Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 97394 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97394 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Gabriel shakes his head and finally seems to relax a little. “What chicks? Who was it… Johnathan? He told me you were hung up on one of Beth’s friends.”
Gabriel must have hit a nerve because James immediately tries to deny it. “I’m not hung up on Sophia.”
“Oh, Sophia. So that’s her name.” Gabriel grins.
James mutters something about a donkey, a horse, and Gabriel’s mother under his breath.
Gabriel chuckles, not the least bit offended.
Then all his focus is on me.
Lids lowering, Gabriel steps into me. Moving in even closer than he did to measure under my bust. I’m don’t know if it’s intentional, but his presence, his sheer size and heat, is enough to make butterflies take flight in my stomach.
I find myself sucking in a breath and holding it as he wraps the measuring tape around me without my guidance, right over my breasts.
“Thirty-seven,” he calls out.
James lets out a low whistle.
Gabriel’s arms start to drop, but the tape is a little loose so I tell him to, “Tighten it.”
He immediately freezes then cocks his head as if he’s not sure he heard me right.
“It’s too loose, Gabriel. Tighten it,” I’m forced to repeat, my face burning like it’s on fire.
Time seems to slow down as he moves in even closer to me. It’s completely unnecessary, but I don’t have it in me to tell him to give me more space.
No, this close, his shadow engulfs me, and there’s something strangely comforting about the darkness.
I become painfully aware of my nipples as he tightens the tape around me, the pressure of the tape digging into them and finally smashing them down.
I become aware of every nerve of my body trying to break free to reach him.
“Thirty-six,” Gabriel chokes out, and that sounds about right.
But he doesn’t loosen the tape and I don’t ask him to. If anything, my lips are poised to tell him to tighten it again.
To bind me up further. To keep me. To protect me. To never fucking let me go.
It’s as if I’ve suddenly become bewitched.
And thankfully James is here to break the spell. “Fuck, I’m going to get pregnant just watching you two.”
I pull away first, breaking Gabriel’s hold on the measuring tape. As the tape drops away, I bring my arms down, crossing them protectively over my chest.
Disappointment and irritation creep over Gabriel’s face before he clenches his fists and shoves it back down.
His lips part, and I swear he’s going to say something cutting to James, but then he presses his lips together.
Looking very much like a man who’s suddenly had an epiphany, his gaze scours over me, giving me another once over.
Then he asks, “Do these vests come in kid sizes?”
Assuming he’s talking about me, I narrow my eyes at him. “I’m not a kid.”
Yeah, I’m short, but how could he even think that after looking at me the way he was looking at me?
“I wasn’t talking about you,” he assures me, his eyes glinting with amusement and the corners of his lips curling. “I’m asking for our future children.”
Oh boy, here we go again.
“I don’t know,” James answers thoughtfully. “I’m sure they do. I’ll look into it.”
“There will be no our future children,” I say firmly to Gabriel, hoping he finally gets it.
Gabriel bends down and at least has the decency to drop his voice to almost a whisper as he says, “Are you sure? Because I don’t remember using any protection last night…”
Lord have mercy, is he purposely trying to make me die of embarrassment?
Puffing his chest out, Gabriel straightens, looking entirely too sure of himself.
And it’s on the tip of my tongue to tell him he may not have used protection, but I did. I’ve had an IUD for a couple of years now, and I can’t even remember the last time I had a period. In fact, last night, after sex, was the first time I’ve had some cramping and a little spotting in a long time.
But I figure that was just because Gabriel was so rough and my body wasn’t used to it.
“No kids,” I repeat, trying to drill it in without revealing my little secret.
“We’ll see,” Gabriel says smugly and tosses the tape back to James.
Yeah… no we won’t. Unless he has some way of removing my IUD without me knowing it… And I seriously, seriously doubt he’d resort to that unless he’s a sick fuck.
Sighing, I shake my head and roll my eyes.
James slams his trunk shut. “Ready to pay Thomas a visit?”
Gabriel’s face instantly grows grim and I feel a little pang of regret that I gave him shit about the kid thing.
I totally forgot we were here to visit his fallen brothers today.
Nodding his head, he sighs like a man who’s been carrying too much weight, and says, “Lead the way.”
12
Gabriel
Walking toward the graves, I glance over at Meghan. “You don’t have to be here for this. You can wait in the truck if you want.”