Closer_To_You

by Reana Malori

  Her boss’ voice reached her ears, “Penelope, come on and set up over here, next to me. Did you bring the contracts I sent to you?”

  Turning toward Gene, she glanced up and saw Gabriel taking her in and she knew that selecting this dress was the right move. She could feel his eyes following her like a hawk tracking its prey as she walked across the room. Focusing on her boss, she tried her best to ignore the look he was giving her. Today was about business and while he may swim with the sharks on a regular basis, she did not. If that meant she would need to ignore his heated gaze, then she would do just that.

  “Here you are, Gene. Three copies, correct?”

  “Yes, thanks, Penelope. You’re a godsend. I’m not sure what I would do without you.” Gene patted her on the shoulder as he said the words and she preened under the praise. He didn’t say the words often and she was pleased that he noticed how hard she worked.

  “Ms. Lucas, may I have a word with you about some of the paperwork that needs to be reviewed?” Gabriel’s hard voice broke into her thoughts and she was somewhat surprised at the tone.

  “Um, sure, Mr. Turner.” Penelope glanced at Gene to gauge his response, and while his brow was wrinkled in slight confusion, he gave her a nod to go on over and see what the client needed. For Gene, it was all about the client.

  Making her way over to Gabriel, she tried to still the butterflies in her stomach. “Yes, Mr. Turner.” Outwardly, she may have seemed calm, but her internal monologue consisted of repeatedly telling herself to keep it together.

  As he turned away from the crowd of people gathering in the room, it forced Penelope to adjust her position as well so that she was turned away from her boss and the others filing into the room.

  “You look beautiful today,” he said in a low voice that only she could hear.

  Her gaze flew up to his in shock. When he simply smiled at her, as if waiting for her to acknowledge his statement, she responded back, “Thank you. But why did you need to call me over here for that?”

  Sighing, he looked at the papers in his hand, then back at Gene, and finally turned his eyes back to Penelope. “Honestly, I don’t know. I saw Gene touch you and I didn’t like it.”

  “Gabriel...Mr. Turner...we are not doing this right now. Please. I need this job and once you’re gone, I still need to work with these people.”

  “I apologize, Penelope. You know I would never want to jeopardize anything for you. I know this is forward of me and I need to be careful with how I act when I’m around you.” Pausing for a moment, he flipped a page as if they were actually discussing the documents, “Is my attention toward you unwanted? If it is, I will stop right now and walk away.”

  Thinking long and hard about how to answer that question. Jumping into his arms in the middle of the boardroom would counter everything she had said this morning, but damn, the man was confusing her.

  “No, your attentions are not unwanted. They are very much wanted. But, there is no reason to become territorial, Gabriel. When you leave, I’m sure you’ll forget all about your adventure with me here in DC.” God, she hoped not, but for the sake of her sanity, she needed to say the words.

  “Oh, my beautiful Penelope. I will never forget you or what it feels like to be inside of you. You can most assuredly bank on that. You, my dear, are one of a kind and as long as I’m around, I can guarantee you that I will remain territorial. You belong to me and I will make sure to remind you of that tonight.”

  While she heard the words that had come from his mouth, she couldn’t believe what he had just said. The craziest part was that his body language had not shifted one bit. How did he do that? She was on the verge of hyperventilating and this man still looked as cool as a cucumber.

  The room was now full and others started to sit down. Some, including Gene, were beginning to glance their way, so she spoke loudly and clearly to make sure everyone heard. “Great. Anything else about the terms and conditions that I can answer for you, Mr. Turner. Your assistant sent over all of the changes you requested and they have been incorporated.”

  Picking up her cue, Gabriel rolled up the papers and slapped them on his hand, “Thank you, Ms. Lucas. You’ve answered everything to my satisfaction. I’m very pleased.” Turning toward the group, he placed his hand on her lower back and began to steer her toward the table, “Shall we begin?”

  Penelope quickly moved away from him and went to sit next to her boss, on the opposite side of the table from Gabriel and his team. Not surprisingly, her CEO was late to the meeting. Then again, his petulance at the acquisition had been showing up more and more lately. As the meeting progressed, she would feel eyes on her and would look up to find Gabriel staring at her across the table, as if trying to figure something out. Not prone to averting her eyes from anyone, she would stare right back at him, daring him to step over the line in a public setting. It was bad enough he had gotten jealous that her boss had complimented her for good work product. What she could not have, was her company’s sworn enemy making blatant advances toward her.

  Then it hit her. Gabriel was buying her company. Which meant that he would be her CEO once this deal closed. Why was she losing all common sense when it came to this man? She really needed to get her shit together and get back on her game. This was not good and she had been a complete fool to get involved with him again last night. He was not going away anytime soon. If he owned the company, he would be in DC more often and there would be no escaping him, or what was between them.

  He wouldn’t need to forget her, because he wouldn’t have to. They would see each other every time he came into the office. Oh, damn, she had really stepped into it this time. She was sleeping with the boss and now she had to figure out a way to cut things off. Looking up at Gabriel, she knew he would never accept her calling things off. Not because he would do anything to harm her, but simply because he wanted her too much to let her go.

  Chapter Seven

  The knock sounded on her door at seven o’clock sharp. Gabriel had said he would be there and he was definitely punctual. She had no idea why she jumped when the sound reverberated in the room, but she did. Her nerves were on edge and she knew why. Earlier today, she had made the decision to break things off for good. This entire situation was not good for either of them. If something happened in the future and this thing they had going on stopped, that could mean the end of her job. It also could cause a lot of issues at the office. He knocked a second time, this time louder and more clipped.

  She walked over to door and opened it to him. There he stood, looking extremely sexy and annoyed at the same time. Her resolve to end it with him almost melted. “Come in.”

  Stepping through the front door, he looked like he could be a model on the cover of a magazine. No man had the right to look this good after a grueling day of meetings and negotiations. As soon as she closed the door, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back to him, pressing her rear-end against his erection. “Hi baby, what took you so long?”

  “Um, I was upstairs and had to make my way down.” An inner voice yelled out ‘Chicken’!

  “I was thinking about last night all throughout the day. I was tempted to stop the meeting and haul you out of there with me and take you somewhere private. You have no idea how much I want to sink deep inside your body.”

  His warm lips placed kisses on her neck, right at the space between her ear and shoulder blades and it caused a shiver to course through her body. “Oh baby, you have no idea how much I enjoy hearing you scream and moan while calling out my name.”

  His words conjured up memories of their time in her bed and she almost threw caution to the wind. Almost. “Gabriel, you should have been focused on business. This is a big deal for your company. And for mine.” His hands tightened around her and she felt him moan low. Her insides melted in anticipation of what the night would bring.

  “I can always focus on business. What I need right now is you.” Leaning in toward her, he kissed the skin just below her
ear. His tongue came out to caress her skin lightly, making her body instantly heat and her belly clench in desire. Pulling back from her, he had the nerve to ask a question and expect a rational answer, “Are you hungry for food? Do we need to order out now, or later?”

  Blinking rapidly, it took a moment to answer him, “Aren’t you hungry, too?”

  “Yes, I’m hungry. Very much so. But not for food.” His hands had crept along her stomach and made their way up her body, caressing her ribcage and the underside of her breasts. “What I want can’t be purchased at a restaurant.” Rubbing his thumb across her flat stomach, he seemed on the edge and coiled tight, “God, woman, you do something to me.”

  Releasing her from his grasp, he turned her around to him and captured her mouth with his. Firm lips meeting her softer ones. His tongue pushed its way into her mouth, as if daring her to hold back from him and deny him what he wanted most.

  His name came out on a sigh, “Gabriel…” and thoughts of breaking things off with him flew out the window. All she could think about was heat flaring up in her body. The strength and power of the man holding her in his arms and the molten desire that flared up between the two of them, burned her from the inside out. Should they be doing this again? No. Could there be ramifications for both of them? Absolutely. Did she care about any of that at the moment? Not one damn bit.

  Breaking the kiss, he began whispering words of desire and longing as he started to remove her clothing, “I’ve been thinking about this all day. You can’t imagine how hard it was sitting across from you all day and not being able to touch you.”

  “I feel the same. I’m trying not to give anything away, but it’s hard Gabriel.” Her hands touched him everywhere she could, wanting to just feel his body close to hers.

  “Don’t think about that right now. Just think about this. About how we make each other feel. We’ll figure out the rest later.”

  Watching him undress her, removing the common and regular clothing from her body was something to behold. For a man who could have anyone he wanted, his entire focus was on her, a very sexy, but very normal person. That feeling of power was awe-inspiring and she hoped, with everything in her, that this did not go wrong. It had only been a few days since they had met, but she would not, could not, deny him. She gasped as she saw Gabriel drop down to his knees in front of her. Strong hands cupped her ass and pulled her closer to him as he placed hungry kisses all over her stomach and the top of her mound.

  “Ah, Gabriel.” Words escaped on a sigh as her slick channel readied itself for what was coming next.

  Breaking from his worship of her body, he looked up at her, “Look at me, Penelope.”

  Unable to do anything else, she looked down and watched as his tongue came out and he licked her pussy from bottom to top, taking the time to suction her hard clit into his mouth. His tongue flicking and twirling the hard nubbin around as he pulled her closer. Legs widened in abandon and sheer ecstasy, she released his shoulders and fisted her hands in his hair.

  Delirious with desire and overwhelmed by the intensity of the feelings coursing through her body, she yelled out, “Oh God! Yes. Gabriel, just like that. Please more. Don’t stop.”

  Sensations rippled throughout her body as the man on his knees in front of her loved on her body so damn good. He was the absolute fucking best and if she could have this every night, her life would be complete. Her leg was lifted by one of his hands and placed over his shoulder as he seemed to settle in for a good meal. Thank goodness they were near a wall or else she would have fallen over. Leaning her back against the wall, she let go and allowed herself to simply feel.

  Gabriel had no intention of letting Penelope hide from this. From him. Something about her drew him to her side and he could not get enough of her. Arriving at her home tonight had been unavoidable. Sitting across from her all day, watching her trying to maintain her composure as he stared at her with desire in his eyes had been torture. Remembering the feel of her body and the way his cock seemed to fit just right in her hot channel made him rock hard all day. The sound of her low gasps and groans of pleasure replayed in his mind and he had wanted more. No. He needed more.

  He knew that she thought he would leave and forget about her, but there was no way he could. This woman was now in his blood and no matter what it took, he would make her his. Now, all he needed to do was convince her of that same thing.

  Being in her townhome again seemed natural, as if this is where he was meant to be. Not so much the actual building, but simply being with Penelope. How they met had been unconventional, but who said life had to be neat and tidy? Yes, he knew she was extremely concerned about his company taking over hers. Any rational person would see the dangers inherent in such a situation, but he didn’t care. All he cared about was the woman cradled in his arms, her scent called to his baser nature, and his cock responded in kind.

  Having her this close to him was making him wish for things he had thought would never be possible. “Do you know what you do to me, Penelope?”

  “No, but I want you to tell me.”

  Smiling to himself, he silently laughed at how she never minced words with him. Maybe it was due to how they met. To her, he was just a man. She had not met him as GT Banks and maybe that had been for the best. He was simply Gabriel to her and that was perfect. “I want to be deep inside you, Penelope. I need your body wrapped around mine tonight. I cannot get enough of you.”

  “I’m here Gabriel. I want you, too. But what about—”

  Knowing what she was about to say, he interrupted her. “No. When we’re alone, the outside world cannot come in. This is just you and me. Gabriel and Penelope.” He began pushing her sweats fully down her body as he stared intently in her eyes, “Do you understand me, Penelope? Nothing else interferes when we’re together.”

  “Yes, Gabriel.”

  Watching her eyes glaze over in desire, he wanted nothing more than to taste his woman. Yes, his woman. Some might question how he knew this so soon, but everything in him screamed out that she was his. That they had been meant to meet each other that balmy night on a rooftop bar in the heart of the Nation’s Capital.

  Even he was somewhat surprised at his next action. Gabriel wanted to humble himself in front of this woman, he wanted to make sure she saw the man behind the title, and would never forget him. Dropping to his knees, he inhaled her scent and his mouth salivated. Oh damn, she was perfect for him. His cock strained against his pants and begged for release as his body responded to the scent of the woman in front of him. Hearing her whimpers of desire as she watched him kneel before her, was his undoing.

  Not wasting another second, he dipped his head and stroked his tongue from the bottom of her thick folds all the way up to her clit.

  “Oh, Gabriel! Yes!”

  Those were the only words he wanted to hear from his woman. His name on her lips and permission to continue. Spending a few minutes licking and sucking to his heart’s content, he wanted to get deeper. He needed to make her lose her damn mind, all before he sheathed his pulsating cock inside her body. Grabbing one of her legs, he hoisted it over his shoulder. He then grasped his hands on her oh-so perfect ass and tilted her body, pulling her heat closer to him, positioning her clit at the perfect angle.

  Her hands grasped his hair and pulled. He had no doubt of her intentions. She was not pulling away, she was trying to her damndest to pull him closer. Although she had broken rule number one, he had no intention of stopping. He would make sure to punish her for that later. Hips pumping away, he felt her try to get closer to him as her body spiraled out of control trying to reach the precipice.

  Lifting his head for just a minute, he kissed her lower belly as he used one hand to free himself from his slacks. Next order of business after making his woman explode would be to remind her exactly why they were so good for each other. Chanting her name, his need for her could not be contained. “Penelope. Penelope. Baby, I want all of you. Don’t hide from me.”

  Onc
e his cock was freed, he turned back toward the gift in front of him and went back to pleasing the woman in his arms.

  “Yes! Yes! Oh my damn. Gabriel, baby, just like that,” the begging and pleading tone of her voice pleased him immensely.

  The words reached him, but for the moment all he could focus on was her release. Nails scratched his scalp as she tried to grab hold of his hair. Hips pumped back and forth as Penelope tried to match the rhythm, but became lost in her own erotic pleasure and the feel of his tongue.

  With a few more flicks of his tongue and suctioning her clit into his mouth, Penelope let loose a string of curses and her body tensed up as the release she had been fighting for roared through her body like a freight train. Taking a few minutes to enjoy the fruits of his labor, Gabriel felt his desire and lust for this woman become something more. She was so much more to him than he would have ever expected. As he felt her start to relax, he released her from his mouth and kissed a path up her body. He slowly stood up until he was once again at his full height. He leaned in and captured her mouth with his, kissing her with such intensity, there would be no doubt that he wanted her with a passion unlike anything he had known before.

  Breaking the kiss, he placed his forehead on her, “Hold on baby, I’m taking you to bed.” Bending his knees, he scooped her up in her arms and began making his way upstairs

  “Gabriel, put me down. I’m too heavy for you to be carrying me up the stairs like this.” Her voice was muffled since she was lying in the crook of his arms.

  “No, you’re not. I love carrying you in my arms like this.” Gabriel knew that he spoke the truth. He always spoke the truth. And if he and Penelope were going to have a chance in hell of making it, he would not break that rule now.