Dare to Surrender

* * *

Isabelle: In Myself I Trust

Thanks to the waiting reporters, our return from the island had been captured by the New York Post, Page Six. I winced at the unflattering angle of myself in the lone photograph, not used to being the subject of public scrutiny. And thanks to the headline, I would be scrutinized and picked over. There were two mentions on the website, one about Elite, Gabriel Dare to Open Club on Eden?, and the other about his now apparently questionable single status, Is One of New York’s Most Eligible Bachelors No Longer On the Market? And within the article, there was speculation on the curvaceous woman he kept protectively by his side. Yuck. What woman wanted to be referred to by her curves?

I slammed the laptop shut – a brand new laptop since Gabe hadn’t liked the look of the used one I’d purchased on eBay after I started working for Lisa. I wasn’t comfortable taking his gifts and money, still wondered what I could give back, but I accepted that he needed to do these things for me.

I did what I could. I made sure to be home in time to cook dinner, something I had always enjoyed doing for Lance, even when he hadn’t appreciated it. There were times he wouldn’t make it home for dinner, nor would he call to let me know. I’d merely package the meals and freeze them for another time. Times when I knew he wasn’t coming home so I could eat them myself, because he didn’t like frozen meals. I still didn’t know how he knew the difference.

I shook off the past, reminding myself it was behind me. I was living a new life, one I loved. Working during the day, sometimes with Lucy by video or phone, sometimes with clients at Lisa’s, home to cook during the week, and evenings with Gabe, reading in the library while he worked, or watching TV on the massive big screen in the family room, my head in his lap. Those nights, we would inevitably end up having sex on the couch, followed by more sex in his bedroom, which I’d begun to think of as ours.

Because amazingly, three weeks had passed since we’d reunited on Eden. I still woke up and wanted to pinch myself, but things were good. I was good. More importantly, we were good. I loved him, but I didn’t say the words, having been burned before. It didn’t escape my notice that neither had he.

And I knew that unless and until he did, I’d never be completely secure in the knowledge that I had his heart. And so I’d gotten myself on the pill, because until I was secure, a baby wasn’t something I could risk.

* * *

Isabelle: Happy Birthday

I never told Gabe my birthday was coming. The day hadn’t had any meaning in so long I rarely gave it much thought. So when I woke up to a warm tongue on my sex, Gabe’s talented fingers parting my outer lips so he could delve deeper, it was, in fact, a morning like any other.

Welcome to my new world. I wasn’t complaining.

Especially not when he slid his tongue deep inside me, setting off sparks that had my entire body trembling and on the edge of release. I raised my hips, rubbing myself against him until I exploded, moaning loudly, shaking as he kept me coming, replacing his tongue with his finger and curling it forward, hitting exactly the right spot.

I came harder, the sensations reaching every part of my body, ever-heightening waves consuming me. “Oh Gabe.”

“I’m right here, kitten.” Suddenly Gabe was over me, thrusting deep, hitting the same spectacular place inside me as his finger. But he was bigger, thicker, longer, and if I thought I’d shattered before, I was done for now.

“Keep coming for me,” he said in a harsh voice.

I did. I was. My fingers curled into his back, gripping his skin, and he groaned, increasing the power of each deliberate thrust. It felt like heaven as he reached deeper, not just into my body but into my heart.

One final push and he came on a loud shout that sounded like my name, but I was still lost in sensation. Lost in Gabe. I wrapped my arms around him, holding his sweat-slickened skin as his harsh breathing rasped in my ear and his heavy body pressed me into the mattress. I struggled to breathe, not caring a bit.

Minutes later, our breathing still choppy, he did a slow roll to one side. “That was f**king fantastic,” he muttered.

I couldn’t help but grin. “Yeah, it was.”

“Had to give you a birthday present to start your day.” He pressed a lingering kiss to my lips.

“You know?”

He raised an eyebrow. “I know everything about you. Even the things you don’t think are important enough to tell me.” His tone told me he wasn’t pleased by the omission.

I blinked in surprise. Then decided to give him more of me. “Has it escaped your notice that I’ve met your family and you haven’t met mine?”

“Sally and Marvin Masters. College professors. Teachers,” he said.

“They prefer the term educators,” I said in a haughty tone.

Gabe sneered. “Cold-hearted individuals—”

“Who never meant to have a child,” I said, reminding him of what had molded me into who I was.

“But they did, which meant they had obligations, and I’m not talking about the basics of food, clothing, and shelter.”

I shrugged. “I realize now that their lack of warmth had me looking for it in the wrong places. I mistook what Lance offered for caring because I didn’t know better.” I shrugged and paused. “Maybe he did care in the beginning. I can’t imagine I gave up my whole life for nothing, but he changed.”

Gabe shrugged. “You know better now, kitten. You know exactly what it means to have someone care.” He played with a lock of my hair, twisting it around his finger.

I smiled at that. “I do.” I glanced at the clock, hating to interrupt our cuddling, but I knew his schedule. “You need to go, or you’ll be late.”

“They can’t run the meeting without me.”

I rolled my eyes. “Arrogant ass.”

He grinned and levered into a sitting position, then pushed up from the bed. “Whatever works. See you home after work?”

I nodded, having a difficult time keeping my eyes on his face and not the rest of his spectacularly fine nude body.

He leaned down and kissed my nose. “No cooking. We’re going out.”

“But—”

He shook his head. “No buts. Your first real birthday celebration is going to be a special one.” His dark blue eyes sparkled with delight—and an obvious plan.

The child in me, the one who’d never known a true celebration in her honor, lit up inside at the notion. “Whatever you say.”