Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 93984 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93984 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
“What would you say if I said that I wanted to stay?” Gabriel asked, his rough voice barely over a whisper.
“If you were to say that you wanted to stay, then I’d likely say that it was the smartest thing you’d ever uttered and that we should celebrate…in bed.” The smile that crossed Justin’s lips was small and tentative, as if he wasn’t quite sure how to react to Gabriel’s question.
“And after bed?”
“Sorry, I can’t think past sex.” Justin shook his head as if trying to clear it. “What do you mean?”
“If I stayed, would we date?”
“Yes, like normal people. Dinner. Movies. Cookouts with the neighbors. Sex.”
“I understand the sex part.”
The laughter and teasing left Justin’s expression and he turned serious. “What’s got you confused?”
“Dinner and neighbors and a normal life…”
“Sounds good, doesn’t it?”
A little sigh stumbled from Gabriel. “I have never in my life tried the ‘normal’ thing. I wouldn’t even know how. Do we really walk away from the lives we built to try dating?”
They barely knew each other. Gabriel had taken a lot of insane risks in his life, but this seemed bigger than all of them put together. And yet, his heart was begging for him to try.
He didn’t want to walk out Justin’s door without knowing that he had a chance of seeing him again. He didn’t want to face a life that didn’t have Justin’s laughter and twisted sense of humor in it. Where he was sitting, he didn’t know how to move forward with a new life with Justin, but he also knew he couldn’t go back to his old life.
Justin’s expression clouded, and he scratched his jaw. Gabriel wasn’t sure if it was an angle that he hadn’t thought of, or if he was just at a point in his life where he was more willing to leave it all behind. “I guess we don’t have to right away. We could try dating…while still doing the assassin job.”
“And what about when one of us has to travel for a contract? Would it bother you to not know where I was, if I was still alive?”
The other man shifted in his seat, his eyes dropping down to his beer bottle. “Would it bother you?”
“Yes!” Gabriel said, lurching forward in his chair to stare across the table at Justin. He couldn’t hold the words in any longer. “Yes, it would drive me crazy to know you were out on a job and I didn’t know where you were or who the fuck was shooting at you.” When they’d separated in Iaso, fear had gnawed ceaselessly at Gabriel’s brain, driving him insane. He should have been there at all times to watch Justin’s back, to protect him.
And the thought of not knowing time and time again when they were dating, it was sickening. He knew it would break him in the end, break what they were trying to build.
Justin dropped his feet to the wood deck with a heavy thud and quickly walked around to where Gabriel was sitting. He had enough time to spin in his swivel chair to face Justin before his face was grabbed. Justin’s mouth touched his, and he sighed as that wicked tongue tangled with his own. The kiss deepened, taking everything Gabriel had to give until he was clinging to Justin’s shoulders. But what Justin gave him wrapped tight around his heart, getting it beating once again.
It felt almost reluctant the way Justin broke off the kiss and pressed his forehead to Gabriel’s.
“You kill me,” Justin panted.
“I’ve tried hard not to,” Gabriel joked. He brushed his lips against Justin’s for another quick kiss. “It’s hard enough leaving here today knowing that you’ll take another job and you’ll be alone. I’m supposed to be there to watch your back.”
Justin grinned wide. “Then stay here. Watch my back. And my front. Fuck, watch all of me, because I would love to watch every inch of you.”
Gabriel smiled and kissed him again. He really wanted to laugh, but at that moment, it was more important to kiss him.
“So, are you staying?” Justin asked when they came up for air again.
The happiness Gabriel had found slipped. “Soon.”
Justin jerked away a little bit and frowned at Gabriel. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“It’s part of the exit strategy. I have to leave and take care of a few things—get rid of some people who would threaten me. I need to make it safe for me to come back and stay.”
“You want me to help?”
“No, I need to do this on my own, but will you…will you wait?”
Justin smirked. “Wait for you to stay? I don’t know. I mean, I’ve got so many other assassins lined up to get in my bed and I—”