Mr. Smithfield

by Louise Bay

  We could get a lot done in six hours.

  Gabriel put his key in the door, and I placed my hand on his, making him stop and turn to me.

  “You okay?”

  I nodded. “You need to get rid of the sitter as soon as possible,” I said, and reached around to the crotch of his pants. I let out a small moan as I found him hard as rock in my hand. “I have plans for this.”

  “Believe me, I have plans too,” he said and opened the door, gesturing for me to go in first.

  The sitter was gone in less than sixty seconds. As Gabriel shut the door, I slid my hands around his waist.

  “Did you have a good time tonight?”

  “Of course,” I replied. “I was with all my favorite people. And I got to sing. Anyway, the night’s not over yet.”

  He tilted his head to one side, and I don’t know if it was the way his eyes seemed to narrow ever so slightly, or the way he seemed to tower even taller over me than he did normally, but I felt like he was getting ready to devour me. And I was looking forward to being his prey. The starting pistol had been fired on my heartbeat, which set off at a sprint. “I think you’ve been a little wound up for me all night.”

  He slid his hands over my ass and yanked the bottom of my dress up. Jesus, how could this man be so polite in public? So taciturn and suave when he was in company? Then a switch flipped as soon as we were alone, and he turned dirty and provocative and knee-weakening sexy.

  His hands slid into my panties, his fingers into my folds, and I sighed with relief that finally, I was right where I wanted to be.

  “Shit,” he spat and spun me around so I was pressed up against the door. “Have you been this wet for me all night?”

  I nodded as he lifted my leg over his hip and slid his fingers inside me.

  “You’re soaked,” he said, pushing his fingers inside, his thumb finding my clit. “I’m surprised you lasted this long without an orgasm.” He coaxed my g-spot awake with his fingers and I couldn’t stop myself from twisting my hips to get more. I needed relief from this built-up need I had for him. “I’m shocked you weren’t begging for me in the cab. If you’d have said, I would have been more than happy to have reached up your skirt into your hot, tight pussy and made you come.”

  I tried to keep control over my breath as he spoke, but it was no easy feat. He was right. I’d been so wound up all evening. So desperate for him. Now that he was touching me, I was already so close to the orgasm I’d been imagining getting all evening.

  In a flash he let go of me, took his hand away, and stepped back, shoving his hands in his pockets. I stayed pinned against the door, unable to function. My disappointment at his lost touch felt like a chasm opening in my chest.

  He pulled out a foil square and in record time, had his pants open, the condom on, and my leg around his waist. “This what you need?” he asked as he thrust into me.

  It was exactly what I needed, and I exhaled with relief at having him inside me finally. “Yes,” I choked out. “It’s all I need.” I held onto him, clinging to his thick, muscular arms as he pounded into me, just as I’d hoped he would.

  He fucked me with hard, deliberate, achingly deep movements, and I could do nothing but let him. Nothing but give myself up to him. I’d spent the evening wondering how I was going to seduce him, but I should have known that seduction wasn’t necessary when it came to Gabriel. He knew what he wanted and he took it, and I was happy to let him.

  “I’ve been thinking about this all night. I’ve been imagining all the ways I’m going to fuck you,” he said between heavy breaths. “First it’s going to be like this up against the door. Then I’m going to go down on you and make you scream. Then I’m going to fuck your mouth. And you’re going to come and come and come.”

  It was too much. His words. The friction. The feeling of being impaled on him, my back against the hard wood of the door. “Gabriel,” I cried out.

  “That’s right,” he said, his voice softening, his pace slowing but not stopping as I shuddered against him.

  He lifted me up as I floated down from my climax, and I pulled him closer. I wanted to stay like this for as long as possible—him and me, joined. Connected. Together. In every way.

  “You okay?” he asked as he sat me on the kitchen table and began to undress me and then himself. His cock stood thick and upright against his belly, and my eyes trailed up to its crown, to his flat stomach, his hard chest, his wide shoulders, and that oh-so-beautiful face.

  I nodded.

  “You seem . . . a little sad.”

  I shook my head. “I’m not sad at all.” I paused. My instinct was to hold back. To keep things sunny and light. But the fact was, he seemed to like to hear everything about me. The good and the bad. And I wanted him to know how I felt about him. I wanted to be real with him. “I really like you, Gabriel,” I said. It was important he knew that. Important that he understood this wasn’t just about the sexual chemistry. It wasn’t just about the way he was wise and caring. It wasn’t any one thing. It was everything.

  He paused and looked at me as I sat naked on the table in front of him and cupped my face. “I really like you too.” He stroked his thumb over my cheekbone. “More and more.”

  I tilted my head into his hand, and he bent to press his lips against mine. If whatever we had was growing stronger as time went on, then how was I going to feel when August arrived, fresh with its invitation to travel? Would my wanderlust fade, burrow itself beneath my feelings for Gabriel? We had just over a month before I’d be gone. And then what?

  Before I could drown in what-ifs, Gabriel’s insistent tongue and urgent lips worked their way down my neck, between my breasts and over my belly. Roughly, he pulled my legs apart and kneeled before he buried his head between my thighs. He was impatient and greedy, and he made me feel as if I were the most valuable prize he could ever wish for.

  His tongue soothed me at first, long, languid, slow strokes that calmed my pulsing clitoris and gave me a chance to revel in his desire for me. I sighed and his tongue grew firmer and more insistent, ratcheting up my yearning for more of him. He knew, and began to circle and flick his tongue in a circuitous release of pleasure that climbed up my body.

  My body had surrendered and my orgasm galloped toward me, unrelenting and urgent. Just as I began to fall, he took away his tongue and his fingers and stood.

  My eyes widened as I waited for him to explain himself. But he said nothing and simply lay me down on the table as if I were the main course at his one-man banquet. He stood at one end of the table and I shifted, understanding Gabriel was a man who always kept his word.

  He was going to fuck my mouth.

  He guided my head off the end of the table and tilted it back. “I’m going to get so deep—right at the back of your throat.”

  I groaned and opened my legs so he could see what his words did to me. What his tongue and his cock had already done to me. I was red and swollen and so, so wet.

  He slid against my tongue with a groan and swept his hands through my hair, holding my head as he pulled back and rammed his cock into my throat.

  Any other man and I would have said no, but I wanted this just as much as he did. I wanted him to fuck me exactly how he wanted to fuck me. I wanted him to take everything I had to give. I wanted everything with him.

  He slid his hands over my breasts, twisting my nipples, causing me to moan at the sparks of pleasure it set up as he kept fucking me where I lay.

  “Autumn, you’re so gorgeous,” he growled. He dipped his hand between my legs. “And so fucking wet.”

  I came as soon as he touched me. Shuddering as he withdrew from my mouth. “Oh baby. You’re still so wound up.”

  Two orgasms and I still wanted more.

  “I should have cut this evening short. Made some sort of excuse and come home to fill you up.”

  He walked around the table and scooped me up, this time placing me at the edge of the oak. “I think you just need a good, hard fuck again, d
on’t you?”

  He grabbed a condom from where he’d left the packet from the first time, but I didn’t want him to use it.

  “I’m taking contraceptives,” I said. “And I was tested before I left the U.S.”

  He stalked back from where he’d left me with my legs open, waiting for him. “You want me inside you, skin to skin,” he said as a flat statement. “I was tested after my ex-wife left and there’s been no one since.”

  “Yes, Gabriel,” I said, clawing at his chest.

  He stood between my legs and positioned himself at my entrance. “You want it?”

  I nodded.

  He pushed in so slowly, our eyes locked on each other as if we were stepping over some kind of line in the sand.

  “It’s so good, Gabriel.” He felt so perfect. As if my body had been waiting for him my entire life.

  “Because you’re amazing.”

  “With you,” I replied. I was amazing with him. There were no reservations about the strength of my feelings, about what kind of man he was or how he cared for me. And he cared for the whole me, not just the piece of me that I chose to show the world. He liked my shade as well as my light. I didn’t think that was possible. The only obstacles between us were external, and the longer I knew him, and the deeper my feelings grew, the more the issues that once looked unsurmountable seemed to diminish in size and importance.

  Was that what love was? Something that could conquer all?

  Twenty-Three

  Gabriel

  I loved fucking Autumn. So much so that I wondered if I’d ever be able to exist without having her naked beneath me. I certainly didn’t want to find out. But more than fucking her, I loved being with her afterward and before and all the times in between. It felt so natural and right. And she was so funny and interesting—I was becoming completely captivated by her.

  “It’s late,” she said as she took her legs from where they laid over my lap as we recovered on the sofa. I’d managed to pull on some boxers and trousers. Autumn was wearing my shirt, which made her almost unbearably tempting, and we’d just been sitting together, chatting about nothing and everything. “You have to be up early for work.”

  She was right. It would be dawn soon, but I wasn’t ready for her to go to bed alone. I wanted more time with her before I had to give her up. “I haven’t given you your birthday gift yet.”

  “I think you gave me your gift already,” she said. “Four times, if I’m counting correctly.”

  I grinned as I stood and held out my hand. “Well, I know nothing can top that, but I do have an actual gift for you.”

  “Honestly, Gabriel, I’ve had a more than enjoyable evening. Eaten out at a fancy restaurant. Been eaten out by a fancy guy. And of course, there was the singing. What more can I ask for?”

  I chuckled and led her to my workshop. “It’s only a small gift, so don’t get your hopes up.” Since Autumn and I had started sleeping together, I’d spent less and less time in my sanctuary. But when I had been in here, I’d been working on Autumn’s gift. I flicked on the light and looked over at the bench where I’d wrapped what I’d made with a red velvet bow.

  “My hopes are always high,” she said. It was true—despite her clouds, she was relentlessly optimistic about everything.

  “Here,” I said, indicating the box on the bench. “Usually I refinish, restore, and bring something back to life. This is the first thing I’ve made from scratch.”

  Her wide, innocent eyes peered at the box. “Gabriel,” she said softly. I wasn’t sure I’d heard the catch in her voice before. I could tell she was surprised, but was she trying to save her feelings by masking her disappointment? “This is beautiful.” No, Autumn’s truth always shone through. She stroked her hand across the waxed walnut lid of the square jewelry box.

  “I could have bought you something but—”

  “This is the best present you could have ever given me. I can’t believe you made this for me.” With one hand still on the box, she slid the other up my chest. I grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles.

  “It’s a jewelry box. I know Hollie gives you her designs and I know how important your sister is to you . . .”

  Her eyes went glassy and she looked away, dipping to examine the box in more detail.

  “It opens,” I said, chuckling at her awe and pulling at the bow.

  She glanced at me with a smile and then lifted the lid.

  “American walnut outside. And English sycamore inside.” I hadn’t realized it until now, but it was like the box represented us. American and English, bound together as one.

  “It’s amazing. I’ve never owned anything so beautiful. You made this for me?”

  “Yes, of course for you. I wasn’t sure how it was going to work out because, like I said, I don’t normally make things from scratch. But it didn’t turn out too badly.” It had taken a while to make but I’d gotten up early for the last month or so and stolen a few hours here and there when Autumn had gone to bed.

  She ran her fingers around the internal squares that would separate each piece of jewelry. “It’s just so pretty.”

  “There’s two layers there. The top is a tray that lifts out.” I showed her, pulling out the tray and replacing it once she’d peered into the space underneath.

  She put her arms around my waist and just seemed to stare at it.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever had a gift that I love more than this.” She looked up at me. “‘Thank you’ doesn’t seem to be enough.”

  I wanted to tell her that it was me who should thank her. Thank her for coming into my world and sprinkling her sunshine onto my dark soul. Thank her for warming me with her light. Thank her for being just what I needed. “You don’t even need to say thank you. I wanted to do it.”

  I wanted to give her something of me. I wanted her to have something special. She deserved it all.

  “How am I ever going to let you go if you keep doing stuff like this for me?”

  What she said was like a knife piercing my armor. I realized I didn’t want her to picture a future without me. “Maybe it’s all part of my plan to keep you,” I said, trying to use the same breezy intonation she had but meaning every word. Maybe that was why I’d given up sleep to make this box. Subconsciously, perhaps it was my invitation to her to stay in my life. To stay in Bethany’s life. Neither of us wanted to lose her.

  She looked at me with forlorn eyes, her smile having faded, and wrapped her arms around my waist. “I’m serious,” she said. “I really like you and when I move out—”

  “I’m serious too,” I interrupted, not wanting her to finish her thought.

  “Can we figure something out?” she asked. “I know I like to see the bright side of things, but I’m not sure there’s an upside to not being with you.”

  I exhaled, grateful that she’d verbalized what I’d been feeling. Of course it would be Autumn, the bravest woman I knew. “I’m sure we can figure something out.” I wasn’t sure. I knew I wouldn’t hold her back if what she wanted to do was travel the world or move back to America. I knew she was young enough that a lot could change in a few months. But I had started to wonder whether or not Autumn was someone I could accept a promise from.

  Twenty-Four

  Gabriel

  Mike’s very grey office suited him. I just didn’t know why I was sitting here first thing this morning. We’d gone over a few strategy points on the Rome deal, but nothing that couldn’t have been discussed over the phone.

  He narrowed his eyes at me. “What’s the matter with you?”

  “Nothing.” Other than the fact that you called me across town for no reason. “Why do you ask?”

  “You don’t normally look so happy.”

  I chuckled. “Sorry to disappoint you, Mike. I’m going to leave you to it. I’ve got a busy day.” I stood and headed out, still laughing to myself. Mike wasn’t the first person to mention my mood today. This morning my secretary had said I sounded like I’d caught up on my slee
p. Little did she know that I’d had little more than an hour on Saturday night.

  But I’d choose a naked Autumn over sleep any day of the week.

  And apparently naked time with Autumn had created my good mood. Perhaps it would be a permanent shift over time.

  As I got out into the street, my phone buzzed in my hand. It was my solicitor—perfect, she was due to call when the divorce papers finalized. At this rate my positivity would at least last the day.

  “Gillian,” I said as I answered the phone. “I’m actually not too far from your offices. You want me to call in and sign the papers?”

  “Actually no.” She cleared her throat. “I’ve not had the papers yet, but her solicitor has called this morning with a request from her.”

  The blood in my veins stilled and I stopped in my tracks. All I could see was Bethany. Happy, laughing, mine.

  I put my finger in my free ear because I didn’t want to mishear anything. “What does she want?” It could only be Bethany. What else?

  “A meeting.”

  There was no way that woman was going anywhere near my child. She’d proven just how unreliable and untrustworthy she was by walking out. She didn’t have Bethany’s best interests at heart at all and I didn’t want anyone near my daughter who was focused on anything other than what was best for Bethany.

  “I’ll see her but I’m not taking Bethany. She’s not going to lay eyes on my child.” A whoosh of noise from the street filled my ears as if I’d been brought back to life. I’d crawl from the grave to protect my daughter.

  “If it makes you feel any better, there was no mention of Bethany. She wants a one-on-one conversation with you.”

  I took a couple of deep breaths and tried to think. What was she up to? After all these years she suddenly wanted a meeting? It didn’t make sense.

  Unless it was about money. Her family had money but perhaps they’d cut her off? Maybe she just thought she was owed. Whatever the reason, my ex had changed her mind and had decided she wanted some of my fortune after all.