Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 91504 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91504 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Before I finish deliberating, he’s already nudging me. “Come on. We’ll have a glass of wine.”
The next thing I know, Gabriel is opening the door to his building. As I walk through the lobby, I scan the rows of mailboxes, the same ones I snuck in to look at months ago to confirm his identity, the first time I saw him from the coffee shop window.
He pushes a button to call the elevator. “Do you like red or white?”
“Either is fine.”
“Does white go bad if it’s not opened? I think I have a bottle in the fridge. But it’s probably at least three months old.”
Funny. Mine only lasts about three hours.
I force a smile. “I think it’s good for a few years.”
My pulse speeds up as the elevator doors slide open and we step inside. I can’t believe I’m doing this. Going into Gabriel Wright’s apartment. I’m crossing a line, but I’ve crossed so many already, what’s one more?
“How was your week?” Gabriel asks.
“Good. And yours?” I pause and then add, “Your trip was unexpected, right? I hope everything is okay.”
“It is now.” He smiles.
I have ten follow-up questions on the tip of my tongue. Where were you? Who were you with? What happened that wasn’t okay but is now? Yet instead, I merely smile back.
“I’m glad.”
When we arrive on the fourth floor, Gabriel puts his hand on my back. He steers me out of the elevator car and to the left. Three doors down, he digs keys out of his pocket. “I hope I didn’t leave any underwear on the floor. I wasn’t expecting company.”
Does that mean he’s not seeing anyone else, or did he just not invite them over today? It’s funny, I have so many good questions, yet none of them leaves my mouth.
Gabriel flicks on the lights. We walk in through a narrow hallway that dumps into a living room. My eyes jump around as fast as my heart beats. I’m looking for clues, but I’m not sure which mystery I’m trying to solve. The first thing I notice is there’s no luggage. Not by the door and not in the living room. It takes a few days for mine to move more than a few inches from the threshold of my apartment when I return from a trip. Could he be the type that immediately rolls the suitcase into the bedroom and unpacks? Perhaps his luggage is already emptied and stowed.
The second thing I notice is he has a lot of books. Beautiful, leather-bound, old ones. The kind you find in a collectible store where the owner wears white gloves to touch editions kept behind locked glass. One entire wall is lined with built-in shelving. The middle, longest section sags from the weight of the stacks.
Gabriel walks up behind me as I take it all in and slips my coat from my shoulders. “I guess my secret is out. I’m a bookworm.”
I smile. “Your collection is impressive.”
He disappears with my coat and returns to stand close behind me once again. We’re not touching, but I feel the heat emanating from his body, his hot breath tickling my neck. He wraps his hands around my shoulders, and I jump at his touch.
“Someone’s on edge,” he says. He’s behind me still, but I can hear the smile in his voice.
“This, us, it’s…” I’m again searching my mental thesaurus for the right word—inappropriate, unethical, immoral, depraved. I need to be careful my choice doesn’t represent more than my being his doctor.
“Stop overthinking.” Gabriel squeezes my shoulders. “We’re two consenting adults. Both single.”
Both single because of my husband. Because of me.
He leans in and kisses my neck. Soft lips rumble on my skin as he speaks. “Is this okay?”
I swallow and nod.
“I thought about you often this week,” he whispers. “Did you think about me?”
Only every waking moment…
My breathing grows labored. His touch feels so good, so right, yet I know it’s not. When I don’t answer, he nips at my neck.
I gasp.
“You like that, don’t you?” Again I hear the smile in his voice. “I have not been able to stop thinking about you telling me to hold you down and fuck you hard.”
I swallow.
“Did you think about me?” he asks. “Think about what happened at our last session?”
I nod. It might be the only honest thing I’ve disclosed since he spotted me on the street.
“Good.” He kisses over the skin he’s nipped at. “Very good, Meredith.”
Gabriel snakes one arm around my waist and uses it to pull me flush against him. His body is so hard, so warm. He sucks along my collarbone, and my eyes close, head lolling back shamelessly to give him better access. And then we’re moving. Walking. He’s guiding me, his body still pressed firmly to mine from behind. We step through a doorway. I see the bed, feel my knees hit the sideboard as we walk straight to it. I yield to the firm hand on my back that presses me forward until my chest is against the mattress.