CHAPTER SEVEN

      GABRIEL FELT AS if time had stopped as he waited for Bryn to answer—an answer that, knowing Bryn, could very well be her deciding to knee him in the groin, rather than choosing either of the two options he had so arrogantly given her!

      His only excuse for that arrogance was the need he felt, the burning ache he had, to make love to her—which he doubted the fiery Bryn would see as a reasonable excuse at all.

      His jaw was clenched, his forehead slightly damp against Bryn’s, his arms rigid as he kept his hands flat on the window on either side of her head. He continued to hold himself back from coming into contact with her body, his arousal a throbbing ache, his shoulders tense as he waited for her to speak. For her to decide, to choose, to determine what happened next.

      Bryn’s tongue flicked nervously across her lips, only for her to quickly bring a halt to the nervous movement as she saw the way the darkness of Gabriel’s gaze was now fixed so intently on those parted and moist lips.

      She breathed raggedly, unevenly, her gaze continuing to hold Gabriel’s as she spoke in a hushed voice. ‘I’m getting a neck ache just looking up at— What are you doing?’ She gasped as Gabriel skimmed his hands lightly down her arms, placing them on her waist before moving down onto his knees in front of her. Bryn was forced to reach out and grasp onto the support of his shoulders as she tottered at the suddenness of the movement, Gabriel’s eyes now level with her breasts. ‘Better?’ he murmured throatily.

      Better wasn’t quite the word Bryn would have used—she would have described their current position as very dangerous.

      Gabriel was so close now, his face just a breath away, allowing her to see the fire in the depths of those chocolate-brown eyes up close and very personal, the darkness of his hair falling rakishly, enticingly, over his forehead, those sculptured lips parted oh-so-temptingly.

      The warmth of his hands on her waist seemed to burn through the cotton of her T-shirt. Big hands. So much so that they almost spanned the slenderness of her waist completely.

      Bryn had felt surrounded by Gabriel before, but now she felt totally overwhelmed by his close proximity, the burning heat of his hands on her waist, that same heart burning in his eyes as he looked up at her. ‘You do realise this isn’t going to change anything, right?’

      ‘I don’t want to change anything. I’m more than happy with exactly where we are right now,’ he assured huskily, his hands shifting, gaze dropping lower to watch as his fingers slowly pushed up her T-shirt to bare the smooth and silky skin of her abdomen. ‘Very happy, in fact....’ he murmured throatily, his breath warm against her skin as his lips trailed lightly, caressingly, across her bared flesh.

      This wasn’t what Bryn had meant, and Gabriel knew it. But she ceased to care at that moment as her every thought, every sensation, came down to the feel of Gabriel’s lips and the rasp of his tongue moving caressingly against her skin.

      She gasped low in her throat, her back arching, her fingers tightly gripping on to Gabriel’s shoulders as his hands now moved up beneath her T-shirt and cupped breasts covered by nothing more than a black lace bra.

      ‘You are so beautiful, Bryn,’ he growled softly. ‘I’ve thought of doing this for longer than I care to think about—’ he pushed the T-shirt higher so that he could kiss the tops of her breasts ‘—and this.’ He pulled the T-shirt up and over her head before discarding it onto the floor, his eyes dark and hungry. He looked at her appreciatively for several seconds before reaching up to tug the lace cup of her bra down and bare one of her breasts, the rosy nipple already hard and pouting. ‘And, oh, God, this!’ he groaned, his hands resting on her hips as his mouth closed over the tip of that bared breast and he sucked her roused nipple fully into the heat of his mouth.

      Fire surged and swelled inside Bryn, making it difficult for her to breathe at all as she felt that pull on her nipple accompanied by the rasp of Gabriel’s tongue, the place between her thighs dampening as her fingers became entwined in the darkness of his hair and she held him closer to her, needing more, wanting more.

      Receiving more as Gabriel deftly unclipped and removed her bra completely before suckling and feeding on her other nipple as his hand caressed its twin.

      ‘Could we at least move away from the window? We can be seen from outside the building.’ Bryn gasped in half protest, too aroused, too greedy for more, to be able to call a halt to this. Gabriel’s breath was hot against the dampness of her breast as he reluctantly released her nipple. ‘The windows are reflective. No one can see in. Only we can see out.’

      ‘Oh. Ah!’ Bryn gasped breathlessly as Gabriel’s hands moved to unfasten the button of her jeans before sliding the zip slowly downwards.

      He sat back on his heels, eyes so dark they appeared as black as the lace panties now revealed, the air cool against Bryn’s heated flesh as Gabriel slipped off her trainers before slowly pushing her jeans all the way down her legs and removing them completely.

      Bryn had never felt so exposed, so desired, as Gabriel glanced up at her briefly, searing her with a single, heated glance, his gaze moving lazily downwards.

      Gabriel’s hands moved beneath the black lace as he breathed in the scent of her, a perfume that increased his own arousal, demanding that it be set free, to claim what it already knew to be his.

      A single glance at Bryn’s face had revealed the flush of arousal on her cheeks, the feverish glitter in her eyes. Her fingers tightened almost painfully in his hair as one of his hands cupped her mound, shifting the black lace aside and allowing his fingers to seek out the bare flesh beneath.

      Her curls were damp with arousal as his fingers moved lower before moving up and around the roused nubbin. Bryn gasped low in her throat, parting her legs as he slowly stroked her.

      Gabriel wanted to taste her, to feel Bryn fall apart as she climaxed. He wanted, needed— ‘You do know I just want to rip these panties off you?’

      ‘You’re the one who has too many clothes on, Gabriel,’ Bryn complained, desperate to touch his naked flesh in the same way he was touching hers. She wanted to run her hands over his bared shoulders, explore the hardness of his chest and stomach, to taste the heat of his skin beneath her lips. ‘Please, Gabriel,’ she groaned achingly.

      ‘Undress me,’ he invited throatily as he sat back on his heels and looked up at her expectantly.

      He looked so damned good, wild and seductive as a pagan god, with the darkness of his hair in disarray from her caressing fingers, eyes dark and glittering, his cheeks flushed, lips slightly swollen.

      The admiration in Gabriel’s eyes as he looked at her dispelled any embarrassment she might have felt at standing almost naked in front of a man for the first time.

      Nevertheless, her hands shook slightly as they moved to undo and remove Gabriel’s tie, unfastening the buttons of his shirt before pushing it off his shoulders and down his arms to fall onto the carpeted floor with her own clothes.

      Bryn’s breath caught in her throat as she looked down at his muscled shoulders, a deep V of dark hair covering his chest and leading down over the flatness of his abdomen before disappearing into the waistband of his trousers. ‘You’re beautiful,’ she murmured appreciatively as her hands trailed lightly over all that muscled flesh.

      ‘I believe that should be my line,’ Gabriel came back huskily.

      She smiled shakily. ‘Not from where I’m standing.’

      ‘Then let’s not stand any longer.’ His grin was entirely roguish as he stood up to sweep Bryn easily into his arms, carrying her over and laying her down on the sofa before straightening to strip off the rest of