Rock Kiss 02 Rock Hard(48)
When she came in a week later wearing an elegant black jersey dress that caressed her body, he’d said only, “Nice dress, Ms. Baird,” and left it at that. Even though that dress made him want to stroke her all over, then push her up against a wall and do things that would make her realize once and for all that he was completely uncivilized under the suits.
He liked it a little rough, sometimes more than a little if he was honest, and that might be a problem with Charlotte, but they’d figure it out. Gabriel had never given up on anything in his life. When obstacles appeared, he found an alternate route. Even if it meant building that route with blunt determination and immutable will.
“Find everything okay?” he asked as her feet touched the floor.
“Yes.” The damp tendrils of hair curling against her ears told him she’d thrown water on her face. Her skin would feel cool under his lips, he thought as she folded her arms and said, “Did you finish cutting up the tomatoes?”
He showed her the board. “Did I do it right? I take instruction well.”
“No, you don’t.”
“You’re right, I don’t.” Risking it, he tugged on a wet curl. “But I’ll make an exception for you. Tell me what you like.”
CHARLOTTE’S BARELY STEADY HEART turned into a jackrabbit in her chest, her mind still hazy from the images he’d implanted earlier. “Wh-what?”
“In your sauce,” he said, but Charlotte wasn’t an idiot, even if he had left her totally off-kilter with the erotic things he’d said to her.
“Why would you do that?” she blurted out, her usual filters shredded.
“What?” said the big, gorgeous lion next to her.
“Never mind.” Taking the onion, she cut off a piece. “Dice this.” Then she picked up half a handful of fresh basil leaves, washed them off, and put them next to the chopped tomatoes.
Finishing dicing the onion, he left a neat pile on one side of the board. “Tell me, Ms. Baird.”
Oh God, how had she gotten herself into this?
Charlotte’s throat was suddenly bone-dry. Grabbing the glass of juice he’d poured, she took a long drink. And remembered what Molly had said to her back when Gabriel had first entered her life.
Be brave.
Charlotte had said the same back to Molly, and now her best friend was living a Technicolor life full of adventure, love, and passionate happiness. It was a future neither one of them could’ve predicted.
Being brave had its rewards.
That thought in mind, Charlotte spoke her question before she could talk herself out of it. “What you said, about the desk. Why would you do that?”
Gabriel stilled. “Because having you come against my mouth would be the biggest fucking turn-on.”
17
PRIVATE GAMES WITH A T-REX
CHARLOTTE PUT DOWN THE glass, her fingers trembling.
“No,” she said, fighting her damn throat-choking shyness to get the words out, “I mean, there’s nothing in it for you.”
Charlotte knew about oral sex, knew men liked to do it sometimes, but she wasn’t one of those pouting, sensual creatures who could bring the male sex to their knees. Richard had liked her at the start, and he’d had zero interest in it. Gabriel was about a thousand times more masculine than Richard, a million times sexier. Women probably went to their knees in front of him at the snap of his fingers.
She hated that image, hated it so much that she erased it from her mind with a vicious mental swipe.
“I’m not that altruistic, Ms. Baird, you know that.” He played with a loose tendril of her hair again, twining it around his finger, then releasing it. “I always get something.”
Swallowing, Charlotte looked up to meet his eyes, lost her breath at the dark intensity of his focus. “Wh…what”—she coughed in an effort to clear her throat—“would you get out of that?”
A slow smile that made her stomach tie itself into knots so tangled, she wasn’t sure they would ever unravel. “Well,” he said, shifting closer and backing her up until her spine hit the opposite counter, “quite aside from having feasted on the delicious taste of you, I’d have you all wet and limp on my desk with your skirt hiked up to your waist.” He pressed closer, his erection thrusting against her abdomen. “It’d take me a second to unzip myself and—”
Charlotte was okay. She was fine. She was dealing with him, being aroused by him, and then without warning, her rational mind just shut down. Panic blinded her in a slapping wave, freezing her into place.
GABRIEL SAW THE CHANGE in Charlotte, felt it. She’d been a bundle of nerves before, but she’d also been a willing participant in their private game, her skin dewy and her lips parted. Now she was stiff and brittle enough to break. Backing off at once, he put plenty of distance between them and, because he was so fucking angry at the bastard who’d hurt her, picked up the knife and diced the damn tomatoes into mush.