“Let me know what he thinks. And don’t forget to give me all the credit.” I laughed as I hugged him.
“I’ll see you later,” I said as I pulled away. Gage laced our hands together as we said goodbye one last time. When we got outside and headed for the car, Gage finally spoke.
“So why did we leave? Planning on doing something dirty to me in the car?” He winked at me.
“No, and get that idea out of your head. We’ve been through this: we aren’t doing it in the car.” Reaching the Jeep, I held my hand out.
“Keys.”
“Why?” He looked at me suspiciously. I could tell he was starting to really wonder what was going on.
“I’m not going to do anything bad or leave you somewhere; although that idea is appealing. Just give me the keys.” After looking at me for a good minute, he finally dropped them into my palm.
“Thank you.” I went over to the driver’s side and slid in. It would just be easier for me to drive us where we needed to go instead of giving Gage directions.
“Not going to tell me where we are going, are you?” he asked.
“Nope. It is a surprise.”
“You know I am not a huge fan of surprises, babe.”
“You’ll like this one, I promise.” I hope, I finished silently.
We were quiet as I drove. It didn’t take long to reach the place, as it was about fifteen minutes from our apartment. Because it was dark out, you couldn’t really see where we were and for that I was glad. It made the surprise that much easier.
“Where are we? Wait, are we at some underground sex club?” Gage turned to me, his eyes wide. The lights from the dashboard lit up his face. “Because, babe, I’m not really into others seeing me naked. I mean, if you want to do it, I don’t mind, but—” I placed a hand over his mouth.
“Dylan has rubbed off on you. We are not at a sex club.” I pulled my hand away from him after I spoke. “Just trust me.” Grabbing my purse that held the keys, I turned the car off and got out. As we walked toward the dark, empty building, I moved closer to Gage. We were in an okay part of town, but with it being so dark, you didn’t know what could happen. Gage wrapped an arm around my waist, holding me close as we walked.
Reaching the front door of the building, we came to a stop. I watched Gage look around. I was growing more nervous as the seconds went by.
“I don’t want you to be mad at me, okay?” I said, breaking the silence.
“What would I be mad about?”
“I wanted to get you something for all the hard work you have been doing, and the fact that we are about to celebrate our six-year anniversary.”
“Carter, you are slightly scaring me here. What is going on?” Knowing he wouldn’t last much longer, I opened my purse and took out the envelope. Avoiding Gage’s gaze, I took the keys out and went to the front door.
“Carter, you can’t just break in,” Gage said, grabbing my arm. I shook my head. I inserted the key and pushed the door open.
“Just follow me.” Not giving him time to answer, I grabbed his hand and pulled him after me. Using my phone’s flash to guide us, I led us down the hallway a bit until the room opened up.
“Stay right here,” I instructed Gage. When I was sure he wasn’t going to move, I quickly walked over to the sidewalk. Reaching the light switches, I took a deep breath. Please don’t be mad. I crossed my fingers and turned on the lights, one by one.
The open area lit up slowly until you could make out where we were exactly. Gage was completely quiet as I walked back toward him. I looked around the old empty gym, taking in the punching bags that were still hanging up, an old boxing ring off to the side. The place was still in great shape even though it needed some things fixed.
“Why are we in an empty gym?” Gage finally asked. I played with my fingers. “Seriously, Carter, why are we here?” He turned to face me.
“We are at your gym,” I said finally. I stood still waiting for his reaction.
“What?”
“I bought the gym.” I held the keys up for him.
“You…bought this gym?”
“Yeah. I mean, this is your present. I know for a while now you have been wanting to open up your own gym and help kids get off the streets and let this become a safe haven for them. Like the one when you were a kid.”
“You bought this gym for me.”
“I did. I know this has been a dream for you for a while now, and I thought why not get started on it? I probably should have asked you first, if you still wanted to do this, but I wanted to surprise you. I came here with Dylan, and he said this would be perfect and that he would be glad to help out, you know.
“I know the place needs some help, though, and my dad knows someone who could help us. We could get this up and running in a few months. You could split your time between the company and this.” I kept rambling on. Gage wasn’t saying anything, and it was making me even more nervous.
“I am sorry. I shouldn’t have done it. I should have asked you first. We can sell it, though, if you don’t want to do it. That is okay. I don’t care. I—”
“Princess,” Gage finally said.
“Please don’t be mad.” I peeked up at him through my lashes.
“Princess.” Gage was suddenly right in front of me, gently grabbing my chin and tilting my head all the way up so we were eye to eye. “I can never be mad at you.”
“So, you aren’t upset I bought this place without telling you?” He sent me a small smile.
“No. In fact, I am very happy and…surprised. I didn’t think this would actually happen. I have to say it is the best gift I have ever gotten. Well, besides you.” A smile was growing on my face.
“So are we really going to fix this place up and start it?” Gage’s thumb moved from my chin to rub my cheek. The way he was staring down at me made my knees weak.
“I think we are.” Beyond happy that he liked my gift, I practically flew at him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs went around his waist. I slammed my lips against his. I felt Gage’s hands grab my ass, and suddenly we were moving.
I hung on tight to him as he moved us. My lips were basically attacking his. When I felt my back hit the wall, I gasped.
“You are incredible,” Gage murmured against my lips. His mouth trailed down from my lips to my neck. My fingers grabbed his hair and softly tugged as he trailed his lips down the side of my neck to the base of my throat. I didn’t know that part of the body could feel so good until Gage came along.
He kissed down to the valley of my breasts that the dress didn’t cover. I leaned my head back against the wall and panted heavily. Getting impatient, I yanked him back up by his hair so his lips were once again pressed to mine.
While our tongues battled, Gage once again grabbed me and moved us. Our kiss broke as Gage softly lowered me down onto a bouncy surface. Opening my eyes and looking around, I noticed he laid me down in the boxing ring. When I said this place needed some work, I meant it. The boxing ring didn’t have any rope, so it was an open ring.
I looked back to Gage and found him staring down at me, his eyes dark. His brown eyes traveled from my head to my toes, taking their own sweet time. I noticed he paused on my breasts that were moving rapidly up and down, and lingered on my open legs. My dress had risen a bit to expose my thigh.
I sucked my bottom lip into my mouth as I stared right back at him. He looked very intimidating, standing there in his suit. Dark hair ruffled from my fingers. Jaw clenched as he looked me up and down. I felt so wanted and beautiful under his gaze.
He grabbed my legs and spread them more, so he could stand between them. I moved up onto my forearms so I could look at him better. Slowly his hands worked their way up my thighs, dragging my dress up with them. My breathing was getting heavier as his hands moved up. When he reached my chest, I was panting and trying hard not to grab him and rip his shirt off.
He gestured for me to sit up. My hips moved closer to his. His hands went back down to
the hem of my dress. He started inching it up, pulling it up above my hips. Since my dress didn’t have a zipper, it had to be taken off over my head. Smirking, I raised my arms up above my head. I stared Gage right in the eyes as he pulled my dress all the way off, throwing it off to the side.
Bringing my hands back down, I leaned back on my palms, sitting there in my red bra and panties. I felt my body heat up as Gage’s hungry eyes devoured me. I still felt embarrassed being naked in front of Gage.
“Beautiful. And all mine.” He licked his lips, staring down at me. My cheeks turned the same color as my bra and panties. Not wanting to be the only one who was half-naked, I sat all the way up and reached for Gage’s shirt.
I slowly unbuttoned his white dress shirt. I wanted to tease him a bit so when his stomach came into view, my fingers would gently brush against the naked flesh. I was rewarded with a shudder. Biting on my lip, I undid the last button and pushed the material off of him.
Trailing my fingers down his chest and down the edges of his six-pack, I made my way to his dress pants. Feeling his stomach tense under my touch, I smirked up at him. Good to know I affected him as much he did me. Grasping his belt, I undid it. Pushing his pants off him, I let him finish the rest while my hands moved back up his muscular stomach to his chest.
Each of us were only dressed in our underwear. We stared at one another. Grabbing Gage’s shoulders, I pulled him on top of me. His hands went next to my head as he hovered over me. Beaming, I wrapped my legs around his waist.
Neither of us needed to say anything. Our lips met once again and our bodies ground against one another. Just like with everything else, we fit together perfectly. Moaning from Gage’s touch, I let myself become lost in him.
Epilogue
Two weeks later….
“You can do this, Carter. It isn’t that big of a deal,” I chanted softly to myself as I stared at my reflection in the mirror.
I nervously smoothed out my new dress that I got for tonight. Even though I kept telling myself this wasn’t a huge deal, it was. Not everyone gets their artwork displayed in one of the biggest art galleries in New York. The entire place was going to be filled with all my paintings and drawings.
Over the last year I’d gone to a few art galleries, where they put a few of my paintings up. The head coordinator of Grey Art Gallery saw one of my pieces and contacted me saying she wanted to feature me. At first, I thought it was a joke of course; I mean, me getting my art showcased?
Now, three months later, there I was. It had taken a while to put together entire pieces to show to people. I thought a lot of my work wasn’t good enough to show others, but after everyone telling me to use certain pieces, I did. I barely just finished the last painting two days ago, which of course made me even more nervous.
“Babe, you ready to go?” A head popped through the door. I glanced at my boyfriend through the mirror’s reflection. My eyes traveled his length greedily. I noticed he was wearing a light purple tie that matched my dress. While I looked him over, I noticed he was doing the same thing to me.
“You look beautiful.”
“Not too much?” I asked, biting on my lower lip as I looked back into the mirror.
“It can never be too much, babe.” He came up on me and wrapped his arms around my waist. “Tonight is going to be great, Princess. I am so proud of you.” He moved my hair off my neck and pressed a soft kiss to the side of my neck.
“Thank you.” I leaned into his touch. It was nothing sexual; his touch just calmed me down.
“We better get going so we can get there on time,” he mumbled against my skin. I shivered at his warm breath against me and nodded. I wanted to get there before the gallery officially opened and see everything first. So sadly, Gage had to come along early as well, but he didn’t seem to mind. Everyone else would meet us there at seven.
Gage unlaced his arms from around me and moved around the room. I checked my reflection once more before I sighed. It would have to do. Grabbing my clutch from the bed, I checked to make sure I had everything I needed before following Gage out of our bedroom.
I was lucky to have Gage in this situation. He was the calm and steady force in my life. He knew how to calm my nerves and let me know things will be okay. If it weren’t for him, I would definitely be a pool of nervousness and maybe have an anxiety attack.
Of course I was known to be nervous about anything, but tonight it seemed ten times worse. I have wanted my work to be displayed for so long, and now with it finally happening, I wasn’t prepared. I really should have prepared myself more.
The entire ride to the gallery, Gage kept his hand on my thigh as he drove. It was enough to stop me from jiggling my leg every two seconds, but my hands shook slightly. I was afraid no one would like my artwork, and that is the worst thing that can happen to an artist.
When we pulled into the parking lot, I noticed there were already a few cars, and more would come soon as the clock ticked closer to seven. I sat in the car staring at the building. I wasn’t ready to go in and see all my work up on the walls, with people scrutinizing the pieces.
“Princess, everyone is going to love them. Don’t worry,” Gage said, his hand grabbing mine.
“But what if they don’t? What if they hate my artwork?”
“They will love it. How could they not? Mrs. Perkins would not have chosen your stuff if she didn’t think you were good enough. And you are going to have everyone here to support you too.”
“They’re my family. Of course they have to like my stuff.”
“Carter, look at me.” I moved my gaze from the building to look at Gage. He twisted to the side to see me better. “Don’t doubt yourself. I am not going to let you sit here and berate yourself. Your artwork is amazing and if someone doesn’t think so, fuck them. I will hurt anyone that says otherwise.”
Somehow, his words made me smile. Leave it up to Gage to be the one to make me feel better every time. I brought my hand up and placed it on his cheek. The scruff on his face tickled my palm.
“Thank you.”
“Always.” He grinned at me. Turning his head, he placed a soft kiss on my palm. “Now let’s go show everyone how great of an artist my girlfriend is.”
Entering the building, I squeezed Gage’s hand tighter as we made our way toward the open doors to the right. Walking through them, I stopped in my tracks. All around me were my paintings. They were placed perfectly on the walls, so every turn you made you saw a painting. There were already a few people here gazing at one painting off to the side.
My eyes darted around the entire place. I couldn’t see all the paintings, but I was in awe at how great everything looked. I had spent weeks with Mrs. Perkins to set everything up perfectly, and it looked exactly how I wanted it to be.
“Ms. Miller, you are here!” said a high-pitched voice. I looked away from the room to see Mrs. Perkins making her way toward us. “Everything looks wonderful, doesn’t it?”
“It looks amazing, Mrs. Perkins. Thank you again for all of this.”
“No need to thank me. You did all the work.” She placed a hand on my arm and squeezed. “Enjoy this moment. It is seven, so people will start coming in any moment.” She started to walk away before she paused. “There is an open bar over there. Have a glass of wine. It calms the nerves.” Sending me a smile, she walked off.
“How about we go get a drink?” Gage offered. I nodded. A drink actually sounded good right now.
For the next thirty minutes things became busy. It seemed that right as the clock ticked seven, people came through the doors. Group after group walked in. I stood off to the side watching it all, amazed at how many people were here. I thought maybe ten would come and my family and friends, but not this many. Of course Gage kept whispering in my ear every few minutes about how he was right; everyone liked my stuff.
I knew the moment my family walked through the door. Things got kind of quiet, the soft music playing in the background. Everyone here knew my family. I mean
, half of these people are probably some rich people whom my father knows, but I didn’t care.
One after another, all the members of my family arrived. And I mean every single person. All my aunts, uncles, grandparents, and Gage’s grandma. My family alone was enough to fill this room up. I made my way over to my mom, who was clearly searching for me.
“Mom, you guys made it!” I said once I was near.
“Like we would miss this.” My mom instantly pulled me into a tight hug. I inhaled the smell of her perfume and relaxed in her hold. Now that my family was here, I was feeling better.
“This looks incredible, sweetheart,” my dad said once my mother let go of me. After I hugged my dad, I was then passed down the line to everyone else. Kacey and Nick congratulated me. Neena and Liam gushed about how great it all looked. My grandparents kept saying how they knew I would become a great artist. My real aunt and uncle—Ariel and Alex—went on about how proud they were of me. Gage’s grandma just hugged me tightly, no words needed.
Everyone was so sweet, and I was happy they all came. Slowly they all dispersed and moved around the room. Just as the last person walked off, in walked my favorite people: Luke, Macey, Ethan, and Dylan. I was surprised to see neither Dylan or Ethan had a girl on their arm.
“Car, this place looks great!” Macey said as she hugged me.
“Of course it does. My sister did it.” Luke beamed at me. I grinned back.
“Who knew the girl who sat in her room all day every day either reading or painting would have her artwork in such a big gallery?” Ethan teased.
“It wasn’t every day.” I pushed him, although he didn’t even move an inch. Dude was built.
“Whatever you say.” He smirked at me. Rolling my eyes, I turned to Dylan. He was standing there with a huge grin on his face, his hands behind his back.
Silent Love Part Four_Forbidden Series Page 17
