Gabriel kissed her, a press, then a pull back, again and again, quick but passionate touches that tossed over her earlier conviction. She did want more. The kisses were so intense, so teasing, so fleeting, so filled with intensity, and she tried to hold them, tried to take more, but he pulled back over and over. Her breathing hitched, her inner thighs ached, her nipples tightened painfully against her T-shirt. She clung to his jeans, her grip tightening, and she gave up trying to follow his mouth.

His hands went everywhere, lingering briefly with the barest of touches on her neck, her head, her back, her waist, while he took her mouth so fully, so completely, that she lost track of time, lost track of anything but the possession of her lips by his. Her eyes couldn’t stay open, her head couldn’t stay up, as she gave herself up to being taken by him, slowly and tauntingly. Worshipfully.

When his tongue finally invaded her mouth and touched hers, she squeezed his waist, rocking back involuntarily at the pleasure. But again, he didn’t take hard and fast, but he explored with a control that amazed her, that left her weak, clinging to him, body humming, heart full. She could feel his erection pressing against her, but he ignored it, never attempting to grind against her, his hands staying above her waist. His tongue took hers, mimicking sex until she thought she couldn’t take another second, not one more kiss or slide or suck.

He pulled entirely back, his eyes hot and dark. “You taste so good I want to eat you,” he said, and leaned forward and nipped at her bottom lip with his teeth.

Sara sucked in a breath as the bite shot an ache of desire through her. “So eat me.”

“Oh, I will. But I’m going to take my time.” He ran his finger along the neckline of her T-shirt, then across her bottom lip. “I never thought I would have this, never thought I would have you. I want to enjoy you.”

She wanted to be enjoyed.

Sara reached out and buried her fingers in his soft hair and kissed him the way he had been kissing her, with love and longing and wonder, before pulling back.

He gave her a Gabriel smile, the kind where only the corner of his mouth tilted up, while his lips stayed together, like he had a private thought that amused and pleased him. “I love you,” he said, his mouth forming the words, but no sound coming out.

Sara felt the tears again, and she wondered why she fought them. There was no shame in her emotions, no reason to apologize for the intensity of what she felt, for the feeling that this was forever, that this man, this moment, had changed her life. That she was in love. Deeply and joyfully in love, and that was worth a tear or two.