Chapter 14
fourteen
Gabriel
A fter a long evening of Livi practicing sitting on various parts of Santa’s body, we spent the warm night in my rooftop hideaway. The sun rising through the hot, sticky air and blasting into our eyes is probably the only thing that got us up and moving this morning. Now she’s in front of Matisse’s camera and I’m here in my office trying to get something done.
Checking over reports and financials holds no appeal, so I dig through the bottom desk drawer for my long ignored sketch pad. Way at the back I find a short charcoal pencil and a kneaded eraser. It’s been a long time since I’ve created a design. Probably too long. Today I’m inspired.
Last night Livi made a joking reference to runway shows and how they usually end with that year’s wedding gown. That got me to thinking. Not about wedding gowns so much as the wedding night. As a lingerie company it makes sense we would offer items for the bride to wear under her gown and of course, for the honeymoon.
I make a light sketch of a body—Livi’s body—to base my design on. Before long I’m lost in the creative process and I’ve filled a good number of pages with both modest and sexy designs. She will look astounding in any one of them.
Picking my favorite, I carefully tear the sheet from the pad intending to take it to the design team and see if one could be created for this Christmas season’s catalog. Livi should be taking a lunch break soon and I’m looking forward to hearing how her first morning went. I’ll join her this afternoon for shots with the mistletoe. After last night I pray I can keep my dick in check. Having an obvious boner would not be good for the catalog.
Before I rise, there’s a brisk knock on the door.
“Gabriel, darling.”
Wincing, I close my eyes. Fuck. I don’t need this today. Or any day. “What the hell are you doing here, Ms. Abbot?”
Her affected pout doesn’t match the steely determination in her eyes. “I just thought we needed to talk.”
“There’s nothing to talk about. I suggest you leave. Angel Night will no longer contract for models from the Abbot Agency. Per your demands, I might add.”
She waves one hand in a limp gesture. “I was angry, darling. Said things I regret. I hope you will forgive me and we can get past this, uh, mess.”
“Do. Not. Call. Me. Darling. Understood?”
Another wave. “Oh, of course. We must maintain propriety in the office.”
“What the fuck do you want? What lies did you tell to get past security?” I shove back my chair and stand with my arms crossed.
She glances out the doorway then moves toward me with a wicked grin. The bitch is up to something. “I just wanted to?—”
With a yelp she pitches forward and I act without thinking, grasping her upper arms to keep her from falling headfirst onto the corner of my desk.
“Oh, thank you… darling,” she coos while wrapping her arms around my neck. Her lips come perilously close to mine.
At a noise from the doorway I straighten and lift my head. Olivia clutches the frame, her eyes wide and filling with tears. I struggle to escape and go to Livi but the woman in my arms tightens her hold.
“Livi,” I call when she turns and runs toward the rear of the building.
Ms. Abbot pulls away and looks down her long nose at me. “My work here is done, Mr. Winter.” Turning on her four inch heels, she strides from the office toward the elevators.
I follow her out the door but turn toward Brenda’s desk. “Where?”
Glaring at Abbot’s back, Brenda jerks her thumb back over her shoulder. “Probably the last cubbie on the left.”
“Call security and make sure that bitch never enters this building again,” I demand before rushing after Olivia.
“Not a problem, Gabe,” Brenda replies as she lifts the phone.
Taking a series of deep breaths, I slow my frantic pace. I find Olivia sitting on the floor in the corner of the cubicle that’s not visible from the walkway. I crouch before her and even though she fights and tries half-heartedly to pull away, I hold her hands gently in mine. “Livi, please look at me.”
Her eyes are surprisingly dry. “Is that bitch gone?”
Not what I expected her to say. “Yes. And she is now on a no admittance list with security.”
“Good.” She searches my face and comes to some decision. “She did that on purpose, didn’t she? She knew I was going to walk right through your door and see her in your arms. Looking like you were going to kiss her.”
I nod.
“She expected me to fall apart. Damn it. And I did for a few minutes. Then I remembered one other time I walked in on her just as she fake tripped into a man’s arms. She didn’t see me that time. She was waiting for me today. Like a damn spider. And I played right into her little scene.”
“No, Livi, you didn’t. Maybe for that short time but once you realized what she was doing…”
“I should have marched right back there and told her off. Told her to get her grubby hands off my man.”
My heart leaps. “So I’m your man?”
“I hope so.”
“Me, too. It’s not real comfortable back here. Want to go back to my office? Or somewhere else?”
“Office is fine. I just need to relax after… her.”
“We can do that, baby girl.” I help her to her feet and take the opportunity for a long hug. She feels so good in my arms. Perfect. Everything I never realized I needed.
Back in the office I close the door to prevent interruptions. Restless, she wanders the room, running her fingers along the shelves and over the backs of the chairs. My skin shivers in response. Finally, she sits at the desk and I lean against the wall to watch her. I’m not convinced she’s as okay with what just happened as she’s pretending.
She picks up my sketchbook and flips through the pages. I don’t put faces on my drawings, and I wonder if she recognizes the beauty of her body. “Are these yours? You drew these?”
“I told you I have a minor in fashion design.”
“These are good.”
I shrug one shoulder. “I’m out of practice.”
“If this is out of practice, I can’t wait to see…” She tilts the pad one way then another to study a design. “I like this.”
“Then I’ll have it made for you.”
She opens her mouth to argue and I narrow my eyes to glare at her. She laughs, the sound honest and joy filled. “Okay, I’ll let you. Can I have it in a turquoise blue?”
“Any color you desire.”
“I suppose it’s silly to have such beautiful lingerie just to have a guy rip it off.”
“Is that what you think lingerie is for? Just for tempting a man? Ah, Livi, you are so wrong. Lingerie isn’t really for the men, even though many will try to convince their woman it is. What I feel, and what we’ve adopted as Angel Night’s philosophy is that the reason women wear sexy underclothes and negligées is personal. It’s to feel good about themselves. To feel powerful in their own skin. Our lingerie is designed to accent the female form. The beauty of every female form.”
We fall silent and I hope she understands. Aching to go to her, my muscles tense but I hold myself in place. Not yet.
After watching me a long moment one side of her lips twitch. “There’s something I’ve wanted to ask.”
“Go on.”
“When did you start getting gray hairs?”
Not at all what I expected. I straighten. “That’s what you want to know?”
“Yeah. Unless there’s some reason you don’t want to tell me.”
“Hair is hair, no matter the color. The strands started coming in my twenties. For awhile I tried coloring them, but it was too much of a bother. Especially after I grew the beard.” She’s never said anything, however maybe she thinks I look too old. “If you’d rather, I can color?—”
“Don’t you dare. I love it. It makes your hair sparkle in the light.”
Moving under one of the recessed lights, I spear my fingers through my hair, disrupting the strands, and watch her reaction. Her eyelids lower and her tongue darts out to sweep over her plump lower lip. My cock takes interest.
“Gabriel, what are you thinking?”
I stalk toward her, pull her from the chair, and turn her to face the desk. “I’m thinking I need to bend you over this desk.” I press the thickening length of my cock against her hip.
“After everyone goes home?” she whispers and shifts to feel me along the seam of her ass.
“Uh uh, baby girl. Now.”
Eyes wide, she jerks and turns, pointing through the clear glass wall. “We can’t. Not in front of…”
My chuckle is rough and needy as I pull open the center drawer and remove a remote. “Watch.” The clear glass fogs to almost complete opacity. “It’s called switchable glass. I like being available to staff but there are times—like now—when I need privacy. As long as I don’t fuck you right against the glass, no one will see.”
“What about the door?”
“Everyone knows to respect my occasional need for privacy. I can also do this.” The press of a second button locks the door with an audible click. “Besides it’s lunch time. Almost everyone is off the floor.”
Dropping the remote back in the drawer, I gather Livi close and kiss her hard, a desperate meeting of tongues and clashing teeth. Her soft moans, the way her hands skim my back, cup my ass, how she squirms against me drives me insane. I need to be in her. Now.
I turn her to face the desk. “Bend over and rest your forearms on the desk, baby girl. Then spread your legs.”
“Gabriel,” she sighs. The fear she’s going to refuse holds me still then she smiles up at me. “Good thing I’m wearing a dress, huh?”
My palm in the center of her back, I press her down. Leaning over her, I nip at her ear making her groan. “The glass may be opaque, but it’s not soundproof. You’ll need to be quiet.”
Flipping her skirt up, I expose the soft globes of her ass. I want to worship her, taste the sweetness I see gathering along the thin material of her thong but my cock is ready to burst through my zipper. I dig out my wallet and a condom, biting back my own groan as I free my cock and sheathe myself.
She’s undulating against the desk, her legs trembling. “Gabriel, please.”
“Please what, baby?” Stroking her ass, I use my feet to spread hers wider. She’s panting and arching her ass toward me. Moving her wet thong to the side, I notch myself at her entrance. “My beautiful, responsive girl. Is this what you want?”
She lifts up on straight arms to meet my thrusts then covers her mouth with one hand. Her muffled cries and my inability to silence my soft grunts spurs me to piston into her. The slap of my groin against her ass fills the office.
Looking back over her shoulder with dark, passion-filled eyes she walks her hands back over the desk, raising her upper body, pressing me deeper. “Livi. Fuck, Livi. Every time. It’s you, baby. My everything. Sweet. Hot. Mine.”
Wrapping my arms around her waist, I hold her while I pound up into her. I nip her shoulder, slip my hand to her mound. Find her clit.
I feel the vibrations of her rising orgasm. “Shh, baby girl. Don’t scream. Be quiet now and I promise I’ll make you scream later.”
She nods and wraps one arm back to dig her nails into my ass. “I’ll hold you… to that… Oh. That, yes.”
She shatters in my arms and I finish seconds behind her. “Olivia, my baby girl, I love you.”