Things That Go Hump In The Night (12 page)

"Yes, but first, I want to taste you," he said hoarsely. "Please."

She wanted him to taste her, too, but she wasn’t quite ready to give control back to him.

"Can you do it without using your hands?" she challenged.

"If you're willing to take a few orders," he responded.

"Try me." This breathless, sexy playfulness was a new experience for Nicole.

Not that she'd had a lot of experience with consensual sex... but she really liked how Gabriel mixed his utter hotness with humor.

"Okay, I will." He gave her a slow smile that did things to her insides.
Nice
things. "You've seen my chest. Now I want to see yours."

Slowly, deliberately, she pulled down the wide shoulder strap of her dress, taking her bra strap with it. She repeated the action on her other shoulder, then pulled down the front of her dress as slowly as she could, watching Gabriel's expression as she revealed more and more of her breasts, until finally, she felt the top of her dress slide over her nipples.

She pulled the dress down further, until her breasts were fully bared to him, cupped and supported by the neckline of the dress.

"Beautiful," he breathed and leaned forward to place two quick kisses on the tips of her breasts.

Then he began to worship her with his lips and tongue, kissing the soft curves, teasing her sensitive nipples to hard, aching points.

It was heaven. It was hell. It was her turn to squirm and pant as he worked her over

"I want to hear you," he said, just before his teeth closed gently over one hard nipple.

Nicole whimpered in response, unable to control herself. She thought she might come just from the intense sensation.

She had spent months denying Erik the satisfaction when he had tried to wring sounds from her, but all Gabriel had to do was
ask
, and her self-control just disappeared.

Her left arm was tingling now, as if she were being stung by a horde of invisible insects. Whatever spell infested the bracelet was angry with her, it seemed. She didn't give a fuck.

"I want to make you climax," Gabriel told her in a low, intense voice. "I want to taste you and hear you scream my name."

She nodded frantically, so aroused now that it hurt with a throbbing ache between her legs.

"Please," she begged. "Please."

"And I'll do it without using my hands," he added, wickedly. "If you're a good girl and do as I say."

Nicole didn't feel like a very good girl right now. What she felt was
desperate
for his touch.

"Stand up and take off your panties," Gabriel ordered. "You can leave your dress on, if you like—no, don’t pull up the top. I'm enjoying the view."

And she liked the effect it had on him. So she left the neckline of her dress where it was.

Her heart pounding with anticipation, Nicole reached under her dress and hooked her thumbs under the top of her panties.

Slowly, teasingly, she slid her underwear down her thighs to her ankles. She stepped out of her panties, leaving a crumpled scrap of cranberry-colored silk and lace on the boldly patterned tribal rug.

"
Very
nice. Now, come and sit down." Gabriel tugged her down onto the couch. "Make yourself comfortable...maybe scoot a little closer to the edge? Oh, that's good." His voice was like honey wine, sweet and potent.

With smooth movements, he slid off the couch and knelt before her. "Pull your skirt up and open your legs."

Nicole did it and felt him kiss the inside of her left knee.

Gabriel kissed his way up the inside of her thighs, making her squirm with impatience and desperate need.

She jumped as he blew lightly across her aching, sensitized folds.

"You're close, aren't you?" he asked.

Nicole gasped sharply as the tip of his tongue caressed her swollen clit.

"Oh, God," she said, fervently, as he continued to torment her.

Gabriel was very,
very
good with his mouth. In no time, he had her writhing and pleading with him as a coil of pleasure began to tighten between her legs.

He brought her right up to the edge—then stopped. She arched against the sofa cushions and made an inarticulate sound of protest, desperate for release.

"Do you want to come now?" His voice was deep and very low.

He blew a teasing puff of air against her, and she moaned.

Nicole nodded, panting.

"Will you scream my name?" he asked silkily.

"M-maybe," she managed.

"That sounds like a challenge," he purred.

And then, just as he had done with her nipple, Nicole felt his teeth close delicately on her clit.

She fell over the edge into climax, sobbing his name as sweet, almost unbearable waves of pleasure wracked her for long moments.

A cool breeze moved over her exposed skin as Gabriel's caresses became lighter and more lingering, and she began to come down from her orgasm.

The loft was a bit on the drafty side, but euphoric with the best sex she'd ever had, Nicole didn't care about a few goose-bumps.

Whenever Erik had forced himself on her, she'd been left frozen to the marrow of her bones by whatever malevolent spell he used on her to make her obey him and respond to him.

It would take a day—or sometimes longer—to feel warm again. After she had escaped, she had always made sure to avoid any city with a real winter. She never wanted to be that cold again.

Limp with pleasure and floating, she was dimly aware when Gabriel moved up onto the couch next to her.

"Can I use my hands now?" he asked softly.

Nicole smiled and curled up against his side. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been so happy.

"Mmm...you were doing a pretty good job there, hands-free." She was so relaxed, it was difficult to talk.

Gabriel began to run his fingers through her hair. It felt nice, soothing and affectionate.

"And you are amazing and beautiful," Gabriel said, putting his arm around her. "But—are you feeling all right?"

Nicole reluctantly opened her eyes and saw him frowning down at her. For an instant, he looked strangely blurry, and she caught an odd blue shimmer playing across his skin and over his white shirt.

Then she noticed that he was looking at her left arm, where her wide cuff bracelet concealed her secret. She rubbed her forearm just above the hammered metal.

"Just some pins and needles," she said. "I must have pinched a nerve or something."

"As long as you're okay," he said slowly.

"I'm better than okay," she said sincerely. "Thank you, Gabriel. That was—" Her gaze landed on his lap "—incredibly selfish of me. You didn't get anything out of this. Yet." She made her last word a promise.

"That's not true," he said. "You don't have to—"

"I
want
to," she said, breathlessly, surprised to find it was true.

She put her hand over the ridge of his undiminished erection and stroked him, tracing his hard length through the layers of clothing. It was immensely gratifying to hear his breath hitch in response.

"My turn. Or should I say,
your
turn?"

Nicole slid off the couch and onto her knees, cushioned by the thick wool rug.

Gabriel obligingly spread his legs so that she could position herself between his knees. He reached for his belt buckle, and she swatted his hand away.

"Let me do everything. You just sit back and think of England...or something."

He chuckled but obeyed her, letting his head rest against the back of the couch. "Somehow, I don't think it'll be
England
I'm thinking of."

"Not if I do this right," she agreed, her fingers busy with his belt and his zipper.

Gabriel obligingly lifted his hips and allowed her to pull down his briefs once she had his pants open. The rich rush of scent was intoxicating—clean male, a hint of sweat, the sharp musk of arousal, and something else. Something that teased at her memory...

Nicole licked her lips and leaned forward eagerly, putting her hands on his hard, muscled thighs. His cock was beautiful, thick and uncut, the head and shaft flushed and pulsing as it pressed against his muscled belly.

"Wait," Gabriel said.

She looked up and blinked in surprise as he offered her a condom packet.

A faint coil of unease moved through her. Erik had always insisted on using condoms. She had been grateful for it at the time, but hated the way that using protection now was reminding her of him.

She didn't want to be thinking about Erik when she was here now, with Gabriel, who smelled wonderful and who was everything she had ever dreamed of.

"Please," Gabriel said, politely but firmly, when she hesitated. "Or would you be more comfortable using your hands rather than your mouth?"

"I don't mind the condom," lied Nicole and stretched out her hand to take it from him.

This was about
him
, not her, she told herself.

And if this was what he wanted, she'd use it and smile while she was doing it. She owed him that much, after the amazing way that he'd made love to her with his mouth just now.

She slid her fingers around his cock, enjoying the contrast between the soft, silky skin of his shaft and the hardness within as she pulled it forward. She teased the sensitive head with her fingertips, and Gabriel groaned. It was a very gratifying sound.

Nicole took her time putting on the condom, unrolling it down his shaft with long, slow strokes, playing with him, teasing him.

Gabriel's breathing had turned rapid by the time she finished, and she found that her own arousal had returned in full, hot force. She wanted to climb on top of him, slide herself down on his erection, and feel him stretch her in wonderful ways as she rode him.

She glanced up and saw that he was watching her with predatory intensity, and she was acutely aware of her bared breasts.

"You are so beautiful," he breathed.

"So are you," she said sincerely.

Nicole bent and closed her lips around the tip of his cock, trying to ignore the unpleasant memories triggered by the taste of latex.

She concentrated on the sweet sound of Gabriel's groans and the ragged pattern of his breathing as she began to work. She thought everything might be okay, after all.

Nicole knew she was very good at this. God knew, she'd undergone rigorous training...a year's worth. It felt like vindication to now be able to use her painfully learned skills on someone she actually
liked
and wanted to pleasure.

Gabriel tensed, his stomach muscles quivering, and she knew he was very close. She relaxed her throat and jaw, and slid down further, swallowing him.

Gabriel gasped, his hips jerking as his climax started...and then he touched her hair.

Nicole stiffened, ambushed by vivid memory.
Without warning, Erik's hand grabs her hair, twisting it in a painful knot, forcing her head down, choking her, bruising the inside of her throat—

A violent surge of nausea had Nicole on her feet and running for the bathroom she had spotted earlier.

She barely made it and collapsed on her knees in front of the toilet as she threw up. She shook violently, tears pouring down her face, and clung to the cool, clean porcelain as spasm after spasm racked her.

Oh, God. Ohgodohgodohgod. I can't ever escape him. Damn you, Erik!

"Nicole?" she heard Gabriel's concerned voice. But she couldn’t answer him.

When her nausea had subsided to light-headedness and trembling, she pushed herself upright, flushed the toilet, rinsed out her mouth in the sink, and looked in the mirror.

Her eye shadow was smeared beyond hope, and her mascara and eyeliner had dissolved, leaving grotesque black streaks down her cheeks.

She looked every bit the wreck that she felt right now.

Using lotion and Kleenex, Nicole dabbed carefully at her eyes and face until she had removed most of the black residue and no longer looked like quite so much of a freak show. She couldn’t do anything about the reddened and puffy skin under her eyes, though.

Finally, knowing she couldn't hide in here forever, she opened the bathroom door.

"I'm sorry," she said, reaching for calmness and her tattered dignity. "That was stupid of me—"

She stopped as she saw that Gabriel was standing right there, his face filled with compassion.

He opened his arms, and Nicole forgot what she was going to say.

She stepped into his embrace and pressed her face into his neck, breathing in his scent as he stroked her back and her shoulders.

"Flashback?" His voice was so full of understanding that she just...
broke
.

He understood. He
knew
.