Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set (101 page)

Chapter 23

January passed quickly.  Candy and Rick were married in a beautiful ceremony on January 11th.  She was in a routine at the bowling alley and found she really liked both Penny and Missy.  She spent as much time as she could with Ali and the baby.  Elijah was living with them full time by the end of January and they were quite the happy family.  But she still felt no closer to being prepared to raise Charlie.

It was February before Brian made it down to meet his daughter, and the trip disappointed Ali.  He only stayed two days, and she confessed to Ami when he’d left that she was glad that Jenesis would grow up with Carson as her father, because Brian didn’t seem very interested in his child.  She wasn’t going to give up trying though, and Ami had to hand that to her.

Candy and Rick had a healthy baby boy that they named Riley on February 2nd.

On Valentine’s Day, Ami worked.  She’d been tempted to call Gabe for a cheap fuck, but she’d kept her head and decided against it.  After she got off of work, she went home to an empty apartment and got trashed; trying not to think about what Nick was doing with Carlie for Valentine’s Day.

In March, Nick started sleeping at the apartment more, even though she knew she was driving him crazy walking around in trashy lingerie.

Chapter 24

It was the second week of March and she was going through the mail when a knock sounded at the door.  She got up and opened the door, seeing Brad standing on the other side.

“Nick’s not here.”

“That’s okay.” His voice was slurred.  “I came to see you.”

“Um okay.  What do you need Brad?”

“I need you.  If Nick’s not tapping your tasty ass, then I thought I might as well give it a try.”

He tried to kiss her.  She reached out to shove him away, but he grabbed her arm and pinned it behind her back.  “Come on Ami.  Don’t be a tease.  I’ve seen you walking around when Nick’s at work in that skimpy little teddy of yours.  Standing in front on the window with the curtain open.  Tits hanging out.  I know you want me Ami.  I can show you what a real man feels like.”

She felt a stab of panic.  He was going to rape her she thought.  She could feel his erection pressing against her leg.  She tried to move, but he still had her arm pinned.  He kissed her roughly, his breath hot and smelly in her face.  She tried to knee him in the groin, but he blocked it and reached out and grabbed her shirt, tearing it.  She wanted to scream.  Why did Nick have to be at work?  She closed her eyes, wondering what the hell she was going to do.  He was too strong to fight off.

Before she had another thought, the door burst open and Brad was knocked off of her and onto the floor, Gabe on top of him, big hands smashing into Brad’s face.  She was stunned.

Where the hell had Gabe come from she wondered?  How had he known?  Suddenly she was crying.  Gabe turned towards her briefly, and then went back to smashing Brad’s face.  He was going to kill him she thought.  She had to do something.

“Stop it Gabe.”

“He was going to rape you.”

“That doesn’t mean you can kill him.  Get off of him.”

Brad tried to sit up and Gabe pushed him back down.  “Sack of shit,” he said.  Brad didn’t say anything, just looked at Ami pleadingly.

“Get off of him Gabe.  You’re probably going to go to jail for what you did to his face.”

Brad’s nose was bleeding, his eye was turning dark and his lip was split open.

Gabe laughed.  “Yeah, right.  I should kill the fucker and bury him.  The world would be a better place without sorry fucks like ol’ Brad here.  His wife leaves him and then he decides he’s going to take a chance with you.”

He turned and spit in Brad’s face.  Brad wiped it off angrily, but didn’t make another move to get up.  Gabe was still sitting on him.  “If I let your sorry ass up, you gonna try anything else?”

Brad shook his head.  Gabe socked him in the gut, and then roughly pulled the other man to his feet.  “Get the fuck out of here.  If I ever see you around here again, I’ll make you wish you’d never been born.”

Not looking at her, Brad turned and practically ran out the door.  Gabe reached over and shut the door. 

“You okay?” She nodded, trying to pull her shirt together.  “Are you supposed to work today?”

“Yeah.”

“Not anymore.” He pulled out his cell phone and called the bowling alley.  “Yeah, can I talk to Nick?  Hey Nick.  Ami’s not gonna make it in today.  She had a little incident with your good for nothing neighbor.  No.  I’ll take care of her.  Don’t even want to think about what would have happened if I hadn’t been here.  Yeah.  Uh huh.  You can talk to her when you get home.”

He hung up the phone without saying goodbye.  Gabe pulled her into his arms.  “You should have let me kill him.”

“You can’t go around killing people because they hit on me.” She was much calmer now that Brad was gone.

“He would have raped you if I hadn’t been here.”

“What are you doing here anyway?”

“I happened to drive by and saw Brad knocking on the door.  I stopped and watched through the window.  I had a feeling he was up to no good.  I don’t know what I would have done if he’d raped you baby.  I probably would have killed him.” She tried to pull back from him but he held to her more tightly.  “I have missed you so much.”

She let him hold her, letting herself feel his strength for a moment.  It felt so good to be held, even if it was Gabe that was holding her when she wanted it to be Nick.  Finally she pulled back.

“I need to change my shirt.”

“Let me hold you please.”

He pulled her onto his lap.  She sat still, letting him hold her.  It was all too easy to just let him hold her she thought.  Finally, when she felt his erection starting to blossom against her butt, she pulled back.

“Gabe.”

“I’m sorry baby.  I can’t help it.  You can’t imagine what it’s like, wanting you so much and not being able to have you.  It tears me apart inside.”

“I know.” It didn’t change her feelings for him, but she knew.

“Those days that I spent with you were some of the best days of my life.  When I have you in my arms, I don’t ever want to let go.”

“Gabe, I know that that’s how you feel.  I just don’t feel the same way.”

“If you’d let me in, if you’d just let me show you Ami, I know that I could make you happy.”

“You know that it wouldn’t be fair for either of us if I did that.”

He shifted her on his lap.  “I love you Ami.”

“I know you do Gabe.  And I thank you for being here.  But I think it’s time for you to go.”

“Honey you’re upset and understandably so.  I don’t want to leave you right now.”

She sighed.  “Let me change my shirt.”

He helped her to her feet.  She took her time in the bedroom.  She didn’t want to be alone, but she would much rather have had Nick with her than Gabe.  She returned to the living room and lit a cigarette.

Gabe pulled her back onto his lap.  She could tell that he still had an erection.  She shifted her weight and leaned against his chest. 

“I love the way you smell.”

“Thank you.” She thought that he smelled pretty good himself, but she wasn’t going to tell him that.

He rubbed his nose along her neck.  “Can I kiss you?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea Gabe.”

He sighed, and kissed her neck anyway.  She shifted on his lap again, so that she wasn’t sitting on his erection.  When she leaned over to put her cigarette out, he put his hand under her shirt.

“Gabe.  Please don’t.”

“I only want to make you feel good.  Let me give you a massage.  You’re so tense.”

She sighed.  She was tense, but he wasn’t making it any better.  Before she could tell him no again, he unhooked her bra and pulled her shirt over her head.  He moved her gently off of his lap, and immediately went to work with his hands.

His hands were magic.  His hands made her feel things she didn’t want to feel, even though he didn’t make any inappropriate moves.  When he was finished massaging her back, he pulled her back onto his lap.  She didn’t protest when he kissed her this time.  He tasted of chocolate and coffee, with an undertone of peppermint.

Her only thought of Nick when she was in Gabe’s arms was a brief fear that he would walk in on them.  But soon all thought was gone from her head as his hands roamed her body.

She still didn’t quite understand how he could be so gentle and so passionate at the same time.

When he unbuckled his pants she said “Let’s go to my bedroom.”

He ran his tongue down her neck.  “I want you here.  Right now.”

Without ever completely letting go of her, he undressed himself and her, and turned her around on his lap so that she was facing away from him.  She thought it was incredible.  He gripped her hips with hands that were gentle but firm.  The rhythm their bodies made together made her cry out his name over and over.

She wasn’t sure how long it lasted, but she was exhausted by the time they were finished, her legs shaky.  He helped her stand up and then she almost immediately collapsed back onto the couch.  If only he weren’t married she thought.  If only he weren’t such an incredible lover.

If only she wanted him as much as he wanted her.

“Hand me my cigarettes will you please?” He grinned, and handed her a cigarette, lighting it for her.  She took a deep drag.  “Gabe.”

“Yes my love?”

“You know that we can’t do this again.”

He frowned.  “Why?  We’re perfect together.  I know that when we make love you feel it too.  The rightness of it.”

“You are a fantastic lover Gabe, but I’m not in love with you and I never will be.”

“Because you won’t let yourself be.  I know that it’s hurting you to stay here with Nick when he’s in love with someone else.”

“Yes.  But all the great sex in the world unfortunately won’t make me fall in love with you Gabe.”

He sighed.  “Will you let me buy you dinner?”

“Fine.”

“What do you want?”

“I don’t care.  I should have gone to work.”

“Are you kidding me?  You were almost raped.  You would have been if I hadn’t been here.”

“Don’t remind me.” She reached for her clothes.

“I’m so sorry babe.”

“Don’t worry about it.” She threw his boxer briefs at him.  “Get dressed.”

When they were both dressed, she lit another cigarette.  She knew was coming down from everything.  The fear and panic from what had happened with Brad.  The passion of being with Gabe.  She felt exhausted.  When Gabe was gone, she thought that she was going to bury her head under her covers and take a nap.

He ended up ordering calzones.  She ate even though she didn’t feel hungry and wasn’t able to get rid of him until she convinced him that she was going to take a shower and go to bed.  She breathed a sigh of relief when he was gone, locking the door behind him.  She took a long shower, and then crawled into bed.  She awoke several hours later to a knock on her door.

“What?”

“Can I come in?”

She wasn’t in the mood to talk to Nick.  “No.”

“Ami please.  I need to talk to you.”

She sighed, reaching over to turn on the lamp.  “Fine.”

He opened the door, and sat uncomfortably on the edge of the bed.  “I am so sorry that I wasn’t here Ami.”

“Not your fault.  You were at work.” She didn’t want to discuss her almost rape with Nick.

“I can’t imagine what would have happened if Gabe hadn’t shown up.  Who knew that his stalking you would be a good thing for once?”

She knew that he was trying to lighten the mood, to get her to smile, but she wasn’t really in the mood.  She was strangely upset with him for not being the one that had saved her.

“Yeah.  Nothing really happened.  I’m fine.  Go to bed.”

“Brad came into the alley whining because Gabe kicked the shit out of him.  I didn’t tell him that I wanted to finish him off.”

“Uh huh.  Goodnight Nick.”

“Are you sure you’re okay Ami?  You don’t look okay.”

“Yes.  He kissed me.  He ripped my shirt.  Then Gabe came in and kicked his ass.  End of story.  I promise you that I’m fine.”

“You can talk to me Ami.”

“What are you now, an almost rape counselor?  Get out of my room Nick.”

He got up, and without another word, walked out of her room, shutting the door behind him.

She felt bad once he was gone.  She wanted to get up and apologize, and would have if she hadn’t heard the front door open and close.  He was running away from her she thought.  Again.  She knew he was going to end up at Carlie’s.  She wondered why she was the one living with Nick and not Carlie.

How long would it take before he gave up on his need to protect her she wondered?  She wasn’t sure, but she had a feeling it wouldn’t take long.  She also had a feeling that it wouldn’t take long before he gave up and brought Carlie over.