The Honeymoon Period (The Austin Series) (7 page)

‘I’ll give
you a lift in girls, Mrs. Darby’s coming at nine to keep an eye on Gabe in the
morning,’ offered Doug.

‘I’m not a
bloody child, I can be left on my own you know,’ retorted Gabe.

‘Doug,
that’s really sweet of you but Lexi and I can take a taxi to save you going in.’

‘No, I
insist. Nine-thirty and I’ll be good to go.’

I looked at
Lexi and raised my eyebrows and she just shrugged her shoulders. Damn it, that
meant I’d have to ask Doug to go via Peppers first and he was crap at keeping
secrets. Gabe tugged my hand and we headed upstairs. He didn’t need any help,
but I helped him undress none the less. I wasn’t missing any chance to see his
body and touch it. I helped him adjust his sling and kissed his chest and ran
my fingers over the huge ugly purple bruise on his side then the long scar on
his shoulder.

‘How’s your
shoulder feeling now?’

‘It still
hurts. It’s weird, like I can feel my bones aching inside, but it’s not killing
me anymore. It’s just hard having to sleep on my back all the time.’

‘How many
weeks until I can give you a proper hug and kiss?’ I asked as I stood in front
of him leaving a few inches between us.

‘Don’t Mia,
it’s killing me as well. I have the two weeks of Suits we missed to distract
you if you want to snuggle up to me and watch that?’ I smiled, nodded and
sighed. ‘Why the sigh? You love Suits.’

‘I know and
I’ll enjoy it, it’s just going to be hard looking at Harvey all suited up
without remembering our last date that’s all. Come on, let’s wash up and we can
get in bed and not move until morning.’

We got
ready and I sorted out his pillows and watched as he closed his eyes and
grimaced as he tried to get comfortable and I finally felt some stray tears on
my cheeks.

‘Don’t cry
Mia, please don’t cry.’

‘I hate
seeing you like this, in pain, all bashed up. It hurts, it hurts
me
,
Gabe.’

‘I know
baby, that’s how I felt with you and not just at the hospital. When you had
that attack at home I felt every bit of it with you. It just shows how much we
care about each other.’

‘I love you
and I hate this.’

‘We’re both
going to get better Mia, and it’s going to be smooth sailing from then on, ok?
We’ve had our share of shit. Get undressed and get in here.’ He patted the bed
and watched as I rubbed the tears off my face and stripped off and nestled into
his side.

‘What’s
wrong? You aren’t hard.’

‘Seeing you
upset’s not a turn on for me baby, even when you’re standing naked. I need you
happy, ok?’

‘Ok,’ I
nodded.

‘Mia, a
week apart and we were at it all night, imagine what we’ll be like after four
or five weeks? It’ll be amazing.’

‘That’s the
trouble, I am imagining and I’m not patient, Gabe. Will you put Suits on or I’ll
start crying again.’

It took my
mind off his troubles for a couple of hours and I helped him shuffle down the
bed and turned off the lights and draped myself over his left side as he
stroked the back of my neck.

‘I forgot
Gabe, I got something for us.’

‘What?’

‘Some graph
paper to draw out the apartment. I thought we could sketch out some scale plans
and cut out furniture to try different layouts. It’ll give us something else to
focus on and look forward to.’

‘Thanks
baby, that’s a great idea. I need something to get my teeth into. I’m fed up of
sitting around just studying or watching TV. I so need to work out as well. I’ll
end up with a flabby gut,’ he moaned. I ran my fingers over his hard abs.

‘Never, you
love your body as much as I do. If it gets out of shape you’ll soon put it back
right, besides, we’ll be having so much sex you won’t have time to work-out.’

‘Mia sex with
you is a work-out in itself and one I can’t wait for. Sleep baby you’ve a long
day of lectures tomorrow. I’ll cook something for when you get home ok?’

‘Thank you.
I love you.’

‘You too.’
He kissed the top of my head and I closed my eyes and let his strong heartbeat
lull me to sleep.

I stretched out in bed and
rubbed my eyes yawning. The last four weeks seemed to have dragged at the time,
but lying here in bed now, it also seemed to have flown. It’d been seriously hard
work though. Gabe was getting more and more frustrated with wearing his sling
and not being able to do the things he loved, fucking in particular. We’d had a
massive argument over me not letting him inside me again, to the point I’d
slammed his bedroom door and locked myself in the spare room for the night so he
couldn’t get in. I’d received a massive bouquet of flowers the next day and he
apologised and told me it made him love me more, for putting his recovery ahead
of our need for each other.

We’d had to
postpone our half term plans to go back to mine and to Edinburgh, so I’d caught
up with my studying and made sure he was on top of his, done loads of swimming,
Pilates and Gym. I’d ended my counselling sessions as I’d started to feel like
I was going around in circles and not resolving anything. I’d started cooking
some of the meals as he supervised, given hundreds of hand and blow jobs as
well as planning schedules for Doug and I to ferry him to and from Physio. We’d
met with the architect Tom to discuss more detailed specifics for the apartment,
the internal layout had been approved, even though Gabe still hadn’t completed.
He wanted the builders in the minute he got the keys.

We’d been
out a couple of times a week to eat, to keep him from being cooped up in the
house. I’d also had to have my belly button re-pierced, by the time my incision
was fully healed, I couldn’t get my bar back in. We’d had another massive argument
over me having my hair cut, from waist level to just below the back of my shoulder
blades. Gabe hadn’t been impressed and I’d stomped off, telling him it was my
body, not his and I could chose to do what I wanted with it. Naturally he disagreed,
which made me even madder.

He seemed
to be on edge about everything lately and we were arguing daily, often more, as
he was getting more and more irritable and possessive, demanding to be kept
updated on where I was and what I was up to, criticising my outfits and he’d also
thrown a tantrum last Tuesday when I got ready to go over to mine for movies
with Lexi. He’d demanded she come to his house instead, not wanting me to be
out traveling alone. I’d refused to change our plans, as I’d wanted to go there
to recharge and talk to her in private about how hard I was finding him at the
moment, so he’d blown his top and I’d had to stay in to keep an eye on him in
case he did something stupid. I was furious as I’d really needed a break and
missed Lexi terribly.

Lexi and
Doug had started a proper relationship and were sleeping together. Even she was
in shock that it had lasted this long and she wasn’t pissed off with him yet. The
four of us had spent a lot of time hanging out together, which took some of the
edge off Gabe’s varying moods, even Doug had picked up on it and was texting me
regularly to make sure I was ok. He’d tried pointing it out to Gabe and had
gotten his head bitten off too. Gabe seemed fine when I was with him, it was
the second we were parted, or the threat of me spending time away from him that
set him off.

Finally,
I’d fitted in twelve lengthy dance lessons with Cindy at Peppers, she’d
squeezed me in on a Tuesday evening and a Friday morning as well, as she said I
had real promise. She made it look easy swivelling on that pole, it was a
bloody good work out and we’d a very sexy routine down pat. I suddenly felt
nervous, as in a moment of madness I’d decided it’d be a good idea for me to do
the audition tonight, live on stage with Gabe in the audience as a surprise for
our two month anniversary to cheer him up. I slapped my forehead and groaned. I’d
a feeling it was going to backfire on me. Either I’d freeze, screw up, or he’d be
in one of his moods and go mental. What the hell had I been thinking?

‘You ok baby?’
Gabe asked as he gestured for me to leave the edge of the bed where I lay on my
side. I moved over to him and he kissed my forehead.

‘Yes, just
thinking how much we have to do today. I’ll get breakfast sorted, head to
History, come back and take you to Physio and then get us both ready for our
date tonight.’

‘Doug’s
offered to take me to Physio so don’t worry. Where are we going tonight? You’ve
being very secretive about this date.’

‘I’m not
telling you. What would you like for breakfast and I’ll go and sort it.’

‘I’m not
hungry for breakfast,’ he grabbed my hand and put it on yet another solid
erection.

‘You’re a
machine
,
Gabe Austin. I’ll sue you if I end up with repetitive strain or need a brace to
realign my bloody jaw.’ I pulled the duvet back and sighed at the sight in
front of me. We were playing daily, I tried to relieve him as often as I could
to try and keep him in a good mood and he’d started using vibrators on me, but I
missed having him inside me and on top of me. I used my hands on him until he
was ready and then took him in my mouth.

‘I wonder
how many calories I’m taking in swallowing you every time. I swear my stomach
looks bigger,’ I said sitting up and wiping my lips.

‘It’s about
seven calories a load, I googled it.’

‘You
googled it?’ I asked laughing.

‘Mia, you’ve
no idea how bored I’ve been without you here and your stomach’s not bigger, you
just seem to have gained some extra muscle and toned up all over. I’ve noticed
it the last few weeks. What’ve you been doing differently with your exercising?’

‘I’ve been
in a very tight lycra outfit, doing all sorts of stretches and positions that
would blow your mind if you were to see them.’

‘Maybe you
could give me a demonstration,’ he groaned with a big smile.

‘O don’t
worry, I will.’

Little did
he know how soon that would be. I leaned over, kissed him and ran my fingers
over his ribs. The bruising had finally gone and it wasn’t hurting him to breathe
now and I was so happy that I could finally put my arms around his waist when I
felt like it. His stitches had been removed from his shoulder and his scars,
like mine, had turned from an angry red to a hot pink. X-rays showed his
collarbone fracture was knitting together nicely and it seemed that the rotator
cuff repair had gone well. At last week’s Physio he’d been told to start
weaning himself off the sling, only using it when he got tired, but he’d still
been advised to sleep on his back and ideally still no sex. He’d not been in
the best of moods when he’d come out of
that
session. There again minor
things seemed to set him off lately, so a sex ban extension was the last thing
he’d needed.

I kissed
him again and hopped out of bed and had a quick shower and grabbed my jeans,
trainers and a sweatshirt and blew him a kiss as I ran off to grab my books and
wait downstairs for Doug, who’d offered to pick me up and drop me at Uni before
coming to spend the morning with Gabe. Lexi had declined a lift saying it was
out of his way and she’d meet me there. Doug’s house was only a few further
down the street, but Gabe wouldn’t even let me wait outside his gates, let
alone walk, he was still insistent on me not walking or running alone until the
person responsible for the two murders had been caught.

He was
still on strong painkillers and a tablet to help him settle at night, the
combination of which meant he slept fairly heavily when he did drop off, so he
was unaware that I’d been getting up and having a swim or run in the morning
and sneaking back into the en-suite before he woke up. I mean, I couldn’t put
my life on hold, even if this killer weren’t on the loose, there would be other
sicko’s out there. The police seemed no further forwards with the campus murders
and they’d also closed their files on Gabe’s accident, much to Robert’s
disgust, but what more could they do? I heard a car pull up and headed out to
see Doug waiting for me.

‘Morning,
Doug,’ I beamed as I got in the passenger seat and buckled up. He was such a
nice guy and I was so fond of him.

‘Morning
Mia, how’s our non-patient patient doing?’ he asked as he pulled out of the
drive.

‘Injury
wise getting better by the day, temperament wise exactly the opposite.’

‘Still?’ he
exclaimed as he looked over at me.

‘O yeah,’ I
nodded with a heavy sigh. ‘He even brought up my hair again last night, it’s
been two weeks and he’s
still
not over the fact that I had a few inches
off without his permission.’

‘Unbelievable,’
Doug laughed, then sighed and glanced at me looking all serious. ‘It’s not
normal for him you know Mia, he’s not usually like this, I just don’t know
what’s got into him lately.’

‘Me
neither, but hopefully if he can ditch the sling today. That should cheer him
up a bit.’

‘That and
if sex is back on the menu, that’ll cheer him up no end,’ he chuckled.

‘
Doug
,’
I objected, with a tinge of crimson on my cheeks.

‘Come on,
guys talk sex as much as you girls do and it’s killing him, Mia. I don’t think
I’ve known him to go this long without since he started having it and us guys …
well we don’t handle it as well as you girls do, not to say he’s not handling
“it” himself, or you either, I know you’ve been helping him out a lot with … shit,
I’m going to stop talking right now,’ he uttered as he looked at my horrified
face.

‘Well,
handling of anything aside, fingers crossed he’s given the all clear for all
our sakes. He pissed off Lexi by not letting me go over last Tuesday and when
she had a go at him about it, he nearly took her head off. I’ve never seen Lexi
intimidated by anyone, but he even had her speechless.’

‘Yeah, she
did say and when I brought that up and asked him not to drag my girlfriend into
it, he gave
me
both barrels as well. Listen Mia, probably none of my
business and tell me to back off if I’m out of order, but do you really think
your plan tonight is a good idea when he’s like this?’

‘You don’t
think we should go out for our anniversary?’ I was surprised.

‘No. Well,
I mean, yes to the date portion of the evening, that will do him the world of
good, I mean he’ll be with you so he’ll be happy. I’m just a bit worried about
the dancing portion of the night.’

‘You don’t
think he’ll like it?’

‘O I know
he’ll
love
seeing it Mia, what guy doesn’t like seeing a hot girl
gyrating in underwear …’ his eyes glazed over and I lost him for a moment.

‘Doug? You
were saying?’

‘Sorry,
it’s been a while since I went to Peppers and all this talk has me itching to
go back, but I don’t think Lexi’d approve.’

‘No, I
don’t think she would either, Doug. Back to Gabe please.’

‘Well, he’s
going to love seeing you doing it Mia, for sure, I’m just not sure how much
he’ll love other guys seeing you do it as well.’

‘He’s
always said he’s fine men admiring me Doug, as long as they don’t touch and
there’ll definitely be no touching. It’s a pole dance on a stage, not a lap
dance. You don’t think he’ll cause trouble, do you?’

‘If you’d
asked me that before he started dating you … I’d say a big no, he wouldn’t have
cared with any other women, but you …’ Doug blew out and shook his head. ‘He’s
different with you Mia, and with his moods the way he is at the moment, I dunno,’
he shrugged.

‘O shit
Doug, don’t put me off. I’ve worked
really
hard on this and I can’t let
Cindy down, I promised.’

‘Sod it, do
it. Even if he has a fit he’ll get over it. I could always come as back up to
restrain him if he gets too jealous.’

‘
Doug,
’
I laughed. ‘That would be
so
wrong, I couldn’t do it at all if I thought
you were in the audience.’

‘Yeah,’ he
sighed. ‘Lexi wasn’t impressed when I suggested it either.’

‘Well, I’ll
just have to trust that I’m not wrong about him and he’ll take it the way it
was intended, as a gift for him to make him smile and enjoy himself.’

‘Just make
sure if anything gets out of hand you give me a ring, ok?’ He flashed me a
reassuring smile and I nodded.

‘I will, thanks
Doug and thanks for having kept it quiet, I know that can’t have been easy for
you.’

‘I could be
insulted at the constant insinuations that I’m crap at keeping secrets you
know.’

‘Well, you
are by all accounts,’ I objected.

‘Yeah, well
there is that,’ he laughed.

‘So how
did
you manage this one?’

‘The threat
of Lexi having a fit, or you. Bloody feisty females you two are, no one in their
right minds would cross either of you.’

‘Damn right
they shouldn’t. Lexi’s like The Bride from
Kill Bill
and I could be …
who could I be.’

‘Lara
Croft,’ Doug answered without hesitation.

‘Wow, take
a bit longer to think about that Doug,’ I laughed.

‘Sorry but
it’s the hair and tits,’ he shrugged. ‘Gabe’s already mentioned it to me too,
she’s his number one hot female superhero.’

‘Who’s your
favourite?’ I asked, flattered that Gabe thought of me like that.