Captivated by Him

by Terri E. Laine

  I framed her face with my hands and slowed things down. We had all the time in the world for fast, but this time I wanted to savor her and enjoy the moment to its fullest.

  Her greedy hands tugged my shirt free from my pants.

  “I need to touch you,” she said.

  Her voice was a little breathy, which revved me up even higher.

  She used her palms to glide up my stomach and over my chest. It took all the control I had to let her play and not do my own exploration.

  “You’re still working out, I see,” she said.

  “Only to kill time until I could see you again.”

  She stopped and leaned back. “I’m sure you had plenty of girls to keep you company.”

  “Since I’ve met you, it’s only been you.”

  “Shut the front door!” She braced her hands on my shoulders. “So I’ve been driving myself crazy wondering who was warming your bed and there’s been no one? How is that even possible?”

  “My dick is selfish and picky.”

  Her head fell back and she laughed. “I guess I owe it a favor for keeping you out of harm’s way.”

  I snickered. “It’s been rather lonely, though.”

  She looked at me from under her lashes, a wicked smile forming on her perfect mouth. She flicked the button on my jeans and drew down the zipper far enough to reach her tiny hand to grip my cock.

  “Then stop talking and fuck me, Gavin.”

  That one word out of her mouth, something she wouldn’t normally say, freed me from the chains that had held me back. I surged forward and cupped her face. I drove my fingers through her bound hair to tug her closer, eliminating any distance between us. I scored her mouth with a feverish kiss and lined our bodies so her core met my steel-hard cock.

  We fell back on the counter, her hands digging in my back.

  “You’re wearing too many clothes,” she complained.

  I felt her tug at my shirt, pulling fistfuls of it up my back. Impatient myself, I shoved up her shirt and yanked her bra down, exposing my prize. Her rosy nipples tightened in my mouth as I sucked like a madman.

  “No fair,” she cried out and released a moan.

  I switched to the other one, kicking off my shoes and pushing down my jeans.

  “Hurry,” she begged.

  “Give me a minute, Angel.”

  She ground against me and I thought I might explode. I reached back and found my wallet as my jeans hung on my hips.

  “Shit.” I closed my eyes and pulled back.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I don’t have one.”

  “One what?”

  “A condom.” I stepped back, trying to get myself under control. “I can go find a store.”

  “Swear to me you’re clean,” she said.

  I couldn’t believe my ears. “I swear. I was tested before you and there’s been no one else.”

  “Me too. I swear.”

  We both stood looking at each other.

  “Are you sure?”

  She nodded, curling her fingers in a come here gesture. I moved back.

  “Lift your hips.”

  I tugged her shorts off; she was totally bare beneath. I struggled to catch my breath, remembering the last time she’d given herself to me. She reared up and chained her arms around my neck.

  “Stop teasing me.”

  She scooted closer to the edge, my dick pressed between us. I moved back some and lined the head to her entrance. She was soaking and coated the tip.

  “It’s been too long. I don’t know how long I’m going to last.”

  She dropped her hands and grabbed at my ass, tugging me forward.

  “Sugar honey ice tea, if you don’t hurry up I’m going to kill you.”

  I gave her what she demanded and drove into her hard. I’d come prepared to offer her sweet, something I’d given no other girl. But I aimed to please.

  “Yes,” she cried out.

  I kissed her like we fucked. Between the sounds of our flesh coming together and the mewling noises she made, I wasn’t going to last if fucking her bareback didn’t kill me first. I finally understood why some guys couldn’t resist despite it all.

  Her roving hand played with my chest. I clamped her hands in one of mine and drew it over her head.

  “If you don’t stop, it will be over too fast.”

  “And if you stop, I will kill you.”

  I steadied her hip with my free hand, working in and out of her. I watched my dick disappear inside of her and thought I’d come right then and there. I had to fist the base, not wanting her to make good on her threat.

  She cried out. “Sweet Mary and Joseph. I’m right there.”

  “You want to come, Angel?”

  She nodded and begged.

  I used my thumb in between her legs and her pussy clamped down hard on my dick. Before I could pull out because we hadn’t talked about the pill, I came, filling her with my come.

  Muttered curses spilled from my mouth as I’d never experienced anything like it.

  “God, I love you,” I said, caressing her face and kissing her long and deep.

  I scooped her up. She kept her legs around my waist as I found the bedroom. It was huge with a large bed as the crown jewel.

  “Everything is pretty swank in here. Nothing out of place. That’s going to change.”

  I coaxed her legs from around me and tossed her on the bed. She squealed.

  “Promises, promises.”

  “Angel, I keep my promises.”

  I tackled her to the mattress, finding my way between her legs.

  “Time for dessert.”

  37

  megan

  I finally understood what happiness felt like. I’d thought I’d been in love before, but this was different. I couldn’t explain it other than to say I wanted him to be my forever.

  If I hadn’t believed him when he said it, I was a firm believer after he made love to me a second time. He took his time getting me off with his mouth and then by moving slowly in and out of me. Just thinking about it made my lady parts tingle. He lay beside me with one arm over his head, deep in sleep. So what had woken me?

  The noise came again. Was that a knock?

  I got to my feet, pulled on Gavin’s shirt, and padded across the dark wood floors that covered the entire apartment except the bathrooms. A louder knock came and this time I used the peephole.

  My father stood on the other side. I opened the door. Good thing Gavin's shirt hung low.

  “Dad.”

  He smiled. “You don’t know how long I’ve waited to hear you say that.”

  It had slipped past my lips without a thought. The only other family I’d had were my grandparents.

  I wasn’t sure how he would take it, but I moved in for a hug. He was tall but not as tall as Gavin, so he didn’t have to bend down to hug me back.

  He pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “My lovely daughter, I’m sorry if I woke you.” Then his eyes found the floor and I looked back, spotting the clothes Gavin and I’d discarded along the way in a trail to the bedroom. “It seems I’ve interrupted.”

  I was mortified. Never once in my life had I’d been caught by my mother, and the second time I spoke to my father, he saw this. My face flamed.

  “It’s okay. I’ve come to terms about you having a boyfriend.”

  Color me stupid, but what?

  He sighed. “I mentioned that I kept tabs on you guys. I saw you go to your first dance.”

  I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. “You spied on me. That’s a little creepy.”

  His smile turned sad. “It was all I had. I just watched from afar. If I couldn’t be in your life, I didn’t want to miss those moments.”

  “How do you know it was my first dance?”

  “I can’t be sure, but I kept your school calendar and found out what activities you participated in. I wasn’t there for it all, trust me. But I saw that dance: You wore a blue dress, your favorite co
lor. I saw your prom, senior one. Your high school and college graduation and a few things in between.”

  There was something forlorn about his story. How could I fault him for trying to share moments with me and protect me at the same time? I couldn’t imagine what he felt like.

  “I wish you could have been there.”

  “Me too.”

  He pointed to the bedroom, which I’d left open. “Is he sleeping?”

  I nodded, still mortified my father knew I’d had sex.

  He exhaled and I remembered why he was here in the middle of the night. “It seems my brother is fascinated by you. He mentioned you told him you had a boyfriend. I guess that also helped prepare me.”

  Paint me red about Gavin, but what he’d said after was worth talking about. “It’s super weird my uncle asked me out. Can’t you tell him who I am?”

  “No.” The word came out with an edge of alarm. “I haven’t stayed away from you all these years to have my dad and my brothers find out about you. You would be a bargaining chip they could use against me.”

  I didn’t like hearing that.

  “So how are we going to handle this?”

  “My father is dying. He told them about me. Alonzo is here to make sure I don’t want in on the family business. He’s not leaving anytime soon, so you have to go back to Maryland to your mother.”

  “But—”

  “This is not up for discussion. They could kidnap you and take you to South America to a place where you have no rights and belong to the one who controls the government, my father, or my brothers once he dies.” He stroked a hand down my cheek. “You are the love of my life. You mean more to me than anything in this world. So I have to fire you.”

  I gaped.

  “Don’t worry, Kelly will fight for you. She likes you a lot and sent me several emails today begging me not to do just this. So I will offer her to transfer you to a new position with my lobbyist group.”

  “What lobbyist?”

  “They work for my global nonprofit that fights to get the poorest people in the world food and clean water. I need someone to help with the marketing campaign and give a fresh look to the materials we hand out that are so often discarded.”

  This didn’t sound like a fly-by-night plan.

  “You’ve thought a lot about this.”

  “I have as I poured liquor down my brother’s throat to both get information and have him out for the night so he doesn’t bother you. I’m actually relieved your young man is here, though I would have gotten a report letting me know he entered and hadn’t left.”

  It was the second time he left me gawking.

  “It’s a security thing. I wasn’t planning to abuse my power to pry in on your life. I promise.”

  I nodded.

  “So it’s going in my file that you fired me?”

  “It’s for the best. It will throw the scent off that there’s anything between us. If my brother is here, who knows who’s watching. As it is, I need to leave here soon. But one more thing: The intern program in D.C. also offers housing, something we do as an added benefit. But since the address you listed on your application was at your mother’s in the area, you won’t get it.”

  I puffed my cheeks and blew out a breath.

  “I know at your age you want your independence. I have a place in Georgetown that’s yours.”

  “But if I’m there, can’t someone link me to you?”

  He smiled. “Like I said, it’s yours. I bought it years ago to give me a place to stay when I wanted to see you. It’s in your name. I didn’t want anyone to track me, either, so do with it as you like.”

  Georgetown was one of the ritziest places to live in Washington, D.C.

  “I can’t accept it.”

  “You don’t have to. It’s in your name like I said. It’s yours, along with everything in it, including the car in the back.”

  Surely I was dreaming. Okay, my father was a billionaire, but I never thought.

  “Because your mother tried to keep you a secret, I couldn’t pay child support. All I could do was grant you college scholarships to make up the difference your mom couldn’t pay. I should also say I gave others scholarships too so it would look on the up-and-up. I owe you so much more than the house.”

  I didn’t argue because I could tell it would be a losing battle. I’d figure out what to do with the house later. I did need a place to stay. Going home to Mom and Lee wasn’t appealing.

  “Will I get to see you?”

  “Not for a while. Once my brother leaves the country, maybe. Everything needs to blow over first.”

  I hugged him again.

  “I’m sorry it has to be this way. But you have my number if you need me. Last thing: Do not go into the office. Alonzo has a meeting in the morning if he was telling me the truth, but I don’t want you to run into him. Leave for D.C. straightaway sometime after nine. You should be good. But leave before eleven. We’re supposed to have lunch, and he might come here first. Do you need a way to D.C.?”

  “Gavin.” When his brow lifted, I added, “He can drive me.”

  “One day I’m going to meet this man and put the fear of God into him.” He grinned. “That is what a father’s supposed to do.”

  Then he told me the code to the garage and where to find the house key in a hidden lockbox. He kissed my cheek, said goodbye, and then he was gone.

  He was a good man who cared about me, and I was sure about Mom, too. He had a nonprofit to save the world. He was another superhero in my life. How lucky could I be?

  I turned toward the room and thought about the man in the bed waiting for me. Yes, I was lucky indeed. I picked up our clothes on the way back to bed.

  Would Gavin be happy about us going back to Maryland? He would be closer to his dad. That was a worry for him even though he tried to hide it. He’d come for me, and now we could go home.

  38

  megan

  A slew of curses woke me up. I sat up.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked Gavin.

  “It’s past eight—are you going to be late to work?”

  I fell back onto the cushy pillow. “I’m off today…or rather I was fired.”

  “What? Why? Because you were late?”

  My brain was still fuzzy with sleep.

  “Not exactly. Long story, but I’ve been transferred.”

  “Good, I thought maybe…”

  I pulled his arm and he lay back down on his side to face me.

  “I have news,” I announced.

  The little space between his brows crinkled.

  “I’ve been transferred back to D.C. Isn’t that great?”

  He scrambled to sit up and his confusion turned into a full-blown scowl.

  “No, it’s not great. I can’t be with you in D.C.”

  I sat up again and rested my back on the padded headboard, pulling the sheet to cover my chest. “Why not? Do you have a girlfriend back there or something?”

  “Or something. This is fucked up.”

  He swung his legs over the other side of the bed and got to his feet. He spotted his clothes, which I’d draped over the chair. He grabbed his jeans and started putting them on.

  “Where are you going?” I asked, watching with growing horror.

  “I need to think.”

  As much as it hurt my heart, I had to say it. “If you leave, don’t come back. I can’t keep doing this with you.”

  He pivoted on his heel and glared at me. “I’m not leaving. I just need to figure shit out.”

  “Figure what out?”

  It was time he told me everything.

  “How I can be with you and keep you safe in D.C.”

  “Safe from who?” I demanded.

  He folded his hands on top of his head and paced. I watched his turmoil and understood, as I felt the same.

  Finally, he sat at the foot of the bed, but didn’t face me. “I told you my mom died, but I didn’t tell you how.” There was a long pause and I was sur
e what he said next would break my heart for the boy turned man. “She was shot to send a message to my father to keep in line.”

  I got to my knees so fast and crawled over to him. I wrapped my arms around him from behind and laid my head on his shoulder.

  “I’m sorry,” I said.

  He covered my hand with his, which rested over his heart.

  “I don’t want that to happen to you. These guys…they would use anyone they thought I cared about against me. It’s bad enough they use the threat of death of my father over me, and they do the same to him. I refuse to give them another target.”

  How was it that two of the most important men in my life had the same problem?

  “So that’s why you kept pushing me away.”

  He nodded. “I don’t know how far their reach is, but I’ve only met guys in Maryland. They mostly just see me as my father’s son, not one of the family.”

  “Family?”

  “That’s what they call themselves.”

  We were silent for a while until he muttered, “If I was a better man, I’d let you go for good.”

  I scooted around him and got to my feet to stand before him. His hand tapped the bed in a rhythm I’d knew meant he was nervous or agitated.

  “Don’t you dare.”

  “But Angel, I just don’t see how it could work without putting you in danger.”

  His head hung low, but I bent forward to stay in his line of sight.

  “My mother is a prosecutor. I can’t tell you how happy she was that I was moving to New York because she’s too afraid that the criminals she puts in jail will come after me for the same reason you just said. And my father…” I paused, but I was done with secrets. He’d confessed to me—somewhat. It was time I did the same. “They say my father is the illegitimate son of Alonso Aparicio.”

  Gavin

  I lifted my chin and met her eyes. “Holy shit.”

  “Exactly,” she said, with her hands on her hips. “You get it now. My father is transferring me back because he’s afraid they’ll find out who I am to him. No matter what you do, I’m in danger.”