The Substitute (3 page)

Gabe carried in their bags, handing her a grocery bag. She opened it to find a bottle of red wine, cheese, crackers, fruit and chocolates.

She shook her head. “Look, I appreciate the whole seduction thing with the wine and goodies, but I’m thinking we’ll just get in bed, have sex and then you can take me home.”

It surprised her that he honestly looked hurt. But, she felt like she had to keep her guard up. She started unbuttoning her blouse.

“Well, I don’t know if I can do this any other way.” She was afraid to let this be anything other than mechanical. If she gave herself over to the idea of actually making love with Gabe instead of letting this just be about the sex, her heart might get tangled somewhere in those broad muscles.

“Let’s have some wine and at least talk a little bit because I don’t know if I can go through with this or not.”

She was shocked. She believed that she had been the only one with second thoughts. Perhaps Gabe was a little deeper than she’d always assumed.

Hours later in the early twilight, they were seated in front of a crackling fire, the bottle of wine nearly spent as they laughed, relaxed, and talked about their high school days.

“You must have shagged every girl at Eastside,” she laughed. The wine caused her legs to feel a little tingly and her stomach to radiate with a warmth that calmed her earlier nerves, loosening her tongue.

He actually blushed. “Nah, I didn’t make it with a girl until after graduation.”

“You’re kidding,” she said pushing his thick shoulder. “You were always chasing girls.”

“Chasing is a little different from catching them. I liked the chase, but when things got too close, I’d take off after another one just to keep them guessing.”

“Really? Well you sure fooled me. The way you kissed….” She stopped for a moment remembering the first time he kissed her. It had been passionate enough to make her melt inside. “I—I wanted you to be my first, but you….”

“I know. The problem was that you were different from the other girls and I knew if we took that step, I was going to fall for you—hard. That was when I told Andy to try for you, so I wouldn’t fall in—in love with you.”

“I—I want to go home now,” she said and started to get up, but he grabbed her arm. Before she could fathom what was happening Gabe was kissing her. She started to pull away, but the kiss was so good that she found herself giving in. Every tense muscle released as she melted into his warm chest.

“Jen,” he whispered. “When Andy told me that he wanted me to get you pregnant, I freaked out. I’ve—I’ve been in love with you since eleventh grade. I understand that you don’t feel the same way about me, but if tonight isn’t about making love then I can’t go through with this. Could you at least pretend, just for tonight, that you love me?”

She closed her eyes and kissed him. “Make love to me, Gabe,” she whispered as her lips roamed from his mouth, over his cheek, and to his ear. “I’m scared to death, but I want you. I hope you don’t think I’m an awful person, but you’ve been a fantasy for me for a long time. I love Andy, but I’ve always felt something special for you.”

He pulled slightly back and lightly brushed her cheeks with his palms. “My god you’re so beautiful.” Then he was kissing her again, but this was different from before, this was a kiss that was strong and deep, filled with need and passion. He laid her back onto the thick rug as his trembling fingers began unbuttoning her blouse.

She gripped the base of his tee-shirt and pulled it over his head. Damn what a body. He had this whole Thor, Chris Hemsworth, thing going on with those prominent hip muscles that disappeared down the top of his jeans like a road map to the pleasures that lay beneath. She allowed her hands to wander over his firm skin, ending up on his pecs as she tweaked the tiny tight nipples with her nimble fingers. He moaned and closed the space between them.

He had her blouse open at this point, pulling her body into his as his hot mouth descended to the side of her neck and his fingers moved behind her to the hooks on her bra. Within a second he had it undone and the blouse was dropped as he pulled the straps from her shoulders.

“Not like this,” he whispered. “You deserve better than the floor.”

She felt him scooping under her, lifting her like a feather as she laced her arms around his neck and held on tightly.

Placing her down gently onto the bed, his scorching mouth lowered to her erect nipples, first the left and then the right, sucking, kissing and caressing them with skillful deliberation.

She couldn’t stop calling out his name, begging him not to stop what was happening. She heard the sound of the zipper to her jeans coming down as his mouth trailed from her chest to her abs, kissing all around her small navel. She felt the tug as he rested on his knees between her legs and began pulling her pants down. Her long tanned limbs slipped out, drawing her knees toward herself so he could finish taking them off without moving from where he was seated.

She was down to panties now, still scared to death, but so hungry to experience this man who had agreed to be a substitute for her husband. A man who would give her the children she’d always wanted. A man that admitted to loving her for many, many years. A man her heart had silently longed for, but never understood how deep that longing had been until now.

She felt his trembling fingers slip beneath the sides of her panties, and slowly pulled them off.

“I don’t think there’s going to be enough time tonight to tell you how beautiful I think you are, Jen.” His hand went to his chest and rubbed against it as if he was in pain.

“Are you okay?” She softly asked. “Is something wrong?”

In that moment his gaze locked with hers. They were silent for several seconds, and then he spoke. “You take the breath right out of my lungs. I’ve never been so freaking scared with a woman—ever.”

She sat up and leaned her cool skin against his ignited frame. She cuddled into him and placed a light kiss on his chest. “My turn,” she stated as she indicated for him to come up to the pillows and lay down. She straddled his jean covered groin for a little while as she allowed her tongue to dance with his in a sensual and needful kiss. She permitted her hands to explore his firm muscles from his biceps to his hips; he was stunning.

When her lips reached his sharply sculpted hip muscles, he was begging for her to take off his pants. She was surprised that he didn’t have any underwear under those jeans, shocked actually that the first thing to greet her eyes when she lowered the zipper was his tight erection, bulging, waiting, and eager for her touch.

He lifted his hips and helped her get the material over his rounded buttocks. She’d never seen someone with such tight and shapely glutes. She scooped his willingness into her hands and kissed the shaft as his moans turned to something close to cries. But he apparently couldn’t take too much of her touch.

He pulled at her shoulders, sliding her body over his, bringing her face to face with him. He appeared honestly surprised at the intimate position.

She was ready to reach down and guide him in, when he rolled her to her back, dwarfing her with his muscled body. His hand trailed down to the place between her legs that literally felt as if it was smoldering with pent up need. She gasped; his fingers slipped between her folds and danced in her silky moisture.

He was rubbing her clit in a tiny circle with his thumb while his index and middle finger worked inside her, and his mouth sucked in as much of her breast as he could. The sensation was peaking, pooling low in her body with a hunger to dive deep into the building orgasm. She couldn’t stop it now, there was no ending what he’d set in motion. She felt the spasm hit hard, causing her muscles to lock down on his fingers as it splashed through her senses as real as if she had dove into the river.

She started to cry out, but his mouth suddenly covered hers, his tongue as welcomed inside her as his fingers. She hadn’t planned to enjoy this time with Gabe, but it appeared that her body had its own agenda for tonight.

He was smiling as he pulled away from her. “I always wondered what it would be like to get you off.” He slid his thigh between her legs forcing them to part, and then bringing his body to be centered over her own. He reached down and grabbed his erection, sliding the head up and down against her entrance. “My god,” he whispered.

Her hips were rising and falling, trying to draw him in deeper, but he countered her plea with his decision to savor this moment slowly.

“I—I—can’t take it,” she begged. “I want all of you, please. I need you deep inside me, Gabe. I—I—ahhhh….” The sensation was mounting again. She’d never had two orgasms so close, but she could tell he was driving her over the top once more. “Now, Gabe—please. Please, now!”

Suddenly all the power in those muscled hips and glutes plunged for the bottom of her desire. It was painful, but only momentarily as his hips seemed to lock inside her own sending her crashing into sensations, again.

By his cries she thought he might be reaching his peak as well, but he gripped her knees and lifted them high against her shoulders and buried all he had into her. He kept her knees up by resting them against each of his biceps, allowing his hands to flatten out on either side of her on the bed as he began to pound against the back of her thighs like some kind of hammered perfection. It was as if he was molding her body into a space designed to fit him uniquely.

“Damn it, Jen,” he whispered fiercely in a panted breath. “I can’t—can’t hold back anymore. Tell me now if you want me to pull out,” he said sounding panicked. “If you don’t then I’m coming inside you and there is no going back.”

She was rising to her third climax, thoroughly afraid that this man was most likely going to get her pregnant to night, but it was a fear she’d accepted before this moment. “I’m coming with you,” she cried out. “Don’t st—stop.”

At that second it was as if everything collided, tangling his orgasm with hers, sensations and shocks ripping concurrently through their systems. His erection lifted high inside her as if he was going to pick her body up with it alone. His muscled arms pulling her into himself so completely that she couldn’t tell where he ended and she began.

She could still feel the gentle pulsing motion of his hips as the sensation faded. He was kissing her temple at this point and whispering how much he loved her.

She reached up and turned his face to look her in the eye. “I’m not pretending—I love you, Gabriel. I honestly do.”

“But….”

“It’s okay. I love Andy, too. I didn’t think there was any way to feel this way about two people, but please believe me when I tell you that I do.” She burst into tears and tried to hide her face in his shoulder.

He pulled back slightly. “Shhh, don’t cry, Jen. This has been so crazy, but so perfect.”

“Thank you. You don’t know what it means to us to have a chance at having a baby.”

“Honestly? Yes, I do. I never thought I’d have kids, but,” he whispered as he slowly allowed his body to withdraw from inside of hers. “This weekend isn’t over. I think you need a couple more loads to make sure we’ve done this right,” he said with a tiny grin.

“Can we sleep for a little bit? You pretty much drained me. I feel like I couldn’t get up and walk even if the cabin was on fire.”

He gave a small laugh. “Yeah, we can sleep,” he said as he cuddled down beside her and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her back against his chest. “And if the cabin was on fire, I’d carry you out. Goodnight, Jen.”

Somewhere around three in the morning she woke to warm-lipped kisses on her bare shoulder, his erection pressing hard against her ass. She reached and grabbed his hand that had been cupping her breast, pulling it to her mouth and began kissing each knuckle.

“I need you,” he whispered in the darkness. “But this isn’t the kind of need that wants to lay down. Would you mind getting up with me?”

“Where?” She whispered back.

“I’ll show you.”

She pulled the blankets back and sat up in darkness. The only illumination was coming in from the half-moon that danced intermittently through a clouded night sky. Gabe walked around the bed; the silhouette of a perfect male. He was tall at just over 6’2,” but he wasn’t gangly. She knew he weighed close to 240 pounds, but it was all muscle, sinew and…ah…man.

He gripped her slender hips in his heated hands and turned her so that her backside was against the dresser. There were two dressers in this bedroom, one on the east wall and one on the west, with the headboard of the bed against the north wall and the master bath and sliding glass doors leading out to a deck overlooking the river on the south.

He lifted her little 5’6” frame onto the edge of the dresser and situated his body between her legs. He showed her to position her hands flat on the dresser top about six inches away from her sides as he slipped his arms around her body and scooped up under her buttocks, bringing them chest to chest. She liked the view. She was watching him in the mirror from the other dresser, watching his tight ass as he prepared to enter her body.