31. Ellis

CHAPTER 31

ELLIS

Even the sound of the bottle spinning sends chills down my spine. It brings back the night that is simultaneously one of my worst and best memories.

If Ellis from a year ago could see me now, he'd laugh and say I was a cruel bastard. For someone with the last name Hope, you'd think I'd be more optimistic. I never thought I had a chance with him.

I'm in a trance as Gabe leads me through the throng of people hanging out in the hallways. We stop at the second to last door on the left, and Gabe opens it with his key card.

I nearly trip and fall on my face when I see the dozens of battery-operated tea lights.

"What is all this?"

"I knew you'd be here, in town I mean, since your family had tickets. So I bribed some of the guys to shift rooms so I could get a single for the last night. I figured, or hoped, that I could sneak you in." He looks around. "These have been on all day, so they might start flickering out soon. "

His laugh helps clear some of the emotion clogging my throat.

"So, I guess everyone knows now?" I say, letting my jersey fall to the floor. Gabe hurries to catch it.

"Let me," he whispers. "It seems they do," he says, answering my question as he kneels to unlace my Converse.

"Any issues yet?"

He shrugs. "Nothing I can't handle."

"I'm sorry. I got overexcited."

"Don't be sorry, Ellis. I needed two things in that moment, and I got both of them. The night couldn't have gone better. If we'd lost the game, I still would have had everything I wanted." He looks up at me as he peels my socks off, running a knuckle along each foot. His hands reach to cup my waist, and he presses a kiss to the skin just below my belly button. How is it that he can make me feel so good, so confident, with just one look? One reverent kiss to a random patch of skin that I've probably never paid attention to but is suddenly an erogenous zone.

"What was it you wanted?"

"Your brother to accept me. And you to love me."

"Done," I breathe.

He unbuttons my jeans and slowly peels them down my legs, lightly rubbing the scruff of his jaw along my thighs as he does. His breath catches as he takes in his favorite pair of tiny white briefs. He buries his face in my groin, licking the hemline of the underwear from the apex of my thighs to my hip.

"Have I ever told you how absolutely fucking perfect you are?" His mouth closes around the tip of my cock, breathing hot, damp air onto the cotton before sucking the small wet spot that pools on the fabric .

"Are you talking to me or my dick?"

"Yes."

My laugh turns into a moan as Gabe pulls open the front panel of my briefs and licks the tip of my cock.

"Mmmm I missed your taste. It's been too long."

"It's been three days," I whisper, eyes falling closed while his tongue does sinful things to me.

"Three hours is too long to go without you, baby. I need to be able to touch and taste you at all hours of the day. I'm starving for you, Ellis. Always starving."

"I missed you too," I rasp.

"How much?"

Biting my lip, I push the hem of my briefs down, and he takes over, pulling them down my legs and looking up at me reverently. Eyes locked on mine, he takes me in his mouth and suckles gently.

I'll never get over seeing Gabe Rodgers kneeling for me, under me, above me. It's so much hotter than my wildest fantasies, and so much sweeter because it's real. He is mine and I am his. Neither of us is perfect. I'm sure we'll make a thousand mistakes, but as long as we keep loving each other, we'll continue to grow from those mistakes.

His hands grip my thighs and take me deeper before pulling off and licking my sac, not leaving a single crease untouched by his tongue. "So fucking smooth and pretty," he purrs.

I guide one of his hands from my hip to my ass. His other hand slides back, palming me with his big hand, kneading and squeezing my cheeks. When one of his fingers brushes down my crack, I shiver, and he freezes. His eyes lock on mine, a knowing look sparkling in those blue-green depths .

"And what is this?"

"I wanted to be ready for you."

Sitting back on his haunches, he twirls his finger in the air. "Show me, baby."

Turning slowly, I bend at the waist, putting my elbows on the bed and widening my legs to show him the brand-new butt plug I got for him. One with a round base painted like a baseball and the number thirty-seven on it.

Gabe groans and mutters a string of curses that make me feel like the sexiest person on the damn planet. There's a slight thud behind me. When I straighten to look back at him, he's sitting back against the wall, pulling his cock from his pants and giving it a slow, lazy stroke.

"Don't move yet," he says. "I just want to look at you."

Resuming my position, I widen my legs a little further and reach between my legs. Gabe moans when I touch myself. Holding the base of the plug between two fingers, I work it in and out of me in tiny increments.

His hands land on my thighs, kneeling behind me.

"God, just look at you. You're the sexiest thing I've ever seen." He kisses a path from the back of one leg to the apex of my thighs, licking and sucking my balls from behind.

Pressure from the toy being slowly removed makes me whimper.

"So beautiful," he whispers.

"So empty," I say.

He chuckles and stands, pulling me back against him. "Don't worry, baby, you know I'll always fill you up."

I look over my shoulder to reach his m outh, turning in his arms to chase the breathless feeling I get when he kisses me. I help remove the last of his clothes, but instead of tackling me, or bending me over and fucking me, he just holds me against him and kisses me until I'm trembling.

Gabe pulls back, holding my chin to look into my eyes. "I love you, Ellis Hope. I'm sorry it took me so long to figure it out. I think I always knew there was something there, but it wasn't until I kissed you that first time that I realized how strong it was. It scared me. It still does."

"What are you afraid of?"

"That I'll do something wrong. That I'll hurt you again. That I won't be enough."

"Gabe. We've known each other almost our entire lives. I know you. You're more than enough," I say, kissing him lightly. "And we'll probably both screw up sometimes, but we'll work it out. Whatever comes next, we'll figure it out together. Nothing can ever hurt me as long as I have you."

He bends down to scoop me up by the backs of my thighs, wrapping my legs around him. Smiling into his kiss, I hold on as he walks us to the center of the bed, then sits with me straddling him.

We kiss until all the air is sucked from our lungs. Moaning and touching and writhing together until I can't stand it anymore, and I'm begging him.

"Gabe, please. I need you inside me."

A sound almost like purring comes from his chest. He grabs a bottle of lube from the bedside table, pouring it directly on himself and his hand. Two fingers push the slick liquid inside me, but I'm too impatient .

"I'm ready, I promise. I just need you."

Finally, I'm sinking down his thick length, and I let out a shaky sigh. When I'm fully seated, Gabe just holds me like that, straddling his lap with my legs wrapped around his waist. Our arms are locked around each other, bodies pressed as close as two people can get.

Every move is slow and sensual. We pant and cry against each other's mouths, breathing each other's air. Fingers comb through sweat soaked hair, nails rake over skin, hands knead and grip and hold on for dear life. Rocking against each other, we hold nothing back, pouring every ounce of love we have for each other into every move of our bodies. A blinding peak overtakes me, a wave of pleasure that takes my breath away. All I can do is gasp and hold on, panting against Gabe's mouth, trusting him to hold me through it. Tears prick and join the droplets of sweat rolling down our bodies.

"I love you," he whispers.