Page 101 of If You Stayed

He didn’t say a word, and I didn’t cry. Just resting against him felt like enough to keep me from completely falling apart over what had happened with Henry. I didn’t want to go home. I didn’t want to go back and face him at all. I wanted to stay with Gabriel in a world where I felt safe from any harm. In a world where I felt seen. In a world where a person looked at me as if I mattered more than anything else.

He took me inside and held me on his couch for hours. We didn’t talk. I didn’t even cry. I just stayed in his arms, breathing him in as he refused to let me go. He became my weighted blanket that helped slow down the speed of my thoughts.

I pulled away slightly from him and looked up into his eyes. “Gabriel?”

“Yes?”

“Can you kiss me?”

His eyes searched mine with a mix of emotions—shock, concern, and a deep unspoken understanding. He cupped my face gently and tilted my head up. “Kierra, all I have wanted to do for a very long time is kiss you. But I…”

“No buts,” I cut in. “Just a kiss. I just need to know.”

“Need to know what?”

“If what my heart is telling me is real.”

His voice dropped a few octaves. “Kierra, if I kiss you…I won’t want to stop.”

“Yeah, I know,” I murmured, moving in closer to him. “So don’t stop.”

For a moment he hesitated, uncertain if he was crossing a line that I’d regret. But he wasn’t. If anything, he was giving me more than I knew I could want. I wanted him. I always wanted him.

Then, slowly, he leaned in, his lips meeting mine in a soft kiss that was oh so tender. He kissed me slowly, placing his arms around my body as mine wrapped around his neck. I closed my eyes, allowing myself to get lost in the moment, a moment I’d craved longer than I could admit.

The gentle pressure of his lips against mine sent warmth through my whole body. He kissed me with care, and comfort, and unspoken promises that felt like always. Then one of his hands rose to the base of my neck, and he tilted my head up more, deepening the kiss, sending my mind into a flurry of passion. He parted my mouth with his tongue as he kissed me deeper, his fingers moving to my lower back, which arched toward him. He laid me down on the couch, his body hovering over mine. Our eyes locked, his dilated and hungry as he rested his forehead against mine.

“Tell me to stop and I will,” he swore, his words melting against my lips. My hips arched in his direction, feeling his hardness swipe my inner thigh. I slid my hand between us and brushed the stiffness slightly with my hand. He growled as hiseyes fluttered shut. “But if you don’t say stop, Kierra, I’m going to want this. I’m going to want you forever.”

I pulled his mouth back to mine, kissing him hard, our tongues tangling as if they’d never wanted to part. “Give me forever,” I whispered against his lips, wanting nothing more than for him to have me. All of me. The good, the bad, and the broken parts.

Without another word, he lifted me from the sofa and carried me to his bedroom. He laid me down on the mattress before he tossed off his shirt. I sat up slightly, and he reached behind me, unzipping my dress. My heart pounded at a rapid pace as my fingers grazed against his rock-hard chest. I took in his old tattoos, which were intertwined with new ones I’d never seen. My fingers landed over his heart, where penguin footprints were, and tears flooded my eyes as I was transported back in time to when he received that tattoo on his chest.

“My heart can’t beat without you there, Penguin,”he’d told me.

He tilted my head up as he realized I’d paused my movement. The gentleness and care in his stare made me feel safer than ever before. “You’re crying,” he whispered, leaning in and kissing the tears streaming down my cheeks one by one. “I hate it when you cry. We don’t have to—”

“No,” I cut in quickly, shaking my head. “I want this, Gabriel. You have no clue how much I really want this.”

“Then why the tears?”

“It’s overwhelming. It’s just…” I took a deep breath as I placed both hands against his chest, against his heart. “I’ve been waiting a very long time to feel this way. To be here withyou.”

His lazy smile came and he gently swiped his mouth against mine. “Kierra…I’ve been looking for you my whole life.”

More tears fell.

More kisses took them away.

“Can I stay the night?” I whispered, gently arching my core so I could feel more of his hardness against me.

“Kierra…” he groaned as his mouth fell to the nape of my neck. He trailed across it with kisses. “You can stay forever.”

He pulled my dress down and I shimmied it off my body. He stared at me, at every inch of me, as I undid his jeans. Everything moved faster than before. His hands roamed all over me, and his mouth did, too. He tasted every inch of me as my hand slid into his boxers and wrapped around his thickness. I began stroking him up and down as he growled against me.

“Just like that, Kierra. Nice and slow,” he murmured against my neck before he sucked my earlobe and slid his hand into my panties. His fingers began to rub against my clit as I moaned in bliss from the feeling. “I like that,” he whispered, pressing his mouth against mine. “I like how I make you so fucking wet.” He then slid a finger inside me as I rocked my hips back and forth against him. He slid in another finger. And another. My mind began swirling from the feeling of him inside me. I called out his name and he answered with his mouth against my nipple, sucking it hard as he brought me to the edge of an orgasm.

“You like that, huh?” he asked me, placing a hand at the base of my neck. “You like when my hands take control of you?”

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