She held her shaking hands out for him to see. “I don’t think I can do it.”
Sebastian grabbed her hands in his. “You are the strongest woman I’ve ever known. Stronger than my mother. Stronger than your mother. The battles you’ve fought against stalkers and to reclaim your life have inspired millions of women. There’s nothing you can’t do.”
“Why are you so perfect?”
“Why are you fucking stalling? Tell me what you did. Just blurt it out.”
Gabrielle inhaled a shaky breath, then said, “I had a sexual relationship with Damian Hester. He thought we were a couple. I used him for oral sex only because he was so devoted to me. I gave him reasons to be even more infatuated with me, luring and leading him on. That’s why he became obsessed. That’s why he stalked me. Kidnapped me. Beat me. Almost raped and killed me. It was my fault.”
Chapter47
If Damian Hester wasn’t already dead, Sebastian would kill him. He didn’t care what kind of relationship they had in the past while they were teenagers exploring their sexuality, it didn’t give the bastard the right to do the things he’d done to Gabrielle, and he told her so.
“You don’t think I’m a horrible person?” Gabrielle whispered. Her head was downcast with shame.
Sebastian grazed his finger under her chin and lifted her face until her eyes locked with his. “I think you’re still the woman I’m in love with. The woman I don’t want to live without. The woman who I will move mountains to make sure no fucker ever hurts again.”
Gabrielle threw her arms around him, burying her head against his neck. He held onto her tightly with no plans of ever letting go.
“Now that I know the truth.” Sebastian stepped back from their embrace. “There are no more secrets between us, right?”
“Right.” Gabrielle nodded, still unsteady and unsure.
“Can we leave the past in the past? Emerge anew and be together?”
Her hands cradled his face as she stared at his lips. Fingers stroked the soft stubble of his beard. She leaned in closer until her lips brushed slightly across his, sending a tingle of fire racing through Sebastian’s body. His cock throbbed in his pants in anticipation of a moment he’d almost given up on.
“Is that a yes?” Sebastian asked, his voice low and husky.
Gabrielle eased from the chaise to the floor, filling the space between his open thighs. She rested her hands on his waist, then moved closer until no distance separated them. Her amazing body pressed against his as she stared into his eyes. The soft cotton of her shirt could not conceal the swells of her sexy tits. His eyes lingered on them briefly as his cock rammed hard to get out of his pants. No doubt she knew what kind of effect she had on him. It was hard to deny when they were this close. Heat pulsing between them.
“I will always be … yours,” Gabrielle said, a sexy smile playing at the corners of her mouth.
The words hit him like a grenade. Her undeniable trust and unconditional love for him were embedded in the words two psychos had used to torment her.
Yet, she took them back.
Owned them.
Gave them to him.
“Fuck, I love you so much,” Sebastian said, fisting her hair as he pulled her face to his in a blistering kiss. His need for her was insatiable. This woman had walked right out of his fantasies and into his life. “I don’t want to be away from you ever again,” he said through intense, wild kisses. He plunged his tongue deeper into her mouth as she parted her lips for him. They found the perfect rhythm, stroke for stroke, sending heat flooding his body. He tore his mouth away from hers to trail kisses down her neck. “You own my heart.” He tasted the sweetness of her skin, like sugar against his tongue. “You own all of me.”
He pushed her back from him to look at her.
The smile on her face lit up his life.
“I guess that makes us even.” Gabrielle raised her arms as he pulled her t-shirt over her head and tossed it across the room. He lifted her from the floor, yanking her jogging pants down her hips to a puddle around her ankles. He breathed in a sweet breath of thanks to see he was right. Not a bra or thong in sight. Her perfect body was bare, with no barriers separating them. Mesmerized, he stared at her for a long moment. This woman was all his.
Pressing his hands along her back, he stroked her smooth bare ass. His fingers kneaded the soft flesh as he pulled her flush with him. She shuddered, eyes growing wider as the full extent of his desire for her pressed against her stomach.
“Aren’t you glad you didn’t have to waste time with pesky lingerie?”
“I love how you look out for me,” Sebastian said, then pulled his t-shirt over his head and tossed it onto the floor. “I can get used to this.”
“You better because you’re stuck with me.”
“That’s all I’ve ever wanted,” Sebastian said. “You, with me forever.”
