Every nerve ending strained within her, begging for completion and she strummed her clit faster, until the raging storm of her orgasm claimed her. She stiffened against them, her pussy clenching tight as it flooded with wet warmth to coat Gabe’s pistoning cock.
Her climax triggered his, and he grunted out her name, his hands tightening against her hips as he held her still against him while he pumped his hot seed deep inside her, drenching her channel with his essence.
She slumped forward against Gabe, her new position aiding Roarke who rode her ass hard, shoving his hard length into her until he tensed above her before filling her with his warm semen on a strangled groan.
The harsh sound of their breathing filled her ears, and she remained locked between both men, until Roarke pulled out of her, and padded across the room into her bathroom.
As soon as he disappeared inside, she instantly became aware of the fact that she and Gabe were now alone, and with that awareness, came her anger.
She shifted off Gabe and stood. Reaching for her robe at the end of her bed, she quickly donned it, shielding herself from Gabe’s searching eyes. Folding her arms across her breasts, she stubbornly refused to meet his gaze.
“Collette-”
“Get out.” She wasn’t ready to talk to him, not when all he would do was make excuses for his behaviour. She didn’t need excuses, she needed answers, but not from him, at least not now. Maybe after she’d calmed down, she could face him, but she wasn’t so sure. Gabe was her partner, her best friend. Until that morning she would have trusted him with anything, including her life, but now she knew she couldn’t trust him at all.
He released a heavy sigh as he rolled out of bed and donned his clothes.
“Collette-,”
“I don’t want to talk to you, not right now. You knew all along, and you never told me, and it’s just unconscionable to me that you would keep something like that a secret.”
She still refused to look at him, as she stared out the window instead, but she could feel the anger radiating off his body like a heat wave in the desert. Well good, that made two of them.
She sensed he still wanted to plead his case, but knew his pride held him back when he stomped angrily across the room and stormed out slamming the door behind him.
It was as if the crashing of the door knocked all of the wind out of her, and she slumped down onto her bed with a weary sigh, but she didn’t wallow in self-pity long when the door to her bathroom swung open and Roarke shuffled out, wearing nothing but a towel around his hips and a sexy grin.
But his grin quickly faded when he realised they were now all alone in her room.
“Uh oh. This can’t be good.”
“Did you know?” she asked softly, hoping that at least one of them was decent. Although, it would certainly be ironic if Roarke were the more decent of the two.
“Suspected,” he said quietly as he crossed the room to stand before her, his hand shooting out to grasp her chin, tilting it upward so she was forced to look at him.
“I suspected the truth, but didn’t know for sure. I know you’re angry right now, but don’t blame Gabe.”
Don’t blame Gabe? Why the hell not when he deserved all the blame! Fury heated her blood, and she parted her lips, all set to lash out at him, but he never gave her the chance, especially when his next words completely knocked her flat on her ass.
“You knew, Collette.” He whispered. “You just didn’t want to admit it, but I know you had to have felt something. It’s easy to blame Gabe, but ask yourself why he didn’t tell you. Then ask him, because I’m sure he had a very good reason.”
She was prideful and stubborn. That’s the only explanation she could come up with for why, after spending two weeks on sick leave, she’d refused to heed Roarke’s word. She’d ignored calls from both him and Gabe, only to end up back in her office, hastily shoving all of her belongings into a cardboard box before Gabe arrived for work. She wasn’t quitting, she just needed more than two weeks. At least, that’s what she kept telling herself.
Yes, pride and stubbornness, that had to be it. Or it could just be fear.
“I’m going to say fear.”
She froze at the sound of the familiar voice, before she pulled herself together and whirled around to face the one man she’d been hoping to avoid.
Gabe.
“Get out of my thoughts.”
A tight smile tugged at the edges of his lips as he stepped inside her office and closed the door behind him.
“You know that’s hard to do when we’re near.”
She glared at him, hating that he was right.
“Look, I still don’t want to talk to you-”
“Well that’s too bad, because it’s past time that you do.”
Her nostrils flared in anger, and she clenched her hands into tight fists as she fought back her fury. He couldn’t force her to-
No, but I can force you to listen.
“Damn it! Get out of my head!”
“I can’t help it. I’m sorry.” He dragged a hand through his loose mane, a ragged sigh falling from his lips. “I’m sorry for everything. I should have told you when I first realised it. Believe me, I was going to. I just wanted to wait until it seemed like the right time.”
“Waiting for a right time is one thing, but not telling me at all is another. I deserved to know.”
Damn it. She wasn’t ready to talk to him yet, but he’d trapped her, leaving her no other choice. Forcing out a calming breath, she pinned him with a hard stare.
“I trusted you Gabe to always tell me the truth. But when it came to the most important thing to tell me, you didn’t. You knew you were my heart mate long before I did, and you should have told me instead of letting me find out the way I did.”
“I wanted to, Collette. Believe me I did. But you didn’t want a mate, you didn’t want any distractions from work. You certainly didn’t want me.”
She narrowed her eyes. What was he talking about? “What do you mean I didn’t want you?” Hell, out of that entire list, he was the only thing on it that she actually did want.
“Oh, come on Collette. I see the way you are with Roarke. It was very obvious to me that you two were interested in each other.”
Was he serious? Her mouth nearly fell open when she realised he was.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. Roarke will hit anything that moves, and yet you somehow think that’s what I want.”
His eyes darkened, and she sensed the anger rising in him. She didn’t care how angry he got, because on top of everything he’d done, he’d just insulted her character and her taste. She snorted. Roarke? Never!
“You know what, Collette? To be honest, I don’t know what it is you want, at least not from me or a mate. Since I’ve known you, you’ve never been in a serious relationship, always claiming that you were too busy and wouldn’t have it any other way.”
She frowned at the mocking tone of his voice, the sound grating on her ears.
“The Collette you’ve always shown me would want a man like Roarke. No strings, no complications, just carefree laughs and fun.” He stalked towards her, closing the distance between them to clasp her arms in his hands. With nothing but mere inches now separating them, she swore the air in the room had vanished, because all of a sudden, she felt as if she couldn’t breathe.
“The Collette I’ve seen wouldn’t want a man like me. There is nothing carefree about my life, and I come with a host of strings and complications. I want a mate, and eventually, I would like to ease up on my work schedule in order to have pups or kittens, even if that means I don’t get that next promotion, or I have to turn my city over to another vampire. But the Collette I know doesn’t want any of these things, so forgive me for not telling you the truth, but I figured it was for the best.”