No sooner had the words left her mouth than she realized her mistake. Gabe’s eyes widened comically. There was a moment of startled hesitation, then he threw his head back and laughed, the sound bouncing off the placid surface of the lake to return to her again and again, making her brain hurt and her face throb with heat.
Appalled, she started to sit up, but just that quick, Gabe caught her shoulders and pinned her in place.
“Where are you going?” he asked, his voice a husky rumble. His mouth was still slightly curled in amusement.
Elizabeth tried to think. “I…I meant to ask you—”
“I know what you meant,” he growled around another smile. “You want me to skin off my shorts so you can get a good look at my backside, just to appease your curiosity?”
Yes. “No, of course not!” He loomed over her, making rational thought impossible. But then, everything about Gabriel Kasper, from their first meeting to now, had been impossible.
“Liar.” There was no insult in the accusation. In fact, he said it with amused affection, like an endearment. Then he kissed her again, softly, slowly. Elizabeth felt a constriction in her chest that had nothing to do with the way he held her and everything to do with the realization of all she’d missed in life.
The kiss wasn’t consuming, but sweetly sensual. As Gabe lifted his head, he looked at her breasts, gently crushed against the hard planes of his chest. A slight tremble went through him as he swept one fingertip over the upper swell of each breast. “Are these real, sweetheart?”
Her breath strangled at the feel of his hot, rough finger stroking her there, in a place no man had ever touched. Eyes wide, she muttered, “What are you talking about?”
“You have such a sexy body.” That taunting fingertip dipped slightly into her cleavage, causing her heart to pick up a quick, almost frantic beat. “And these breasts…so plump when you’re so trim everywhere else. So soft when you’re mostly firm. I just wondered if Mother Nature had really been so generous, or if you’d had a little help.”
She stared at him, her mind blank, unable to think while he was touching her. She was aware of the sun hot against her skin, of the slight breeze that stirred the humid air, of the gentle lapping of the lake on the shore. But all of it was overshadowed by Gabe and the blue flare of his eyes.
Grinning, Gabe murmured, “Maybe I should just find out on my own?” His fingers spread over her chest, just below her collarbone, and jolted her into awareness.
She caught his wrist and stared at him hard. “They’re real!” Then, because she was embarrassed over his attention, she muttered, “What a stupid question.”
Gabe easily freed his hand from hers and wrapped his fingers around her skull, stroking her hair, smoothing it. “You must have never gone braless in your life.”
Heat washed over her face, then down to her breasts. “Of course I haven’t.”
His thumb rubbed her cheekbone, the corner of her mouth. He shifted, his chest moving over hers, pressing. “Such a little innocent. Such a surprise.” He looked at her mouth.
“Gabe?”
“Just one more,” he whispered, husky and deep.
She thought to tell him that he’d owe her a lot of conversation for this, that she had plenty of questions he was going to have to answer, but the moment he took the kiss, she forgot all that.
His hand slid down her side to her waist, shaping her, measuring her, it seemed, then drifted to her hip. His touch was sure, his fingers rough, callused. He met bare skin on her upper thigh and made a raw sound of pleasure, causing her to quiver in response.
“So soft,” he growled, his mouth against her throat, leaving damp kisses, sucking softly. Overwhelmed, alive, she tipped her head back to make it easier for him. His grip on her thigh tightened, and with little direction from him, she bent her knee and lifted one leg alongside his. The position neatly settled him into the cradle of her hips. She vaguely wondered why she didn’t feel crushed, because he was so big, so hard.
He pushed, nestling closer, and his erection rubbed her in the most intimate spot imaginable. She gasped; he groaned.
She’d never felt a man on top of her before. The sensation was…wonderful. Scorching, enveloping, gratifying and at the same time stirring new needs.
Gabe dipped the tip of his tongue into her ear. That sensation, too, was astounding. How could such a simple act be so incredibly erotic? She heard his harsh breathing, felt his hot, moist breath and the hammering of his heart. He licked her ear. Stunned for just a moment, she froze, trying to take it all in.
He kissed her again. His mouth ate at hers, his teeth nipping, his tongue stroking. She melted, no longer capable of rational thought, simply reacting to what he did and how he did it.
In the next instant he was gone, sitting up beside her.
Elizabeth blinked in shock, uncertain what had happened or why he had pulled away so abruptly. She lay there, her eyes open but unseeing, trying to assimilate her senses. Gabe never hesitated. He caught her arms just above her elbows and jerked her upright so that she, too, was sitting, although not quite as steadily as he. It took a lot of effort not to flop down. She felt boneless and flushed and limp. Mute, she stared at him.
He gave her a grim, somewhat apologetic look and then she heard the motor. They both turned to stare at the entrance to the lake.
Seconds later a small fishing boat similar to the one they had used rounded the bend into the cove. Two older men, goofy hats hooked with a variety of lures perched on their heads, concentrated on the long fishing lines they had dragging in the water. Their voices were barely audible over the steady drone of the trolling motor.
They looked up in surprise when they noticed Gabe. Almost as one, their gazes turned to Elizabeth, and she felt herself turning pink with embarrassment. Good grief, could they tell what she and Gabe had been doing? Would they be able to look at her face and see it all?
Gabe moved, leaning forward to block her from view. He waved at the men, who waved back and continued to stare at them until their boat nearly went aground. With a disgruntled curse, the man in the back redirected their course and they puttered out of sight.
Gabe turned to her, his gaze probing and direct. Unable to look away, Elizabeth thought how unfair it was that he could completely snare her with just a look. Eyes so light and clear a blue should have appeared cool, not fiery and passionate.
His fair hair shimmered beneath the sunshine, mussed from his swim—and from her fingers. Every muscle in his tensed body was delineated, drawing her eyes. He watched her so intently, she almost flinched.
Swallowing hard, Elizabeth tried to think of what to say. It was nearly impossible to muster a straight, businesslike face after that…that… She didn’t know what to call it. It was certainly far more than a mere kiss. Admittedly, she lacked experience, but she was certainly not stupid. She knew the difference between kissing and what they’d just done.
It wasn’t easy, but she reminded herself of her original purpose, her continued purpose. All her life she’d struggled to deal with the idiosyncrasies of heroism, why some had those qualities and some did not. Having heroism gave you the ability to change lives, lacking it could leave you forever empty.
She met Gabe’s eyes and cleared her throat. “Well, after that, I expect an entire explanation for my thesis.”
She hadn’t meant to sound so cold and detached; what she really felt was far different from those simple emotions. She’d only meant to stress the point of what they were doing and why.
Gabe’s eyes darkened, narrowed, the heat leaving them as if it had never been there. His jaw flexed once, then stilled. He stared at her mouth and said, “You’ll get it.”
CHAPTER