“Nothing.” The words come out a little too quickly. I reach for the material where my dress is split and hold it gently together with my other hand. Well, as together as I can anyway.
“Something wrong with your dress?” Gabe asks, his tone tight. I turn to find his jaw clenched and his grip has tightened on my hand.
“No, are you all right?” I ask, because I have no idea what’s got him so upset. His daughter just had the most beautiful ceremony, and he looks like he’s ready to blow something up.
“No. But I will be,” he answers ominously, giving me a once-over. “Come on. We’re wanted for pictures.”
Gabe leads me off to the side of the room while we await Jayde’s instructions. She’s handling the photography along with Colt, one of the prospects I’ve recently gotten to know. Gabe calls for Mason to bring him a double shot of whiskey.
“Okay, Gabe, let’s have you two step in beside the others,” Jayde directs at the same time Mason shows up with Gabe’s drink. He downs the amber liquid in one gulp and gives the empty glass back to Mason, asking for another to be sent to his seat at the bridal table.
“Move in close.” Jayde guides him with her hand on Gabe’s shoulder. “Gabe, scoot closer into Linzie’s back. Act like you like each other.”
“Liking her isn’t the problem,” he grumbles under his breath, but I heard him. Gabe does as he’s told, scooting in closer, pressing his front to my back. I can feel the heat of his chest through his shirt on the exposed skin of my back, and my body on instinct melts into his. Leaning back, I bend my knee to relax a little. After being on my feet in these heels, I need some relief.
The movement causes the slit to fall open, draping loosely at the side of my thigh. The fabric in the middle is still draped over my lady bits, but from this angle no one would be able to see anything anyway. Gabe’s hand immediately grips my waist tight. He grips the loose fabric and attempts to pull it over my leg. He curses under his breath when he realizes the slit won’t fully close no matter how much he pulls so long as I’m standing this way, and I have no interest in moving. Call me petty, but I’m enjoying his frustration.
“Whose fucking idea was it to make a slit this goddamn high?” I turn my face up to see his grumpy expression and have to bite my lip to hold back my laughter. His jaw is so tight I can hear his teeth grinding, and his brow is scrunched. “Jesus. Stand up straight,” he barks. “Don’t you have a sweater or something to put over this thing? It’s fucking snowing outside. You should be covered up better than this.”
“You’re not the one wearing it, so I don’t see why it should matter if you like it or not.” That earns me a grunt and a glare. “Besides, it’s snowing outside, not inside. The temperature is perfectly comfortable in here for this dress.”
I raise my brow and glare back at the insufferable asshat. His eyes narrow. He’s angry. He doesn’t like being talked back to. Well, that’s too fucking bad.
Just to spite him, I lean up and away from his chest, opening my stance and allowing the slit to pull free from his grip. If I move just a smidge more, there will be no guessing what I’m wearing underneath here, or rather, what I’m not, because everyone will see for themselves.
I fight off the embarrassment that thought brings and focus on the audacity of Gabriel and his childish outburst.Demandingme to stand up straight becausehe’suncomfortable with what I’m wearing. Yes, I know I’m uncomfortable too, but that’s beside the point. He’s being a domineering ass, and I won’t stand for it.
He wants you to stand by his side as his queen, a place that deserves high respect from everyone in the club, so he needs to prove he’s going to give it to you first.
Sadie’s words come flooding back to memory.
She’s right.
As out of my depth as I may be right now, I need to stand my ground and let him know I’m not going to be bullied into doing things his way. I was my own person before I started seeingGabe, and I’ll still be my own person by his side, if that’s what he truly wants. But I won’t be with a man who sees me as less than him. We will be equal, or we will be nothing.
“In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m not one of your men. You don’t get to bark orders at me and expect compliance. I’ll wear whatever the hell I want, wherever the hell I want, and you won’t have shit to say about it. And if you do, it won’t matter. I’m not wearing it for you.” Gabe’s eyes narrow, but I don’t wait for a reply. Instead, I turn to face the front just in time for Jayde to count to three.Gabe grips my hips in both hands this time, pulling me back against his chest again. I feel his breath on my neck and he’s leaning in so closely now.
“You sure about that, Vixen?” His tongue caresses the edge of my ear. “Because it seems to me, that’s exactly why you wore this dress. You think I don’t know you girls planned this? Do you think I missed the point of this dress? You wore it for the sole purpose of driving me insane, and it’s working. But I’ll tell you, Vixen. You better be able to handle whatever I decide to do to you after having me so goddamn worked up all night. You have your fun now, but I’ll get my revenge later … one screaming orgasm at a time.”
I gasp, catching the attention of the other couples around us.
“Is everything all right, Linzie?” Sadie asks with a smirk that tells me she heard what just happened.
“Everything is just fine,” I reply. “I just remembered something I left upstairs and should probably go get when we’re done here,” I say, licking my lips.
“Are your lips chapped? Do you need something to help with that?” Sadie tosses back with a sly grin. I glare at her, but it only serves to make her smile widen. “Gabe, do you have something to wet Linzie’s lips with? Chapstick or your tongue maybe?”
“Why does it seem like Sadie’s talking about your pussy and not your mouth?” Gabe grumbles low in my ear where hopefully, only I can hear.
“Because she is.” Gabe seems puzzled, but it doesn’t take long for everything to click into place. His hand on my hip tightens, and his finger slowly slides forward, following the fabric until he gets to the edge of my inner thigh where the edge of my panties should be. He growls, “Fucking hell,” against my neck, and I don’t know if it’s a good growl or a bad one.
We get through the last few pictures, Gabe’s grip on me never loosening for a second. His finger rubs back and forth every so often but not far enough to do anything more than make me wet and frustrated.
After the last picture is taken, we all disperse to our seats at the head table. Gabe sits beside me, draping his arm over the back of my chair, pulling me close enough our thighs are touching. I’m sandwiched between Gabe and Hawk, leaving me very little room to stretch out at all.
Gabe leans in close and whispers in my ear, “You’ve been walking around my clubhouse, in front of my brothers, with nothing but this thin piece of fabric covering my pussy.”
“Excuse me? Since when do you have a pussy?” I ask and instantly regret it when I hear Hawk choke on his drink beside me. When I turn to see if he’s okay, Hawk has his hand up.
