Chapter Four

For the second time that night, Emily’s breathe caught in her throat. All color washed from her face as Gabriel Specter, the man who had caused her so much pain stepped out of the shadows, suddenly standing in front of her with paint splattered hands.

 "G-good evening-g Mr. Specter," Emily hiccupped. She tried to stop herself from sounding anxious but it was almost impossible. Gabriel gestured, not answering. She gazed upward to try understand that it was the same Gabriel who embarrassed her previously. She felt thescorn bubbling up inside her.

“You’ll refer to me as master from now on.” He said, clicking his tongue in disapproval.

Emily didn’t know how to start. With an apology or more insults? Logic became fantasy. She couldn’t bring herself to apologize for slapping him, but she knew that she needed the money desperately.

She told herself to get a grip, her mother’s life was far more precious than her pride.

She decided to break the silence. “Mr. Specter, sorry Master-” He raised a hand to cut her off.

  "Sit any place you need," Gabriel murmured as he took a seat and began painting on the canvas once more. He remembered all too well how she embarrassed him at his gala and the slap he got for it.

Emily was somewhat astonished to see Gabriel's extraordinary handsomeness, but that didn't necessarily make Emily calmer. His sheer size and masculinity made her feel tiny in comparison. She loathed the way he made her feel, like she was worthless.

He smirked at the thought of sweet revenge. There was a million things he could do to her and yet he was unable to dismiss her beauty, her appeal, and told himself to calm down. After all, he'd met plenty of other beautiful women, some even more endowed than her.

Emily took a full breath, she trusted Gabriel wouldn't contact her yet the other side of her wished in any case, because after all she really needed the money for her mom.

 Fifteen minutes passed without any conversation. Bored, Emily glanced at the blank canvas that was piled in the corner of the room, "May I join in the painting?"

Gabriel was silent for a moment in surprise but finally nodded, he expected her to be intimidated. Emily sat in the corner of the room, some distance from Gabriel.

Her hands shook as she began sketching, she wasn’t going to get accepted, she knew that for god sake she slapped the man in public. She knew this and still hoped the universe would help her in some way.

  Finished sketching, Emily was so busy applying color that she didn't notice Gabriel was standing right behind her.

"You can paint?" Gabriel muttered impressed. Emily almost dropped the brush in her hand, she turned and shook her head slowly.

"Not really," she answered quietly.

"I read your resume, you're a sculptor right?" Gabriel took a cigarette out of his pocket, lit it up, and exhaled slowly. Emily nodded, her hands still busy applying color to her painting.

"What brought you here?" Gabriel asked a little curiously even though he already knew the answer was always about money. He was going to embarrass her and make her pay.

"My mother," Emily answered simply.

Gabriel's brow furrowed, "What?" Emily stopped the movement of her hands, then turned around to look at Gabriel, his steely gaze focused on her. She placed her hand on her stomach to settle her nerves.

"My mom needs to a have spinal cord surgery, I need a lot of money, that's why I'm here," Emily answered, trying to sound firm.

Gabriel was surprised when he heard Emily's reason, he pulled a chair and sat in front of Emily. He stared at Emily for a long time, taking in her doe blue eyes, the freckles splattered over her nose and her side dimple that winked with every word. The more he stared at her, the harder it was to resist her appeal. She looked so young and beautiful.

“How old are you? He asked, placing a finger to his lips.

“I’m twenty-two, why?” She whispered, electricity crackling in the air. She couldn’t take her eyes off him. From the scar that ran down his chin, his light stubble, steely gray eyes and light pink lips. She was mesmerized.  She loathed the man, but she couldn’t resist his appeal, the way his joggers rose dangerously close to his hips. She found her eyes following his every word.

“Because, I’m not about to get sued for taking advantage of a little girl.” He drawled, lifting Emily from her seat into his arms. He was sidetracking, there was something about her that made him lose his cool. He didn’t like it one bit, but yet, he couldn’t resist her. He ran his fingers through her hair.

Emily's body stiffened. She was about to lose her virginity

Emily swallowed hard when she saw Gabriel take off his white shirt which was stained with paint splatters. Gabriel's broad chest with a six-pack abdomen made Emily look away because she was afraid that Gabriel could see how affected she was by his body.

He placed her on the bed softly, like she was going to break. She was pink faced and shaky, she didn’t know what to do. She’d watched porn a few times, but it was meaningless if she never practiced at all.

"So are we going to make love or not?" Gabriel glances at Emily with a seductive look. Emily dared to look up, she stared back at Gabriel's steely eyes and then cleared her throat softly.

"This is my first time..." Emily whispered, her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment.

Gabriel sat up straight, "You're kidding right?" he ask.

Emily shook her head, "I'm still a virgin," she repeated bluntly. 'Olivia should have paid me more,' she mumbled to herself.

 "Haven't you ever been on a date?" Gabriel got off the bed and walked over to Emily who was still sitting on the painting chair.

Emily shrugged, "I'm always too busy trying to make money, dealing with men will just be a waste of my time," she let out, starting to feel more relaxed.

"So I'll be your first?" He muttered more to himself. Emily didn't answer, she was busy calming herself by taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly.

"Do you want some wine?" offered Gabriel, and stepped towards the minibar located in the corner of the room.

"Yeah, that sounds good," Emily replied, she got up from her seat following Gabriel to the minibar stocked with all kinds of alcoholic drinks.

  "Thank you, may I ask you something?" asked Emily after Gabriel poured the wine into her glass.

"Yeah, go ahead," Gabriel shook the wine glass in his hand and sat on the barstool towards Emily who was standing next to him.

   "Do you want children so much that you have to do this kind of thing?" Emily interrogated a little cautiously.

Gabriel snorted, "Olivia wants it, but I don't," his answer made Emily quite stunned.

She frowned in surprise, "Why?"

Gabriel took a sip of his wine slowly, "The same reason as yours, money," Gabriel muttered with a scornful face.

"It's just that your money is for something more useful, while Olivia..." Gabriel didn't finish his sentence. Emily fell silent, digesting Gabriel's statements.

   "Forget it! So are we going to have sex or not? Olivia has CCTV installed everywhere, she'll know if you don't do your job well because my job is just to keep her alive..." Gabriel's face was fierce. Emily frowned again, confused.

“Keeping Olivia alive? What does it mean?”

"I'm very tired, if you’re not ready for this, you’d better get out now, I'm going to bed," Gabriel said with a big yawn, sidestepping her question.

Emily immediately glared, "No!" she shouted as she stood blocking Gabriel who had risen from his seat. Gabriel tilted his head, looking at Emily with his half-drowsy eyes.

 Emily took a deep breath, and with lightning speed, she took off her light yellow dress and threw it on the floor. Gabriel unblinkingly stared at Emily's beautiful body which was only covered by a matching black bra and panties.

She took a step forward until she and Gabriel were only about twenty centimeters away. "Teach me how," Emily whispered, tiptoeing so her breath could be felt in Gabriel's ear.

 There was a burning desire in Gabriel's groin when Emily's lips touched his ear, a strange spark he had never felt before, even when he made love to Olivia. Gabriel's hand went up to touch Emily's moist skin,

"Are you sure about it?" Gabriel whispered as he turned Emily to face him, his hands starting to explore Emily's flat stomach.

Emily closed her eyes, and her breath began to huff, "I've never been so sure before," she could feel Gabriel's fingers starting to rise and touch her tight breasts.

 "Fine if that's what you want..." Gabriel untied Emily's bra and threw it on the bar, his sleepiness vanishing instantly.

Emily sighed softly as Gabriel played with her nipples.

"Today, I will serve you so you don't have bad memories of your first," he whispered, cornering Emily at the bar table as he knelt at her feet.

"May I?" Gabriel asked before he touched the most intimate part of her body. She nodded impatiently. Gabriel pulled down Emily's panties and started to land his tongue there, causing her to moan from the pleasure that made her legs go limp.

 "Now is the time, are you ready to give yourself to me?" Gabriel teased, as he lifted her body and laid her down on the bed.

"Just do it! Why do you keep asking questions?" Emily grumbled. Gabriel grinned, then quickly unzipped his pants.

Fully naked, Gabriel began to bend over Emily and kiss her half-open lips, his hand moving down to touch her hardened nipples. Emily groaned impatiently, her hands searching for Gabriel's intimate part and then urging Gabriel to take her.

And when he did, she screamed. She could feel something warm running down her thigh. But Gabriel continued to move, they gripped each other as they reached the peak of their desires. And when they both finished, he collapsed on top of her.

"How was it?" he asked breathlessly.

Emily blushed, avoiding his beautiful eyes. Gabriel rolled over and lay down next to her.

"Hopefully you’ll get pregnant soon so we don't need to have sex again," Gabriel muttered casually.

Emily took a deep breath, for a moment she forgot that her relationship with Gabriel was only a professional relationship.

"You have a great body," Gabriel praised as he studied Emily's naked body. Emily gulped and then got up from the bed, she felt very awkward talking to Gabriel in this situation.

"Emily!" Gabriel called while Emily was picking up her underwear that was scattered on the floor.

"Yes?" Emily said, hiding behind a canvas, feeling insecure about her naked body.

"I want to paint you," Gabriel said nonchalantly, but enough to take Emily by surprise.

"What did you just say?" Emily asked, unsure of what she was hearing. Gabriel got out of bed, put a towel around his waist, and walked over to Emily who was standing nervously.

 "I want to make you a model for my painting, but you have to be naked, like this," Gabriel said bluntly. Emily held her breath, she knew she shouldn't feel this way, but she couldn't control her pounding heart.

Before Emily could answer, a knock on the door startled them.

"You guys done?"