Gabriel has his fork half raised to his mouth and is watching us. I’m not entirely sure what the expression on his face means. He puts down his fork and takes a long swig from his beer.
“Why do you have no underwear?” He asks me with such a serious face, I struggle not to giggle. “Because, I wasn’t wearing any on the night I left Jay, the only clothes I have are my sleep shorts, vest, a cardi and my Uggs that I was wearing at the time, apart from these trackies and hoodie Jo bought me today, I own nothing so hence…no undies” What’s the big deal. Is this really what we need to be discussing at the dinner table, my lack of under garments?
“Can we talk about something else please? The foods good Gabe, great choice….already you know exactly what I like”. I smile my sweetest smile at him, knowing there's a double meaning behind what I've said but I say it so innocently that I think I've pulled it off.
“Not yet I don’t, but I am aiming to find out soon…very soon I hope”
He winks and says it very quietly but I hear him, I look across at Jo, who's watching us with her eyebrows raised, she obviously heard him too.
“You know what? I'm gonna take my wine, have a quick shower, and go to bed. Monday tomorrow and I've got an early start in the morning, lock up when you’re done and don't keep me awake with your antics... I need my beauty sleep. Thanks for the food Gabe. Will I see you in the morning?”
“Erm, best ask the Princess here” He looks at me “It’s up to you; stay if you wanna stay” I say, as casually as I can, all the while thinking. Stay, please, please stay.
“Would you like me to stay?”
“Yes, I would like you to stay”
“Then I will stay and Jo, I promise to use the ball gag if she starts screaming too loud”
I physically shudder at the image that evokes…ball gag, whips, ropes…..Mmmmm, ironic really, the thrill that runs through me as I think of being tied up and whipped by Gabe, when I’ve just left my husband, in part because of his violence towards me, what a fine line there is between pleasure and pain. Isn’t there a song about that?
We say our good nights to Jo. Luckily her bedroom is at the other end of the house to the kitchen and the bedroom I'm in, so we won't disturb her. We move to the sofa, where it takes me awhile to get comfy and I find my best spot between Gabe’s legs, funnily enough! My back against his chest and our legs along the sofa. We spend the next hour doing a sort of question and answer on each other’s lives. I seem to be giving more answers than receiving but I do learn that he has two brothers and one sister; he is the youngest boy, his sister the baby of the family. His mum died when he was just four, hence the cryptic remark he made about not learning much from his mum… and his dad remarried to a woman just six years older than me and he doesn't seem to think too highly of her. In fact, I can actually feel his body tense when the subject comes up. He doesn’t divulge the reasons behind his feelings for his step mum and I don’t pry. His family have money, made mainly through property investments, development and construction. I will have to ask Jo tomorrow how big the family empire is. He took over the running of the family construction business with his older brothers when his dad retired three years ago. His sister is the secretary or something at the company. He was married when he was twenty two and has a thirteen year old daughter called Ava. The marriage only lasted a few months. His mum was of Italian descent and he speaks fluent Italian. WOW, can’t wait to hear that in all its glory, “Fuck Me” in Italian probably sounds so much better than… Well, “Fuck Me” in English. I will have to Google it. His dad is of English descent but they were both born in Australia. When I start to fidget and yawn, he orders me to bed. I only have the T-shirt Jo has left on the bed to sleep in, my shorts are in the wash. I go into the bathroom to put it on and luckily it is long enough to cover my modesty but still, perhaps I should sleep in my trackies, yes, that’s what I will do. I clean my teeth and head back out to the bedroom and go to climb into bed. Gabriel has no such inhibitions and has stripped down to his jocks as I walk over to the bed. He jumps in first, giving me just a glimpse of his beautiful body.
“Aren’t you going to be hot like that?” He asks with a smile. He knows full well I have no drawers to wear.
“Well yes, I probably will, but as you well know, I am knickerless underneath so I really have no choice”