Dangerous for You (13 page)

“No. I want to be in you. Now.”

Quickly he sheathed himself and lifted me up. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him breathless. Pinned against the wall, I was open for his ravishment. Gabriel didn’t take the time to tease me. He thrust deep.

I tore my mouth away from his and cried out softly, trying my best to keep quiet and not get caught. He was just so large I couldn’t think of anything other than how deliciously full he made me. Gabriel branded me with each stroke. The sound of his breathing in my ear became the soundtrack of my happiness.

His fingers dug into my upper thighs. The bite added to the eroticism of our fervent joining. Gabriel’s muscles strained against mine. His hardness called to my softness, demanding that I submit. Instinctively, I swept my arms around his back, hungry for contact as he thrust faster. I squeezed from above and below.

Gabriel buried his face against my perfumed neck. I could feel he wasn’t going to last much longer. My love poured obsessively from my lips in a sonnet of passionate words and broken sighs. He answered with one final thrust before his large body shuddered.

The seconds slipped away. Nothing mattered but being in his arms for as long as we dared.

My eyes became drowsy. I could barely summon the energy to care if we ever left this room. Only the knowledge that Marie was waiting for us to come back kept me from asking Gabriel to call Waylon.

“Baby, I don’t want to leave you. Can’t I just stay inside you forever?” Gabriel’s breath rhythmically tickled the little hairs along my nape. He squeezed my hips.

“I insist on it.” I laid my head on his shoulder, fingers absently playing with his lapel. “You have no idea how tempted I am to ditch the ballet right now.”

“Hmm…you have no idea how close I am to agreeing. My mother is a saint—she’d understand.”

“Gabriel?”

“Yes, my love?”

“Can you not mention your mother while we’re in this particular state?”

He laughed and apologized. “Whatever was I thinking?” Gabriel kissed me softly. “Do I have to let you go?”

“I’m afraid so, but not for long.” I winked and gave him my sauciest smile before ruining it with a big yawn.

“Baby, I love it when you’re like this. So soft, so giving…exhausted from my lovemaking.” He flashed me his cockiest grin before setting me down on my wobbly legs.

“Lovemaking? I’d call it something a wee bit stronger.”

“Very well. Fucking. Is that better?

“Perfect.” Closing my eyes, I leaned back against the wall. “We look like we’ve been doing exactly what we’ve been doing.”

“It’s a good thing we were both prepared then, isn’t it?”

I cracked one eye open. Gabriel apparently had located a sink. I saw him adjust his clothing and throw something wrapped in a paper towel away. Briskly, he pulled out a handkerchief and held under the faucet, wetting it enough before coming back to me.

“Let’s get you cleaned up, my girl. Now stand still while I wipe the lipstick from your mouth.”

“Chin, cheeks, and probably my ear and neck.”

“Oh yes. All of those places show the marks of our passion.”

I yawned again. “This will probably be the last time I wear red lipstick.”

“Never say that, Emma! I love you in red. You look very sexy.”

“Very sexy?”

“Very, very sexy.”

Gabriel gently scrubbed my face, leaving me several times to rinse the handkerchief, before he declared me clean. He then asked for my compact and lipstick. Docilely, I stood there while he repaired the cosmetic damage with careful strokes of powder and then lipstick. I wasn’t confident he’d have much luck but when he held the mirror in front of me I was pleased.

“You know if the billionaire thing doesn’t work out you can always be a makeup artist.”

“Thank you, Emma. I’ll keep that in mind when I update my resume.” Gabriel went back to the sink and quickly scrubbed his face clean before wringing out the stained linen and pocketing it. He straightened his bowtie, smoothing out any errant wrinkles across his shirt before working on me.

Soon we were as presentable as possible.

Gabriel glanced at his watch. “Intermission is just about to end, Emma. Ready to stroll back without a care?”

I inhaled and exhaled quickly. “Okay. I hope the guilt doesn’t knock me over when we see your mother again.”

“Me too.”

“Wait. Did we do something wrong, Gabriel? I mean, was this a trashy thing to do?”

He cocked his head in contemplation, gaze studying the ceiling. “A little.”

“That’s what I thought.”

“Don’t be so glum, babydoll. We were trashy together. Besides, we can always blame it on my animal instincts.”

“I had some instincts going on of my own.”

Gabriel pecked the top of my head. “So you did. Are you ready?”

“Sure.”

He took my hand and led me to the door. He slowly opened it, sticking his head out slightly and looking both ways before easing us both back into the hallway. We didn’t walk fast so as to not appear guilty of wrongdoing, but I couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief when we made it to the main area unscathed.

As we went up the stairs towards the boxes, we thankfully met few people along the way. I squeezed Gabriel’s hand and murmured, “I think we’re getting away with it.”

“It feels good to be bad sometimes.”

I laughingly agreed. Feeling the heat from someone’s stare, I looked over my shoulder, hoping someone hadn’t come up behind us and overheard our conversation. I nearly stumbled when I saw Embry standing next to Lucas at the bottom of the staircase.

Their stony expressions told me we weren’t fooling anyone.

I turned away, disturbed, and unsure of what—if anything—I should do.

“What’s wrong, Emma?”

“Nothing! Let’s hurry so we’re not late.” I threw in a smile for good measure, hoping Gabriel would attribute my manic nervousness to the obvious. I also hoped he wouldn’t look over his shoulder as well.

Happily, luck was on my side this time.

We entered the luxurious room, greeting Marie as if nothing was out of the ordinary. I sat down in my plush seat and waited with an ear out for the door, sure that Lucas was going to bring Embry into the Gordon box and wondering what I would do if he did.

I had no desire to repeat my last encounter with Embry, much less in front of Gabriel’s mother.

My pleasure evaporated. Despite my earlier love for the production, I couldn’t concentrate. I alternated between nervousness and anger at the situation at hand.

Lucas’s and Embry’s appearance was no coincidence. It was a clear message to me that she had his support in supplanting me. Covertly watching Gabriel in the dark, I wished I knew what the right thing to do was. If I kept it to myself and Lucas made a move against me, then Gabriel would be furious I hadn’t told him about tonight. If I let him know, then it might cause a rift in his family.

He’s already lost his father. How can he lose his uncle too?

And what about Marie? Obviously she was close to Lucas. I couldn’t be the one to disrupt their small family, especially after she’d been so kind to me.

So I did nothing.

I sat there in my seat and watched the stage with blind intensity while keeping an ear out for the door. I clapped when appropriate and I even managed to discuss my favorite parts of the show with Marie.

Dinner was a light affair until dessert. The three of us gorged ourselves on waffles topped with fruit, whipped cream, and chocolate. Gabriel offered to roll us both to the limo and we nearly took him up on the generous offer.

Later than night Gabriel undressed me and asked so sweetly, “Did you have a good time tonight, Emma?”

“I had the best time ever.”

“Truly?”

My lips touched his, coaxing Gabriel to stop asking me questions and take me to bed where I could forget the uncertainty taking root in my heart.

I was a performer in my own life again. Only this time I did it with a smile.

NINE

The day after the ballet found me restless. I was unnerved by how things were edging away from the life Gabriel and I had worked so hard to build. It scratched at me, interrupting my concentration. The more I pushed it away, the harder it came back.

Finally, I had to do something drastic and completely out of character.

And I did it in spades.

Thursday

Work, my lodestone, couldn’t keep me tied to my desk a second longer than necessary. The three dozen roses nestled in their exquisite crystal vase reminded me not of velvety soft petals, but the thorns lying in wait.

I lurched up. Barely able to wait for the time it took to shut down my station, I grabbed my bag and fidgeted until the screen turned black. I left the building without calling Gabriel. I simply got in my car and drove. Five minutes after I pulled out of the parking garage, my cell phone rang. Black excitement coiled in my belly.

Gabriel always initiated the games between us. Now it was my turn. I could only hope he’d understand, but truthfully I didn’t care enough at the moment to change course.

I pressed the speaker button and answered cheerfully, “Hello?”

“Emma.”

“Gabriel.”

He cleared his throat and asked lightly, too lightly in fact, “Is everything okay?”

“Peachy. Why?”

Come on. Come on. These are not the games I want to play. Let’s cut to the chase.

“You left work a little early. For you that is.”

“I did.”

“Why?”

“Because I felt like it.”

There’s enough sass in that to get your attention, Gabriel. Don’t let me down.

A full beat passed before “Is anything wrong, Emma?”

“Nope.”

Two more beats passed. “Emma, would you mind terribly if I asked you to come back?”

“Absolutely.”

“Absolutely you’d mind or absolutely you’re coming back?”

I snorted. “Absolutely I’m not coming back.”

“So you are upset.”

“Nope.”

“Emma,” irritation finally threaded his voice. “I would like you to turn around and come back. Then I’d like you to come to my office so we can talk about what’s bothering you. I’ll even send someone out for your favorite kind of doughnuts.”

“I’m afraid I can’t help you with that, Gabriel.” I disconnected the call. Looking up in the rearview mirror, I wondered which car held my faithful, well-disguised shadows. Only one way to find out.

I pressed down on the gas pedal and aggressively changed lanes. Bouncing from one side of the interstate to the other, I kept my eyes open for cops and employed company.

My phone rang again. I let it go unanswered three times before picking up. “Emma Adams here.”

“Emma, my patience is quickly coming to an end.”

“Oh? Why might that be?”

“I want you to listen to me carefully. First, don’t ignore my calls. Second, you need to slow down.”

“Really? Now how would you know that I’m going…wait, let me check…twenty over the speed limit, Gabriel?” I took a sharp right for the nearest exit. Later I’d surely feel remorse for my less than courteous driving.

His melodic voice sharpened to a razor point. “Let’s not do this again.”

“Do what?”

“Move backwards. You know how I know.”

“Is my security detail tattling on me as we speak?” The light ahead turned yellow. I sped up and screeched around the corner. I looked up to see how closely I was being followed. I didn’t see anything, but then again I never did because they were just that good.

Good—something I didn’t feel like being at all.

“Emma, talk to me. What’s wrong?”

“Not a damned thing, Gabriel. I just feel like taking a drive.”

“To a different part of town?”

I whipped my head to check my blind spot before zooming around a braking car. “You taught me exploration is good for the soul.”

“I didn’t quite have your current journey in mind.”

“No, I’m sure you didn’t.”

“Pull over at the nearest gas station, Emma, and wait for me.”

“No can do, Gabriel. I’m on a roll right now and I don’t feel like stopping.”

“I’m not asking.”

“And I’m not obeying. Contrary to what you might think, you’re not the master of me all the time, Gabriel.”

Ominous silence overtook the call. My devil-may-care attitude wilted the slightest bit. Not surprisingly, my excitement also ratcheted up.

I need this.

“Is that so?” Gabriel drawled. “Are you sure you want to take that tact with me, baby?”

My heartbeat quickened. I took a wide left, having no real idea of where I was but also not caring. I thoroughly enjoyed taunting the beast beneath the exquisitely civilized wrapper that Gabriel Gordon wore so effortlessly. I bet each defiant sentence I tossed his way stripped another piece.