She knew. Allison knew all too well what kind of pain it was to lose someone you loved.

She leaned forward and covered his mouth with hers. Briefly. Just a caress. Touched her forehead to his and spoke against his lips. “It wasn’t your fault.”

He breathed in her scent. The taste of her on the air. “I left after that, to hide from the pain and the blame. I was gone for a bunch of years before I realized I was running and there was nothing chasing me.”

“So you came back.”

“I came back because I loved the ranch, and I loved my ma. And…” He had to do it. Had to finish this. “I came back because Rafe asked me to.”

Allison lifted her head, the question clear on her face.

“He got drunk one night. Ben. Losing Michael tore him apart, and he started drinking. When I ran away I managed to avoid most of his mess, but one night he got liquored up enough he kind of lost his mind. He didn’t lay a finger on Ma or Rafe, but he smashed a bottle. A piece of glass flew out and hit my kid brother.”

She pressed her fingers to her lips, shock in her eyes. “The scar on his cheek?”

Gabe nodded. “I came home. Figured I could at least be a buffer between him and the others.”

“Oh, Gabe.”

“It worked. He stopped drinking as much because he gets some weird satisfaction out of telling me just how fucked up I am.”

Allison cupped his neck in her hands, eyes filled with moisture. “You came home to rescue them, and you’ve been doing it ever since.”

Nailed it. “Even, it seems, to people who don’t need saving.”

“Fuck Jesse.”

He couldn’t stop it. He snorted. “No, thanks.”

“You know what I mean.” She squeezed harder, fingers stroking the tight muscles at the top of his spine. “You’re a decent, kind man, and no matter what your motivations were to start with, if you weren’t a giving person deep down, you never would have tried to be there for others. Especially not for as long as you have.”

“You’re doing the same thing, you know. Trying to rescue your family.”

She nodded slowly. “When Dad died, I was torn between so many emotions. We were sad he was gone. That he’d never see us as grownups, never grow old with Mom. But I was relieved in a way, because he’d been in pain for so long, and he’d unknowingly made our lives tough during the years he was ill. And then the guilt hit for feeling relief. How could I be so selfish? Everything was all twisted and confusing for the longest time.”

Allison dragged her hand over his shoulders and down his chest, her nose wrinkling as if she was trying to figure out how to say something.

“What?” He was so achingly tired from it all, but worry for her and the need to find out more urged him on.

“When I came and asked you to help me. That was wrong of me. I’m sorry.”

Gabe pressed his hand over hers, holding her palm against his chest. As good a time as any to see if he was going to get even more wrecked tonight. “I may have a reputation of being a bloody saint, but agreeing to help you? I’ll never regret it.”

“Really?” She blinked hard. “It was rude, and bossy, and totally controlling. You should have thrown me out from the start.”

“Maybe it was a little brash, but if you hadn’t decided to take the first steps, I never would have never fallen in love with you.”


Her heart stuttered to a stop. “What did you say?”

His eyes looked so haunted, but a hint of his smile tweaked the corner of his mouth. “Allison, I know it’s crazy, but having you around these past weeks has been the best thing that’s happened to me in a long time.”

The trickle of fear that had filled her as he’d shared had become a ball of ice as he told her more of the story. How could she possibly find the right words to explain that Jesse was wrong? That everyone who thought Gabe was a person to take advantage of was wrong.

And she’d felt the guilt hard at what she’d done.

Now, looking into his honest face, the ball of ice melted a little as hope lit a flame beneath her. “Oh, Gabe.”

He smiled. “‘Oh, Gabe, what the hell have you done?’ I know we started this thing as a ruse to fool your mom, and I’m totally on board doing whatever necessary to keep her happy. I want you to know it’s become more than an act for me. I like having you in my life.”

She swallowed hard. “I like it too. I…”

Was she in love with him? Could she even know right now with everything else ramping up her emotions?

Was he really in love with her or just saving her all over again?

He stroked her cheek with his finger. “Don’t rush. I don’t need you to say anything yet. Hell, if anything, maybe you shouldn’t say anything tonight, because I don’t want to push you into something you’re not sure about.”

“I pushed you into helping me,” she pointed out.

“Helping you was a given. I was already hooked by those big eyes and the sexy swing of your hips.”

She screwed up her courage and kissed him. Long and hard. Taking what she wanted. Giving what he needed. Trying to affirm without words that things were different, and she was good with the change.

She was breathless by the time he released her, his grin stretching from ear to ear. “Mmm, nice.”

Allison slowly undulated against him, rubbing their torsos together. “There’s more where that came from.”

Gabe lifted a brow. “You needing a bit of sexy cowboy? You want me to take off my shirt so you can touch my abs for a while?”

A gasp escaped. “Gabe Coleman, you were eavesdropping on me and my sister.”

“Course I was. Had to know if it was safe to come in. Didn’t think I’d be hearing about how you wanted to strip me down and take advantage of me.”

Oh, stripping him down was a fine idea. But that second part of what he’d said? “Sex isn’t why I want you. Just to be clear. You’re a good man—”

“You say that one more time and I’m going to feel as if they should put a halo over my picture when they hang it on the wall.”

“Well, it’s true.”

“I’m not a good man. I choose to do good things. There’s a difference.”

“Not in my books.”

If he could be brave, so could she.

“Gabe?”

He nuzzled her neck. “Umm?”

“I’ve been wanting this to be more than just something to make my mom happy. I’ve been hoping you were starting to want me. For me.”

The sheer joy in his face lit the room. “I want you. Not just want you, physically, although, oh, woman, you are very fine.”

She caught his hand and stared intently at him. The little flecks of gold in the green of his eyes sparkled like stars. He rolled her, covering her with his long hard body, and suddenly his expression had nothing to do with being angelically good.

“Let me make love to you.”

Even the way he said it sounded different. More intense, more meaningful.

She grabbed on to his shirt and jerked it loose from his jeans.

He helped her, she helped him. One article of clothing at a time, they stripped. When he dropped his shirt to the ground, she reached out and touched him. Pressing her fingers to his abs and tracing the rigid lines of his muscles. She kissed his collarbone, licked the hollow of his throat.

His hands were busy, pulling her top free, reaching around to unhook her bra. The warm air from the open window brushed her naked skin a second before his mouth covered her right breast, and she sighed with pleasure.

He licked and sucked, his other hand coming up to hold her left breast and tweak her nipple until the spot tingled and she squirmed against his mouth.

One side. The other. She wanted to undo his pants and continue the getting-naked part, but he wouldn’t let her, instead spreading her over the mattress and continuing to drive her crazy.

“I’ve rushed and rushed. Every time we’ve fooled around it seems my brain shuts down, and I’ve never stopped to savour you. Tonight? I’m in no hurry, so you just enjoy.”

Gabe kissed her then inched his lips along her throat as he returned to her breasts. Every touch, every lick, it was as if strings were attached from the sensitive tips to her core, and he tugged them again and again. She squeezed her legs together to try to get some pressure where she needed it most.

He dropped to her belly and played with the piercing there. She was wearing a tiny diamond chip, and as he tongued it, the heat of his breath fanned over her belly.

Bringing her up, taking her higher.

He kissed the centre of the butterfly on the crest of her hipbone. “It’s beautiful. They all are.”

The tiny butterflies she’d had inked on her body were therapeutic and made her smile every time she spotted them. “I needed something to show how I felt. The butterflies were a natural fit.”

He fell silent, fingers tracing the outline. “Incredible.”

“Life goes on. Changes. I wanted to celebrate that.”

Gabe shifted lower and touched her thigh where another of the brightly coloured creatures decorated her skin. He kissed the spot tenderly. “Inspiring.”

Then he covered her mound with his mouth, and she was the one being inspired. Long, slow, thorough licks followed. His tongue teasing through her folds, circling her clit. Plunging deep into her core. He clasped her thighs and pushed them up and out of his way, and dove in deeper.

Allison touched his head, dragging her fingertips over his scalp. His tongue drove her crazy, but touching him satisfied her like she’d never expected.

Sexual tension, physical responses. They were there, they hit just right, but it was in her mind that she felt it most. In her heart.

It was more than physical, stirring her deep inside.