by Lacey Silks
Samantha’s foolish ex-boyfriend didn’t realize what he had. Her perfect mouth was the nicest opening Gabe had seen in a long time. He would do anything to have that mouth rest on the tip of his cock, but first he had to protect her, ensure she was safe. He wouldn’t leave her unguarded. Tonight marked the seventh night he’d scoured her neighbourhood, looking for the scum he expected. It was only a matter of time before he showed his face again. Gabe watched her drive home after work, bring in her groceries, go out to the library, and every night he parked on her street until morning, making sure no one connected her to Kendra. He knew they eventually would. They always did.
CHAPTER 4
I often wondered whether my life would be different if Kevin, my high school boyfriend and my first love, had stayed with me.
Kevin was one of the most polite boys in school. He was athletic but not a jock. He concentrated on his studies instead of on basketball or football, but he still hung around the cool crowd.
When I was a senior he told me that I had a natural beauty and that he’d had a crush on me since junior year. I remember how hot my blush felt on my cheeks when I admitted I felt the same way about him.
After that, we began dating and discovering each other’s bodies. I’d sneak Kevin into my room after school before my mom came home. We’d make out for hours and then rush downstairs and spread our books on the table, pretending we had been studying. Once, we drove past the city boundaries to attend a small town’s fair. Kevin kissed me on the Ferris wheel when it reached the top. It seemed as if we could conquer the world from up there. I laughed until my stomach ached when he desperately tried to win a stuffed animal for me, and he ended up falling into the dunk tank to do so. With him, I felt happy and carefree. Life was perfect, but it didn’t last long; Kevin left me.
I got the news a week before prom. At first I thought it was a prank, a sick joke someone was playing on me, but it wasn’t. His parents asked my mom to come with me to their house. Kevin sat on the sofa in his living room, covered with a blanket. He’d felt ill for a few weeks, but his diagnosis was still a shock to the entire family. He had a form of acute leukemia, an invasive cancer of blood and bone marrow that had already spread throughout his body. There was no cure and no treatment options. The only thing they could do was ease his pain.
I wouldn’t leave him for a moment and stayed with him the whole week he lived, if you could even call what he did living. My mom brought me clothes, and I slept on the floor mattress beside his bed.
Kevin’s mobility and ability to communicate deteriorated rapidly. His skin paled, and the lips I once kissed became dry. His eyes sank deeper into his skull. The lively boy I knew morphed into a confused and frightened child. Two days before he passed away, Kevin could no longer eat. We’d been told this would happen, but listening to the doctors describe it and actually experiencing it were two different things. Food would spill down his chin as we tried to feed him. But neither his mouth nor stomach wanted to cooperate, and he’d vomit minutes later. He didn’t even have enough strength to suck on a straw to drink water. An intravenous machine fed him while I soaked a little sponge in water, moistened his lips, and tried to squeeze a few drops into his mouth. Each time he looked at me, I could see him fighting the tears and emotions back. He was trying to stay strong for me and for his family. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. We were supposed to worry about stupid things like what school to apply to or what to wear to the masquerade-themed prom instead of picking out a headstone.
“I pictured marrying you, Sam. I wanted to love you until I died, and I will,” was the last thing he said to me in private.
He began forgetting my name that evening. When his drugs kicked in and he fell asleep, I cried listening to his desperate lungs running out of time. I prayed that, by some miracle, he would remain by my side, not six feet underground.
On the day before he died, he became incoherent and asked what was behind the patio door.
“Outside,” his father said.
Kevin’s mother couldn’t get a word out. How could she? She was about to lose her only child.
We rolled him out in a wheelchair to the back yard. Kevin’s parents lived on a property that backed onto a lake. We parked the wheelchair on the dock near the water’s edge and watched what would be Kevin’s last sunset. The intense glow lit his face with its final rays then dimmed and faded. With my hands clasped in his, Kevin closed his eyes and didn’t open them again.
The kids from our high school held a fundraiser in Kevin’s honor. A donation box was set up at the prom we would never attend. And while the music played a few miles away, I listened to Kevin’s weakened heartbeat until it silenced.
I never said goodbye.
How do you say goodbye to your love when you know they only have a week left to live? Aren’t you supposed to have that conversation with people when they’re old and grey? What do you tell an eighteen-year-old a week before he dies? I’ll keep you in my memory? I will never love again? Beg them not to leave you in this world because living without them is not worthwhile?
After blaming God, I took the burden onto my own shoulders and wished I could have done more to ease his pain or help him pass in peace. Teenage love is silly and intense at the same time, deeper than an ocean’s dark, unexplored bottom. At seventeen, I had loved Kevin with my body and my soul. When he was gone, I couldn’t speak or move for weeks. I knew my life would never be the same. I didn’t want to love again, and I decided I wouldn’t give my heart away to anyone else.
I stuffed that dreadful week I’d spent with Kevin away in a compartment called I don’t want to remember and tried to move on. But little did I know that incident guided my relationships more than anything in my life.
I was on suicide watch and in therapy for almost a year until I finally lost myself in my studies. And then I met Casey, who’d felt safe though he had a ton of issues. Now, I know I was drawn to him because he was simple and uncomplicated and, most importantly, he was a health maniac. Yeah, that must sound weird, but to me it was his number one quality. I hoped he would help me forget, and I vowed to do everything possible to make our relationship work, just so that I could forget the pain.
I knew no one could ever compare to Kevin, and I didn’t want them to. I could not let my heart be crushed again when it hadn’t fully healed. I couldn’t get involved in a serious relationship, especially one I knew had potential to blossom. I still didn’t want to go through the pain of losing someone again.
Now, I wondered if my confidence would bloom like Kendra’s if I could just get past losing my first love. And, even if I got over it, would I ever find the kind of connection I’d shared with Kevin?
CHAPTER 5
I stood in line, waiting for my morning coffee. Was there any way to weasel out of work today? The urge to see Kendra before the club got too crowded had been provoking my lower half since this morning.
A week had passed since our night together. Kendra’s naked ass haunted my thoughts. Her rose aroma followed me to work and back to my apartment. The mere thought of her delicate skin connecting with mine moistened my panties. Still, the planted seed in my mind of a possible threesome, made me hornier than ever. She revived a primitive craving inside me. Up until now, I’d made safe choices; ones that wouldn’t backfire. But everything had changed after last night. Was I wrong to feel that way? Shouldn’t I have had more control over my hormones and needs? Seeking any suitable mate, my female radar examined every potential man, but only one face came to mind when I closed my eyes at the end of the day. Gabe’s.
A fresh brew of hazelnut vanilla trickled into a pot. The door of the coffee shop swung open, and its bell rang in my ears. The loud echo stirred memories of the after party, a MIA hunk and my mission to find the handsome bartender tonight.
I hadn’t seen Gabe at all. Kendra’s suggestion to make a move on him had me on alert. But how could I ask him to have sex? I hardly knew him. A one-night stand had to sound appealing to a
man, didn’t it? And every time I thought of Gabe, Kendra wasn’t far away. The euphoria I carried out from her red room clouded my thinking.
I still wondered why my friend had been so forward. Kendra wasn’t behaving like herself, as if she wanted to draw attention to her frivolous ways. My dozen messages to her were left unanswered, and I had stopped calling—for now.
“Are you coming tonight?” a familiar voice whispered in my ear, startling me.
I whipped around. “Excuse me?” Silver eyes beamed at me.
My throat tightened.
The stranger wore a business suit, tailored to fit his body. His musky aftershave overpowered the smell of coffee. The familiar scent Cupid had prepared for this man teased my nose. My knees softened as recognition dawned in seconds—though it felt like minutes. Gabe.
“It’s Sam, isn’t it?” he asked. “I’m sorry. I don’t think you remember me.”
“I do. It’s just, you look so different.” I stared at him. Gabe’s outfit wasn’t something I’d have pictured him in. In my mind, he was always behind a bar, in a skin-tight shirt, the gray one he’d worn the night I met him that revealed his beautifully ripped arms.
“I thought my orgasm would stick with you, but I guess I was wrong.”
“Shh!” I slouched scanning the coffee shop to see whether anyone heard him.
“Miss?” the cashier called out. “Your order is ready.”
“Thank you.” I took out my wallet.
“It’s on me.” Gabe handed the teen a crisp fifty. “I’ll have the same.”
Casey had never paid for my coffee.
“How do you know what I’m having?” I found Gabe even more intriguing today than last week. Had he followed me here? He couldn’t have.
“I don’t. It won’t kill me, will it?” he asked, one brow arching up.
“No. Thank you.” I raised my cup.
“You’re not in a hurry, are you, Sam?” He gestured to a seat.
“No.” I shook my head, lying through my teeth. Thank goodness my boss out of town. “I have a few minutes before work.”
“Good.” He pulled out a chair.
His commanding tone would have me agreeing to anything he asked, even stripping naked in the middle of the coffee shop.
Taking a deep breath, I sat down. My racing heartbeat had a mind of its own, and no matter how much I tried to compose it, the beating disagreed. I hadn’t expected Gabe to be this elegant. I’d imagined him rougher as a bartender, perhaps dressed in leather, riding a motorcycle. The image in front of me now was a hot, rich businessman who could get people to do anything and everything.
“I heard you enjoyed last week. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to witness it personally.”
My cheeks burned. Kendra wouldn’t have said anything, would she? I made a mental note to threaten my friend with the strongest words I could find, maybe even Google a few new ones.
“Rumors are you’re quite a dancer,” he said.
The tension in my neck eased. Now, if I could only get my shaking hands to cooperate under the table, perhaps I could reach for my coffee and take a sip.
“Thank you. What happened to you? Abandoning the club on the first night wouldn’t sit right with the bosses. You weren’t at the bar.”
Was I too forward? Shit! He’d know I’d looked for him.
A waitress brought Gabe’s coffee.
“Thank you.” His mouth curved up in the most genuine smile I had seen on a man in a long time and my straight spine mellowed as I sunk in my seat.
The waitress couldn’t keep her eyes off Gabe either, and I couldn’t blame her. But Gabe turned his attention back to me.
“No, it wouldn’t, not unless you’re the boss,” he said.
Boss? “You’re Kendra’s silent partner?” My mouth opened.
Gabe’s eyes flared, and I closed my lips, as if on command.
“Yes, and I don’t work there. I only help out when she needs me.”
The way he’d said needs sent shivers up my spine. I didn’t like the idea of him working for Kendra, and I didn’t want anyone else needing him. I crossed my arms over my chest suppressing a jolt of jealousy.
Why would I be jealous of Gabe? He was a handsome man and, as far as I knew he was single and available for a good time, or so I hoped. Perhaps handsome was an understatement. Gabe was a mouth-watering hunk who turned women’s heads like love-struck bitches in heat.
“What’s Gabe short for?” I fanned myself with a napkin.
“Gabriel. My name is Gabriel Silver.”
Gabriel Silver. The sound of his name slithered through my mind. I liked the way it rolled off his tongue, feeling more precious than gold but somehow as toxic as arsenic.
Gabe extended his hand formally, and I took it into mine. The touch sent shivers through my body. People in the coffee shop seemed to freeze.
I held my breath, not wanting to let go. The warmth of his palm travelled up my arm to my lips before I remembered to speak. “Samantha Connor.”
“You should use your full name all the time. It’s sexy.”
My cheeks grew hot again and I squeezed my knees together. “Thank you, but just Sam is fine.” I took my hand away, fearing this gentle handshake would lead to more, much too soon, right on the coffee shop table.
“I’m sorry I had to leave last week. The worst part of the night was not being able to see you again. After Kendra took you upstairs, I had business to attend to.”
What was it about him that made me blush so easily? Yes, he was hot, but so were dozens of other guys. Why him? Was it the grin? Or perhaps the way I felt safe in his presence, even though I didn’t really know him. Somehow, for once, I was the center of someone else’s universe. “What do you do besides investing in luxurious nightclubs?” I took a sip of my coffee.
Gabe’s cell phone vibrated. He frowned at the screen. “My apologies, but I need to leave. I’ll see you tonight? I can make you another orgasm.” He winked invitingly.
“Yes,” I blurted, wondering whether he meant the shot, or something entirely different.
Gabe leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. The tingle left by his lips trailed along my flesh, surprising me. He placed his finger under my chin and tapped it upward, closing my mouth. Turning on his heel, he left the cafe.
I watched him disappear around a corner and rushed out the door and across the street to my office. I’ve been lucky to land a job at this bank two years ago. The current economy didn’t leave many options. And with my student loans and bills, someone up there was definitely looking out for me. Two hours into my day I stared at my phone when it vibrated. I nearly dropped it. The incoming text was from none other than my mysterious bartender.
G.SILVER: I’m sorry I had to rush out. Hope to make it up tonight.
“How did you get my number?” I said to the phone shaking it.
Someone knocked on my door. I placed the phone on my lap, under the desk. “Come in.”
Cindy, the receptionist, peeked in. “I’m sorry to disturb you, Sam, but you have a delivery.” She pushed open the door, allowing the courier to bring a huge bouquet of roses into my office. “I don’t know what you did for these, but they’re beautiful.”
My cheeks burned again. I touched a petal of one yellow rose. A sweet smell filled the room.
“Someone I need to know about?” She poked teasingly at my ribcage.
“Right here would be good.” I cleared the papers off the corner of my desk. My heart pounded. I thought I knew exactly who they were from. After all, who else could it be? My phone buzzed in my palm causing my insides to flip-flop with excitement.
“That will be all, Cindy.” I flashed a polite smile that asked her to mind her work.
As soon as the door closed, I took out my phone.
G.SILVER: I hope you like them.
Quickly, I typed back.
SAM: I do. Thank you! Are you stalking me?
My supply of adrenaline would be emptied before the end of th
e day. Gabe was not only a sexy bartender, but also a mysterious businessman and a romantic at heart. Another vibration sounded.
G.SILVER: Just trying to please a woman ☺
I punched the keys again.
SAM: Are you saying your orgasms aren’t enough to please?
This time, the vibration spread from my palm through my entire body.
G.SILVER: Would you like me to come and prove you wrong, Samantha?
He wouldn’t dare, would he? I replied, biting my lip.
SAM: No alcohol allowed at work.
When the next signal came in, I couldn’t contain my excitement. My heart pounded, and my palms shook. The night with Kendra seemed more distant in my memory every minute. The screen flashed a new message.
G.SILVER: I don’t need alcohol to give a fantastic orgasm.
I wiggled my fingers, and then answered. SAM: Promises, promises…
The ticking of my watch sounded like a grandfather clock as I waited. The phone remained silent. I pressed my fingers to my temples. Perhaps I’d taunted Gabe too much? I wished I’d kept the conversation going. He drew me out of my shell like no one else had, and it felt like I’d known him for years, not hours.
Twenty minutes later the intercom in my office clicked. “Sam, there’s someone here to see you,” Cindy said.
“I don’t have any appointments scheduled.” My brows narrowed.
“It’s an unscheduled visit, I think.” Her voice quieted to a whisper. “I think you may want to take this one. I would.”
Could it be? My heart jumped as I stood up almost knocking down the chair. An insistent knock on the door echoed.
