Dazzled by Silver (8 page)

“College. Way too many frat parties.” His perfect teeth glowed in the black light, and I chuckled.

When I first met him, Gabe didn’t strike me as having long-term potential. Perhaps I didn’t want to think of his as such. At the time he was more of a one night stand. Was it possible this could last longer than a fling? Did I really want that?

Rosy aroma permeated the air behind me.

“Mind if I cut in?” Kendra’s warm hand grazed my arm. Unexpected buzz ran through my body, straight to my groin, vibrating there as our evening together rekindled my needs.

“No, that’s fine.” Kendra stepped between us, and my heart sunk.

My throat tightened as I imagined him dancing with another woman, even Kendra.

Gabe frowned at her, and then gave me another one of his mesmerizing stares.

“I was talking to Gabe, Sam. You’re the one I’d like to dance with.” There hunger in Kendra’s eyes appeared carnal. She moved playfully, swooshing her hips closer to me, raising her arms up in the air. Her eyes glassed over with red and I wondered whether she’d had too much to drink.

“Sorry K, but I made a promise not to let Sam go until morning.” Gabe pulled me in for a possessive bear hug. “She’s all mine for a few more hours, unless you’d like to join us later.” He winked.

“Gabe, don’t make offers you can’t keep. I’ll see you later, Sam?” Kendra leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. Her jaw line tightened. Letting out a exasperated breath she walked away, disappearing into the crowd. For a moment she reminded me of a raging bull with steam coming out of her ears and nose.

A sense of possession beamed in Gabe’s eyes as he drew me into his warm embrace. I forgot about Kendra and let his body heat mine. He held me against him like he’d never let go, swaying to the slow music.

How in the world did he manage to make me feel so secure and needed? Besides Kevin, no other man had ever grasped my heart and held on to it as if he were holding on for his own life. But then again I never allowed anyone to affect me this way. Gabe dazzled me beyond what I could have ever imagined. I felt hypnotized. The ease with which his body welcomed my touches and returned each gesture left me boneless. It was what I’d longed for during the two years I’d dated Casey.

I feared what would happen if I slipped and opened up to Gabe, and for that reason I couldn’t treat this as more than it was: a temporary fling. I wasn’t ready to fall apart again.

Above us, a performer wearing glow-in-the-dark body paint swung in the air. The ropes had been lowered just enough for her feet to skim over the crowd. To the right, an aerial dancer wound hanging silks around her arms and legs, bending in ways only acrobats could. Yet when I looked at Gabe, I found his eyes trained on me.

The music continued, but Gabe stood still. The pace of his breathing evened with mine. He slid his hands along my arms. A heavy smell of cinnamon spice filled the air.

The loud music seemed to fade. I lifted my palms to his heaving chest. The dancing mob turned into a quiet hum.

Gabe leaned in closer.

I closed my eyes. When our lips touched, the dance club disappeared from my mind. Enclosed in our own bubble, his hands supported my back. My arms wrapped around his neck, and I pressed into him. The trembling I’d felt in my limbs earlier ceased as my flesh moved against his.

The kiss disoriented me. His firm lips were much softer than before, controlling and inviting at the same time. It was as if this was our first kiss, even though it wasn’t.

His hands grazed the top of my naked back, tickling my spine. I responded with a soft moan.

He finally pulled away, saying, “I’d like to show you something.”

I didn’t know what to say. He could have asked me to jump into a fire with him, and I would have. I couldn’t breathe, speak or move. This man was like a magician, and I was under his spell.

“Would you like something to drink first?” he asked.

I blinked twice, and Gabe led me toward the bar.

“Orgasm?” he asked seriously.

I rolled my eyes, but realized that, at the mere mention of an orgasm, my thighs tensed and a delightful ache between my legs demanded attention.

He ordered another club soda then looked back at me. “Sex on the beach?”

“Promises, promises,” I teased.

“I’m a man of my word, Samantha.” Then he turned to the barman, “We’ll be upstairs, Chris.”

“Yes, Mr. Silver.”

“Come.” He took my hand.

Upstairs? For a moment I wondered whether he would take me into Kendra’s bedroom, but we turned toward the other end of the club. Gabe placed his wrist near an electronic box by a door marked
employees only
. The bracelet he wore beeped, and a green light flashed on the box.

“Where are we going?” I was intrigued as we stepped through the doorway.

“I promised to be by your side until dawn, and I intend to make every minute count.”

My blood warmed with excitement.

At the end of the hall we walked up a staircase. The music in the club faded, and each metal step echoed as we climbed. Gabe pushed open the door at the top. A warm blast of night air slammed into me, and the hum of the club disappeared. Only quiet music and a few mingling conversations resonated as we stepped out onto the wooden surface of a rooftop lounge.

My breath stilled. The lit skyscrapers around us formed a twinkling wall.

“This is the rooftop?” The small space wasn’t anything like the gardens Kendra had described. The area was much smaller and more intimate than I had imagined. And where were all the people I heard?

“Sort of. Watch this.” He guided me forward, took out his cell phone and clicked a button. White strings of lights lit every edge, post and corner of an enclosed cabana. Cream sofas and lounge chairs were set up around a quaint table. To the left, a Jacuzzi tub bubbled invitingly. The drinks we ordered had already been brought up. He passed me a fruity concoction. Someone laughed out loud breaking the stillness.

“We’re a little higher than the public area.”

I stepped closer to a railing on one side and gasped. The conversations I’d heard now made sense. Guests mingled below us on another level of rooftop. Trees and the flower vines shielded us from their view. They had no idea we could see and hear them from above.

“This is a private area. No one comes in unauthorized.” With that, Gabe clicked another button on his phone, and the security box by the door flashed red.

My mouth was dry, and I lifted my drink to my lips. The alcohol was beginning to take effect, relaxing my muscles.

Sliding my hands along the railing I stepped to the other end of the veranda. A corridor of buildings stretched to my left and continued off to the right. The end of Fifth Avenue was invisible. Looking straight ahead between the buildings, the Hudson River glistened, reflecting the moon and clear night sky.

Once in a while, a car honked, brakes screeched, and faint sounds of fire truck sirens in the distance completed the cityscape.

“It’s beautiful.”

“It is.”

I hadn’t noticed when Gabe stepped behind me. The scene in front of me held me captive.

“You look mouth-watering tonight.”

That funny, nervous feeling returned to my stomach.

“Did you like my gift?” He teased my shoulders with a gentle massage.

“I’m wearing it.”

“Let me see.” He turned me around to face him.

“What?” Did he expect me to lift my dress for him?

“You know I’ll see them anyway, but I’d like to see you wearing them before they’re on the floor in pieces.”

“You can’t tear these off!” I protested.

“I’ll get you another pair.” He took a step back and crossed his arms as if waiting for a show.

“No, not these.” I flattened my palms against my front protecting the black lace under my dress.

He sighed. “Fine, I won’t ruin them, but I want to see them on you.”

Inhaling deeply, I lowered my hands, shut my eyes and slowly lifted my dress. A cool breeze blew between my thighs. For a moment, I thought I’d heard the gentle whistle of the wind. When I opened my eyes, I saw that it was Gabe, standing inches away from me.

“I wore them every day,” I whispered, letting go of my dress. “I couldn’t resist knowing your mouth had been on them.”

“I hoped you would. After tonight, you won’t need panties to remember my mouth on you.”

I sucked in a sharp breath of air before Gabe’s lips crushed mine. He wrapped his arms around me. I let go of my dress, tangling my fingers in his hair. The city sounds in the distance mixed with my pounding heart. I scraped his scalp gently with my nails, and then dragged them lower, smoothing the pads of my fingers along his hairline.

He collided with my body and the growth in his pants pushed against me. My back pressed to the railing. His heartbeat pulsed through his jugular under my fingers. I stood higher on my toes, feeling his rigid contour with my lower half before he pulled away.

Gabe’s face appeared composed, but his heavy breathing betrayed him. His eyes glistened with both desire and confusion. What was he thinking?

“No strings attached?” he asked.

“None.” I tried to unwind the invisible knots that tied me to him, but couldn’t. What if I wanted another night of passionate sex? His touch at the strip club last week had been only a temporary relief. Would tonight be it? Would this fling be over too soon?

He frowned and walked toward the cabana.

“What’s the matter, Gabe?” I followed.

A slight buzzing sounded, and Gabe checked his phone. His brow narrowed as he shut it off and stuffed it back in his pocket.

When he finally looked at me again, he said, “Maybe it’s too much to ask, but I’d like to know we’re mutually exclusive.”

My breath stilled and, in the back of my mind, alarms went off. “I don’t date.” This wasn’t up for discussion. Casey had shown me what dating was like, and I didn’t want to have anything to do with it. Besides, I wasn’t ready to dive into something serious; not with Kevin in the back of my mind. Why did it seem I’d always compared Gabe to him? What was it about Gabe that captivated me as much as my first boyfriend had?

“Not dating, just...enjoying.” The last word out of his mouth rolled off his tongue.

Would it be possible? To see each other when our bodily cravings peaked? All I wanted was his body for as long as possible. Gabe was like my first breath in the morning and last one at night and at that moment I wished, one day perhaps, he could be.

I stepped forward, a grin on my face. “I’m sure I’ll enjoy this.” I slid my hand to Gabe’s crotch, curving my palm along his erection.

His eyes lit up. He took my wrists into his hands and held them tightly at my side, pressing into me until my back was flat against the wooden post of the cabana.

My heart picked up its tempo again, and the tight squeeze between us deprived me of a chance to take a deeper breath. My breasts pushed up high in my dress, swelling to their fullest.

A new song played on the rooftop below, camouflaging the moans escaping my mouth.

“I need to taste you, Samantha, now.” His grip on my wrists eased, and he glided his hands up my arms, then down over my figure to the zipper under my arm.

The unfastening of my dress was too much for me. I tugged at his gray shirt, forcing Gabe to lift his arms to get rid of it. His chest couldn’t have been more appetizing. Slick and tanned with hairs scattered in divine patterns.

His fingers returned to my zipper and, this time, he didn’t let go until the dress fell to the floor. His eyes lit up. “God, you’re beautiful.” He cupped my breasts, massaging gently, never closing his eyes. It was as if he wanted to remember every movement of his fingers along my skin. With each touch Gabe’s eyes beamed brighter, and his erection strained within his pants.

My palms explored his pecs, sliding over the silky terrain. A few stray hairs tickled my fingers and the smell of Cupid’s scent mixed with a hint of sweat teased my lungs.

He pulled me in closer. “I can’t think around you,” he said.

“Don’t think. I’m all yours.” I spread my legs for him as he lowered his hands to my black lace panties. I didn’t want anyone else.

His mouth grazed down my neck and to my chest, tasting one nipple, then the other, lengthening it with his mouth. He trailed his tongue down the valley between my breasts toward my navel. He grinned at me as he hooked his fingers into my panties.

I looked for something to hold onto, grabbing his shoulders. I closed my eyes, and Gabe lowered the damp black lace to the ground.

His breath cooled the heat between my legs. “Whoever waxes you needs a raise.” He kissed the hollow between my leg and my sex.

“I’ll let her know you’re pleased.” All my focus rushed to Gabe's lips on my pussy.

He parted my folds with his fingers, licking in between the flesh, slowly pulling his tongue along my slit.

There was not enough air outside to satisfy my lungs.

“You’re so delicious,” he said resuming the tender licks, letting his tongue bathe in my juices.

I lowered my hands to his head, steadying him over my inflamed center. His tongue slid higher to my clit, and I gasped as the center of my body became the center of his world.

With each passing second, the assault of his flicks intensified. I circled my hips to the blissful rhythm, pressing into his mouth. My pussy swelled with impatience.

He slid a finger inside me, and I tightened around him. He moved in and out, in tandem with his licks, releasing my locked up hunger. Gabe hooked his finger at my depth, teasing me with its tip.

A shock-like pulse flew to my clit. I arched my back, squeezing his head between my legs. Gabe’s mouth on that malnourished spot spiraled the sensation from there, and up my body. My toes curled, and my thighs shook as I screamed out into the night. And I didn’t care whether anyone heard me. To contain my joy would have been a sin. No one had ever reduced my legs to jelly after an orgasm.

Gabe leaned his face against my thigh. “There’s much more where that came from.” He stood up and smacked his lips to mine.

I tasted my sweet juices on his lips, and the tingles returned to my belly. Could I ever get enough of him?