My teeth grazed against his skin and I bit down.
Gabriel’s legs trembled next to mine. He started leaning forward, catching his hands on the counter behind me to hold himself up. When I released him, he bent his neck until he was resting his forehead on my shoulder. “Fuck me, what the hell was that?” he breathed against me.
“Did I hurt you?” I whispered.
Gabriel picked his head up, his forehead meeting mine. “I didn’t know you could do that.”
I breathed out slowly, not finding words, as his crystal eyes locked with mine. I was letting him into something so intimate, a secret. I was thrilled to share with him, but at the same time worried North didn’t want this part revealed. I knew he wanted this to be special with us, but I hoped that in proving to Gabriel it didn’t hurt, if anyone ever asked about it, he could vouch for us.
If I were honest, I really did like the biting and liked sharing it with him. I cared about him and wanted to make him happy.
He backed up, touching the spot on the neck where I’d bit him. “North can’t keep that to himself. That’s too cruel.”
“So it wasn’t bad?”
“Bad? Shit, I want you to do it again.”
‘I don’t know if I should,” I said. Maybe I’d gone too far. Gabriel would end up with bite marks, too.
Gabriel groaned. “Don’t tell me that.” His hands found my shoulders and he started massaging. “You can’t show me that and then hold back from me.”
“But... we should find our thing,” I said, hoping this would satisfy him.
“Hmm, you’re right,” he said. He brushed back a lock of my hair, trying to hook it behind my ear but the strands fell against my cheek again. He tilted his head as he glanced down at me. Suddenly his eyes lit up. “Holy shit, you kissed my neck.”
I blinked at him. “Yeah.”
He started to grin. He turned me, pushing me to the wall. My eyes widened as he dipped his head down, his lips finding my neck right next to my ear. His lips parted, and he kissed, hard and heavy against my skin.
“Gabriel,” I gasped. My hands found his chest, clutching. He’d moved so fast.
Gabriel grunted. His hands found my thighs close to my butt. He lifted me slightly, using force against the wall to hold me up higher. He drew a hand up again toward my neck, guiding me to expose more to him. When I was where he wanted me, he returned to holding me up.
His lips were rough. While he wasn’t biting me, he was crushing his mouth onto my neck. He sucked my skin into his mouth, releasing it quickly to move his mouth over slightly and then suck a new part in between his lips.
I grasped at him, hanging on. I couldn’t think. I was pretty sure I wasn’t breathing. It didn’t give the tingling explosions all over my skin like the biting, but it was a different feeling altogether. It made me want to melt into the floor.
“Trouble,” he breathed against my skin. “Tell me to stop.” He nuzzled at my ear, his lips kissing the lobe. “Tell me you don’t like it. Say you hate it. Make me stop.”
Was this something he wasn’t supposed to be doing? The pit of guilt swelled inside of me, wondering if he’d get into trouble with the Academy. “Gabriel...”
“Sang.” His lips traced against the soft skin behind my ear, and he suckled at it. “Tell me you want me to stop.”
I muffled a moan against his shoulder. “I want you to stop,” I breathed out.
“Christ, even your lies are beautiful.” His teeth grazed at my earlobe and he nipped at it before taking it into his mouth to suck.
There was a familiar thudding on the stairs and I gasped, pushing at Gabriel. He stopped, releasing me and backing away, his eyes wide. He wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand. His chest rose and fell as if he’d been running.
I covered my neck with my hands, my eyes begging him to help me. I didn’t want Nathan to see my neck. I wasn’t sure he’d be as understanding as Gabriel. And North had wanted this to stay a secret.
Gabriel lunged for the door, hitting the lock. He started shoving open drawers, searching. I think he was trying to make noises like we were busy.
A knock rattled the door in the frame. “Gabe,” Nathan called. “I got them.”
Gabriel groaned. He straightened, motioned for me to stand behind the door. He opened it, sticking his head out.
“Give me her shit,” Gabriel said. “And go get my bag. It’s next to the bed.”
“What are you doing to her in there?” Nathan asked.
“I was doing her hair.”
“With your shirt off?”
“It’s complicated. Just get my bag.”
DANCING
It was another twenty minutes before Gabriel managed to layer the concealer he’d had in his bags and ensure my neck was covered properly with makeup. “I hate this shit,” he said while he was applying a little touch up. “It tastes gross.”
“You’re not supposed to eat it, I don’t think,” I said.
“If you put it on your damn face, and I try kissing you, it’ll be nasty.”
“Is that why you don’t like girls wearing makeup? So you can kiss them?”
He popped me on the thigh with his palm. “Shut up or I’ll kiss you in the courtyard at school in front of everyone.” He dropped the makeup into the drawer. “Hang on to that stuff. You’ll probably need it.”
Gabriel had me wear one of the shorter black skirts, with a black V-neck shirt that had a white heart in the center. He had Nathan wear dark jeans with a maroon collared shirt, the sleeves rolled up his forearms. The shirt was open, revealing the white tank shirt underneath that showed off his muscles. Gabriel wore dark blue jeans, and a white fitted collared shirt with an orange tie. The material of the shirt was light, breezy. He’d rolled up the sleeves, too.
“How come we’re all wearing white?” Nathan said.
“You’ll see,” Gabriel said. He combed his blond locks out, letting them hang around his eyes, while brushing back the russet brown. He took out the crystals in his ears, replacing them with orange ones. He left the three black rings in.
I was starting to feel nervous. I didn’t know what a dance club was like, and after the party, I wasn’t sure I was ready for that type of thing. I swallowed back my fears because Gabriel looked excited and I didn’t want to disappoint him.
At seven, a car horn blared outside. I checked outside my bedroom window. Luke had rolled in with a black SUV. It was different than the one I’d seen before. The shape was different, too. They got a new one?
I ran downstairs to meet him at the garage door. Luke had his hair twisted back into one of my clips, and wore a white collared shirt, half unbuttoned with no shirt underneath, and jeans, the usual when he wasn’t working or at school. He beamed at me, his dark eyes lighting up. “Sorry I’m late,” he said.
“Late?” I asked.
“I wanted to get here earlier, but North came in late and I had to go shower and take care of some things.”
I tilted my head. “He left here a little after ten.”
Luke’s eyebrows shot up. “He didn’t get to the diner until after five.” He shrugged. “Maybe he wanted to avoid Kota.”
“He was tired. Maybe he took a nap.”
“Maybe.” He grinned, caught me by the waist, and spun me up off the floor, pecking at my cheek. “Are we ready?”
“We’re ready,” Gabriel said, coming down the back stairs and heading outside. Nathan followed. “Although we’re early.”
“We’ll take the long way,” Luke said.
“Shouldn’t someone stay here?” Nathan asked. “Just in case Marie tries something while we’re gone?”
“Are you going to stay?” Gabriel asked. “Because we’re leaving.”
Nathan glanced at me, his eyes doing a once over across my clothes and he sighed. “No, I’ll go.”
I brightened, reaching for his hand. “Come on,” I said. “Let’s go... um... whatever we’re doing.” I knew it was a dance club, but was that all th
ere was to it? I’d also heard the term ‘clubbing’ before. I didn’t know what that was. Was it the same thing?
The guys laughed and never answered. I brushed it off. At least they thought it was funny.
Nathan checked the front of the house. “Mr. Morris is still watching us.”
“I thought he would have left when Kota did,” Gabriel said. He stepped up beside Nathan, gazing out at him. “Well, who cares, right? We’re going to a club. And it’s legal. So if he wants to follow, we’ll give Kota a break.”
There was a discussion as to who would drive, but it ended up with Luke driving, Nathan riding shotgun and Gabriel and I climbed into the back.
“Now this isn’t fair,” Nathan said. “How come Gabriel gets to sit with Sang?”
Luke threw the SUV into reverse to pull out of the driveway. “If you want it that bad, fight him for it.”
“Hey now,” Gabriel said. “This is a new shirt. I don’t want blood on it.”