I take a few steadying breaths, my nails are digging so hard into my palms; I wouldn't be surprised if I've drawn blood. He is right behind me, his arm comes around my chest and he passes me my drink, I take two big gulps.
“Breathe Lauren. Respirare bambino, respiro” he says into my ear, his breath is hot and sounds so sexy, normally, him talking Italian would have me panting and would be sending my pulse rate soaring, instead it does the complete opposite. I lean back into him and just the feeling of his body, his scent, his breath on me, makes me calm. How strange, usually having him so close would have my heart rate soaring but in a moment of stress and tension it changes, he's so attuned to me, always there with what I need, he's like a wonder drug. Fixes all ills. If only I could fix all of this for him, make it go away, like it never happened.
So now he knows that I know and I have to turn around and look at him, will it change things I wonder? Will he be different towards me? Will I be different towards him? I turn and look into his beautiful face, those beautiful eyes and nothing's changed, nothing at all but there is something I have to say. I put down my glass and take hold of his face in my hands, he smiles and pulls my hips into his.
“I love you Gabriel Wilde, I love you so much it scares me to death” I close my eyes and kiss him, slowly, deeply. With every rung out, strung out emotion I have in me, I kiss him. With my heart, my soul I kiss him and with my mouth and my tongue I kiss him.
We open our eyes slowly, it’s a struggle, as usual, I feel drugged. We focus our eyes, glancing all over each other’s faces.
“Fuck Lauren, I want to bury myself balls deep in you and forget about all of this”
“Come on then, let’s go” I wink at him as I speak.
He doesn’t hesitate, he grabs my hand and leads me down stairs to the bedroom we are staying in tonight, but we haven’t escaped unnoticed, we hear Zac calling in a sing song voice,
“We know where you’re going”
It makes us smile, but doesn’t slow us down. He shuts the door behind us and locks it. There is nothing romantic about this union; we both just desperately need sex, right now. Contact, reassurance. I just need to feel him and I think the feeling is mutual. He pushes me back on the bed and unzips one of my boots. We pull my jeans down my thighs, one leg in one leg out, I unbuckle his belt and he pulls his jeans down to his knees, he pulls my knickers to one side and slams into me.
“Fuck Lauren, are you ever not wet?”
“Not when I’m around you baby, now shut up and fuck me”
It’s short and sweet and exactly what we each needed. We giggle like children after as we wriggle up the bed like a pair of crabs together, still joined, trying to reach the box of tissues on the bed side table so we can clean ourselves up. We put our clothes back on and in place and stay lying back on the bed.
“Are we good Lauren?”
I turn my head towards him and smile, how could I not be good after that sweet little orgasm? My insides are still trembling.
“We’re more than good Gabe, we’re fucking perfect” He brushes his knuckles over my cheek.
“I love you Lauren Day, let’s just enjoy ourselves, let's get drunk and put all of this shit away until we are on our own and we can talk properly”
I climb over and straddle him; I hold his face in my hands and kiss him on the mouth.
“I love you Gabriel Wilde, thanks for the fuck, now take me upstairs, get me drunk, and I might let you do it to me again later”
He throws me off him and onto my back on the bed, before pulling me up by my hand; we unlock the door and step out to champagne popping and Gabe’s, brothers, sister and sisters in law all cheering.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Jackie makes her excuses with a headache shortly after the football finishes and goes off to bed. The rest of our night continues raucously. We turn up the music and have a dance once all the younger kids have been put to bed. Zac and Cooper have eight kids between them. Eight! Four each. Zac has two boys and two girls, Cooper also has two of each, including a girl and a boy who are twins!