Dazzled by Silver (9 page)

Gabe scooped me under my knees into his arms. Fire beamed in his eyes. My limp body cradled against his naked skin as he carried me to the couches under the cabana.

“I can’t believe I’ve been missing out on so much,” I said, holding onto his face.

“No one has ever licked you?”

“Only Kendra. But you’re so good at it.”

“I shall make it my duty to nurture you as often as I can.” He kissed the tip of my nose and smiled.

“Promises, promises.” I bit my lip.

“You know how I feel about promises, Samantha.” Gabe stood above me and unbuckled his jeans. He lowered them, along with his boxers, freeing himself.

No force on earth could have kept my mouth closed.

“I’ll take it slow, Sam. Don’t worry.”

“I’m not. I want you. All of you.”

He knelt between my legs and pulled out a foil packet from his pants. He ripped the packaging with his teeth and swiftly rolled a condom onto his cock.

I watched him intently, wondering how in the world he would fit his full length inside me.

As he moved forward, I bent my knees, spreading myself for him. Gabe entered me slowly. I wanted to scream, but he kissed me passionately, silencing me. The pain eased.

We stayed that way for a moment, Gabe half-way inside, stretching me more than I had expected. It hurt as if I was losing my virginity all over again. The pain was masked by the pleasure of Gabe filling me. I couldn’t believe there was more of him to take, and I wanted him to go further.

On the next advance he slid in a bit deeper. The stretch was exquisite.

“God, you’re so tight.” Gabe closed his eyes.

“It’s been a while.”

The pain eased as my pussy stretched to accommodate him and I wanted him even deeper. My insides were beginning to remember how to adapt to a man’s thickness. With a slight buck of my hips, I let myself open wider.

Gabe lunged further, supporting himself with his arms.

Each flawless entry was more delightful than the one before. My appetite grew.

Gabe possessed my lips and tongue. He eased his thickness out and slid the tip of his cock against my swollen clit a few times before plunging back in, harder.

After a few advances, I began circling to the rhythm of his steady thrusts. My hands glided up his arms, holding his biceps. I squeezed him inside me as the tempo increased. The friction between us urged me to press into him. I rubbed against him brushing my clit on his pubic bone, feeling my climax building.

I gripped his arms, digging my fingers into his flesh and I couldn’t hold on any longer. My legs tightened around him as he blessed me with another release.

Three more thrusts and his hips flexed before he stilled inside me. His eyes shut tight before he pulled out of me and fell to the side breathing hard.

“Are you all right?” he asked after a moment.

“Yes,” I whispered, and snuggled into his arms. “It was...”

“Good?”

“No. Perfect.” I lowered my head to his chest. He slid his hand up and down my arm.

“It was perfect. Why did you move away from California?” he asked.

“How much research on me have you done, exactly?”

“Still not enough.” He gently bit my shoulder.

I giggled.

“There’s nothing better than field research.” Gabe kissed the spot his teeth had marked a little.

“Opportunity. My mother’s in a nursing home battling Alzheimer’s. She’s part of a NYU Disease Center study. My father died from a shark attack when I was five. I never stepped in the ocean again. My mother saved the insurance money to cover her treatment, but it ran out fast. My job pays just enough for me to help her and pay some bills.”

I had no one else. With my father’s early death my mother never remarried. As a single child I learned how to be on my own too quickly.

“I’m sorry.”

I yawned, my eyelids feeling heavier. “It’s life. Nothing I can do about it except move forward. What about you?”

“There’s not much to tell.”

“I doubt that, Mr. Silver.”

“I’m fortunate to have a career I love.” He shrugged.

I didn’t press for more. Anything more tonight would feel too intrusive, too close for a no strings attached deal.

The next time I opened my eyes, the sun was rising.

Gabe had kept his word. He had stayed with me until dawn, and now it was all over. I was grateful my one night stand with Gabriel Silver had been extended but for how long? I wished I could escape with him to the other side of the world. Little did I know, my wish was about to come true.

C
HAPTER
8

After breakfast, Gabe dropped me off at my house.

In less than eight hours, I was to be dressed and ready for dinner. Unfortunately, my bedroom looked like a tornado had rampaged through it. I tried on every dress and shirt and skirt combination possible, but nothing seemed to match. My hands rifled the drawers as I threw blouse after blouse over my chaise. A dress or two landed on the lamp shade. It was just a damn dinner and yet I was as nervous as I had been when Kevin asked me to go to the prom: an event we’d never attended.

This is not a date, Sam. Get a grip on yourself.

I’ve already had beautiful sex with a very giving man who offered exactly what I was looking for. A no strings attached relationship which I chose to call
friendship
. Gabe was an awesome friend whom I trusted, and who understood me. Was this why my heart was beating like I’d won the lottery?

I left the chaos in my apartment and went for a run. The morning sky was almost clear. A few sun rays streaked through where white clouds littered the heavens. I pushed myself hard, jogging along the path in the park. Nothing else would matter as soon as my legs ached, sweat dripped and lungs burned. I ran even faster when I reached the final mile before the path’s end.

Near the park’s exit, exactly where I was heading, a man blocked the way. He stood with his hands in his pocket. Not a relaxed kind of stance, but determined. I swooshed to the left, and he stepped to the same side. I turned to the right, slowing down, and he blocked my way again, forcing me to halt my run.

“Can I help you?” I asked, feeling buckets of sweat pour down my back. My chest heaved and I bopped up and down, jogging in place, cooling my heart rate.

The man smelled of a day-old cigar mixed with a stronger stench of underarm sweat than mine. His tie was off center, and it didn’t match his outfit at all. The bushy eyebrows obviously had never been plucked.

I frowned seeing the stubble on his face. Nothing turned me off more than an unshaven man. There was something untruthful and dirty about the little bristles.

“Samantha Connor?” he asked in a thick Spanish accent.

I stopped my jogging in place. “Yes, and you are?”

“Smith, John Smith. I’m a friend of Kendra’s.”

Although we didn’t hang around the same crowd, something told me Kendra wouldn’t consider him a friend. Instinctively, I stepped back

He moved forward.

“Kendra invested some money in a business venture,” he said.

“Kendra’s business should be discussed with her. I don’t understand why you’re telling me this.” My mind went into overdrive. This man was creepy and starting to give me the heebie-jeebies. He knew my name but there was no way Kendra would have invested in anything this stalker was selling. Besides, everything she owned went into Kissed. Was she in some kind of trouble?

He stepped even closer and, this time, I was the one to match his advance, backward.

“Kendra owes us a large sum of money. I’m sure you could come up with a way to help her, being in the underwriting business and all. Otherwise, we may need to settle the payment the old fashioned way.”

My heart stilled at his deadly gaze. A hint of beer lingered on his breath. I forced strength to my shaking knees and let the last adrenaline remaining in my body hold me up. I could probably outrun him, but not now. My ten mile jog was almost over, and my limbs couldn’t take much more. He would grab me before I set off. But we were in a public park, in the middle of the day.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a police officer on her bike, just over a hundred yards away. “I don’t appreciate your threats, Mr. Smith. Excuse me.”

He blocked the way toward the cop, grabbing my wrist. The squeeze of his cigarette stained fingers almost burned.

“Come up with the money by next week or else.” He bared yellowed teeth.

I froze.

“Get your hands off her, Martinez.” Out of nowhere Gabe pushed the vagabond look-a-like aside, freeing my hand. “You touch her again, and you’ll lose the use of your hand before I rip your throat out.” His mouth formed a straight line.

Gabe pointed something at Smith from within his sweatshirt pocket. The extended stare between the two could manifest daggers into the opponent’s heart.

“This is not the last time you’ll see me, Ms. Connor,” Smith said.

“Leave, now!” Gabe stood almost nose-to-nose with Smith, jutting his pocket and whatever was in it at Smith’s beer-belly.

“Is there a problem here?” The police woman jumped off her bike.

Smith raised both his hands in the air. “No problem, officer. I was just leaving.” He walked away.

“Hold it!” She raised her voice, but Smith didn’t stop.

Gabe gently touched her shoulder and showed her what looked like a white business card. “You better let this one go, Officer Green.”

I couldn’t see what was on the card, but she examined Gabe knowingly and said, “Yes, Mr. Silver, but if you need any help, you call us.”

“Of course. But this is Cross business.”

The name Gabe referred to sounded familiar. I pictured a huge corporation behind it. Officer Green watched the scum walk away. Wearing a frown, she jumped on her bike and rode away.

My knees were wobbly.

“Are you all right?” Gabe pulled me into his arms.

“Yes.”

“Was this the first time you’ve seen him?” he asked while punching a few keys on his cell phone.

“Yes. Kendra’s in trouble.” I pulled away, looking at Gabe. “I have to help her.” Somehow, strength returned to my legs and I was ready to bolt straight for Kissed, where I assumed Kendra was sleeping.

“Hold on, Sam. You don’t know who you’re dealing with. How exactly are you going to help her?” Gabe reached out and held me by my wrist.

I paused, shocked by his firm grip. “First, talk to her. Ask how much she owes.” I looked at his hand, and Gabe let go immediately, his apologetic eyes back to their silver hue.

“I’m sorry.”

“You called him Martinez.”

“That’s his name.”

“How—? Was that a gun you had?” I took a step back.

Gabe reached for my hand. “Sam, in my line of work a gun in an accessory I never part with. The guy’s name is Noel Martinez. If you want to help Kendra, you need to come with me.”

“Okay.”

Gabe lowered his hand to the small of my back and guided me toward the end of the park.

“Where did he come from? What the fuck does he want from Kendra?”

Gabe kept focused on the park exit.

“What kind of work do you do, exactly?” I asked, following his rushed steps. All I really knew was that he owned a private investigations company. The nature of his job was still a mystery.

“I invested in Kissed as a favor to my partner and cousin, Tristan, Kendra’s ex. She wouldn’t accept his help, so I was the next best thing.” Gabe opened the door of his Bentley, conveniently parked by the park’s entrance.

“I never knew Kendra dated Tristan.” I remembered Kendra mentioning someone by that name, but she never went into any details.

He motioned me inside then hurried around the car. Once the engine purred he said, “It was complicated. Martinez works for a distributor we’re looking for.” His tone drifted away, and his lips tightened. Something told me finding the distributor was more important to Gabe than to Tristan.

“I was afraid he’d come after Kendra’s friends, and you’re on top of that list.”

Gabe pressed the pedal and the tires squealed.

“What are we going to do? I can get a loan extension. Would you lend her money too?”

“If it were that easy, I would just give her the money, Sam. Martinez’s boss is out for revenge, not money. We took down a few of his businesses.” He squeezed his eyes shut.

“Why?”

Gabe shook his head. “I don’t want you involved. It’s too dangerous.”

“I’m already involved.” I lay my hand on top of Gabe’s. “Let me help.”

“If you want to help, you’re going to have to trust me completely.”

Gabe already knew I trusted him, but I had a feeling what he was asking for went beyond regular trust.

“With what?” I heard a hint of apprehension in my voice.

“Convincing Kendra she needs to leave her new club with us. It’s the next place they’ll go.” Gabe said, his mouth stretching into a grin.

Why was he grinning? I swallowed hard, uncertain if I should ask my next question. Curiosity took over. “How do I do that?”

“Offer her a threesome.”

C
HAPTER
9

“Can you hear me?” I whispered to the pin-sized mike disguised as a button on my dress.

Gabe had fitted the device as I jammed my clothes into a duffel bag. We’d stopped at my apartment, and he’d given me ten minutes to pack.

Now, I stood in the foyer of Kissed while the cleaning crew swooshed wet mops around the bar. Less than twelve hours ago this is where I had danced, lost in Gabe’s arms.

I lifted my fingertips to my mouth, drawing them across my faint smile. Our parting kiss still lingered on my lips. A draft blew through the hall catching my hair. Gabe had untied it, so my locks could drape over my ears to conceal the earpiece. His fingers had worked each strand, curling it around his index finger then letting it spring back. I’d never met a man so gentle yet tough at the same time.

“I won’t take long, Sam,” he’d said. “Only a couple of calls and I’ll come up.”

The concealed gadget matched the other buttons perfectly. I tapped it gently.