Turning, Emily straddled his waist and stared into Gavin’s eyes. The emotions swirling behind them riveted her. She was in awe he was hers. “My God, are you even real?” she whispered.
Holding her gaze, a sad smile lifted his mouth. “I think I am.”
“You make me feel like I’m in a dream,” Emily confessed, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Like I’m sleepwalking and I don’t even know it.” Continuing to take in the pure, honest, unselfish man in front of her, Emily lost herself in the fact he was real. “I’m able to close my eyes and just… trust you. You’re the color on my blank canvas, the light in my dark, the air in my lungs, and I almost let you go. I almost erased us from ever happening. I can’t imagine not having you here with me. Please tell me you know how much I love you, Gavin. I need to hear it right now. Please.”
Gavin swallowed, his senses reeling. She owned him, mind, body, and soul. Words. God, he didn’t have enough words to let her know how much he knew she loved him. Even if he did, how could he ever begin to let her know how much he knew she’d risked changing her life for him? Words weren’t meant for this moment and Gavin knew it. He brought his lips to hers, kissing her softly. He kissed her the way she should’ve been kissed the first time a man was ever allowed to feel her body. He kissed her hoping he could banish every headstone of grief that’d taken up an ounce of space in her heart. Wanting to wipe away every sick moment and twisted memory her eyes ever witnessed, he held her closer, trying to shield her from the demons he knew she was battling.
In the silence, with only the sound of their beating hearts, Emily slowly pulled away. The heaviness in her chest lifted, its weight no longer suffocating, no longer draining.
Gavin ran his hands through her wavy hair, his smile soft. “Merry first Christmas.”
“Merry first Christmas,” Emily whispered, placing another kiss on his lips. After a moment, she edged off him. She hopped to her feet, strolled across the room and dug in her luggage. Pulling out a white bag, she lifted a devious brow. “Now it’s my turn to give you your gifts, but I have to warn you, you have to start using each of them today.”
With an equally devious brow lifted, Gavin ran a hand through his messy hair and leaned against the headboard, the grin on his mouth wide. “These gifts wouldn’t happen to include a black lace ensemble worn by you, double ‘A’ batteries, and your shmexy legs shaking uncontrollably around my head, would they?”
Eyes wide, Emily belted out a laugh. But shit if he didn’t look so hot waiting for her, shirtless no less. She swallowed, suddenly aware of the throbbing between her legs. All humor left her face as she slowly crawled onto the bed. With the bag in one hand, she slightly lowered his sweatpants with the other. She rained kisses along his hip, following his glorious tattoo all the way to the side of his left rib cage. Sighing in pure contentment, she moved her lips back over every delicious peak and dip of his washboard abs. She felt Gavin tense, his muscles tightening. He buried his hands in her hair as she hovered, lightly skimming her tongue along the edge of the evil-looking beast’s wings. In all its evilness, it tasted like the sweetest cotton candy.
Emily brought her eyes up to his, their light-blue sexual intensity shocking her system. She smiled. “So you never told me why you got this particular tattoo.”
Gavin blinked, a rush of puffed air escaping his mouth. “Are you honestly going to ask me that after you just achingly licked your way up my body?”
“What?” Emily giggled, straddling his waist. Looking down at him, she frowned. “I want to know. You told me why you got it where you did, but you left out why you picked a dragon.”
Eyes zeroed in on her lips, Gavin smirked. “I got the dragon because I knew women would never… ever… ever be able to resist licking it.”
Emily playfully swatted his arm. “You bastard. Are you saying I’m not the first to lick it?” In one quick movement, Gavin slipped his arm behind her waist and flipped her onto her back. Emily gasped, her heart nearly stopping as he hovered above her, lightly brushing his mouth against hers. “Oh my God,” she breathed. “I was right. You are crazy.”
“And you’re trying to kill me with your questions,” Gavin countered, nipping her bottom lip, which she started to realize was something he loved to do. “You’re no longer allowed to say the words ‘lick it’ in my presence. Is that understood, Miss Cooper?”
His demand drifted over her like a caress, but she was about to push a few buttons. She popped a brow, her mouth curled into a smirk. “Lick… it… Caveman.”
Gavin’s eyes went wide right about the same time he dove his hand under her tank top. Emily squealed, squirming under his embrace. She yanked his hand away from her breast. “Gavin! No, I want you to open your gifts.”
“It’s a done deal,” he replied, his voice a desperate groan. “I’m convinced you’re seriously trying to kill me. I thought I was pretty on point with my game. Where did I go wrong?”
Emily released another giggle. “You could never go wrong, and I swear I’ll make it up to you later.”
Grinning, Gavin shook his head and sighed.
After kissing his cheek, she eased out from beneath him and straddled his lap as he sat cross-legged. Reaching for the bag that had gotten lost under the tangled mess of blankets, Emily smiled and pulled out a small envelope. “Here. This is something that you have to use for the rest of your life.”