by Masen, Kat
My eyes wander toward his fist, clenched tight, ready to unleash. In a darting moment, he throws a punch, but I knock him back, blocking him until all four of them try to jump me.
The short, stumpy one, gets me in the mouth. The taste of blood lingering as security guards step in, demanding I leave. This is their town, apparently, and I, as the unwelcome visitor, need to get out of here or pay the price of being locked up.
At the hotel, I almost punch the wall in frustration. That most certainly was the guy Gabriella’s thinking of marrying. The asshole trying to woo her with expensive gifts into a life she doesn’t want. How dumb must she be not to see what she’s getting into? A man should worship the fucking ground she walks on.
Then why don’t I?
There’s a bang on the door, and careful that it might be him, I open slowly. That’s when I see her wild eyes staring back at me until she pushes my chest.
“You asshole,” she screams. “What did you just do?”
“Me? I did nothing! Your fiancé was being a jerk, and I put him in his place.”
“Do you know how much you’ve messed it all up?” she cries, throwing her hands in the air like a crazed woman. “I was planning to… you know what, never mind?”
“Planning to do what?”
“Nothing. Nothing matters now.”
“Oh, that’s right… Miss Scaredy-cat is too frightened to stand up to her daddy and jerk of a fiancé. Go on then… run away, run back to your money because that’s what matters here, right?”
“Oh, like you’re any better. Called Bianca back yet? Yeah, you aren’t the only one with skeletons in your closet.”
“Just go.”
She leaves, slamming the door behind her. I run my hands through my hair, pacing at the door, desperate to bring her back to me. I was a fucking idiot to say the things I said. This should have been her fight, not mine, and I probably did fuck it all up.
Then she said she was ‘planning.’
Planning to do what? Leave him? Leave this life behind. Runaway with me? What if I am not ready for that? I have my own problems to think about. Maybe I don’t need her messing it all up for me. I need one hundred percent focus, and falling in love with Gabriella is quickly shifting that to a place I’m not sure I want to explore.
My thoughts give me whiplash. My momentary lapse of feeling sorry for her is shadowed by anger. How dare she fucking accuse me of messing it all up? I’m going to fucking tell her how wrong she is. I’m not messing up what is already a colossal fuck-up.
Pulling the door open, I stop dead in my tracks. Gabriella’s leaning against the frame, splotchy skin from the tears escaping her beautiful eyes. Her chin trembles, her head fallen as she stares bleakly at the floor.
Releasing a heavy sigh, my hand extends out to hers, lacing my fingers until she’s in my grip. We say no words, the silence between us louder than our shouts from moments ago.
I can’t resist anymore.
She’s broken down my walls, crawled her way inside to a place no other woman has.
And now, I refuse to hold back.
I want her. All of her.
I pull her back inside the room, and with the door closing behind us, I’m ready to fight for what should be mine.
Not Prince Charming’s.
Not anyone else’s.
Simply all mine.
Gabriella
In a heated moment, every kiss becomes harder, more aggressive, and demanding.
Oliver wants to own me, but in a way I never knew I wanted to be owned. His commands are selfish. He wants to explore every part of me as if time is running out.
We are just beginning.
Against the wall, beside the door, I crumple beneath his touch. Every sordid lick and caress of my heated skin causes me to moan louder between our heavy kisses sending me into oblivion.
He breathes my name, “Gabriella.” Each syllable dragging against his lips with an animalistic growl that lingers as he lowers himself down my body, kissing the sweet spot between my breasts. I beg him to come back to my lips but swiftly change my mind as he nudges his lips against my bra, toying with my nipples above my blouse.
His hand wanders down my chest, across my stomach and rests on my thighs. My skirt is raised, sitting around my hips, exposing between my legs. My breath hitches as Oliver clutches my wrist, throwing me onto the bed. I squeal in delight as my head hits the pillow, obeying him without thought or hesitation, oblivious to anything outside this room.
“We have all night,” he whispers against my earlobe, leaning forward and rubbing his hard cock against my backside.
Our clothing has become an obstacle, and the second I hear his belt clink against the floor, I suck in a deep breath to control the raging fire inside of me.
A piece of him remained forbidden until now.
It’s as if we’ve been waiting a lifetime, trapped in our own dilemmas, too blind to see what is missing. I no longer care about anything else in this world besides him. There will be no stopping now.
I wait with bated breath anticipating his next move, his next touch. His palms graze against my backside, tracing the contours like a map and making me moan in delight. My body rocks back and forth at a slow pace, desperately waiting for him to enter me whole and fill me in.
“Do you know how much I’ve fantasized over you? Just like this,” he grunts, followed by a small smack against my heated skin. I yelp at the sensation, surprised how much it turns me on and heightens my senses. I silently beg him for more, pushing myself back into Oliver and grinding against him.
“The same as I’ve fantasized over you.”
With my skirt pushed up against my waist, he gently pulls my panties down, the lacy fabric gliding against my sensitive skin. He takes a moment to spread my legs and stare between them, then tells me exactly what he’s going to do.
“It’s not too late, Gabriella. Tell me to stop now.”
“I don’t want you to stop.”
“Are you ready?” he questions with a rough tone. “Because once I start…”
I nod, barely able to control the rapid desire ready to unleash on him. The more he speaks, the harder his actions become until he latches onto the side of my waist and flips me over, pushing me on my back. He throws himself on top of me, his lips crashing against mine, intimately kissing me before he pulls back and stares into my eyes.
“Why are you looking at me this way?” I keep my voice low, conscious of the fact that his eyes haven’t left mine.
“You’re beautiful.”
I smile, worried over nothing. Oliver unleashes what he’s been holding back, sliding himself in slowly. I gasp, alarmingly aware of his size.
He focuses his attention back on my lips, kissing my mouth with urgency and leaving me without a single breath to catch. My nails claw their way across his back, his beautiful, muscular back.
With every move Oliver makes, I fall deeper under his spell, allowing him to ravage my body. Propping up on his knees, he watches himself move in and out, biting his lip while spreading my legs enough to cause me to wince in pain.
This man wants only me at this moment, and I will do every damn thing to please him.
“Tell me what you want, Gabriella…”
“You,” I moan, deeply, “All of you.”
My eyes close, waiting for him to take me harder in the throes of his climax. Just the thought of it has me on edge, and with only the first thrust, I latch onto the pillow behind me, my blood pumping hard, and every single part of me tingles in mad delight.
I call his name repeatedly, wishing this moment would never end, begging silently for the universe to shift and open the gates to us being together.
Opening my eyes quickly, I catch his desperate need to control the moment, holding back his impending orgasm until it gets the better of him. The grip of his hands is tight against my waist, slamming into me until his moans slow, and his hips follow on cu
e.
He falls beside me, both of us out of breath and reeling from what’s just happened. With only a faint glow from the moon that shines outside our hotel window, we continue to lie in the dark in utter silence. Neither one of us has anything to say but lay in each other’s arms.
Oliver traces my arm with the tip of his finger causing the small hairs to stand on end. Pulling the sheet out of my way, I move over his body and straddle him to give myself a better view. He continues to lie there, beautifully sprawled with his arm beneath his head, his muscles flexing with a satisfied smirk.
“What you got for me, baby?”
I lean forward, placing my mouth on his, desperate to taste him again. He doesn’t hold back, resting his hands on my hips as he grinds my body against his cock.
Letting out a long-winded moan, I sit up, arching my back and exposing my naked body completely. Beneath me, he becomes hard again, sliding himself in so easily.
Oliver is insatiable. His animalistic desire to be inside me leaves me completely breathless, once again.
I haven’t been with many men, sexually, but no one compares to him. No one has ever made me feel the things he has made me feel inside these four walls.
When he pulls himself out of me, we continue to lay perfectly still, his heart hammering against my back, a reminder of how real this has all become.
“Come with me, please… to my appointment tomorrow,” he murmurs into my hair.
I prop myself up on my elbow. “You really want me to be there?”
“I… I need you to be there.”
With a satisfied smile, I lay my head against his chest. I know how hard it was for him to open up, to allow me to be a part of something so close to his heart. And if only I could tell him how much that gesture means to me, how the three words crawling to the tip of my tongue desperately want to tell him I love him.
Yet words are just that.
There are no more questions, no more hesitation.
I will show him.
And the first step will be to tell Sebastian we are officially over.
Oliver
Surrounded by expired magazines, I sit in the waiting room, watched by a receptionist with glasses so thick, I’m surprised she can even see me.
My mind begins to wander to last night. Gabriella at the mercy of my touch. Every inch of her perfect body beneath me. The taste of her slick skin against the tip of my tongue. She’s everything I imagined her to be at that moment, if not, surpassing my every fantasy.
She begged me to take her in every way possible. To explore her body in ways I know no man had ever ventured to, and I did just that.
I know I was selfish, taking her rough like she’s mine, and I have to return her with the threat of never feeling her again. And perhaps, it warrants in some truth. By midnight, she left me alone, promising me with a single stare that what we shared meant more to her than her words could communicate.
I slept like a fucking baby after that.
Unlocking my phone, I look at the screen for the millionth time, it’s ten minutes past my appointment time, and Gabriella is nowhere in sight. I send her a text, asking how long she’ll be, and wait for her response. There’s nothing. So, I try to call, only to reach a dead end.
“Mr. Madden, Dr. Wheeler will see you now.”
I smile at the receptionist, hiding my disappointment and head toward the room staring one more time at my phone then the main door. Nothing. Reluctantly, I walk in and take a seat.
Dr. Wheeler begins by introducing himself, his credentials, and throws in a few jokes about Harvard Medical School. While his jokes appear to be a segue in getting me to calm the fuck down, I just need answers. My nerves are triggering, my knee bouncing beneath the large oak table. A small insect bite on my arm begins to irritate me, my fingers scratching repeatedly without any relief.
He speaks in great detail about my injury, talking me through the X-rays for what seems like forever. I try my best to concentrate. This is my fucking livelihood here, but my mind keeps wandering to Gabriella.
Where the fuck is she?
Dr. Wheeler recommends a specific surgery to correct my injury. He explains in great lengths what is involved and what the desired outcome should be.
I jump the gun, asking the burning question. “Doc, will I get to play again?”
Dr wheeler places his glasses on the table, giving me a reassuring smile. “Oliver, I feel confident that the surgery, combined with extensive rehabilitation which will include full rest and commitment to physical therapy, we can have you playing in eight to twelve months. Twelve months being the ideal time.”
I want to hug him, but at the same time, a part of me wanted to share this moment with Gabriella.
Where the hell is she?
This is the news I have been hoping for.
Flying across the world, searching desperately for answers. And to hear this? It means the world to me.
I will be back in the game.
“I understand your deadline and desperation to get back on the field. Now, normally I don’t do this type of surgery, but luckily, I’ve had a cancellation. I can operate in two weeks. It will be done at the University of Colorado Hospital. You’ll need to do the majority of your rehabilitation in the States. We can talk in greater detail if you’d like to be transferred to another state to continue that, then you’re free to go back to Australia.”
We called coach, telling him the news. I can hear the relief in his voice, and just like always, he warned me no mucking up, follow the doctor’s orders, and get off my arrogant arse and don’t push myself.
I’d spent another hour filling out paperwork, giving consent to the surgery until I’m done.
Saying goodbye to Dr. Wheeler, I linger in the waiting room to call Ma and Pa.
“Olly, that’s wonderful,” Ma cries over the speaker. “Pa and I will fly up to be with you. No arguing, okay?”
I nod, though they can’t see me. I’m stoked they’re coming. There is no chance in hell I could do this without them.
“That’s my boy! I told you to keep fightin’, didn’t I?” Pa cheers, proudly.
“You did, Pa. And I’m glad you guys are coming. I need it.”
We talk for a short while longer as I explain to them what’s involved and the rehabilitation process. Pa is over the moon, talking nonstop until I cut the call short, promising to call them with more details once my head wrapped itself around the enormity of this news.
Outside the office, still not moving from the pavement, I hit dial on Gabriella’s number, hearing it ring out to nothing. Again.
I even called Aubrey to see if she had heard from Gabriella.
“Sorry, no. Is everything okay, Olly?”
“I don’t know, Aubrey. I just… she said she’d be there. It’s unlike her to not show up or even answer my calls or text messages. I’m worried something’s happened, especially after last night.”
“Last night? What happened last night?”
I let out a loud sigh. “For another time, Aubs. Call me if you hear from her.”
I can hear the disappointment in her voice the second I say the words. Aubrey promised to call me back, doing her best to help me track Gabriella down. She’s equally as worried.
I wander the streets, unaware of how far I’ve walked around the city, lost in a sea of thoughts. Each block seems just as strange as the rest. And when I walk past a restaurant, carelessly staring at the patrons, something makes me stop dead in my tracks.
It’s Gabriella… I think.
She looks different with her hair in a tight bun, not her usual mess of curls. Her clothes are so unlike her—a pale pink suit with pearls.
What the fuck is this.
I shake my head, maybe my mind is playing tricks on me. This woman is not the Gabriella I know.
She’s sitting next to Prince Charming, his hand resting on hers and across from an older couple. The woman, blonde, look
s a lot like her, and judging by the similarities, I would say it’s her parents.
I stare coldly through the glass window, my face has become rigid, jaw clamped tight, teeth grinding. Burning rage hissing through my body like deathly poison, screeching a demanded release in the form of unwanted violence.
The humiliation runs deep within my veins, careful to consume every inch as a reminder of the mistakes I’ve made.
Tell me this is not real.
This is someone else, not the woman you’re in fucking love with.
She glances aside, her expression saddened at the sheer sight of me. I can’t pretend to even listen to any excuse she may conjure up. I begin to walk away, heart in my chest, the pain of seeing her there, with him, when she said she would be with me is too much to bear. It feels like shards of glass stabbing me in every fucking direction.
“Oliver, wait!”
I walk fast, each step fueled by resentment.
How dare she fucking do this to me.
Me of all people.
“Oliver, please.” Gabriella catches up to me, pulling my arm back, careless tears streaming down her face. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re sorry?” I question, rudely with hatred. “What exactly are you sorry for?”
“Oliver, please don’t make this harder than it is.”
The nerve she has to stand in front of me, playing the victim once again. I am sick of her mind games. She doesn’t fucking deserve me, and I refuse to let her walk away without feeling guilty for her pathetic actions.
“Don’t make this harder than this is?” I laugh, running my hands through my hair, frustrated at myself. “You promised me you would be there for me today. In fact, when I confided in and trusted you, you continued to promise me that.”
“I promise I can explain—”
“Let me guess? Sebastian wooed you with a life you supposedly don’t want, and Daddy dearest threw in a bunch of money? Not shy of a whore if you ask me.”
“That’s uncalled for!”
“I trusted you,” I yell, causing people around us to stop. “Do you know how hard it is to let someone in? You, out of all people, should fucking know that, yet it all got to you. You know what… I’m done. Go back to your pathetic life.”
