Hayley stepped out of the poolside shower and nearly jumped back in surprise. "Jesus!" she gasped.

A brunette she didn't know stood in front of her, smiling. "Hayley, right? Gabriel asked me to tell you .." Her brows furrowed in thought. She pointed at herself, then at Hayley. Then her expression cleared. "... to meet him!" she finished triumphantly.

"Okay," Hayley said slowly. She glanced around. "Did he say where?" She'd lost sight of him a few minutes after she had jumped into the pool. Thankfully, Reinheart didn't pull any stupid stunts this time so she actually enjoyed herself. She stayed for half an hour before deciding to go find Gabriel. But first she had to rinse off, dry herself, and put her cover-up back on.

"The garden." The woman turned to go.

"Wait, where is it?"

"Beside the house." She threw Hayley a wink over her shoulder. "He says to hurry."

Hayley rolled her eyes. He could have joined her at the pool but he chose to sit in the corner and brood instead. He still couldn't be upset about her outfit, could he?

She made her way back to the house. One of the staff directed her to the exit to the garden, which she found easily. She walked out into the porch, her breath catching at the beauty of the manicured lawn and shrubbery in the silver moonlight. The scent of flowers filled the air.

This could have been so romantic, she thought as the door closed behind her with a soft click. She almost giggled. The idea of Gabriel doing anything romantic was ridiculous. Her thoughts were interrupted when a tall, imposing figure appeared in front of her.

Her heart slammed against her chest. But before she could open her mouth to scream, he clasped his large hand over her mouth. The wall was hard against her back as he pushed up against her.

"Shhhh. It's me."

On recognizing Gabriel's voice, her body went slack with relief.

What are you doing?

She couldn't say the words out loud because his hand was still over her mouth. Awareness of his body pressed up against hers made a strange tingle shoot up her spine. Warmth spread all over her. With his face so close, she could see the familiar darkness in his gaze. Was he as aware of her body as she was of his?

He released his hold on her mouth slowly. For a long, heart-pounding moment they stared at each other in silence.

"You asked to meet me —" she started to say.

"Shhhh."

She fell silent, then followed his sideways gaze. There was some movement in the distance but she couldn't see who or what it was.

"Who is it?" she whispered.

"Nobody," he whispered back.

"Then why are we hiding from them?"

"We're not."

She didn't know if he could see her expression in the semi-darkness, but she raised her eyebrow anyway. "Did you ask me here to play hide-and-seek?"

"I didn't ask you to come here."

"Oh." Heat flared in her chest. "So you came here to meet someone else, then?"

He let out a sigh of exasperation. "Women."

"Excuse me?" She didn't bother whispering this time. Or hide her irritation, for that matter.

He kept his voice low. "Keep your voice down."

"Oh no. You don't get to do that. You don't get to say shit like that and not expect a reaction from me."

He looked at her silently for a long moment. "You're right. I'm sorry. Someone told me you asked to meet me here. And I'm guessing the same thing happened to you, too." He let out an audible breath. "I don't like being tricked."

"Who was it?" She frowned. "One of your friends?"

"She's not..." He cleared his throat. "Zenia is not a friend."

"So she's your ex?"

"Not my ex."

Hayley huffed. "Well, she's very territorial."

"Zenia has never been refused anything in her life. Anything she wanted, she got."

"Kinda like you, then?"

There was a long silence before he said, "What makes you think that?"

Her cheeks grew warm with embarrassment. She didn't mean to overstep their boundaries. It wasn't a farfetched assumption — in the short time that she'd known him, she could tell that he grew up with money. Still, it was rude to say it to his face. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"My parents didn't spoil me. They didn't believe in that."

"I shouldn't have assumed—"

"Shhhh."

"What?" She was irritated now. "Are we still hiding?"

.


She was cute when annoyed.

Gabriel had been annoyed too. Not only did Zenia try to mess with Hayley and him, but she fucked that up too. The woman was no criminal mastermind, that was for sure. He guessed that Zenia had meant to meet him in the garden, then for Hayley to catch them together. But she couldn't manage the timelines correctly, so by the time she got to the garden, he and Hayley were already there.

He had thought of just leaving, going back to the party. But another idea occurred to him. He grinned.

"It's a lovely garden, don't you think?" He said.

Hayley rolled her eyes. "Yes, very romantic," she said dryly.

"Quite." He sniffed her left temple. "Very romantic."

She drew a sharp breath. "What are you doing?" she squeaked.

"Afraid I'll breach our agreement?" He pushed a knee between her legs.

He waited for her to protest, to push him away. But she held still.

"You wouldn't."

"No, I wouldn't." He cupped her behind, entirely aware of how flimsy the fabric covering her was. "But I can kiss you, as per our original agreement."

"Oh. Right."

He smiled to himself before he dropped a kiss at the base of her throat. The ensuing moan that escaped her made his blood run hot and his cock grow hard. Her skin was so soft and tasted so sweet on his tongue. He pushed aside the material covering one breast, along with the cup of her bikini top, to expose her breast and the taut nipple underneath. He kept his movements slow and deliberate. So she would know exactly what he was going to do to her. So she would want what he was going to do to her.

"Gabriel," she whispered.

"Do you want me to stop?" He swiped a thumb over her nipple.

"Oh god!" she moaned, arching her body toward him.

He needed no more urging to take the stiff peak into his mouth. As he sucked gently, he moved his leg that was wedged between her thighs. She clutched his shoulders tightly, letting him stoke the flames of her desire.

"Someone might see us," she said.

Vaguely, he recalled this was exactly the reason he initiated this in the first place. But at that moment, all that mattered was pleasuring Hayley. Wrench his name from her lips. Maybe even make her take back her insistence that they change the terms of their agreement. He trailed kisses up to her chin. "Do you want me to stop?"

"No. Yes. No, no. Please, Gabriel."

In an instant, he was down on his knees. He slowly moved his fingers up her thighs until they reached the straps of her bikini. With the same deliberate slowness, he dragged the scrap of fabric down to her ankles. He looked up to see Hayley staring down at him, her eyes heavy-lidded with lust. There was a beat before she stepped out of her bikini bottom, which he promptly tossed away. Grasping her by her knees, he gently but impatiently pushed her legs apart.

The moment his tongue touched her soft folds, she let out another, louder moan. Her fingers dug into his hair and she held on tight as he worked his tongue up and down her wet slit. The scent of her arousal sent all his blood rushing to his cock. It was all he could do not to think of how much he wanted to take his raging erection out and fuck her hard against the wall.

"Gabriel... oh my God."

He wasn't sure why he was doing this now, out in the open. But something dark and primal inside urged him to make her scream his name into the night sky. Drunk on the scent of her arousal, he pressed his mouth harder, his tongue moving with hard, fast strokes. Her cries of pleasure spurred him on, as did the way her hands cradled the back of his head in a firm grip. He hooked her left thigh over his shoulder to spread her legs even wider for him.

She broke apart with a sob.

***

The drive back to Gabriel's apartment the next day was long and strained. At least it felt that way to Hayley.

He insisted on driving this time. He didn't speak much at breakfast and even less during the drive. After attempting to make small talk twice, she gave up and pretended to nap. It wasn't completely unbelievable, as she'd only had a few hours' sleep so they could leave by six. Unlike the rest of the party guests, she had to be at work that morning.

Did she do something wrong?

She wondered that last night as they made their way back to their room from the garden. He didn't speak much, just said goodnight before leaving the room, saying he had to speak to Reinheart before he left. He was gone for maybe an hour and when he got back she pretended to be asleep. As tired as she was, she couldn't sleep. They lay together on the large bed with too much space between them. She missed feeling his arms around her but couldn't muster the courage to make the first move. Besides, wasn't she the one who insisted they would no longer have sex?

Going down on her in the garden didn't count. Did it? It was sex, after all. They had agreed sex was off the table, yet she gave herself up to it, practically demanded it when he asked her if he should stop. After that, she wanted to ask him if he, too, needed release. But she couldn't say the words, not when his expression was so shuttered she had no idea what he was thinking.

He had the same expression as he drove them home. No, not home. His home, not hers. And this was work. She had to remember that.

And yet...

Why did he go down on her in the garden? He got nothing out of it. If he was simply horny, wouldn't he at least suggest something that would let him get off? But he didn't.

Then the thought occurred to her. The idea sent her heart racing and made her palms start to sweat. She nearly sat up on her seat, abandoning all pretense of napping.

Did Gabriel leave her last night to meet with someone else?

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