Chapter 45
CHAPTER 45
LEAH
S tella stands up and pulls me in for a hug.
“I’ve missed you,” she says, before holding me away from her. Her eyes roaming over me.
I grin and step back.
“It’s only been a month,” I laugh. “How was New York?”
She waggles her eyebrows. “Full of sexy American men, an amazing night life and lots of work, that prevented me from enjoying either,” she says dropping back into her seat and laughing.
“Well, you look well on it,” I say.
“I feel good,” she says. “They say, a change is as good as a rest, and it’s just what I needed. Enough about me. How are things with you and Mr Sexy?”
I suck in my lips to prevent my grin. “I’m pregnant,” I say with a gush. I hadn’t wanted to tell her over the phone. I wanted to see her reaction.
“What!” she screams, jumping up and pulling me out of my seat, oblivious to the other patrons of the coffee shop. “Oh. My. God.” She squeals. “I promise to be the best adopted aunty, godmother.” She grabs me again in another bear hug, before releasing me and placing her palms on my stomach. “This little one could ever ask for. You are going to be so loved and spoiled.”
Tears are glistening in her eyes. It’s my turn to pull her in for a hug.
“You daft bat,” I say, manoeuvring her back into her seat.
We sit smiling at one another until our drinks arrive.
“Does this mean you’re going to be moving back downstairs?” Stella asks, taking a sip of her drink.
I don’t say anything.
“Leah?”
“I don’t know,” I tell her honestly. “Gabriel and I haven’t discussed it.”
“But you will?” When I don’t say anything, she leans forward and grabs my hand. “Have you fallen for him?”
I think back to our weekend. The bitches and their snide comments, to Gabriel’s family, all of whom made me welcome despite our bombshell. All apart from Elijah, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that man has more issues than a tabloid newspaper.
“Oh, Leah, does he feel the same way?” I look over at Stella, her face a mask of sympathy.
“We haven’t discussed it,” I tell her honestly.
“I knew this was going to happen. You were never one for one-night stands... clinical sex, my ass. I doubt the man knows what clinical sex is. All the dark, silent, brooding testosterone.”
“Enough,” I say, unable to keep the laughter in. “Yes, to all of the above. But you don’t have to worry about me. I promise. I’m happy. Truly happy. Whatever this is. I’m enjoying myself. When it ends.” I take a deep breath and force a smile. “And I know it will. I will have had the best time. I’ll also be coming away with an amazing gift. ”
I let my hand wander to my stomach, where our tiny life is blooming.
A furrow appears between her brows. “But...oh hell. You’ve fallen in love with Gabriel Frazer.”
“No,” I say, although I realise the words are a lie as soon as they leave my mouth.
“Really? From where I’m sitting, I’d say that’s exactly what you’ve done. Does he love you too?” Stella asks quietly.
“It’s not something that’s come up. We told his family about our arrangement at the weekend.”
“And?”
“They took it remarkably well. Of course, they were shocked,” I admit.
“Leah. I’m worried,” Stella says, her face echoing her concern, her hand gripping my forearm.
“I know. But it’s complicated.” I sigh and shake my head. My heart clenches as I try to articulate what’s going on inside my head and heart. “I don’t know what to do. I need to talk to Gabriel. Reaffirm the terms and conditions we set out at the very start. Everything has changed. But, if I question them, it makes a mockery of everything I asked of him in the beginning. I don’t want our relationship to be awkward. Gabriel made it very clear from the outset that he didn’t do relationships. Apart from the sex, nothing else has changed.”
Although I know in my heart it has. We’re spending more and more time together. What started out as dinner, is now gaming, swimming, curled up watching old movies. But he knows there’s an end date. Is he merely pretending to keep me happy while I’m carrying our child? I know I’m overthinking things, but...
Stella flops back in her chair, her arms folded over her chest. “So clinical isn’t how it remained?”
I shake my head, not quite able to meet her gaze. Our sex life couldn’t be further from clinical if we tried .
“Oh, Leah,” she says. “Be careful. After what Vince did to you.”
“Gabriel is nothing like Vince. He certainly hasn’t promised me one thing and then gone back on it.”
“No, he’s made you fall in love with him. Now you’re going to have a child together. That links you for a minimum of eighteen years. What happens if he meets someone else, or you do?”
I feel my body sag, knowing she is only voicing the same fears I have.
“I don’t know,” I tell her truthfully, my eyes welling.
“You either need to talk to him or put some space between you,” Stella, the voice of reason, states.
I know she’s right. The tightness in my chest has grown since the weekend. I feel like I’m walking an emotional tightrope. But then Gabriel takes me in his arms, and it all disappears. We disappear back into the bubble we’ve created.
As if sensing I’ve reached the end of my rope, Stella leans forward and grips my hand. “When’s your first scan?” she asks, changing the subject.
I knock on Gabriel’s office door. The rest of the team has left for the evening.
“Hi,” Gabriel says, looking up. “How was lunch?”
I told him this morning I was meeting Stella.
“Good,” I say, not wanting to discuss what we spoke about here. This is our professional space, and we have kept it that way—mostly.
I move to the window and stare down at the offices and streets below.
Gabriel comes up behind me, his arms snaking around my waist, before dropping kisses on my neck. When I freeze, he stops.
He’s always too perceptive. “What’s wrong?”
I turn in his arms and drop my forehead to his chest, my arms around his waist.
“What are we doing?” I ask.
His finger tilts my chin until I’m looking up into his face. I flinch, unsure I want to see what’s written there.
“What do you mean?”
“Us?” I twist my head out of his grasp and step back. “Sorry, this is not the time or the place.”
I go to move around him, but he captures my upper arm, stalling me.
“What’s going on? I take it you talked to Stella. What did she say?” His voice is neutral.
“Nothing. She asked when I was moving out.” I look up into his face, and my heart stutters. “I told her about the baby.”
Gabriel nods, pulling me between his legs as he sits back against his desk.
“Was she unhappy? Is that it?”
“Oh gosh no, she’s thrilled. She can’t wait to be an aunty, godmother, whatever title she can adopt.” I laugh, thinking back to my friend’s excitement.
Gabriel smiles, and my breath catches. I drop my head onto his chest and his arms snake around me, making me once again feel safe and warm. What am I going to do when we finally call it a day?
“Her question threw me, that’s all,” I mumble against his shirt.
Gabriel pulls back, his body twisting so he can look at me. “Why?”
“She asked me questions I couldn’t answer,” I admit, finally looking up at his beautiful face. “What are we doing, Gabriel?” I ask. “We’re playing with fire. This is not what we agreed in the beginning.”
Gabriel takes my hand and interlinks our fingers. “Are you unhappy?”
My eyes fly to his. “No. I’m very happy.”
“Then what’s the problem? I know what we’re doing is unconventional. But is it wrong if we’re happy? Should it matter? Is it anyone else’s business? Do we have to label it?” he asks.
He pulls me back towards his body, and I yield. He drops a kiss on my forehead.
“I’m happy, Leah,” he mumbles against my hair. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt this happy.”
I wrap my arms around his waist as he tilts my head, claiming my lips, his kiss one of ownership and possession. I sink into it, my body unable to resist him.
His hand slides down my back and over my hip before lifting my skirt. His fingers trail over the material between my thighs.
“Always so wet for me,” he murmurs against my lips, his finger pushing the material to one side before sinking into me. I gasp and then groan against his lips as his finger pumps in and out, my thighs spreading before he draws my arousal up, using it to circle my clit with his thumb. “Always wanting,” he says as I purr at his wicked fingers, my body pressing into his.
“Gabriel,” I gasp as he spins me around, spreading me across his desk before moving to stand between my thighs.
I part my legs willingly as Gabriel pulls my panties off, stuffing them in his pocket.
He pushes my skirt up. “Lie back,” he says, placing a hand on my chest, pushing me back so I’m resting on my elbows, but can still see everything he’s doing.
“Hum,” he says, before looking up as if remembering the office door. He walks around and closes it, flipping the lock. “Just in case.”
He smirks.
Gabriel moves back between my thighs, his eyes ravenously fixated on my exposed and now dripping pussy.
He sits down in his chair, scooting himself forward. “Now, Ms Walker, from what I understand, you’ve worked hard today. Maybe I should give you a reward.”
I gasp as his hands slide under my ass, pulling me towards his mouth. His eyes lock with mine.
His tongue snakes out, licking me from my centre to my clit, before his mouth suckles on my sensitive bundle of nerves. My head drops back as his fingers find my entrance, circling and stretching me, just as he knows I like.
“Eyes on me,” he demands, pulling my gaze back to his dark one as his mouth continues to torment me, the pressure of my building orgasm growing.
“Gabriel.” I moan as he spears me with his tongue, his fingers rubbing faster and faster circles. My orgasm has me clutching his head, my hands locked in his hair as he continues to feed my spasms, until I’m lying across his desk, exhausted. So much for professionalism in the workplace!
Before I can catch my breath, Gabriel’s hand slides up my front and under my blouse, cupping my breast. Since finding out I was pregnant, my breasts are tender, but they love Gabriel’s mouth and hands. I unbutton my blouse, letting it fall open. The look of possession he has is one I want to memorise.
Gabriel stands up, my juices glistening on his lips. He continues to watch me as he bends over, sliding my bra cup to one side before taking my nipple in his mouth. His gaze holds mine as he slides two fingers into my still-quivering pussy before curling them up against my G-spot.
“I can’t,” I moan .
“We both know that’s a lie.” He smirks against my nipple as his thumb brushes my clit, drawing my hips up and off the desk.
Gabriel switches his attention to my other nipple as his fingers pump in and out of me, curling and stroking at the most sensitive spot. He’s learned all my weaknesses and knows how to play with my body until it’s screaming for more.
I feel the pressure building once more. My muscles begin to clench around his fingers, but he pulls back.
He unzips his trousers, pushing them down, exposing himself. I groan at the sight of him, angry and swollen, knowing it’s me who has made him that way.
“This time, you’re going to come on my cock,” he says, grunting as he presses himself into my opening, thrusting all the way in, in one motion.
My head drops back, and I moan. My body stretches to accommodate his size as he pumps in and out, twisting his hips, hitting my G-spot over and over. My nerves are fired up, needing more of this man. I stretch my legs wider, wanting him deeper.
“That’s it, good girl,” he says, cupping my ass in his hands and pulling me hard against him.
He pulls back.
“Look at how well we fit together. You spread out on my desk,” Gabriel says, making me look down at his dick, glistening with my juices.
I bite my lip as he inches back in.
“This is not quite right,” he says suddenly, and it’s then I realise he’s recreating the scene from my e-reader. “If I remember rightly.”
He pulls me up and spins me around, pressing my chest down onto his desk. My feet touch the ground, and he nudges them out. Before I can breathe, he is thrusting back inside me. My body welcomes him, drawing him deep. We both moan at the sensation. Gabriel drops himself over me, his mouth finding mine in an awkward kiss.
“I’m never going to look at my desk without thinking of you, and your hungry pussy,” he says, sliding in and out, my desire running freely down my thighs.
His hand snakes around, his fingers finding my clit, rubbing circles until I’m squirming beneath him.
“Ahhh, Gabriel,” I say.
“Are you happy?” he asks, his lips against my ear.
“Yes...so happy,” I say as another orgasm rockets through my body, squeezing him. Gabriel continues to circle my clit, wringing every ounce of my orgasm out of me, his own body twisting and thrusting until he too freezes. I feel him jerk deep inside me, coating my insides once more with his cum. He collapses onto my back, breathing hard.
“Good girl,” he says as he withdraws from me.
The exact words the character used in the book I was reading. Unlike the fictional character, however, Gabriel wipes away the evidence, pulling my skirt back into place before turning me around and straightening my bra and blouse.
“Panties?” I ask.
The wicked glint in his eyes is all the answer I need.
The distinct sound of the elevator door opening makes us both freeze.
Chatter appears, followed by the distinct sound of the door being tried. A key rattles in the lock.
“Shit.”
I straighten my hair and scoot around Gabriel’s desk, dropping into the chair opposite him as he does the same, zipping himself up as he throws the evidence into the bin.
The door opens, and the cleaner steps in, freezing at the sight of us .
“Oh, sorry,” he says. “I’ll come back later.”
“If you don’t mind, thank you,” Gabriel says, his attention focused on his screen.
I bite down on the inside of my cheek to prevent myself from laughing.
The door closes, and Gabriel looks up, his eyes sparkling.
“I can understand the thrill,” he says, as I giggle.
We narrowly escaped getting caught having sex in his office! Who am I, and what have I done with the professional Leah of old?