DESIRE - Gabby & Daniel (Fettered Book 3)

by Lilia Moon

  Much better. I grin and wiggle my hips. “Yes you did. It was amazing. In every way, even if I have to wear a dress and no underwear today.”

  He groans and nips my neck. “You’re an evil tease, woman.”

  Never before in my life, but I kind of like it. Even when it was accidental.

  The fingers that are cupping me squeeze gently. “Some of the oil in my bag would help you be a little less sore. Or arnica gel, if you have it.”

  He knows so much about this. I pause, trying to figure out how that makes me feel.

  He waits quietly, as if he can tell something has landed.

  I touch his face. “You seemed to know exactly what I needed. Before, with the pussy spanking. Softer, harder, where, how fast. And you know what I need after, too.”

  He hesitates. “That’s a skill gained from a lot of subs being honest with me.”

  I know he’s done a lot of this, but it’s different to hear him say it. Different to hear him unsure about the welcome it will find here. I breathe in, because I want to be honest and I want to get this right. “It’s part of who you are. Part of why this time with you is so amazing. I’m okay with your history, Daniel. Maybe even grateful.”

  “Damn.” He pulls me into his chest, but not before I see his dawning smile. “You know exactly how to undo me.”

  I’m learning. All kinds of things.

  I snuggle in—and then laugh as I hear his belly growl. “Feel like something to eat?”

  He grunts and doesn’t let go. “In a minute.”

  His belly rumbles again. He rolls onto his back, grinning, his cock pointing straight up into the air. “I guess we better have some breakfast.”

  I slide down the bed until I’m face-to-face with his arousal. “Or not.”

  He laughs and rolls out of bed. “I’ll break you if we do that again.”

  I find my brave. “Maybe I could just lick you some.”

  His eyes get that hot, fierce look, but he leans over and swats my bottom. “Breakfast. Wear a really ugly robe if you have one so that you’re not quite so enticing.”

  He’s pulling on some loose black pants that do nothing to hide his erection.

  I grin. Two can play this game. Somewhere in my closet is a very skimpy red silk robe. I think it’s time it got some use. “Why don’t you go have a shower—I’ll start breakfast.”

  He gives me a suspicious look, but he heads off to the bathroom.

  I laugh as he locks the door. That won’t keep me out unless I want it to. I’m a mom. Unlocking bathroom doors is part of my job description.

  Maybe after I get some sausage started. I find the red-silk excuse for a robe and slide into it, and then head into the kitchen, contemplating what to put on the breakfast menu. And whether I can maybe entice Daniel to stay for lunch. It’s the quiet season for weddings, and I have strict instructions not to come into work until tomorrow. I have to meet Mattie at the club, but that’s not until late afternoon.

  I open my fridge and reach for the sausage, keeping one ear on the running shower.

  And then I hear my front door open.

  “Gamma! We comed for a visit!”

  Oh, shit. Oh no.

  I have just enough time to make sure most of me is decently covered before two pint-sized demons barrel into the kitchen and wrap their arms around my legs.

  Evie looks up first, her whole face dancing. “Hi, Gamma.” Tash looks just as happy to see me, but doesn’t say anything. Words are coming slower for her, but her heart misses nothing.

  “Oh, my.” Jules is standing in the archway into the kitchen, her eyes bright with merriment. “What have you been up to?”

  I can only imagine that’s pretty obvious from how I look.

  The shower makes the screeching sound it’s made for fifteen years when it gets turned off.

  Jules hears it. And then her brain very rapidly does the math. “Oh, shit. Mom, I’m so sorry.” She gives the twins, still wrapped around my legs, a desperate look. “Girls, we need to go, okay? Gamma has company.”

  Evie gives her a dirty look. Tash just wraps her arms tighter around my leg.

  I know an impossible parenting task when I see one. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, and then I smile at three of my favorite people in all the universe. “I’m making sausages and scrambled eggs for breakfast. Who wants to help with the eggs?”

  Jules looks horrified. And fascinated. And wildly amused. The twins head for the fridge, babbling excitedly in the language only they know. I look at my daughter and shrug, giving in to the inevitable.

  Hopefully Daniel likes eggshells in his eggs.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Daniel

  I hear voices as I step out of the shower. Energetic, high-pitched ones that either belong to aliens or small children.

  Either way, Gabby’s home has clearly been invaded.

  I reach for my pants. This could get interesting.

  I run my fingers through my hair, well aware I can’t do anything about looking like a guy who’s just had a night of very satisfying sex. I pull on my shirt, listening to the new sounds in the house, trying to pick out the voices. At least one adult out there who isn’t Gabby. Probably one of her daughters.

  “Gamma!”

  I miss what gets said after that, but it confirms my guess. I grin wryly. At least they didn’t show up while I was spanking Gamma’s pussy.

  I pull open the bathroom door. Time to see how well a whole bunch of people roll with surprises.

  Gabby sees me when I walk in, but she’s very busy supervising two tiny girls who are sitting on the counter, preparing to do something deadly with a carton of eggs. I smile at the younger woman who’s clearly trying to decide whether to grill me or not. “Hi, I’m Daniel. You must be Jules.”

  “I am.” She’s not unfriendly, but she’s a long way from giving me a hug and introducing me to her kids.

  That’s okay—I’ve played boardrooms a lot more hostile than this. And rule number one is never to cede ground you don’t need to give up. I walk over and give Gabby a chaste kiss. “I can take over here if you want to take a shower.”

  She shoots me a frazzled, grateful, doubtful look.

  I look over at the two identical small faces who are studying me like I might be a new flavor of lollipop. “I’m Daniel. Who are you guys?”

  The one with the gleam in her eyes grins. “I Evie. She Tash. We help Gamma cook.”

  The silent twin is carefully guarding the eggs, not at all sure I can be trusted with them. I pull a stool up to the counter so that I’m closer to her height. “I like cooking eggs. How about I show you how to make my special, secret scrambled eggs while Gamma goes and has a shower?”

  Tash tips her head to the side, considering. Evie slides closer. “Secwit?”

  I nod solemnly. “It’s a secret ingredient, but it takes small fingers to get it just right.” I hold up my big hands and give them a regretful look.

  Evie lays her hands over mine. “I is small!” Tash doesn’t say a word—but when I reach for the eggs, she pushes them my way.

  I give Gabby another kiss. “Go. We’ve got this.”

  She backs away slowly, looking like a ping-pong ball that’s finally hit the ground.

  I grin and get back to work. I hand each of the toddlers an egg. “Ladies, I’m guessing you know what to do with these.”

  Jules pulls up a stool on the other side of the counter, and her eyes have warmed considerably. “You’ve clearly spent time around kids.”

  I catch Evie’s enthusiastically cracked eggshell. Tash, being the far cooler customer, manages to hold on to most of hers. “Lots of nieces and nephews.”

  Evie reaches for two more eggs, and I confiscate one and hand it to her sister. “You’re clearly not traumatized to find me here.”

  She laughs. “Nope. It’s about damn time.”

  Fair enough. I help the girls crack another couple of eggs each, and then I set them down on the floor. I need to g
et the sausage started, and that’s a job for grown-ups. I grab Gabby’s rotating spice rack and kneel down between them. “Okay, I need you guys to help me find my super-secret ingredient. Do you know what a leaf looks like when it’s dried? All kind of rolled up and crinkly?”

  Evie’s already busy rearranging bottles, but Tash is listening intently. I smile at her. This one doesn’t miss much. “Find the bottle that has crinkly leaves in it. There might be more than one.” And if what she finds isn’t the leaf-dried sage I spotted yesterday morning, I’ll improvise. It’s what I do best.

  I stand back up and notice their mother hasn’t missed much either. “I figure we can roll with whatever she comes up with.”

  Jules snickers. “If it’s the hot chilies, you’re on your own, buster.”

  I have far more faith in my helper than that.

  I feel a hand tugging on my pants and bend down to scoop up the small girl holding up the spice jar. Leaf-dried sage, just as ordered. I cuddle her into my hip and grin. “Thank you, sweetie—you found it really fast. Want to help crumble some into the eggs?”

  She nods, eyes shining.

  We do that job, carefully adding small bits of green to the eggs. Then she scoots across the counter and into Jules’s lap. One tiny introvert, done socializing.

  I look over at the small whirlwind jumping on the couch in the living room and hold up a whisk. “Evie, want to stir up the eggs?”

  Jules’s eyebrows fly up in surprise. “You can tell them apart?”

  I stare at her. “They’re pretty much night and day.”

  She grins at me. “Well. Aren’t you interesting.”

  I think that might be a compliment.

  Chapter Forty

  Gabby

  I read a story once about a cow that got picked up in a tornado and set down fifty miles away. I’m pretty sure I know how it felt.

  I came out of my shower to breakfast on the table, two grandkids who both insisted on sitting beside Daniel to eat, and a daughter who looked a whole lot less suspicious than when I went in. Then we ate and talked like five totally regular people who do this all the time.

  Now Jules is bundling the girls back into their jackets and boots, and I still have no idea where I’ve landed.

  She slides on Tash’s boots first, because Evie’s still showing Daniel some dance she saw on YouTube. First set of boots on, Jules motions for the daughter-who-never-stops and grins up at me. “Next time I’ll text you before we show up.”

  I feel my cheeks flushing. “That might be a good idea.”

  She stands up and leans in to give me a hug. “He’s a really nice man, Mom. And you look totally ravished, which you completely deserve.”

  There must be a place where embarrassed grandmothers crawl off to die. “Thank you. I think.”

  She backs away and grins at Daniel. “It was really nice to meet you.”

  He laughs. “Thank you for sharing your girls with me.”

  It’s exactly the right thing to say. Jules totally softens, even as she reaches for two busy hands. “Say goodbye to Gamma and Daniel. We’ll come back again soon.”

  He crouches down to wave to the girls. “Bye, you two.”

  Evie blows him a fluttery, totally over-the-top kiss. Tash only smiles gently—but he treats that exactly the same way he treats Evie’s outgoing love.

  Seeing them both for who they are. Exactly like he does for me.

  I stare at the door as it closes on their way out and try to get my heart back in the box where it needs to stay. “I’m sorry. I hadn’t told Jules about you yet.” I turn to face him and smile. “She obviously wasn’t expecting her mother to be having a hot, sexy fling.”

  Something shadows his eyes. “It was lovely to meet them.”

  It isn’t his words that catch me. It’s his tone. He’s hurting, and I have no idea what I’ve just done. I walk over and lift a hand to his face. “Did I say something wrong?”

  He spins away from me, hands in his pockets, and paces into my living room. “Is that what this is? A fling?”

  I wince. “Maybe that wasn’t the right word?”

  “Sorry.” He takes a deep breath. “I’m coming on stronger than I mean to.” He hesitates, and I can tell he’s walking on uneven ground. “What is this for you, Gabby?”

  My feet aren’t feeling very steady either. “Well, Damon introduced us, and Ari said it was because they thought you would be a good person to help me explore some non-vanilla ways of being with someone.” My breath catches in my throat, because his hurt isn’t going away. “You’re wonderful, Daniel. I’m so very glad they did.”

  He’s watching me, but I can’t read his eyes anymore. “So I’m a guide. Someone helping you to learn the ropes.”

  He’s saying the words like they taste bad. “It feels more important than that. More special. You’re helping me explore who I can be.”

  “But I’m not someone you want to introduce to your grandkids.”

  I stare at him. I’m so lost. “You’re welcome to meet my grandkids. I’m not ashamed of this, or of you.”

  He breathes out and looks down at the ground, hands stuffed deeper into his pockets. “And again, I’m sorry. I’m being a jerk without even trying.”

  I don’t know what’s going on, but I hate the distance between us. I move closer and take a seat on the couch. He comes to join me, but he doesn’t touch—and when he looks at me, there’s pain in his eyes.

  Everything I am wants to make that go away. “Daniel, you’re kind, thoughtful, and an amazing lover. I feel really lucky to have a few days or a few weeks to be with you.”

  I see him flinch. Swallow. And then he stands up. “Sweetheart, I need to go for a bit. I need some space to think. Can I come back and see you tonight?”

  I don’t want him to go. Not like this. But I know better than to hold someone’s hurts hostage. “Okay. I’ll be here.”

  He touches my cheek. And then he walks out and takes far too much of my air with him.

  Chapter Forty-One

  Daniel

  I walk into Fettered, looking for a fight, a beer, and a friend, possibly not in that order.

  I feel like an idiot, but I’m not a big enough one to stew alone. Not when I left Gabby hanging like I just did. I need someone to help walk me off the ledge, and fast, so that I can go back and be the man she needs.

  I run into Harlan first, which makes a fight the most likely thing at the top of my agenda.

  He scans me, raises his eyebrows, and leans against a wall, effectively blocking my way. “Did you mess with Gabby?”

  He’s far from her only guard dog, but he’s the one who punches hardest. “Maybe, but not in the way you’re thinking.”

  He scowls. “Don’t assume shit about what I’m thinking.”

  That’s a lesson I definitely need pounded into my head. “She thinks I’m just playing tour guide.”

  He looks at me for a hard, surprised moment. “You’re not?”

  I get ready to take a punch in the gut. “No.”

  He studies me for a long time, his eyes never leaving my face. And then he breaks out into a big, scary, shit-eating grin. “Oh, man.” He moves off the wall and out of my way, grin still in place. “Damon’s in his office.”

  I raise an eyebrow. “I’m pretty sure you hit harder than he does.”

  He laughs, and it grates on my every last nerve. “Yeah, but he’s better at counseling lovelorn Doms.”

  I should have just started the fight myself. “Fuck off.”

  “Going to.” He turns around to head back from wherever he came. “Good luck, by the way. I reserve the right to kick your ass if you screw it up.”

  I blink. That’s about as close as Harlan comes to a blessing.

  I watch him walk off, feeling like a boat that just found itself in the middle of the desert.

  Damon comes out of his office before I manage to get my feet moving again. “Hey, just the guy I wanted to see.” Then he takes a closer look. �
��What the hell happened to you?”

  People used to quiver at my feet around here. I don’t know when the hell that changed. “Gabby happened.”

  His eyes go dark and dangerous. “Did you fuck with her?”

  I slam both my hands against the wall. What little control I have over my temper is done. “No. I’m ready to worship the ground she walks on and she’s got this ridiculous idea that all I’m good for is a few weeks of fun.”

  He stares at me. “Why don’t you come in and sit down and start from the beginning?”

  I stomp in and throw myself into his visitor chair with about as much manners as a teenage punk in the principal’s office. “She called me a hot, sexy fling.”

  Damon raises an eyebrow. “And that pisses you off?”

  Worse than that. It’s making my head ache and something in my chest want to go out and stab things. “I’ve spent a lot of time with her in the last few days. It’s been really good. Beginning-of-a-relationship good. Then her daughter shows up unannounced this morning with her two adorable kids, and we had a nice breakfast and it felt like something real. Like something I want.”

  His lips quirk.

  I consider ripping his head off his shoulders. “They leave and Gabby says something about not having said anything to her people about me. Because apparently she thinks I’m just there for the sex. Which she’s very much enjoying and she’s grateful that I’m giving up a few weeks of my precious time to spend it with her.”

  Damon winces. “Shit.”

  “Yeah. That about covers it. How do I fix this?”

  He exhales slowly. “I need to be careful here, because I know most of this from Emily, but Gabby sometimes underestimates her own worth.”

  I snarl. “No shit. We’re already working on that.”

  He grins. “You always were a pushy Dom.”

  I grimace. “That seems like part of the problem. She’s seeing me as her trainer, even though she doesn’t really know what that is. The guy giving her a taste of kink to see whether she likes it or not.”

  He winces. “That’s kind of what we all thought you were doing.”