Page 26 of Desired By you (Always & Forever #3)

“Sorry, can I get the tomato pasta with the buffalo mozzarella?” I pant.

“Are we singing out orders now?” Ali Chuckles and everyone around the table laughs.

My cheeks burn in embarrassment. “No, I’m so excited about this pasta. Yay, carbs,” I say, waving my menu in the air, my voice verging on another whimper.

"I’ll take your...” he reaches for my menu and I grip a hold of it.

“No, please, don’t.” My tone is pleading and desperate, as if he were stealing something of value.

I fan my face with it. I glare at Brad and he winks.

He winks. I’m wound so tightly right now, I don’t know if I want to punch him in his rugged face or beg him to bend me over this table and finish me off.

The waiter nods and informs us he will put our orders through and I breathe a sigh of relief when the buzzing stops and continue to fan my face with the menu. I turn to look at Ali and Ria, both looking at me with confused expressions.

“Are you well?” Ali asks bluntly.

“I’m fine. Just, it’s so hot in here. I think I need some air.” I attempt to rise from my seat, but Brad starts tapping his fork against his glass.

“Gabriella, before you do, I’d just like to say a few words.”

I stare at him, deadpan. Really? Right now? The man of very few words suddenly wants to make a speech at the dinner table after tormenting me for the past thirty minutes.

“I’m not one for words, but I just wanted to wish Jack and Ria a happy holiday with your beautiful family.

I hope it’s the trip you have been wishing for.

Harry, I’m gonna miss your shit banter, so don’t stay in London too long.

” Everyone laughs and suddenly my heart swells.

I truly believe he means every word he’s saying.

“And, Ali, I’ll miss your sharp tongue while you’re away, and don’t worry, I’ll keep a close eye on our Gabby girl. I’ll take good care of her.” Ali wraps her arm around me and pulls me towards her.

“You better. We’ve never left her this long,” she says, making a sad face.

“Hey, I’m gonna be fine,” I assure her.

“I know, but let Brad take care of you, okay. If you need him, you call him,” she says sternly.

“I will,” I agree, with a slight roll of my eyes.

“Okay, no more, or I’ll start crying, and so will Harry and Jack,” Ali jokes, fanning her face with her hands. Jack and Harry give her a disgruntled looks and she blows them both a kiss.

I think my torture is over when it’s been a solid five minutes without any vibrations and I’m left with a heavy ache in my core, one so uncomfortable I need to do something about it before I burst.

I think about leaving, but the waiter appears with my wine, and as I go to thank him, a strong vibration zaps through me that has me up and out of my seat.

“I need to pee,” I declare, louder than needed, my words falling out on a strangled moan.

“Okay, Gabs, are you sure you’re okay?” Jack asks, eyeing me suspiciously.

“I’m great, chat among yourselves, I’m gonna go, erm, pee, and you chat. Yes. You chat, I’ll pee,” I say, pointing to them and then myself. I don’t wait for any of them to comment on my ramblings. I hurry to the bathroom on shaky legs, the vibrations continuing, making the walk difficult.

I burst through the bathroom door, not taking in any of the décor, and hurry into a bathroom stall.

The vibrator, now stuck on what I presume is high, continues to buzz and the part that’s over my clit is pulsing.

I think about leaving it in, ride this wave, and falling apart in this bathroom stall, but I refuse to have an orgasm here. Not like this.

I yank down my leather pants, pushing my hand in between my legs, hooking my finger and thumb around the tail of the vibrator, my fingers are instantly coated with my hot arousal and I wince. Dear God, I am a mess.

I pull it free, relief instantly flooding me, but the vibrator falls between my fingers, hitting the floor and sliding under the bathroom stall. My eyes widen in horror and I crouch down, sticking my hands underneath, but I can’t find it. Panic floods my body.

“Oh, shit.” I pull up my pants at lightning speed, open the door and frantically search the floor of the ladies' bathroom for my pink shrimp-shaped vibrator. My eye catches something next to the trash can under the sink.

Come on universe, throw me a bone.

I do something that would send my germophobic mother into a spin. I get down my hands and knees and lean to reach the vibrator. I’m so close to touching it, but the sound of my name startles me and I hit my head on the cabinet.

“Ouch,” I yelp.

“What are you doing?” I back up, still on my hands and knees, and look up at Ria and Ali above me, foreheads furrowed, mouths agape.

Well, Gabriella, this may be rock bottom. You’re on all fours, in a restaurant bathroom, reaching for a vibrator. How are you going to explain this one?

“Ha Ha, I’m fine. I dropped my phone.” I clutch the sink and heave myself up, catching a glimpse of my flushed face and disheveled hair.

“Seriously, are you okay? You don’t seem yourself tonight,” Ria asks, concern in her voice.

“Yes, I’m fine. I, uh, got my period. I just have some cramps,” I say, turning on the faucet and scrubbing my hands like a surgeon preparing for surgery.

“You got your period?” Ali questions.

“Yes,” I reply.

“But we have the same cycles, and we just finished our period last week.”

Oh shit, she’s right. I turn off the faucet and reach for a fancy hand towel from the basket beside the sink to dry them.

“I’m having another one,” I declare, praying they will believe my lie.

“Another one?” Ali asks, folding her arms and eyeing me curiously. Not believing any of my bullshit.

“Yeah, that happens sometimes,” I state.

“I don’t think it does, Gabs. Maybe you should see a doctor,” Ria suggests.

“I will, I’ll call tomorrow.” I begin to breathe a little easier, hoping they believe my lie when the vibrator begins buzzing. Ria looks around and my eyes widen as I pray the damn thing doesn’t buzz its way out from under the countertop.

“There’s that buzzing again. Seriously, can no one else hear it? Am I going mad?” Ria asks.

“I think that is my phone. Silly me. I’ve left it in the stall. You two go back and I’ll be right out.”

I walk back into the stall and close the door.

“I’ll be out in a minute.” I wait for them to leave and sag against the wall.

I hate lying to them. It’s not that I don’t think they will understand or be supportive, of course they would.

I just don’t really know what this even is.

I need to figure this all out before I invite anyone else into this mess and make sense of it.

The walls of the bathroom suddenly feel like they are closing in on me.

I need some air. I need to get out of here.

The burning ache in my core, the weight of my lies, is all becoming too much.

I need space to breathe and to think. I open the bathroom stall, forgetting all about the rogue vibrator that lies on the floor, and leave the bathroom.

I double step to the side exit and walk on shaky legs into the alley beside the restaurant.

Jesus, I’m a mess.

I need to get home and deal with it immediately before I do something I will regret in the morning. I’ll make an excuse, continue with my cramp story, and get a cab. Yes, great idea.

Just as I reach into my pocket for my phone, the door swings open and out steps Brad, undressing me with his eyes as he stalks toward me. A big, fat grin spreads across his insanely hot face.

“You doing okay out here, Gabriella… need a hand?” he says with a wink, making me squeeze my legs together to suppress the pressure that’s building.

I press my hands to his hard chest and try to step past him as I say, “No, thank you. I think you’ve done quite enough for one evening, I’m going…

” My words are cut short when he pushes my hips to the wall with one hand, and captures my hands in his other hand, pinning them above my head.

“Oh, I’ve not even started yet, baby girl.”

A woosh of air escapes my lungs, leaving me breathless as he presses his hot mouth to my neck. A whimper escapes me. “I need to get home,” I pant.

“No, you’re going to finish yourself off, and I’m going to watch.” His tone is low and heated.

My eyes widen, and my heart thumps erratically.

“W-what, out here?” I stammer.

“Yes,” he drawls.

“But, but someone might see.”

“I’ll cover you. No one will see but me.”

My body vibrates at his words and the idea of doing this. Can I do this? No, I can’t do this. But this is what I wanted. I’m done being scared, little Gabby.

I swallow what feels like a large cotton ball and nod my head slowly.

He releases my hands and steps back just enough to watch me reach for the button on my pants.

I pop it open and then slowly pull down the zipper.

My eyes follow his tattooed covered hands as they reach into his pocket and retrieve a packet of cigarettes and a lighter.

A flame lights the space between us and I watch in fascination as he brings the cigarette to his mouth, wishing his mouth was on me instead.

My eyes flicker up to his. They are full of heat and desire and it’s the only encouragement I need to slip my hand inside, and as I do, he exhales a long, slow breath, the smoke feels as if it were cloaking us like a blanket, making us invisible to the rest of the world, and that image gives me the courage to begin moving my fingers towards the waistband of my trousers and move down.

“Good girl,” he says on a raspy breath. My own breath catches in my throat when my fingers meet my clit and I begin to move them.

I am so close already; this won’t take long. He’s been edging me all evening. I close my eyes as the pressure from earlier returns, and with every movement, it intensifies, and my thighs quiver.

He braces his arm above me, shielding me from anyone passing.

“Does this turn you on, naughty girl? Getting yourself off, knowing anyone could catch you?”

I gasp, my back arching away from the wall when his thumb brushes my painfully hard nipple through the fabric of my top.

“Please, I... I need you to do I, I beg, my fingers slowing their assault on my swollen nub.

He takes another drag of his cigarette, leaning his head back as he blows out the smoke.

“You can beg all you want, Mia cara, but I’m not letting you go until you make yourself come, and you know, they’ll come looking for us soon, so I’d move those fingers a little quicker if I were you. Unless…” He covers his hand with mine, guiding my fingers up and down over my clit.

“You like an audience when you come. In which case, take your time. I’ve got all night.”

Oh my god, Brad is hot, but dirty talking, looking at me like he wants to devour me Brad is sinful and it spurs me on. I quicken my pace, locking my eyes with his dark, whiskey ones, until my core tightens and a singular word has me gripping his jacket as I free fall.

“Come.”

My head falls back against the brick wall and my desperate pants echo around us. My chest heaves and I think I could come again from the way he's looking at me with his hooded eyes.

“Sei cosi bella cosi, amore mio,” he purrs, brushing the tip of his nose with mine. I know enough Italian to know what he just said, and it sends my heart racing.

“You look so beautiful like this, my love.”