The Rebound Pact (7 page)

“You smell good,
Gabrielle.” He pressed the tip of his tongue to her neck and slid it slowly up to her ear, nibbling on the sensitive nub. “Like honeysuckle…”

She whimpered,
then bit her lip. Her thighs quivered and her nipples ached for the same attention he paid to her neck and ear. What the hell was she doing? She hadn’t been this reckless since the graduation party. Never able to let her inhibitions go the way she had that night. Never got over him.

Nibbling over her chin, he
pressed his lips to her, tasting her again in an erotic tangle of his hot velvet tongue against hers. “Did you guess yet?”

“Cloves,” she whispered against his soft lips.

Laughing, he sucked her lower lip into his mouth. “You are correct. Want to know what you win?”

Oh, there were so many things he could say…
So many things she wanted.

Gabrielle
smiled and pressed her hips tighter to his, feeling the bulge of his erection against his jeans.

Holden’s
gaze locked on hers, intense, hungry, filled with desire for her. He rubbed his thumb over her lower lip, then stroked over her neck, to her chest. As he cupped her breast and brushed his thumb over her already taut nipple, he kept his gaze locked on hers. She shivered.

“Tell me what I win.” She was surprised at the huskiness in her voice.

He continued to stroke her nipple, until she wanted to shout out her pleasure, but instead kept it a quiet moan for fear of showing him how much she was truly unraveling.

Then he stopped, took his hand away.
“A full glass.”

Inwardly she groaned. What a tease he was. And he knew it from the look in his eyes. He kissed her once more
, leaving her thighs trembling.

If she wasn’t so certain he wanted things strictly casual, she would have thought he was a rather charming wooer.

Just went to show how often he probably entertained in this mack daddy kitchen. Her breathing still a little uneven, she watched his movements as he refilled their glasses. He was so fluid, yet intense in everything he did. She could watch him all day long.

“An excellent prize, Mr. Bellamy.”
She gave him a teasing smile and cocked her shoulder. “Cheers.”

They
clinked glasses, and she tried to ignore how his eyes kept returning to her perky nipples. Every time he glanced down at her chest, her breath hitched and she had to keep from tearing off her clothes and forcing him onto the floor where she’d have her way with him. Although that wasn’t a bad idea.

W
ith each minute that passed, with each sip of wine and each erotic glance from Holden, her desire grew. This was totally crazy. She was so hot for him, she was practically panting, and yet she shivered.

As they stared at one another, the sexual tension so thick sparks
practically flew, she set down her wine glass and inched closer. Holden watched her, his jaw muscles flexing. He slid his glass along the counter and reached for her. What had been a slow, measured movement on her part soon escalated into full-blown wildness. Their bodies crashed together, their mouths searching, desperate.

Holden lifted her up onto the counter. She spread her legs as he yanked her close, her pelvis colliding
against his with delicious force. This was happening. And this time she knew exactly what she was doing, and he wouldn’t be left wondering if she really wanted him.

Just remember, she cautioned herself,
strictly casual…

But there was nothing casual about the way her body reacted, or the way he growled against her mouth as his hands cupped and massaged her ass. There was nothing casual about the way he hooked his thumbs in her panties and wrenched them swiftly down her legs, or the way he flung them and they landed on the pot
rack hanging from the ceiling.

She snickered. It was a fitting place for them to land. If he let her
, she’d cook with those pots—and leave her panties hanging there.

No.
No cozy dinners in their future. She couldn’t let her mind drift down that road. Just sex. Hot, meaningless sex. Her mind refocused as he unbuttoned his jeans, and his shaft sprang free. Gripping his cock in her hand, she stroked over his silky, hot, hard flesh.

“Oh, God, Gabrielle… You have no idea how much—”

Gabrielle
cut him off by kissing him hard on the mouth. Hearing him say anything that could ruin this moment, ruin their arrangement, even if she was thinking the same very wrong thoughts, was not in the plan.

“Do you have something
?” she whispered as she slid her mouth along his chin to his neck, sucking hard on his whiskered flesh.

“Yeah
.” Holden pulled a package from his back pocket and tore it open.

She found it hilarious that guys always seemed to be prepared with condoms
. But he had invited her over. Maybe he’d anticipated… Just like the first time they’d been together, she took hold of the condom and rolled it down his rigid length.

“Do you want to go upstairs?” he asked, bending low to teeth her hardened nipple through
the silk of her dress and bra.

Gabrielle
moaned loudly, rolling her hips toward his. “No, not upstairs. Right here.”

Kitchen sex
was a fantasy she intended to see through. She yanked open the buttons at the top of her dress and tugged down her matching lace bra, exposing her nipple, which Holden quickly latched into his hot mouth. Gripping his cock tight in her hands, she pressed him toward her opening.

“I need you,
right now,” she said.

H
olden gripped her hips as she guided him to her center, and when he’d slowly gone in an inch, he thrust all the way forward. They both groaned out their pleasure. Holden pulled down the other cup of her bra, exposing her breast to his mouth.

Gabrielle
wrapped her legs around his hips and held tight to his shoulders as Holden drove inside her again and again. Her entire body felt like it was on fire, the hottest part between her thighs. This was even better than any of her memories and fantasies stemming from that one fateful night. Nothing beat the real thing.

Her nails anchor
ed in his shoulders and she searched out his lips for a hot, heart-stopping kiss. He quickened his pace, holding her hips steady to his pounding thrusts. She was so close, her body reaching for orgasm. Her legs shook and she tried to gyrate her hips in time with his thrusts, but she was slowly losing control.

“Yeah, baby, come for me,” he rasped against her mouth.

And oh, did she want to. Desperately. “Yes!” she shouted, feeling herself falling over the edge. Orgasmic waves captured her from within and soared outward. Literally, she felt her insides flood with ecstatic pleasure.

Holden pounded harder, shouting out his own release and capturing her mouth in another searing kiss. The
y rocked back and forth slowly until their bodies stopped shaking, their breaths evened out and their heartbeats had slowed.

Holden’s forehead rested against hers, and his eyes were closed. She didn’t want him to open them. Didn’t want to see how this encounter had changed him. Because she knew for damn sure it had changed her.

He’d just rocked her world—and it had been anything but casual.

She nudged him until he moved away. Without looking at him, she hopped off the counter,
righted her dress, grabbed her purse and headed for the door, tossing over her shoulder with a coy grin she did not feel, “Best rebound sex ever.”

She had to get out of there. This was just too intense and if she was going to keep it as strictly a rebound, leaving now was
for the best.

She did stop once to turn around
as she reached the foyer, realizing she hadn’t grabbed her panties from the pot rack. Holden had followed her, a grin on his lips as he leaned against the archway leading to the kitchen. She’d never seen a sexier thing in her life than Holden, totally satisfied in the way he’d just fucked her and been fucked in return.

“I’ll keep them. They make a nice addition to the pots.” He winked.

She laughed, then ran her ass out of there, Len nearly a distant memory.

Chapter Five

“
H
ow was your workout?”

Gabrielle
jumped at the sound of her dad’s voice as she quietly entered the house. She turned to find him sitting on the couch in the den just to the left of the front door, reading a book. A dim light lit up his face in the otherwise darkened room. Glancing furtively around him, she didn’t see Max. Thank God. She felt a little like a teenager creeping inside after having snuck out. And she was obviously not wearing gym clothes. He smiled at her and instantly her stomach stopped twisting.

“
It was...great.” Jeez she felt guilty for half-lying. Her “workout” had been awesome. Just not at the gym.

“
See anyone I know?” he asked casually.

H
ow exactly did she answer that? She waffled between telling the truth that she had seen someone and lying altogether. Telling him the truth now, she might be able to gauge his response to his feelings about Holden. No need to tell him exactly what happened. A sanitized version would do. “Holden.”

“
The
Holden?”

She laughed.
“Yeah. I guess he likes evening workouts too.” Oh, she felt dirty…

Her father’s smile widened and he nodded, closing his book, but marking the spot with his finger.
“Well, I’m glad there was someone up there you knew.” He checked his watch and looked pointedly at her dress. “The gym closed a while ago. Did you guys go out after?”

Gabrielle cleared her throat, feeling like a complete jerk. She rarely lied, and never to her father.
“Um, yeah. I had a change of clothes in my bag just in case I ran into anyone I hadn’t seen in a while. We went out for a drink, nothing more.”

He shrugged. “Sounds like fun. You’ve had a rough week. You deserve a bit of fun. I’m glad to have you here. I know you
probably can’t wait to get your life back on track and all, but… It’s been lonely here all by myself.”

Gabrielle set down her purse on the table by the front door then leaned against the den doorjamb. She was relieved at her father’s reaction. A part of her worried over what he’d think of her coming home.
The situation with Len. And she worried a lot about his state of mind. “Yeah. I’m glad to be home too, Dad. Seems like I just need a change of pace Maybe you need one too.”

He smiled sadly. “No doubt I do, but I was pretty worried about you. I know your mom was too. Working three a.m. to midnight at La Peche was never bound to last,” he offered.

“I know. You’re right.”

He tilted his head to the right and studied her. “Guess you have Len to thank for that.”

Her thumb immediately rubbed over the place on her finger where a ring used to sit. She’d spoken to her father briefly about what happened with her and Len when she’d gotten home that afternoon.

“What do you mean?” She took off her heels and stretched her feet.

“Despite the pain he caused you, in essence, he’s helped you move forward.”

“Not that I’ve gotten very far.
Seems more like I’ve gone backward.”

Her dad waved away the comment. “No. You came home to help your poor old dad.
And to visit with Max.”

“You always know just the right words.”

“That’s what I’m here for. The Belle Ami Merlot was delicious. They do wine tours on the weekends and tastings. Maybe the three of us can go on Saturday?”

“I’d like that.” And she would, not because she’d get a chance to see Holden—she’d avoid him like the plague in public. No, she was excited to spend some time with her father and brother. Something they hadn’t done since Mom died. They’d been a tight-knit family—the sudden tragedy putting a rift between them all, that she hoped to repair now.

He
r father glanced toward the fireplace mantle where a picture of her mother sat. “Your mother loved Holden’s winery. We went every Friday night.”

Gabrielle
walked into the room and bent down to give her dad a hug. “I’m sorry, Dad.” Tears stung the back of her eyes. Seeing her dad’s pain tore at her heartstrings.

“You don’t have to be sorry,
Gabrielle. You loved her too. I’m sorry. I should have told her to go to the doctor.”

Gabrielle
pulled back. “It’s not your fault, you know that. There was no way for you to know.”

He frowned.
“Looking back, I think there were signs. Abdominal pains, feeling full all the time. She just thought it was her belly acting up.” He glanced down at Gabrielle, squeezed here hand. “I guess we all have our regrets. I’m glad you’re home, for however long you want to be.”

“Me too.”
She stared for a moment longer at the smiling face of her mother, then curled up next to her father, pretending to read the paper, when really she just wanted to be near him a little longer.