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When he finally took the stiff peak in his mouth, she drew in a shuddering breath, and he growled his satisfaction as his hand busied himself with her other breast. Sucking, licking and teasing with his tongue and his teeth he took her to the edge and back again.
Finally, she dug her hands into his hair and held him steady at her breast while she rocked her hips into him. As he sucked, he slid his other hand down, over her taut flat belly, under the flimsy elastic of her thong. Elina’s hands clutched at the pillows and her hips bucked into his questing finger.
Oh so gently, Gabe grazed her nipple with his teeth as his finger found her wet and inviting. Slowly, he dipped inside her sex, testing her, seeing how ready she was—how much she wanted him. He was in no hurry and could do this all night.
This girl was different. This girl was magic. All he wanted to do was see her come alive under his hands.
He released her breast and she whimpered, trying to bring him back. But instead, he kissed his way back up her body. Taking her lips again, he timed his finger with the deep strokes of his tongue.
Against his thigh, his erection throbbed and begged for relief, but this was about her—about seeing her fly. He could wait. Gritting his teeth against the need, he dragged his lips from hers, trailing them along her jawline to her neck, and she shivered.
Her hands traced up his back, her nails digging into his bunched and flexed muscles. “Gabe, please, hurry, I need—” Before she could finish, her slick, slippery flesh quivered around his fingers.
He pulled back to watch her wide-eyed, blissed-out expression. Seeing her lashes flutter closed and her mouth parted on a silent scream of ecstasy, he demanded, “Look at me, Elina. I want you to look at me while you come.”
She opened her eyes and met his gaze with a shocked expression as her body tightened around his exploring fingers again. His thumb ghosted over her pleasure button, and his name was a moan on her lips as she came again.
Gabe gentled his strokes, but he didn’t stop. He wasn’t done with her yet. He wanted her boneless by the time they were done. Then he wanted to start all over again. With each gentle glide, he nuzzled at her neck, sipped at her lips, nipped at the flesh of her collarbone. “How are you feeling, beautiful?”
She giggled and bit her bottom lip. “Warm, and sleepy, and for the first time in a long time, really, really relaxed.”
He flicked his thumb over her clitoris again and Elina’s breath hitched. She swallowed her soft gasp as he added another finger. “You still feeling sleepy?” he whispered against her lips.
She shivered and slid her hands in his hair again. “Not so much anymore. I wonder how that happened.”
His lips quirked. “I have no idea.”
“Gabe, please, I need you. I just—” Her legs clamped around his hips and she broke apart again in his arms.
He grinned to himself as he gently pulled his fingers from her. “What was that you were saying, beautiful?” He rolled away, quickly shucked his boxers and made quick work of the condom he’d tucked away. When he crawled up over her bed, she reached for him.
“Come here,” she whispered.
“You don’t have to ask me twice.” He kissed her again. Pouring everything he had into it. Using his body to communicate the rush of emotion. When he drew back, her eyes were half lidded again and she stroked his hair back tenderly.
“I need you, Gabe.”
A shiver ran through him, and he bit his lip. When he lined his erection up with her sweet center and slid home, they both gasped, the breath rushing out of their lungs.
God, she was tight. So tight. It didn’t take long before the need was tingling and spiraling along his spine. She stroked his back and met him thrust for thrust, holding eye contact as they made love. Gabe knew then he’d never been as connected to another human being in his life.
When her legs locked around his hips again, he was lost. She pulsed around him, milking his erection, and he finally let the reins of control go. In one stroke, he followed her into blissful oblivion, knowing he would never be the same.
Chapter 5 (#ulink_8dfa1675-93c5-5860-bd99-7b01356da9a3)
Elina stretched languorously. That was the best night’s sleep she’d had in weeks. The last month or two she’d needed a light sleeping pill to help her get to bed. But last night... God, she needed more nights’ sleep like that. Wait, what time was it? She peeled open an eyelid trying to get a good look at her clock.
It was only then that it hit her that she wasn’t at home in her own bed. She was in a foreign bed with soft white cotton sheets and a floppy duvet. The sun streamed in from the window, bringing diffused light. Behind her back was a furnace. A hard furnace. Then suddenly, that furnace wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close, kissing the nape of her neck.
Then with sudden clarity, she knew where she was. She knew who she was with, and she knew what she had done. Holy hell. She’d slept with the best man. Damn Gabe and that crooked smile of his. What was a girl supposed to do?
Jump him, clearly. Okay. Done that, but now what? She wasn’t normally so careless, but he’d been sweet, and fun, and there had been karaoke. It wasn’t her fault she’d given in. When in doubt, blame the karaoke. He sang Shai to her, for the love of God.
And unlike the rest of Adam’s friends, he wasn’t just some bored rich kid spending his parents’ money. He had dreams, and he was trying to do something with his life. That doesn’t matter now. Right now, it was time to get out of Dodge.
Elina slipped out from under his arm and froze when he rolled into her closer, as if in search of her heat. Would it really hurt to linger in bed for just another hour? Yes, yes it would. She had broken her own cardinal rule number one. No sleepovers. She hadn’t had a long-term boyfriend since college, and she wasn’t into sleeping around. But she knew what overnights generally meant. Attachment. And she wasn’t going to do that.
When Gabe rolled over and snuggled her pillow, she stood up slowly and gathered her clothes off the floor. Holy walk of shame. Wait, not walk, swim. She was still on the damn boat.
Elina dressed hurriedly and told herself she wasn’t going to look back at the sleeping Gabe. Don’t look back. Don’t look back. Do. Not. Look. Back. But of course, she turned and looked back. And unfortunately for her lady parts, he was just as good-looking asleep as he was when he was awake and flashing that grin of his.
At this rate, she’d be just as bad as her mother. As she carried her stilettos up the stairs and out, she saw that they were docked in the marina.
Oh God. Reece must be looking for her. She turned on her phone and sure enough, there were five messages from her friend.
“Hey, Elina, where are you? We’re about to toss the bouquet and I want you here.”
Next message.
“Hey, babe, you’re not sick, are you? Are you holed up in the bathrooms puking your guts out? Call me. Find me. I’m worried.”
Next message.
“Hey, slacker, is it a coincidence that you and Gabe are missing together? Or did you really decide to swim to shore and ruin that perfectly good Cavalli dress?”
Next message.
“Okay, I’m worried. Even if you’re with Gabe, call me as soon as you get this.”
She didn’t bother to listen to the last message. She knew how it would go. Instead, she called. Checking her watch, she breathed a sigh of relief. It was only seven thirty. Reece and Adam didn’t leave for their honeymoon until ten. She wouldn’t be interrupting anything...hopefully.
Reece answered on the first ring, and she was not happy. “Where the hell have you been? I have been worried sick. If you hadn’t gone missing with Gabe I would’ve assumed you were man overboard.”
Elina skipped down to the dock, or rather did a half run, half skip since the dress had zero give. “I’m so sorry. I swear to God I will make this up to you. I didn’t mean to abandon you at your reception.”
“What? You think I’m upset because you abandoned me? Dude, you’ve done your duty. I was married. I was busy dancing my ass off, eating some cake, throwing a bouquet, which you missed incidentally. I was just really worried. It’s not like you to vanish.”
She felt terrible. “I am so sorry. I don’t even know what happened. First we were dancing, and then there was karaoke and...” She let her voice trail off.
“Honey, I’m just giving you a hard time. Now that I know you’re okay, can we talk about exactly where you were?”
Elina laughed as she waved down a taxi. “No, we cannot talk about it. Matter of fact, I never want to talk about it. We’ll just pretend the whole thing never happened.”
“You know you can’t get away with that, right? Gabe Alexander? You sly dog, you. I mean, the man is positively smoking, but I thought you weren’t in a guy phase?”
“I know what I said about the guy phase thing. And I wasn’t. I mean I’m not.” Nope, she was just in the Gabe Alexander phase. Hell. No, she was not. “It was a onetime thing. We got carried away and that’s that.”
“Uh-huh? And just where is the yacht-owning lover boy right now?”
Elina winced. “He owns the freaking yacht? That’s just fantastic. I may or may not have sneaked out on him.”
Reece laughed out loud. That kind of full belly laugh that only her best friend was capable of. “You know what, I’m sure that this is some kind of karmic payback for something he’s done in the past. Don’t worry about it.”
Elina leaned forward and gave the taxi driver the address for her hotel. “Yeah, but I do feel terrible.”
Reece stopped laughing. “Oh my God, was he bad?”
Bad? No. Hell no. The man was made for sex. But it had felt like more than just sex. They’d been so connected. And then she’d run out. Like a freaking coward. Elina scrubbed a hand over her face. “No, he is very well practiced.”
“I knew it. He’s just one of those guys that looks like he moves well, you know?”
Did she ever know. “Look, Reece, this goes into the vault and we don’t talk about it. With any luck I won’t see him again for a very long time and I can just forget the whole thing ever happened.”
“Why do you want to forget if it was good? Especially if he wants to see you again?”
“Reece, have you forgotten who you’re talking to?”
Reece sighed. “You’re really going to let him slip out of your fingers?”
“He’s not mine, Reece. And I’ve got a different focus now. Someone like him is just going to distract me.”
“I know you. You wouldn’t have slept with him if you didn’t feel a genuine connection. Are you sure this is the best move?”
No, she wasn’t sure. And right about now her body was certain it was the wrong plan. But her brain would eventually wake up and realize she’d done the right thing. She was not her mother. Good sex didn’t equal love.
* * *
Gabe nestled in closer to Elina’s scent. When he reached over to her side of the bed to pull her close, it was cold. He blinked awake rapidly, then called out for her, “Elina, are you here?”
But there was no answer. Oh hell. She’d left? He sat up in bed and ran his hands through his hair. After last night, she’d actually run away?
His first instinct was to call Adam and Reece and get her number. Not that he was desperate; he was just making sure she was okay... Okay, yeah, that sounded desperate. What is wrong with you? It’s just a girl. And he’d slept with plenty of girls.
But he never made love to one before. He might’ve only just met her, but that’s what it felt like. At the very least, it was one hell of a connection.
He showered quickly before checking in with the captain. He usually split his time between New York and Los Angeles, but his father liked to keep the yacht in the marina here in the Hamptons.
Quickly checking his watch, he hopped in his BMW i8 and made the short drive to Reece and Adam’s hotel. The two of them didn’t leave for another hour, and he hoped he might be able to catch Elina. Sneak-outs happened to everyone. He may have run out of dozens of beds, but he’d never been left behind before.
He eventually found Adam drinking coffee by the pool and helped himself to a seat and a croissant. “Hey, where’s your new wife?”
Adam grinned. “That has a nice flow, doesn’t it?”
“Please, spare me from your sappy, lovey-dovey stuff this morning. I need to find Reece.”
Adam frowned. “Why, what’s up? What do you need?”
Gabe hesitated, but then spit it out. “I’m looking for Elina’s number.”
Adams smile spread slowly from cheek to cheek, quickly replaced by a frown. “I knew it! Once I saw you guys dancing, I knew the old Gabe Alexander would make an appearance. I thought I warned you against that.”
He didn’t have time for this. “You did. And it’s not like that. I like her.”
Adam pinned him with a narrow-eyed glare. “You’ve liked plenty of girls.”
Okay. But Elina was different. “Yeah, but I actually like talking to this one.”
Adam sat back, crossed his arms and studied him shrewdly. “Holy shit, did you get bitten by the bug?”
A tingle of awareness hopped up Gabe’s spine. “I don’t know what you mean by bug. I just thought she was cool. So I’m trying to follow up.”
“Uh-huh. Sure you are. Dude, I thought you were working on funding and focused on that. Not chasing tail.”
“Adam, she’s not tail.”
“I know that, but do you? You have had this habit of being into a girl, then fizzling.”
Gabe clenched his jaw. Maybe Adam had a point. Why was he here, really? Because it sucked to be left. She was great, but he did have stuff to focus on. And at the top of the list wasn’t Elina Sinclair.
It was a night he wouldn’t soon forget, but he was going to have to let her go. He had to. Everything inside him fought against that instinct, but he couldn’t be pulled in two directions. Not now. “She’s special.” He sat back and slouched. “But you’re right, I can’t focus on her right now.”
For now, he’d just have to chalk it up as one of those things and try to put it in the back of his mind.
Chapter 6 (#ulink_3e47bbed-747a-54e6-a04d-5f2920a4ac9f)
On Monday morning, Gabe paced the foyer of D. Donovan Image Consultants as he tried to shake off the residual effect of Elina Sinclair. He’d managed okay the rest of yesterday in the Hamptons, and even this morning. But as soon as he hit the city and parked, he would have sworn he saw Elina somewhere near Soho, walking uptown. Just what he needed right before he had to beg Delilah Donovan to take him on as a client.
“Hiya,” said a pretty redhead. “You must be Gabe. I’m Willow. Come on back. I’ll take you to Delilah.”
He shook hands with the slim woman, and followed her down the hall toward the bank of offices. “It’s nice to meet you. This is a great space.”
“Thanks. It took us about a year and a half to get it just right. But we love it.”
Willow didn’t look like any fixer he’d ever met before. She wore leather pants and plenty of eyeliner, and her tattoos were on full display with her sleeveless top. “How long have you guys been here now?”
“Gosh, it’s been almost two years now. We were at Park & Associates before.” She shrugged. “But it’s better being on our own.”
“How big is the team?”
“We’re a boutique agency, so just three of us. Delilah and I are partners. We also have a junior associate. I know you’re wondering if a small agency can handle your needs, but I promise you, we know what we’re doing.”
“I’m not worried. I was told that Delilah was the best. And I believe it.”
“I’m glad to hear that, Mr. Alexander, because I plan on making you work.”
He turned to find Delilah Donovan in the doorway. She was maybe five feet four inches, but it was hard to tell in her stacked boots. The sunlight behind her made her skin look like a mix of cinnamon and honey. She wore her hair in a sleek bun on top of her head, but her clothing was casual leggings and some kind of tunic. Not fussy.
He shook her hand. “Thank you for taking the time to meet with me. I appreciate you fitting me in.”
