Alice could scarcely breathe. She was overwhelmed with excitement. It coursed through her veins like a drug, washing away everything in its rampaging path. She had to squirm and resist touching herself to try to staunch the throbbing.
He settled on the bed and straddled her. She reached to touch him and he stayed her hand.
‘No way.’ Gabriel barely recognised the shakiness in his voice. ‘If you do... I’m too turned on...’
‘That’s nice.’
‘It’s better than nice,’ he growled in response. He lowered himself over her and she sighed and wriggled when he began teasing her breasts with his tongue.
‘Hands above your head,’ he commanded. Her nipples were big, pink discs and he tasted them delicately before taking one into his mouth and suckling on it, not letting up, enjoying her whimpers of delight and the way she moved, unable to keep still.
If she felt like a kid in a candy shop, then that was how he felt as well. The novelty of it was incredible, invigorating, exceptional.
When he could no longer bear the foreplay, he fumbled for his wallet, which he had dropped on the bedside table, and removed a condom.
Through the haze of her desire, Alice recognised a guy who took no chances. When he said that he did not involve himself in relationships for the long haul, he wasn’t kidding.
She propped herself up on her elbows and watched as he put it on, fast and expertly. He was so big that she marvelled that he had not had any unfortunate accidents in the past from splitting one of them.
Their eyes met for the briefest of moments and he grinned.
‘No risks, right?’ she asked lightly and he nodded.
‘Never.’
He nudged into her and then pushed harder so that she felt every bit of his girth rubbing inside her, sending waves of sensations shooting through her body. She clung. It was all she could do. Her short nails dug into his back as he moved harder and harder. Her legs wrapped round him and their bodies fused into one.
Her orgasm was deep, long and mind-blowing. Alice felt as if she was flying, soaring upwards, splintering into a thousand exquisite pieces. Her body arched as wave upon wave of unbearable pleasure coursed through her. One final thrust and he came as well, rearing up and groaning. Shudders of release ripped through his big body.
Unbelievable.
‘Did the earth move for you?’ he asked roughly, half-joking, half-serious, because it had damn well moved for him.
They had rolled onto their sides and were facing one another. It seemed perfectly natural. She had to lower her eyes because she felt so...tender towards him. That perfect moment of coming together was one of the few times when his guard was completely down, she suspected, and she supposed that it was the same for her. Now it was time for them to retreat to the people they were and tenderness didn’t play any part in that.
‘Shall I tell you how good you are?’ she murmured teasingly and he clasped her fingers between his and kissed them one by one.
‘That would be nice, and you can take your time. Feel free to be as descriptive as you like.’
‘You’re so egotistic, Gabriel.’
‘Don’t tell me you don’t like it.’ He kissed her and then settled his hand comfortably between her thighs. ‘In fact, you have to tell me that you like it. I’m your boss.’
A timely reminder. She rolled onto her back and stared up at the ornate ceiling.
In the act of making love, she had lost the ability to think, but she was thinking now, remembering what he had said to her, how he had warned her off involvement: his little ‘don’t get attached to me’ speech, the same little speech he would deliver to all his bed mates, of which she was now one.
Well, she might number among them, but she wasn’t about to join their ranks in wanting more than he could give. She wasn’t going to turn into another hysterical Georgia who had been silly enough to think that she could domesticate the jungle animal.
‘You are,’ she agreed lightly. ‘Which is why this is only going to last for the duration of Paris.’ Belatedly it occurred to her that she might have been a one-night stand. Had she jumped to the wrong conclusion?
‘Is that a fact?’ Gabriel murmured. He withdrew his hand to cup one breast instead and he gently stroked her until her nipple hardened.
‘Being here is like playing truant...time off from normality.’ Alice knew her body was reacting with wild abandon even though her voice was calm and controlled. She wanted him to flick his tongue over the tender nub of her nipple as he had done earlier; she wanted him to lick her between her legs until she couldn’t breathe properly and then she wanted him inside her all over again, thrusting hard and sending her into glorious orbit.