Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 93984 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93984 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Opening the door, he immediately caught sight of Gabriel stumbling down the hall, his hands sliding along the wall like he was feeling around. The faint glow from a night-light showed he was wearing only a pair of dark boxer briefs.
“Have to get out,” Gabriel whispered, but his words were slurred Russian.
Frowning, Justin put his own gun on the dresser since the other man didn’t appear to be armed and hurried after Gabriel.
“You okay, G?” he called, but Gabriel didn’t answer. Didn’t react to his question. He picked up his pace when Gabriel got close to the stairs. He was moving like he wasn’t sure he saw them. “Are you sleepwalking?” Justin asked a little louder, not sure if he should even expect an answer.
“Need to get out,” Gabriel repeated.
“Fuck,” Justin swore, rushing after Gabriel.
When Gabriel reached the end of the wall for the opening to the staircase, he fell forward. Justin grabbed his other arm in time to keep him from going head-first down the stairs, pulling him backward. Gabriel wrapped his hands around Justin’s arms and pushed against him, trying to get free. They fell in a tangle of limbs, landing with a hard thud on the hallway carpet with Justin lying on top of Gabriel. The stitches in his side pulled a little, but he was more worried about the man under him.
“Hey! Wake up! You’re sleepwalking!” Justin shouted when Gabriel’s hand clipped his jaw for a second time. Beneath him, Gabriel gasped loudly, and his body jerked. Justin watched as he blinked several times and tried to look around himself, but it couldn’t have been too easy with Justin lying on top of him.
“What?” Gabriel demanded, his voice full of gravel.
“You were banging around the hallway, sleepwalking,” Justin said with a chuckle.
“What? No, I don’t sleepwalk.”
“Yes, you were. You almost took a header down the stairs. Would have broken your damn neck.”
“I…” Gabriel started to say, but his words broke off on a sigh. Pain was clearly scrawled across his face in one of the rare moments when it didn’t look like Gabriel was wearing a mask with him. This was the real man fighting old ghosts or nightmares. Gabriel exhaled and closed his eyes. “I…haven’t been sleeping. The trip here, your injury, the break-in…I haven’t slept much.”
“Do you usually sleepwalk when you’re not sleeping?”
“I have, but it’s been a long time.” Gabriel rubbed his face and sighed again before lifting his gaze to Justin. “Why are you lying on me?”
Justin wanted to say something sexy and witty, but his brain wasn’t functioning correctly. He’d gone from a dead sleep to wrestling with Gabriel to pinning the man in a matter of minutes. As it was, he was far too aware of where his stomach pressed against warm flesh and how his sleep pants had ridden up so that he could now feel the rough hairs of Gabriel’s legs brushing along his.
And then there was just the overall sexiness of Gabriel lying on the floor, looking vulnerable and touchable. His brain still argued that this was a dangerous creature, but his heart was saying it was safe to reach out and run his fingertips along those sharp cheekbones, to brush his lips over Gabriel’s parted ones.
Blood was rushing south, and Gabriel was going to quickly discover where his thoughts were running.
“You tried to take us both head-first down the stairs. This seemed the best way to keep us both from breaking our necks,” Justin said, trying to remember that this was about helping Gabriel and not about getting into his pants.
Gabriel swallowed hard and pushed at Justin’s shoulders. “Well, I’m not in danger of that now. Get up.”
Justin placed his hands flat on the floor and started to push up. At the same time, Gabriel bent his left leg as if to rise as well, but it only allowed Justin to slot his hips perfectly between Gabriel’s. His hard cock rubbed against another equally hard cock, and there was no stopping the guttural groan that rumbled up his throat. He was only vaguely aware that Gabriel had also frozen, a harsh hiss coming from his parted lips.
“Oh fuck,” Justin murmured. He looked down at Gabriel’s pained expression. He was biting his lower lip like he was trying to hold back a moan, and Justin wanted to be the one biting that lip.
Instead of pushing off the other man, he leaned closer, shifting his hips to grind his cock into Gabriel. And this time, a small whimper of need broke from Gabriel’s throat. His eyes flew open in shock, as if he were checking to see if Justin had heard that single lapse in his tight control. Yes, he’d heard it, and he wanted fucking more.
Gabriel released his lower lip and opened his mouth, but Justin was already swooping in. There was no way he was going to give Gabriel a chance to talk. The man was going to stupidly list any number of reasons why this was a bad idea, and Justin didn’t give a shit anymore.