Cowboy Casanova - Lorelei James [142]
“I’m back.” She paused, crossing her arms and legs as she leaned against the mirrored wall. The words seemed inadequate but she was so not prepared to have The Talk with Gabe.
“Gabe, I really am fine. You can go back to whatever you were doing. Thank you for the save.” Hope looked down and repressed a grimace, not liking the thought of him being at the club to top some chick. Or, even worse, being there with his submissive.
His boots filled her vision. Guess he wasn’t leaving as she’d wanted. His insistence on doing things his way hadn’t changed.
She trailed her eyes upward, enjoying the sight even as her heart and head warred over how damnably vulnerable this situation could leave her. And that damn scent, so purely Gabe. It had haunted her for weeks after she’d left and would do the same now that she’d smelled him again.
“Hope, what were you thinking, getting involved with those men?”
She flicked her attention to his face. His jaw was tight and lines of anger radiated from his eyes.
“With them? No. They decided in the hall that I was too uppity for a ‘slave’ and wanted to teach me a lesson.” She shuddered, too overwhelmed by the evening’s events to suppress it.
Gabe snorted. “Sounds like the Hope I knew, full of fire and rebellion.”
Her spine straightened at the frustration in his voice.
He turned, and she half hoped Gabe would leave. Instead, he grabbed a chair from against the mirror and plopped it in front of her. He straddled its hardwood seat, leaning his muscled forearms on the short metal back.
“Hey, don’t lay this shit on me. The jackass is a Super-Uber-Dom. Even called me ‘slave’. What a douche.”
“I see your mouth hasn’t improved at all,” he said. “I’m surprised your Dom hasn’t disciplined it out of you.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What Dom? I haven’t even been to a club in years, and you know how much I hate stupid Tops.” She scoffed. “Little boys playing king of the castle. It’s pathetic, really.” She jutted her chin at him. “And my mouth is more than fine, as you damn well recall.”
He smirked. “Oh, I haven’t forgotten that, baby. But you seem to have trouble recalling that all work and no play makes Hope a very stressed-out girl.”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but I’ve been just lovely.”
In a flash, he had her pressed against the mirror, one hand pinning her wrists against the cool surface. She’d not realized just how close he was sitting until that point.
Her heart kicked into overdrive and her mouth went dry. Wetness trickled from between her thighs. Damn him for knowing how to push her hot buttons.
“Don’t you lie to me, Hope O’Shea.” His voice held a familiar warning. “You need a good topping, I can see it in your eyes. And don’t get me started on what your hard nipples say you need, cara.”
Gabe had a big Italian family from his mother’s side, and that word had become his sole term of endearment for her. Damn him. He always managed to croon that word, his deep, rumbling voice caressing her heart into almost melting for him.
She struggled against his hands, wanting to hurt him, wanting to hold him. “You…you asshole, you have no right telling me what I need.”
He pressed his body to hers until she had no way of moving. His words tickled her sensitive earlobe. “You know I’m right. I can still read you.” He rubbed against her. “Can you read me?”
The thickness of his erection burned through her slacks, and even as her mind rebelled against it, arousal primed her body.
“So you have a cock. Big fucking deal.”
He nibbled her earlobe and laughed, the vibrations tingling through her body. “Nice try, pussycat. All growl, no claws because you want me too.”
Eyelids heavy, she fought against the tempting lust. “I made that mistake once. Never again. No more Doms, no more kink.”
His brow crinkled and he rubbed a hand across his chest as if he’d pulled a muscle or something. He lifted her from the floor, pulling her legs around his waist, opening her to him. She should have stopped