“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured against her hair. “I didn’t scare you?”
She snuggled into him with a satisfied sigh. “No. It was…unexpected. I’ve never felt anything like it. I…well obviously it worked for me.”
He picked her up as if she weighed nothing, holding her against him as she wrapped her legs around his waist.
“Let’s go see what else works for you,” he said as he took them both upstairs and into her bedroom.
Chapter Eight
“Hey, um, would you be interested in helping me get a tree?”
Gabriel looked up to see Charity standing on his doorstep looking very festive in a red sweater and white jeans. His heart contracted at the way she looked and the way he’d missed her, and the sight of her made him happy. He’d never relied on a woman in that way before. Never counted on one to make him happy or fill him up the way she did.
She ducked her head a moment and looked up through her lashes. “I can ask someone else. I just thought since I was here already I’d stop and ask you. So then I can watch your muscles flex and stuff.”
He laughed and kissed her. He’d simply accepted that he liked to touch her and did. His mother had invited her to dinner several times and he’d be going to a huge pre-Christmas brunch at her grandparents’ house the following day.
She was suddenly just in his life. Not that she hadn’t been before but he’d ached for her and pretended he didn’t. He pretended she was just one of the gang. Now he didn’t have to pretend. She was more than a friend, she was…a girlfriend? Um, no, not that. He wasn’t right for her, nope. Now he had her in his bed, in her bed, wherever and whenever and she responded to him in ways he’d never imagined. That’s what it was and he’d think about the rest after the holidays.
“Why do you wait so long to get a tree?” He opened the door wider to let her in. “Come in for a second so I can turn the computer off and get my boots on.”
He sat in the chair nearest the door but before he could, she’d picked up his boots. She knelt and laced his boots quickly and efficiently. But it left him speechless. She did these things to him, for him and it touched some part deep inside. Things she didn’t have to do, things he didn’t need her to do but that she did them for him, took care of him left him off balance and unsettled. He didn’t want to feel so deeply for her, damn it, he could not have her.
Instead, he drew his fingertips over her collarbone and she looked up, smiling. “Thank you.”
She shrugged. “Anyway, I like waiting until two days before Christmas to get a tree. It’s more fun that way. And it’s not like I’m home on Christmas day at this point. So I have a tree for myself and enjoy the trimming.” She blushed and took the hand he offered to help her up. “Would you like to stay for dinner after we get the tree? Help me trim it?”
“Yeah, I’d like that. We can order a pizza and watch those DVDs you rented.” He grabbed his keys. “I’ll meet you back at your house to drop your car off.”
She laughed. “Um, no car. My mom came over. She brought my grandma to visit with your grandma. I rode over with them. I was hoping to throw myself on your mercy. You’re very good at taking me in hand when I need it.”
He took a steadying breath. “Be careful there, missy.” He swatted her ass, only slightly playfully.
“I don’t want to be careful, Gabriel,” she said seriously as she got into the truck.
She stood back and watched him negotiate and load the tree into the back of his truck, all while she sipped the hot cider he’d insisted on buying her because he told her he hated to see her shiver.
The day before he’d shown up at the shop with warm sweet rolls and coffee. He’d insisted on fixing a loose board on her deck. He was a good man, good to her and those people he loved.
She hid her smile behind the cup, inhaling the fragrant steam and feeling very taken care of.
“Okay, all ready.” He opened the door for her and she hopped into the truck.
Back at her place, he backed into the drive and waved her inside. “Get out of the cold, babe. I’ve got this. Just be ready to slide the stand with fresh water under the tree.” Absently, as he began to untie the tree, he kissed the side of her mouth.
Gabriel sat, snuggled up on her couch, Charity tucked against his side. Christmas music played low on her stereo, the lights on the tree lit the room nicely along with the fire dancing in the fireplace.
“That was very good pizza. I hadn’t tried that place yet. Nice call,” she said lazily, her head on his shoulder.
“Glad you liked it. The tree looks good.”
“You chose it, you hauled it and you set it up. I just put sparkly stuff on it. Oh!” She sat up and jogged from the room, returning within moments with two stockings. “Forgot these. Yours is bigger.” She laughed suggestively and he snorted.
She got him a stocking for her mantle. It made him warm inside. “Thanks, what I want most won’t fit in it. You’re a C cup.”
“Ha ha. Anyway, those are yours already. Don’t mess up my simple pleasures, Gabriel. It’s the little things.”
He looked down at her socks, covered in reindeer with shiny red noses and grinned. “Gotcha. Wouldn’t dream of messing up any of your pleasures, Charity.”
She moved to him sitting astride his lap and cupped his face in her hands. “Gabriel, thank you for today. For helping me.” She kissed him and he let her lead instead of diving into her mouth like the heaven it was.
She tasted him in small kisses and flicks of her tongue. So soft and gentle but demanding too. He smiled against her mouth and she pulled back. “Do I amuse you?”
He laughed. “Yes. Come to midnight mass with us day after tomorrow,” he blurted and she blinked, returning his smile.
“I’d be honored to go with you and your family, Gabriel. And will you have Christmas breakfast with my family?”
He knew it was big, as big as him asking her to go to mass with his family. These things were inviolate to both their families. Traditions that bound them all together. But he realized there wasn’t any place he’d rather be than with her.
“Yeah, sounds good. Like I could say no to your mom and grandma’s cooking. Of course then we’ll have to head over to my family’s for lunch.”
She nodded, blinking fast to cover glossy, tear filled eyes. He’d done a big thing by asking her, by spending this special time with her and her family and inviting her into his. It meant something to her, that was plain on her face.
“Okay we’re getting all mushy now and we’re not supposed to. You’ve made me very hard and I think you need to take care of that.”
She swallowed and began to slide off his lap but he changed his mind, bringing her back to kiss her, and rolling them both to the floor. She widened her thighs to take him, fitting herself to his body, anticipating what he’d want.
All he felt then was the rush of need in his ears as he peeled the clothes from her body, firelight on her olive skin, her eyes desire-lidded as she watched him above her. When he pushed his cock deep into her body she sighed, squirming a bit to accommodate him.
“Perfect,” he whispered into her nipple as he licked around it before nipping it sharply.
Her nails dug into his sides where she held on as he thrust deeply. He couldn’t wait, he had to have her right then with the memory of her sweet smile burned into his brain. He wanted to mark her even as he realized he wanted to rut on the floor with a woman who needed soft sheets.
But it wasn’t enough. Knowing that wasn’t enough to make him stop, especially when she moaned deep and low when he brought her knees to his sides, changing his angle.
Again he moved her legs, this time putting her feet on his shoulders, bending her as he continued to fuck her. He dominated her with his size, with his body. No other man had done this, no other would. Not ever. This would be theirs long after he’d gone.
Her cunt rippled around him as he ordered her to finger herself. It wasn’t long before she began to come
around him and he only lasted another two minutes after that before he joined her.
He pulled out carefully and made a quick trip to the bathroom to dispose of the condom. When he got back she’d pulled the couch pillows and a blanket down to the floor. On her belly, she sipped a beer, one long leg bent up, swinging back and forth lazily.
He winced when he saw the red on her ass.
“Gabriel David Bettencourt, you gave me rug burn,” she said, turning around and looking stern for about thirty seconds. He’d been about to apologize until she laughed. “I’ve never had rug burn before. I do believe it was long past time.”
The next day they arrived at her grandparents’ house for brunch and were greeted by a nearly deafening chorus as they walked through the door.
He’d spent the night, knowing they had to be up early and his father had insisted on being in charge of operations at the dairy that particular day. It had been up to Gabriel most days as Rafe had his own work with Belle’s family’s farm and the other marketing he did for the dairy. He and Rafe traded off back and forth on occasion but each man had their share of four a.m. alarms going off. A few months back, Gabriel promoted his cousin to a foreman’s position and now his four a.m. alarms were more like six and he even had days off.
His father liked to keep a hand in at the dairy though and his cousin would keep an eye on things, along with his mother, to make sure he didn’t over do it.
He’d really liked waking up next to Charity. Her shop was closed until the day after Christmas so they’d slept in and had made love twice more after waking. A man could get used to opening his eyes and seeing Charity on the mattress next to him.
The house was overflowing with people from both sides of Charity’s family but luckily he knew many of them. He caught sight of Ruben in a far corner talking with Jason.
Charity kissed the side of his neck. “Go on.”
“Let me say hello to your parents first.” He stifled a smile but kissed her quickly. “I like you.”
She laughed as they headed into the kitchen where her mother manned a giant pot of something on the stove.
“Gabriel! It’s wonderful to see you.” Her mother wiped her hands on a towel and moved to accept a kiss and a hug.
Her grandmother Lourdes came over and he bent to take her hands and kiss both cheeks as he spoke to her quietly in Portuguese. She laughed with him, flirting and asking after his family.
Such a mixture in the house of redheads and fair skin from her dad’s side and the darker hair and olive complexion from her mom’s. Her father approached and gave him the once over.
“Mr. Harris, thanks for having me today.”
“It’s James, boy, and if you make Charity happy, that’s all I need.”
Gabriel nodded, feeling like a fake because he knew he wouldn’t be there the following year.
“Game’s on.” James nodded and walked out.
“That was an invitation,” Charity murmured and Gabriel kissed her cheek and followed, glad to see the den where the game was on filled with familiar faces.
Ruben nodded by way of greeting, shoved a soda into his hand and moved over a bit when he sat down.
Charity rushed home to shower and change before heading over to Gabriel’s house for dinner. So busy her life was all the sudden!
Her jaw had nearly hit the floor when he invited her to midnight mass and then Christmas dinner. She knew he was beginning to accept the idea of them as a couple but that was huge. Mass and Christmas was their family’s inner sanctum and he’d opened the doors up and invited her in. It meant something, told her he felt for her deeply and she dared to hope as deeply as she felt for him.
Her family already liked him. He’d hung out and watched football all afternoon. Her mother and both grandmothers had doted over him and he’d been a total sweetie pie with them, asking about their lives, flirting, helping them out with things needing to be moved or lifted without making them feel like they needed help.
He’d been charming and attentive and, as she stood in front of the mirror to check her hair, she was so far gone in love it wasn’t funny. She’d looked for love over her adult life but hadn’t felt any particular urgency about it. And it had been there all along, just readying itself.
At the same time, now that she’d admitted it, allowed herself to see it and feel it, raw, stark terror about whether or not Gabriel was ready to see it and feel it lived in her heart. She sensed a war within him and it scared her.
They were right for each other, she knew it. But if she couldn’t show it to him, if he refused to see it, what difference would it make?
Gabriel sat in the pew and looked down to where he held Charity’s hand. She sat next to him at Christmas Eve mass. He’d never had a woman beside him at mass he wasn’t related to and he couldn’t help but remember Belle coming with Rafe the year before.
After Christmas he had to make a break with her. He couldn’t keep on any longer because he was used to her, attached to her. He missed it when she wasn’t with him. He called her when she was at work. He wanted to wake up with her. None of that was part of the plan at all. He was going to break her heart if he kept it up. Hell, his own heart would suffer as it was when he broke things off but if he truly cared about her like he said he did, he’d keep in mind that her kind, the soft, sweet, feminine kind, did not marry his kind.
They’d spend the night at her place and head straight to her family’s in the morning to open presents and have a big breakfast and then after some time there, head over to his family’s house and do the same. It wasn’t fair to her. He should have cut things off before Christmas. He shouldn’t have invited her there that night but he was weak and it felt so good to have her with him.
Chapter Nine
Charity was sure she’d not be able to eat another bite but it would be mandatory to eat and eat some more at the Bettencourt’s. She and Gabe had spent the first half of the day with her family and now she needed to get her butt in gear to make it over to his family’s on time.
She tried not to break any laws on her way over, fudging the speed limit only a tiny bit but the tractor pulling right out into the road doing twenty miles an hour slower than she was, was more than enough to toss her plans out the window.
Worse, as she braked, debris from the tractor blew into her windshield, cracking it in a hail of rocks and dirt. Her seatbelt locked painfully across her chest as she had to brake hard without being able to see a damned thing.
“Shit!” She held on and tried to remember what she was supposed to do as her heart pounded and she got the car off to the side of the road.
With shaking hands, she managed to get her hazard lights on and out of the car. To top it all off, she had a flat tire too. Special. She called the auto club and then Gabriel to say she’d be late.
Only as she’d just connected to his cell and it started ringing, she sliced the side of her hand open as she struggled to open her trunk one handed like a dork.
He picked up right as she uttered a nasty curse.
“Hello to you too,” he said, amused.
“Sorry! I’m going to be late. I’m sorry.”
“Where are you? I can barely hear you. Is that traffic?”
“I had an accident and now I’ve sliced my hand open and I’m bleeding all over the place. I gotta go. The auto club is coming out. It’ll be a while though.” She hung up and began to fumble through her trunk, totally thankful when she found the box of supplies Belle had given her for her birthday, complete with a first aid kit.
She was fiddling around, ignoring her phone until she got her hand taken care of when she heard a car pull up.
“You hung up on me!” Gabriel bellowed and she started, banging her head on the open trunk in the process.
“You made me say the F word again. Why are you here and yelling at me?”
He came around the car and took her hand, slapping her other one away. “You didn’t even tell me where you were. I had to guess.” He hissed when h
e got a good look at her hand. “Christ, baby, this is a deep cut.” He cleaned it out with anti-bacterial wash that nearly made her say the F word again and then wrapped it tight.
“I didn’t hang up on you. I was bleeding all over the place. I had to get that taken care of.”
He kissed her before hugging her tight. “Why did you call me after you called the auto club? I don’t like you out here by yourself on the side of the road. Don’t you know I’d help you? What the hell happened?”
She told him about the tractor and he cursed. “Damn it. He’s been warned a few times. I’m going to talk to the cops about this. You could have been really hurt. As it is, you’re going to have to get that crack in your windshield fixed and the tire replaced.” He exhaled and visibly got himself back under control. “Are you all right?” He looked her over carefully. “Did you hit your head? You’re bleeding.”
He pushed her to sit on the seat of his truck.
“No, I hit my head on the trunk when you bellowed at me.” She laughed. “I wasn’t expecting you.”
Muttering, he went to get the first aid kit. He cleaned the scratch on her scalp quickly and efficiently. “Scalp wounds bleed a lot, you know. It’s not a big deal. I’ll take some pain reliever when we get to your mom’s house.”
“I wasn’t expecting you either,” he said, not looking entirely pleased about it. “The auto club is here. Let me deal with them. You just sit right here.”
She handed him her card and he tucked her legs into the cab and shut the door.
He managed everything and she smiled, feeling totally taken care of.
Rafe pulled up with their father and they got out.
“Oh no he did not call his family too!” she muttered as she got out of the truck, instantly sorry because the door handle hit her where she’d gashed her hand.
“I told you to stay in the truck. It’s cold out here,” Gabriel said as he handed her keys to Rafe. “I’m taking her to the ER to have them look at that hand. We’ll be back later.”