“You may kiss,” Mr. Johnson said.
Gabriel was suddenly very close. Bigger. His eyes seeming to turn a dark, hunter green. He was asking her a silent question, one she couldn’t interpret, let alone answer.
The heat of his palm settled against the side of her neck. The width of his chest blocked out the world while his head came down.
She had wondered about kissing. There had been one, a very long time ago. It had been wet and off-putting and—
Conscious thought disappeared as the smooth heat of his lips grazed hers, once, twice. It caused a buzzing sensation, almost ticklish. Maddening. She found herself pressing into her toes, rising so her mouth more firmly met his, soothing the crazed feeling and suddenly his lips were fully sealed over hers.
Surprise held them both still for one heartbeat. Then his mouth moved in a lazy, curious taste of hers, parting her lips with the movement. Fireworks detonated under her skin and exploded against her closed eyelids.
A gasp caught in her throat, but it was the shock of having so many sensations accost her. His faint taste of bitter, black kopi, the scent of his aftershave on his smooth cheek, the sweep of his tongue that somehow sent a wrecking ball into her middle and another into her pounding heart.
She splayed a hand over his chest. His kiss grew more devouring. She found herself squeezed up against the solid wall of his chest. His hard arms felt strangely good, if overwhelming. She was barely aware of what she was doing, moving her mouth against his out of instinct. Her arms unfurled to twine around his neck and she let her weight rest more fully against him as a drugged lassitude kept her in this wonderful place. She wanted to do this forever, mouth sliding against mouth, easing slightly then coming back with a deeper hunger. It was glorious.
He lifted his head and a noise of loss caught in her throat. His hands moved to her upper arms and he set her back a step, expression smoothed to something unreadable. He turned his head to look at Mr. Johnson. “Thank you.”
It was like a bucket of cold water. Her head was still swimming, but she figured out that their kiss had been for the benefit of their small audience, not something that had affected him the way it had affected her.
“Collect your things,” he said. “We’ll leave shortly.”
She nodded dumbly, not looking at anyone. It was starting to hit her that she had placed her future into the hands of a man with far more power than her mother’s strident urging for her to win prize money or Mae’s dictatorial demands.
Gabriel was master of everything he touched, including her. She had used up all her bravado yesterday—and played every card she had. Since then, she had actually discarded and folded a few. She had deactivated most of her insurance policies and had no doubt he would be able to hack into his own system within days. Then what would she be? Useless again.
And once again in a foreign land without a friend in the world.
At least here, she had her feet planted. The moment she left, she would be at his mercy.
Maybe she should stay, she thought with a wild rush of cowardice, hand shaking as she pushed her few things into a bag. Then she stared at the paltry evidence of her life here. With force of habit, her hand went to the front of her skirt, but failed to find the patch pockets where she kept a smooth stone she had found in the garden years ago.
It was on the night table and she dropped it into the bag.
Would the fish miss her throwing a handful of crumbs into the pond each morning? Would anyone miss her once she left here?
Gabriel was at the front door, seeing the men out. She went along to Mae’s office where she started to unplug the laptop, but checked first to see if he had made any progress breaking in.
Not that she could tell. She confirmed that this week’s payroll figures had been entered by all the department heads, then double-checked them and ensured the balances were available to cover it before she hit the keys that finalized the process.
Then she clicked over to market numbers. The announcement about Mrs. Chen’s hospitalization might have caused a sell-off if the news hadn’t been accompanied by the identity of her surprise grandson taking over. That had caused a rush to buy into some of her ventures, sending their value jumping several points.
Eight years of hard work and Luli hadn’t made anywhere near the profit for Mae that Gabriel had by the simple act of connecting his name to Mae’s.
She touched the power button, shutting down in disgust.
“What are you doing?” The butler’s accusatory tone made her jump.
“I—” Did she have a guilty conscience? Very much so. “I’m packing.” She wrapped the power cord around her hand and dropped it into her bag.
“Not that, you’re not!” He puffed up with indignation. “You take nothing.” He came across and tried to grab her bag to see inside it.
She backed up a few steps, distancing herself from his aggression. “Gabe—Mr. Dean is taking me to New York.” She couldn’t bring herself to tell him they’d just gotten married. “I need the laptop to keep working.”
“You don’t work.” He made it sound as if she’d never lifted a finger in her life. “Were you on your knees when he said you could go with him? Slut.” He sounded like one of her preteen fellow contestants.
“If this is about last night, I’m sorry.” He felt tricked she supposed. “I misunderstood about dinner.”
“You’re not sorry. You wanted to make me look foolish. You were always trying to be Mrs. Chen’s little pet and now you want to be his. Out. Now.” He grabbed her by the arm.
Luli squeaked out a noise, so shocked at his getting physical, it took her a moment to dig in her heels and struggle against his hold.
“Let me go!” she cried.
He did—in a whirl of movement so fast she wound up clutching her hand against the thick fabric of her jacket’s lapel, trying to keep her heart from leaving her chest.
Gabriel stood before her instead of the butler, but he was bent over and the butler was flat on his back on the floor. Gabriel’s hand was pressed to the man’s throat, turning the older man dark red.
“You will leave,” he told the butler, switching his grip to the front of the man’s shirt and yanking him to his feet as he straightened. “Now.”
Swaying in shock, the butler clutched a protective hand to his wheezing throat and hurried from the room.
Gabriel shot his cuffs and adjusted his tie, eyes ashen as he stared at her. “We’re leaving.” He jerked his head for her to precede him.
* * *
Luli was still dressed like a seventy-year-old woman, but Gabriel didn’t tell her to change. He just wanted away from this place.
He was furious over what had just happened. He had nearly killed the man—who was in his fifties and no match for Gabriel’s deadly training. It hadn’t even been self-defense. The butler had been rude and rough, but Gabriel didn’t think his intention had been to physically hurt Luli, only to force her from the house.
Even so, a haze of bloodlust had blinded him. He had acted on instinct and was still disturbed by his brief loss of control. Why had he reacted so strongly? He would intervene in any situation where someone was being bullied, but he wouldn’t commit homicide.
The primal male in him had been roused by a threat to his mate, was the problem. His ears were still ringing from their kiss. He had meant to keep it a chaste peck, but her lips had been so soft. He had lingered, enjoying the tremulous way