“My place is only a couple minutes from here,” I said, half sitting on his lap as I kissed him.
It had been way too long since I’d kissed him, touched him.
I could feel the rising heat in his body, but he eased me over to the side and gave me a pained look, nodding toward Paul on the other side of the privacy glass. “We can be at my house in just over thirty minutes. Not much traffic in the city once we’re through this crush.”
“But…” I trailed my fingers over his cheek. “Kendra went home with Jordan. We’d have the place to ourselves.”
He caught my hand and pressed a kiss to my knuckles. “It’s a studio. What if she ends up back there at three in the morning because things don’t work out? That’s not much of a place for any kind of privacy.” He was still holding my hand and now, he looked at me over it, his gaze pinning me in place as he sank his teeth into the fleshy part of my palm.
It sent a shiver through me.
His voice was low as he spoke, a rough edge to his words. “The things I want to do to you demand complete privacy, Gabriella. I plan to make you cry out my name long and loud, and I don’t want to risk your roommate coming home or having to worry about nosy neighbors listening in.”
He tucked me under his arm and hit the intercom button. “Home, Paul.”
I sank against him, sighing.
I guess I could see why neighbors overhearing us would get to him. I’d been kinda thrown the first time I'd heard the bed-frame from the apartment above rattling. But Kendra wasn’t likely to stumble in at three in the morning. Not when she was with Jordan.
It wasn’t a big deal though.
Not really.
I reached for his head and his voice, low and rough, said again, “Keep hold of the headboard, Gabriella.”
Swearing, I closed my hands around the carved wood and tried to lift my hips, needing more. More friction. More of him. But, he licked me slowly, his tongue circling around and around my clit.
He’d kept me hovering on the edge of orgasm for so long, I thought I’d go insane. Now I was sure of it.
“Please,” I moaned, desperate.
And this time, he answered, bringing his hand around and pushing two fingers inside me, curling them at just the right moment.
I came hard and fast, calling out his name. I felt like I was on fire, as if the climax was burning through me and would leave me nothing but ash. But it was worth it.
I was still shuddering when he flipped me over onto my belly and lifted me onto my knees. He shoved into me with one long, slow push and by the time he was done stretching me, I was keening and ready to come all over again. I could barely breathe with the intensity of my need.
“More.” I rolled my hips back against him and sighed out his name. “More, Edward, please.”
And he gave it to me. Slow, deep lazy strokes that brought me to a slow, lazy orgasm. If the first had been fire, this was a slow smolder, like liquid coating my skin, filling me until my climax washed over me.
He waited until I came before he started to thrust deeper, harder, faster. Each stroke was more than the one before, reaching far into me, joining us so intimately that I couldn't distinguish his body from mine. I felt him come, his cock jerking inside me, the hot spill of it adding to the sensations coursing through me and nearly making me come again. When he pulled out, a shudder did go through me, a mini-orgasm that made me whimper.
He chuckled, that manly sort of laugh that said he knew he'd done a good job. He pulled me back against him and wrapped his arms around me as our hearts slowed and our blood cooled.
“I’ve missed you this week,” Edward murmured against my temple. “I love you.”
“Hmmm…” I knew there was something I should say in return, but I was already drifting to sleep.
Six
“A party?” Terror seized my heart as I sat next to Edward. We were at our favorite restaurant and my belly was full of lovely wine, naan and curry, but now I thought I just might lose it all on Edward’s lovely suit. Fear did terrible things to me and I was actually petrified. “Um, I’m sorry. Did you say a party? At your mother’s home?”
“It’s a family affair.” He smiled at me and brushed my hair back behind my ear. “Cody will be there. Flynn too, but you two didn't seem to get along too well last time. Don't worry about it though. Flynn's not easy to get along with.”
I grabbed my water and guzzled it as much to give myself time to think. “I don’t know...”
“Gabriella.” Edward took the water from my clutching hands, gently prying it away. “You’re going to be my wife. There are certain functions I have to attend, duties I need to...I want you to be there with me. Please say you’ll do this for me.”
How could I say no? Those beautiful blue eyes watched me so steadily. And he gave me so much. The least I could do would be this.
“Okay.” I nodded.
He leaned over and kissed me. I tasted the spice from the food we’d eaten on his kiss, and some of the nerves untangled. I could do this, right? It was a party, not something scary. He’d be there with me. Cody would be there too. I refused to think about Flynn, because really, that wasn’t going to help.
We spent the rest of the evening feeding each other dessert and sipping wine and I was able to relax, forget about the party. It was a week away. I could procrastinate with the best of them. Why worry about something so far in the future when it wouldn't do me any good?
But after we’d settled into the car, Edward handed me something that made my worries about the party surface.
I looked at it, confused. Right up until I saw the credit card with his name...and mine on it. “What’s…?” I swallowed. “What’s this?”
“You’ll need a dress,” he said softly. “For the party. Since you’re attending as a favor to me, it’s only right that I pay for the dress. Please don’t say no.”
I tightened my grip on the card. I wanted to give it back. I had some money in my account thanks to the two modeling jobs, but I still had to buy a wedding dress and the ones I’d been looking at, the ones that would hold up for a society wedding were going to cost a lot. I couldn't expect my family to pay for much of anything for the wedding. I was the middle of six kids from a lower middle-class family. I needed to save every penny I could and buying a dress suitable for a Bouvier party would definitely cut into the little I had. I thought of the looks I’d been given at the country club and I knew nothing I could find in my closet would cut it.
“Okay.” I nodded. My pride wasn’t going to get in the way of doing something for the man I loved. I smiled at him. “Okay.”
“Thanks for coming,” I told Cody as he breezed inside the apartment. He stopped and looked around before turning back to me. “Kendra has a shoot and Edward…well…”
“Big brother is busy running the fashion industry.” Cody gave me that charming, boyish grin and shrugged. “It’s not a problem. Trust me, I know exactly what kind of threads you need for the party with the sharks next weekend.”
“Sharks.” I swallowed. “Lovely.”
It had been three days since I’d committed to going. It was now Sunday and I’d put off shopping until the weekend because I’d thought Edward could go with me to help pick something appropriate. My plans were dashed when, on Friday, he’d announced he had to go to London for some sort of meeting.
I'd understood, of course, but I couldn’t do this alone. Now, thanks to my charming soon to be brother, I didn’t have to.
“This place is fantastic,” Cody said, moving over to the window seat and leaning forward to look out. “I love it.”
“Really?” I laughed sourly. “Your brother doesn’t think so.” Immediately, I regretted the bitter tone. I was just pissy because I missed Edward. He'd never said a bad word about my place. Not really. Then again, he hadn't exactly seen it either.
He snorted. “If it doesn’t come with maid service, linen service and turn down service, Edward isn’t going to think much of it. He
’s not as rigid as Mom, but he’s still got a bit of a stick up his ass.”
“He does not!” I glared at him.
“Oh?” Cody straightened and looked at me, a dare in his eyes. Arms folded across his chest, he asked, “So when was the last time you two spent a night here? Ordered in take out from the local Chinese place…?”
When I had no response, he smiled. “He’s not a bad guy, Gabs. Don't get me wrong. I love my brother. But he’s spent so much time being groomed, and then grooming himself for Bouvier, he never saw the world outside what Mom created for us. Flynn and me?” He shrugged and his voice softened. “Sometimes I think Mom wished she’d had another little Edward instead of me.”
“That’s not true,” I contradicted him automatically.
“Yeah, it is,” he said it with no malice and no bitterness. “She loves me, I know that, but I’m a queer in a rich, fairly conservative family, Gabs. It's PC to say that you're all for equal rights, but it something else to have someone like me as part of the family. But, Mom didn’t throw me out when I told her and she hasn’t tried to change me. She's even been fairly decent to the few guys I'd brought home for the family to meet. For her, that’s fairly impressive. But I know I’m a disappointment.”
Uncertain of what else to do, I went to him and hugged him. I wasn't even close to petite, but Cody made me feel tiny, even when I was the one offering him comfort. “I’m sorry.”
He squeezed me back. “You can’t pick family. Blood anyway. Sometimes, though, we get lucky with the ones we can choose.” Then he kissed my temple. “I’ll tell ya what, Gabs. If I could've been the one choosing, I don’t think I could have picked any better than you.”
This so-called family event that Edward had invited me to wasn’t just some backyard barbecue. Granted, I hadn’t expected it to be, but I’d thought maybe it was a small family gathering.
Cody let me know just how wrong I was and I was even more grateful I'd thought to ask him to help me.
It was an annual event and there were usually anywhere from four to five hundred in attendance. Just hearing the numbers made my head swim. And, of course, because the Bouvier family was one of the biggest names in the fashion industry, their family was held to the highest of standards. Since Cody had been to more than one of these before, I put myself in his capable hands. His capable hands led me, via the subway system, to Saks.
I was just dressed in what I had come to accept was ‘my’ style: country girl meets city chic and while I thought I looked pretty damn good, I doubted it was up to Bloomingdales—or Bouvier—standards. Since I couldn’t change that, I decided not to worry about it. I’d fake it. Fake it until I make it.
I’d been doing a lot of that since I’d come to New York and so far, it hadn’t failed me yet. With Edward's— no, I corrected myself—my credit card inside the one good purse I had, a second-hand Coach purse I’d found on eBay, I let Cody draw me inside the magical and intimidating sphere that was Saks.
The beautiful people were everywhere. People in elegant fashions, designer labels, the kind Kendra was starting to get called in to model. The kind I couldn’t even hope to afford. I was certain people would look at me and see me for what I was. A backwoods Tennessee nobody who didn't belong.
Cody must have sensed something was off because he hooked his arm through mine and started pointing funny things out, but he didn't say a word about it.
“That's one of the fashion lines my mother helped launch. Hideous, isn't it? Flatters nobody and makes everybody look like that one weird girl from The Breakfast Club.”
“I liked the weird girl,” I told him, trying to let go of the tension building in my neck.
“So did I. Convinced myself I had a crush on her for a while. Then I accepted the fact that the only guy on there that interested me remotely was Judd Nelson.” Cody grinned down at me. “The age difference though? A bit of a problem. And he’s not that hot now.” He switched easily from one topic to another. “See over there? Today’s hottest fashion, recycled straight from the seventies. Of course, the designer was bragging all over about how he had this hot new trend that had never been seen before.”
The skinny-fitting jeans with flared legs were done in eye-searing patterns. The only thing ‘new’ about them were that the psychedelic prints might actually glow in the dark. Had that technology existed in the seventies? I wasn’t sure.
“Next it will be beehives and poodle skirts.” Cody shuddered.
“Vintage is coming back,” I told him.
“Hush.” He shoulder-bumped me. “You're ruining my vibe.”
I would have said something else, but he dipped his head and shushed me. Then, before I could process what he was thinking, he unhooked his arm from my neck and hooked our elbows instead. In the next five seconds, I watched Cody Bouvier do a total personality change.
He stopped walking and began to sashay.
He went from talking to me, to chattering at me like a magpie, gushing at shoes and purses. It was almost like being trapped in the clearance sales with Kendra. If she’d been hopped up on speed.
“Oh, my goodness, would you just look at those shoes…and just think, Gabby!” He held them up and gave me a sidelong smirk. “That purse. The one you had when we were out dancing the other day. These shoes would look perfect with that purse. You should totally buy them. Edward would love to see you buying a few more pieces…”
I gaped at him, unable to believe what I was seeing and hearing. “Are you—?”
My question was interrupted by a high squeal.
Really, the girl squealed.
I stared as she threw herself between us and wrapped her arms around Cody. He returned the enthusiastic greeting by hugging her back and then breaking away to grab the woman’s face and plant a lavish kiss on her mouth then each cheek. That part of him wasn't an act.
“Sweetheart!” He beamed at her. “I had no idea you’d be here today, but aren’t you just the answer to this man’s prayers.”
“Cody!” The woman all but bounced as she hugged him again.
Then, as Cody glanced at me, she turned her head and I found myself staring into a pair of purple eyes.
The contacts—they had to be—made her huge eyes that much more engaging and she flashed a wide smile on her pretty face. “Hello! How are you?”
Before I had the chance to answer, Cody hugged me up against him with his free arm. “Dawn, we so need your help. This is Gabby. Gabby is marrying my older brother, Edward, you know the one…”
While he droned on, I find myself squirming, miserably uncomfortable as the saleswoman held out a hand. I hadn't even thought about what it would be like to be recognized as a Bouvier in public.
“Congratulations!” Another squeal.
“Thanks.” I brushed my hair back in a nervous gesture and then my left hand was caught in hers while she studied my ring.
“Wow, that’s some ring,” she murmured. Then she turned to Cody, suddenly all business. “You said you need my help. What’s up, beautiful man?”
Fifteen minutes later, I was walking back towards the changing room. When I turned to close the door, however, I found that I wasn't alone.
“What’s the deal?” I hissed as Cody squeezed into the changing room behind me. I glared at him. “Oh, you are not staying in here.”
“You’re going to need help fastening some of them up.” He rolled his eyes. “Besides, I've already had my hands all over you and it didn't do a thing for me. Sorry, sweetheart. Still gay.”
He was also still acting.
“Yeah, I got that. And judging by the way you were behaving out there, you're suddenly my sassy gay friend. The accessory every girl needs this season.” I frowned at him. “Why are you acting like a damn caricature or a…a…” I fumbled for the best way to say this without sounding terrible.
Cody finished it for me, his brows arched, face calm. “Stereotype?”
“Well…” Blowing out a breath, I shrugged. “Yeah.”
“Because that’s the mask Dawn expects to see.” He shrugged and leaned up against the wall. “You say gay and you say model, and a whole lot of people are going to expect the sassy gay friend type.” He shrugged. “Maybe it’s not who I am, but if it gets me what I need, I'll play the part.”
Then he shouldered off the wall and looked down at me. He and Flynn may have only been half-brothers, but there was more of Flynn in that look than Edward. I felt like Cody's eyes could see straight through me.
“The act also helped me avoid the result I didn’t want. You’re scared to death, Gabs. If she’s focusing on me, then she’s less likely to focus on you. People who know me already know I’m gay and if they're focusing on me, then maybe you’ll slide under their radar.”
“I…” I swallowed, shame twisting inside me at the thought of him having to pretend on my account. “I don’t want you having to wear a mask for me. I can take care of myself.”
Cody’s face softened and he reached up, pushing his walnut-brown hair back from his face. “I know you can. But everybody wears masks, Gabs. It’s not like I’m not doing anything I don’t do half my life.”
I started to contradict him, but he arched an eyebrow and the words died in my throat.
He turned to the dresses the attendants had rounded up for us. He selected a couple, seemingly at random. “You wear a mask too, you know,” he spoke while his back was to me. “You speak your mind around me, around Flynn…but around Edward, you hesitate. I bet you wouldn’t have up and fired off what you said to me the first day we met. And I know you wouldn't have flipped him off like Flynn says you did to him.”
He turned and handed me a dress of pale, soft blue.
He was right. I wasn't as open with Edward as I was with his brothers. Cody made me feel comfortable. Flynn...well he just pissed me off and I lost what little filter I had. I didn't say anything about that though. I couldn't admit it, not even to him. So I said the only thing I could think of.