Page 31 of Devotion

I have to swallow off a moan of deep pleasure as he guides me to a faster, deeper rhythm. His hands on my head feel strong. Forceful.

Needy.

He takes a ragged breath when I manage to get him a little farther down my throat. His thighs and abdomen muscles are all so tense they’re shuddering slightly. “Okay,” he mumbles a few times in response to the ramble on the other end of the call. “Okay.”

Each time he says the word, it sounds raspier and more urgent.

He’s getting close now. I check his face and am pleased to see he’s staring down at me possessively even as he’s maintaining a semblance of the phone conversation.

Without warning, his back arches dramatically and his mouth falls open in a silent cry of pleasure. He pushes my face against his groin and rocks his hips into my mouth.

I’m really fighting not to make any sounds. I’m so excited I desperately need to whimper and moan.

“Okay,” he says in a hoarse rush. “Let me find those numbers for you and call you right back.”

The other person must have agreed because Gabriel clumsily hangs up the phone, fumbling before he manages to get it secured on the base.

He’s rocking enthusiastically into my mouth now, groaning uninhibitedly as he finally lets himself go. Then he comes, holding my head in place so he can ejaculate down my throat, gasping out, “Yes. Take me. Take all of me. Don’t stop.”

I suck him through the spurts of his climax and then keep sucking even after he’s fully spent. He doesn’t move for a few minutes after his body has finally relaxed, caressing my head and still making soft, lingering moans as if he’s really feeling good.

When he finally lets go of my head, I straighten up, smiling at him as I tuck him back in his trousers and zip and button him up. “Now you should feel better,” I say, feeling and sounding quite pleased.

He gives a tired chuckle and looks like a whole new man as he collapses back in his chair, rumpled and flushed and almost smiling.

He pats my bottom as I stand up to my bed. “Thank you, Jess.”

“You’re welcome.”

“You were right,” he adds as I linger by his desk. “I did need that.”

“I know you did. Thank you for letting me give it to you.”

Two days later,I wake up after Gabriel has gone down for his swim.

It’s winter now, so it’s completely dark outside. For a minute the familiar room—the scent of the air, the glow of the artificiallight, the sight of Gabriel’s empty bed with rumpled covers—all feels weird and foreign. Unnatural.

Unreal.

Like I’ve been living in a dream and real life exists somewhere beyond the fuzzy boundaries of my mind.

The surreal experience passes quickly, so I shake myself off and get up to go to the bathroom. I shower while I’m in there, and then I walk naked out into the main room to pick out one of my dresses from my closet.

I have six of them now, thanks to Gabriel’s generosity. It usually takes partners several years to collect so many.

Something out of place strikes me as I walk across the room, and I figure out what it is after I’ve slipped on a pretty blue dress. I step over to the dining table.

Set on the surface is a small box wrapped in red paper.

Frowning, I pick it up. There’s a small note card tucked into the gold ribbon, and on the card is one word.JESS.

It must be for me.

I study it for a long time, admiring the perfectly folded sides and the neatly squared-off corners of the paper.

Unsure of what to do, I bring it over to my window seat and sit down, holding the package in my lap.

Gabriel must have left it on the table this morning. Who else could have had access to our room? If my family had a gift for me, they would present it in person. And today isn’t my birthday.

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