Chapter 36
CHAPTER 36
LEAH
I know it’s only been a week, but Monaco feels like a lifetime ago. Life has moved on, and Gabriel and I have fallen into a pattern of work, dinner, exercise, gaming, movies or television shows, spending much of our free time together. Today however is a girls’ day.
“So when will you find out if this round of insemination has worked?” Stella asks when we meet up for dinner.
“Next week,” I say, wanting to change the subject. The thought of my period coming is horrifying, but then again, more sex.
“Are you blushing?” Nat asks.
“No, why would I be blushing? It’s just hot in here,” I say, wanting my friends to drop the subject.
“No, it’s not. It’s bloody freezing,” Stella states, pulling on her coat and glaring at the waiter, who quickly walks over and turns down the air-con unit, bashing out ice-cold air from above us.
“Sorry, ladies,” he says, eyeing up Stella before he leaves.
Stella watches him go, then dramatically fans herself. “The temperature definitely has gone up in this place. ”
Nat and I burst into giggles. I’ve missed seeing my friends. When I lived with Vince, we had regular girls’ nights, as Vince was often out with his work colleagues, but it’s not something we can do while I’m living with Gabriel. It wouldn’t be fair.
“When’s the apartment going to be ready? They seem to be taking their time.” Stella says. “We need to get back to our girls’ nights.”
The apartment is ready, but Gabriel has been in no hurry for me to leave. We’ve kind of fallen into a pattern.
“Gabriel is still waiting on some of the furniture,” I lie, crossing my fingers under the table. Unsure, I want to tell them how I’ve not only milked my boss for his sperm but how I’m curling up next to him every night in his bed, even though I’m no longer in my fertile period.
“Where’s it coming from? Outer Mongolia?” Stella asks.
I give them an awkward laugh. “Probably, knowing Gabriel.”
Stella squints her eyes and stares at me, and I pause. “Something is going on,” Stella says. “Look at her, Nat. She’s hiding something.”
Nat turns and stares at me, my cheeks blaze. “Oh. My. God. You’re right,” Nat says, turning in her chair and facing me. “Spill sister. Since when do we keep secrets from one another?”
I look between them and feel my shoulders sag.
“I knew it!” Stella says. “Our Leah’s been holding out on us. Does this have anything to do with your yummy boss man?”
My hands fly to my cheeks.
“It does,” they both squeal together, getting some sharp looks from some of the other tables.
“Shhh,” I hiss .
“Then you’d better spill the beans,” Stella whispers loudly as she and Nat lean forward.
I draw in a deep breath before letting the air whistle through my teeth.
“Maybe we should get out of here,” I say, not wanting to have this conversation overheard.
“That’s it.” Stella looks at the waiter, who has his gaze fixed on her and calls him over.
“Hi,” she says, giving him her best smile. “Can we change our order for one to go? Something has come up, and we need to leave.”
“Certainly, madam,” he says.
“It’s Miss,” she says, flicking her hair, making me choke on the water I’ve just swallowed.
Stella shoots me a glare as he walks away. “Some of us have to get it where we can,” she says, wagging her eyebrows.
Stella’s cute waiter returns in record time with our food and bill. We clear the bill and head out. Stella chuckles when she finds a handwritten note in the bag along with our food.
“Well, it looks like things may be moving out of the dry era,” she says, waving the note, making Nat and I groan.
“It’s okay for you two. You’re clearly getting some. Have some sympathy for Mr Rabbit. He’s been working overtime lately.”
“Too much info,” Nat says, covering her ears.
“Good for you.” I laugh, sliding my arm through my friends.
“Where to?” I ask, when we reach the taxi rank.
“Mine. My flatmate is away, so we have the freedom to talk and when I say talk, sister, you are spilling all the salacious details.”
I smile. Gabriel asked me whether I’d spoken to Stella or Nat about our relationship. He was surprised when I said no. He knows they are my friends and can be trusted. However, I wasn’t ready to share or jinx what we’ve started. Protecting my heart was the wiser choice.
A taxi drops us off outside Stella’s apartment block. I pay him off before heading upstairs.
“Nat, you grab the plates. Leah, you grab the glasses,” Stella says, heading towards the cutlery drawer.
We dish up our food in the kitchen and head to the sofa.
“Spill,” Stella says, taking a mouthful of her noodles.
“Fine,” I huff. “But what I tell you stays between us,” I say, only to be met with, really expressions from both my friends.
“I have to say it. Then I get to sleep tonight rather than worry,” I say, shrugging. It’s something we’ve always had since college. Watertight friendship when told. “You know Gabriel and I are trying for a baby,” I state, and they both nod. “Well, things have kind of changed.” I bury my head in my hands until I feel them being pried away from my face.
“Changed?” Stella asks although I can hear the excitement in her voice.
I cover my cheeks with my hands and explain how the artificial insemination kits failed and how we had clinical sex, only it wasn’t all that clinical. How he took me to Monaco.
Stella’s jaw drops. “I knew it. He’s just too hot to keep your hands off. I’m surprised you lasted as long as you did. I bet I’m right. He’s a tiger in the bedroom. The quiet ones always are.”
I know my wide eyes and puce complexion have just given the game away.
“Oh... Oh... I need to live voraciously through you. Spill, girlie, or I might have to torture you.”
Nat looks between Stella and me, her brow furrowed until it smooths out as the realisation dawns. “You’re in a relationship with Gabriel?” she says, her eyes as wide as saucers .
“Er, no. We’re fake dating. His family thinks we’re together. It will be easier for them when the baby arrives to think we were in a relationship.”
“Leah, hon, if you’re having sex. I hate to point it out, but that isn’t a fake relationship. That’s a sexual relationship.”
I huff. This is why I didn’t want to say anything. I knew they wouldn’t understand.
“Fine,” I say. “If you want to name it. We’re in a sexual relationship.”
A frown mars both my friends’ brows.
“Leah?” Stella says.
I sigh. Stella knows me, perhaps better than anyone. We’ve been friends for sixteen years.
“I know it wasn’t supposed to be like this. When the kits failed, it would have meant waiting another month, and we tried the natural method.” I don’t go into any more details.
“Okay. So clinical. I can go with that,” Stella says.
I drop my chin to my chest. “It started out clinical, only?—”
“He turned out to be hung like a horse and knew how to play your lady parts like a finely tuned violin,” Nat says, making both Stella and I stare at her open-mouthed.
“What?” she says. “The man is sex on legs. I know I’m with Rory, and I love the man. But I’m not blind. There’s no way you could have clinical sex with a man like Gabriel Frazer—” Nat smacks her hand over her mouth.
I bite my lip, trying hard not to laugh. I don’t think I’ve ever heard my friend so forward.
Stella nods, her eyes full of mischief “If you think you can get away with keeping this to yourself, no way, bestie. We need deets.”
“Stella!” Nat squeals, laughing. “But she’s right... spill.”
I roll my eyes. “For me to know,” I say.
Something about my relationship with Gabriel doesn’t want to have us giggling about it like school kids. Also, this is going to be the father of my child.
“I have no complaints, though,” I say, throwing them a bone, knowing I must be glowing like a lightbulb.
Stella looks at me, her eyes surveying me. “If that’s all you’re going to say about it, and the fact you’re glowing, you must like him,” Stella states, taking a sip of her wine while pushing me a juice.
“It’s complicated,” I say, knowing I’m in trouble. However much I try to tell myself we’re only friends with a common goal, the more I know I’m lying to myself. Gabriel has become so much more.
“Please be careful,” Stella says.
Too late for that, but if we have a child, at least I’ll be able to focus on that when we finally walk away.
Three hours later, I jump in a taxi and make my way to Gabriel’s apartment. The doorman greets me with a welcoming smile, and I make my way upstairs. The apartment is dark when I enter, and I wonder whether Gabriel has gone to bed.
I make my way to our games room and tap on the door.
“I’ve got to go, Leah’s home.”
“Speak soon, have fun,” a woman’s voice comes across the speaker.
“You too.”
I enter the room, and Gabriel jumps up, walking towards me.
“Who was that?” I ask, knowing I sound jealous and hating myself for it. We don’t have and never will have that kind of relationship, but if Gabriel has another woman, I want him to be upfront about it .
“Kat. You don’t need to worry.” Gabriel wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me against him. “My sister,” he adds.
“Sorry, it’s none of my business,” I say, dropping my chin and resting my forehead against his chest.
“It kind of is,” he says then adds, “I will always be upfront with you, Leah. It’s the only way I know how to be. Whatever this is between us, we have to be honest and open if it’s going to work.”
I look up and smile. “Speaking of honest, I told the girls about us tonight.”
Instead of being cross, he smirks.
I smack his chest. “No, I didn’t tell them any details, only what we’re doing.”
“Well, Stella thinks I’m hot ,” he says, letting me know he heard my best friend’s comment the day I moved in downstairs.
“You heard that, huh?”
“I did, but I waited to see what you said, and I was sorely disappointed you didn’t make a comment.” Gabriel runs his tongue along the seam of my lips.
I pull back and stare up at him, my hands resting on his waist. “Is that so?” My heart rate picks up. Did Gabriel fancy me then?
“Totally. I needed to know whether I needed to reprimand a member of staff for thinking inappropriate thoughts about another member of staff,” he adds, raising his eyebrow.
“And what would you have done to reprimand me?” My voice getting huskier.
Gabriel drops his lips to my neck and kisses his way up my throat and along my jawline. It’s only when my back hits the wall that I realise he’s manoeuvred us backwards.
He captures both my hands in one of his and raises them above my head, his lower body pressing into me. His free hand snakes up and grips my jaw.
“Now that would depend,” he says, his voice low, his breath light against my lips.
I moan as his arousal presses into my stomach.
“But then you didn’t, so the point is moot.”
Gabriel steps away from me, and I squeak at his loss. He smiles, which is something that comes much more readily to him these days.
I step towards him, this time spinning him around so he’s against the wall.
I nibble along his jawline, and he drops his head back against the wall. Allowing me to explore his body with my hands. I kiss my way down his neck, and lower. Before long, I’m kneeling, my hands working on his belt and zipper.
“Leah,” he moans as I release his cock from his boxers.
I take his silken shaft in my hand and pump it twice before sliding my tongue over the tip. I run my tongue up and down the underside, teasing the area of skin just below the head. Gabriel’s hands sink into my hair, guiding me. His moans spurring me on.
I worship him with my tongue and mouth, licking the pre-cum from his throbbing cock until he grips me under the arms and pulls me up, slamming his mouth against mine before scooping me up and walking to the desk in the corner. He turns me away from him, pulling up my skirt and shoving my panties down. We both groan as his fingers find my soaking wet entrance. Without a word, he runs his cock up and down my slit, coating himself in my juices before slamming home. My body stretches to accommodate him, and I press back against him. We’ve had so much sex that my body is used to his invasion now. I moan, resting my weight on my forearms as Gabriel pushes into me from behind, forcing the air from my lungs, his hands gripping my hips .
“That feels good,” I say, looking over my shoulder at the man commanding my body.
“Only good?” He questions before circling his hips and pushing back into me, hitting my G-spot and cervix over and over.
“Better than good.” I pant. “Deeper.”
Gabriel practically lifts me off the ground as he circles his hips, plunging into me again and again. One hand snakes around us to my clit. Two flicks and I’m falling apart beneath him.
“That’s it -take all of me,” he says as he continues to thrust hard and fast into me.
“Oh,” I grunt as his balls slap against my clit. My body contracts hard around him and my muscles quiver.
Gabriel slows his tempo, slowly pushing in and pulling out. I can feel the pressure building in his rock-hard cock.
“That’s it,” he says, and I lower my hand between us and grasp his balls, massaging them.
He freezes and shudders. His cum emptying deep inside me.
He withdraws and grabs a tissue, but not before the evidence of him leaks out.
“I love that sight,” he says, his fingers running through the mess we’ve made, cupping me with his hand.
My core contracts at his words and touch.
Whatever I told the girls this evening, I know I’m in trouble. This man is so much more than I ever imagined, and I’m going to need to find a way to protect my heart if I’m to survive this.