Page 39 of Reaching Gavin

“I had a few thoughts about an appetizer.”

“Can’t wait?” I asked, already wondering what else he had in the bag.

“You could say that.” I started to turn my head to gesture toward the bottle of wine at the same moment he tried to kiss me. The result was a catastrophic bumping of the heads. We both took a step back, me rubbing my cheek and him rubbing his nose.

“Let’s try that again,” he suggested.

This time I was ready for him. So, so ready. His mouth found mine, but this time it wasn’t the hesitant first kiss or the desperate second kiss we’d shared, this was a full range of motion. Our limbs tangled together, our bodies fighting to be closer. Gavin pulled back and said, “About that appetizer.”

His eyes were the color of the ocean on a stormy day, fogged over with his own desire, as he picked me up and set me on the counter. We kissed like we were each other’s oxygen. I was lost to anything but him. I’d been waiting for this—dreaming about this—and it was finally happening. My breath hitched when I felt his hands sliding up my thighs, under my dress, and coming to rest on my bare hips. There was another pause, another chance for me to stop this in its tracks. Instead, my hand fisted in his T-shirt. I nearly had to refrain from shoving him even further down.

“I’ve been thinking about what I wanted for dinner all day,” he told me, as his thumbs wiggled under the band of my panties. I lifted my hips instinctively, allowing him to slip them down until they fell to the floor. “There was only one thing that I really wanted.”

“Steak?” I asked in a small voice.

“Something much, much sweeter.” A slow, wolfish grin spread over his face before he disappeared from view, then I felt soft, warm his lips pressing to my inner thigh.

“Oh that,” I moaned as he continued his progress toward the promised land. Before he reached it, his hands sunk into my hips and yanked me forward until I was teetering on the edge of the counter.

“There you go,” he coaxed me as my legs spread in invitation. I felt the heat of his breath first, caressing a long my bare skin.

My head fell backwards at the sensation and I yelped with frustration. “Oh God!”

“Is everything okay, Miss Hart?” he asked, his voice somewhat muffled by his mouth’s location.

“Don’t spoil your dinner though” I scolded him.

He laughed, which tickled a little. My legs, sensing an intrusion, tried to clamp shut, but Gavin nudged them apart, his five- o-clock shadow scratching the soft skin promisingly. I was about to grab onto his hair and get this ride going when his lips made contact. The soft, gentle kisses slowly became deeper until I felt his tongue split me open. I nearly lost control of my entire body. I had to prop my toes on the top of his shoulders to keep from falling over, but he helped steady me. A low groan of appreciation rumbled through his body as his mouth settled into place and began to flick and suck and tease. He wasn’t in a hurry. He was savoring every moment, judging from the primal, masculine sounds he was making.

I’d never gotten off this way before. I had always been a little self-conscious about a guy going downtown, but Gavin was making it pretty clear that this was exactly where he wanted to be. Without thinking—because that was pretty impossible at the moment—my hands found his hair and gripped it tightly, urging him on faster and harder. For a split second, I wondered if he could breathe. That thought flew out of my mind as my body began to crack and shatter on his tongue. He didn’t let up, even as my legs collapsed on his shoulders and my body went slack. It was only when I slumped, completely spent, onto the counter that he pressed one soft kiss to my trembling thigh and stood up. A second later, I felt my underwear being drawn back up my legs.

“You don’t want to keep them as a trophy, Mr. North?” I asked him. “I feel like you deserve some type of award for that.”

“The sounds you made,” he said, helping me back up into a seated position, “are all the reward I need. I’m going to be recalling those pretty much every moment until I get you to make them again.”

“That sounds dangerous.” I tried to hide against his shoulder, but he tipped my chin so that I could see his face.

“What’s wrong? Did you not want…” he trailed away.

“No! It was great! Really, really great.” I shook my head, almost dizzy from it still. “I’ve never really…. that way…you know.”

“You must have dated some real idiots. I’m pretty certain I just found my happy place,” he told me

I tried to turn away, my cheeks flaming, but he stopped me. “Seriously, Cassie, you are so beautiful. Do you know that? I can hardly think of anything else when I’m around you.”

“I sound like a distraction,” I said softly.

“The best kind. Do you want to know what makes it even hotter?”

I managed to nod. How could he think I even held a candle to him?

“Your brain is just a sexy,” he murmured. “You’re the whole package.”

“Hmmmm….package.” My fingers slid down to the button of his jeans and I began to free him.

“You don’t have to,” he said, gently gripping my wrist. “That’s not what this is about between us.”

But I wanted to. For the first time in my life, I wanted to drop to my knees for a man. Then I want to do a whole bunch of other dirty stuff with him. Fate had other plans. Before I could finish releasing the Kraken, the front door swung open and a harried- looking Lillian bustled into the apartment. She dropped her bags on the dining room table along with her keys without noticing us.