by Mysti Parker
She reached up and yanked off the sea lion head, gasping for breath as she clung to him. "I can't breathe in this thing." In hindsight, she hoped no kids had seen that - they might be scarred for life, especially with her hair drenched in sweat and her makeup probably smeared down her cheeks like the Joker in that Batman movie.
Gabriel's shocked expression confirmed her suspicions. "Okay, let's get you inside. I'll get you some water."
"Thanks."
"No more costume today. Just narrate the show. We can do without a mascot."
Once back inside, Harper cleaned up in the bathroom as much as she could. Her makeup was indeed just as horrendous as she expected. She washed her face and patted it dry with a paper towel. She'd have used the showers if she'd had a change of clothes here, but the job had been sprung on her in the last moment, thanks to Gabriel's conniving ex.
When she walked back out, Gabriel had ice water and some leftovers his mother had cooked waiting for her.
"Thanks, smells great." She sank onto one of the folding chairs and gulped down some water.
He was already eating and glanced up at her. "You did well today."
"Really? I improvised a little."
"It worked. The audience really enjoyed the show."
Was that regret in his eyes or pity? Whatever it was just left her more confused. After she'd taken a few glorious bites of a Cubano sandwich and fried sweet plantains, she felt ten times better. She finally cooled down from nearly being cooked within that costume, which meant her brain was finally working again, enough to remind her that they had to clear the air.
"Listen, Gabe, I... we...okay, it's like this. What do you want out of our relationship? I'm getting some serious mixed signals over here."
"I'm not sure what you mean."
"You seemed ready to get it on one minute, then switched to monk mode the next. And what about Rachel?"
"What about her?"
"She totally screwed me over today, but you didn't seem surprised or upset about it."
"What am I supposed to do? She's not even here today."
"That's not the point. You could at least have said something in my defense, like 'Yeah, she's a real bitch. Sorry she did that to you.'"
Gabriel's face reddened. He put down his fork and stood, taking his plate to the trash even though his food was only half-eaten. "I'm not Rachel's keeper, all right? I am sorry she did that, but what's done is done. Do you really want me fighting your battles for you?"
"No, I can fight my own battles. What I can't do is make you feel something for me you obviously don't." This time, Harper stood, scooting her chair back rather violently as she did so. Pepper grunted and covered his face with his flipper as he lay in his recovery pool. Gabriel just stood there, staring down at the sink, his shoulders and back held straight and stiff. Unbending.
She went back to the office and stayed there until the two-thirty show. She narrated it with as much enthusiasm as she could muster, rousing the afternoon audience out of their lunchtime stupor. But as soon as it was over, she left and clocked out, taking a few hours from one of her sick days. Back in her apartment, she took a long, cool shower, had a short, ugly cry and sat on her bed with a pint of Ben & Jerry's and reruns of Supernatural.
She tried to reason with herself that it was better to let go now as opposed to suffering through a bad marriage the way her mom had. All the reasons in the world still didn't make it hurt any less.
Sometime later, she woke to a dark room and someone banging on her door. She didn't smell smoke or hear an alarm, so it couldn't be a fire. Bleary-eyed, she shuffled from her bedroom and through the living area until she reached the door. Then she closed one eye and looked through the peephole with the other. Gabriel stood there, one hand in his jeans pocket, the other raking through his mussed-up hair.
Her heart raced. She took a deep breath, then unlocked the deadbolt and chain and slowly opened the door. He stood up straight, his eyes wide as though he hadn't expected her to answer.
"What, no flowers?" she asked, trying to lighten the mood, though her voice trembled with pent-up emotions.
Confusion wrinkled his brow. He shook his head and pointed behind him with his thumb. "No, but I can-"
"It was a joke. What are you doing here at this hour?" She yawned and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "What hour is it, anyway?"
"It's midnight, almost. Maybe I should have called first, but I had to see you."
"Why?"
He stepped closer, leaning one hand on the door frame, his body so close she could smell his intoxicating scent. His gaze swept over her from head to toe, making her keenly aware of the thin gray tank top and short black shorts she wore for bed. Her nipples hardened in response to the hot desire in his eyes as they met hers again.
"Because I do want you, Harper. You have no idea how badly I want you right now."
"Are you drunk?"
"No." His forehead wrinkled again.
"It's a valid question - my dad never wanted anything to do with my mom unless he was drunk."
"I'm completely sober, I promise. I'd want you drunk, sober, and anywhere in between."
She stood there partially hid behind the door, using it like a shield. If she wasn't careful, he'd rip her heart out and leave her to pick up the pieces. But the sight of him in a black button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and those jeans that hugged his butt so very well melted her inhibitions. She might regret it later, but right now, she had Gabriel Castillo all to herself.
Harper opened the door, took his hand and drew him inside. As soon as the door closed behind them, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. He responded immediately, wrapping his arms around her tightly. She broke from the kiss, stepped back, and smiled at the disappointed downturn of his features.
"I have a gift for you." Then she grabbed the hem of her tank top and lifted it up and over her head, dropping it on the floor.
Gabriel's eyes immediately honed in on her breasts. "That's some gift," he whispered.
She followed with her shorts and panties, leaving her standing before him completely naked. Her skin turned to gooseflesh in the cool air, but she propped both hands on her hips and tilted her head to one side. "Well, now that I'm all unwrapped, what are you going to do with me?"
Chapter Thirteen
Gabriel stepped back a moment. It was obvious what came next, but would he insult her if he made it clear he’d been expecting …? He had always been able to keep his cool and make decisions without heat, but this time, Dios mío! His dick was going to rip through his pants. This was the girl he had always wanted. He put his hand in his back pocket and pulled out a packet of condoms. Held one and let the others go. The packet unfolded into a hanging strip about a foot long.
“I don't know...,” Harper said with an adorable pout, "That might not be enough."
"No worries. There's a convenience store on the end of the block." He quickly unbuttoned and dropped his pants. His underwear tented. He dropped that also, freed his feet and approached her. She cupped his dick in her hands. “Welcome back,” she said as she stroked his shaft. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
Gabriel let the condoms fall to the floor and embraced her, planting kisses on her lips, then her neck. She let go as he lifted her in his arms. She wasn’t heavy. Where to go? There was a sofa right there, or where was the bedroom? Okay, the sofa. He carried her there, was going to lay her down. There were some clothes and a cute pink leather briefcase on top of the cushions. He found a clear spot, set her there, and swiped everything else off the sofa with one swoop of his arm. Harper stretched out, waiting for him.
“Shirt,” she said.
“Oh, yeah. Right.” He stripped off the shirt and tossed it behind him. “You’re so beautiful, I don’t know where to start,” he told her.
“Start everywhere,” Harper said.
"You may regret that, Miss Wheeler, because I want it all." The sofa was a little narrow for two people, but he’d mak
e it work. He sat on the edge, lowered himself to kiss her navel, planted many small kisses till he got to her amazing breasts. So pale, so soft, so firm. As his body eased atop hers, his legs mingling with hers, he worked his way around her nipple, kissing and licking, till he found the perfect pink flesh and gripped it with his teeth. Sucked on it. “You like that?”
“Oh yeah,” Harper said. She put her hands onto his shoulders, eased him upward till their faces were closer. “You don’t have to be nervous, sweetie. You’re doing great, and we’re doing it till dawn. Okay?”
“I’m not nervous. I just want it to be perfect for you.” He lowered his mouth to her nipple again, ran his tongue around the areola. She shifted slightly, but it was just enough to tease the head of his dick with her slick folds. He'd come all over her if he stayed another second. He rolled off, banged the coffee table, ran for the condoms. Came back with one.
“Give me,” Harper suggested.
He handed them to her. She tore a packet open with her pink nails. “Oh, damn, I forgot which way.”
“Yeah, me too, I…” Rachel had been on the pill for years. He knew better than to mention his ex when there was a goddess on the couch in front of him. How had he gotten this lucky? “Let me see it.” He tried to keep his fingers away from the oily surface of the condom, finally found the right spot on the packet and pinched it out so she could find it.
“Okay, let's do this.”
She sat up, looked at the condom, then met his gaze and grinned as she held his dick and took him into her mouth. Her tongue moved along the rim, her fingers along the shaft. He grabbed her head, tangled her hair in his fingers. “Dios mio,” he said. Slowly she moved down his shaft, taking him deeper into her mouth, holding his hips to steady herself. Slid back up to the head, then all the way to the base in a mesmerizing rhythm. His legs trembled. He could feel his dick tightening, threatening to spill into the sweet torture of her mouth. She gave a little moan and pulled back.
“Everything okay?” Gabriel asked.
Harper licked her lips, smiling. “Yeah, but tastes like you're really excited. Give me the condom.”
She fit it on him, then took his hand and gave a little tug. “Fuck me.”
Her candor stoked the fire in his groin into an inferno. He was inside her in no more than a moment, and glided in as far as he could before he pulled out and, arched back to watch himself sink into her depths again. On the verge once more, he had to slow down so he could bring her to the brink with him. He looked up at the ceiling, breathing deep to settle his impatient dick. There were some pink helium balloons up there.
“Balloons?” he asked.
“Came with a housewarming basket Ellie sent me,” Harper said. “I just can’t reach to get them down.”
“You want me to…?”
“Later.” She bucked her hips, drew him back inside her with her legs.
Gabriel scooted to his knees, lifted her hips. She opened her thighs wide. He knew then there was no reason to be tentative anymore, that there was no mistake, and that she was really his. He drew back, pounded her hard, gritting his teeth to hold his climax back till he heard a catch of breath, a soft and almost restrained moan. The desire in her eyes blazed as hot as a glowing stove. Her gaze never left his as her body tightened and she pulsed around him, crying out softly. He relaxed his jaw and let himself come as he pounded her faster. The pulsing of his dick erased all other thoughts from his mind. Spent, but still residually hard, he stayed inside her as she relaxed her legs. Then he eased himself free, stripped off the condom and, lost for a place to put it, looked around to find the bathroom. Before he could move away from her, Harper sat up, grabbed it and dropped it on the floor under the coffee table.
"You're not going anywhere yet," she said, taking his hand to draw him back down. She guided him to lie down this time and lay on top of him. Her fingers traced over his jaw, his chin, his neck, as though she wanted to learn every inch of his skin.
“You are so beautiful,” he said.
“That was amazing,” Harper answered. “I’d say it was the best ever, but we’re doing that one later, right?”
“Right.” He imitated her exploration of his facial features and drew his fingers along her cheek, down her neck, her back, the soft incline of her butt. Her skin turned to gooseflesh beneath his touch. He smiled at her sudden shiver.
“Let’s go to the bed.” She started to lift herself off him, but he held tight, one hand gripping her butt cheek.
"I thought you didn't want me to go anywhere," he said, grinning up at her.
"I meant anywhere without me." Harper lowered her head and kissed his neck, then nipped his skin.
This time, he shivered. He sat up. Harper snagged the unused condoms from the floor as he lifted them both from the couch, her legs wrapped around his back and arms around his neck.
He carried her to the bedroom, intending to toss her down on the bed, but there was nowhere to put her, so he set her on her feet.
"Sorry," she said. "It wasn't like I was expecting you." She quickly cleared from the mattress more clothes; her laptop; two bottles of nail polish remover, one empty; a really old iPod with even older earbuds plugged into it; and a book about sea lions. He loved her even more for wanting to learn about his work.
They lay down together, the initial excitement ebbing a bit.
“Was it hard to stop being a gentleman?” Harper asked. “I’m glad you did, because you are hot as hell when you get started, but was it hard?”
“Yeah, well…” Don’t mention Rachel and why it wasn’t as good with her. “I’m a perfectionist. I mean, not me. My dad was. I wanted to be perfect for him, and I want to be perfect for you. Because you are. You’re perfect.”
She stroked his chest, played with his nipple. “You’re the first guy who ever said that to me. I guess that’s a good sign, right?”
"I'd say so."
"But you don't have to be perfect for me, okay?" She put her hand on his cheek and searched his eyes. "Just be Gabe."
His chest tightened, and he swallowed hard, sudden emotion threatening to spill out. He believed her, that he could be himself when they were together.
He knew there was no going back now, for him at least. Harper Wheeler had staked her claim to his heart and body.
Hungry for her once more, he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her lips to his. Kissed furiously, kneaded her breasts with his hands, rolled onto her. Worried if she would tell him to ease up or slow down, but she didn’t, so he let his body do what it wanted. Slid his legs under hers, lay on top of her hugging her and kissing her wherever he could reach. Waited to be told to slow down. Harper didn’t say it, and he didn’t do it.
He sat up and rolled her over onto all fours. She laughed and said, “Good idea,” as he teased her labia with his new erection and massaged her delectable buttocks, reached under her hips and lifted her to her knees.
Propped up on one hand, Harper reached back and squeezed his dick with the other. “I’m ready.” He put on a condom in record time and sank into her. Held her hips and pulled her in tighter and rocked his body into her depths.
“Oh, man, you’re a rock,” she said.
“You inspire me,” Gabriel said.
“Fuck my brains out.”
He did. The bedsprings groaned.
Just when he thought the bed couldn't take anymore, Harper fisted her pillow in her hands and let out a soft cry, then a louder one, then one so loud he was sure would wake the neighbors. But he didn't care. Gabriel’s orgasm sent shivers through his body, left him weak. They lay together after, Harper spooning her body into his.
“That was great,” Harper said. “Some of my girlfriends in college told me to do doggy style, but I never got a chance. You want to do that again?”
“If I’m with you,” Gabriel told her, “I can do anything.”
“I think,” said Harper, holding up the shrinking strip of condoms, “we’re gonna have to make a trip to the convenienc
e store.”
Chapter Fourteen
Harper woke with a satisfied sigh and a stretch. Gabriel wasn’t there, which gave her a moment’s pause, until she remembered him waking her with a gentle kiss, then whispering something about needing to get home to get ready for work. His scent lingered on her sheets and skin. Smiling, she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Her legs felt tired and weak as though she’d been jogging all night. Her lady parts were a happy kind of sore. Though she hadn’t been a virgin, she’d tried a lot of new things with Gabriel. She didn’t want to think about him doing those things with Rachel, even though it was likely. It didn’t matter, though. He had wanted her and her alone last night, and she’d been more than willing to oblige. They had by no means exhausted their arsenal of sexual activities. The possibilities that lay ahead had her laughing out loud in glee.
She sat up, yawned, and looked at the clock. It stared back at her with a red digital eight-fifteen.
“Oh, crap!”
Already late. Plus she had a show to narrate at ten-thirty, and that didn’t leave a heck of a lot of time. She took a lightning-quick shower that was good enough for government work, grabbed a granola bar and a water bottle and ran three blocks to catch the G train. That was right, wasn’t it? She didn’t have time to second guess herself, so she boarded just before the doors slid shut with a hydraulic hiss, squeezing herself between a balding biker-looking dude with tattoos and an impressive beard and a sour-faced teenage boy texting on his phone so fast his thumbs were a blur.
She clung to the cool but questionably sticky overhead bar and wrinkled her nose at the fresh sweat smell emanating from her armpit. So much for that shower.
“Everyone’s in a hurry these days,” the biker dude said, smiling warmly down at her from the half inch between them.
“Yeah, it’s not quite so frantic where I’m from.”
“Where would that be?”
“Lexington.” At his puzzled look, she added, “Kentucky.”
“Ah, yeah, drove through there with my motorcycle club. It's a lot different than here.”