked his life to confront a potentially deadly intruder in her house, for goodness’ sake. Jerks didn’t do heroic stuff like that just to get in some girl’s pants.

She punched her pillow, but it was hopelessly bunched and hot beneath her cheek. It figured. The first time she was truly attracted to a man in recent memory, he refused to lay a hand on her, let alone kiss her. After James had beat her up, she’d found herself craving someone to touch her gently. Respectfully. Okay, maybe not so respectfully, but definitely intimately.

At least Gabe didn’t think she was a complete troll. Memory of his entirely obvious physical reaction to her last night under his cotton pajama bottoms made her smile in momentary triumph. Temptation to go to him, to cajole and tease him until he couldn’t resist her washed over her.

She really shouldn’t. It would create a horrible scandal if she dated her dead father’s mortal enemy. Not to mention all the divorcées of Vengeance that Gabe had spurned over the years would be out for her blood if she landed him.

But darned if he wasn’t everything she’d ever dreamed of in a man. Truth be told, she’d spent most of her teen years, and an embarrassing portion of the years to follow, idly dreaming of him. He’d figured prominently in most of her first sexual fantasies. She’d literally dreamed about him more times than she could count. Hot, explicit dreams where he did all the naughty, forbidden things to her that nice girls weren’t supposed to think about or even know about.

She had no doubt he was adventurous enough and confident enough as a lover to fulfill all of those fantasies, and maybe cook up a few that hadn’t occurred to her, yet. After all, he wasn’t some inexperienced college boy who would fumble his way through the rudiments of sex. If even a tenth of his reputation was rightfully earned, he was an extraordinary lover.

Oh, she’d blushed and pretended not to listen over the years as his various female conquests had kissed and told. But as furious as they’d all been at his unwillingness to marry them, they’d all purred with satisfaction over Gabe Dawson in the bedroom.

Her body humming with need until her nerves jangled, she glanced at her alarm clock. Barely 8:00 a.m. But she couldn’t stay in bed one second more. Not without her hands wandering over her body, stirring up even more frustrated fantasies of the man dozing on her living-room sofa. He’d insisted on guarding her through the night, and he’d been equally adamant that he was not going to share her bed.

It had been sweet, really. He’d confessed wryly that a whole squad of intruders could stomp through her house and he would never notice them if he spent the night in the same room with her. Yes, indeed. A little teasing and seduction of the man was just what the doctor ordered.

To that end, she got out of bed and pulled on her shortest shorts, rolled down the elastic waistband below her navel and chose a cropped T-shirt that she usually wore over a tank top. Feeling daring, she skipped both tank top and bra.

She felt a moment’s doubt when she checked herself in the mirror, though. The short T-shirt barely covered the lower swell of her breasts. And she never showed this much stomach. At least hers was tanned and toned after a long summer spent in her parents’ swimming pool. She brushed her hair until it gleamed over her shoulders and threw on just a touch of mascara and clear lip gloss.

Amused at the notion of putting on makeup to cook breakfast, she opened her bedroom door quietly and peeked down the hall. No movement. She tiptoed to the living room and spent far too long staring down at Gabe sprawled on her couch.

My, my, my, he was pretty. His hair was dark and tousled against his strong features. His face was an intriguing mixture of rugged and refined—too chiseled to be called pretty, but too elegant to be called rough. Relaxed in sleep, he looked younger. Almost boyish. And so yummy, she could just eat him up.

Acres of muscular chest sprinkled with dark hair drew her gaze, and his legs were powerful beneath his pajama bottoms. Startled at her lack of fear of his obvious sexuality, her mind wasted no time running wild, conjuring possible ways to wake him up. They mostly involved getting naked and pressing herself against his incredible body.

Like what you see?”

She jumped about a foot in the air at Gabe’s husky voice. He’d caught her staring at him like he was her very own ooey, gooey sexual treat.

Fiery heat exploded in her cheeks as she mumbled, “Uhh, yes, actually.” Some suave seduction she was off to. She sounded like a bumbling teenager. “Umm, hungry?” she managed to choke out.

You cooking?” he replied lazily.

Her gaze snapped up to his face at the sexy timbre in his voice. His gaze was sliding down her body with excruciating thoroughness, taking in her skimpy outfit and the assets revealed with laser precision.

That was more like it. “What’s your pleasure?” she murmured.

It was his turn for his gaze to snap up to hers.

Eggs? Pancakes? Steak?” she suggested, a smile hovering at the corners of her mouth.

All of the above.”

If you want to jump into the shower, go ahead,” she suggested. “I’ll go have a look in the kitchen and see what I can come up with.”

How about I pop back over to my place to shower? I can grab some clothes that way.”

She let her gaze slide down his body and back up. Whoa. He was already wide-awake in more ways than one this morning. “I rather like what you’re wearing now.”

Vixen,” he muttered, heading for her front door. “I’ll be back in twenty minutes. Call if anything happens and you need me between now and then.”