Authors: Unknown
He
listened to her crying softly and he felt ashamed. He made a move to stand but
she reached out and grabbed his hand.
“Would
you just hold me for a little while Gabe?”
A
dull ache thudded in his chest and his throat closed off but he nodded his
head. She got up and carefully stepped around the dog. He spread his legs to
make room for her and she settled in between them, her back to his front. He
wrapped his arms around her and she held on to them with her hands as she
snuggled against his chest. She didn’t say anything; she just clung to him and
when he finally felt her body relax and drift off into sleep he let himself do
the same.
Riley
awoke the next morning to find herself in her own bed, alone. She was still
wearing her clothes when she climbed out of bed. She stopped when she realized
that the dog was now laying on the couch cushion on the floor alongside her
bed. Riley knelt down and checked the animal who started wagging her tail when
Riley touched her. It never failed to amaze her how forgiving animals could be.
The dog was doing well and she noticed that Gabe had managed to remove the
heavy chain around her neck. They’d wanted to do it last night but he didn’t
have the tool he would need – he’d have to go to his construction job site to
borrow the heavy duty tool that would be able to cut through the thick links.
She glanced at the clock next to her bed and saw it was eight a.m. That meant
he must have already gone and come back. The man never seemed to sleep.
“Come
on sweetheart, let’s get you outside and find you something to eat.”
Riley
made a pit stop in the bathroom and then went to the kitchen. There was a big
bag of dog food on the counter along with a bowl, collar, leash and a couple of
chew toys and treats. Next to everything was a note and her gut tightened at
the sight of it. They hadn’t spoken after she’d curled into his arms last
night. His words had been heartbreaking and she’d been hurting too much for him
to even be able to come up with any words that would have been a sufficient
response. She’d just needed to touch him, to feel him wrapped around her so she
knew he was safe in that moment.
Her
shaky fingers picked up the note.
Riley,
I’m sorry I hurt you last night but
you deserved to know the truth about why I can’t be with you. If I could have
loved anyone, it would have been you.
Logan will be by later this morning
to pick up the dog before you have to leave for work. I’ve decided to name her
Bella, by the way. I took her outside already this morning while you were
asleep but I wasn’t sure how much to feed her so I only gave her a little bit
of the dry food and I left a bowl of water in the kitchen corner for her. Logan
will make sure you get to work okay and Shane said he’d check in with you after
your shift.
I’m glad you get to go back to doing
the work you were meant to do. Good luck in California.
Take care,
Gabe.
P.S. I’ll slide your key under your
door.
She
looked over to the door and sure enough, the key was there. Still taking care
of her even when he walked away. Her knees suddenly felt weak and she dropped
to the floor. Bella lay down next to her and put her head in her lap. At least
he would have the dog going forward – maybe he wouldn’t be so alone then. But
she would be alone. She let out a harsh sob as she realized how easily he could
accept the dog in his life, but not her.
Last
night, she’d forgiven him the second he asked her if he could stay. In truth,
she knew she’d forgiven him even before that because she was hopelessly and
completely in love with him. She had wanted to beg him to give them a chance to
figure out how to make it work, but when she’d told him about the move he
hadn’t asked her to stay. He even wished her luck on the move. In a note. That
was it. He had torn her apart by writing that if he’d been able to, he could
have loved her. And then he wished her luck on her fucking move.
She
felt Bella lick her hand and then she leaned down to drop a light kiss on the
dog’s head. “You need to take really good care of him, okay Bella. He needs
it,” she whispered to the dog.
***
“You
are such a fucking idiot!”
Gabe
swung around to see Shane striding across the construction site, oblivious to
the other men working around them. Gabe was in the process of moving some
supplies into the office building that was being built just north of the city.
His hands were full of bags of plaster when Shane punched him, knocking him
flat on his ass, the heavy bags hitting the ground.
“What
the hell Shane?”
“You’re
just going to let her go?”
Gabe
put up his hand when he saw some of the other guys move towards them,
presumably to step in and help him. The men stopped and stood in a partial
circle around them.
“Shane,”
he began.
“I
stuck up for you with her! I told her not to give up on you and you just
fucking walk away!” Shane paced back in forth as he struggled to get his fury
under control.
Gabe
stood slowly, his eyes on Shane to see if he would attack again.
“I
thought it was finally gonna happen,” Shane bit out, his laugh harsh. “I
thought you were finally going to get what life owed you.”
“Shane-”
“You
shut the fuck up. I get to talk now! I have watched you suffer for ten years
and I kept my mouth shut but I’m done!” The men around them slowly drifted off
to give them privacy and Gabe was glad because he knew he wasn’t going to like
whatever it was that Shane was going to say next. He was surprised when Shane’s
voice quieted, almost to the point that Gabe couldn’t hear him. “He wanted
better for you than this.”
Gabe
sucked in a breath when he realized who Shane was talking about.
“Man,
you really didn’t know, did you?” Shane shook his head. “Michael was in love
with you.”
Gabe
struggled to keep his balance. He shook his head. “No, I would have known.”
“He
knew you would never see him that way.” He watched as Gabe bent over as if in
pain.
“The
drugs…did he start those because of me?” Gabe managed to croak.
“No.
That started after he tried to come out to our parents. It didn’t go well which
is why he never told you – he couldn’t stand the thought of you turning away
from him too.”
“I
wouldn’t have.” Gabe straightened, looked at Shane with a mixture of
helplessness and confusion and said a little louder, “I wouldn’t have!”
“I
know Gabe. He was confused and messed up and I am telling you this because you
need to stop blaming yourself for what happened to him. Even if you had been
there, the same thing would have happened. He did it on purpose, Gabe.”
Gabe
couldn’t stay upright anymore and he dropped down on some steel beams nearby.
He shook his head in denial at first but then finally asked “Why?”
Shane
sat down next to him. “That night he’d come home for dinner and told our
parents he was going to come out in public; that he was tired of hiding who he
was. My dad yelled a lot, my mom cried and I just sat there and watched our
family implode. But Michael wouldn’t give in, so my dad told him to get out and
never come back. He would take everything away, car, money for school, me,
everything. Michael left thinking he had nothing.”
Gabe
heard Shane swallow back a sob. “I should have followed him. I should have made
sure he knew he would always have me.” Before Gabe could comfort him Shane was
back up and moving around.
“He
took every cent he had and bought as much shit as he could. He filled that
syringe to the top with the purest shit he could find – didn’t even manage to
get it all in his arm before it stopped his heart.”
Gabe
couldn’t process this new reality – it was just too much. “How do you know it
wasn’t an accident?”
“He
emailed me to say goodbye. Dad had taken my phone and computer away after dinner
that night so I couldn’t talk to Michael. I didn’t see the email until after
his roommate found his body. I told my parents but they said it would be better
if people didn’t know – they’d see him as weak and selfish. I didn’t even stick
up for him at the end,” Shane said bitterly.
“You
were a kid Shane.”
“Michael
would have done what he did whether you were there or not. Let him go. Let your
mother go – you tried. You tried harder than anyone else would have to help her
but she’s not going to stop. I know you love her, but you don’t have to give up
your life for her.”
Gabe
had gone stiff at the mention of his mother. “She needs me,” was all he said.
“Do
you need her? I know you need your old mom back, the one before the drugs, but
do you need who she is now?” At his silence Shane continued. “She’s become your
drug Gabe and it’s destroying you.” Shane shook his head as if defeated. “You
said you wanted normal, Gabe. Riley is your normal.” With that Shane walked
away and Gabe sat there silently and let him go.
She
would miss these hugs, Riley thought as Nell squeezed her so tight she thought
it might actually cost her a rib. Nell finally released her and then smacked a
kiss on her forehead. “You take care of yourself darling.”
“I’m
gonna miss you guys.” Riley wiped away and tear and let out a watery laugh.
Pete
grabbed her up into a bear hug too and then Carolanne followed suit. They’d
become like her family in just the few weeks she had been here and she would
miss them. “Come on honey, I’ll walk you to your car,” Pete said as he threw a
beefy arm over her shoulders.
“I
got it Pete,” she heard from behind her and though she was glad to hear the
familiar voice, it wasn’t the one she’d been wishing for. She turned to face
Shane and smiled. He’d been seeing her home for the past several nights. After
seeing her safely to her car, he’d follow her home and then walk her to her
door. He rarely spoke and he never mentioned Gabe. Logan never spoke of him
either though he continued to escort her to work in the mornings.
Riley
gave Nell one more squeeze. “Thank you so much for everything.”
“Let
us know when you get there.” She saw Nell dab at what suspiciously looked like
tears before turning away to head back to the front of the diner. Grabbing her
jacket and purse, she followed Shane out to her car. His fancy sports car was
parked in the next spot.
“I
bet you’re going to miss babysitting me, huh?” she said as she searched for her
keys. They’d reached a comfortable place in their relationship after the confrontation
in Gabe’s kitchen and she knew she was going to miss Shane more than everyone
else…well, almost everyone else.
“I
don’t babysit my friends,” he responded.
She
looked up at the word friends. It was true, he had become that to her.
“Of
course, I don’t usually picture my friends naked either, but I guess there’s a
first for everything,” he joked and she shoved him before climbing into her
car. The drive home went by quickly and Shane was there to open her door before
she even had a chance to get unbuckled.
“You
got the car checked out like I told you to?” he said as he led her up the
walkway.
“Yep,
got the oil changed, air pressure in the tires checked, full tank of gas – it’s
all good.”
They
reached her door and she unlocked it. “Oh, hey, that reminds me. Would you give
some clothes I borrowed from Gabe back to him for me? I’d leave them in front
of his door but I don’t want someone to walk off with them.”
“Why
don’t you give them to me yourself?” Riley and Shane both turned to see what appeared
to be a very pissed off Gabe standing in the open doorway of his apartment.
***
“Say
goodnight Shane,” Gabe heard himself saying. He knew he had no right to be
seething with jealousy, but he’d spent the last several nights watching Shane
walk Riley from the car to the apartment, his hand at her back, their bodies
nearly touching as they moved. He didn’t have a peephole in his door so when
he’d heard them talking outside her door a few times and her occasional laugh,
his imagination had gotten the best of him and it had taken everything in his
power not to rip the door from its hinges and beat the crap out of his friend.
Shane
took his time hugging Riley goodbye and when he placed a brief kiss on Riley’s
cheek Gabe was done. He pushed Shane out of the way and grabbed Riley’s hand
and pulled her into his apartment. Before he slammed the door shut, he saw
Shane’s smug victory smile.
“Gabe,
the clothes are in my apartment…” she started to say but stopped when he pushed
her against the door.
“I
almost took you like this that first night in the alley,” he said as he pinned
her body with his arms and dropped his mouth down to her right ear. “I kept
imagining you riding my cock as I held you against that wall.” He dipped his
tongue into her ear and was rewarded with a gasp as her whole body trembled
against his. Before he could enjoy it though, she was shoving against him and
he found his hands full of one pissed off female.
“Are
you kidding me with this? You ignore me for two weeks after you leave me a
goddamn note on how to take care of your dog and now you’re trying to get in my
pants again?” He loved that she still wouldn’t use the f word. She struggled
against him as she called him names. Granted, they were pretty tame names but
he wasn’t in the mood to hear them all so he pinned her wrists against the
door, used his weight to subdue her and then crushed his mouth down on hers.
***
Riley
was in the middle of the word bastard when his mouth covered hers and his
tongue thrust inside of her mouth. He held her immobile as he plundered her
mouth, his tongue stroking and gliding over hers. When he slanted his head so
he could deepen the kiss, she moaned and kissed him back. He sucked her tongue
into his mouth and she took the opportunity to test every surface there before
he took control again. He gave her a brief moment to suck in some air before he
was on her again. She’d been kissed before but never like this – he was
claiming her, owning her, and she didn’t want it to end.
“So
sweet,” he said roughly as his hands dropped to hold her head still. He thrust
his leg between hers and dropped a hand to her thigh. He shifted her in a way
so that she was nearly riding his leg. She needed an anchor to keep her from
coming apart.
“Gabe,”
she said as she pulled her lips from his and then leaned her head back so he
could have access to her throat. “What about the rules?”
Gabe
looked up from where he’d been holding back the neckline of her shirt so he
could caress the sensitive spot where her neck met her shoulder. She still had
her hands raised next to her head even though he wasn’t holding them anymore.
Her fingers were clenched tight.
“No
more rules Riley.” When she dropped her hands to his shoulders, he brushed a
soft kiss over her lips and then another one. The kisses were the complete
opposite of his first, almost carnal, kiss but the results had the same effect
on her. “I can’t promise what will happen at the end of tonight but I want to
try with you. I want to be everything for you.” He dipped down to kiss her
again. He pulled back briefly and said, “Although someday I am going to want to
tie you up again.”
She
smiled at that and whispered, “Deal…as long as I get to do the same thing to
you.”
***
Gabe
blew out a curse at the image of himself tied up while she rode him. He’d
definitely need to get a bed frame that could accommodate that. Her hands
skimmed hesitantly over his shoulders to the back of his neck. He hated that
she was worried about touching him but, in truth, he was more nervous that he
would start to revert back to his old habits. But when she trailed her fingers
down his chest and then slid them under his T-shirt to stroke his abdomen, all
he felt was a surge of lust. He needed her touch everywhere.
“Will
you take this off?” she asked quietly as she tugged at the edge of his shirt.
He reached behind him to grab the back of the shirt and peeled it off. He heard
her indrawn breath as she looked over his body. For the first time he was
actually glad for all the sleepless nights that had him taking his energy out
on his weight bag. He dropped his hands down to her hips so he could bring his
body closer to hers. Her hands moved up and down his chest and then behind him
to his lower back. She dipped her fingers below the waistband of his pants and
into the small of his back as her mouth found its way to his chest. When she
tentatively licked his nipple, he lost it and pulled her up to meet his mouth.
“I
need to see you again,” he said harshly as he reached for the hem of her shirt
and pulled it up and over her arms. His mouth watered at the sight of her hard
nipples pressed against the fabric of her bra. But he needed to taste them so
when he dropped his head to kiss her there, he used his fingers to pull the
fabric down. He licked each nipple in turn and then drew back to see the
result. The bunched fabric pushed the nipples higher. “Take it off.”
She
quickly did as he ordered and removed the bra, dropping it to the floor. He
dropped to his knees in front of her and licked her abdomen. His hands reached
up to tweak her nipples as he kissed his way along her stomach and then up the
middle of her chest. He was still tall enough that he could reach her full
breasts with his mouth. She was gripping his hair now and he relished the sting
of pain. He leaned back and undid her pants and pulled them down. Her panties
were next and then his mouth was on her, stroking the sensitive bud. When she
cried out and dragged his head closer he knew it wouldn’t take much to push her
over.
He
lifted his eyes to see her watching him intently and he held her gaze as he
stroked her again with his tongue. Lust darkened her eyes but she kept them on
him. He used his fingers to separate her folds and then licked her moist flesh.
Ignoring her clit, he worked his way around it, teasing softly and he heard her
groan of frustration. Reaching down with his hands, he fumbled to free her from
her pants and panties and when her left leg slipped free of the fabric he
pulled it up over his shoulder, exposing her completely to him.
At
the sight of her, he felt his cock harden even more behind his zipper and he
wished he had more hands so he could release himself without letting her go. He
licked her clit once to tease her some more and then dipped his mouth further
down until he found her opening. He speared his tongue inside her and she
moaned loudly. Her vagina was rippling and he knew it wouldn’t take more than a
few strokes to finish her off so he pulled his tongue free.
“No,
don’t stop,” she said as she fumbled to try and force his head back down. He
plunged one of his fingers into her hot core and sucked her clit into his
mouth. Her body tightened as she screamed. He pushed a second finger inside her
and used his other hand on her ass to pull her hips closer as he alternated
stroking and sucking on her clit. The orgasm ripped through her and he looked
up to watch her drop her head back against the door as she fought to catch her
breath. He stroked her clit a few more times to bring her down and then pulled
his fingers out of her. Her hooded eyes watched him and it was clear she
expected him to suck the taste of her off his fingers, but instead he stood up
and put the fingers to her lips.
When
he said “open” she did it immediately and without hesitation. “Suck it all
off,” he said gutturally as his free hand dropped to stroke his own cock
through the jeans that were now threatening to cut off the blood flow to his
dick. Her eyes darkened as she tasted herself and when she saw that he was
touching himself she started sucking on his fingers harder. “Not this time,” he
said to her and at her disappointed look, he chuckled and removed his fingers
from her mouth. “If you put your mouth anywhere near my dick right now, I won’t
be able to come in your hot, tight body.” He licked her lips so he could taste
what lingered of her flavor there. “And I really need to come inside you.”
“Later.
Promise me,” she said. He sucked in a breath because he’d never had a woman do
that to him, or even want to, but Riley did. Emotion clogged his throat so he
just nodded.
“You
have too many clothes on,” she reminded him as she reached to pull him back
down for a lengthy, lusty kiss. Her tongue dueled with his for control and he
finally gave it to her. Her fingers fumbled with the button on his jeans. He
nearly screamed in relief when she got the zipper down and carefully pushed the
fabric away from his rock hard dick. When she stroked him, he nearly shot his
load so he grabbed her hand. Her protest died in her mouth when he thrust his
cock against her clit. They rubbed against each other as their tongues mimicked
their lower bodies. Gabe finally pulled his mouth from hers and then fumbled
around to pull his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans. He knew he should
remove his pants but since he still had his boots on he abandoned the idea – he
just couldn’t wait any longer to be inside of her.
He
tossed the wallet aside once he found the condom he was searching for. He tore
into the small, foil packet. Riley was watching him in fascination as he
quickly rolled the condom down his length. He leaned down and kissed her again
while he pressed his length between her legs and rubbed the tip of his cock
back and forth over her opening. Warm moisture seeped over the head of his dick
and he moaned into her mouth. He lifted her leg and angled himself so that the
tip of his cock entered her. Her fingers bit into his shoulders as he kept up
the pressure. He lifted her other leg to open her further and with one thrust
he was seated deep inside her. She cried out and then dropped her head to his
shoulder. He stilled. “Are you okay?”
He
felt her nod her head violently and she finally pulled back so he could see her
eyes. “It’s so good Gabe,” she whispered. Tears were pooling in her eyes and he
knew in that instant that he would love this woman forever. He plunged his
tongue back into her mouth as he pulled out of her. When he slid back in, she
moaned into his mouth. Most of her weight was on him now and he used that to
his advantage by pulling her down to meet his upward thrusts. She wrapped her
legs around his hips and pressed back against the door so she could brace
herself for each hard stroke.