Double the Trouble (Texas Trouble 3) (21 page)

With a growl, he
moved over her and
spread her thighs
, lifting one
over his forearm
, before he looked deeply
into her eyes a
nd
pushed halfway inside of her warmth
, then stopped trying to get a hold of his rampaging need
.
  She was so hot and tight, he was afraid he'd finish before he even got started.

"Mmm...so damned good," she said in a
fervent
whisper. "More..." she
begged
wiggling her hips against him. "I need more, Gabe."

He
needed to go slowly, because he
wanted her with him on this incredible ride
, so he eased into her a little more, then l
eaned back a little and found the bud at the top of her thighs and massaged her there. 

Karlie moaned and tossed her head and begged again, "Don't tease me Gabe, I need you..."
as she
tried to take him farther inside
her body
.
  Her breathing was coming in short pants, and he felt her inner muscles tightening around him and knew she was close...he was closer.

With a groan, he shoved inside of her fully and sat there for a minute enjoying heaven.  He was so racked with sensations, he couldn't sort them out, or go slow anymore
, when

Karlie started moving against him
.  On its own, his body started
a frantic rhythm
intended
to drive both of them over the edge.
 

Karlie
met him stroke for stroke, her inner muscles massaging him to the
best
climax he'd had in years...maybe ever.  She wailed his name and her body shook violently at the same time he roared
,
his body clench
ing
against the overwhelming tide of his own
release
.
 
When it finally subsided, h
is muscles felt like jello and he was lightheaded from the pace of his
erratic
breathing.

"Holy, shit," she said weakly then pulled him down on top of her and hugged him, rai
ning kisses on his cheek.

"My sentiments exactly," he mumbled into her shoulder, trying to get his breathing and heart rate back to normal.
  He pushed up from her and smiled. "I'll be right back, don't go anywhere," he told her and she nodded.  Gabe went into the bathroom to dispose of the condom.  He flipped on the light and walked to the toilet, then stopped and did a double take at the shards of broken latex, and his heart dropped to his toes. 

Shit
, he thought, he was always so careful...and this is what he got for his trouble.  Karlie was going to kill him.
  Maybe she was on the pill,
he thought,
he hoped so anyway.  He didn't want to tell her, but he had to, and face the music, whatever the tune turned out to be.
 
After h
e washed up
, Gabe
went back into the bedroom and turned on the lamp on the nightstand
then
sat on the bed. 

Karlie looked up at him
,
so trusting and sexily tousled, his heart squeezed in his chest and emotion choked him when he told her, "We need to talk, sweetheart."

Dread filled Karlie when she saw the look on Gabe's face...surely he wasn't going to dump her now that he'd gotten what he wanted.  But his face was so pinched, his eyes so serious, after the mind-blowing love they'd just made, she couldn't think of what else it could be. 

Tears burned her eyes and she told him, "Just spit it out, I'm a big girl...
" then she flipped the cover
s
off of her and went to stand,
finishing
in a watery voice
, "I
f you're
that
kind of man, just d
o it and I'll get out of here."
  Disappointment in herself and him filled her
,
when she bent down to grab her clothes.  Karlie had made a big mistake here, one she was going to be a long time getting over.

Gabe
grabbed her shoulders, then pulled her up and into his arms
.
"
What the hell, Karlie? 
I'm not dumpin
g you, baby
,
and you're not leaving
,
"
Gabe
told her in a pained voice
holding her tightly against him
.

"What's the matter then?" she asked weakly against his chest and felt her tears spilling out of her eyes.

Gabe groaned then admitted, "The condom broke...
tell me you're on the pill
...
"

She groaned and said,
"Wish I could...
dammit
,"
with
horror freezing her insides
, then she pushed away from him and started pacing
.  "I told you to remind me not to drink the water in this town."

"I'm sorry, Karlie..." he walked over to pick up the packet from the floor and looked at it closely, "
Expired
...fuck!  I knew they'd been in that drawer for a while, but had no idea they
were
expired."

"Didn't have much sex in
Mesa
, huh?" she
taunted
him
with tongue in cheek, and
a
waggle
of
her eyebrows.  Why that thought made her happy, she didn't know, but Karlie didn't want to t
hink of Gabe with anyone else.

He turned and shot her a look, then tossed the
wrapper
in the small trashcan by the bed with disgust.  "I had plenty of sex, but not at my apartment...I never brought women to my place."

Karlie's smile faded, as jealousy stabbed through her heart.  "I see...we'll a
ren't
I the lucky one then?" she said in a voice dripping with sarcasm, then slid her shorts over her legs, and pulled on her shirt, butt
oning it with trembling hands,
before she
stomped her feet into her boots.
  "I'm sure it'll be fine...you don't have to worry.  But I would replace those condoms before the
next
woman comes over here."

He spun around and
a
thundercloud descended over his face
, before he took three big steps then
grabbed her shoulders and told her
fiercely
, "There won't be
a
next
woman,
Karlie,
because if you're pregnant, we're getting married."
  His words seemed sincere, but his face was a mask of horror...slightly green and definitely holding signs of a complete aversion to the idea of marriage to her.

There wouldn't be a
next
woman,
if
she was pregnant, huh?  What if she wasn't pregnant?

Karlie
felt blood surge up to her face and
shook off his hands
, then p
ut
a
finger in his chest
and
leaned toward him to say
,
  "I'll get married when
I
say I'm getting married...and
it
won't be because I'm pregnant.  I
f I'm pregnant, I'll raise
my
baby alone.
  So you can go on about your business
, and your women,
and leave me the fuck alone, Gabe Kelley.
  Now give me the keys to
my
car so I can get out of here.
"
 

How dare he try to
dictate
to her
what she was going to do
.
  She'd just gotten rid of one overbearing mule of a man, she didn't need another.  And she wasn't getting married just because she was pregnant.
  U
nless a man proved to her that he loved her, and she loved him, marriage was something she could wait on. 
Especially when the man in question was obviously a player. Hah, she'd met his type too many times
on the rodeo circuit.  H
e didn't have women over to his apartment
, because he was a
typical one-night-stand man
, love 'em and leave 'em
.

Karlie liked her independence, and wasn't giving it up for a man
just because
she'd had sex with
him
.
..no matter how damned good it had been.
  She didn't think she was pregnant, the timing was off, but if she was, she meant what she said, th
e
baby would be hers, and she would call the shots.
 

It was too damned bad Gabe wasn't the man she thought he was. 
She was developing feelings for
him
, but evidently his were all in his pants. 
He had plenty of women in
Mesa
according to him, so he sure didn't need her.
Before long, he'd probably have plenty here in
Bowie
too. 
She didn't need him and his horde of women, or his dry-rotted condoms in her life. 
Better to find that
out now, than
to
get hurt later.

Tears filled her eyes and she said again, "Give me my damned keys,
now
!"

Gabe hesitated, standing there buck naked
,
with his hands on his hips, still making her mouth water as mad as she was at him.  Finally, he huffed out a frustrated sigh and walked over to a chair in the corner.  Grabbing his uniform pants, he dug in the pocket then pulled out her keys.  He took her hand in his and put them in the palm, but he didn't let it go. 
Instead, h
e pinned her with angry blue eyes and told her in a grating tone, "If you're pregnant
, Karlie,
you better let me know, because that baby is mine too, and I take care of my own."

She nodded then pulled her hand from his and turned to leave. 

Before she made it to the door
though
, Gabe
grabbed her again and then turned her to face him,
"Karlie,
stay tonight--you can have the bed.  I'll sleep on the couch.  I don't like you going out this late by yourself...and Cassie and Luke are probably already sleeping."

She looked over at the small sofa covered in boxes, then ran her eyes over the large man holding her and she said, "There's no way you're going to fit on that sofa, Gabe."

With his jaw clenched and his face
full o
f worry
and determination
, he told her,
"I've done it before, I'll make it work...if that's the only way I can get you to stay
.
"
 

Sarge got up from the rug in front of the fireplace and wa
ddled
up beside her then yawned widely.
  Maybe she was flying off the handle here, she thought.  That was her typical mode of operation, had been all of her life.  Perhaps it was time to change that,
she thought, since
she was a grown up
now
,
not a hotheaded teenager.  Cassie and Luke
were
probably sleeping, and it would be inconsiderate of her to wake them.
..and even though Gabe had warned Jake
off
, that didn't mean he wasn't still around.

Karlie huffed out a breath then conceded,
"We're adults, we can both sleep in the bed, I'll just leave my clothes on,"
then her eyes roved over his delicious body and she added,
"And you can put yours back on too," before she
walked back toward the bedroom
with Sarge following her
.