“I love the fact you keep your hair long,” she said.
“You don’t think I should cut it?” He used to keep his hair short and out of the way. Like with most things, time had turned him lazy, and he liked the length of his hair. He didn’t leave it to go greasy, and when he f**ked a woman, he enjoyed her fingers sinking in and pulling. Gabriel imagined Amy pulling on his hair as he made her scream in pleasure.
“No. I like your hair. It’s lovely and long. I could run my fingers through it all day.” She did what she said and ran her fingers over his hair. If he was a cat he’d be purring in bliss. Her stare held him in place. There was no better feeling in the world than when she put her hands on him. No words were spoken for the longest time. Words were not necessary. The heat of their bodies touching was the only important thing.
He leaned down and brushed her lips with his. Gabriel pulled away for a split second to see her reaction before taking her lips once again. She responded on the second kiss, her grip tightening in his hair as he held her in his arms. He moved his touch down her back to her ass, squeezing the delightful globes. She was all woman, and she made him hard as rock.
“We shouldn’t be doing this,” she said, pulling away from him.
“Why?” he asked, missing the contact.
She stopped, her gaze going from his eyes to his lips.
“I don’t know.”
“I’m not your ex. I’m not like Steven.” He cupped her cheek and tilted her head back. “I would never hurt you.”
“I know. I guess I’m just scared.” She stared at his chest, and his heart ached for her.
“I’m older than you, and I’m new around here,” he said.
“No. Not any of that. I don’t care about your age at all or the fact that you’re new around here.” She stopped talking. He wanted to take her in his arms so badly. The desire he felt for her threatened to consume him. Instead, he stood and listened. “I’ve never felt anything like this in my whole life.”
She took his hand and pressed it against her rapidly beating heart. “When I’m around you I’m always aching to feel your touch or to see you. I tried to ignore the happiness I felt when you came into the shop to see me. I want to give myself to you in a way I’ve never given myself to another man.”
“You’re scared of being hurt again?” he asked.
“I wasn’t hurt with Steven. He was a bully and a bastard, but I never loved him.”
Gabriel felt his stomach turn over. “Do you love me?”
“I feel like I could love you with time. I never felt anything for Steven at all. With you I feel so much, and I don’t want to be hurt by it.”
“We’ll take it easy.” He wrapped his arms around her and brought her close to him. The dom inside him was put to rest. Amy wasn’t sending him away. She needed the time, and the one thing he’d learnt over the years, was he could be a patient man to get what he wanted.
“Do you want me to cook dinner for your friend? I wouldn’t mind,” she said.
“I’m sure it would be lovely.”
“I’ll make it a late dinner. The kids will be in bed.”
Gabriel saw her to her room. He laid a kiss on her head before going to his own room.
Chapter Seven
Amy touched her lips and smiled. Gabriel had kissed her. The sensation was such a heady one she didn’t know how to stop herself from giggling like a little school-girl. She collapsed against the door. Her heart pounded inside her chest. This is what she thought love with a guy could be like. The movies she had watched over the years had left her feeling bitter about life and love. What Gabriel made her feel was nothing to be bitter about.
She felt so happy she could burst. Her children adored Gabriel, and she knew she was half in love with him already. His kiss had made her feel faint, and her toes had tingled when he held her close. The magical experience would stay with her for the rest of her life. She went and stood in the mirror and stared at her reflection. For the first time in her life she saw a woman reflecting back at her. A happy woman with a future ahead of her that was filled with love.
The dress meant more to her because Gabriel had picked it out himself. She ran her hand down her body feeling the expense of the fabric and the wonderful sensation of it gliding against her skin. She removed the dress and her underwear and stood looking at her reflection. The last time she’d viewed her body in the mirror she’d seen nothing but skin and bones. The starvation she’d undergone at Steven’s hands had left nothing of her. Now, she was on the plump side. Her h*ps were thick and her tummy rounded. Her br**sts were large and fit with the shape of her body.
There would have been a time in her life where she would have hated seeing her body in any kind of mirror. She stared at her body and saw a survivor.
Twirling her hair around a finger she lost herself in her own fantasy of life with Gabriel. He was so masculine. His tone of voice and presence made her aware that he didn’t take any bullshit. He was a man who went after what he wanted. Did he want her? From the kiss she thought he did.
She pulled on a nightshirt and lay down on her bed. Being Gabriel’s would be a heady experience.
“Amy is my woman, and I love her with all my heart.” She imagined what he would say. Maybe one day she would hear him say the words.
****
The following day Amy went to the store to get some groceries. Gabriel had phoned her after she dropped Billy and Mia at school to warn her that William would be arriving that night and leaving on Friday. She ignored the stares of people and placed the ingredients she needed inside her trolley. No one would force her to go back into her shell any more. When she was at the till paying for her items she noticed the other people had stopped staring and were getting on with their own business. She smiled to herself. If she’d ignored them in the first place maybe she would have been happier a lot earlier. Deciding not to bother, she said goodbye to the woman who served her and made her way out the shop. Gabriel was leaning against his truck. Amy stopped, watching him. He was so tall, and his presence always caught her off guard.
His arms were folded over his chest. The muscles bulged, making her shiver inside. He would be so strong, and she wondered what he would look like naked. The thought caught her unawares, and she stumbled into his arms.
“Hey, baby. Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yes. You know you can startle a woman just standing like that,” she said before she could stop herself. He chuckled, and the sound made her pu**y get wetter.