AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It was the most intimate thing he’d ever said to her, the closest he’d ever come to sharing his feelings.
And she wasn’t the only one to realize that.
Gage dropped the belt to the floor. “Get on the bed, Penny.”
She did as he said, sitting on the edge as Gage shed the rest of his clothing. When he walked over to her, the tenderness she’d longed to see on his face had been set free. Her heart did a flip-flop in her chest.
He moved her to the middle of the bed, caging her beneath him. He reclaimed her lips, kissing her as he worshipped every inch of her body with his soft touches.
After the most erotic, tantalizing foreplay of her life, she finally felt the head of his cock. Gage continued the kiss as he slid inside her. He lifted his head, looking deeply into her eyes as he reached for her hands, placing them to either side of her head, on the pillows, their fingers linked. He never broke the connection of their gazes as he slowly thrust in and out. In and out.
Neither of them spoke a word, yet Penny felt as if they were talking nonstop. She let him see, let him read everything written on her heart, holding back nothing, and Gage…
Gage did the same.
When they came together, it wasn’t a tsunami, it was quieter, a gentle glide along a placid lake. But the impact was no less intense. Because of their shared intimacy, this felt like the most powerful orgasm she’d ever had.
Gage slowly withdrew, lying down next to her, still looking at her, still talking without speaking.
She was overwhelmed by the emotions he’d provoked. Gage had spent weeks teaching her about seduction and sex, but this had been her favorite lesson by far.
Because he’d taught her how it felt to make love.
If she hadn’t been drowning in bliss, in happiness, in love, perhaps she would have been wiser. Perhaps she wouldn’t have whispered, “Don’t leave.”
The transformation in Gage was instantaneous. His entire body stilled, stiffened, and the unspoken words of love that had been flowing between them evaporated as if they’d never existed at all.
Gage slowly sat up, turning his back to her as he threw his legs over the edge of the mattress. “I can’t stay. I have…” He paused—then lied to her. “I have an early meeting tomorrow. I need to go home and grab a few hours’ sleep, some clean clothes.”
She was on the list now. One of the countless women offered a Gage excuse guaranteed to get him out of the bed and out of the apartment after he’d gotten what he wanted.
Penny sat up, pulling the sheet over her, suddenly feeling her nakedness. And not just in the physical sense.
Then she firmed her resolve. She refused to be one of those women who let the man have the last word.
“My birthday is next Saturday.”
“I know,” Gage said, without turning around. She was trying to take comfort in the fact he hadn’t risen, hadn’t started dressing.
“Jess and my family are throwing a party for me. At Divine. I don’t want to go alone.”
She didn’t realize just how tightly Gage had been holding himself until she saw the dramatic drop in his shoulders. “And you shouldn’t.”
“Gage—” she started.
He turned to look at her, and she saw a resolve in him that she instantly hated. “The lessons are over, Penny. You’re ready to put yourself out there. I promise…no man can resist you. You should ask that neighbor of yours to go to the party.”
She nodded slowly.
Lessons. He was calling what they’d just done another lesson. Nothing more.
“Why are you so afraid of relationships?” she asked, painfully aware the old Penny never would have had the courage to ask that question.
“What?”
“Relationships. You’ve never been in one, right?”
“I’ve had girlfriends,” he said, somewhat woodenly, rising from the bed. Gage was a master when it came to building walls, pushing people out. He started dressing, but she wasn’t finished yet.
