Chapter 36
36
GAbrIEL
I ’d had to come to the Obsidian for work, but I’d never been more miserable.
“Are you going to survive?” Killian sounded deeply unsympathetic as he leaned next to me, sipping slowly from his scotch. “It must be so painful, having scantily clad women throw themselves at you.”
I scoffed and took another sip of my drink.
“Speaking of the one woman who isn’t throwing herself at you…” Killian said, and I regretted telling him a damn thing. “I heard Celia will be here tonight.”
“I know. She is my wife.”
“Is she?” Killian asked innocently, taking another sip. “Wasn’t marrying her just a strategy? You two seem to be working well as business partners.”
“Quite. Speaking of women…are you still obsessed with Kara?”
He choked. “She’s a child.”
“Kara’s not a child.” I’d seen the way she looked at him.
“I watch out for her.” He shook his head. “It could never be…no. You’re ridiculous, Gabriel.”
“If it’s so ridiculous, why aren’t you taking advantage of the women throwing themselves at you ?” I nodded toward a pair of women making their way toward us, then immediately regretted it as our eyes collided, and she grinned at me with exuberant hunger. I turned my back, trying to keep my conversation with Killian private.
He gave me a too-knowing look. “Good luck.”
Then he was walking away, and I turned back to find the two women crowding me.
“Gabriel,” the blond said with a smile. “I feel like I never see you here anymore.”
“I’m waiting for someone.”
“Business or pleasure?” the dark-haired one asked.
“Business.” Unfortunately.
“Well, in the meantime…” the blond said, touching my arm. “Why don’t we have a drink?”
I looked down at her hand pointedly. “I’m married, I’m trying to be nice, and it’s not a strong suit of mine to begin with. If you touch me again, you’ll never use that hand again.”
She pulled away, looking shocked.
“Why?” she demanded, looking horrified, but she folded her hands in front of her as if she were making sure we didn’t touch even by accident.
“I already belong to someone.”
“Is that so?” The laugh from behind me was throaty, real. Celia .
My heart spiked in my chest.
The two women looked affronted to see her interrupt, but I barely registered them.
I turned to find her looking like a goddess in a cream-colored dress that hugged her curves. She’d dyed her hair back to its natural color, a caramel brown that set off her sparkling amber eyes. She looked familiar and strange at the same time, and I hated that I didn’t have the right to wrap my arms around her and kiss her hello.
“Go,” I ordered them, and they quickly headed away, making noises about how evil I was.
“ Do you belong to me, Gabriel?” she asked.
“We have work to do,” I said, not wanting to be drawn into a conversation about what I would do for her.
“Answer me first.”
“Yes,” I said, meeting her gaze. God, she was beautiful. Especially now with those big hazel eyes wide, with confidence in the way she carried herself. She still kept so much of herself private, but I loved that.
I just wanted her to be all real with me.
And because I wanted that so badly, I admitted, “Yes, Celia, I’m yours.”
“Then I’m yours.” She smiled up at me, fingering my tie, then began to gently tug me out of the lounge.
I took my tie out of her hands. “All right. You’ve very cute, but I didn’t have a personality transplant. That’s not going to work for me.”
She laughed at me over her shoulder as she left, though she didn’t try to tug me along anymore. And I followed her. Of course I did.
“What do you want from me, Celia?” I asked as we walked down the halls. I wasn’t sure where she was leading me. “Dante, Luca, and I have tried to give you space.”
Even though they slept in her house. I was jealous of the bastards, but it was more important to me to know she was safe. Even if it was without me.
“Is it finally over?” I demanded. “Because I’m not sure how much longer Luca can hold himself back.”
“Your little brother is kind of a psycho stalker, isn’t he?” she asked.
“Apparently, you like it.”
She pushed through a door. I followed her, only to find we were in the arena.
There was no one else here. But the spotlight was illuminating the stage.
At the center of the stage was the bed.
“Fuck me like you’re my husband, Gabriel.”
My cock couldn’t have been any harder. But I still needed to know one thing.
I caught her hand in mine and reeled her back to me. “ Am I your husband?”
She looked up at me in surprise.
“I want to fuck you, Celia. I want to make you scream. But what I want even more than that…is to bring you home afterward.” I examined her hand with her long, pale fingers…and my ring glinting on one of them. “I want you to be my wife.”
Her fingers wove through mine. “Why do you think I’m here? I came to find you. It was this or let Luca kidnap me.”
But she hadn’t gone to Luca or Dante. “You came to me.”
She gave me one of those imperious Celia looks, the ones that amused me when they were directed at other people. “Does that matter?”
“Yes.”
“You know Dante’s my favorite. You know Luca’s almost as much my obsession as I am his. You know I won’t accept anything but the three of you.”
“I assume Dante’s everyone’s favorite. And yet here you are, with me.”
She ran her hand up my chest. “Here I am. With you.”
I gripped her arms and kissed her hard. She tilted her head, welcoming me in. Her lips were soft and sweet, even though Celia’s face could be so cold and perfect.
I guided her back toward the bed, the one where I should’ve been the one to claim her that night in the Obsidian. I should’ve been good to her from the beginning; she should’ve been able to trust me like she trusted Dante.
But whatever. I wasn’t going to cry about the past.
“Strip for me, Celia.”
Her lips curved in a smile. At first, I thought she was going to refuse, to push her independence, to tell me to strip first.
I admired the woman she was to the rest of the world, cold and formidable. That was what made it all the more incredible to have her turn her back to me, running her hand up her neck to pull her long, silky hair out of my way. The graceful length of her neck, the silhouette of her curves, and a zipper for me to undo were in front of me.
I took the zipper and tugged it down, exposing inch after inch of soft skin. Her back arched, just slightly, as my knuckles skimmed her bare skin. The zipper ended a third of the way down her ass, revealing black lace.
She’d dressed for me. Not for the people she felt like she was supposed to put on a show for, like on our wedding day when she’d worn that corset that ratcheted her in. I liked the curve of her belly, the softness of her thighs. I slid my hand gently over that expanse of skin. She was even softer to the touch than she looked. There couldn’t be a better feeling in the world than her skin against mine.
She looked at me over her shoulder, her amber eyes wide. Her teeth caught her lower lip.
“Do I need to strip you?” I asked, running one hand over her shoulder to push the cream-colored fabric away. It slipped down on one side.
“Do what you want to me,” she said.
My cock strained against the front of my trousers. Fuck. She was perfect.
I slid the other side of her dress off, stopping to kiss her shoulder. The dress cascaded down her curves and pooled at her feet.
“Turn around.” My voice was rough with need.
She did, and I dipped my hand into the cup of her bra, palming her nipple. Her eyes drifted half shut at my touch, and she leaned into me, just slightly. I pushed her bra cup down to free her, loving the way she looked when her breast was exposed that way.
“You are so fucking gorgeous,” I told her.
She looked up at me and for the first time, Celia smiled like she might actually believe me when I complimented her. I was sure it would be an ongoing battle to drown out the voices in her head but then, I didn’t lose many fights.
Her deft fingers moved to the buttons on my shirt, undoing them one after another. Her gaze was hungry as she revealed inch after inch of tanned skin. When she reached the last button, she pulled my shirt loose from my belt, then ran her fingertips along my belt to release the buckle.
“Lay down on the bed,” I told her. “The way you did that night.”
But I didn’t think she’d ever really be the same as she had been that night, when she lay down believing that David was dead and rose knowing he was alive.
She stripped off her bra and stepped out of her underwear, leaving the lacy things on the arena stage. She lay down on the bed, looking every bit my ice queen.
I drew one of her legs up, placing her thigh on my shoulder, then the other. “Say it again.”
Her eyes smoldered up at me. “Fuck me like you’re my husband.”
I let out a groan and leaned over to press a kiss to her stomach. Her fingers twined through my hair, her back arching with need as I kissed my way down her thighs. I ran my tongue down her slit, needing to taste her.
She writhed, but she couldn’t move far when her thighs were on my shoulders. I lapped at her, loving the way she tasted on my tongue, but most of all the way her lips parted, the way her hips bucked, the way she lost control.
“Gabriel,” she murmured. Then her thighs tightened, her core clenching around my tongue. I lashed her mercilessly with my tongue, wrapping one arm around her thigh to hold her steady while I teased her clit with my tongue. She let out a sound that was half scream, pushed to the brink of pleasure, as she broke around me.
Finally, I rose—her hips bucked one last time, seeking more of me—and leaned over to kiss her. Her cheeks were flushed, and she looked up at me with a look that was more than need. Her lips were soft and warm, and she ran her hand over my shoulder, then my throat, to rest on my cheek. It was more tender affection than I probably deserved.
But then, I knew I didn’t deserve her, and yet, that wouldn’t stop me from taking her.
I gripped her thighs and pulled her to the edge of the bed so I could have her at my mercy. She didn’t fight me.
I felt my cock pressing between her thighs as the two of us traded kisses. Her lips parted against mine, welcoming me in, just as her thighs parted. I pulled back, taking her in, as I brushed the tip of my cock against her clit. She raised her head, watching me with those luminous amber eyes.
Then I thrust into her in one smooth, deliberate motion. She let out a gasp, her eyes widening as I stretched her, filling her until my balls slapped against her ass. My fingers found her clit and teased her as I set a merciless pace, taking what I needed from her.
“Gabriel,” she murmured again, her fingers twisting in the sheets until she tore them off the bed.
“You make me insane,” I told her softly.
Her lips curved up. “You were always insane.”
“Not like this. I never knew I could feel this way about someone. You’re my whole fucking world, Celia.”
I drove into her over and over again, feeling her tighten around me. Her back arched, and the two of us tumbled together into our orgasm.
For a few long moments, the two of us lay twined together. Slowly, the rest of the world came back into being. The two of us were naked together on the bed in the empty arena, and we couldn’t stay here.
“Let me bring you home,” I murmured.
I had been the one who destroyed our first chance at being a family with my foolishness.
I wanted to be the one who carried her home.
She nodded and smiled at me, her hand rising to cup my cheek. “Let’s go home.”