Leaving His Mark Read online

  “I suggest you move your arse and put them on before I make you.” Her pupils get large and a little gasp leaves her mouth. Shit, why am I doing this? I have enough trouble staying away from her without purposely testing the limits. I move quickly, to the other side of the table to put an obstacle in my way, hoping that will stop me from pushing her up against the wall and tasting her. Her cheeks flush and she looks at the floor. My eyes are drawn to her chest, it’s moving up and down in quick succession, which is highlighting her more than ample breasts. For having such a delicate build Rhys has more than her fair share in the chest department. I don’t know if they just look larger on her because her waist is so tiny but I would love to find out if they fill my hands.

  See it’s these kinds of thoughts that are going to get me in to trouble. I need to start putting distance between us. Friends and nothing more. No more thinking about how she would taste, how her skin would feel if I was to touch her, lick her. I close my eyes and take a deep breath trying to calm the hormones rushing through me.

  “We will leave in thirty. Does that give you enough time to get dressed?” I open my eyes and look at her, trying to hide everything I'm feeling. She nods her head and leaves the kitchen. Yeah, having her here is going to test every limit that I think I have, and probably a few I don’t know about.

  I close the bedroom door behind me and lean against it. I don’t know if I'm going to survive living here with Gabe. Everything about him just seems to draw me to him. I don’t want to want him but I can’t seem to get my body to listen to my head. The logical part of me knows that he is wrong for me, there are so many reasons why I shouldn’t want him but none of those seem to matter when he’s close to me. He’s intimidating, powerful beyond anything I’ve seen before, and that in itself should send me running. With my history I don’t like men who are strong and overbearing, I prefer the gentle lover, the guy who is easily controlled and feels safe. Gabe is the most dangerous feeling man I have ever known, and I want nothing more than to see how rough he can be. Fuck, I need to get my body under control before I make a mistake. When he said in the kitchen that he would force me to get dressed, I was glad I was wearing knickers. My body lit up at his words and all I wanted him to do was to push me against the wall and show me exactly how forceful he could be. Even now the thought of it has my breathing coming in short pants and the muscles in my stomach cramping in anticipation. I close my eyes and try to think of something, anything that isn’t the hot guy in the next room that I want.

  I push away from the door and grab my hairbrush hoping to distract myself. I get my hair under some sort of control but it still looks a bit crazy. I make a mental note to add a new hairdryer and straighteners to my shopping list today. The thought of everything I'm going to have to buy stops my thoughts about Gabe and replaces them a new feeling. Dread flows through me as I think about how much it’s going to cost to replace everything. I don’t have home insurance so I’m going to have to pay for everything on my credit card and I hope I have enough on it to cover it all. The mental calculations make me want to cry and I start to work out what are the most important things I need to live. My furniture will just have to wait, I can live without somewhere to sit so I can buy clothes.

  I jump when there is a knock on my door.

  “Are you ready to go, Rhys?” I look at the time on my mobile and see that I have been sitting here for twenty minutes. Damn it.

  “Coming.” I grab the shorts off the bed and quickly put them on, slipping my feet into the sandals I managed to salvage last night. I manage one quick look in the mirror before moving to the door. The shorts don’t cover much and make me look naked under my basketball top. Thankfully I had had enough sense last night not to sleep in the top so at least I had one thing I could wear. I just wish I had something other than the shorts, maybe leggings or a pair of jeans. I sigh as I pull open the door, there’s nothing I can do about it now so there is no point in stressing over it. The sooner we get shopping the sooner I will have clothes I can wear. Gabe is standing leaning on the wall across from my room. He has his huge arms folded across his chest making the muscles bulge more than normal, testing the limits of the top he’s wearing. I actually feel saliva fill my mouth as I look at him. What the hell is wrong with me, I’ve never had this reaction to a man before? His clothes are simple, black shirt and black jeans but he makes it work, it looks as if the best designer in the world has dressed him and it makes me wonder what he would like in a suit.

  I act casually, smiling sweetly and trying not to show that I’m eye fucking him.

  “Ready?” Gabe just stands there looking at me and I try to work out the look on his face. He looks pissed off and I can’t work out why. Is it because I took so long? I start feeling awkward as we stand there in silence.

  “Gabe?” His eyes rise to mine quickly and it’s like he is finally seeing me. He blinks a few times before he finally smiles at me. He pushes off the wall and stands in front of me.

  “All set?” His smile isn’t convincing. I'm now worried about my earlier thought. I never even took into consideration that maybe he had better things to do today. This is probably not how he wants to spend his Sunday, he might have had plans, possibly a date and here he is having to deal with me and my problems. The thought of him having a date makes my stomach twist in an unpleasant way, I know he isn’t mine but I don’t like the idea of him being someone else’s either.

  “Is everything okay? If you have other plans I can go myself. You have already done so much, I don’t want you to feel you need to babysit me.” His eyes move to my legs before he quickly looks up at my face again. He has the fake smile still on his face but I can see something in his eyes. They look possessive as he looks at me but he blinks and the look disappears making me think I imagined it.

  “Everything’s fine. I’m doing this Rhys and there is nowhere else I need or want to be. Nowhere but with you.” I feel my face flush with his words. I hate the fact that I blush so easily, I’ve never been able to hide anything from people. Everything shows in my heated face. Embarrassment, attraction, anger, it’s all there in my face for the world to see. A real smile comes to Gabe’s face as he looks at my legs again.

  “And we really need to get you some clothes, this half naked look isn’t working for me. I don’t want to spend more time than necessary wanting to beat the arses of men who are ogling you.” His words are said as a joke, if Clay had spoken them I would have laughed at him but with Gabe speaking the words it’s different. My mind reads in between his words and hears what it wants to, it hears that I'm Gabe’s and he doesn’t want anyone else to look at me. Staying here might be harder than I thought.

  ****

  I throw my body back onto the bed and groan when pain continues to radiate through my feet. I thought men didn’t like to shop. But once again Gabe has proven that he is not like most guys as he dragged me into every shop in the shopping centre and then a few on the high street for good measure. Now I’m in pain and feel like I could sleep for at least four days.

  The day had started off badly when my credit card had been declined in the second shop. I must have used it more than I thought over the last few months. I was apologising to the shop assistant, telling her that I would put everything back on the shelves when Gabe had swooped in to save the day. He had pressed his body against me, his hard chest pushing against my back and muddling my thoughts. By the time I had composed myself enough to make a rational thought he had already paid for everything in the basket. I had started to protest but he just grabbed the bags and walked out the store leaving me standing there talking to myself. It was an effective way to win the argument. I’d protested but he simply stated I needed the things so I would have them. I threatened to go home if he tried to buy anything else. I had about a hundred pounds in my purse and I would use that for essentials and that’s it. We had the same argument in the next shop when he paid. He found that distraction is a great way to get his own way, and then found that the
best way to distract me was with his body. He didn’t play fair and each time we needed to pay he would touch me or whisper into my ear causing my mind to short circuit. I got wise by the third shop and walked out, I got as far as the kerb before I was thrown over his shoulder and taken to the next shop.

  This continued all day until he had decided that I had enough clothes and my feet were on fire. I think I called him every name I could think of. Control freak, alpha, caveman ... little did he know that all those names are highly accurate when it comes to describing him. They’re also the reason that I spent the entire day with wet knickers and on the edge of an orgasm. Trying to control my body has been exhausting and makes me realise how long it’s been since I last had sex. Maybe that’s the problem, maybe I need someone to show me some attention and then I wouldn’t want Gabe so badly.

  My nerves are still on edge with all the touching Gabe has done today, the feel of his skin against mine sent fireworks through my body every single time. Maybe if I get some relief then I can have a bath and relax the rest of the night. Gabe’s out somewhere with Clay and won’t be back for hours so it’s the perfect time. I close my eyes and picture Gabe in my head, the feel of his skin and the closeness of his mouth last night. I undo the button on the shorts and slip my hand into my knickers. I'm already wet so my fingers slip easily to my clit. I wanted Gabe to kiss me last night, to feel his tongue on mine as he explored my mouth. I want to know what he tastes like, does he taste like toothpaste or like those energy drinks he always drinks.

  I move my finger around my clit, not touching it directly but teasing it like I know Gabe would. Keeping my fingers moving lower, I slip one into my opening, rubbing along the walls as I push in further. My thumb rubs over my clit gently, trying to make this last but I know I won’t. Gabe has teased me all day without knowing it. His little touches, the whispered words in my ear, the looks I caught him giving me, they all made me hornier than I’ve ever been.

  I picture him between my legs, gently sucking on me as I run my hands through his hair, pulling him closer to my body. My back arches as I add pressure with my thumb, pressing down directly on the little bundles of nerves that hold my focus. I start to pant as I can feel the heat building in the centre of my body, the walls of my pussy clenching around my fingers as I pretend they’re Gabe’s. I imagine dirty words falling from his mouth, him telling me how he needs me, that he will never have enough of me, that he wants to bury himself in me and never leave. With a final thought of Gabe’s eyes staring into mine as he fills me, my muscles tense as my orgasm flows through my body. Wetness floods my hand and I moan loudly into the quiet room while colours flow over my vision.

  My fingers fall from my body as I melt into the mattress, all the energy leaving me. Holy hell, that was the most intense orgasm I’ve ever experienced. My body is still shuddering with aftershocks as I try to control my breathing. I smile as I try to bring the world back into focus and I know I need to have another one of those. I push myself up to sitting on the bed. Yeah, I’m going to have a bath and maybe daydream a little more. Who knew Gabe would give me earth-shattering orgasms without even being there. With a giggle I make my way to the bathroom to run a bath.

  Chapter Nine

  I stand in the middle of Rhys’s living room not sure where to start. I think it actually looks worse today without the police in it, you can see the full extent of the destruction. I’d hoped that it wouldn’t be as bad as I remembered, that my imagination made me think things were worse than they were, that when I got here it would only take an hour and everything would be back to normal. That plan unfortunately wasn’t going to happen.

  “Holy fuck, Gabe. What the hell happened in here?” Clay is looking around with a look of shock on his face. I don’t blame him, this is my second time seeing it and I'm still in shock.

  “Someone’s very angry and I wish I knew who. I don’t want her coming back here. Even once we’ve cleaned everything up I want her to move out, find something in a safer area, maybe closer to the shop.” I turn and look at Clay, he's too quiet for my liking. I see him standing with his arms crossed over his chest and his eyebrows reaching his hairline.

  “What?” I have to ask, I know I won’t like the answer but if I don’t ask he will stand there looking at me like that all night.

  “I'm just wondering if your gonna ask your girlfriend to move in with you?” I roll my eyes at him and walk away. I'm not getting into this again. Just because I want Rhys safe doesn’t mean that I want her or that she’s anything to me other than a friend. I start picking up the broken kitchen furniture and making a pile by the door.

  “You can try and pretend that you don’t have feelings for her but you’re not fooling me. I can see it when you look at her, from the day she started at the shop you started smiling more.” I remember her first day, she was like a breath of fresh air in the place. The guys started acting better, the swearing nearly stopped completely and they were all so helpful to her, well everyone except Paul but he’s a dick so he doesn’t count. I actually thought Rory was going to ask her out and I had to tell him the rule about dating a co-worker. I felt bad laying down the law, especially since there wasn’t a rule to say he couldn’t ask her but for some reason I didn’t want him to. He is such a great guy and I know she would totally fall for him, and that thought, even from the beginning, made me feel strange.

  “I don’t have feelings for her, I just want her safe. She’s my friend, nothing more, nothing less. You need to just drop this subject, it’s just gonna piss me off.” I throw a broken chair leg into the pile with a bit more force than necessary and it draws laughter from Clay. I want to grab the chair leg again and beat him in the head with it, just a little until he stops laughing.

  “Fuck you, Clay. Just because you have it in your head that I like her, doesn’t make it that way. I told you before. She. Is. Just. A. Friend.” I don’t know why I'm getting so irate. I think it’s because he thinks he knows everything and knows me so well. In this case he does but that doesn’t mean I have to admit to him that I’m feeling something for her. I wish I didn’t, my feelings just complicate everything and make things harder than they need to be.

  “Don’t take your bad mood out on me. You want to lie to yourself then fine, you fucking do that, but don’t give me shit.” He’s right. I’m angry at the situation, not at him. I kick out at the table, knocking it over. It feels good and I need to feel more. I keep kicking the table, destroying the one remaining leg out of sheer anger. When I'm done I have sweat dripping down my back and I’m gasping for air.

  “Feel any better?” I bend over, leaning my hands on my knees as I take deep breaths. I do feel better, the frustration that was clouding my mind a minute ago is now gone.

  “Yeah, I do. Sorry for being a dick.” Clay walks back into the living room and grabs the black rubbish bags we brought with us. He pulls one out, opens it and starts picking up stuff off of the floor.

  “Don’t worry about it, dude. I'm used to you being a dick so it doesn’t faze me. Let’s just get this place cleaned up as much as we can and then decisions can be made. And for what it’s worth, I totally agree with you about her coming back here. It’s not happening.” I smile as I watch Clay working. He likes to make people think he’s a hard man, with the hair cut and his body size, but he really is a gentle giant.

  “Keep looking at me like that and I’ll have to make love to you. You can’t look at a man like that and expect him not to want you.” I know he’s joking but those words coming from Clay’s mouth scare me. I wouldn’t put it past him so I get myself moving, this place won’t clean itself.

  I sit on the edge of my bed and rub my wet hair with a towel. My body feels relaxed after my bath. Gabe has the best bathroom I’ve ever seen with a huge freestanding bath in the middle of the room. I swear my whole apartment could fit into that one room. When I first walked in I was shocked at the size of it. The house is comfortable but I wouldn’t say that it’s huge and the bathroom se
emed out of proportion to the rest of the house. Not that I was complaining when I was covered with bubbles up to my neck and listening to music from the speakers in the ceiling. I was tempted to use the huge walk in shower that he has fitted but it felt like a bath night.

  Grabbing my brush I drop my towel and stand in front of the mirror, brushing my long hair. I lean forward and check the roots on the coloured sections, noting that I really need to colour it again soon. I look over to the bag from Boots that holds the hair dye. Fuck it, there’s no time like the present. Gabe told me not to expect him before midnight so I have tons of time. I grab my hairdryer and start blasting my hair. I should have done this before my bath but my mind wasn’t exactly functional. I bend over at the waist and continue drying my hair until it’s completely dry. I run the brush through it again and I freeze. Goosebumps appear all over my body and I feel the tiny hairs stand up on end. I have this horrifying feeling that someone is watching me. I look around the room trying to find the source of the horrible feelings but there is nothing. The door is closed and even though the curtains are open, the bedroom window faces the back garden. I shake off the feeling that there are eyes somewhere and walk to the drawers that Gabe cleared out for me and remove a pair of boy shorts and a vest, maybe if I wasn’t standing here naked in Gabe’s house I wouldn’t feel like this.

  I get dressed, grabbing my kindle and the hair dye from the bag before heading back to the bathroom. At home I would do it in my bedroom but I'm so scared of dropping some on the floor and ruining Gabe’s carpet. I apply the dye to the sections I want and relax back against the edge of the bath. I turn on my new kindle and start setting it up. I felt like crying when I saw my original one on my bedroom floor with the cracked screen, I know compared to everything else it was a minor thing but my kindle is like my best friend. Reading was the only thing I could count on when I was at school, it let me escape the pain of my own life and live the dreams of others. I didn’t know when I would be able to replace it, as much as I love reading there are more important things I had to buy first.