On the Rocks (Last Call #1)(24)
Hunter’s eyes are no longer holding mine, but he’s watching his finger trail down the skin over my sternum until it glides right down between my breasts. Liquid fire swarms low in my belly. For a brief moment, my brain screams at me to go back into defensive bitch mode, but my body is also screaming for me to leave well enough alone and see where this goes.
Pushing further, Hunter continues dragging his finger down, now being slightly impeded by the flannel material, but it no way stopping his descent. He pushes right past my heart, below my breastbone, and over the top of my stomach. Only when his finger reaches the knot, which is tied firmly across my belly button, does he stop.
He raises his head, and I raise mine to meet his gaze. His blue eyes are almost the color of dark denim, and they sear into me. He holds me captive in his look for just a second, and then he looks back down again. I lower my head, fascinated, as I watch his other hand come up and work at the knot holding the robe together.
Whether it’s a desperate act of self-preservation, or just an instinct born of fear that I’ll get hurt, my own hands come up and cover his, attempting to stop his progress.
He stills for a moment, never taking his eyes off the knot.
“Don’t,” he rasps out. Then he looks up at me, and his eyes are almost pleading even though his voice is commanding to me. “Just don’t.”
And just like that, my hands fall away as I submit to his request. He regards me for a moment more, and then he looks back down to his end goal. His hands are deft and he manages to pull the belt apart quickly, dropping both ends. The robe however, stays in place, gapping slightly at my breasts.
Hunter’s hands grab ahold of the edges, and I’m amazed to see they are slightly shaking as he pulls them apart. Cool air hits my belly and breasts, while Hunter’s eyes roam over me. His breath comes out in a rush across his lips, hitting me in the face with a warm caress. It smells like peppermint tea, and I wonder if I’ll be able to taste it on his tongue.
As he pulls the robe further apart, he whispers in awe, “Christ… you’re perfect.”
My knees almost buckle from the longing in his voice, and it dredges up memories of five years ago when I wanted to hear just those very words from him. For some reason, they sound sweeter at this very moment, because I understand how far both of us have come to reach this point.
Releasing the edges of the robe, Hunter brings his hands up and they lightly encircle my throat… just for a moment, before he smoothes them down the sides of my neck and across my shoulders, pushing the robe off.
“Tell me,” I whisper.
His hands still against my skin, and his eyes leap toward mine. “Tell you what?”
“Tell me what you have figured out.”
He smiles in understanding and leans forward to caress his lips over mine, digging his fingers slightly into the skin of my shoulders. When he pulls back, he says, “I figured out that you and I… that we’re going to happen no matter what.”
The minute he utters those words, I know they’re true. As much as I wanted to keep him at bay, as much as I feared what this would mean for my sanity and the sanctity of my heart, I too knew this was going to happen.
I give him a small nod of understanding and he rewards me with a brilliant smile, his eyes lighting up from within.
“Good,” he says. “We’re in agreement?”
I nod again and whisper, “Yes.”
“Gabby?” he says just before he leans down and kisses me on my neck. Goose bumps break out all over my body.
“Hmmmm?”
“This is going to feel so f*cking good,” he promises, his voice deep and laced with so much sensuality, liquid heat floods between my legs.
Then his lips come to mine, and yes… he tastes just like peppermint tea. My head swirls as his tongue mates with mine and just as my eyes flutter closed in rapture, I think… Yes, this is going to feel so f*cking good.
When I was seventeen and on the Junior Pro tour, I surfed Pipeline at Oahu’s North Shore for the first time and the exhilaration of the moment almost killed me. I literally thought my heart would jump out of my chest it was beating so hard when I caught the first wave in my heat. It was the biggest water I had surfed in my young career and, in my entire life to date, it was the most thrilling moment.
Until now.
Now I’d have to say the moment Gabby nodded at me… giving me the go ahead to have her… it knocked the Pipe clear out of my memory. Because now my heart is hammering with nuclear thunder at the mere prospect that I’ll be sunk deep inside of her before too long, and I’m almost drunk with pleasure just knowing that.
She looks at me, right this very moment, with heat and desire, and I have never wanted another woman the way I want her now. If I could freeze this moment in time, bottle this feeling, and sell it, I’d be a f*cking millionaire ten times over.
I contemplate exactly what I’m going to do to her… what will make her writhe against me or what will make her scream the loudest. I’m just about set on throwing her over my shoulder to carry her into my bedroom when she reaches out and grabs ahold of the waistband of my jeans, sinking her fingers inside. My gaze snaps up to hers and I see a bit of a challenge in those green-gold eyes, just before she lowers her gaze and unsnaps the button.
She doesn’t have an ounce of hesitation… dragging my zipper down assuredly and peeling the fly apart. I was hard just from the first touch of my finger at the base of her throat, but when she pulls her lower lip in between her teeth, gazing at her hands as they grip onto the denim, I swell to almost painful proportions.