Gabe (Men of Clifton Montana Book 2) (8 page)

“Emma?”
He knew he should stop but when she wrapped her legs around his waist and
tilted her hips, he groaned. Unable to resist her, he pushed hard. Catching her
cr
y with his mouth, he pulled out of her, and then
pushed back in. He caught her tears with his tongue. She groaned his name. Gabe
was lost. He couldn’t hold back. “Emma, move with me, darlin’.”

Emma did
as he told her and moved her hips in rhythm with his.
Gabe
picked up the pace.
Faster.
Harder.
Deeper.
His hand slipped under her butt
to pull her tighter against him. Her muscles tightened around him as she came
again. He growled low in his chest and moved harder into her. His orgasm ripped
through him, maki
ng him go rigid. He laid his
forehead against hers, both of them breathing hard. Gently, he moved away to
lie beside her. He wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her tightly against
him. He’d known it would be amazing with her, but he sure as hell hadn’
t expected her to be a virgin. Swallowing hard, he fought
to catch his breath. “You want to tell me why you’re still a virgin?”

Emma
laughed through her breaths. “I’m certainly not anymore.” He ran his hand down
her ass and swatted it making her gasp. “You
know how
I was, Gabe. I was shy and I’ve only dated a few guys. My nose was always stuck
in the books and I helped around the ranch all the time, plus barrel racing.”

He
nodded. “I’m not unhappy about it, just surprised. Women in this day and age
usually
don’t remain virgins very long anymore.” He
smiled down at her. “I’m not a chauvinist about it. I don’t believe in the
double standard, but it never occurred to me you’d still be a virgin.” He
kissed her before rolling away. “I’ll be right back.”

Gabe got
out of the bed and headed for the bathroom to dispose
of the condom. Closing the door behind him, he reached down to remove it. Son
of a bitch! It was broken. He closed his eyes and let his head fall back. When
he opened his eyes, he saw beyond the ceiling
and
cursed his luck. Now what? Did he tell Emma or wait to see what happened? Gabe
sighed. He couldn’t tell her. Not yet, not after it was so perfect. He cleaned
up, and then taking a deep breath, he opened the door and walked back into the
bedroom.

Emma
was sitting up in bed with the sheet tucked up under her
arms. She looked so sexy and when she smiled shyly at him, he wanted to climb
back in with her but the guilt was too much. Oh, man! He gathered up his
clothes, putting them on way too fast. He leaned
over
and kissed her. “I need to get going.” He saw the disappointment in her eyes.
He ran his hand over her hair. “I want to see you again. This was amazing.” He
kissed her again and she nodded up at him as he pulled away.

Gabe
walked out of her apartment
and found his hat on the
kitchen floor where it had all started. He slammed it on his head and before he
left, he glanced back to where he knew she was and silently prayed she wasn’t
pregnant.

Chapter Four

Emma lay
back among the pillows for a while
after Gabe left.
She couldn’t believe it had really happened. She closed her eyes and allowed
her body to remember the sensation of Gabe making love to her. Finally, she
forced herself out of the comfort of her bed, took a shower, and dressed. As
she walk
ed toward the kitchen, she realized she was a
little sore. She smiled. Wow!

Leaning
her head against the refrigerator door, she closed her eyes. It had been
amazing, just as Gabe had said. She glanced at the back door. Why had he left
so fast though? She c
hastised herself as self-doubts
began to crowd her good feelings. Had he just said it was amazing to make her
feel better? Had he only made love to her because she let him?

Her
appetite suddenly gone, she sat down at the table. She was feeling so confused.
Never having sex before, she was amazed at how good it had
been. Oh, she was a big fan of romance novels, and she’d always thought the sex
overrated for the sake of the story but after what just happened with Gabe, she
knew she was wrong. She blushed when
she thought of
the things he’d done to her and whispered to her. He really was a fantastic
lover. Although she had nothing to compare it to, she still knew he was. She
released a long sigh. It was early yet, so she returned to her apartment to
watch telev
ision. She wished Gabe had stayed longer.
She’d like to have cuddled, and perhaps talked. Maybe he wasn’t a cuddling kind
of man. The sex had been great, but afterwards…not so much.

A couple
hours later, she heard Olivia come in. Emma opened her door slowl
y and peeked out in case Olivia was taking Ryder to her
apartment. She was relieved to see her alone.
“Liv?”
Emma whispered so as not to
scare her.

“Shit.
Emma, you scared me to death,” Olivia exclaimed placing her hand over her
heart.

Emma
laughed with an
apologetic grin, so much for her not
wanting to scare Olivia. “Did you have a good time?”

Olivia
jerked her head for Emma to follow her into her apartment. Emma followed her in
and took a seat on the small sofa while Olivia went to her bedroom to change.
When Olivia returned, she was wearing a pair of man’s
boxers and a plain camisole. She poured them each a glass of wine, and then sat
next to Emma on the sofa, curling her feet under her. Emma waited, taking a
sip.

“I had a
great time with Ryder. He’s so n
ice, kind, sweet,
sexy and gorgeous but…” Olivia swirled the liquid in her glass.

“After
all that, there’s
a
but
?” Emma asked then sipped her
wine.

Olivia
nodded. “He took me to dinner in Hartland. A very nice restaurant, by the way,
I know it was expensiv
e too. We talked about
everything and never seemed to run out of things to say, and we laughed a lot,
but…”

Emma
laughed. “There’s that but again.”

Olivia
laughed. “When he walked me to the door, he kissed me, and don’t get me wrong,
it was nice. I mean, t
he man can kiss but…when he
pulled back, he grinned at me and shrugged. Then he said, ‘you didn’t feel
anything either, did you?’ I shook my head and we both laughed.” She shrugged
her shoulders. “So we decided to stay friends. There was just no spark at a
ll.” Olivia sipped her wine. “I think I’ve got my heart set
on another cowboy. One who doesn’t even know I exist.”

Emma
reached over to touch Olivia’s hand but stopped when she saw the sudden change
in expression on Olivia’s face. “Why are you looking at
me like that?” she asked.

Olivia
sat forward as if examining Emma’s face for evidence. “You had sex.”

Emma’s
mouth dropped open, but then she snapped it shut. “I did not.”

Olivia
chuckled. “Oh yes, you did.”

“I’m not
saying I did, but what makes you think
so?” Emma
folded her arms across her chest and glared at Olivia.

“If the
whisker burn didn’t give it away, then the hickey definitely did.” Olivia burst
out laughing at what Emma could only assume was a look of sheer horror on her
face.
Hickey?

Emma
jumped
up, ran to Olivia’s bathroom, and looked in
the mirror. There it was the proof
—
whisker burns and a hickey
—
on her neck. She was going to
kill Gabriel Stone. Olivia stood behind her grinning. Emma spun around. “It
isn’t funny, Liv.”

Olivia
snorted. “Yes. It
. Is.”

“I’m
going to kill him,” Emma mumbled as she examined the purplish mark on her skin.

“Him being Gabe?”

“Yes,”
Emma hissed. She looked at her neck again. “How am I supposed to hide this?
It’s summertime for heaven’s sake. I can’t wear a turtleneck in
the summer.”

Olivia
shrugged and turned, leaving the bathroom. Emma followed her. They settled on
the sofa again with their glasses of wine. “So, how was it?” Olivia asked with
gentle curiosity, but then laughed when Emma blushed. “Ooh…that good, huh?”

“I
thought it was amazing but he didn’t stay very long. Why
did he do that?”

Olivia
shrugged. “Who knows? How long after, you know, did he leave?”

“It
seemed like immediately…within half an hour, I guess,” Emma whispered,
embarrassed by Gabe’s behavior.

Olivia
didn’t say anything for a few minutes. “Why did he say he was leaving?”

Emma
told her the conversation and how he left, but saying he wanted to see her
again. Wondering what Olivia was thinking, she nibbled on her bottom lip still
swollen from Gabe’
s kisses.

“
Em
, don’t worry over nothing. I’m
sure he’ll call you, or come by again.”

Emma
nodded. She loved being able to talk with Olivia. She knew Olivia didn’t
sugarcoat anything. After an hour of drinking and snacking, they decided to get
some sleep. A
fter returning to her bed where her
thoughts immediately went to Gabe, she wondered when she would see him again.
It had only been a few hours but she already wanted him again. She fell asleep
with a smile on her face.

* * * *

Becca
called Emma the next
day to
invite her to dinner. It wasn’t going to be anything fancy, just the Stones,
Becca
, Olivia, and of course, her. As
she was getting dressed for the event, Olivia called her name from outside her
door. Emma told her to come in and watched with envy as
Olivia glided into the room. She wore a pair of skinny jeans with an
amethyst colored blouse, which matched those amazing eyes, and she wore black
stilettos on her feet. The woman was a knockout. Her black hair held back from
her face with barrettes compl
eted the look. She
smiled at Emma. “I’m glad we have Stacy to cover for us here so we can both go
to dinner together.”

Stacy
Miller helped at the front counter most days and agreed to work tonight so she
and Olivia could attend dinner with
Becca
and Jake.
“Me
too.
You look amazing, Liv,” Emma said feeling envious.

“You do
too, Emma. That blouse really brings out the blue in your eyes.” Emma’s blouse
was a short-sleeved silk top she’d tucked into a pair of Levi’s. On her feet
were blue wedge sandals.

“I don’
t look half as good as you.”

Olivia
snorted. “Do you not see how gorgeous you are?” She ambled over to Emma and put
her arm around her. “Don’t you think Gabe is gorgeous and sexy?”

Emma
frowned, wondering where she was going with this. “Yes, of course he i
s.”

“Then
why would a man that gorgeous and sexy want you if you weren’t gorgeous and
sexy?” Olivia looked smug then she turned Emma to face the mirror. She opened
her mouth, but nothing came out. She shook her head. Olivia laughed and hugged
her. “Emma gi
rl, you are one fine woman. Trust me on
that.” Olivia grinned at her from the reflection.

When
they arrived at Jake’s place, Emma saw Gabe’s truck but not Wyatt’s. She
glanced over to Olivia, but she either hadn’t noticed or preferred not to say
anything a
bout it. When they entered through the back
door, Jake and
Becca
were standing together by the
table, and Gabe stood leaning back against the counter. Emma’s gaze met his and
held there a moment longer than she should have. He winked at her, making her
blu
sh. She watched him pour her and Olivia a glass of
wine each, but after accepting hers, when she made a move away from him, he
grabbed her arm and pulled her back next to him.

Olivia
stood by the table looking at the finger food. “Can I have something to e
at?” When everyone laughed, a look of confusion crossed her
beautiful face. “Wh
at?” she asked annoyed, settling
a hand on her hip.