Oh! My! Goodness! Who said stuff like that? My expression must have said what I was thinking because he chuckled before handing me the remote control.
“Relax back on the couch, you won’t bother me.” Then he went back to whatever it was he was working on.
I flipped through the channels for a moment as his words played over in my head. Was he going to try and take me tonight? Was I ready for this?
Of course not!
My head hurt so much that I couldn’t even try to think my way through this right now. I needed rest, and my mind needed to be clear so I can try and figure a way out of this. If I let Gabriel have his way with me, I will be lost. I know it.
The girls at Shugga’s said he was a skilled lover. In fact, their words were, he made some poor girl climb the wall. And although I don’t quite know what that means, I do know that it’s more than I can handle. And I can’t fall in love with him. I can’t lose my will to want to escape, because I knew as soon as I did, I would suffer my great-grandmother’s fate.
I settled on the animal channel. They were following a family of lions. The alpha lion reminded me of Gabriel’s tattoo.
However, I couldn’t keep my eyes open much longer and ended up going back to sleep. Gabriel’s phone rang sometime later, and it woke me just slightly. He had put a blanket over me. I snuggled deeper in it and moments later I was back out. It was like my body needed the rest to recuperate.
At some point Gabriel woke me up, pushing another glass of water in my hand. He said something about staying hydrated, but I barely heard him. I just wanted to finish the water so that I could go back to sleep.
At another point I awakened just slightly, and it sounded as if Gabriel was in the middle of a conference call, I heard Kenny’s voice. I smiled because both he and Gabriel spoke in very professional voices. Not the hood tones they used when they were comfortable.
There were more papers on the table in front of us. I must have stretched out fully on the couch we shared, and somehow curled my body around his where he still sat in front of me on his laptop.
I heard Mac come in sometime later.
“We’re going to head out for lunch. Ya’ll wanna roll?”
“Nah.” Gabe said frowning down at some papers he held in his hand, before he sat them down and went back to typing on his computer.
“What the hell man!” Mac exacerbated voice came from somewhere by the door. “It’s your honeymoon and you elbow deep in work!”
“That’s because my girl got a hangover and just want to chill. So, I might as well get some work done.” All this he said without looking up from said work.
“And while we on the topic, beat it, before you wake her up.” He waved his hand in Mac’s direction. When I opened my eyes again, Gabe was pouring more water down my throat.
“I don’t want it!” I whined.
“Come on baby, you need water.” I drank the water, but I was real grouchy about it.
When next I awoke, I was famished, yet the thought of eating frightened me. Sitting up on the couch I saw that I was alone. Gabe’s work papers and laptop had been cleaned up. It was dark outside. Goodness! I had slept the whole day.
Drawing my knees up, I looked around the empty room. Gabe came out the bedroom dressed in a fresh pair of jeans and a tank top. On his feet was a pair of brand new Timberland’s. When he saw that I was awake he smiled.
“Hey, I have some soup for you.” Walking to a brown bag on the table, he pulled out a little container and a plastic spoon. I shook my head.
“Ummm, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” I moaned.
It wasn’t that I still felt sick. It was that I remembered how it felt when I was, and I was afraid to eat. He chuckled coming to sit next to me on the couch.
“Nah baby, you have to eat.” Taking the lid off the container he handed it to me.
I stared down in it as if it was the face of death. He put his arm on the couch behind me before nudging the hand I clutched the spoon in with his.
“Come on, you can do it. It’s mostly broth.”
Carefully, I brought a tiny spoon of broth to my mouth and took a very cautious sip. I waited for my stomach to revolt, but it didn’t.
“See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?”
I looked up at him and shook my head before spooning a little more in my mouth. It was unnerving because he was so close, and he watched me.
“What do you want to do tonight?” His deep voice was gentle. I shrugged.
“What’s there to do?” He looked at me as if I had grown another nose.
“Are you kidding me? We’re in Vegas baby, what ain’t there to do?” I smiled as I chewed.
“My pa-pa said Vegas is sin city.” He looked down at his boots and chuckled, before looking back up at me.
“Yeah… It can get kind of dark. But you ain’t got nothing to worry about, because I’m here to keep you safe.”
My gaze went down to my soup so that he couldn’t study my eyes. He lifted my chin with his finger, not allowing that escape.
“You do know I ain’t gon’ never let nobody hurt you… right?”
I nodded. I believed that he wouldn’t let anyone else hurt me…. but who was going to keep me safe from him? His gaze fell to my lips when I licked away some broth that remained on them.
“However, if you want to chill in tonight… we can
