One Night with her Bachelor(32)
Gabriel’s hands clenched into fists. “Greg sounds like an asswipe.”
She looked upset. “I don’t mean to talk bad about him. It’s not nice for Josh to hear these stories, and I try not to be negative. But, well… I don’t know why I’m dumping all this on you.”
“You need to dump it on someone. I’m happy to be dumped on.” He cringed. “That sounded so wrong.”
She grinned, and it did something funny to his heart. “Listen, I’m sorry for overreacting at the auction. I’m sorry for forgetting our date, and I’m sorry for losing it just now. I’m trying to keep on top of so much, but sometimes I slip and it all piles on top of me. I really do appreciate you taking me out tonight. Let’s just go inside and—”
“Hell no. Are you kidding? Josh paid a princely sum for you to have a good time, and I’m not letting him down. Neither are you. The Thai food will have to wait, and the dancing—” He tried to control his grimace. “—we can do that if you really want. But why don’t we work on that other thing?”
“What thing?”
“The woman thing.” Neither of them was going to get their lives back, but together they could detonate some of their frustration.
She silently stared at him, her quickening breaths the only evidence she’d heard him.
He undid her seatbelt, drew her into his arms and kissed her.
Chapter Nine
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Gabriel’s kiss caught Molly completely off guard. One minute she’d been consumed with keeping a lid on her mounting frustrations so she didn’t break down in front of him, and the next she was clutching his arms as if he were a lifeline thrown to her while she battled to stay afloat. His kiss was passionate, uncontrolled, just like all the turbulent emotions inside her. Finally, finally she stopped trying to control them. Finally she let the storm break her apart.
His palms cradled her cheeks as he slanted his mouth across hers, and she opened up to taste him. To breathe him in and steal some of his strength, his confidence. And when she’d shored up her own strength, she pushed forward and became the aggressor.
“Molly,” he murmured against her lips. “Fuck me.”
She didn’t know if it was a curse, a prayer, or a request. She was good with it, any which way he meant it. “Yes. That. I want to do that.”
He pulled back a little, blinking as he stared at her with passion-glazed eyes. “Do what?”
“What you just said. Please.”
His jaw hardened, a muscle ticking there like a time bomb. He seemed to assess what she’d said, as if he weren’t sure he understood. But then clearly he got it. Silently reaching across her, he grabbed her seatbelt and snapped it back into place. His arm brushed against her breasts, and she shivered. It’d been so stinkin’ long.
After buckling himself back in, he turned the key. The truck’s ignition roared to life, and they started the endless journey back to her place. “How long do we have?”
Till Josh got back? “A few hours, at least. Lily said she’d text to see if I’m home before she drops him off, just in case.”
Gabriel grinned. “Smart woman, that Lily.”
A strange lightness filled Molly’s chest. She was high on giddiness and hormones, probably suffering the effects of exposure to so much Gabriel. Ever since she’d opened the door to him tonight, she’d been almost overwhelmed by simply being close to him. Her body sang with hyperawareness. His scent, so natural and woodsy, making her think of the stunningly creative bouquet he’d made her. His touch, at once rough and gentle, just like the man himself. His voice, so beautiful it made her realize her ears were an undiscovered erogenous zone.
She reached across the space between them and stroked his thigh. It went hard under her curious palm. As her fingertips trailed higher, he sucked in a breath and shifted in his seat. “You’re getting close to the danger zone.”
“Good. I’ve never lived dangerously before. I want to start now.”
Maybe she couldn’t in most parts of her life, which had become hemmed in and constrained since Josh’s accident. But being with Gabriel felt freeing in ways she desperately needed. Being with him felt dangerous, yet she knew she’d never find someone safer, someone who would treat her better.
Her fingers brushed over his straining erection, and he twitched. “Hey. When you do that, all I see is you naked, not the road in front of us. Better stop till we get to your place.”
She pulled her hand away and clenched her fists in her lap. The truck filled with sounds of their barely controlled breaths. Judging by the tension radiating off him, Gabriel was just as affected as she was. By the time he pulled into her driveway, she was ready to mount him right there.
As soon as he cut the ignition, she launched herself at him. He caught her, dragged her across his lap and fumbled for his door handle. The door fell open, and the two of them nearly tumbled onto the snowy driveway. Gabriel broke her fall, but he landed hard against the truck, one hand still clutching the door and the other arm wrapped around her. He sucked in a pained breath, and Molly jerked. “Are you okay?”
He nodded, but he pressed his lips together and let his head tip back against the extended cab’s window.
“Gabriel?”