Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 148962 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 745(@200wpm)___ 596(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 148962 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 745(@200wpm)___ 596(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
“I do want to know, but not today. I want to handle the thing with Riccardo first. If that goes smoothly, then you can tell me before I leave the island this weekend.”
“Okay,” she agrees. “Do you want to come over on Saturday? We can do brunch and have an impromptu girls’ night. We have plenty of guest rooms you can stay in.”
“Sure. That would be nice.”
“Good.” She lets out a relieved sigh. “This is going to be the best birthday weekend ever.”
27
GABRIELA
Something stirs me from my sleep, and it takes me a moment to register the warmth of his lips against my ear.
“Happy birthday, little shark.”
“Hi,” I murmur, opening my eyes to find the room completely blacked out.
He must have lowered the shades, and I didn’t even hear it.
“Miss me?” He kisses a path along my jaw, sparking a wave of goosebumps over my skin.
A soft sound of pleasure escapes me, and he crushes his lips against mine and kisses me like we’ve been apart for months, rather than days.
I understand that frantic, all-consuming need, because I feel it too.
I have missed him, and I don’t care if he knows it.
I reach out for him in the dark, fingers pressing into his back, but as I try to pull him closer, his muscles tense. It reminds me of the last time he was here, and I wonder if he’s been injured somehow.
“Are you okay?” I break free from the kiss, concern seeping through my voice.
“I’ll be better when I’m inside you.”
He distracts me by sliding his palm beneath my tank top, fingers grazing my breast until I forget what I was trying to ask him.
“How many times does the birthday girl want to come?” He teases the words against my lips.
“As many as you’re willing to give me?”
A low, dark laugh hums in his chest. “You’ll regret saying that.”
“I’m open to testing that theory.”
He pushes up the fabric of my top and sucks my nipple into his mouth, and I arch into him.
My fingers slide through his hair, cradling the back of his head as he worships my body with his lips. It’s the only way to describe how he touches me. Everything he does is laced with that deep, aching hunger, and it feeds my craving to be the sole focus of his attention.
A thought enters my mind that this kind of chemistry can’t possibly be normal, and before I can stop myself, the question tumbles out.
“Do you think it’s like this between other people?”
He pauses momentarily, tilting his gaze up, even though he can’t see me.
“No,” he answers roughly. “There’s nothing else in the world that could compare to this.”
That declaration flows through my veins, pulling me deeper into an addiction I’m not sure I’ll be able to shake.
He presses a soft kiss between my breasts, lingering there for a moment before his lips claim every inch of my skin all the way down to my naval.
I close my eyes, giving myself over to him as he lifts my hips and removes my shorts.
He spreads my legs, warm palms gliding up the back of my thighs until I’m completely bared to him.
Taking his time, he teases his lips and teeth against me before he finally edges closer to where I need him.
The first lash of his tongue gets me so high on pleasure, my entire body shudders.
“So fucking wet for me,” he rasps. “I hope you had a nice nap, baby, because I’m going to fuck you until the sun rises.”
A soft sound of agreement falls from my lips, presuming he means figuratively, but I should have known he was serious.
He makes me come with his mouth, then strips himself bare and slides deep inside me. After that, everything is a blur of heat and desire that never fully fades.
It seems insane that we could spend this long wrapped up in each other, but it doesn’t feel like it. It feels like this is exactly where we’re meant to be.
I lose track of how many times he actually makes me come before I finally collapse from exhaustion.
“Have enough of me yet?” He smooths my hair back and kisses my temple.
It sparks a sudden ache in my chest, and it doesn’t go unnoticed.
“Hey.” His fingers graze my cheek as a rough exhalation spills from my lips. “What’s wrong?”
“You’re so good to me,” I choke out. “I don’t know how to handle it.”
“You deserve nothing less,” he answers solemnly. “But I’m no saint, Gabi. So don’t think of me as one.”
It feels like another warning, but I’m too exhausted to process that right now.
While he’s still inside me, he lifts me up off the bed and heads for the bathroom.
“Another bath?”
“I filled you up.” A note of possession bleeds through his claim. “As much as that pleases me, I’m sure you don’t want to lie in it.”