The Acceptance

Holding her gaze captive, Luther parted her slick lips by gliding two fingers back and forth, back and forth.

Her expression constricted even more.

Slick moisture bathed his fingers.

Luther gently opened her, and with inexorable pressure, worked both fingers into her. She was small, but he couldn’t imagine Gaby ever taking half measures.

She’d want to be filled.

And he wanted to fill her.

Her virgin flesh stretched, and he felt the strain of her entire body.

A sharp breath parted her lips. A mix of pain and pleasure made her eyes flare.

“You are so damn tight,” he murmured, turned on by the knowledge of being the first to do this to her.

The first to do everything with her, wanting to be the only man to ever— no.

He wouldn’t allow himself to think that way. Not now, not with so many unanswered questions. Not while she remained such an enigma.

As Luther pressed his fingers deeper into her, her eyelids drooped—and she lifted her shirt.

Needing no more invitation than that, he lowered his head and drew one taut nipple into his mouth. Her fingers sank into his hair, holding him to her. Heat, scented by her heightened desire, filled the air.

Luther switched to the other nipple, nipping with his teeth, tugging till she moaned and then lathing with his tongue to soothe her.

Just as she relaxed, he closed his mouth around her again and sucked hard.

A tearing groan escaped her. Her body stiffened, and knowing she was close, he brought his thumb up to her distended clitoris. Pressing, fretting her most sensitive flesh with a delicious friction, Luther pushed her—and far too quickly, she came.

Thank God they were alone in the big lot, given her savage scream. Her short nails drew blood on his shoulders. Her strong muscles clenched, quivered, then went lax.

Damn. He’d known it from the moment he saw her, how explosive she’d be, how unique and special and mind-blowing.

He couldn’t wait to be inside her, to share that pleasure with her. But for now, he’d have to.

Gaby was so limp, in another second she’d be sleeping.

With her most immediate problem resolved, he needed to get back on track.

Now the real fireworks would begin.

* * *

Resting the side of her face on his shoulder, letting him support her weight, Gaby yawned. Man, oh man. Talk about taking the stress away. She felt so lethargic, more than anything, she wanted her bed.

Luther’s hand moved up and down her back, comforting, intimate.

They’d just shared something monumental. She knew it, but she didn’t have the energy to react to it.

Yet.

In a minute, she’d figure out what she needed to do to reciprocate. She wanted Luther to feel what she’d just felt.

Oh sure, she knew he’d done that plenty of times. The man had surely practiced to be so good at it. But she wanted him to feel it with her.

She yawned again, nuzzled closer to his big, hard chest, and wondered how he’d feel in her hands, if it’d be the same for him.

“You still awake?” Luther asked her.

“Mmm. I just need a minute.” Or five or ten.

He kissed her temple. “I can pick you up tomorrow. We’ll have breakfast, talk, and then visit Bliss again. She should be dismissed early.”

Was he nuts? Held upright by the constriction of his strong arms around her, Gaby lifted her head to stare at him.

Oh, he was ripe with sensation, his aura so bright and molten it was a wonder they weren’t both singed.

When he only smoothed her hair, she asked, “What about you?”

“What about me?” He kissed her mouth, smiled like a conqueror. He even touched the end of her nose. “I got what I wanted.”

He had to be kidding. “So what was it you wanted?” The repletion of muscles and sinew kept her loose and limp. Gaby struggled to stiffen her knees.

This confrontation demanded a little strength on her part, not Jell-O limbs.

“I wanted you to see that it’s not always about men stickingt heir dicks in women. For men who pay to get their rocks off, sure, that might be it. But between us—”

“There’s an us?” Stupid question. He’d just rocked her entire world in a very big way.

And it had only taken him a few minutes.

In a parking lot.

Out in the open.

He squeezed her bottom and said, “Whether you want to admit it or not, yeah, there is. Eventually, I’ll be on top of you, Gaby. I’ll be inside you—and I don’t mean my fingers either.”

Because she suspected it’d put a stop to his cocky assurances of what sounded vaguely like domination to her, Gaby cupped her hand over his crotch.

Sure enough, he went mute, still, even pained. His gaze froze as he stared at her, held in suspense, unsure what she’d do, and probably hoping she’d do it.

Gaby almost smiled over the feeling of power.

A different type of power from what she was used to.

A more satisfying type of power.

“This,” she told him, squeezing a little, measuring the length of his cock by slowly stroking base to tip and back again, “is noticeably bigger than two fingers. I’m not sure it’d work.”

Muscles tensed and voice rough, Luther said, “I know I hurt you—”

“Ha. Let me tell you something, Luther. That wasn’t pain. Not even close. In fact . . .” While keeping him captive in her hand, Gaby let loose a wide-jawed yawn. “It was relaxing.”

He closed his eyes against a private struggle. “Trust me, honey, when it happens, you’re going to love it.”

“More than I enjoyed that?” She wouldn’t use the “L” word in any context, so he could forget it.

His big hand covered hers, but not to move her hand away. He pressed her closer. “How much did you enjoy it?”

“You want honesty, right?”

Disquiet nudged aside the sexual voracity on his face. “Always.”

She inhaled, then exhaled long and slow. “I’m familiar with pain, ya know? It’s a part of my daily life, coming and going in varying degrees, emotionally and physically.”

“Gaby.” He touched his forehead to hers.

A lump formed in Gaby’s throat, and she had one hell of a time swallowing. “What you just gave to me . . . well, it’s startling because I didn’t know anything could feel like that. For a split second of time, I don’t think I was aware of anything other than what I felt.”

“That bothers you?”

“It makes me vulnerable.”

“Not when you’re with me. Never with me.” He pulled her hand away and enclosed her in his arms. “When you’re with me, you’re always safe.”

Gaby didn’t tell him how absurdly naïve he had to be to believe such a thing. Truth was, Luther was safer with her, not the other way around.

But she supposed a big macho cop who’d just given a woman that kind of pleasure really didn’t want to hear reality.