Page 24 of A Mistake of Identity
He’d just have to worry about what came next later.
Gabriel
Three days of carefully controlled touches, of Ellis writhing beneath his hands twice daily as Gabriel applied Dr. Nguyen’s prescription healing cream, had left him perpetually on edge. The quarterly projections sprawled across the conference room’s main screen, numbers and charts that should have had his full attention. Instead, his eyes kept drifting to his tablet, counting the hours until the final treatment. Tonight, there would be no need to hold back.
Dr. Nguyen’s test results for Ellis and Jean filled his tablet screen. Ellis was clean, completely clean, and Gabriel shifted in his leather chair as heat pooled in his gut at the implications. Once the evening’s treatment was complete, he could take Ellis bare, feel every inch of him with nothing between them. Fill him up with his cum. Breed him...
“Gabriel?” Henri’s voice cut through his thoughts. His brother stood at the head of the conference table, one eyebrow raised. “The Q2 projections?”
“Are optimistic. We had quite an impressive Q4 last year and Q1. Eventually, it will slow down,” he said as if he’d followed along the entire time. Henri, his brother, and CFO scowled at him but turned back to the projections display, rattling on about how wrong Gabriel was in his assumptions that they were slowing down.
Gabriel ignored him. His tablet buzzed with another message from Annabelle, the third one today:“Don’t make me come down there. The boys need CLOTHES. Proper ones.”
He’d delegated Jean to Lucas days ago. His friend and Personal Assistant seemed amused by the teenager’s defiance, treating Jean’s daily attempts to escape the grounds like an entertaining training exercise for the security. The man was keeping score. So far, Gabriel’s highly trained security remained undefeated.
The antibiotics Dr. Nguyen prescribed for the boy would be Lucas’s problem, too. Apparently, Jean had been reckless during his three-month rebellion.
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But Ellis... Gabriel shifted again, remembering how his little bird had trembled under his hands during the morning’s treatment, the way he’d bitten back moans as Gabriel worked the healing cream into sensitive flesh. Three days of seeing Ellis spread out on their bed, having to maintain clinical detachment while touching him so intimately... Gabriel was grateful for the conference table hiding his growing erection.
“Have Jacob order proper clothes for Ellis,”he typed back to Annabelle.“For now, he can keep wearing mine.”
The reply was immediate:“Everything is too large for him.”
Gabriel’s lips curved into a slight smile. His petit oiseau had been swimming in Gabriel’s shirts these past days, drowning in fabric that carried Gabriel’s scent. The sight of Ellis in his clothes had been its own kind of torment.
“That will do for now,”he responded, then forced his attention back to the meeting.
Or tried to. All he could think about was Ellis in bed, wearing his clothes, waiting for him.
“If you’re done sexting your latest conquest,” Henri drawled, “perhaps we could return to the fiscal projections?” His brother’s words and the edge in his voice made the other C-Suite Executives shift uncomfortably in their seats. But Gabriel met Henri’s gaze steadily, letting the silence stretch until his brother looked away first.
“By all means,” Gabriel said, his voice carrying just enough warning to make Henri’s jaw clench. “The projections.”
The rest of the meeting proceeded without incident, though Gabriel noted every subtle jab Henri tried to land. When the C-Suite filed out, he caught his brother’s eye. “My office.”
Henri followed him into his office, slouching into one of the leather chairs across from Gabriel’s desk. “What now?”
Gabriel settled into his chair, studying his brother. “Jean Saint-Clair. You’re close with his brother, aren’t you?”
The question seemed to catch Henri off guard. He straightened slightly. “Marc? Yeah. Why?”
“How is Jean doing? At school?”
“He’s fine. Some fancy reform program in Sweden before university next year.” Henri’s brow furrowed. “I haven’t seen him in months. Why do you care?”
Gabriel kept his expression neutral. “I’ve received reports suggesting he’s not in Sweden at all.”
“Maybe it was Denmark.” Henri waved his hand dismissively, but there was tension in the gesture. “Or Norway. One of those places. They’re all the same, aren’t they? Is that really what you called me in here for?”
“No.” Gabriel leaned back. “Your behavior in the board meetings this week has been inappropriate. We can’t afford to appear divided, especially not in front of the rest of the C-Suite.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Did I embarrass you?” Henri’s smile was cruel. “Should I have pretended not to notice you mentally undressing your latest acquisition during our fiscal review?”
“You missed our meeting Tuesday evening.”
“I was busy.”
