It was fun having to be quiet when all I wanted to do was scream. Even his hand over my mouth to hide my screams made me hot. And when I bit his palm, and he punished me with one of his wayward thrusts that seemed to be trying to reach my navel, I just laughed and bit his chest.
He hissed and went after my neck again, and I realized we’d never had this playfulness in bed before. All our earlier encounters had had a bit of the serious to them. Is that because he always knew that he’d be sending me away? The thought put a bit of a damper on my mood, and he seemed to notice right away.
“What is it?” He stopped moving and brushed the hair back from my face, but I still tried to hide my eyes.
“Are you going to leave us again?” I didn’t want to say it, didn’t want to ever be that vulnerable with him again. But I knew that he’d tell me the truth, and I wanted to hear it so bad.
Aside from coming back to save him and the fake fiancé bit, I needed to know that he really wanted me, us for good this time. “If you are, then we should stop.”
“Look at me!” I finally turned my eyes to his.
“I didn’t send you away because I didn’t want you or them. I did it…. I did it because I love you more than life itself. I did it because I didn’t want anything to happen to you, ever. I sent you away because I wanted at least part of my heart, the part that you’d taken to live on.”
I don’t know why but his answer made me sad. I hugged him close as my heart broke a little for the boy he used to be or the boy he’d pretended to be to hide the sadness within. He felt the tears that rolled down my cheeks and kissed each one away, begging me in between not to cry.
He held me so close, so tight that it hurt, but I didn’t care. I was just happy to be close again. When we started moving again, with purpose this time, I wanted what he wanted. Suddenly the idea of doing it all with Gabriel by my side seemed so exciting. And when we came together minutes later, and I was still in that euphoric bliss, I could well imagine it all. By morning I was back to wanting to kill him again—insufferable jackass.
GABRIEL
“I’ve already told you, none of you are leaving here. If there’s something you need, just say the word, and it’s yours.” Why does my patient tone set her off? She’s been like a grizzly ever since waking up this morning. Maybe I’d kept her up too late. It’s not my fault I find her body so appealing. Now that I don’t have impending death hanging over my head, I find new freedom in our lovemaking. In fact, I’m finding freedom in a lot of things that I never gave myself a chance to enjoy.
But as much as I have changed, she seems to have done some changing of her own. Her mouth, for one, has gone through a drastic metamorphosis. She never used to talk back before. In fact, I can count on one hand the times she’d raised her voice before and never at me.
Now she gives me looks, sucks her teeth, and rolls her eyes. Italian brat! “I’m guessing your ass isn’t sore anymore, right.” And the truth just positively enrages her. It’s like stating the obvious is anathema to her. I have to admit to riling her up just to watch her flounce around and glare at me with my hickeys on her neck.
She doesn’t want to fight in front of the kids, I’ve learned, so I find it the perfect opportunity to give her more rules while the kids are afoot. “None of you are to leave here without me. Tell my sisters they’ll have to wait on that shopping trip. I won’t be able to go for another day or so.”
“Who says you have to be there?”
“I do. And before you argue, understand that nothing is going to change, so decide if you want to waste your time or find something more constructive to do with it.”
“If you hit me,” I grabbed the fist she’d folded at her side and kissed her knuckles, “I will most definitely spank you again. Now go be a good girl and let me finish what I’m doing here, then I’ll take the four of you for a drive later.” As soon as she left to go into the other room, I got to work. I had about fifty notifications waiting, and fighting with her for the last ten minutes had cut into my time.