Why is it “не отрываясь смотрел” and not “не отрываясь смотреть”?
отрываясь is a gerund (ing form) and it’s identical for both feminine and masculine. Don’t let the я/а ending confuse you.
By itself it would be translated as “moving/breaking away”. In the negative, as in the example you could translate it a
“without moving away”. смотрел means he looked and смотрела she looked. The past does distinguish masculine and feminine forms.
So не ортываясь смотрела means
She kept looking without moving away
Не отрываясь смотрел
He kept looking without moving away
More gerund examples here:
http://russianlearn.com/grammar/category/gerunds
Thank you! I was asking more about why not use the infinitive form of смотреть, but your answer still explains that, as well. I appreciate it. Thanks again.