Forbidden Awakenings (Awakenings Series Book 1) Read online

  Elle bit her lip, her hand gliding across her breast. They were so beautiful together, so sensual and flawless. Their love spoke volumes through the simple way they moved together. Hugs and kisses, whispers of joy and happiness, Elle had watched as her lovers found little ways to remind each other of how they felt, both about each other and about her and Callum. And now, watching as Derek feasted on Sadie, Elle had never been more content with her life than she did in that moment.

  “God, they’re incredible,” Callum groaned, rolling onto his side and sliding his hand across Elle’s stomach to her hip. Her bare skin pebbled from his touch, and when she shifted her attention to him, she found him staring at her with lustful eyes. “I need you.”

  She brought her hand up to his face, gently stroking his cheek. “You have me.”

  His lips tugged upward into a smile before he kissed her, starting slow and soft before deepening and becoming more passionate. Elle moaned, her body begging him to touch her, to take her, to show her once again that she was wanted. Not just needed, but wanted.

  Almost like he could read her mind, Callum shifted so that he was hovering over her. The feel of his body encasing her was comforting. He was holding her, not just with his arms, but with the power of his soul. Sliding his hand between her legs, he released a heavy breath.

  “You’re fucking soaked,” he grunted, pressing himself against her, and she could feel his hard length pressed against her thigh.

  “You make me wet,” she purred, tangling her fingers in his hair and pulling his lips down against hers. “You, Derek, and Sadie — I’m a hot mess all the time because of you. I feel like a goddamn porn star with the way you have me whimpering with desire.”

  Callum’s smile widened. “Yeah?”

  Elle nodded, feeling her cheeks warm.

  “Good,” Derek said, causing them to look over at him as he flicked his tongue against Sadie’s clit.

  She cried out as her back arched off the bed. “Oh, holy shit!”

  “Was it good, lover?”

  “Good doesn’t even describe it,” she laughed, shifting on the bed and pushing Derek so that he was laying on his back. She straddled his legs, wrapping her hand around his cock, causing him to moan. “But now, I want this deep inside of me.”

  Without giving him a chance to say anything, not that Elle would have expected him to, Sadie shifted her body upward and slid him inside her. Their resounding moans filled the air, and Derek’s hands shot out to her hips, holding her still while he ground himself against her.

  “Goddamn, your pussy is so fucking good, baby.”

  “Fuck me hard,” Sadie demanded, leaning back and placing her hands on his thighs. Derek’s grip tightened as he started shifting her hips, up and down, front to back, over and over, taking and filling her, causing her to moan, whimper, and nearly scream.

  It wasn’t until Callum leaned back and grabbed her knees that Elle’s attention was pulled back to him. He tugged at her, telling her to roll onto her hands and knees, which she did. Then, smiling, she looked back at him and smirked.

  “Are you going to let them out fuck us?”

  His eyes narrowed as he grabbed her hips and sheathed himself inside of her in one, quick, fluid thrust. “Does this feel like I’m letting anyone out fuck us, sweetheart?”

  “No,” she gasped, placing her hand on the headboard and bracing herself against his thrusts.

  Callum hissed as he shifted his hips back, leaving just the tip of his cock inside of her. Then, rocking forward again, he filled her. “Motherfucker.”

  “More,” Elle pleaded. “Please, fucking give me more!”

  “I’ll give it to you,” he muttered under his breath.

  Callum’s thrust were hard and deep, reaching as far inside her pussy as he could get. He snaked his hand up to her shoulder, giving him more leverage to take her with such abandonment, and she loved every minute of it. The feel of his hand clutching her, the hardness of him inside her, but mostly the way she felt complete with each shift of his hips.

  Elle’s cries were loud and throaty, and his name stumbled out of her mouth more than once. She could hear herself begging him not to stop, to keep touching her, to keep loving her. He promised, swore, vowed to never stop, to always need her, and she believed him, just as she knew Derek and Sadie would never give her up, never throw her away because she wasn’t perfect. Their love for her was unconditional, as was hers for them.

  “I need you to come, Elle,” Callum begged. “Please, baby, come for me.”

  “I’m almost there,” she whimpered. “So close.”

  Callum slid his hand from her shoulder to the back of her head, grabbing a fistful of her hair and pulling her head back. “Come now!”

  Elle’s mouth opened and she screamed, “Cal!” as her pussy tightened and her orgasm washed over her, leaving her trembling from the force of the climax.

  “Yeah, that’s it, baby, milk my cock,” he groaned, thrusting a handful of times before stilling his hips against her ass. Leaning forward, he placed his forehead in the middle of her back and released her hair. “That was …”

  “Amazing,” Elle murmured, laughing. “Simply amazing.”

  “We won, though,” Derek said, causing them to look over at him and Sadie, who was wrapped in his arms. “We totally out-fucked you.”

  “Oh, lover, I don’t think so,” Elle scoffed as she climbed off the bed, stretching her arms over her head. Derek and Sadie’s eyes traveled down her body, first onto her breasts, and then down to her pussy. “But you gave it a nice, hard effort.”

  “I’ll show you hard,” Derek growled, detangling himself from Sadie and chasing Elle into the bathroom, pinning her against the wall. “Are you ready for me, beautiful?”

  “Always,” she mused, and closing the distance between their lips, she moaned when she tasted the lingering flavor of Sadie.

  —FA—

  The office was buzzing with activity when Elle, Sadie, Derek, and Callum stepped off the elevator. Greta was immediately on her feet and around her desk, almost vibrating with excitement.

  “Samuel is waiting for you in the conference room,” she blurted out, and then looked around before she added, “With Mr. Alvarez.”

  “Thank you, Greta,” Elle said, giving her a smile before she looked at her partners and led the way down to their meeting.

  When she opened the door, she found a smug looking Samuel sitting in his usual seat at the end of the table, Gabriel Alvarez in the chair he had sat in the last time they found themselves in the same room, but what she wasn’t expecting was Nick sitting next to him, or the woman on his other side. Though Elle had only met Regina Fisher a couple of times, she’d always liked the tiny, raven-haired beauty. Barely five-foot tall, Regina had creamy tan skin and large, kind black eyes. Compared to Nick’s six-foot frame, she looked almost child-like, but the angry look in her eyes made it clear that she wasn’t a child, nor was she pleased.

  Elle walked around the table and offering the woman her hand. “Mrs. Fisher, it’s wonderful to see you again.”

  “I’ve asked you to call me Regina,” the woman scolded, standing and wrapping both of her hands around Elle’s one. “I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to see you before, or after, the wedding. You look beautiful, though. Simply stunning, and very happy.”

  “Thank you. I’d like to apologize for the scene we made at the wedding. It was not our intention to take the focus off Ivy and Nick.”

  Regina waved her off. “Don’t be sorry, dear. It’s been forgotten, anyway.”

  Elle smiled and looked over her head at Nick, who was grinning. “Hey.”

  “Hey.” He reached around his mother and hugged her. “You okay?”

  “I don’t know,” she murmured, shirting her gaze to Gabriel Alvarez. “Am I?”

  The man didn’t say anything, but unlike the last time they were in a room together, at least he wasn’t glaring at her. Elle walked back around the table and took her seat, waiting
for someone to speak. However, Samuel, Nick, and Regina, all turned their attention to Gabriel.

  For several, long, agonizing seconds, the room was silence, almost to the point of being awkward and uncomfortable. Just when Elle was about to say something, anything to end the quiet, Regina placed her hand on the table and shifted in her seat so she was facing Gabriel.

  “Stop this nonsense right now, Gabe. I’ve got too much to do today. I cannot sit here all day,” she chided.

  He sighed, but refused to look at his sister. “I’m prepared to honor the contract I signed with the company.”

  “No, you can do better than that,” Regina snarled.

  “Gina, I do not need your help,” Gabriel rebutted, finally turning to look at her. “This is my project.”

  “Ah, but it’s not just yours. I own fifty-one percent of the business, thanks to the money left to me and Nick by his father. Now, I’ve stayed silent all these years because I have no desire to get my hands dirty, so to speak, but seeing as you’ve taken it upon yourself to pass judgment against these beautiful girls and put our business’s reputation on the line due to pure pettiness, then I guess it’s time for me to embrace my inner business woman. Now, apologize properly.”

  Gabriel clenched his jaw tight as he turned his attention back to Elle and Sadie. “I apologize for allowing my … preconceptions to get the better of me. I acted with hast when I made the decision to terminate our professional relationship.” Pausing, he looked at Nick and the disgust on his face melted. He turned back to them. “My nephew … Nick is like a son to me. I’ve watched him grow up, watched him find love, and I was angry that his wedding day was ruined.”

  “It wasn’t ruined,” Nick said, and Gabriel looked at him. “What happened between Elle and her parents had been building for a long time, Uncle Gabe. You don’t know Helina and James Reid, you don’t know the snide comments they make about Elle. Now, I never said anything to them because Ivy and Elle asked me not to because they love their parents too much to risk losing them. Not that it mattered in the end.”

  Elle brought her hand up to her mouth, struggling to keep the sob that bubbled to the tip of her tongue from spilling out. In hindsight, she should have stood up for herself years ago, stood up for her right to love Sadie, but she couldn’t change the past. She just had to figure out a way to move on.

  “But I wasn’t raised to allow anyone to hurt my family.” Nick leaned back in his seat and placed his hand on the table. “You taught me that, Uncle.”

  Gabriel sighed, nodding as he looked back at Elle and Sadie. “Again, I’m sorry. Now, I’d very much like to move forward with the development of Alvarez Park.”

  Samuel smiled as he leaned forward, but before he could say anything, Elle shook her head. “No.”

  “What?” he and Gabriel asked at the same time.

  Derek shifted his chair so that he was facing her. “Elle, what do you mean no?”

  “I mean, no. If that is his idea of presenting his offer to us, then no. We have a stack of eager clients just waiting for us to take on their accounts, so why should we just take him back?” she explained, keeping her eyes locked on Gabriel’s.

  “You want me to pitch you my project?” he seethed, placing his hands on the table.

  Elle nodded, aware that everyone was watching her, staring at her like she’d lost her mind. She knew it was irrational and inane, but he’d humiliated her when he questioned her ability to do her job. He used her personal life and her relationship with her parents against her. She wasn’t about to sit there and let him back in without something more than a reluctant apology and a few nice words about Nick.

  “I will not sit here, and —”

  “Oh, for fuck sake!” Regina snarked, interrupting Gabriel. For a moment, Elle wondered if she had pushed too far, but then the woman, once again, turned her heated glared in the direction of her brother. “Do it.”

  “Gina!” he exclaimed.

  “No, Gabe. You will make a formal presentation right now, or I will cut you out of the business entirely,” she threatened.

  Nostrils flaring, he pressed his lips together before he turned back and looked directly at Elle. “Fine.” Standing up, he walked to the far end of the table, and bent over with his hands pressed on top. “You’ll forgive me for not being prepared. Short notice and everything.”

  Once more, Elle nodded.

  Gabriel blew out a heavy breath. “My father was a young boy when he was sent to the U.S. to live with his aunt. He didn’t have an easy life here, however. His aunt and her husband were cruel people, who made his life hell. They treated him like a servant, and made it clear that he wasn’t a part of their family.

  “When he was fifteen, he was able to escape from them. He managed to finish high school, but because he didn’t have the resources to pay for an education, he couldn’t go to college. He found work as a custodian at a small community college and worked hard to prove that he was an upstanding man. He met my mother when he was twenty. She was sixteen, and for two years, he waited for her to be old enough to ask her father’s permission to marry her. On the night of her eighteenth birthday, he proposed to her, and she eagerly agreed. He used to say that she was reason his heart beat, his reason for living. They were married, and I was born a couple years later, and then Gina three years after me. They were passionate about each other, the kind of love that you read about in books, but he was never able to give her the life he wanted.”

  Pausing, Gabriel stood straight, and for the first time, Elle saw a look of regret in his features. “He died when I was sixteen, and my mother — she never got over his death. She wasted away, let grief get the better of her, and by the time I was eighteen, she was a shell of a woman. When I graduated high school, I vowed to make something of myself, to protect my sister, to love my family with all of my heart. And I’ve tried to do that. Maybe I loved them too much. Let my pride keep me from … I don’t know … from seeing them the way I should.”

  There was a tremor in his words, and Elle could feel her eyes filling with tears, though she managed to keep them from falling.

  “One of my father’s dreams was to buy my mother a house. He used to tease her about building her a castle with a moat around it,” he chuckled softly. He shifted his eyes to Elle. “Alvarez Park is more than just a development. It’s my father’s legacy, his last gift to my mother. I want to offer affordable housing to people who want someplace special to call home. I want to help people’s dreams come true. I want to give them their happy ending, and in order to do that, I need your help.”

  Gabriel walked around the table toward Elle, who turned her chair so she was facing him. He knelt next to her. “When you presented your proposal to me, you spoke of a little boy inside an ice cream shop. Do you remember?”

  “Yes,” she said.

  “I want that little boy to have a yard to play in, a best friend who lives next to him. I want his mother to have a neighbor to borrow a cup of sugar from, or someone to complain to when her husband works too late. I want his father to have the space to teach him how to throw a baseball, or how to ride a bike.” Pausing, he reached out and took hold of her hand. “So I’m asking you, Elle, to build my dream, to bring my father’s legacy to life.”

  Elle sucked her bottom lip between her teeth. “We’ve lost almost three weeks’ worth of work, time that could have been spent searching for suppliers, working on the zoning applications, getting the plans approved by the city, finding a construction crew.”

  “I am more than willing to add a few weeks to each deadline,” he said.

  Elle looked over at Sadie, Derek, and Callum, all of whom gave her a subtle nod. Clearing her throat, she turned to Samuel next. “And do you think we should take him back?”

  “I don’t know,” he mused. “He threatened me. Told me to fire my son, told me how to run my business.”

  “And I apologize,” Gabriel insisted, standing up. “I shouldn’t have let my anger get the best of me. If I
could take it back, I would, but I can’t. All I can do now is give you my word that I won’t let my personal beliefs interfere with our business relationship again.”

  Samuel nodded and looked over at Elle. “I’ll leave the final decision to you, Elle, and I’ll support whatever you decide.”

  Elle stood up and walked to the far end of the table, needing a moment to consider her options. More than anything she wanted to scream, “Yes” and start working on Alvarez Park again, but at the same time, she’d been hurt and humiliated. Her co-workers stared at her, whispered about her losing the company millions of dollars, called her a whore under their breath.

  While she accepted that the blame didn’t lay entirely with Gabriel Alvarez, the fact that he’d been so adamant about placing the blame on her and Sadie’s shoulders wasn’t an easy pill to swallow. But then again, they’d spent months working on this project. Even before they were hired on by Samuel, every spare moment Sadie and Elle had was spent working on their plans for Alvarez Park.

  “Okay.” Elle looked over at Gabriel. “We’ll accept your bid, take back your account, but if you pull anything like this again, use my relationship with Sadie, Derek, and Callum against me ever again, I will walk away, and I won’t look back. I don’t give second chances often, Mr. Alvarez, so don’t make me regret giving you one.”

  “I won’t,” he insisted. “And please, call me Gabriel.”

  He walked around the table to where Regina sat and pulled her chair back, helping her to her feet. As they headed toward the door, he stopped in front of Elle.

  “I hope one day your parents will see the woman you really are, Ms. Reid,” he murmured, shifting his gaze up to hers. “Thank you for forgiving my stupidity.”

  Tears flooded her eyes as he led his sister out of the room. Wrapping her arms around her torso, Elle tried to keep them from falling, but the moisture sprinkled down her cheeks before she could stop them. In a heartbeat, Sadie, Derek, and Callum were by her side, nestling her in their loving embraces. Though there were still parts of her life that felt out of control, she didn’t doubt the power her lovers’ had over her heart.