“Gabby...” It wasn’t her name but a growl that came out. I let go of her waist and curled my hands into fists. Closing my eyes, I started listing off all the parts in a Ford Escort’s exhaust system. There weren’t enough to distract me from the feel of her, though. I cleared my throat to try speaking again.
She hummed as her lips skimmed over my adams apple.
“Gabby, baby, I need a drink.” My words were desperate, and if she would have been paying attention to our connection, she would have known it was a lie.
“Okay,” she said sweetly. She moved off my lap. I wanted to sigh in relief as much as I wanted to cry at the loss.
I didn’t mentally kick myself long before I realized she hadn’t moved far. In fact, her hands were busy tugging at the edge of my shirt. The touch of her fingers on my stomach had me groaning again, and I couldn’t make myself move away.
“Gabby, I’m thirsty. Remember?”
Her lips curved as she tugged my shirt higher and stared at my exposed stomach.
“I really like your muscles,” she said.
When she tried tugging the shirt higher, I didn’t resist her.
“Especially these,” she said, running her fingers over my chest.
I swallowed thickly and let my head drop against the headboard again. The metal made a hollow sound. Empty like my head. If I were smart, I’d get off the bed and convince Gabby to walk somewhere with me. Where? We weren’t safe. I needed to talk to her about—
Her tongue flicked over my right nipple, and I grunted at the needy sensation that gripped me.
When her mouth closed over it, I was off the bed and across the room before she could blink at me. I shook with need. I wanted her in my arms. I wanted her biting my neck as I pushed my way—
Rubbing a hand over my face, I dropped that line of thinking.
“Clay?” Gabby looked at the mattress, then both sides of the bed as if I might have fallen off. When she didn’t spot me, she sat back on her heels and looked down at her hands with such sadness that I stepped forward.
“You’re not yourself, sweetheart.”
Her gaze found me but the sad frown didn’t clear. Her gaze returned to her hands, and I knew that I’d hurt her by leaving. She had no idea what she was doing to me. I wanted to make her happy, to give her what she wanted, but she’d hate me later for it. However, seeing her unhappy now was just as bad.
Crossing the room, I stood beside the bed and opened my arms to her. She looked up at me, uncertain and hesitating. Distrust and unhappiness drifted over our link. My chest ached for causing those emotions. Leaning forward, I scooped her up in my arms and settled onto the bed once more.
I knew what I needed to do. Suck it up and make out with my woman without going all the way. There wouldn’t be a shower cold enough to help me when we finished.
“I swear I will do my best to give you a reason to be happy...today, tomorrow, and every day for the rest of our lives.” I pressed a kiss to her temple, and she sighed, a thread of contentment touching my mind.
She snuggled into my chest, and her hands started roaming once more.
It would be a long night of heaven and hell.
Gabby leaned into me further, and I gripped the counter tightly, the only thing stopping me from taking her back upstairs and just finishing what we’d started over an hour ago. If I allowed myself one touch, one tiny caress, tomorrow’s anger be damned, I’d have her tonight.
I’d thought begging to come downstairs for a drink would have cooled her off a little after she’d managed to get under my shirt and undo my pants. She’d given into my begging and let me leave the bed without becoming upset again, but she’d touched me in some way the entire time.
My blood was boiling, and I could barely think.
“I want you,” I whispered against her lips when she pulled away to breath. “Claiming isn’t enough. I want you as my Mate, as my forever, Gabby.”
She smiled her beautiful secret smile that made my knees weak, then threaded her fingers in my hair. I knew I was trouble. I couldn’t take any more. I’d give in. She pressed her lips to mine at the same time she arched into me. The ache riding in my pants turned to fire. My hold on the counter tightened, and I arched back into her.
The kitchen door opened. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to growl at whoever it was or beg for help.
“Just give in to her already,” Isabelle said.
I pulled back to look at her, and Gabby made a small sound of protest and started to kiss my neck. That same damn sensitive spot where she Claimed me. It was like there was a target painted on it now.
Doing my best to remain focused on Isabelle and Carlos, I shook my head. With them present, there was no way I’d give into Gabby. A public Claiming she could handle. A public Mating...she’d kill me.
“Fine,” Isabelle said. “Then this is going one of two ways. I can rip that lust from her, which would keep her high, or you can man up and walk away.”
I almost did growl at her then.
“Believe it or not, I’m trying to be helpful. I just can’t stick around with all this emotion. And according to grandma, I can’t leave either. What Gabby’s broadcasting needs to stop. Now.”