As Long As You Love Me ✓

20. The Drug in Me is You

"God help me." He took her mouth. Slow. Soft. And when he pulled back, he traced her lips with his tongue. "You taste sweet, too." One wasn't enough. Hell, who was he kidding, a thousand wouldn't be. He went back for more, this time, rougher, deeper.

She eased her leg over his and snugged her body in tight against it.

[Slight Mature Themes Ahead]

Trailing his hand to her breast, he let the weight of it rest in his palm, then rubbed his thumb over the stiff nipple. Yeah, she was on board with whatever he wanted, and he wanted it all. He abandoned her mouth, brushed his lips down her throat, then lower and sucked the peaked nipple through the fabric of her nightshirt.

Threading her fingers through his hair, she held him in place. "Oh, God, that feels good."

He glided his hand down her belly to the waist of her pajamas, then hesitated. "This had to stop, Zari."

"No," she breathed, all breathy and wrecked. "I don't want to stop. Not now. Not ever."

This was going too far. He needed to stop, but she'd pressed her face into the spot just above his clavicle, moaning his name against his skin, which was on fire. To hell with it. He inched his hand lower, and then as if the Almighty himself zapped divine intervention, Gabriel's phone chimed.

[Slight Mature Themes Over]

"Don't answer it," she panted against his neck, and damn if Gabriel didn't want to ignore it, but couldn't.

"I can't. I'm on call." When he shifted away from her, she groaned. He turned on the lamp. Pressed the cell to his ear. "Luna—okay. Thirty-minutes." With a deep sigh, he clicked off and climbed out of bed. "Sorry. I have to go. There's an outage in Grapevine."

She sat up and propped a pillow behind her back. "How long will you be?"

He dressed while he talked. "Don't know. Will you be alright by yourself? If not, I can drop you off at Mom's."

She groaned. "I have a car."

"I know, but you probably shouldn't drive until you have both hands working."

"In a town this size, I think I'll be okay. Between here and your mom's, I'll be lucky if I meet two cars."

"Good point. But if you go, be careful, and text me."

Zari sighed and flopped back on the bed. "Does this happen a lot? I mean, you getting called out after you've worked all day?"

"More during the winter months. I may even work in another state."

She bolted upright. "Another state? For how long?"

"Sometimes, weeks."

Heaving a deep breath, she stared at the ceiling. "Maybe we should get a dog."

Gabriel jerked his head toward her. "What?"

"If I'm going to be here by my lonesome, maybe we should get a dog."

Holy shit. Yeah, that's all he needed. Get attached to a pet, then when Zari left, she'd take the furball, and Gabriel would have two things to miss. That's why he had a fish. No emotional attachment. Feed it. Watch it swim, and if it died, get another one. Cold hearted? Maybe. But he'd suffered enough loss.

She wasn't giving up. "Can we? I'm sure Grapevine has a shelter. We could adopt one. Might be good practice for children later on."

Fuck, fuck, fuck. Kids—pets. What the hell? Next, he'd be buying her feminine products as he used to with his mom and sister. "We'll talk about it later."