Page 36 of Corrupted Empire

But for how long?

Gabriel lifts Harry from my lap and bounces him up and down, still whispering in his ear. I scoot closer and rub my hand over Harry’s back in circles. Harry’s cries turn to choked sobs, then to whimpers, and finally, he slumps into Gabriel’s chest, eyes closed, lips parted.

It has been so long since I’ve seen Harry asleep in Gabriel’s arms. The sight of it nearly draws tears to my eyes, and I blink them away while Gabriel’s head is lowered against Harry’s. I don’t want him to see me react like this. Gabriel responds to strength, and if I am going to convince him that we can make this work, I need to present the strongest version of myself.

“Gabriel,” I say.

He looks up.

“Do you have Jessica on standby?”

Jessica was Harry’s nanny when we lived in the mansion. It’s a long shot that he would have brought her back in for this visit, just in case, but the question is worth asking.

Gabriel blinks. “Yes. She’s here.”

“Good.” My lips curve in a wicked smile. I bat my eyelashes seductively. “Call her.”

His eyes darken as the lust blooms within them. He pulls out his phone.

* * *

The door to Gabriel’s bedroom slams back on its hinges as he pushes me through. His mouth works feverishly against mine, deepening the kiss. He kisses me like he owns me, like his tongue and lips and teeth are staking claim to my mouth, while his hands claim my body. I missed this. I missed the way his fingers sink into my skin, missed the way he rumbles an approving growl as I skim my fingers down his chest, missed the tug of his fist in my hair.

The room is just as bare as I remember it. Utilitarian, almost. Gabriel flings me onto the immaculately made bed without ceremony, and I push up on my elbows and watch as he undresses.

“Take your clothes off,” he orders, tossing his shirt to the floor.

My eyes carve a hungry path over his muscled chest, rippling abs, and the delicious V that leads into the top of his pants. I lick my lips.

In one fluid movement, Gabriel is above me, kneeling on the bed with one knee wedged between my legs and a hand pinning me to the mattress by my throat. His eyes bore into mine.

“I told you to take your clothes off,” he growls.

He grinds his knee into me, and my eyes roll back in pleasure. Then his weight is gone, and he stands at the foot of the bed and unzips his pants.

“Don’t make me tell you again,” he warns.

I begin to hurriedly undress, tugging off my jeans in a way that I’m sure is anything but sexy. Yet the way Gabriel looks at me, with fire in his eyes, makes me feel like the sexiest woman on the planet.

I have made it down to my underwear by the time Gabriel pulls down his tight boxer shorts, and I sit up and pause to watch his thick cock bob free. It’s long, with a bulbous purple head that I have wrapped my lips around many times. A moan drifts through my open lips as I stare at it.

I realize Gabriel is watching me, and when I look up, he is smirking.

“I should make you beg for it,” he tells me, walking closer. “I should tie you up and tease you until you can’t take it anymore, until you plead with me to fill you with my cock.”

I swallow. His words stroke over me like feathers, causing my hairs to stand on end.

“Do you want to know why I’m not going to do that, Tiger?” Gabriel asks, squatting down so that we are at the same level. His dark eyes search mine.

“Why?” I ask breathlessly.

Gabriel’s hand comes to my cheek, almost tenderly. “Because the only thing I want more than to hear you beg for my cock is to give it to you so hard that you can’t even speak.” He sweeps one of his arms under my legs and uses it to roll me onto my stomach.

I let out a squeak of surprise. My core throbs with need, and I’m so glad that Gabriel isn’t going to make me wait.

Gabriel roughly pushes me up the bed, hiking my hips into the air and pressing me into the sheets with a hand on my back. He bends over me, and I feel his bulge against my ass. I wiggle into him and feel a low rumble where his chest meets my back.

Gabriel’s lips come to my ear. “But first, I need to teach you a little lesson,” he murmurs. “Because I’m pretty sure I told you to take your fucking clothes off.”

---