I can't help but smile back, remembering the creative ways we spent our wedding night, the things Gabriel did to me and made me do to him that left us both gasping and satisfied.
I finally accept the phone, but I hesitate, looking at Gabriel with something that might be vulnerability."I need some privacy for this.It's going to be one of the hardest conversations I've ever had."
"Of course."He kisses my forehead gently, his lips warm and reassuring against my skin."I'll grab a shower and give you all the time you need."
As I watch my husband's naked form walk toward the bathroom, I call after him impulsively.
"Oh, and LaRoche?"
"Yeah?"He turns, eyebrows raised in question.
"It's not going to take me long to figure out.I already love you, stupid."
The smile that spreads across Gabriel's face is radiant, transforming his usually controlled expression into something young and hopeful and completely unguarded.It's the smile of a man who's just been given something he never dared hope for.
"You'll say anything to get some more of this dick, won't you?"he teases, gesturing at himself with mock arrogance.
I grin back at him."Anything."
Before I can dial Megan's number, Gabriel suddenly chucks my phone across the room, swoops me up in his arms, and pins me down on the bed with predatory grace.
"What about my call?"I'm laughing hysterically as he covers my body with his, his skin warm and solid against mine.
He flips us both over so that I'm straddling his hips, his hardness already pressing insistently against my core, evidence that our night of passion hasn't dimmed his desire for me at all.
"Do it later, Naomi," my husband growls, and hearing him say my chosen name with such possessive desire makes me instantly wet.
Three hours later, after we've exhausted ourselves thoroughly and I'm boneless with satisfaction, I finally retrieve my phone from where Gabriel threw it and dial the number I've been avoiding for months.
It rings twice before she picks up.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she says flatly when she answers the phone.“What do you want?”
I nervously chuckle, feeling almost as if I’m sinking through the floor.“Wow,” I say with a faux sense of levity.“You were never this mean when we lived together.”
“I’m going to grab that shower now,” Gabriel whispers, kissing me on the cheek.“You’ve got this.”
But my smile drops after I hear Megan respond with, “That was before I realized you had a habit of standing by while your father kidnapped me and tried to kill the man I love.”
I pause for a moment, not knowing how to respond to that.She’s right, of course.
“I deserved that,” I finally say, my voice low and hopefully humble-sounding.“But no, I’m not calling because of my father.And I don’t know anything about him trying to hurt Hunter.”
She lets out a cold laugh of disbelief.
“You don’t know because youchoosenot to know,” she says to me.“You’re happy to bury your head in the sand, aren’t you?Just like you did when your father held me against my will for days, and you did nothing.Have you conveniently forgotten that?”
“I apologized for that, Megan,” I say with sincerity.
“Youapologized?”she repeats, her voice rising with disbelief.“You think saying sorry is enough for what that man put me through?”
“No,” I admit, with shame in my voice.“But it’s a start.And I can’t explain myself without sounding like a complete spineless bitch, but… my father has a power over me that I’m still trying to break free from.”
“Andhow’sthat going?”she asks.“Because last I heard, you werestillliving under his damn roof.”
“I’m not,” I blurt out.“As of yesterday.”
“Not interested, Naomi.”
