CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
JAKE
My body was still singing from the trip to paradise Gabriel had taken me on.
It was hard to believe it was Sunday already.
We’d pretty much spent all day Saturday in bed, only leaving to fulfill basic needs such as food and water.
I swore I could still feel his mouth trailing kisses down my body.
I licked my lips, trying to remember his taste and the scent of intimate skin.
“You awake over there?” he asked as he drove me home. “Did I wear you out?”
I offered him a shy smile. “Yes. I’m ready to sleep for a week straight.”
“At least until next weekend when we get to do it all over again.”
A laugh bubbled up and I rested my head against the seat. I was on board with that plan. I was surprised how easy being close to him was.
He was quiet for a long moment. “Hey, I forgot to ask the other day. It got around to my mother that I was seeing someone, and she insisted I invite you over for Thanksgiving dinner. No pressure. You can turn it down. Just figured I’d put the offer out there.”
I blinked at him with wide eyes. He wanted me to meet his parents?
I mulled over my thoughts. I hadn’t gotten to introduce myself to his friends yet, and meeting his parents was marginally more scary than that.
What would they think about me? Would they think I was too young for him?
Not secure enough in my job for a relationship?
Or maybe someone like me was just with him for his money?
A million terrible and unwelcome thoughts zipped through my mind.
“Uh oh,” Gabriel muttered.
“No, it’s okay. I just–Ah…” Did I want to meet his parents? Maybe, if only because I wanted to be in his life for a very long time. But I was afraid they’d disapprove. “No, I do, it’s just…”
“You don’t sound too sure. Like I said, no pressure.
You can turn it down, no hurt feelings.” He pulled along the curb in front of my apartment building.
He turned to me and nudged me on the shoulder.
“This predicament is your fault, you know? If you didn’t make me all smiley, my father wouldn’t have noticed and bragged to my mother about seeing someone. ”
I gasped at him. “Me? How is that my fault?”
“Because. You make me all giddy, like a fuckin’ schoolboy,” he said, and I thought I detected a hit annoyance. “Anyway, forget about the Thanksgiving dinner thing.”
“No!” I sucked in a big breath of air. Did I want to be with him? Absolutely. Doing so required certain obligations, like meeting the parents. “Yes, Gabriel, I will come.”
He cocked a dubious brow. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. No–I don’t know. Look, the whole thing makes me nervous, but I think you really want me to come, or you wouldn’t have asked, so… Yes. I’ll come.”
A faint smile twitched at his lips. “I don’t want to pressure you.”
“You’re not. It's my anxiety, is all.”
He regarded me for a long moment, studying every nervous twitch. “Actually, I’m going to take charge on this one. I’m not going to pressure you into this, and I can tell that I am, even if it wasn’t my intention. You said slow and Thanksgiving is too fast even for me.”
Feeling as if I’d disappointed him, I looked away, searching for the sharp angles and hard lines of the buildings.
He took my chin in his hand and forced me to look at him. “No meeting the parents for Thanksgiving, but how does Christmas dinner sound?”
It surprised me how he knew what I needed. “C-Christmas dinner sounds better.”
“Okay, but if you change your mind, that’s okay. Come here,” he said and curled his finger. I scooted closer and he kissed me. “Let’s get you upstairs.”
He was out of the car before I could refute. “You don’t have to walk me up.”
“You don’t want me to?”
“I ah… It’s not necessary.”
“Well, I want to.” He took my duffle bag from my hand.
“But…it’s not very nice inside.”
“I don’t care,” he said and started walking to the entrance.
I fumbled for my keys. As I slid them into the lock, I glanced at the Bond car with wide eyes, figuring he’d only be inside for a few minutes.
He pushed his way into the foyer and nearly tripped over some trash bags, but he seemed not to care as he held the door open for me.
If he noticed the smell of the rotting carpet or the liquor bottles rolling around on the floor, he didn’t make it obvious.
I felt so small leading him to my little room of an apartment.
His place was so nice, clean with every amenity a person could want.
My hands shook as I worked on getting my door open.
He pressed his palm against my back, the heat of his skin soaking through my jacket.
I took a deep breath and pushed the door open.
He stepped inside and I glanced at Maria’s door.
There was no gentle spill of cartoons playing on the television or kids laughing so I assumed they weren’t home.
I really needed to talk to her and with my blooming confidence, I was sure I could tell her the truth.
“You didn’t tell me you were an artist.”
Gabriel’s voice pulled me from my thoughts, and I closed the door behind me. He was leaning over my tiny desk, skimming his eyes all over a doodle of himself. I hadn’t seen the need to put them away. I scrambled to hide my work.
“No, I want to see,” he protested. “Please?”
“You really don’t.”
He pouted his bottom lip out, giving me a sad look. I sighed and plopped my butt on my bed. I watched with trepidation as he flipped through my drawings, a little smile pulling at the corner of his lips. I knew he got to the dirty stuff when that little grin turned dark.
“They're not very good.” I insisted.
“You’re being modest. They’re all good.” he held up one of my most recent doodles of him, lying in bed naked. “It looks exactly like me.”
His praise did something to me. “It’s all from memory.”
“You want me to pose for you?” he inquired.
“I ah…”
“You don’t?”
It was pointless trying to fight it. “If you’d like to, yeah.”
He offered me a devilish grin. “I’d like to, yes.”
He abandoned my desk and approached me. I stood up, intending to usher him out the door, but he pulled me in and kissed my neck.
“Stop it,” he admonished. He boxed me in against my dresser and claimed my lips in a slow, languorous kiss. “Stop trying to push me away from certain things in your life. I don’t care if you’re broke. It’s not an issue.”
I wanted to push him away, tell him to leave before someone vandalized his expensive car.
Instead, I fisted my hands in his jacket and pulled him closer.
He had awakened something within me, and now that it was alive, it had taken over reason.
He swiped his thumb across my lip in the same way as he had the other night, perhaps imagining me sucking his cock again.
I wanted to drop to my knees where I stood and worship his prick until he unloaded in my mouth.
The little horny thing that lived inside me had been unleashed this weekend.
He chuckled and gripped my hard cock through my pants. “What are you thinking about?”
“You know.”
“Fuck, it’s so hard to keep my hands off you.” He growled.
The weight of him sent me back against the dresser and I bumped my laundry basket. It fell, spilling my clothes all over the floor. Of course, my bad luck dictated that my slutty lacy panties landed on top, right at his feet.
“What’s this?” He picked up the pink panties and held them up.
I snatched them from him and stuffed them in my drawer, uncomfortable heat rushing to my face. My heart hammering, I stammered, “N-nothing. You’re right, it’s late and we have an early morning.”
Yeah, like that’s very convincing.
“Okay,” he said with a laugh and shrugged. He kissed my cheek.
“Please be careful. This is a bad neighborhood and there are a lot of unsavory people out there.”
When he was gone, I opened my drawer and proceeded to stare at the lacy underwear, tears gathering in my eyes.
If my stupid kink jeopardized my relationship with Gabriel…
I curled up into a ball on my bed, wanting to cry and feel sorry for myself.
Logically, if he were the perfect man for me, he’d be okay with my fetish, but he was so amazing, and I was terrified he’d come to the conclusion that I wasn’t worth his time.
Sleep refused to come so I occupied myself by doodling, but it was hard seeing the lines through my tears.