Gabriel's Rule Read online

  “It’s my go bag.”

  “You’re a nurse?”

  She was busy examining his wound and dabbing at it with some gauze. “Um, no I’m a vet tech…well, used to be any way back in…” Her eyes lifted briefly to meet his before she said “back home” and reached for the hydrogen peroxide.

  “I don’t think you need stitches but I want to clean and wrap it.”

  “What do you mean ‘used to be’?”

  Riley was cursing herself for her slip. She used the moment to dump some hydrogen peroxide on his hand. She knew she should have warned him, but she needed the few seconds to collect herself. He only winced slightly at the pain but he didn’t pull his hand away like she would have expected.

  “So if you’re not a vet tech anymore, why the go bag?”

  Man, he wasn’t going to let it go. “Habit I guess. I used to volunteer for a rescue group and a lot of times we’d get calls for emergency rescues – having a go bag saved time.” She checked the wound to make sure there was no debris. His skin was rough but warm and she ignored the tingles that shot down to her toes.

  “What are all these scars from?” she asked, motioning to the superfine lines that littered his hand. She had run her fingers over a few of them before she realized what she’d been doing.

  “I work construction so this type of thing goes with the territory,” he said, waving his hand over the injury. He didn’t seem concerned at her change in subject. She finished cleaning the injury and then applied some antibiotic ointment and a gauze pad. Grabbing the pink bandage she started wrapping it around his hand. He said nothing about the garish color and she smiled slightly when she saw her finished effort. Big, scary, tattoo-wearing, gorgeous man with a bright pink hand.

  Gabe watched her start cleaning up her supplies. He hadn’t missed her enjoyment of seeing him trussed up in neon pink. It amused rather than annoyed him. When he’d asked her about her job, she’d gone dark for a moment and he was surprised how unsettling that had been for him. At her change of subject, he knew she was hiding something but it certainly wasn’t his place to prod. It explained how she’d ended up in this dump. Being anonymous was safer and doing it in a place that no one dared come if they valued their health was even better. He pushed back the automatic, protective instinct that kicked in.

  “Thanks,” he said, lifting his hand.

  “Thanks for taking care of my drain. You were right about the Super. He wasn’t really interested in helping me out and paying a plumber…” she trailed off.

  “No problem,” he said as he followed her to the door. Don’t say it Gabe, don’t say it! “If you need anything else let me know.” Damn it – where had that come from? And why could he not stop noticing how good she smelled, like fresh peaches. He had to get out of there. He mumbled “welcome to the neighborhood” as he hurried out the door.

  Riley watched him disappear into his apartment before she returned to the kitchen to finish cleaning up. His offer had been sweet but there was no way she’d take him up on it – his effect on her was way too overwhelming and when she had realized that all she could think about while she was cleaning his wound was leaning down to kiss each tiny scar, she’d known she was already too far gone when it came to her hunky neighbor. Even if a great looking guy like him ever took notice of her with her plain Jane looks, she wouldn’t know what to do with him. She sighed and got back to work unpacking.

  Chapter 3

  Gabe thrust into the woman under him a few more times before slowing down. He heard her whimper when he pulled almost all the way out before slamming back into her. She was covered in a fine sheen of sweat and her hands pulled at the silk bindings that held her wrists against the iron headboard. He had made her get on her knees in front of him on the bed after he had made her come the first time just using his mouth on her core. Her second orgasm was imminent; he could feel her rippling around his cock. He grabbed her hair and pulled her head back. She whimpered at the small sting of pain he was sure he was causing her, but he felt another pulse around his cock so he knew she liked it.

  “You like it like this, don’t you?” With his other hand he reached around and pinched her nipple hard. “You want it harder?” he asked as he slowed down his thrusts to shallow, slow strokes. The woman cried out and nodded her head violently. It was part of the game – she wasn’t allowed to speak unless he told her she could.

  He played with her for another minute with slow, uneven strokes that he knew wouldn’t push her over. Releasing her hair he watched her drop her forehead to the bed. An image of Riley’s long hair flashed through his head and he felt his dick harden further causing the woman to groan. He wondered what Riley’s gorgeous ass would feel like slapping against him as he gripped the soft skin of her hips and plunged into her.

  Gabe picked up his rhythm and started hammering into the woman beneath him over and over. He heard her cry out and she thrust back to meet him, her hands now gripping the iron bars in front of her so she had more leverage against the pounding he was giving her. He felt her body tighten around him and he muttered roughly “you can come now.” She went off like a rocket and screamed as her body clamped down on his. He slowed his strokes and followed her down as she collapsed on the bed.

  He still owed her one more orgasm so he continued to slide in and out of her in long, torturous thrusts as her orgasm waned. Reaching under her he began stroking her clit gently and she whimpered at the contact. Within moments he felt her start to roll her hips as her body began to respond again. He increased his pace with both his hand and his cock and she moaned into the bedding as another powerful orgasm overtook her. He stilled inside her long enough for her body to relax and then finally release him so he could carefully withdraw from her. He reached above her and untied her from the bed but left the bindings on her wrists.

  “You were a good girl today,” he muttered roughly in her ear before climbing off and disappearing into the bathroom. He stripped off the condom and ran a washcloth over his still hard cock. He stepped back into the bedroom and grabbed his clothes from a nearby chair. It took him only a few seconds to pull them on and when he stopped at the side of the bed, he saw she was still in the same position he’d left her in.

  When she finally noticed him, she lifted her head slightly and said “It’s on the dresser.”

  Gabe went to the dresser and collected the stack of money that was there. He checked it quickly and then left the room because even now he could feel the cold overtaking him. The hotel wasn’t busy since it was the middle of the night and the valet brought his truck around within minutes. He handed the guy a tip and started the twenty minute drive home. He turned the music way up so that he could try to focus on it rather than the numbness that was washing through him. This had only been his second time with this client but his standard routine seemed to be what she needed. He didn’t know anything about her other than she was married, as the wedding band and huge diamond on her left hand had suggested, and judging by the swanky hotel room, that she had money.

  Details about the women never mattered so he never asked – his agency screened them and that was good enough for him. They took their cut, he got his and similar to tonight, there was always a nice tip waiting for him too. None of the women ever seemed to notice that he never came while fucking them and they never questioned why they weren’t allowed to touch him or that he never kissed them on the mouth. In return he gave them what they wanted – a rough, but safe fuck.

  His specialty was like a niche market in the world of high end male escorts. Most escorts adapted to whatever their customer was looking for. It could range from date night, just conversation, making out, the boyfriend experience, domination, or even some of the heavier BDSM. But Gabe had one rule in his work – never connect with his clients. From the beginning, when he and his college buddies had been approached by an upper classman about escorting, he had found no pleasure in the work like some escorts did. But it hadn’t been the same for him as it had been for hi
s friends, Shane and Logan, who took to escorting like ducks did to water.

  The first few women Gabe had been with had always seemed to need something else from him that he couldn’t give – an emotional connection he couldn’t understand and didn’t want. Shane and Logan were able to turn it off and on like a light switch but Gabe couldn’t. The physical act of sex hadn’t bothered him but the before and after did and he had finally told his agency that he would only accept clients under certain conditions.

  He was fully prepared to give up the huge amounts of money he’d been making that helped him make ends meet while in school, but instead of booking fewer clients he found that his conditions made him more popular – he had somehow become a type of fantasy package for women looking for more than vanilla sex, but not quite ready to make the leap into full on pain play. He was dominant by nature and played the role to the hilt in his sessions and the women loved it. But he always walked away feeling a little more dead inside which didn’t make sense since they played by his rules. He’d gotten to the point that he only met with clients when his money situation called for it and his day job couldn’t keep up with the bills. From the way things were going, it looked like he’d still be at this for a while.

  As he neared the apartment building, his thoughts drifted to his mother. She’d left the most recent rehab facility more than a week ago, the day before she’d broken into his place. He hadn’t seen or heard from her since, but knew it would just be a matter of time. Even though she left after just two weeks, the facility had demanded he pay in full. He also knew it was just a matter of time before he’d need bail money to get his mom out of jail for whatever possession or solicitation charge she was arrested for and then she’d get weepy and beg him to get her into another facility. And he’d do it like he always did because she was his mother and she needed him to take care of her.

  He parked his truck and climbed out. As he climbed the stairs to his apartment, he heard footsteps behind him. He turned and saw Riley coming up the walkway. Her head was down so she didn’t see him until her foot hit the first step and she looked up. She let out a startled squeak and then covered her mouth with her hand. Collecting herself, she said “hi” as she climbed the stairs and squeezed passed him, making him realize he still stood in the same spot at the top of the stairs. He sucked in a breath as the small space caused her to brush against him slightly. A whiff of peach assaulted him. He hadn’t seen her since the day she moved in.

  “Gabe, are you okay?”

  Her soft voice rippled over him like silk before he managed to pull himself out of his daze. She actually appeared worried as she studied him.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. Why?” The inquiry had caught him off guard. No one ever asked him about stuff like that; his clients weren’t allowed to and the guys at his construction job all kept to themselves.

  “You just look really tired,” she responded carefully before turning to put her key in her door.

  He mulled that over. She was about to disappear into her apartment when he said “Hot date?” Where the hell had that come from? She seemed surprised by the question too and laughed.

  “No, no. I started my new job tonight,” she said, pulling back her light jacket and waving her hand over her outfit. It was then that he noticed she was wearing a tight black denim skirt that was several inches above her knees and a bright green T-shirt that said “Mac’s Pub” on it. He knew the place – it was a dumpy, Irish pub just a block down the street. Her outfit meant she was a waitress and part of him wanted to shake her for agreeing to work in that dive. Worry sifted through him as he remembered the low quality clientele that frequented the place. It wasn’t a place someone like her should be working.

  “What about you? Hot date?” she repeated back his words with a smile.

  A sick feeling washed over him as he envisioned her reaction to what he’d been doing for the past hour so he just said “Work.” She’d be so disgusted to know he had pictured her in the woman’s place.

  Accepting his response, she studied him for another moment and he swore he still saw concern in her eyes. “Good night Gabe,” she said softly as she disappeared into her apartment. He heard the lock engage and then he turned and let himself into his own apartment.

  Stripping his clothes off as he walked, he climbed into the shower and turned it up as hot as he could stand it. His hard-on had waned after he left the hotel but when Riley’s eyes had traveled the length of his body as if making sure he was okay, he’d felt himself harden. When she ended the conversation with his name, he couldn’t help but wonder how it would sound when she screamed it during her release. The water did nothing to ease his need so he stroked himself. His moves were brisk with just the end goal in mind, but then an image of Riley bent over in front of him as he pounded into her flashed in his brain. He slowed his strokes to match what he was doing to the young woman, her heated cries urging him on.

  Gabe put his free hand up on the wall to support himself as he pumped his cock. He couldn’t remember the face of the woman he had actually fucked tonight because all he could see was Riley’s pretty eyes and full lips. It was Riley’s long sweat-dampened blond hair that he wrapped around his wrist as he hammered into her warm, willing body. Her full breasts swayed as she moved with him and he gathered one in his hand, the fullness of it spilling over his palm. And when he leaned over to thrust his tongue into her mouth, she opened willingly and stroked his tongue with her own. With the taste of her on his lips he came hard, his seed splashing in spurts all over the shower wall and he groaned as fire flashed through his body. When the rush finally started to recede, he released his cock and put his other hand on the wall and closed his eyes as the water sluiced over his back and washed away the only evidence that remained of the most intense orgasm he’d ever had in his life.

  Chapter 4

  If one more guy grabbed her ass, Riley was going to lose it. She slapped the latest offender’s stubby fingers away and headed back to the bar to fill the drink order. Three days ago when Mac had offered her the waitressing job on the spot, she’d thought she’d died and gone to heaven. The tall, leathery old man with stringy gray hair and cigarette stained teeth grossed her out, but he hadn’t seemed to care that she’d never waitressed a day in her life so that had been a huge plus.

  He was also okay with paying her under the table, not that the pay was any good. She just hoped the tips she made would be worth all the leering looks and pushy hands she was getting. If she’d been less desperate and more alert, she might have noticed what a dump the place was, but it had been daytime when she’d interviewed so it hadn’t been crowded and she hadn’t noticed how filthy it was or the low quality clientele. It looked like her job hunt would have to continue, but at least there would be a little bit of money coming in in the meantime.

  There was only one other waitress, an older woman named Mara, and oddly enough she looked a lot like Mac. Riley never considered herself a looker but she supposed when it came down to Mara and herself she had the edge. This was the first time she actually wished she were the invisible one. Mac plopped several drinks on her tray and she dodged the sweaty bodies that somehow managed to press up against her no matter how much space she put between them and her. She deposited the drinks at Stubby’s table and then made her way to the few booths that lined the far wall.

  Two men had taken up the last empty booth and the one facing her gave her a broad smile as she approached. He was very easy on the eyes, all-American boy next door type but built. His shaggy hair made him appear young but as she got closer she could see he had to be in his mid-twenties. He wore a dark blue button up shirt and nice slacks, definitely white collar type, and he stood out like a sore thumb among the aging, biker wanna-be crowd.

  “Hi, what can I get you gentlemen…” Her voice stuttered to a halt when she saw who Blondie’s companion was. Gabe. He looked up at her with a dark, hooded expression. He almost seemed hostile which didn’t make sense since it’d been a couple days sinc
e their brief encounter in the hallway. She couldn’t have pissed him off just by commenting that he looked tired, could she?

  ***

  Gabe knew he was confusing her with his silence and fierce expression but he couldn’t get the image of that guy putting his hands on her ass out of his mind. He and Shane had just taken their seats when his wandering gaze had finally located Riley, but watching the majority of the men leer at her as she’d walked passed had him starting to get out of his seat before he remembered that she wasn’t his to protect. But when the one guy with the greasy black hair and long scraggly beard had actually put his hand on her, he had gotten up. Only Shane’s questioning look had kept him from striding over to the guy and knocking him to the floor. He needed to get a grip on his fury before he spoke to her so he glanced at Shane. Luckily his buddy got the message.

  “Hi, I’m Shane.”

  Riley’s eyes were locked with Gabe’s for another moment and then she remembered herself and turned to shake Shane’s proffered hand.

  “Riley.”

  When Gabe still didn’t speak Shane went on. “You a friend of Gabe’s?”

  “We’re neighbors. Um, what can I get you guys?”

  “I’ll have a beer, whatever’s on tap.” Shane glanced at Gabe who was still fixated on the young woman. She shifted uncomfortably so Shane kicked Gabe under the table which finally seemed to snap the brooding man out of whatever thought he’d been lost in.