Chapter 33

Her lips were soft, almost silken, and pillowy against his own.  He could feel the soft tickle of her breath beneath his nose, fingers running through her hair as they breathed each other in.

Warmth blossomed in Lori's chest, sparks igniting as Gabriel leaned in closer, his lips kissing hers softly, gently, almost as if he was afraid to break her.  The smell of his cologne, his minty breath, it was dizzying, butterflies were dancing in her stomach.  But warmth consumed her as she leaned into the kiss, Gabriel's lips soft against her own. His tongue teased her gently and Lori opened up more to him, tentatively letting him play with her tongue.

Gabriel's hand traveled down to her neck, caressing her slightly while his hand travelled to the front of her tank top. He cupped one of her breasts in his hand and Lori jerked. She broke away from him and sat upright, her cheeks burning in embarrassment. She looked away, her hair hiding her face like a dark curtain.

"I'm sorry."

She apologized and she started slipping out of the bed.

Gabriel sat upright, gathering the sheets to hide his bulging erection.

"No! No it's my fault. I was moving too fast.."

He said and she shook her head.

"No. I shouldn't have… I have to go."

She said as she started rushing towards the door.

"Lori?! Lori?!"

Gabriel called after her and she hesitated and paused when she reached the door frame.

"I'll be sleeping in my room tonight."

She said as she quietly slammed the door after her.

Gabriel groaned as he fisted the sheets.

"Fuck."

He had moved too fast. He has spooked her. She was probably never going to let him touch her again. He should have taken his time with her, be more gentle. But he let his emotions get the best of him.



Back in her bedroom, Lori wondered why she had freaked out in the first place. She enjoyed it, she was enjoying her time with Gabriel, but maybe, maybe she wasn't fully ready to go that far with him. She hoped he wasn't upset that she had left abruptly, but it was the only way she could sort out her thoughts. Her mind was in a mess, her head kept replaying the scene and her belly was still ridden with butterflies.

She had never felt that way, never felt that way about someone before. Not even a boy. Living a sheltered life with horrible adoptive parents would do that to someone. She rarely had time to look at the boys in her school, she was quiet, she was the outcast, the shy kid who no one seemed to bat an eyelid at. Not to mention she was so scrawny, Mrs Wyatt didn't really care for them much in terms of buying new things for them,they wore what they had until it became unwearable. That was their life.

And when Asher had come by things had gotten worse, especially with the way she saw men after that. Lori became weary of men, all men. She had sworn off men once, completely, thinking she would never be able to get into a normal relationship where she would be loved and where she could love.

Everything was changing, all that was changing. The moment she had seen Gabriel, something was different about him, she couldn't just figure out what it was.

And now, was she just a nanny? Or was she becoming so much more?

She crawled to her bed and buried herself under the covers. Her bed was cold, lacking the familiar warmth of Gabriel's body. She missed him, she missed that.




The next day, Gabriel decided he would stay home. Draco would come to him later in the day to drop reports. He went for a run as early as five am in his wolf form. He used to do it a lot more often before, but with Lori around he couldn't afford to raise her suspicions. But he did it that morning and he felt refreshed. More than he had ever been. Then after he went for a deep in the pool, naked.

Nudity was not a strange concept to werewolves. They cared about it, but at the same time they didn't. Switching into one’s wolf form would require one being naked or ruining your clothes in the process, that was how it was and many of his pack members had grown too used to seeing naked bodies for them to actually care about it.

He wasn't even worried about Lori while he took a deep in the pool, if she was watching, he wanted her to watch.

Elliot came out of the pool house a few moments later. He rubbed at his sleepy eyes, he must have woken him up.

"You're up quite early alpha."

He said as he looked at his imaginary watch while Gabriel got out of the pool. Gabriel didn't even as much as spare him a glance.

"Did Grandfather call you?"

He asked and Elliot shrugged.

"No. Not since yesterday."

Well. That was good. It could be a good sign, or a bad sign, he couldn’t really tell.

"But I'm assuming he'd spend at least three days in DC before he decides to come here so you're safe."

Gabriel nodded.

That was good. He tied a towel around his waist while he patted his face with the other.

"I need a favor from you."

"What is it?"

"I need you to hide Lori when he gets here."

"You can take her out of the house, or out for the whole day, just as long as you get her as far away from him."

Elliot nodded.

"Sure. I can do that."

"Good."

"But why are you hiding her though? Wouldn't he find out about her later?"

Elliot asked and Gabriel sighed. That was true, but there was a lot he had not told Lori and there was a lot about their relationship that was still not defined. He couldn't afford to rush into things. He had to be calculated, he had to be smart.

The number of people around him who would seek his downfall when they find out that he had a human mate would be astronomical. They would try to use Lori against him, to hurt him. He didn't want that for her.

“Better he finds out later. Not now."




Gabriel and Lori ran into each other in the kitchen. Lori was clearing up some bottles and Gabriel had come to take breakfast. He didn't leave for work yet, so Lori assumed that he was either staying in or going out later.

"Did you sleep well?"

He asked as he saw her and she nodded.

"No nightmares?"

"None."

That was because she could barely sleep, she was awake tossing and turning, thinking of him.

Gabriel nodded.

"That's good."

"I'll go up to see Emilia."

He said as he walked out of the kitchen. Lori felt bad. He left so fast, she wondered if he was angry about what happened.

Elliot walked into the kitchen minutes later. Jenny frowned at him as soon as she saw him.

"Don't tell me. You're here for another serving?"

She asked and he grinned at her.

"The first one was actually quite small to be honest."


He turned to Lori, noticing how rosy her cheeks looked and how beautiful her hair framed her face.

"You look extra pretty this morning. Are you going out?"

He asked and she shrugged.

"Just to buy some stuff. Grace isn’t around so I have to go."

Elliot nodded.

"That's great. I can come with you if you want."

He offered and she shook her head.

As appealing as it might sound, she really did think she needed time alone to gather her thoughts.

"I want to go alone. I like the quiet."

She said and Elliot touched his chest as he feigned disappointment.

"I can be quiet."

He said and Lori shrugged.

"I know. But I'd like to tag along."

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't."

Elliot sighed and then shrugged.

"Okay. Whatever you say but I'll be waiting when you get back."


She went upstairs to change, passing the nursery where Gabriel was in with the baby. She decided it was probably best to give him some privacy, since it seemed like he didn't want to talk to her.

Tony brought the car around, ready to drive her to the store while Lori quickly made a list of everything she was getting. Not much, just more diapers as usual, baby powder, socks, baby wipes and maybe some new onesies.

Yea she couldn't wait.

She changed into casual jeans, a white blouse with black stripes and put a blue wooly cardigan over it. She wore her old worn converse and brushed and put her hair in a bun. She didn't stop at the nursery while she left, waking straight out of the house where Tony was waiting for her inside the car.


Lori kind of loved Target. It was her second time at the store and she found out that she found it really comforting just wandering in the middle of the aisles looking at a ton of stuff. She did that for a while. The last time she had been there she had been in a rush because of the baby and then she had saw Mrs Fuller. She loved being a nanny, especially to Emilia but she did feel like she wasn't getting around much, at least not like she used to do before. And even if she did went out, she always seemed to be going out with the baby.

She didn't hate it. She picked the job, it was her choice, but she did enjoy the brief moments where she could be alone and be doing something as simple and mundane as shopping. She stopped by the feminine care aisle and picked a couple of essentials. She needed tampons, and she picked up a bottle of shampoo and conditioner. She was looking at a few body mists when she felt someone tap her.

She turned and found Mrs Fuller standing behind her.

"Mrs Fuller.."

Lori said as she looked at her.

Mrs Fuller smiled at her.

"I saw you, I actually saw you a while ago but I didn't know if I should come up to you."

The woman said. She looked tired. Lori could remember the last time she saw her but now it looked like the woman had aged even more.

"Oh."

Mrs Fuller looked into her shopping cart and saw the diapers.

She smiled.

"You're still a nanny?"

She asked and Lori nodded.

"Yes. I am."

"I figured. I stopped by your apartment yesterday... you weren't home."

Lori nodded, a bit confused that Mrs Fuller had even attempted to see her.

"Yea... I don't actually live there anymore. You know... because I nanny, I can't stay there because it's too far..."

Her voice trailed off when she saw that Mrs Fuller was too deep in thoughts to be even listening to her.

"My husband and I... we've not been the same... ever since it happened."

Lori froze.

"I'm sorry."  She whispered and Mrs Fuller shrugged.

"It's not your fault. It was never your fault...."

"We we're having problems before everything even happened."

"I guess we just thought that a baby could fix that."

The woman sighed again.

"Anyways. I stopped by your apartment because I wanted to see you."

Lori nodded.

"Is there a problem?"

"No. None at all."

"I just thought it's finally time for you to see where Jack was buried."