Chloe“Aaah!” an ear-piercing scream shook the ground I was standing on or, better yet, the bed I was lying on.Fret for my bare life yanked me out of the sweetest dream the world had ever known, and I propelled from my soft sheets into a sitting position.Bright lights from the ceiling blinded me, and I squinted, trying to locate the source of the alarm. But I didn’t have to bother.“Oh, my Gooood! I’m bliiiind! I did not need to see this.” Gina’s frantic voice brought a wave of clarity, and I realized we were not in danger.But she didn’t stop! Oh, like, could she ever?“I need bleach!” she whined like a lost puppy. “I need to wash the sting out.”“Gina? What the fuck?” I croaked, every word I spoke felt like sandpaper against my throat.At that moment, memories from last night rushed through my head, and I remembered my date with Gabriel. Blood boiled in my veins, sending a flood of heat to my cheeks in response to the flashes of moments we shared.“Good morning, Gina. It’s nice to
GabrielShe came into my life unexpectedly, like a cold storm on a hot summer day, destroying everything in her way.I never had a chance against her cataclysmic nature; she had broken all of my defenses without me noticing, and I was left helpless to fall deeper and deeper into the abyss of her enchantment.Chloe.Woman that had me on my knees, begging for more.I could die a thousand deaths and endure the greatest torture over and over again if it meant I could have her by my side, soothing the eternal thirst for her.Gabriel from a year ago would laugh at what I had become. No, he would’ve punched me in the face! He would try to force sense through my tick scull!But I?I wasn’t willing to resist the call. What’s more, I had succumbed to it even before I could recognize it for what it was – an irresistible siren’s song meant to take me to the bottom of the sea.“Wipe that moronic smile off your face!” Ryan barged into my office without knocking, snapping me out of my daydreams abo
Chloe“Have you been performing dark magic rituals upstairs?” Simon hissed at me one day, and I froze in my track.“What?” I wheezed. Images of the time I shared with Gabriel in my apartment flashed through my mind, and my heart picked up its pace.He couldn’t have known about the activities Gabe and I have been engaging in, and although there was no black magic involved, the experience was borderline supernatural.“Have you seen our list of orders?” he grabbed the book from the stand and threw it across the room, barely missing my head!“What the fuck is wrong with you, Simon?” I screamed at him, not caring about who might hear.It was true I wasn’t as present in the workshop as I used to be before Gabriel and I became a thing, but I never neglected my obligations. I was still the first to open up and the last to leave, but since our staff numbers increased, I didn’t stay until midnight to finish the orders because we managed everything without delays.Plus, I didn’t want to trade my
ChloeAfter a lot of thinking, I could say with utmost certainty that Gabriel’s presence in my life pulled a leg for me.If I forgot about the incident that brought us together to begin with, then I could not remember any event that did not fill my heart with happiness.First, there were these unforgettable moments we’d been spending together. Somehow, no matter how busy he must’ve been, Gabe always made sure to devote himself to me. Since we ‘hit it off,’ only a few nights we spent separately – he at his place and I at mine.And second, my business exploded. And I mean a literal nuclear blast! I failed to see it for what it was at the beginning, and that scared the shit out of me because it had never happened to me to miss such an important thing before. But nothing changed the fact that we were flooded with orders so much we had to make a waitlist.Besides, Gina’s life took a drastic turn, too. Hell, she was about to get married to the man she had been madly in love with for years.
ChloeThe young woman standing in front of me didn’t have to be introduced to me to know exactly who she was.Her doe-like grey eyes were all too familiar. They were the same as the ones I saw each morning when I woke up, and I would recognize them in a million.“Vanessa,” Gabriel grunted, displeasure in his voice setting on fire the alarms in my body, making me stiff as if facing a beast from my worst nightmare.Breath hitched in my throat as her eyes strayed from mine.“Brother.” Her chest rose as she sighed, the beautiful silver sequined dress glinted under the bright lights. “Introducing your girlfriend to the public before your own family? Really?” She scolded him poisonously. “I expected more from you after what you did last time.”I didn’t know what to do or what to say. Being in the middle of a family feud was not something I wanted. To my surprise, Gabriel turned to me, ignoring his sister completely.“Nessa is delightful, as always.” Sarcasm seeped through his every pore. I
ChloeHm… waking up enveloped in the musky, fresh smell of Gabriel’s cologne was… outworldly? Heavenly?No matter the term, it always affected me the same – it made me feel like I belonged.It was crazy being so entranced by Gabe; I was well aware of that. I didn’t spend enough time with him, that was true. Yet, I felt like I had known him for years. I liked to believe I could read him like an open book, just as he seemed to read me.Too often, I’d catch myself thinking about the future, and each time, in every scenario, I wasn’t alone – Gabriel Miller was by my side. Smiling, hot as hell, supportive, through thick and thin, but also angry and grim, or mad… young and old.I was afraid to say out loud just how far gone I was. He crawled so deep under my skin that I wasn’t sure whether it was possible to be free of him again.“Wake up, sleepyhead.” whisper I adored tickled my earlobe, waking up every cell of my drowsy body. “I got you breakfast.”What? That was the first!I was always t
ChloeIt didn’t take me long to get used to thinking about myself as Gabriel’s girlfriend.On the contrary, it came naturally to me, like hearing him addressing me with the title for the first time wasn’t a surprise at all. Though, it was a surprise because we never really talked about our status. But as the initial ‘shock’ wore off, I found myself enjoying the role of Gabriel Miller’s girlfriend.‘Gonna be stuck in the office late. Should I pick up Tai for dinner?’ my phone lit up with a notification, and I only glanced at it since my hands were covered in butter and flour.Ten minutes later, the croissants were in the oven, my fingertips were clean, so I hurried to send Gabe a confirmation.Maybe it was the aftereffect of the circumstances under which we met, but Gabriel was always up for spending the night at my place. In fact, I couldn’t remember the last time he had slept in his bed. Probably not since the gala when he took me there and gifted me the keys. I didn’t mind our sleep
Chloe“Hey, you’re early!” Getting out of the shower and seeing Gabriel serving dinner was the most pleasant surprise. “I didn’t expect you for another hour at least.”I wanted to relax before he arrived, but I never had a chance to have the drink my tense nerves craved.Gabe placed the plates on the club table before he nonchalantly strolled across the living room, closing the distance between us. His hand found its way around my waist, and he used it to pull me into him. He didn’t need to use much force, though. My body gravitated towards him on its own accord.His lips slammed onto mine, capturing them in a toe-curling kiss. Warm tongue twirled along the rim of my mouth, seeking permission to enter, and I could do nothing but grant all his wishes. We danced with the music our hearts played in unintentional sync, the rhythm making us blind to everything except each other – the entire world could’ve burned down to dust, and we wouldn’t have noticed a thing.“I wrapped things up early
ChloeTen months laterTaking the last stroll through the new workshop, I made sure everything was set in place for tomorrow.The big day was coming, and I was reaching my patience limits. Although I double-checked that we didn’t miss a thing and that the plan for the opening was followed to the letter, I still caught myself expecting a catastrophic flaw to jump at me from the corner and destroy everything I had worked hard for.But the arm that wrapped around my waist chased away my doubts. And the kiss that captured my lips took me to heaven.“You promised to take it easy.” Gabe scolded me as I dived deeper into his embrace.“I’m just checking for the last time. My new crew is coming in tomorrow, and I want no lags in the production.”To my surprise, Gabe chuckled and tightened his hold on me. “For someone unwilling to expand their business, you seem eager to see it live now.”And I truly was. Somehow, the push Simon made with intentional overbooking and the support I got from Gabe
ChloeDecember was kind to us.As if some higher power was watching over me and ordering the rain to stay away, the first ten days of the month were the best I remembered since I came to live in LA. Skies were perfectly cloudless, and winds were unusually mild; nature conspired to give me the wedding I desired - an intimate ceremony with only the closest friends and family members gathered on the beach behind Gabe’s house.Our intention to get married as soon as possible did cause a few questioning glares and assumptions about the reason for the rush, but Gabe and I didn’t care. All we wanted was to say our vows and take one more step towards the future we wished to build for ourselves.With the set date nearing, my nervousness grew. Was it cold feet, I wondered. No. It, most definitely, was not. What’s more, I couldn’t wait to be the lawfully wedded wife of Gabriel Miller. Because there was no point in waiting. Everything that happened to us from the moment our destinies crossed path
Chloe“I was wrong.” The calmness coloring Gina’s voice scared the hell out of me. “I shouldn’t have tried to kill Miller for driving my best friend out of the city.” My eyes were glued to her form as she swung the glass of champagne and bottomed it up before her mask of indifference fell off, and she turned into a fuming beast. “I should’ve beat the shit out of you for being so fucking stupid! What is wrong with you, Chloe? Giving up the love of your life because of some trust fund bitch!…”“Hey! I had not-”“Wait! You tried to kill my brother?” a giggle interrupted my futile attempt at defense, and I folded in front of two women who joined their forces against me.“Yeah. But unlike my friend here,” she pointed a finger in my direction. “Your brother stood his ground proudly!”Sighing in defeat, I leaned in the jacuzzi and relaxed into the bubbles, but I couldn’t help the memories from running through my head. Indeed, the clash of my favorite titans was epic - Gina aimed for Gabe’s t
ChloeI wasn’t sure what I expected to find when we arrived at my apartment, but whatever it was - it wasn’t there.There was no chaos, no debris left at the foundation of my building, no paparazzi lurking in the neighborhood. Everything was… normal.After we landed at LAX, Gabe drove us to my place. Conveniently, his suitcase was in the trunk, and he wasted no time unloading it, taking me up on my old offer to move in. I helped him unpack and hang his suits and shirts on the racks, and as we worked together, side by side, I wondered if we would always be like this because I didn’t want it to stop.Even when we shared the sink while brushing our teeth or showering while getting ready for bed, our moves were synced to perfection as we had practiced them for decades and not a mere few months. But I wanted it no other way. If this time we spent together was any indicator of how our lives would be, I couldn’t wait for the rest of it to come.~ ~ ~“Oh, boss! We didn’t expect you so soon.”
Chloe“Little bit to the left!” I yelled from the ground as I navigated Gabriel’s hand on the roof while he tried to clean the clog in the rain gutter. “More… more…! There!”If anyone ever told me that the most handsome man I’ve known would be balancing on the short ladder, trying to reach a pile of leaves and branches while I shouted instructions, I would’ve never believed it! What’s more, I would’ve laughed.But here we were.For three days after he put the diamond on my hand, we were doing chores around the cottage, fixing whatever needed to be fixed, and we talked. A lot.No matter how many times Gabe denied my accusation of being the biggest romantic in the world, his words and actions never disappointed me but only proved I was right.That was why I had such a hard time reconciling Gabriel I loved, with the one that wanted to marry Molly. Even imagining him being ready to settle for anything less than what we had was… not a pleasant thing to think about.Then again, weren’t we a
Chloe“Grrrh… just a few more minutes!” I snuggled deeper into Gabe’s chest, relishing the scent of his skin.A tempting groan sent shivers down my spine, arousing my still-sensitive body; the night behind us was scorching hot despite the smell of snow in the air.“We need to get something to eat.”At the mere mention of food, my stomach started complaining loudly, invoking a wholehearted laugh from Gabe.“See? I have to feed you.”“There’s no delivery here.” I couldn’t help but tease him about his inability to prepare a simple meal. “But there is some food in the fridge; I‘ll fix us something.”I tried to get up, but Gabriel’s arms tightened around me, pulling me impossibly closer, and I could do nothing but comply - I didn’t get enough of him to compensate for the time I was without him.Now that things between us were clear, the silence was comfortable again. Lulled by the slightly fastened heartbeats that resonated inside his chest, I let my thoughts float freely.But no matter ho
ChloeI didn’t remember falling asleep; being in the arms of the man I loved with all my heart did wonders for my sleeping habits. Without recalling how I ended up on the soft makeshift bed in front of the fireplace, I woke up rested and energized - with a million questions and a few apologies waiting.Panic hit me when I failed to feel his heat - could it all have been a dream? Was it just a symptom of my addiction to him? A part of coming down from the high and clearing him out of my system? But my fear was short-lived as the refreshing coffee aroma filled the room and reached my nostrils, chasing away my doubts.Gabriel was here. He found me. He came for me… he loved me.“You’re awake! Good.” He urged me to make space for him, and I shifted, leaning against the old couch.A moment later, Gabriel was nested beside me, offering me one of the mugs I accepted gladly.A few sips of steaming black liquid to clear my thoughts were all I allowed myself before I spoke.“I’m sorry, Gabe.” I
Chloe“I know you can hear me, Chloe!” Gabriel roared as I stood in place, petrified, unable to move. “I won’t repeat myself!”I was never scared of him, not even when he confronted me that first morning he woke up in my home. And I had to admit that wasn’t the most pleasant sight.But now? Now it was a different story altogether.The door separating us was no obstacle to the waves of rage that rolled off him and struck me, shaking the ground I was standing on. I shivered in fear and anticipation at the same time as I reached for the knob; there was no doubt in my mind that the thin wood would end up scattered around in splinters if I didn’t comply with his demand.‘Man up, Chloe! It’s not some psycho killer there, but Gabriel! The man you love!’ so I pulled the handle.My eyes landed on the fuming figure, partially concealed by darkness, adding more weight to the anvil pressing my heart.Waiting for no invitation, Gabe stormed inside and shut the door behind him, locking them swiftly
ChloeTo say that I regretted not coming to the lake more often would be an understatement of the year! Or at least hiring an agency to clean the cottage occasionally. Because this? This was a total disaster!If anyone told me before I arrived that so much dust could exist in one place, I would’ve laughed loudly! But the dust did not laugh back at me.Not wasting any time, I pulled the heavy curtains to the side, revealing windows and letting light in. Rain was still drizzling, but the Sun chased away the clouds, silently promising a change of weather.As I assessed my surroundings and planned what to do first, coldness seeped through my clothes and raised my skin in goosebumps. I shivered and remembered the basement; some dry firewood should be stored there.A few moments later, I was walking down the stairs of the place that scared the shit out of me when I was a kid. Today? Well, I would lie if I said I was indifferent to the creatures that could be hiding in the shadows. But someo