Page 19 of Just for the Holidays
“Quiero besarte,” Gael whispered against her lips.
“But morning breath,” she hedged breathlessly.
He smiled against her mouth and moved in closer until their foreheads were pressed together. “It doesn’t bother me, sweetheart.” She was melting, her bones and muscles softening with every word and every touch.
“Okay.” She could hear the tremor in her voice as he moved in closer and shifted them until she was on her back and he was covering her. He was so big. This lusty god was everything she could see and feel, a complete assault on her senses. He brought their mouths together and gave her an achingly sweet kiss. While the others had been rushed and ravenous, this one was sultry and sensuous. He licked at the seam of her mouth, his tongue warm as he explored her, gliding against her own. All the while his hands roamed her body; he caressed her thighs, her calves, palmed her belly. Like he wanted to map every part of her. She ached for him with bewildering urgency. It was like she’d forgotten how to feel in these past six years and Gael’s hands and mouth had woken up all those dormant sensations.
She ached for him. A dull, throbbing need pulsing at the apex of her thighs.
“Please, Gael,” she whispered against his mouth, arching her back to press even closer to him.
“Mmm,” he moaned and moved them again until she was astride his hips. She could feel his erection prodding against her backside, and a shiver of lust coursed through her body. She wanted that, too, him deep inside her. She rubbed herself against Gael, eliciting a tortured sound from him.
“Come here,” he told her, already reaching for her, and the demand in his voice with just a hint of possessiveness ignited her blood. She had no idea what happened between last night and the morning to change Gael’s mind, but she would not question it. He kissed her hungrily, one hand at the nape of her neck, while the other skated up her belly. “Can I touch you here?” he asked as the tips of his fingers brushed the underside of her breast.
“Please,” she begged as she went in for another kiss. Their tongues languidly tangled together as he played with her breasts. He plucked on a nipple and then the other, making liquid heat pool in her core.
“Oh, God,” she gasped as he brought his other hand under her shirt.
“You like this?” he asked, and she only nodded, too turned on to make words. The way he touched her, like he owned her—it made her dizzy with lust. She wanted to ask for more, to take his hand and press it to where she pulsed for him, and just as she was about to do it, the door of the cottage crashed open, sending them both scrambling.
Ten
“Are you okay?” Gael asked Perla as she rushed to put on the jogger pants he’d gotten her, whichwereway too long, but still distractingly hugged the curves of her ass and hips.
It was going to be very hard to keep his hands off her today. And he still had no idea what he was doing. He had to talk to her, tell her that he still could not give her what she wanted. That he would not take more chances with her heart when he knew he’d never be able to be the man she deserved. That they could do this until she left. But right now he had to deal with his sister, who was hollering like a lunatic outside the bedroom.
“Jesus,” Gael exhaled as he slid on a Henley and hurried to open the door of the bedroom. “I’ll go deal with her. Take your time,” he said to Perla, who was now looking through her bag.
“All right, thanks,” she said, looking up at him. Her cheeks were still flushed, and her lips looked a little swollen from his kisses. He wished to every deity he could just kick his sister out and go back to what he was doing. But there was no way that was happening. Not on Christmas Eve.
“Chill out, Gabriela! What the hell?” he grumbled, reluctantly closing the door behind Perla.
The moment he set foot in the living room his pest of a sister wolf-whistled as she gave him a very thorough once-over and a goofy grin appeared on her face. “Oh, I see how it is.”
“You see nothing,” he muttered and pointed at the three insulated tumblers on the table. “Is one of those for me?”
Gabi nodded as she stared at the closed bedroom door. “Yes, the blue one’s yours. So what exactly was occurring before I arrived?”
Gael ignored his sister’s nosiness and picked up the piece of paper next to the coffee. It was a to-do list in his mother’s handwriting. He smiled as he got himself caffeinated. First on the list was “come over and have breakfast with your elders.” “Mami’s in a mood today.”
Gabi smiled and grabbed her own cup. “She is. She wants you to make the chocoflan and tres leches. I’m in charge of the pernil and the playlist.” She glanced at the door again and smiled wide. “Abuela’s requested that your girlfriend be in charge of setting the table.”
Gael raised an eyebrow at that. “I’ll tell her when she gets out of the shower.”
“I take it things are marching smoothly, then?” Gabi thought she was cute.
Gael only nodded and kept gulping down coffee.
“You’re no fun,” his sister groused.
“And you’re a busybody. We’ll be at the house in twenty and then I’ll bring all the stuff for the dessert here. That way Mami and Abuela have the big kitchen to themselves.”
They talked about the plans for the evening as they sipped coffee, and after a while Perla stepped out of the bedroom. She looked adorable in another oversize sweater, this one a forest green, with very skinny jeans. Her face was free of makeup and her short black hair was sticking up in every direction. He wanted to ravage her. His heart pounded and his skin prickled whenever he saw her. He could tell himself, his sister and even Perla whatever he wanted, but in that moment he gave up on telling himself lies about what he was feeling for this woman.
“Morning,” Perla said shyly as Gabi handed her the third coffee tumbler.
“Good morning,” Gabi said cheerfully, while Gael put his arm around Perla and brought his mouth down to hers for a kiss.
