By the time five o’clock rolled around the food was done and ready to be eaten. It turned out to be a good bit of timing on her part since she had no sooner finished pulling the last of the dishes out of the oven when she heard a gentle knock on the door. She didn’t even have to look through the peephole at the top to know that it was Gerard, pulling the door open to find her boyfriend standing there with another bouquet of flowers held gently in his hand. “Something smells good around here. I take it that you went all out with cooking?”
“You could say that,” she said shyly, blushing at the sight of the flowers. She had never realized how much of a romantic he could be. “I decided that I would make some of your favorites to celebrate us hooking up.”
“An interesting reason, but not one that I disapprove of,” he said kindly, his eyes closing as he took a deep breath, drawing the different smells into his nose. “It seems like you didn’t leave a single thing out, judging by the smell of this place.”
“I only made four dishes, but I know that the quality is going to more than make up for the quantity,” she replied casually, leaning up to give him a gentle kiss before taking the offered flowers, giggling gently as she wondered where she was going to put them since her vase was currently filled with the bouquet he had sent yesterday. She suddenly remembered that she had another vase sitting in a box in her closet; a souvenir from the last time that she had been to Paris on holiday. She figured that would be more than sufficient for the flowers, and soon the vase in question was sitting on her living room table, offering a nice touch of freshness to the room.
“Well, now that I am here, how about we take advantage of the delicious feast that you’ve prepared for us?” Gerard said, pulling off his tie and draping it carelessly over the back of the couch along with his suit jacket. “I’m starving.”
Elena nodded with delight, pulling two plates out of her cupboard and offering one to Gerard. He took it gratefully and stood before the stove, stroking his beard lightly. “Man, this all looks so good. I don’t know what I should try first.”
“Maybe you could try the bacon wrapped pork roast? It gave me quite a bit of trouble when I was trying to keep it from falling apart, but I think I managed it just fine. It probably is going to fall apart the instant you cut a piece off, though. Nothing I can really do about that,” she admitted, rolling her shoulders in a casual shrug.
“To be fair, I don’t think I’ve seen a bacon wrapped roast that hasn’t fallen apart when you cut it,” Gerard said, setting his plate on the counter top so that he could pick up the sizeable knife sitting beside the pan and slicing a thick chunk of the roast off. He set it carefully onto his plate, then sliced off another piece for Elena, going so far as to set it carefully onto her plate for her as she held it out to him.
“I went ahead and reserved the tickets for our flight as well as renting the hotel room. I decided that I want to go on a trip to Barcelona, and I figured that you probably wouldn’t object to that. I hope you don’t mind,” she added, glancing over at him to gauge his reaction.
“Barcelona, eh? Not a bad choice at all. It is one of the few places that I’ve never actually gone. If you remember, when we were supposed to go together on a mission a year and a half ago Charlie suddenly decided to send me to Rome instead,” he said conversationally, serving himself some food from the other dishes before sitting down at the kitchen table to wait for her.
When the two of them had both made their plates and took a seat at the table they could finally begin to eat. Elena watched with anticipation as Gerard cut a small piece from the roast and lifted it to his mouth, letting out a small sound of approval. “This might be the best roast I’ve ever had.”
Elena blushed at that, waving her hand dismissively. “You are just saying that,” she insisted, secretly pleased by his obvious praise.
“I never say things that I don’t mean,” he said seriously, though a small smile tugged at his mouth as he inclined his head slightly. “Well, at least not in situations like this. It’s a different story when I am on a mission.”
Elena nodded at that, not needing to say anything. She knew exactly what he was talking about since she understood only too well the level of subterfuge that was required in their line of work. Still, it was flattering to know that he thought so highly of her cooking, and she decided to just take his compliment for what it was. “Thank you. I was worried that it wasn’t going to turn out the way I was hoping it would.”
“Well, it seems to have turned out just fine to me,” he said smiling, offering her a bite of roast from off his own fork, which made her blush even brighter. She still ended up taking the offered morsel though, going so far as to offer him a bite off her fork to make them even. Elena couldn’t remember the last time she had felt as wanted as she did with Gerard, and if he was treating her this well only one day into their relationship she couldn’t wait to see how he would be as their relationship went on.
Chapter Eleven:Gerard
The next day, a little after two o’clock in the afternoon, the two of them made their way to the airport in Gerard’s limo so they could catch their flight to Barcelona. Gerard had made sure that Simon had packed him a suitcase worth of clothing for his trip, being very careful to tell him exactly what kind of things to pack. Simon was a dependable man, but Gerard couldn’t trust him to get everything right without at least a little help. When he had been looking over the items on the way to the airport, however, he had been more than content with what he saw.
The flight itself was rather uneventful, aside from a crazy man with a knife leaping out of his seat halfway through the flight and trying to take the plane hostage. Unluckily for the would-be hijacker, Gerard had woken up in a slightly bad mood, and the man’s idiotic rantings had done nothing to improve it. He would have been content to not get involved had the man not made a comment about Elena. That, Gerard had decided, was simply one step too far. Before the hijacker had time to respond, Gerard had been out of his chair, his fist slamming straight into the man’s jaw with enough force to send him flying halfway across the plane.
Once the hijacker had been safely restrained by one of the in-flight security personnel and calm had been restored to the other passengers, Gerard had decided to take a nap. He hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before, so he figured that using roughly one hour to rest a bit wouldn’t hurt him. He knew Elena was probably not too happy about flying with a sleeping companion, but since she had been the reason he had been up so late, he figured she really didn’t have a reason to complain. Before he drifted off, however, he felt her hand reach over to gently take his. He smiled at that and gave her hand a gentle squeeze as he relaxed, eventually dozing off for a bit until the sensation of the plane descending caused him to wake up.
Once they had collected their items from baggage claim, a process that took significantly less time than when they were traveling in the States, Elena waved down a taxi for them. She spoke to the driver in fluent Spanish, something that still impressed Gerard despite how many times he had heard her do it. In their line of work being multilingual was a no-brainer since it allowed them to hear far more than what people were willing to say when they knew someone understood them. All Gerard or Elena had to do was act like ignorant tourists, all the while secretly keeping note of all the things that a person would say. Half of the time their missions’ success came about due to them hearing something that ultimately led them to their goal.
Elena had rented them a room at Hotel 1898, a rather lovely 4-star hotel that offered spa services as well as a swimming pool that they could relax by. Gerard had to hand it to Barcelona; they certainly knew how to attract tourists. Though he didn’t foresee himself spending too much time out in the city. He was the kind of person who didn’t like being surrounded by people he didn’t know, especially since he had been ambushed in unfamiliar places so many times in his career as a spy that he expected people to jump out at him at every turn. Elena, however, most likely had other plans in
mind.
“So, what do you want to do first?” she asked excitedly once they had gotten into their hotel room and set their luggage on the bed, excitedly glancing out the window at the view of Barcelona from below. “Do you want to try and find somewhere to get some lunch? Or should we do some sight-seeing?”
“You,” he said cutely, walking up behind her and pressing his lips gently against her neck, making her let out a quiet moan as her hand reached up to stroke over the side of his face.
“I-I didn’t know I was one of the options,” she said cheekily, though she made no move to stop him from doing what he was doing, which only encouraged him to keep going.
He let his hand move up to grope at her sizable breast gently, nipping softly at the flesh of her neck. He could hear her breathing starting to become shallow gasps, a sure sign that his actions were beginning to turn her on. He smiled playfully when he felt her hand move to cup his groin through his pants, her eyes glittering with desire as she gazed up at him, lips parted slightly as she gave him an almost pleading look. Not being the kind of guy who wanted to keep her waiting, he laid her back on the bed and quickly freed her from the confines of her clothing. It wasn’t the first time he had seen her naked, but Gerard couldn’t help but marvel at just how beautiful her bare body looked on those clean white sheets.
Kneeling between her legs, Gerard was treated to the sight of her bare pussy on full display for him. He moved her legs open a little wider before letting his tongue drag along the outer folds, smirking to himself as he felt Elena’s entire body shudder powerfully from that single action. He allowed his tongue to slowly begin to lap at her outer lips, enjoying the quiet moans that accompanied each movement. Elena seemed to be quite intent to let him know just how much she was enjoying what he was doing to her, something that he didn’t mind at all. He gave her clit a playful flick with his tongue, wincing slightly as he felt her hands reach down to grip his hair a little tighter than she had probably meant to.
He delved his tongue deep inside of her, using it to slowly pump in and out of her, taking the time to let it drag along her insides to collect some of her sweet nectar onto his tongue. She tasted so clean and sweet, every lap of her sex only seeming to make him want to lick her more. He moved one of his hands so that it was hovering at the top of her groin, using his thumb to rub gentle circles on her clit while his tongue continued to assault her sensitive folds. He could tell she wouldn’t be able to last much longer, the tightened grip on his hair the only warning that he had before her juices began to spray out onto his face. He opened his mouth to catch as much of it as he could, his tongue moving to lick her clean as she twitched in post orgasm bliss on the bed.
He smiled as he stood up, wiping his mouth clean on the sleeve of his shirt. Despite having greatly enjoyed the sight of her moaning and cumming for him, he himself didn’t feel very aroused. He sat down on the bed next to Elena, who finally managed to collect her breath enough to speak. “Has anyone ever told you that you are really good with your tongue?”
“I think a few people might have mentioned it once or twice,” he said playfully, reaching over as she rolled over onto her stomach to give her ass a loud smack. “I never really believed them when they said it.”
“I think you should start,” she said, letting out a playful yelp as she felt the stinging slap on her butt. She giggled playfully afterward, shaking her butt enticingly at him like she was trying to coerce him into wanting to sleep with her right then and there.
He smiled at that, giving her ass another playful smack before he rose from the bed, walking over to the window and gazing out at the city. “How would you feel about going to grab some lunch?”
“You get me all hot and bothered and then you want to break for lunch?” she replied incredulously, shaking her head in wonder as she rose from the bed and walked over beside him.
“I have plenty of time to take advantage of your lovely body later,” he replied, his hand reaching over to frame her face gently. “Nighttime is the time for lovemaking. Daytime is when we go out and about to explore the town. Sound good?”
“I guess so,” she said, pouting playfully as she moved to go retrieve her clothing and get dressed once more.
“Don’t worry, I promise that the wait will be more than worth it,” he assured her, giving her a gentle kiss on the lips before glancing over at the brochure that sat on one of the end tables. “Shall we leaf through one of these and see what they recommend we do as tourists?”
“That sounds like it could be fun,” she said, walking over to the brochure and picking it up from where it lay, handing it to him. “I’m sure there is plenty for a young couple to do here, after all.”
“Only one of us could really be considered young,” he said with a laugh, smirking at her gently. “I’m thirty, just in case you forgot.”
“How could I forget? I’ve always had a thing for guys older than me,” she replied teasingly, her eyes glittering with amusement as she stuck her tongue out at him.
He chuckled gently at that, his eyes scanning over the front of the brochure until the name of a restaurant caught his eye. “How about we go here? I don’t know anything about the place, but that is half the fun, right?”
“Sounds good to me. I’ll follow your lead,” she said, linking her arm through his.
“Alright, then let’s get moving.”
Chapter Twelve: Elena
It seemed that the saying “time flies when you are having fun” really was true, the five days that their trip to Barcelona was supposed to take flying by faster than either of them realized. They had a wonderful time, going out and about and exploring the myriad of activities that Barcelona had had to offer, but as Elena had been packing her things she hadn’t been able to stifle the small amount of regret that began to well up inside of her. Tomorrow would signal the end of the seven days that Charlie had given them for vacation, which meant that soon their phones would be ringing with another mission for them, and that was something Elena almost didn’t want to have happen. It was the first time she had ever really had such feelings, the hesitation to return to work and start making money surprising even her.
Even when she had been back with Jeremy, she had never felt distaste at the thought of returning to work. Why that was she couldn’t say for certain, but what she did know was that she didn’t want this vacation to end. Gerard had made the last five days almost magical, the man seeming to have been prepared to allow her to indulge in ever little fantasy that she had. He had bought her countless souvenirs without so much as a single complaint and had even insisted on her going to buy some clothing from a local boutique, though she suspected that had only been because he liked the way she looked in the exotic clothing. She wasn’t about to complain, knowing that the combined cost of her souvenirs had probably managed to surpass the amount that she had paid for the airfare and hotel.
What if work makes us start to argue like we were before? We seem to be on such good terms now that I couldn’t imagine being like that again. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Gerard clearing his throat loudly, Elena’s head turning to look at him with a curious look on her face. It seemed that he had been trying to get her attention while she was lost in thought, a look of mild irritation on his handsome face. “Earth to Elena, do you read me?” he asked playfully, zipping his suitcase closed before straightening up, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
“Sorry, I got a bit lost in thought there. Did you need something?” she asked, doing her best to offer him a smile in return.
“I asked you if you think that Charlie is going to get in touch with us in the next twenty-four hours to assign us to a new mission. You know how he is when it comes to being timely, so I just figured it would be fun to have a little wager going on just how much time we have before he puts us back on the clock,” he said amusedly, grabbing his suitcase by the handle and letting it fall to the floor so it could move on the built-in wheels it had come with.
/> “If he doesn’t have someone waiting at the airport back home when we depart I’ll be surprised,” she said, laughing gently. “It wouldn’t be the first time he has taken me by surprise when I was coming back from a holiday.”
“You mean like that time you and your boyfriend went to visit New York for New Years that one year, and Charlie and I came to get you straight from the airport just so we could end up taking a plane to Russia a few hours later?” he asked with a laugh, shaking his head at the memory. “Your boyfriend looked so confused when we told him we needed you for business stuff and sent him away with his own driver.”
“To be fair, I would have been just as confused if I had been witness to something like that. You guys ended up ruining the plans we had made for later that week by keeping me out of the country for two whole weeks. I can’t tell you how hard it was to explain that when I did finally get home,” she said petulantly, biting her bottom lip to try and keep herself from frowning. “I can’t help but wonder if it was stuff like that that was the reason Jeremy and I didn’t work out. Maybe if I had been willing to keep him in the loop about stuff like that more often we would have been able to make things work.”
“Do you regret that the two of you didn’t work out?” Gerard asked softly, his tone coming across as far too neutral for Elena’s liking.
Single Dad’s Plaything: A Single Dad First Time Billionaire Romance Page 50
