Gabe (In the Company of Snipers, #8)(85)
But, no. Gabe grabbed her wrist, spinning her into his arms behind a huge tree in front of the bus. Her heart stopped again. Here they were on the run and he wanted a kiss? Like they did in the movies? Did this stuff really work?
“Aw, isn’t that sweet, Becky?” an older gentleman asked. “Young lovers. Hmm.”
Shelby got lost in the hubbub around her and the sudden change in direction. There was no asking permission this time, only the heat of Gabe’s mouth clamped onto hers, his heavy breathing fanning her lips and in her nose. One big hand trapped the back of her head while he buried his fingers in her hair, his mouth opened wide. Not asking. Taking. Demanding. Devouring.
She couldn’t breathe, much less think, so she gave. And gave. Feet thundered by, but she didn’t even look to see who it might be. It might have been all those sweet, elderly tourists. Or the police. But honestly, with her hands clinging to his neck and his pulse throbbing beneath her fingertips, the cops could wait. Heck. The whole world could wait.
For this single moment in time only, she was no longer Nurse Sullivan. She was Wonder Woman. Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow of the Avengers. Hell, she was—invincible.
Gabe tilted her head to the side for better access to her mouth, but when she opened her eyes, expecting to melt under the heat of smoldering greens filled with lust, the jerk had his eyes wide open all right. Only all of his attention was focused behind her. Not on her. She froze.
He smiled into her lips when he noticed she’d caught his indiscretion, but he didn’t let her separate from his mouth, not one bit.
“Stay,” he ordered gently, his tongue tracing a line of sparks over her now-pressed-very-tightly lips. “They’re looking for two people on the run. Not us. Come on. Open up. Don’t stop.”
Oh, yeah. That. She came to her senses. Embarrassment warmed her cheeks, and of course, immediately flooded those darned pesky breasts, too. Gah! And here she thought he’d kissed her because, well, because he liked her. She stilled her out-of-control emotions for this guy who obviously had better control of his emotions than she did of hers.
Her nipples needed to stand down and turn off, too, the damned cheerleaders.
“What next?” She tried to keep the petulant whine out of her voice. Men are such jerks. You give an inch. They take a mile.
“This.” He leaned backward to the tree trunk, her head clamped between his gentle palms. He lifted her glasses off her nose, tucking the stem into his shirt collar before he pulled her to his lips once more.
This time she made sure he closed his eyes before she succumbed to the crackling energy between them. He had no trouble breaching the trembling barrier of her lips, his fingers twined through her hair, his mouth hot on hers again.
Oh, mama. Want to or not, a moan escaped up her throat, mingling with the groan rumbling from his. The minty taste of his mouth sparked an appetite she’d not given into with any other man. And the feel of his whiskered chin. The smell of him, part clean sweat and part some men’s cologne. She tightened her grip.
“Mmm,” he mumbled, licking her lips softly enough to ignite her libido all over again. “What was I saying?”
“I think we were evading the authorities.”
“Oh, yeah. That.” Easing away from her mouth, he tucked her head below his chin where she wanted to be, against his pounding heart. She lowered her hands to his waist, thrilled at the feel of his hips and the sharp edge of his belt in her belly. Gabe was the first real man in her life. He knew what to do and when to do it. Capable. Ready. Willing. And he wasn’t afraid to take on the world.
Relief turned her knees to jelly. She could only hang on tight, listening to the banging beneath his ribs, an oddly comforting beat.
Wow. For two traumatically stressed people, they had a lot of cardiac tension going on between them. The musical rhythm of their two hearts beating together was hypnotizing. It was a wonder she could stand at all.
His breath scorched the back of her neck, weakening her more. Gradually, she thought to open her eyes. Tourists. Vendors. Bicyclists. Mothers and fathers with strollers. That was all. No police. No smirking FBI agent, either. Whew.
“I think we lost them.”
“We should move,” he said, but he made no effort to disengage. “Soon.”
“Where?”
Gabe stroked her shoulders, warming her in ways she’d not allowed before. Petting her. Gentling her. Easing comfort and something else she was afraid to name into her body and mind with his fingers and palms. She relaxed into the friction of his touch, wanting more of the luxurious feeling sweeping up from her toes.
At last, he set her back another inch or two, enough to peer into her eyes, and she was smitten. His sexy greens were dark with lust. Standing in his arms took her breath. Heck. He could take everything. If he only knew. If he only asked.
Gabe traced his index finger along her jaw, ending with a gentle pinch to her chin. “You’re a surprise, Shelby Sullivan, but I’ve got to warn you. I like it. I like it a lot.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Time to fade into the busy D.C. tourist scene. Gabe secured Shelby under his arm, walked her up to a street vendor and purchased a couple of light summer hoodies that brightly declared Washington D.C. for the world and any local authorities, to see. Hers was in pink, his in gray. The vivid purple lettering convinced him. There was more than one way to hide from police on the prowl. In plain sight.