Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
Gabriel
She watched me.
She watched me jack myself off, and then she got herself off. Quite possibly the most erotic thing I’ve ever experienced in my life. Her eyes were so unfocused at the end she didn’t even realize mine were open as we both came. My breathy ‘ querida ’ was for her benefit, so she knew I came with her on my mind and her name on my lips. And then she ran.
Obviously, I can’t chase her. And she seems to need the space.
I leisurely get dressed before heading down to the ballrooms where our meet-and-greet is this evening. I grab a drink and find a chair in the corner so I can observe and wait for Monica to come in. After thirty minutes, when she still hasn’t shown up, I decide to go look for her. As I approach the lobby, I see her sitting outside on a bench .
Heading outside, I can tell she’s on the phone.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she says as I walk up behind her. I don’t mean to eavesdrop, but her voice sounds frightened, and she seems a shadow of her normal self. I can hear a male voice shouting through the phone, but I can’t tell what he is saying. I assume it’s the boyfriend. “Marcus, you can’t come up here. I’m working.”
What the fuck? He wants to come here? I’ll be damned if I share a room with her and her boyfriend.
“There’s nothing going on with him and me. You’re being dramatic.” My heart constricts as I realize she’s talking about me. “It doesn’t matter about him. What matters is I’m telling you that I don’t want to see you anymore.”
Holy shit.
Is she ending it with him?
Completely unexpected, but now I’m hopeful. Finally, we can figure out what this is between us. Contrary to what Monica told the guy, there is something between us, and something is going on here.
“No. Do not go to my apartment again. I’m having the locks changed. I don’t want to see you again, Marcus. We’re done. Don’t call me again,” she says as she ends the call and throws her phone into her bag with an aggravated sigh.
“ Querida ,” I say quietly, which makes Monica jump up and whirl around.
“Were you listening to me?” she shouts as waves of anger come off her body.
I put my hands up in surrender. “I didn’t mean to. I just heard the last few things you said. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“I’m fine, Gabriel. Mind your own damn business,” she mutters as she grabs her bag and flounces past me. I can’t help but grab her forearm.
“I’m not the enemy here, Monica. Regardless of what you might think.”
Pain covers her eyes as she stares at me. She pulls her arm out of my grasp and takes a step out of my reach.
“I’m beginning to think all men are the enemy, Gabriel.”
Monica turns and walks back into the hotel as I stand stock still. It’s obvious she’s had some bad relationships in her past. I can’t predict whether we have a future, but I know I’ll be working against more than one lousy guy to convince her I’m the exception, not the rule.
The evening flies by. Each time I find Monica and attempt to make my way to her, I’m stopped by an acquaintance or someone I barely know. By the time I finish that pointless conversation, Monica has snuck away again. It’s almost midnight when I finally manage to escape back to the hotel room. I’m not surprised to find Monica already in bed, with a wall of pillows separating the two halves of the bed. I told her I’d sleep on the floor, but obviously, she wouldn’t let that happen. I quietly undress and brush my teeth before sliding into bed. Typically I sleep naked, but I keep my boxer briefs on. While Monica will undoubtedly never admit to watching me in the shower today, I figure if she wakes up and finds me naked, she’ll be extremely uncomfortable.
I don’t say a word as I listen to Monica’s steady breathing. I can’t tell if she’s asleep or not. I wish I could throw the pillows and drag her into my arms. I want her against me, my nose buried in her hair, as we both relax and fall asleep together. Monica sighs and turns over, so she’s facing me. She’s so fucking beautiful.
I fall asleep thinking of her, like every other night since we met .
I don’t expect to wake up with her on top of me.
Literally on top of me. Fully from head to toe. Her head is wedged between my chin and chest, and her toes are against my shins. My arms are wrapped tightly around her waist, and my dick, my rock-hard dick, is jammed into her stomach.
Then she shimmies. She fucking shimmies, and I can’t help but groan. I take the opportunity to smell her hair, breathing her in. I know she will wake up any second and jump out of bed. Her hair smells like jasmine, and right as I take another deep inhale, I hear her gasp.
“What are you doing, Gabriel?” she whispers.
“Smelling you,” I admit.
“Why are you holding me? You told me you’d be a gentleman!” she hisses.
“I was a gentleman, querida . I stayed on my side of the bed,” I point out. Monica’s head pops up as she takes in the room. Yeah, she did this. I’m exactly where I was when I came to bed last night.
“Oh my God,” she whispers. Her head drops to my chest, and my hands reflexively clutch her closer to me.
“I’m not complaining, querida . On the contrary, this is a fantastic way to wake up,” I tease her.
“I’m mortified.”
“Don’t be.”
“Seriously? I basically took advantage of you and … and …” she trails off.
“And what?”
“Jesus, I’m still on top of you! Let me go.”
“I don’t want to,” I confess.
“What?”
“ Querida . Just let me have this for one more minute. Please,” I whisper. I begin trailing my fingers up and down her spine, and she shivers. Monica moves her legs slightly, forcing the sheet to slide down slightly. I’m suddenly aware she’s only in a tank top and panties. “Jesus Christ, Monica.”
Monica doesn’t respond, but she also doesn’t attempt to cover herself. I take that as an opportunity to continue. With one hand still stroking her spine, my other hand slides down to cup her ass. I feel her heartbeat increase against my chest, mirroring my own. I squeeze her ass, and we both groan in unison. My other hand slides up into her hair, and as I’m about to move her head so I can kiss her, a cell phone rings.
Monica launches herself out of bed and grabs my phone, throwing it at me, before running into the bathroom and slamming the door. I hear the lock on the door click as she shuts me out again.
Fucking hell. I look at my phone and see it’s my m?e calling. It’s lovely still getting cockblocked at forty-five.
“Hello, mama,” I say after answering the call.
“ Bom dia, meu filho ,” my mother answers. She refuses to speak completely in English, and I refuse to speak completely in Portuguese. Our phone conversations are a mess. She proceeds to ask me about my real estate conference, who I’m attending with, and when I’ll be arriving home to visit her in a few days. Once she finds out Monica is here with me, she’s suddenly fully speaking in English, and I’m talking in Portuguese.
“Is she the one?” she asks.
“I don’t know,” I answer.
Monica emerges from the bathroom wrapped in two towels, grabs her suitcase, and drags it back into the bathroom. I chuckle at her modesty.
“Will she be coming home with you this weekend?” my mother asks.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“It’s not like that, mama. We’re not there … yet. ”
“Yet?”
“It’s a work in progress.”
“Is she worth it?”
“I believe so, yes. But it’s complicated.”
“Love always is, Gabriel. But the one you love, the one that completes you, makes it all worthwhile.”
“Is that how you feel about pai ?” I ask, and she barks out a laugh.
“Your pai infuriates me. But I’d never be happier with someone else,” she tells me with a laugh.
“I’ve been down this road before, mama. It didn’t end well.” My marriage was a disaster.
“You act as if all pussycats are the same,” she says with a snicker.
“ M?e !” I may be in my mid-forties, but no man wants his mother to be talking about pussy like this.
“Gabriel. Your ex-wife was a conniving cadela .” Yes, she was a conniving bitch. I’m sure she still is. I was blinded by the fairytale Courtney created and how our life would be. Turns out, she wanted my medical insurance and to fuck my soldiers when I deployed. By the time my year deployment was up, she had cleared all our bank accounts, stolen half of my furniture, had the divorce finalized, and was shacking up with a lieutenant. She’s since dropped him and nabbed a Major. Courtney was slowly stair-stepping her way up the Army ranks. I’m just thanking my lucky stars I had a vasectomy years ago and couldn’t get her pregnant. Being connected to that woman for a lifetime would be horrid.
“Mama. It taught me not to trust my heart,” I admit.
“Not all women are out to get you. The right woman will come along and give you everything you need. And she’ll need everything you can offer. You can count on that, filho .”
We spend a few more moments talking and confirming my flight information for the weekend. Typically I would drive, as it’s only about twelve or thirteen hours, but I can only stay for two days and would prefer to spend as much time with my family as I can.
As I end the call, Monica finally comes out of the bathroom.
“Sorry if I took too long,” she says, clearly avoiding eye contact.
“Not an issue. My mother called.”
“Oh.”
“Monica.”
“Hmm?”
“Look at me, querida ,” I demand. Monica’s eyes raise to mine, and I see her square her shoulders as she faces me. Defiant little spitfire. My cock twitches in my boxer briefs, and since I’m still mostly naked and sitting on the bed, I pull my knees up to keep my erection from Monica’s view. That Italian sass is so fucking attractive.
“What?” she asks.
“You have nothing to be embarrassed about,” I tell her. Her eyes narrow.
“I’m not embarrassed about anything. You’re the one that should be embarrassed. Your morning wood was trying to poke through my stomach,” she retorts. I can’t help the grin that covers my face. God, I love a good banter.
“I should be embarrassed about morning wood? What every man over the age of fourteen deals with every damn day?”
“Well, yeah. I guess. I’m going downstairs to get breakfast,” Monica murmurs as she makes a huge show of looking around for her shoes.
As she’s about to open the door, I decide to ask her one last thing. “How’d you like the show yesterday afternoon?”
I see her spine stiffen as her entire body stills. We could probably hear a pin drop against the fucking carpet it’s so quiet in here.
“What do you mean, Gabriel?” she asks quietly.
“Oh, I think you know exactly what I mean, querida ,” I respond as I get off the bed and walk toward her. I stand behind her and hear her sharp intake of breath as I bend down to put my mouth next to her ear. “You came with my name on your lips, just like I did with yours.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she stammers.
“Don’t play coy, anjinho . It’s not your style,” I whisper against her ear. I let my tongue slide out and touch the lobe lightly, making Monica whimper. “I’ll see you downstairs.”
I walk into the bathroom and turn to see Monica still standing, her eyes closed and her body swaying slightly. I chuckle as I close the door. I make sure to fully close it this time.
The next time Monica sees my dick, it will be right before I fuck her senseless.