Perfect Fit (22 page)

Gabe watched Sage’s every move. His heartbeat raced, and his chest tightened when he saw her place the wineglass to her lips. His breath caught when, with her tongue, she licked around the rim of the glass as if wanting to taste whatever spot his mouth had touched.

The thought of what she was doing made hot, rich desire flow through every pore in his body. He felt his body harden and his erection grew thick against his jeans.

He briefly closed his eyes, wondering how in hell he could have thought that he could bring her here and engage in any type of meaningful conversation with her without wanting to make love to her. He wanted to devour every inch of her in very delectable pieces, and that was only after making love to her all night long and all day through, in every position known to man and even a few that man didn’t know about yet. He was feeling very creative.

Gabe didn’t think he could last much longer
when he watched as Sage tilted her head back, exposing a long, beautiful neck, and took a long swallow of what was left of his wine. And when she licked her lips afterward, he breathed in deeply and slowly turned around.

He met her gaze, and the look on her face was priceless, hot, aroused. Then he felt it again, that same powerful sexual chemistry that had the ability to render them defenseless. More than anything he wanted to touch her but knew that would defeat everything, especially her purpose for being there. They had to talk first.

“Do you like your room?” he forced himself to ask in a voice that didn’t sound like his own.

She nervously licked her lips again, and seconds later a pleasing smile appeared on them. “Yes. It’s simply beautiful and so wonderfully decorated. Christopher’s wife did an excellent job. Everything is so color coordinated, so feminine and so perfect.”

Gabe smiled. And just to think he had teased Maxi about overdoing it. “I’ll tell her you said that.” He moved away from the window and appreciated that since the lights in the room were turned down low, the dimness kept his erection from being so obvious.

He glanced down at the glass she held in her hand. “Would you like another drink?”

Sage also glanced down at the empty wineglass. A wave of amusement filled her, and she couldn’t help but chuckle. “I was thirsty,” she said, explaining why she had drunk his wine.

He nodded, smiling. “So I see.” He then checked his watch. “Are you hungry?”

She shook her head. “No, I had a big lunch, but if you want to fix—”

“No,” he quickly interrupted. “I’m fine.”

Gabe’s hands balled into fists at his sides. He wasn’t fine. All he could think about was what had happened last night in her apartment with his mouth feeding, devouring, making love to hers.

He blinked when he realized she had said something. “I’m sorry, I missed that. What did you say?”

Sage smiled. “I asked if you wanted to start our talk now?”

He wanted to do more than talk but decided not to tell her that. “Do you?”

Sage shrugged. “We may as well. Then we can enjoy the rest of our weekend doing all those outside activities.”

Gabe considered what she’d said for a moment. The activities he wanted to do with her were definitely inside activities. “All right, we’ll talk.”

He motioned for her to sit on the sofa, and to be on the safe side, instead of sitting next to her, he took a chair across from her. He watched as she nervously tapped her hand on the table separating them.

She glanced up at him. “I need to know where you want our relationship to go, Gabe.”

He slowly lifted a dark brow. “Where do you want it to go?”

Sage shrugged. “I’m not sure. We tried the friendship thing, and it didn’t go over too well. There’s a part of me that feels I should give myself more time before becoming seriously involved with someone. But then there’s another part that feels I need to do whatever I have to to move on and put the past behind me. And before you ask, no, this isn’t about Erol or any feelings I may still have for him. It’s a decision about me and how I want to live my life.”

She leaned back on the sofa before continuing.
“Because I was involved in a relationship that lasted five years, I need time to enjoy being free for a while, without getting serious.”

Gabe nodded. He clearly understood that. He hadn’t gotten serious about anyone since Lindsey.

“And I want to get comfortable about trusting someone again.”

Gabe met her gaze. “Do you feel you can trust me, Sage?”

She thought about his question. Deep down she felt that she could. If she didn’t believe that, then she wouldn’t be alone with him now, holding this conversation, exposing her pain and insecurities to him. “Yes, Gabe, I feel that I can,” she finally answered.

Gabe smiled. “Thanks. Now, is there anything else you feel we need to discuss and get out in the open?”

“Yes, there’s the issue of sex.”

With that one single word spoken from her lips, Gabe’s heart began beating rapidly in his chest. “Sex?” he asked huskily as thick desire flowed through his nerve endings.

“Yes, sex,” Sage said, leaning forward. “I’m not comfortable with the idea of sleeping with a man just to have something to do. It’s not in me to physically share myself with someone I don’t care deeply about. Other women may not find it difficult, but I do.”

Gabe nodded again. A part of him was glad that she did.

“So these sexual urges aren’t helping matters,” she said softly.

Gabe bit back a moan at what Sage had just said. He cleared his throat. “Sexual urges?” he rasped.

She nodded as she unconsciously skimmed the
tips of her fingers over the smooth skin of her thigh that her skirt didn’t cover. “Yes, or sexual chemistry if that’s a better name for it. I felt it last night with you, and I hadn’t counted on that happening,” she said in a slightly irritated voice.

An amused smile curved his lips. “Neither had I. At least not to that extent.” Then his expression turned serious as he watched the unconscious movement of her hand on her thigh. Seeing her bare skin reminded him of the soft feel of her flesh he had cupped in his hand last night. The memory made his front ache. Tilting his head, he met her gaze. “I wanted you bad last night.”

A shiver of desire coursed slowly down Sage’s spine with Gabe’s words. She had wanted him badly last night, too. And it didn’t help matters that with the way he was looking at her, his heated gaze was inflaming her entire body. “How bad?” she surprised herself by asking as a coiling tightness formed in her stomach and a torrential ache settled between her legs.

“Come here and I’ll show you,” he murmured huskily.

A shudder ran through Sage at Gabe’s invitation. She exhaled a deep breath and gazed at him through heavy eyelids. “I’m not ready to have sex with anyone, Gabe,” she said in a raspy voice. She crossed her legs when the ache between them intensified.

Gabe held up his hands. “No sex. Just foreplay.”

Foreplay that doesn’t end with sex?
“How?” she asked, curious as well as aroused at the very thought.

Gabe leaned forward in his seat. “In a number of ways, but mainly doing what we did last night.”

She raised a brow. “Kissing?”

He nodded slowly. “Yes, and touching.”

Curiosity thrummed through Sage, and she wondered how they had gotten on the subject of kissing and touching. “No more than that?”

“No more than that.”

“No sex?”

“No sex. I promise. Trust me,” Gabe answered, his voice deep, husky, seductive. For the first time in his life, his restraint, his sense of honor and the ability to keep his word would be put to the test. He watched as Sage nervously nibbled on her bottom lip, contemplating his words, his request to prove her trust in him. Considering her disappointment with her ex-fiancé and her father, he knew that placing her trust in another man was not easy for her.

He sat back in the chair. The decision would be hers, and he would wait patiently for it, even if it took all night. And no matter what, he would abide by her decision.

His breath lodged in his throat when she slowly stood. He could actually feel the heat simmering in his gaze as he watched her walk around the table that separated them. And when she stood before him with as much desire in her eyes as he had in his, and at the same time openly proclaiming total trust in him for her well-being, a surge of tenderness and protectiveness welled up inside of him so profound, he almost couldn’t bear it.

He stared up at her, and a sense of peace settled over him because at that moment, he knew why he had allowed Sage to weaken his defenses, soften his resolve and break his vow to never become involved with another woman on the rebound again.

Although they still had a lot of talking to do, a number of things they had yet to work out, he still wanted her, because God help him, at some point
since first meeting her six months ago, he had fallen in love with her. And he knew it was no use fighting it. However, he intended for both of their sakes not to leave anything to chance. He would not make the same mistakes with her that he’d made with Lindsey. He would not rush her or assume anything. They would not move from point A to point B until
he
thought she was ready … no matter what she thought.

“Gabe?”

His name, whispered so sweetly from her lips, reclaimed his attention. He swept his gaze over the outfit she had changed into after her shower, a blue pullover sweater and a black wool skirt that stopped midthigh. Her legs were bare, and her feet were encased in a pair of flat shoes.

Unable to resist touching her any longer, he said silkily, “Come closer and let me feel you.”

Sage swallowed as Gabe’s words filled her mind. He was close enough to touch her if he reached out his hand. But he didn’t just want to touch her; he wanted to
feel
her, and he wanted her to come to him of her own free will.

She allowed her gaze to drift longingly over him as he reclined in the chair, looking more handsome, more desirable and sexier than any man had the right to look. He made a move to spread his legs apart, and she knew that he wanted her to come stand between them.

Inhaling deeply and tossing all doubts aside, she took a step toward him and stood just where he wanted her to, between his widened thighs. Their gazes held, and her body began heating with a need the likes of which she had never experienced before. Her breathing quickened when he reached
out and touched the front hem of her skirt, then moments later, moved his hands to touch her thighs.

Sage sucked in a deep breath as Gabe slowly began trailing his hands down her thighs, touching bare flesh. The feel of his hands on her was seductive, exquisite and decadent. She liked the way it felt.

His breathing became just as ragged as hers when his hand slowly moved from her thighs to her inner legs, gently nudging her knees apart to get his hands between them. Not going any higher than the hem of her skirt, he moved his hands gently up and down her legs as if just touching her brought him intense pleasure.

She closed her eyes, allowing herself to feel Gabe’s touch deep in her mind, savoring every moment of what he was doing. She refused to open her eyes when she felt his hand slide higher, making its way underneath her skirt. And when he touched her intimately, his hand felt hot through the silky fabric of her panties.

“Open your eyes, Sage. Look at me.”

Sage slowly did what he requested. Her skirt and slip were twisted around her waist, and she stood before him with her lacy black panties as the only thing covering her bottom.

She held his gaze as he continued to touch her, stroking her into a feverish pitch through the material of her panties. Then suddenly, she felt the urge to join her mouth to his.

He evidently had the same idea because he reached for her the same time she reached for him, pulling her into his lap and devouring her mouth with a degree of desperation and possessiveness
that surprised her. But she didn’t pause to think about it. The only thing she wanted to think about was what Gabe’s mouth was doing to hers.

Pure, unadulterated desire touched every part of her body as his hand slipped beneath the waistband of her panties to touch her. His finger found that part of her it wanted. He used the same rhythm his tongue was using in her mouth to stroke her, spinning her out of control and taking her just where he wanted her to go.

Gabe broke off the kiss the exact moment her body began to shudder in his arms, and Sage screamed his name …
his name
… moments before collapsing against his chest.

Half an hour later Gabe was still holding Sage protectively against him in his lap while she slept. He had gotten great satisfaction bringing her pleasure, and just to think he had kept his promise to her.

Kissing, touching but no sex
.

Inhaling deeply, he ignored the ache that still claimed his body. And it didn’t help matters that his erection was still hard and was pressed intimately against her. Closing his eyes, he downplayed any need he had. Taking care of her needs had been more important to him than taking care of his own.

And bless her heart, she hadn’t understood that she’d had those needs. He wondered if it had ever occurred to her that those “sexual urges” had been the result of her body going six months without something she’d grown accustomed to getting.

He shook his head. To Sage everything was supposed to be simple. But she had found out just
how problematic life could be when her father and ex-fiancé had caused her grief, and although she hadn’t yet admitted it to herself, her pain had not yet healed. She was in a state of denial if she thought that it had.

He also knew that in order for them to share a relationship that was strong, meaningful and absolute, it had to be based on love and not lust, trust and not mistrust, gain and not pain. And to make sure they moved in the right direction toward those goals, they would do things his way.

Leaning down, he kissed her damp forehead and then tightened his hold around her. Gabe knew at that moment, emotional baggage or not, Sage was the one person who could make him feel whole.

S
age yawned and slowly stretched out on the bed when she came awake. Memories flooded her mind, and the last thing she remembered was …