Baggage & Buttons (11 page)

‘Ok, we’ll go to the zoo, are you free to go
Saturday?’ he asked as he put another spoonful in my mouth.

‘You don’t swim on a Saturday?’ I asked, licking my
lips.

‘No, I usually have an early run on a Saturday, which
I can still fit in. So I’d be good to go by nine. I’ll look into it and find
out where the nearest zoo with pandas is for you and I’ll book somewhere nice
to take you out to eat in the evening.’ He fed me some more.

‘God seriously, this is
really
good. I’m going
to have to go to the gym with you if you keeping feeding me like this.’ He
grinned as he scrapped the bottom of the pot.

‘I love watching you eat and fuck, you look so happy
doing both.’

‘Well duhhhh. Sex or food alone are amazing, but mix
them together like the other morning and they’re a winning combination,’ I said
smiling, remembering the strawberry and ice cubes.

‘You liked that did you?’

‘I like everything we do together,’ I replied blushing,
which made him smile even more.

‘Me too. So it’s nine thirty. What would you like us
to do together now?’

‘I’d love to take that unfinished champagne upstairs,
have another bath with you to relax after that amazing session on the pool
table, then snuggle in your huge bed and watch some TV.’

‘Deal.’ He lifted me up into his arms again, he made
it look so easy and it made me feel so good. I kissed him and grabbed the
champagne bottle as he carried me up to his bedroom suite and through to the
bathroom. We spent over forty minutes in there, taking turns to swig from the
bottle as we sat at either end of the bath, with our legs between each other’s.
We chatted and laughed about nothing in particular and he had to keep draining
and re-running the water to keep it hot and he’d make me blush every now and
again, with the way he would look at me, all tenderly.

I asked him about the house. They’d only been here ten
years, so I worked out that this wasn’t the house his mother had her fall in
and I was relieved. To have had to run up and down those stairs everyday
would’ve been horrendous for him and his dad. He got out first and wrapped a
pale grey towel around himself. I lay back and admired him, biting my lip as I
smiled and he caught me staring and smiled back.

‘Now that’s the look I get on my face when I see you
half dressed. Lie there and relax, I’ll be back in a while.’

‘Where are you going?’

‘I can’t tell you that, it would ruin the surprise.’

‘What surprise?’

‘It’s our one week anniversary.’

‘Well I know that, but you’ve already given me
flowers, cooked a lovely meal for me and played a very saucy game of pool.’

‘The flowers were an apology, not a gift. I’ve got
something else for you.’ He blew me a kiss before leaving and pulling the door
behind him. I felt really bad that I’d not got anything for him to open. I’d
never been in a relationship where I’d ever wanted to celebrate anything, I
wasn’t even aware that people celebrated things like their first week together.
I hoped that the surprise I was getting done for him tomorrow would make up for
it. I lay back and closed my eyes and must’ve drifted off, as I was startled
when Gabe planted a kiss on my lips, and I looked up to find him still wrapped
his towel.

‘That’s a
seriously
sexy look on you,’ I smiled,
hoping I could rip the towel off any second and take advantage of what
perfection lay beneath, again.

‘Thank you.’ He pulled me up and helped me over the
edge before throwing another fresh grey towel around me and using the edges to
pull me into him. I tilted my head back, looking up to study his face, he was
so handsome, in fact I’d go so far as to say beautiful. With that bone
structure, he really should be a model, he was the whole package,
my
whole
package. I make a little throaty groan as I saw the way he looked down at me,
it sent a surge of lust through my core. I nipped at his jawline with my teeth
and he chuckled, released me, secured the towel around my chest and took my
hand and led me out of the bathroom.

As he opened the door to the bedroom I gasped, he’d
closed his white shutters and set up little tea lights on the windowsills,
bedside tables, the TV unit and oriental chest. There were so many that the
room had a beautiful soft glow. There was a square flat box wrapped in purple
wrapping paper sitting in the middle of his bed.

‘God Gabe, it looks so beautiful,’ I smiled, touched
at the effort he’d gone to. ‘You did all that for me? For one week together?’

‘It’s been the best week of my life, excepting that
little blip yesterday. I wanted you to know that, I want you to know how
special you are to me.’

‘I do know that, you tell me every day Gabe and I
adore you for being so romantic.’ I linked my fingers with his and squeezed.

‘You adore me?’ he exclaimed, with mock horror on his
face. ‘Haven’t you just crossed a line with one of your sex no strings rules?’

‘For you it seems I’m prepared to break many of my
rules. In fact, as a present to you, I’m going to drop my all of my rules, except
the one about no sex with anyone but me. Is that ok?’

‘That’s an amazing present, are you sure?’

‘Yes I’m sure.’

‘Then that makes me even happier.’ He cupped my face
and kissed me.

‘I’m glad, I like seeing you happy too Gabe. I can’t believe
you’ve done all this for me.’

‘I’ve never done this for anyone Mia, I’ve never
wanted to, but you seem to bring out a romantic side in me that I didn’t know I
had.’

‘It’s a lovely side of you Gabe.’ I smiled and reached
up and stroked his cheek. I felt touched that I was the first girl he’d done
anything like this for. The thought of him being like this, loving and romantic
with another woman, would just be too painful to handle. The sex side was bad
enough. I had to keep telling myself that they were all one night stands that
he didn’t desire, kiss, lick, or gently touch. That he hadn’t learnt how to
make a woman orgasm so well by practising on them until he got it right. In my
mind they had to be just meaningless vessels to empty himself into the once,
before he discarded them. Even though I knew I was lying to myself, it was the
only way I could deal.

‘I just want to make you happy,’ he whispered
squeezing my hand even harder bringing me back to the now.

‘You do Gabe, more than anyone has, I promise.’ I
watched his face light up at my declaration and I had to break away from his
gaze and drop my head, it was too intense.

‘Do you want to see what’s in the box?’

‘It’s too much already and I’ve nothing to give
you
,’
I mumbled. He pulled me into him and tilted my head up and kissed me softly.

‘You’ve already given me so much Mia, so much more
than you promised at the start and just to see you smiling like this, well it
gives me everything that I need.’ He led me to the bed, picked me up far too
easily and sat me down in the middle of it, before climbing up next to me. He
reached for the box and handed it to me. ‘Open it.’

‘Gabe, seriously, I don’t need a gift.’

‘Do as you’re told for once Mia, to please me, I want
you to have it.’

I carefully unwrapped the paper and found a wide
shallow gold box inside. I opened it looking at him and he just smiled happily back
at me. Inside was a black suede bag and when I reached into it, I pulled out a
heavy solid silver hammered halo bangle.

‘Gabe it’s beautiful,’ I gasped. I adored silver
jewellery.

‘I had it engraved for you on the inside,’ he said
with a nod of his head. I tilted it to find four dates engraved in small font,
the day I now knew he first saw me, the day I agreed to go out with him, the day
we first kissed and had sex and a final one.

‘I know why you chose the first three and I know what
we did on the fourth, I’m just not sure why you picked it?’

‘For two reasons, it was the day I told you about my
mum and you were so sweet to me, it really meant a lot.’

‘It meant a lot to me too.’ I reached out and stroked
his lower lip and he kissed my finger. ‘What was the other reason, the
handcuffs?’

‘Noooo,’ he laughed. ‘God I was so bloody mad with you
at the time. I prefer you wearing them, but the part where you ordered me about
was quite a turn on, it’s never happened before, I’m not used to that.’

‘You didn’t choose it for me helping you to pee?’ I
asked, as I registered what he’d just said, about not being used to being
bossed around and enjoying it. That was definitely filed away in my sexual to
do list.

‘
No
,’ he laughed again. ‘I’d like to think I
can
be a little more romantic than that. It’s the first time I’ve ever made love to
a girl, instead of just fucking, I thought it warranted being remembered.’ I
smiled at him, pleased to hear that and I swore he actually went a little pink
for once.

‘Gabe I love it, I really do. I can’t believe you went
to all this effort.’

‘There’s room for me to add more dates as they occur
and anything that makes you smile like that is so worth the effort.’

I slipped it onto my right wrist and spun it, admiring
it and then pushed him onto his back and jumped on him.

‘Gabe Austin you’re so getting laid again.’

‘I thought you just wanted to snuggle and watch TV and
now you want me for my gifts and my body?’ he teased.

‘I’ll always want you for your body Gabe. Your gifts
are just an added generous and very romantic bonus.’ I leaned in and kissed him
and he rolled me back onto my back and undid my towel, exposing my body, which
was already primed for him.

He put on yet another condom and moved back in to kiss
me gently, as I wrapped my legs around his waist. He made love to me again,
like he had that other night, our eyes locked, fingers entwined above my head,
the sound of our breathing and sighing filling the room and I cried again when
we both came. With my legs still wrapped around his waist, he lifted me, pulled
back the duvet and gently placed me into his bed. I let go of him and he
covered me back up.

‘I need some water, can I get you anything baby?’

‘Do you have any juice, I feel a bit shaky.’

‘Is everything ok?’

‘I think it’s a combination of too many orgasms, too
much excitement and the fact that my tummy’s aching again. I’m due on soon,’ I
said with a heavy sigh, trying to break it gently to him.

‘You didn’t tell me how you got on at the doctors this
morning, what’s going on?’

‘They’re sending me for a scan to see if anything’s
wrong.’ I couldn’t tell him yet what they’d actually said, he looked so happy right
now and I knew he’d just worry. He leaned over and gently stroked my face.

‘Then I’m going to get you some apple juice, some
chocolate and a hot water bottle and we’re going to curl up together and
relax.’

‘You’re a wonderful boyfriend Gabe Austin,’ I whispered.
He smiled and went to his wardrobe and came out wearing a pair of dark grey
boxers and he had a plain grey t-shirt in his hands, which he held out for me
to take.

‘Here put this on and I’ll be back in a while.’

‘I don’t need a t-shirt, you know I like sleeping
naked.’

‘I’d be happier if you wore it. I don’t want the hot
water bottle next to your soft skin,’ he said with a frown.

‘
Ok
, I’ll do as I’m told.’

‘That’ll be a first,’ he said with a raise of his
eyebrows as he disappeared.

I heard him run down the stairs and propped myself on
my elbows and looked around his room again. It was so masculine, but with a
softness to it that I really liked. The candles were still flickering and I
studied the two pictures opposite me again. The one of us holding hands was so
lovely. You couldn’t see our eyes, as we were staring at our fingers
interlocked, but the smiles on our faces were so sweet, we looked just like two
teenagers with serious crushes. I’d have to ask him for a copy of it.

I looked back over at the picture of me alone, it
fascinated me. How often did you see a picture of yourself looking like that?
Looking like you’d seen something you knew you had to have and your whole body
was turned on it an instant. The lust in my eyes as I stared was intense. I
could only imagine what that did to Gabe, lying here looking at it, knowing he
was the object of my desire. I was so annoyed that I couldn’t remember seeing
him, let alone being at that bar. I’d gotten so drunk at home, before we even
went out, but I remembered the next morning vividly, I’d been throwing up most
of the day.

I looked down and realised my fingers were playing
with my new bangle and smiled. How had I made it here, into this bed with a
seriously hot guy that really seemed to adore me? Years of hopping from one
boyfriend to the next, fleeing like a burglar from a crime scene the minute I
heard the words “
I love you Mia
” yet with Gabe … I just couldn’t explain
it, nothing about my reactions to him seemed to make sense. I was actually
having a serious relationship with someone. I let out a quick sharp burst of
air and shook myself out of my thoughts, before I terrified myself any further,
so much for a one night stand or sex no strings.