Tied To You (4 page)

He muttered something, and I wasn’t entirely sure what it was, but I thought I heard some curse words in there. Perhaps he was cursing his own lack of control, but I reveled in it when he finally surged completely inside me. I was surprised to find very little pain. It was more of a pinching sensation that soon disappeared as he thrust in and out.

He started slowly, but it wasn’t long before both of us were moving rapidly, driven by an uncontrollable need as we thrust against each other, his hands holding my hips in a punishing grasp as I dug my fingernails into his back. I wasn’t trying to hurt him, but I needed to hold on to something, or the pure bliss would sweep me away.

It could have been minutes or hours that we moved together, before his cock hardened and started to twitch, the first spurt of his release shooting inside me. That triggered another climax, and I tightened around him, my thighs holding him close and my heart racing in my ears. As I came down from the orgasm, I pressed tiny kisses to his face before taking his mouth in another deep kiss as he emptied the last of his seed into me.

Afterward, he collapsed beside me, his arm a reassuring weight across my stomach as he drew me nearer. He pressed a kiss to my brow and held me without speaking.

I didn’t speak either, uncertain what to say. A jumble of words flashed through my mind, but none of them were compelling enough to reach my lips. The silence was peaceful, the aftermath golden, and I had no desire to shatter it by speaking or moving.

Finally, he shifted our position enough so that our gazes locked. “Thank you, Gabriella.”

I arched a brow. “For what?”

“For giving me a gift I didn’t deserve, and for not throwing me in prison like I truly merit. You’re a kind and beautiful woman, and you didn’t warrant this evening.”

I stretched like a cat, snuggling closer despite his passive resistance. “I happen to think I deserved tonight. My first time was way better than I thought it would be, and I’m curious to see how my second time will be.”

I observed him through the slits of my mostly-closed eyelids, waiting to see his reaction to my invitation. I wasn’t lying. I wanted to do this again, many, many times, and not just to piss off Wayne. I couldn’t give a shit about my stepfather, especially at the moment. If he saw the video, I didn’t care. I preferred he didn’t, but for me, this wasn’t about revenge or lashing out at Wayne. It was simply about giving in to the desire I felt for Mickey, whose last name I didn’t even know. Hell, I might not even know his first name. With what he’d originally planned, he probably hadn’t given me his real name. I made a note to get it sometime this evening.

After a hesitation, he kissed me on the lips. “Why don’t you have a shower while I see what I can whip up for round-two?”

I couldn’t argue with that, and I rolled out of the bed, feeling slightly dizzy for a moment. “Whoa, that drink was stronger than I thought.”

He shook his head, his gaze reflecting remorse once more. “That’s my fault too. I put a sleeping pill in your drink to make sure you would be out of it while I got you ready. I’m sorry.”

I glared at him, feeling the most violated I had for the entire night, which was probably a silly reaction. “I don’t like putting that kind of stuff in my body. I don’t take unnecessary medications, and that really upsets me, Mickey.”

He nodded. “If you’ve changed your mind, I’ll still take it to the police station. I’ll even tell them I raped you, because in a way I did. You were clearly under the influence of Ambien.”

I couldn’t help a small laugh. “I don’t think I was under the influence of anything except your proximity. I meant it when I said I don’t want you to go to jail, but I’m going to ask if you make a habit of the sort of thing?” I couldn’t imagine it, and he certainly didn’t seem like the creepy rapist-type, who slipped roofies in girls’ drinks, but I was a little uncertain about my character judgments tonight.

His lips compressed, and he shook his head. “I’ve never done anything horrible like this before, and I certainly never will again. I never would have even considered the idea of hurting you or anyone if you hadn’t been Wayne’s stepdaughter. That doesn’t excuse it, but I promise you I don’t do this sort of thing. Every other woman I’ve ever been with has been sober and able to consent. Sex has always been completely consensual before you.” He looked miserable and perhaps disgusted with himself.

I nodded, satisfied. “Just for the record, other than a few minutes tonight, this was consensual too. Okay?”

He nodded, his expression lightening. “Okay. I’m so sorry for how it started, but I can’t regret how it ended.”

I smiled at him, nodding. “Funnily enough, I feel the same way. Of course, it’s not over yet.”

He gave me a sad smile, but he nodded. “No, not yet.”

Reluctantly, I tore myself from him and entered the bathroom to take a shower. I rushed through it, his expression of sadness haunting me. When I emerged from the bathroom fifteen minutes later, wrapped in a terrycloth robe, I wasn’t surprised to find him gone. There was no trace he’d ever been in the suite, and he hadn’t left any contact information. I didn’t even have his last name, and perhaps not even his first name.

He did leave behind the camera, and I only had to rewind a couple of minutes of footage to know he had left the video as well. He’d left it up to me to decide how to proceed. My first impulse was to remove the video and step on it to destroy it.

However, I hesitated with it in my hand. I shivered with delight at imagining Wayne’s expression when he saw me fucking Mickey. With some careful editing, I could remove all reference to his sister, thus preventing Wayne from realizing there had been a motive beyond desire leading to our sex tonight. I sat on the bed with the camera, going through the footage and leaving in the best parts, including the part about it killing my stepfather to know that a black man was taking my virginity.

By the time I was done, it was a twenty-minute video that was surprisingly discreet, but clear about what had gone on, and it was basically a big old “fuck you” to Wayne. It was a way to completely reject his ideals and his lifestyle. I had already planned to walk away from the Chastains anyway, now that I had my degree and had some money saved for a couple of months of living expenses. Leaving was no sacrifice, but rather than disappearing quietly, I’d be able to go out with a bang.

I giggled with delight as I searched through the writing desk the hotel provided, pleased to find envelopes and stationary, along with a couple of ink pens. I wrote him a brief, succinct note that simply said “To Wayne, From Gabriella. Enjoy.” I wanted to write more, to tell him what a dick he was, along with enumerating all the awful actions of his children over the years, but I reined in the impulse. It would be satisfactory, but it wouldn’t change anything. It could also keep him from watching the video, and I definitely wanted him to see that.

Assuming the hotel room was mine for the rest of the night, I went ahead and got in bed. I was tired from all the traveling I’d done, followed by the dancing, the sleeping pill, and the sex. Still, his scent haunted me and made it difficult to sleep for a little while. It was only when I cuddled up with the pillow Mickey had used that I was able to drift off to a deep sleep.

It had been three months since I had seen her, and I’d never expected to see her again. It was a shock when I walked into work that morning and saw curvy Gabriella sitting behind the reception desk of the law firm where I worked. I was a junior partner, so I wouldn’t have had anything to do with hiring her, but I can’t say I would have let her work there if I had known.

I wasn’t proud of the response, but that was my first impulse. My second was to turn and flee before she could see me, and my third was to man up and walk across the lobby to face her as she deserved. She wasn’t the one who’d behaved deplorably. No, that was me. I cleared my throat, struggling to hide my nerves as I faced her. “Hello, Gabriella.”

She jerked in surprise before her gaze moved from her computer to me. The flash of pleasure in her expression made my heart stutter, but when it faded to coolness, disappointment surged inside me. I couldn’t blame her for the reaction, but I really wished it had been strictly the first one, her instinctive reaction, that she had stuck with.

She had been happy to see me, at least for a moment. I wanted to see that expression on her face all the time. I’d spent the last three months fantasizing and thinking about her in various ways, trying to find a way to get her into my life, but ultimately always reaching the conclusion that I couldn’t. It wouldn’t be fair to her, and I didn’t deserve her.

I had been such a bastard, planning to use and hurt her, and I didn’t deserve the reward of living happily ever after with my curvy black-haired beauty. She wasn’t mine, so I had tried to content myself with fantasies. I’d kept away from her, albeit with difficulty, and she hadn’t known how to trace me, so it had seemed like I would never see her again.

“When did you start working at Bristol, Williams & Watts?” Watts was the latest edition to the firm’s name, representing my mother, who was one of the three senior partners. She was the first African-American woman to hold the position, and she had proven herself a thousand times over to the white boys who ran the firm. I had high expectations to meet, and I’d always done my best to live up to the belief that I would be as good as my mother.

Instead, I had ended up an almost-rapist, so blinded by the need for revenge that I’d nearly hurt the woman across from me. Hell, I had hurt her. It had ended up in a blissful haze of sex that I still wasn’t entirely sure how had come about, but it had started in an ugly fashion, and I had deserved whatever she’d wanted to do to me. I certainly hadn’t deserved the gift of her virginity or her luscious body under mine.

Her expression was still frosty, but her tone wasn’t as cold as I expected or deserved. “This is my second day. I didn’t know you worked here, Mickey.”

“Mykael.” I gave her the name reluctantly. “Mykael Tyson Watts, junior partner. My mother is Nila Watts.”

Her eyes widened slightly, and I knew she must have either met or heard of my mother already. Mother was a legend in the firm, and even by her second day, it wasn’t out of the bounds of reality that she would have heard about the formidable woman on the top floor.

“Oh,” she said softly, looking away from me.

The way she drew her lower lip between her teeth to bite down as she considered something made my cock ache and my heart hurt. She seemed so uncertain, as though hurting and in desperate need of something that I didn’t know how to give. I would have done anything for her that I could, because I owed her that and because I wanted to do it, but I didn’t know what she needed. I was also too much of a coward to ask. “How have you been?” I asked in a husky voice.

Her eyes widened slightly, and she suddenly looked down. I couldn’t see what she did behind the desk, but whatever it was made her body language change. There was fear and uncertainty clinging to her. “Could we have lunch together please, Mickey…Mykael?”

I wanted to refuse, to discourage any further attachment between us, because I knew she deserved better. I couldn’t though, not in the face of her asking, her pleading eyes, and my own need to spend more time with her. “I’d like that. Why don’t you come up to my office, and we’ll eat there?”

I guessed she wanted to talk to me, and my office would offer privacy. Privacy for all kinds of things besides talking, and I couldn’t suppress a surge of arousal at the idea that just maybe, our lunch meeting would end with no clothes. I didn’t deserve her, but if she was selfless enough to offer herself to me, I didn’t have enough strength to turn her away.

***

I knocked softly on his door promptly at twelve-oh-one. I would have been right on time, but there had been a rush at the elevators, and I’d had to wait for the second round up. I was so nervous, and my stomach surged with nausea, but that was an everyday occurrence for me these days. I didn’t know how much was nerves, and how much was something else.

A second later, he opened the door himself rather than just calling me in, and I slipped through the doorway, reassured when it closed behind me with a click. I was a little nervous when I heard the lock engage, but I didn’t know why. He certainly wasn’t going to hurt me, though I didn’t know how he would greet my news.

I followed him across the office, admiring the size. This was just the junior partner suite, so I could only imagine how fancy the top floor offices were. I hadn’t been up there yet, and I had no reason to go as the lowly receptionist, so I would have to content myself with imagining. Not that I’d bothered to do so. I truly didn’t give a damn what the senior partners’ offices looked like.

Chinese food waited for us on a low table near a couch, clearly set up to be a nonthreatening and welcoming place for business discussions or client meetings. I took one look at the food, and bile surged up my throat. I clamped a hand over my mouth. He seemed to realize I was about to throw up, because he steered me directly toward a small lavatory in the corner of his office. It was basic, just a sink and toilet, but it was just what I needed at the moment. I dropped to my knees and assumed the familiar position as I emptied the contents of my stomach. I hated throwing up, though I should be used to it by now.

When I was done, I leaned back, feeling shaky, and was reassured by the solid presence of him kneeling behind me to keep me upright. A wet paper towel touched my forehead and my cheeks before he tenderly wiped my mouth and threw it away in the wicker wastebasket.

He didn’t wait for me to get to my feet. Instead, Mykael lifted me into his arms and carried me out of the lavatory to the couch, where he laid me down gently. I was drained, limper than a wet dishrag, and I stared up at him with no energy. I don’t think I even had to tell him, because I’m sure he had worked it out for himself by then, but I still said the words softly. “I’m pregnant, Mykael.”

I gave him points for not flinching. His expression tightened, and I was certain I saw fear in his eyes, but his voice was tender and soothing, as were his fingers when they stroked over my forehead.

“I had guessed that, Gabriella.”

I gave him further points for not asking if it was his. Of course it was his, but I suppose most men would have questioned it anyway. After all, we’d only spent one night together three months ago. I could have slept with anyone between then and now. I hadn’t, and I appreciated he realized that.

“I’m sorry I didn’t use protection that night. I guess I just assumed you were taking the pill, and I wasn’t really thinking at all.”

I managed a wan smile. “Like I said, I don’t take unnecessary medication. I tried the pill as a teenager to regulate my periods, but it gave me awful side effects. I didn’t even think about this as a consequence until my period didn’t come. By then, I had no idea how to get hold of you. You wouldn’t believe how many guys there are with the first name Mickey in this city.” I managed to interject a hint of teasing in my tired tone.

“And I’m not even a Mickey.” He shook his head, looking disgusted. “I’m sorry. The very least I should have done was leave my business card or some way for you to get hold of me. I thought it would be better for both of us if we just left things as they were, so I owe you another apology. More than one.”

I took his hand, squeezing gently. “Let’s just ease off the apologies, okay? The important thing is we reconnected, and now you know about the baby. I don’t know what kind of role you would like, and I’m open to letting you decide that. If you don’t want anything to do with us, that’s your choice. You can have visitation, if you’d like. Of course, I’m sure you’ll need some time to think about it to decide what you want to do.”

His brow furrowed, and he looked angry. “I don’t need any time to think about it. I know what I’m going to do. I’m going to marry you and help raise our baby.”

I almost rolled my eyes. His words struck a chord in me, and I wanted to embrace them, but there was no way I was going to let him sacrifice himself for a loveless marriage just to help raise our child. I deserved better than an obligatory spouse. “We aren’t getting married, Mickey…Mykael. People don’t get married just because they’re having a baby these days.”

“I do.”

“Then you’re going to have to marry yourself,” I said tartly. “I’m not going to marry someone I’m not in love with just because we screwed up and didn’t keep your sperm from meeting my egg.” He scowled down to me, the full weight of his personality weighing on me, and I could see he was probably a fierce attorney.

“You’re going to marry me, and that’s the end of it.”

I laughed harshly, shaking my head. “I’m not going to marry you, and
that’s
the end of it. If you want to marry me, then you have to do this the old-fashioned way, like most people. We’re going to have to date and see if we have anything in common before we even think about jumping into something as permanent as marriage.”

“Gabriella,” he said in a warning tone.

“Mykael,” I said in the same tone, though I let my frustration show more clearly. “Stop badgering me and feed me some lunch. I’m starving.”

His eyes widened, and my words must have distracted him. “But you just threw up everywhere.”

“Not everywhere. I just happened to throw up everything in my stomach. Ergo, it’s empty again, so I have to fill it up. Being pregnant is messed up, and right now I’m starving. In two hours, I’ll probably throw it all up again. In the meantime, past the Mushu pork.”

***