A Question of Love (2 page)

Chapter Two

Slow down, she chanted to herself. Breathe deep. Put one foot in front of the other. That’s it. Good. Now walk. Just keep walking.

The glass doors loomed ahead of her.

She was doing fine. Her next task: pull the handle and walk outside. Then get as far away from him as possible.

The cool air of the autumn morning washed across her face, and she sucked in the fresh air, clutching the sketch pad like a lifeline. Better. Maybe she’d be able to think straight now. Sort out her boggled brain. Impossible accomplishment with Gabriel Carter sitting opposite her. Impossible.

God.
Gabe.
What was he doing there? She clenched her fist at her side to stop her hand from trembling.

Tina collapsed back against the back of the bath, shivers of delight still washing over her. Lord, the effect these two men had on her. Just their presence turned her on. She hadn’t meant to touch herself in front of them. But what choice did she have? Connor lounged against the shower door, looking for all the world like a movie star, and Gabe was perched on the side of the bath, his sexual prowess sending tentacles of desire snaking through her loins.

And so casual about it all too. Dropping by to say hello as if nothing had ever gone wrong between them. As if he hadn’t walked out of her life without a second glance. Damn it. Why did it still have to hurt? Why did the memories still burn the back of her throat?

“Tina. Wait!”

She kept walking. Fast. Heading anywhere that wasn’t near Gabe.

She might as well not have bothered. Less than ten paces down the path he caught up with her. A hand on her shoulder halted any further progress. Not that the hand demanded in any way. Quite the opposite. It was so gentle, she almost couldn’t feel it. However, the energy snapping between her flesh and his palm was impossible to ignore.

Tina bit back a groan. Lord, how did he do that? Send heat flowing through her with nothing more than the lightest touch.

Before the last tremors of pleasure fluttered through her, Gabe leaned over and plucked her from the bath. Water streamed from her body, drenching him. He seemed not to notice. He tucked her on his lap, with her ass planted on the seat of his huge, muscular thighs, tilted her head and slanted his mouth over hers.

Her orgasm had left her lazy and sated, but his lips awakened a new fire. Flames flared, burning away any trace of satisfaction. She wiggled on his lap, desperate to feel his rigid erection pushing against her butt.

“Tina, please. Don’t leave. Not yet.” His voice was low, not quite a whisper behind her ear.

She couldn’t do this, couldn’t be with him. Even now, years later, the pain of his sudden retreat stung. Tina had been happiest when she was with him and Connor. She had been fulfilled and satisfied and content. With no warning, Gabe had left. He’d just walked away, ripping her heart out as he went. Connor had followed soon after. Not that she hadn’t expected it. Without Gabe, the magic had dissipated. Without Gabe, she and Connor did not work. The enchantment of their relationship was gone.

She couldn’t face him. “I didn’t leave, Gabe. You did.”

There was nothing behind her to fill the aching emptiness in her chest her words had created, nothing but silence. Dead silence. Then a shuffle. His hand moved down to her arm. The warmth from his palm seeped through her shirt, through her flesh and into her bones.

Regret laced his tone. “I hurt you, didn’t I?”

He tasted liked heaven. Like man and sex all rolled into one. His tongue stroked hers, his arms caressed her sides, her back. His immense chest crushed her breasts, sending intoxicating tingles rushing through the sensitive tips.

It wasn’t enough. When it came to Gabe and Connor she always wanted more.

He stepped closer behind her, placed his other hand on her other arm, and shockwaves pulsed through her torso. “If it makes you feel better, I hurt me too.”

“Why on earth do you think that would make me feel better?”

He made a funny sound, as though he were being strangled. “I’m not thinking much of anything now, T, other than how good it is to see you. I just want to say hello. It’s been a long time.”

Whose fault was that? If things had panned out the way she wished they would have, he could have seen her every day—and night—for the last forty-eight or so months. “This isn’t a good idea, Gabe. We’ve said hello. I need to go.”

“Go where? To your…man?”

What did he know about
her man
? She whipped round and found herself staring daggers at Gabe’s chest. God, he was enormous. A veritable mountain of a man.

Gabe released her just long enough for Tina to turn and then his hands were back, gently gripping her. “I saw him kiss you goodbye.” He shrugged. “I put two and two together. Well, one and one together.” He said it with a marked casualness, but the narrowing of his eyes belied his tone. He was more than a little bothered by what he’d seen.

Too bad. His problems weren’t hers, and she sure as hell did not feel like him sharing them with her right now. Instead she answered with a twist of sarcasm. “And I always thought you were better at putting two and one together.”

Gabe released her mouth and spun her round, curving his powerful chest against her wet back and offering her a view of Connor’s impressive erection. He cupped her breasts with his huge hands, ran his thumbs over her nipples, and she moaned.

Connor opened a drawer, took out two condoms and pushed the drawer closed.

Moisture dripped between her legs. “Just one for now,” she said, her voice husky even to her own ears. “It’s all we’re going to need.”

Gabe growled behind her.

His grip tightened, not painfully, but enough so his fingers molded to her flesh. He stared down at her mouth. She glared up into his eyes. There was nothing casual about the way he looked at her. His eyes were black, disturbed. Was he imagining Anthony with her? Was that a flash of anger she saw in his dark gaze?

And then he blinked and released her, smoothing the material on her shirt where he’d gripped her arms.

“Does he make you happy, T?” he asked.

She gaped up at him. What kind of a question was that? “That is none of your business.”

“You looked sad after he left. It worried me. I want to make sure you’re happy.”

“Just like you were so intent on ensuring my happiness when you walked out on me? On us?”

She’d gotten a taste of Gabe; now she wanted more. She wanted to taste him intimately, deeply. She wanted to pull him as far into her mouth as she could take him. Just like she wanted Connor as deep in her body as he could get.

“Put the condom on, C,” she told Connor as she pushed off Gabe’s lap, twisted round to face him and knelt between his legs. “Put it on and get over here.”

Gabe lifted his arms in surrender. Arms that were thick and muscled. No wonder she’d loved burrowing into his embrace so much. She’d curl up against his chest and feel cherished, protected and safe. She’d never felt as safe as when Gabe held her.

“Guilty as charged. I walked out on you.” Something flickered in his eyes. Pain? “God knows it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

“Is that supposed to be an apology?” She gaped at him. “That’s real slick, Gabe. Let’s stand in the middle of the footpath, with people walking all around us, and you apologize for breaking my heart four years ago. That’ll make everything right between us.”

A muscle worked in his cheek. “I don’t want to stand here. I want to sit somewhere, quiet, just the two of us and…talk.”

Gabe’s erection sprung proud from his lap, thick and enticing. Her mouth watered as she placed her lips on the tip and indulged in the tiniest lick.

He groaned above her and wrapped his fingers in her hair.

She swirled her tongue around the head of his cock.

“Christ, that’s a turn-on,” Connor said behind her, his voice rough as sandpaper.

Need echoed through her belly. She pushed her butt out, inviting Connor closer without releasing Gabe. There was very little she relished more in this world than having her two men together at the same time.

She smiled around Gabe’s dick.

She sighed. “I don’t want to talk.”

“Fine. I’ll talk, you listen.”

She shot him a dubious look. Gabe Carter didn’t talk.

He smiled then. A small, teasing smile that lifted the corners of his mouth in a manner so delightful and sexy it took her breath away. “Try me. Give me half an hour. You won’t have to say one thing in all that time. Not one word. I will take on sole responsibility for any conversation.”

She shook her head. God, she wanted to give him a chance, wanted desperately to hear what he had to say, but he’d broken her heart once. She could not, would not, give him another opportunity. “I’m not interested, Gabe.”

“Thirty minutes. That’s it. After that you can walk away.” His gaze held hers, fire burning behind their dark façade. “If you still want to.”

Connor knelt behind her. His hands brushed over the bare flesh of her back, his erection nestled between her buttocks.

She whimpered and pressed back against him. Her lower lips swelled. It didn’t matter that mere minutes had passed since her orgasm. She hungered for more, hungered for the relief Connor could provide with the slightest thrust of his hips.

Holding herself steady with one hand on Gabe’s leg, she wrapped the other around his shaft and licked him from the base of his penis all the way to the top. Gabe rewarded her with a few precious beads of pre-come and a throaty growl.

“What are you going to say, Gabe? What can you tell me in half an hour that’ll make me want to stay longer? You’re wasting your breath.”

“Aren’t you the least bit inquisitive? What if I tell you something that’ll change your life? Or maybe you’ll find out something that changed mine. The one thing I can promise for sure is if you don’t give me the chance you’ll never know.”

Damn him. He’d always known how to pique her interest. More often than not he’d done it with his body or with a whispered promise of passion, but every once in a while he’d say something that would have her lifting her chin in curiosity.

“How do you want it, T?” Connor pulled back, and then he was there again, dragging the tip of his cock through her slick folds, mercilessly teasing her.

“Here?” He dipped an inch inside her, making her gasp. “Or here?” He trailed a path away from her pussy and up through the cleft of her buttocks. Then, light as a feather, he touched his dick to the sensitive bud of her ass.

Decidedly lightheaded, Tina began to shake. “Either… Both. Doesn’t…matter.” It didn’t make a difference. She just wanted Connor inside her. As much as she wanted Gabe.

Connor drew his dick down to her pussy again, torturing her aching flesh. He dipped inside, delighting her, only to pull away again and repeat the journey upwards.

No! Not enough. She wanted him inside.

She licked the soft skin around Gabe’s testicles. If Connor could taunt her with unfulfilled promises, she’d taunt Gabe in the same way. Fair was fair.

“Christ, Regan,” Gabe bit out. “Stop teasing her. I can’t take it.”

Tina narrowed her eyes in anger. “You had your chance to change my life. You chose not to take it.” Aw, crap. Why did she have to keep harping on this? Why couldn’t she just let bygones be bygones? The last thing she needed was for Gabe to discover he’d hurt her so profoundly.

“I was a fool.” There it was again, that look in his eyes, the one that resembled pain. He stepped back, moving out of her personal space. “I’m sorry. You obviously don’t want to talk to me. I won’t waste your time anymore.”

Relief flooded through her. Now she could get away from Gabe, escape the enchanting spell he cast over her with such ease. “Thank you.” She gave a short nod. “See you around.”
Or not.

Shit, it didn’t make sense. Escape was imminent. So how did she explain the waves of disappointment?

The bathroom echoed with Connor’s chuckle. “Where do you want it, T?” he asked again as he nudged into her pussy once more.

She didn’t give him a chance to pull away this time. With a quick, sharp twist, she pushed back on him, impaling herself on his cock.

Connor’s laughter turned to a gruff moan.

God, he felt good. Long and satisfying, he more than filled her. But one man wasn’t enough. Not with Gabe there as well. Widening her legs to give Connor better access, she brought her mouth to the tip of Gabe’s cock and, inch by inch, took him in as far as he would go.

“T,” Gabe gasped. “Damn…that’s…just… Damn.”

Tina walked away. Again she put one foot in front of the other, willing herself to go. Four years, she told herself. No way should she feel this cut-up after four years. Go. Just go.

“Did you know that you changed my life?” he called after her.

She stopped dead in her tracks.

“After you I was never the same.”

She swiveled around slowly.

“You changed me. You changed who I was.”

Her willpower and determination evaporated.

Tina mimicked Connor’s every move. As he pulled back, she pulled back, leaving just the tip of Gabe’s dick in her mouth. When Connor thrust forward, so did she, swallowing as much of Gabe as she was able. When Connor moved slowly and sensually, tantalizing her inner walls, she sucked slowly and sensually, savoring the taste and the fullness of Gabe against her tongue. God, she loved giving Gabe blowjobs. Loved his uneven panting and incoherent mutterings. Loved how this enormous bear of a man came apart in her mouth. Loved that with all his massive bulk and hard muscle he was the most tender, gentlest lover she’d ever known.

As Connor increased the pace, so did she. The nerves in her pussy screamed for release, begging for the satisfaction she knew was moments away. Connor’s expertise had her hanging on a string. Sensation built. Desire rose. Soon, very soon. She was so close.

She increased her attention to Gabe, loving him wholly and completely with her mouth, using her hand to pump the parts of his cock her mouth could not reach. Connor’s thrusts became harder, more focused. His hand crept around her waist, delved into her curls and found her clit.