The Alphabet Game the Complete Alpha Series a to X, Y, Z (27 page)

Gabe and I curl up in bed, but my mind is whirring and I don’t feel like sleeping just yet.

‘Gabe?’

‘Yes?’

‘Why don’t we ever sleep at your apartment? Have you got another woman there?’

‘Damn you found out. No, not one, two.’

‘You’re funny, but really, why?’

He leans up on one elbow, ‘Because it’s true, I have two ladies in my life, Salt and Pepper, two stray cats I took in when the previous owner planned to send them to rescue.’

‘I don’t see why that stops me from visiting.’

‘Because of your allergies.’

‘What allergies?’

‘That you’re allergic to cats. Jimmy told me.’

‘If I were you I’d ask for a refund, cos I’m betting he made up a whole heap of shit. I’m not allergic to cats. If anything it was Jimmy who had an allergy to pussy.’

‘So all this time I could have been having my wicked way with you in my bachelor pad and I’ve been abandoning my two other favourite females, for no reason?’

‘Looks that way.’

‘Well then tomorrow night, you’re coming to mine.’

‘But the fish might miss me.’

‘I think they’d rather stay here than meet the cats.’

‘There’s another thing that’s been bugging me too.’

‘Oh-kay.’

‘When Ronnie told me she went to The Rodeo, she said you knew, that you’d seen her.’

‘I knew she went there, yes.’

‘Why didn’t you tell me?’

‘You said she was your best friend. I decided that if she wanted you to know, she’d have told you herself.’

‘I guess so.’

‘It wasn’t my place to tell you then. If something similar happened now, I’d tell you though.’

‘Oh yeah, what’s changed?’

‘Well now you’re my friend.’

‘Yes, your girlfriend.’

He shakes his head, ‘That sounds so school playground.’ Then he pulls me towards him.

His hands skim my breasts, but I have to stop him because they hurt.

‘My period’s due.’

‘Oh right, and what do you think about sex whilst on one of those?’

‘I think messy and ew.’

‘We’ll see, I’m sure you can be persuaded.’

‘Well in the meantime, maybe we need to fit one more quickie in, just in case.’

‘I think that would be a wise move.’

When I get up the next morning my breasts are even more painful. I hate being pre-menstrual; no doubt the foul mood will arrive any minute. Maybe I could get away with clubbing Arnie and Mitch to death under the excuse of PMT? I grab my diary to write down to buy more tampons today. Like a teenager I look at the dates to see how long myself and Gabe have been together now. We met at the Coffee Shop on the third July. I’ve never had such a good cup of coffee since. I think to myself that we must go back to that coffee shop sometime and reminisce. I flick forward, we started the game on the eighth. Today is the seventh of August. Has it really only been a month? It seems like I’ve known him forever. It’s then I spot the little p circled in the corner of the third July. Of course, I was pissed off that morning to find out I’d come on, typically, on the day of my interview. Sod’s law they call it. I start counting the days until today, thirty-five. That can’t be right. I do it again but come up with the same number. Maybe it’s the flights, they cause havoc with cycles. I can’t be pregnant, we use protection. I’m usually every twenty-eight to thirty-one days so there’s still time yet. To reassure myself I think back through the alphabet. A - arousal, he left me hanging; B - blow job, I did the same with him. C - definitely used a condom; D - same again, definitely used a condom at the Dungeon; E- didn’t need one; F, F? F for Fear? I think back to that day where Gabe had turned up on my doorstep after everything that had gone on at the restaurant and how we went out onto the balcony and fucked. We were so into each other after fearing we were done, neither of us took note of protection. We didn’t use anything. How the fuck could I have been so dumb?

I write P/T as an abbreviation for pregnancy test in the diary at the side of buy tampons and decide to block it from my mind until I have the test. No use crying over spilt semen.

Chapter 7

Gabe goes off to work happy as can be. I suppose multiple shags does that to a guy. I go out into central London, buy my test and tampons and then find myself wandering around baby stores, picking up little items of clothing. If I am pregnant, there’s no doubt in my mind I will keep it. A chance to start a family of my own.

Later in the apartment I throw the test in its bag on the dining table. I don’t want to do it just yet, because if it’s negative I actually think I might cry. I would never have trapped Gabe into a pregnancy, but the chance that I am fills me with hope and I want to keep that a little longer.

I fill a small weekender bag with some clean clothes and underwear for tomorrow morning. I can’t wait to see the home of Gabe Gregory. I bet it’s full of black leather and a waterbed, like James Bond.

I hear my ‘other’ phone ring and pick it up.

‘Hello.’

‘We did the trap last night, he was extremely interested. We had a job on getting her away from him.’

‘Really?’ My heart beats fast.

‘Yes, wanted to know all about her, especially how old she was. She told him eighteen, and she is actually twenty-one, but she looks no older than fifteen, gets sick of being questioned in the off-licence.’

‘Thank you so much. I can’t tell you how happy that’s made me.’

‘Well, like I said, that’s it for me now.’

‘I do understand. I’d do the same myself if I was in your position. Send me your bill and I’ll get the account settled. I really appreciate all you’ve done.’

Later that afternoon there’s even better news as Henry Jones calls to tell me that Ronnie is being discharged the following afternoon. I arrange to meet him down at the apartment entrance and for him to text me to let me know when they’re setting off. My friend is coming back. I then do something I haven’t done in years. I go into the spare room and put away all the clothes, bags and shoes into the closet. I rediscover the bed underneath, which I strip off and put fresh sheets on. The room looks tidy and fresh and I put a few books and magazines on the bedside table for her.

I watch another couple of videotapes. Again I find nothing and realise I’m probably just watching Arnie’s own personal porn collection, which makes me think ew. Then I think again that the women are probably too old. I have another three tapes to go. I’ll get to them in the morning. Right now, I’m off to Gabe’s.

Gabe lives in a two bedroomed, two storey apartment on Kensington High Street. I’m overawed when I walk in. I thought my apartment was beautiful, but the luxury of this place makes mine look like a garden shed. The hallway has gleaming black marble tiles and the white staircase is encased by a glass wall. A tabby cat comes skidding across to greet me, which makes me laugh.

I tickle what turns out to be Salt under her chin,‘Your poor cats.’

‘Ah, they love it. Hours of fun sliding around the hallway.’

He takes me on a guided tour. The lounge does indeed have black leather couches. I note a few scratches in the leather, which Gabe tells me is the downside of his pets. The downstairs is all blacks, whites and greys, extremely masculine. He has a widescreen television over the fireplace and there are plinths with heavy works of art on them, ‘Cat proof,’ I’m assured. The kitchen has all modern appliances, white cupboards and grey granite work surfaces. The taps gleam, I reckon he has a cleaner.

He then takes me through into a further downstairs room where I decide Gabe Gregory is one spoilt brat. He has a cinema room. A massive projector covers one wall and there are six Lazyboy recliner chairs.

‘Oh my God, your own cinema in your home.’

‘Hey, you basically have your own Department Store in yours so don’t start on me. I love films.’

‘You do realise I never want to leave this house and I haven’t even gone upstairs yet?’

‘Well there you go then,’ he says, ‘Mission accomplished, cos once I have you in that bedroom, you’re not going anywhere.’

One of Gabe’s bedrooms upstairs is equipped with one of those all in one exercise machines. I move into the Master bedroom itself. Black bedroom furniture sits atop a slate grey floor. The bed, though King Size, is extremely plain and furnished in plain white bed linen. There’s no oomph to this room, it’s just functional.

‘Hey, what’s with that face?’

‘Huh, what?’

‘You look, dare I say it, disappointed. What were you expecting?’

‘Well at the very least a waterbed.’

‘You have to remember Miss Mulroney that this is my bedroom, where I sleep. I have not entertained any ladies here before, so it’s not supposed to be attractive to the other sex.’

‘No-one? You’ve not slept with anyone here.’

‘No. I’m a very private person and so it takes a special someone to gain entrance to this room. Anyway, as you will soon see, I’ve made a few adjustments to improve things.’

He picks up a remote and the main lights in the room go down, and mood lighting comes on. The sounds of Marvin Gaye’s
Let’s Get it On
, come huskily through speakers in the ceiling. Gabe pulls me towards him, moving us in time to the music and starts singing in my ear. If it were anyone else I’d have found it naff, but Gabe can sing and his husky voice accompanying Marvin’s, sings straight to my loins.

We dance and smooch all the way through the song and then Gabe flicks the remote onto the next track.

He nibbles my ear, ‘R is for -’

Blondies
Rapture
explodes from the system. I got into these eighties sounds a couple of years ago and I adore this song. We start off again smooching and then start dancing through the Rap part. If anything this part is even more intimate as we let go of our inhibitions on a more non-sexual level, throwing mad dance moves around.

Then the song switches to ELO’s
Sweet Talkin’ Woman
and things get intense.

Gabe nibbles my ear and whispers, ‘Stella, this song makes me think of you. We’re hurtling along at one hundred miles an hour and I want to see where this goes, if you do. But we have all the time in the world, so we can have date nights and lots and lots of energetic sex.’

He looks me in the eye with determined steely greys.

‘Stella Mulroney, I’m falling in love with you.’

A tear runs down my face.

‘Oh please don’t cry. I’ve fucked up haven’t I, gone too fast? Forget I said anything. I’ll turn the music off.’

He moves towards the stereo. I stop him with my arm.

Tears now run unbidden down my face and I find it hard to form the words,‘Gabe, no-one’s told me they love me in over eighteen years.’

He folds me into his arms and whispers, ‘Then there’s some stupid bastards around. You deserve so much more.’

I look at this complex man and my head reels as I realise I’m completely lost, I can’t hold myself back any longer, my guard is down and it’s like the chains that bind me have fallen away. He just moves me, I’m lost in him. Nervously I whisper. ‘I l-love you too.’

His hand comes up to stroke my cheek and his face bends to mine, giving me the sweetest but hottest of kisses.

Our lovemaking is indeed rapturous. Gabe peels off my clothes slowly. The music he chooses forms a backdrop against our movements. As he removes each part he kisses, licks and strokes every part of me. I can’t stop myself from touching him, his thighs are rock hard from the exercise he does. It turns me on. His ass clenches as I run my hands down it, Good Lord alive, I hope I never take this ass for granted. He keeps breaking off to kiss me, his tongue forcing it’s way inside my mouth. It’s bliss, I feel I could come from his tongue fucking my mouth alone.

He parts my legs and disappears, teasing me with all the things we’ve done before, the Niffkin’s bridge and laving my clit with his tongue, but it’s as if our admission of love has made him even more confident. As if I’m now his, he eats me up like a five star buffet until the first inklings of my own rapture begin and I explode into his mouth. He moves again, down to my feet and kisses the underneath of them, moving back up slowly, feathering kisses all over my inner thighs, then up onto my stomach, further up taking a nipple into his warm mouth. It’s uncomfortable but I daren’t tell him. I writhe beneath him and reach for him, my hand stroking his own arousal. This distracts him and he lets my breast go and enjoys my ministrations. He reaches for the condom that’s possibly not required. I push the thoughts to the back of my mind; it’s not difficult as right now I’m in heaven. My previous orgasm released all the pent up angst in me and I am so ready to be made love to. Tonight I’m not being fucked, we’re making love.

Gabe slowly enters me and that’s how he continues, slow movements, gentle at first, teasing me by pulling almost all the way out before sliding back in to fill me. It’s the most delicious torment. I grab his backside and try and push him into me, but he’s too strong.