"So, that's what Ram said you needed to be thinking of or doing, okay?" she said. "Oh, shit. Gotta go, his truck just pulled into the driveway." I heard her moving very fast before she yelled, "Bye." But I still heard a bellow of, "Pyari? You better not be out of bed!" before the phone disconnected.
"Wow, Kitten," he said as I joined him at the table. "At least we have a place to start."
"What kind of stuff do we have to do," I asked, trying to read his writing upside down. I don't know why I bothered though. I had trouble sometimes even reading right side up, especially with his cramped, miniscule penmanship.
"It's not as much as it looks, Kitten," he said, flipping pages. He raised his eyes to mine. "But its shit that has to be done, nonetheless."
I nodded, swallowing thickly.
"It's too late to do this tonight. But we gotta start on them first thing tomorrow," he continued.
I noticed it was getting dark and went to turn on a light, but nothing happened. I moved to the kitchen light with the same results.
"Crys, they probably turned off the circuit breaker, according to the list Marianne gave me," Gabe said. "Do you know where it is?"
Pretty soon we had lights and decided to open all the windows before we went to bed to give the house a chance to air out.
"What if it still smells bad when we go to bed?" I asked. I was worried that we could be breathing in stuff that could hurt us.
"Then we spring for a hotel room for a couple of days," Gabe said without raising his head from the list after drawing a line through one item.
"You call your dad?" I asked softly.
It had occurred to me when he was on the phone with Marianne that both of us coming back into town on the same day, could be viewed as 'suspicious timing'.
"Ah, not yet," he drawled.
He seemed to be avoiding my eyes.
"And?" I asked.
He looked at me and reached for my hand.
Uh-oh. I knew this move.
Bad news.
"Spill it, Mykalson," I instructed and put the shield over my heart.
"Trish sent a text," he said softly. His face was pointed towards me but his eyes wouldn't meet mine.
Really, bad news.
"She's gonna call my dad to let him know he's gonna be a Grandpa," he continued with a sigh.
I was quiet. I had a lot on my plate at the moment and the drama that Trish was trying to create had to take a backseat to what I had going on.
"You know I don't want her, Crys," he said, pulling me up and into his lap.
I stayed quiet.
"I was hoping to propose to you when we were in Oregon," he said after a couple of moments of silence. "I want to marry you. Very much."
I stayed quiet but wrapped an arm around his shoulders.
"Would you marry me, Crys?" he asked, his voice was rough, hesitant.
I pulled back and looked at him for a long time, before I leaned down to kiss him.
"Ask me again when you get your shit sorted, 'kay?" I said. I didn't want to build up either one of our expectations, especially in light of this new twist.
Getting Benny involved was a fucking low-blow but, if I were a scheming, conniving bitch, it'd be the play I'd make.
Trish was definitely not stupid.
It was not my battle, though. This real or imagined pregnancy was between the two of them and I wasn't putting myself out there to be caught in the crossfire.
Chicken shit? Maybe.
But when it came right down to it, I had to protect myself.
"You still love me, though, right?" he asked, putting his hands on my face so I'd look at him.
"Always, Gabe," I said, leaning again to kiss him. "Always have, probably always will."
*.*.*.*.*
Things seemed to smell better the next morning, at least in the bedroom since Crys had suggested bringing in the box fan from the living room and leaving the bedroom and master bath windows open.
She was up and at 'em early. He woke up with the sound of 'swish swish' invading his dreams. After taking the necessary time to pry his eyes awake, he found her on a small step ladder, washing the walls and ceiling in the hallway.
"Morning, Princess Kitten," he mumbled, blearily admiring her ass which was at eye level and covered in a pair of boxers, rolled down at the waist and up at the hem. "Nice view."
She smiled at him over her shoulder and he saw that she was wearing not only rubber gloves but goggles as well.
"Morning, Gabe," she chirped.
The chirping was too much for him and he made his way back into bedroom as he headed for the bathroom.
She came into the kitchen just as the oatmeal and fruit mix he'd prepared was done.
He leaned over from the stove for his kiss as she washed up at the kitchen sink.
"You need to read me that list," she reminded him. "And I need to get to the shop by eleven. Have appointments and shit to do."
Gabe thought she was entirely too wired to be around.
"Slow, Kitten, alright?" he said slowly.
"Aw, is Baby Gaby still sweepy?" she asked in a baby voice against his back, her arms wrapping around his waist.
He didn't say anything, but made sure his grin didn't show as he turned away from the stove to grab the toast.
She was dancing on bare feet in the space between the dining room and the kitchen when he turned around. Twirling, reaching, wiggling all to an internal tune but with so much grace and finesse that he could only stare, open-mouthed.
He'd forgotten how she loved to dance. Used to be that she lived to dance, and she'd told him of how she taught a couple times a month at the Starlight. But, honest to God, he'd forgotten how she could move.
And his body's reaction to her sinuous moving.
His first remembered hard-on was from one of her dance recitals and he couldn't figure out what the fuck was going on at first. Just that looking at her, moving like she had been, had made him feel funny. Down there. He remembered that his body and face felt hot, but he'd tried to hide the tenting of his cargo shorts with his hands.
"What're you dancing to, Kitten?" he asked, trying to keep his voice even.
She stopped and dropped into 'her' chair at the table.
"Some ol' Madonna tune," she said. "Feels good to move, though."
Looks good when you move, too, Gabe thought.
He finished up the oatmeal as fast as he could, before scooping away their bowls and getting them into the sink to soak. She was next to be scooped up, even though he had to chase her around the house to do it. But he was successful and triumphant as he carried her back to the unmade bed.
Chapter Twenty Three
"God, Crys," he said after dumping her in the middle of the mattress and following her body down, her on her back, him to the side.
His mouth found hers, his tongue wriggling at her lower lip as one hand found her breast and the other was trying to remove those sexy rolled boxers.
Why was a girl in men's wear so fucking sexy?
Gabe's fingers finally managed to remove the shorts and he lifted his head so he could watch himself play with her pussy. Her legs opened and her hips moved in small, belly-rolling thrusts as he stroked her, feeling her arousal moistening her nether lips as he stroked.
"God, Gabe," she moaned, pulling against his shoulders until his mouth was again glued to hers, their tongues undulating fiercely, hungrily moving together.
Her hand reached for the button fly of his jeans and he leaned back, welcoming her hot hands on him.
He needed her, needed to feel her, to be inside her.
"Crys," he hissed as she shoved his jeans down and captured his hard cock and tight sac in her hands.
"God, Gay," she breathed. "Want you so much."
That was all he needed to hear as he rolled towards her, going up onto his knees, his movements only hampered by his tangled jeans.
He kicked them off, wiggling his cock against the soft skin of her thighs.
&
nbsp; His pre-cum was leaking, preparing him to enter her. Into what he knew was her hot, tight, wetness.
"Oh, baby," she moaned, her eyes on his crotch as he lined his cock up with her opening. She had lifted herself up onto her elbows, watching, her eyes glued to their activity between her legs.
She rotated her hips, wetting him even more. "That's so fucking awesome, Gabe."
"Shit, Crys. You gotta stop, Kitten, or I'll come before I'm even inside," he warned, feeling his cock flex with her words. He held the base of his dick tightly as he rubbed his cockhead over her swollen clit, circling it, flicking side to side.
"Damn," she hissed sliding her elbows out, laying back as her neck arched. "Yes."
He looked at her flushed cheeks, her beautifully sharp nipples, her tight belly and swollen pussy.
Goddamn, he wasn't gonna last.
And, at the moment, he didn't care in the least.
He sunk himself into her slowly and, because she was so wet, so slick, he was able to slide all the way in without stopping.
He was ball deep within her and it felt so good.
He rested his forehead against hers to try and prevent what the sharp darts sizzling in his balls were signaling.
"Touch yourself, Kitten," he advised. "I'm too close to make it good."
He raised himself up on his arms, watching and feeling her hand as she dragged it from his shoulder down to flick his nipple, over his abs, to stroke the base of his cock.
Dear God.
Her fingers finally slipped to her clit and began moving, her hips thrusting almost involuntarily. But, with Crys, it wasn't a normal thrust. It was a slow, sinful thrust that had her belly undulating snakelike, writhing as he felt her clench around him.
"Fuck, Crys!" he warned through clenched teeth.
She was so fucking sexy, and the way she moved had him right on the edge.
"Give it to me, Gay," she moaned, from somewhere deep inside, her hips still moving, churning as he slipped in and out of her.
Gabe could see her eyes were unfocused and her nipples could've cut glass.
"Can't hold on much longer," he warned again, trying hard to articulate through the hot haze in his head.
"Please," she groaned. "Need."
And he finally, fucking finally, felt her begin to spasm around him, her body frozen as her orgasm moved up and out.
"Fucking, yes," he yelled, his hips finally released from his mental grip as he slewed himself quickly, thrusting hard against her, in and out, tingling as his orgasm shot up and into her. He couldn't help his moans that were timed to every jet, every thrust as he emptied himself.
His elbows caught his weight as he lowered his chest to hers, burying his head in her sweet smelling neck.
"Damn, Kitten," he whispered. "What you fucking do to me."
He heard her chuckle but absolutely couldn't move after coming so hard.
Her hands threaded through his hair and he felt her breasts, her body jewelry slide against him as she moved.
"Awesome," she breathed, holding him to her. "So amazingly awesome, Gabe."
Their hips were still moving, softly, shallowly as their hearts slowed.
"Forgot the condom, Baby," she said slowly.
"Completely forgot," he admitted. "Didn't even cross my mind."
"Or mine, either," she admitted, but there was no note of rancor in her voice. "Thank God for the pill."
He raised himself up and brushed her hair off her forehead.
"I love you so fucking much, Crys," he said softly, gazing into her eyes.
She was quiet and then he saw the extra moisture, the added gleam that he knew were tears as she pointed her eyes across the room.
Her nod spoke volumes to him, even though she didn't say a word.
Gabe moved his mouth to her ear.
"You are my love. You were my first love, you'll be my last love, Crystal. You. Only you," he whispered and felt her chest heave with a sob.
He felt a lump in his own throat as he stroked her cheek with his own.
It wasn't long and he felt her mouth searching for his. He turned his head to meet her, capturing her soft, hot lips with his own.
They couldn't really call it a round two since they never actually disconnected, but this time the passion snuck up on them both.
If their first joining was frenzied, a driving need, this was something completely different. Softer. Sweeter.
Slow moves.
Gliding, wet, deep kisses as their bodies continued to join and come apart, creating the friction they loved, craved.
Long leisurely strokes of hands, lips that gently captured, sucked and moved on.
Lazily moving up and back, in and out, slowly. Dragging their connection away and back together again.
He felt her body begin to tense first, moving with deliberation, with intent. Her sleek tummy tightening as she moved.
"Gabe," she moaned, stroking his ass with both hands, her legs curled up and over the small of his back.
His cock responded with renewed hardness, lengthening inside her.
"Damn, Crys," he moaned against her swollen mouth. This was new, this never ending connection and he reveled in it.
He raised himself up onto his knees, spreading her wider, pumping wetly into her harder, deeper.
The only sounds were of their joining, the slick wetness giving evidence to their renewed desire and the panting as their mouths worked, working in the same heavy rhythm as their hips.
It was building again and he felt the heat of her against his cock, adding fuel to the fire of his already heightened need.
"Crystal," he wheezed, feeling her tighten around him as he moved himself in and out.
He was surprised at the pressure building against his balls, his spine. He had already come but his body was preparing to release hard into her.
Gabe's hands found her perfect ass and gripped it as he sat up even farther, the aroma of their fused release from earlier giving him a head rush. He drove himself into her, watching as her pussy swallowed his hardness.
"Fuck me," he groaned.
Her words where incomprehensible but she was moaning, up on her elbows again, watching as their bodies fused.
Crys's eyes shot to his and he felt her clutch him deep inside.
"Coming," she whispered brokenly.
It was a moment he would never forget and hit him at every level. The sight of her climaxing with her eyes wide open and trained on him, the smell of her cream releasing, the feel of her pussy pulsing, milking his cock, the taste of her mouth still slickening his lips, the sounds as she tried to hold back her groans.
He was only seconds behind her but there was no fucking way he could keep his eyes open or the sounds from escaping his throat. It felt like his cum was being dragged out of him as it spurted and his head arched back with the force of it.
"Fucking hell," he breathed, releasing his arms and pressing his shaking body into hers.
*.*.*.*.*
It may sound weird, and I'd never openly say it to him out loud, but Gabe was a sex god. He was everything I'd ever thought he would be and more.
Twice without disconnecting?
Uh, hello. Amazing.
But it was his admission, what he had said with his heart in his eyes, that had me over the moon.
And scrambling to protect my heart.
I'd heard of love since I was a little girl. It was in almost every song I'd learned, danced to and sang. In movies, on TV and in plays.
But I'd never seen it last.
Ever.
Somebody always left. Either by disappearing or dying.
Leaving somebody else behind.
Somebody who had to grope around, searching through the pieces of their shattered love to find the jagged edges and bits of themselves, that were themselves before the 'us' or the 'we'. Then try and put the mosaic of the person they had basically been back together.
Sometimes never getting it pieced together right, much like my
dad and Benny.
I refused, absolutely freaking refused, to be one of those people.
There was never any doubt that I loved Gabe.
And I knew he loved me.
But in my life?
Love never conquered all.
Never even came fucking close to conquering real life.
It fucked with your head, that 'conquering love' shit, making you different than you were and, when it was gone? It left you broken for a long time.
Calloused and cold hearted? Maybe.
Self preserving? You better believe it.
But, here's the thing.
I was gonna freaking revel in what we had for as long as we had it.
He was my best friend and, finally, my lover.
I was thinking that this is as good as it was gonna get for someone like me.
*.*.*.*.*
I showed up at the shop an hour before my first appointment, pretty much warned by their behavior of last week to know what I would face.
Voicemail full? Check.
Mail unopened and undistributed? Check.
Benny had obviously been contacted by the conniving Trish and was pulling the 'Grandpa' card out at the most innocent comment.
"How're you doing today, Ben?" I'd heard a customer ask.
"Outstanding, my friend. I'm gonna be a Grandpa! Can you believe it? A Grandpa," he'd crowed.
I was gonna barf after hearing him say the exact same words three times in a row.
Luckily, I was busy. But piercing was so much less time consuming than inking. Unfortunately with Benny working reception, the comments never stopped.
And my booth wasn't soundproof.
Shit.
'Tell ur F'ing dad 2 stop,' I texted Gabe.
'Tried, didn't work,' was the reply.
Double shit.
In between appointments I was sorting mail and catching up on all the happenings of the days I'd missed. Dex was gonna be pissed because we'd gotten a couple of past due notices. He was picky that way.
But if no one opened the mail in my absence, I couldn't be held responsible, right?
"So, buddy, now that you're back and Crys is fine, you'll be moving back home?" I heard Benny say loudly. Why couldn't the man modulate his voice over fucking tattoo machines?
"Uh, no Dad," she heard Gabe say. "Crys has plenty of room and I like being there."
Crys And Gabe Page 18
