Chapter 12
GABRIEL
I’m not a man who usually listens to any woman, but this one had a hold on me. Not her, but the dress she was wearing The way it hugged her upper b*dy and then flowed down, showing her leg perfectly. Every time a man in this room looked at het, it drove me insane. It made me want to go up the stage and announce her as my wife.
“I don’t dance.” I tell her firmly as I stand in front of her on the dancing floor, studying each move.
She pretended to be unbothered by what happened with Arthur, but I knew she heard every bit of my conversation with him, and it affected her
“I know,” she replied, wrapping her hand around my neck. Her fake smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Can you stand here for a bit anyway?”
“Why?”
“Mrs. Johnson was talking about how we didn’t even dance at our own reception so we should take the floor now. I tried refusing but she wouldn’t buy it I was going to come find you after freshening up ”
My eyes reflexively found the sixty year old woman who was looking at us from a corner with her husband, who happened. to be my grandfather’s friend I put my hands on her waist ‘So, you’re doing this to keep pretence? Because the contract i made bu sign requires you to?!
Mh hm
I tightened my grasp on her waist, pulling her closer and swaying with her
She was usually way more talkative than this
“Penny for your thoughts?
“Arthur was drunk ”
“He was
“If you would we have been there, what was he planning to do?”
I stiffened “I was there
She hesitantly looked at me ‘But you won’t always be there”
“I will tell her my voice promising “You’re my responsibility, Sofia”
- Treckles
“What?
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She finally smiled. “You call me freckles.”
“I do.” I passed her a soft one back and she relaxed, seeming convinced.
“I’m ready to go home.”
“You haven’t eaten.”
She i
just shrugged, moving away from me and my hands drop from her waist, almost making me wish she hadn’t. She fixed her dress while I stared, wondering how pretty that piece of cloth would look on the floor of my room.
That thought alone, of removing her dress in my room, my hands all over that perfect skin of hers, made heat rush down and I could feel my pants tighten.
I had to tear my vision away from her and just when I was almost successful in calming my absurd thoughts down, she wrapped one of her hands around my arm, and my breath froze midway again.
Ignoring the effect she subconsciously had on my self control, I led her towards the exit when someone announced my name on the speaker.
I didn’t know who. I didn’t care why.
“I think they called you,” Sofia murmured, turning back to the screen, forcing me to.
And there it was my name in bold letters, under the top 3 biggest contributors of the night‘ title.
I shook my head. Wasn’t this supposed to be an
“I thought you don’t like koalas,” she teased.
“I don’t.” I rolled my eyes, “You do.”
anonymous charity?
I pretended to not look at her smiling from eye to eye while we walked out of the gala in silence, but couldn’t help myself from catching a few glances.
Half the million dollars I paid were worth lifting her mood after that d*ckhead dragged it down.
SOFIA
I was stubborn for not carrying a coat, because it really was chilled outside. While we waited for the valet to bring the car, I folded my arms in front of my chest, goosebumps all over my bare skin.
Gabriel spared me a glance. “It’s cold outside.”
“I know.” My teeth clattered.
you to carry your coat.”
“I asked you
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“I know.” I wanted to glare at him. I genuinely thought he would remove his coat and offer it to me, but he didn’t.
He was a gentleman at times, and not at others.
He was a difficult man to read.
The car was brought, and I didn’t waste a second rushing to the passenger seat and getting in. I knew Gabriel was amused, shaking his head, tipping the valet and then he got in.
The first thing he did was switch on the heater, and then the engine roared.
Two hours later, I was in my room. The time was almost midnight, but I couldn’t sleep. My stomach rumbled.
I tossed in my bed, feeling too lazy to wake up, but when the hunger pangs became unavoidable, I tip toed down to the kitchen in the silent and dark house.
I had gotten used to eating what was being served here, so I had no idea what was kept in which drawers.
I didn’t feel like cooking. Hoping to find some chips with a dip or some ice cream, I scanned hastily through a few drawers.
No luck.
I jumped in my place when I heard a throat clear behind me.
Gabriel stood with his hands crossed and a questioning eyebrow raised. I gulped looking at him, but mostly the way his black round neck tee clung to his muscles, and the grey sweatpants…
I took a conscious decision to look away from him. “I- I’m just looking for chips. Or something to eat.”
“I–I’m
This s was the first time I had seen him in anything except a shirt and pants. And I always knew he was so good looking, but the way the thin material of his tee was hugging his arms… it was, well, something.
I was also made aware of the tiny shorts I was wearing since I sleep with the heater in my room on, my hair tied in a messy ponytail when his eyes stayed fixed on me as he walked closer. And closer.
He didn’t stop.
He didn’t stop till he was inches away, forcing me to look back at him.
My cheeks flushed when I realised I wasn’t wearing any bra and although I wasn’t too blessed in that department, I had enough for my turned on nipples to show through my fitted tank.
It was dark, and I was hoping he couldn’t see them.
My breath hitched. He was close, so close that I could hear him breath. If I leaned up, he was close enough for me to k*ss
him.
“Chips,” he said.
d i hadn’t man maliead it because I was
Chapter 12
so lost in him.
Cheeks flushed, I grabbed the pack of unopened chips from him. “Thanks.”
He didn’t move away.
I tried moving out from the right, but he put his hand on that side, caging me in.
“What?” My voice was barely a whisper.
He didn’t answer.
“W–What?” I was aware I was stuttering. He was leaning down to reach my height. His face was inches away from mine. I couldn’t even think properly without imagining k*ssing him, let alone talk.
“Freckles..” His free hand wrapped around my waist, sliding downwards. I stopped breathing when they reached over my ass, but it didn’t seem like he was trying to feel me up. They slid downwards, to my thigh.
My very bare thigh.
“Hm?” I gulped.
He grabbed me, and I don’t know how he raised me, but I was suddenly sitting on the kitchen counter.
Gabriel slightly distanced. “Would you share them with me?”
“What?”
“The chips.”
I blinked. “What?”
“Would you share the chips with me?” He smirked.
The chips? I had dropped them to the ground. Long forgotten.
I knew my cheeks reddened.
He was actually smirking, looking smug. He was teasing me. He was aware about the affect he was having on me, and it was completely amusing to him.
“Gabriel?” I called, but didn’t give him the chance to reply. I held his shirt, pulling it towards me, him with it.
He looked at me, eyebrows raised.
I didn’t stop. I trailed my hand down. Oh, two can play this game.
It took every bit of courage in me to keep my eyes focused on him while my fingers traced his abs over the thin material, sliding downwards reaching the elastic of his sweats.
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He looked frozen.
My hands traveled a little further downwards, stopping somewhere between his V.
“I can’t reach it,” I whispered.
“You can,” he muttered..
“No, I can’t. The chips are way down.”
“Huh?” He breathed, stepping away and the daze in his eyes disappearing completely as he cursed under his breath, picking the damn packet up.
I room it from him innocently, opening it. “Hm? Chips? I share.”
“I lost appetite.” He glared at me.
I shrugged.
Just when I thought he was about to leave, he didn’t.
“f**k it,” I heard him mutter as he moved to me, crossing the distance between us in one quick step and before I could process it, his lips were on mine
His lips were on mine.
He was k*ssing me, one of his hands grabbing my ponytail and pulling it down to tilt my head up and the other at my back.
It took me a moment, but I wrapped both my legs around him, my hands quickly finding their way to his neck.
I had wondered a lot of times how k*ssing him would feel, and this was nothing like it. It was so much better.
He tasted minty, but also like vodka.
It was intoxicating and sweet all at once, how hungrily he was devouring my lips, as if this was the only time he could do it.
Taking advantage of my legs wrapped around him, he used it to lift me on to the other counter, the wider one.
I didn’t want to pull away even though I couldn’t breathe, but he did.
He did and I panted. While I gasped for air, he dipped his hair into my neck, leaving soft, feather k*sses.
“The next time you touch me like that, you better have the courage to end what you started because I will f*ck you like there’s no tomorrow,” he whispered into my ear before placing a wet k*ss on the lobe, and then leaving me alone in the kitchen breathless with fallen chips all around me a complete mess, and a stirring whirlwind chaos inside me.
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