“What happened?” he asked quietly.
“I was hospitalized for a week, the antihistamines were not able to keep back the reaction completely and they kept me under observation. My mom and dad were beside themselves,” she said softly, recalling the tears and sleepless nights.
She shifted, feeling his warmth encase her.Safe,her mind said, even as the situation called otherwise.
“I did what any normal child would do. I learned to study the things I hated and realized afterwards I wanted to be as far away from them as possible. Hence the ocean.”
Mateo chuckled, brushing her hair to the side in an intimate gesture. “Didn’t foresee many tropical jungles in your future as a marine biologist?”
“No, I did not.” A jolt of pleasure shot down her exposed arm as he kept petting her, coiling low in her belly. “I try to distractmyself when they get too loud … the bugs,” she said. “Usually it was white noise, reading a book, or falling asleep to a podcast.”
His finger traced along her shoulder and down her arm, the hair raising to greet his touch as goosebumps broke out. He had to notice. Her heart beat so loudly in her ears, she was sure he heard it.
Mateo made a noncommittal sound behind her before offering, “I could help distract you.”
Her body tensed, and even Mateo’s fingers stopped. They sat in silence as Gabriella thought of her next words. Was he suggesting what shethoughthe was? Did shewanthim to distract her in that way? Did she trust him enough to even consider something like that?
Her logical side realized with certainty what he was doing.He’s redirecting your attention again, she thought. But honestly? She didn’t mind the psychological manipulation he was putting her through.It is working. I’m certainly not thinking of bugs right now.
Did she want him to stop? No, no she didn’t. She had spent months with this man, learning his quirks and moods because shelikedhim. It was embarrassing to think she had learned his habits … even how he enjoyed his coffee.
She was content, holding onto the man who felt like her friend at this moment.
She asked, “How do you propose to distract me, exactly?”
He tensed behind her, his arms bending around her in a protective enclave of muscle. “I think we both know what I am proposing,” he murmured.
Oh …
His words shouldn’t have comforted her—nor ignited the raging inferno that had been dormant within her—but they did. The fading sounds of the other camps slowly dissipated. Heattraveled down her body between her legs, and she couldn’t help but squeeze them.
“I want to hear you say it,” she lied. She didn’twantto hear the words. Sheneededto.
Mateo leaned closer, his breath fanning her neck as he whispered in her ear. “Let me help you come, Gabriella.”
CHAPTER 11
MATEO
Everything about the woman snuggled between his legs was absolutely perfect. Her smile. Her warmth. Her passion. How her body shivered at the words he’d just whispered to her.
And she was going to ruin him.
His arms tightened around her waist, pressing supple curves that seemed to melt perfectly into his hard lines. He saw the fast fluttering of her pulse on her neck, his mouth watering to taste her, aching with the need to lick the salt off her skin.
Her breathing was rapid and shallow which led him to follow up. “Gabriella?”
She shivered again before tilting to look back at him. “Do you … is it—” She stopped, closed her eyes tightly before trying once more to speak. “Do you really want to?”
His cock swelled, aching in a way that dragged a low groan from his lips. “Help you come? Listen to your moaning and all the little slutty noises you’ll make?” He hissed out a breath. “Of course I fucking want to Gabriella. I’ve dreamt of you more nights than I can count,” he confessed.
She opened her eyes to that. Gorgeous green eyes that seemed to peer into his soul. “Really?”
God, she has no idea how beautiful she is.Mateo knew some specifics of her past marriage. Enough to know that when everything was done here, he would go back to the states with every intent to hunt the man down for what he did to her. All her life, her husband had told her how little she meant with the way he cared for her. Degrading words and nearly putting her out like he was her pimp.
She was starved for affection, and it showed in her distrust of him. Even when he had flirted before everything happened, she had been cautious. Now he was willing to be blunt.
He nodded, pressing a chaste kiss on her cheek that was closest to him. “Yes, really. I want you Gabriella. Only you.”