Gabriel is between my legs, his eyes never leaving mine. I’m watching his muscles as they flex with every movement, driving me crazy. I’ve been waiting for this moment for years. I’ve been fantasizing about what it would feel like for too long, and it’s finally happening.
His hands cup my boobs, and my eyes flutter shut to fixate on the feeling.
“I love your breasts,” he says, and I push my back off the bed to remove my bra and throw it to the side.
I look at him, waiting for him to put his hands back on me. I’ve never felt a need this strong to have someone’s skin on mine. It feels like there’s only one goal left in my mind, and it is to have him inside of me. The odd feeling surprises me, but I’m too busy putting my tongue into his mouth to linger on it. Gabriel leans back from the kiss to slide down his pants.
“Your body drives me crazy,” I say without hesitation, his V-line catching my attention and making my clit ache.
“I hate it when you say things like that. You make me feel like the sexiest man on the planet, and that is not an attitude I should have,” he says, and I chuckle.
“But to me, you are,” I reply before I can stop myself. Gabriel’s mouth opens slightly before he closes it again.
“There you go again. I’m going to get cocky,” he says, and I try my best to stay serious, so my next words come across the intended way.
“Well, you’re about to have sex with me, that must make you feel pretty awesome.” He touches his tongue to the roof of his mouth, but I continue to hide my smile.
“Thank God, you’re the cocky one.” He leans down and starts kissing my neck, sucking on my sensitive spot.
Soft moans escape me as he leaves marks on my skin, drawing on me like he would on paper. My body goes back to its familiar begging for a release.
I let his mouth pleasure my neck for a little while until I get impatient and guide his lips to mine, his hands roaming my body.
Someone knocks on his door, and Gabriel immediately drops on top of me to hide me from the intruder. “Gabriel, do you have a—oh, fuck, I’m so sorry,” Jean says as he steps inside without waiting for permission to enter.
Embarrassment settles in my stomach, and I cover my mouth with my hand.
“Get the fuck out,” Gabriel yells, and Jean disappears. “God, I’m so, so sorry, chérie.” I only nod because I can’t move.
Why do things like this always happen to Gabriel and me? Maybe the universe just doesn’t want us to have sex.
“Val, please say something.”
For the first time in minutes, my eyes find his, and I can see the embarrassment on his face as well. I reach for the closest piece of clothing to cover my chest.
“Well, Jean almost saw me naked just now, so give me a second to process,” I tell him, and Gabriel nods, a sad expression taking over his features. This is exactly what I don’t want. I put my hand on his cheek, and my thumb moves to his lips. “It’s okay, it’s not your fault anyway. That brother of yours should really learn how to wait.” Gabriel nods in agreement, and I laugh, trying to make us feel better.
“Trust me, I’m going to talk to him about that.” He attempts to get up, but I stop him.
“Not tonight, not while you’re this upset with him,” I say, and he frowns.
“He’d deserve my anger for what he did,” he replies, making an awkward laugh leave me.
“Well, we shouldn’t have let our horny thoughts cloud our judgment either,” I remind him, and he gives me a small sigh.
“You’re right. I’ll take you somewhere special and private next time, I promise.” I press a kiss to his lips before leaning back again and smiling. “Moving out is starting to sound quite appealing too,” he adds, and I cock an eyebrow.
“Why haven’t you yet?” I know he’s barely ever home, but there must be another reason for it.
“Jean. He needed me to stay while he worked through his grief, but I’m ready to leave now,” Gabriel explains, his anger seeping through in his voice.
“He made a mistake, but he didn’t see anything. It’s okay,” I assure him, but he doesn’t agree with me.
If it was up to him, he’d be yelling at his brother right now, which is why I try to distract him by lowering whatever is covering my body.
“Don’t be angry,” I say and pout, his gaze shifting between my lips and breasts.
“That’s not fair,” he says and lets out another sigh. “Arms up,” he demands, and I do as I’m told.
He pulls, what I now realize is, his shirt over my head, and I inhale the mahogany scent coming off it, Gabriel’s scent. An unfamiliar, heartwarming smile spreads over my lips. It feels like… it feels like every piece magically falls into place.
“God, I never understood it, not until now,” he mutters to himself, but I hear him anyway. He doesn’t need to explain because I get it. I didn’t understand it either until this second. “I want you to wear my shirts from now on,” he admits with a playful yet firm expression.
“Okay, but then you gotta wear mine too,” I reply, and he frowns at me.
“Please, you would feel awful when you’d see how much better I’d pull your clothes off.” I swat his arm, and he chuckles.
He takes my shirt from today and slides it over his head. It fits him perfectly, and I pout when I realize how good he looks. At least he would look stupid in my crop tops, right? Ugh, who am I kidding? He’d look gorgeous.
“Screw you,” I say, and he laughs. I join him because his laughter is contagious. “What do you want to do now?”
“I want you to pick out a book and read it to you as you lie on my chest.” Gabriel’s dimples appear with his smile as I nod.
I make my way over to his bookshelf, studying the row of books. A few novels I’ve been meaning to read stand out to me, and I turn to him.
“You’ve read them all?” I ask, pointing at the second-hand books. Gabriel rubs the back of his neck, a shy smile playing on his face.
“I may have bought them for you,” he admits before sitting up and staring at me. “I remembered you telling me about them, so I added them to my collection a few days ago,” he adds, and I shake my head in disbelief, shifting my gaze back to the shelf.
“You, Gabriel Biancheri, are something else entirely,” I say, and the sound of his chuckle fills the room.
“Only for you.”
We spent the rest of the night stealing looks until my eyes close and I fall asleep in his arms, listening to his soft voice.
“How dare you compare her to Kira?” Gabriel’s voice echoes through the whole house, and I shoot up in bed. Panic settles in my chest, and I pull on my shorts before I run down the stairs. “Are you fucking kidding me? Are you?” When I reach the living room, I see Gabriel and Jean meters apart, yelling at each other in French.
“Come on, Gabriel, you’re way too immature to see her as anything other than something to conquer. You probably want to fuck her just to be able to say you did it. You’re too messed up to ever take her more seriously than that. That’s why you were dating Kira, wasn’t it? To try and prove you were better than that, but you’re not.” Gabriel takes a step back. “Valentina is way too good for you, and she will realize it soon enough, hopefully before you screw her and leave her.”
I don’t know how they got here, to this point in their conversation, but I get more worried by the second. Gabriel’s breathing is heavy, and his hands are balled into fists.
“You really shouldn’t have said that,” he says, and that’s when I know I have to do something.
I step between them and put my hands on Gabriel’s naked torso, which seems hotter than it should be.
“Gabriel, stop,” I say, pleading with him.
His eyes shift from his brother to me, and all anger leaves him. His hands open up, and confusion settles on his face.
“Yeah, calm down, man. Listen to your conquest,” Jean says from behind me, and anger returns to Gabriel’s handsome features.
“Let me handle this,” I beg, and Gabriel finds my eyes again.
He looks back at his brother, groans loudly, and leaves the room. I touch my lips with my fingers, thinking about what I’m going to say to Jean. When I finally figure it out, I turn around and look at the boy I thought was better than this.
“What happened here?” It’s best I don’t insult or yell at him. Simply talking to him is my plan for now.
“Your lover got mad at me because of yesterday, which, by the way, I am really sorry about. I’m always going to wait from now on.” I press my lips into a thin line, needing a better explanation. “Anyway, things got out of hand, Gabriel started yelling, I screamed back, we got to a point we shouldn’t have gotten to, but what can you expect? Gabriel has always had a problem controlling his emotions.”
“You know what, Jean, that’s enough. I know he’s your brother, but my relationship with him is none of your goddamn business. What did you think would happen when you called me a conquest, huh?” I defend the man I love, and Jean rolls his eyes.
My hand darts out before it hits his shoulder, hard enough to serve as a warning but too soft to hurt him.
“You’re my friend, but you’re acting like a dick. Gabriel has done nothing but treat me like the queen of the world.” Jean stays quiet, clearly ashamed now. “If you ever doubt his intentions again when you have no idea what’s going on, remember this: it’s none of your fucking concern.” I leave him standing there without saying anything else, too bothered by his behavior.
The summer sun hits my eyes the second I leave the house in my search for Gabriel, and I lift my arm to be able to see.
“Chérie,” he says from behind me, and I spin around to face him.
A sad expression decorates his face, and I take three strides so his body can envelop mine.
“I’m sorry, he was pushing all of my buttons, and I always get so angry with him.” His body tenses again, and I run my fingers over his back to calm him down. He relaxes under my touch. “I don’t know why,” he admits.
I place my hands on each side of his face.
“Siblings. You love them, but sometimes, you just want to punch them. That’s why I count down out loud with Adrian when he pisses me off,” I explain, and Gabriel chuckles.
“Maybe I should start doing that as well.” He brushes his nose against mine, an exhausted sigh slipping past his lips. “You’re not a conquest to me, mon tournesol. You’re the person I care about most in the world, nothing less. You know that, right?” he asks, and I put my palms on each side of his neck.
“I know.” His hands move onto my hips, pulling me against his chest. “But I don’t know what to do,” I finally admit to him, and he lifts his eyebrows in surprise.
“About what, chérie?”
“About us. Things are about to get very complicated with me traveling to Italy for training and you around the world for races. We’re not dating, so I know I shouldn’t be this scared of what being apart will do to us, but—” Gabriel cuts me off with a firm kiss.
“I’m yours, Valentina Esmèe Cèlia Romana, all yours. No matter how you want me, I belong to you and you alone. I’ll fly to Italy as much as you need me to, hell, I’ll move there,” he says, making a little laugh escape me, but he grabs my face to make me refocus. “You know how I feel about you, and I know how you feel about me. We will make it work,” he says, and a blush settles on my cheeks, heating them up.
“I’m yours,” I whisper in response, and he picks me up off the ground to lift me into the air.
“No more running away?” he asks, and I shake my head.
“No more. I want this, I want us.”
Gabriel kisses me all over the face, making me giggle uncontrollably. It’s taken us long enough to get here, and I hope more than anything that this pessimistic feeling in my stomach will be proven wrong. I don’t doubt his feelings for me or mine for him, but life has a way of finding ways to hurt us when we expect it least.
Please, don’t hurt us.
