Chapter 16

The butterflies in Bailey's stomach were working overtime. She tried to remember to chew her gum as the plane ascended. Her ears popped and she looked excitedly out the window as the ground receded.

In her hands, she clutched the letter Gabriel had sent her along with the plane ticket. It had some very specific instructions about what she needed to do and wear. Or not wear as the case may be.

Her bosses had let her take off for a long weekend and she didn't have classes on Friday. April and Morgan had enviously driven her to the airport before returning to the house. Bailey was listening to the iPod Gabe left for her.

The flight was direct into JFK. After landing, Bailey's eyes were wide at the size and scope of the place. She was unused to the bustle of all the people. The sounds and constant motion were alien to her small-town experiences. The people were dispassionate and robotic. It was a far cry from the friendly and familiar setting of Washington County. She was both excited and a little bit scared at the same time.

Following the signs, she picked up her suitcase and looked for the limo driver. He was holding a placard that read "MacKenzie" and he politely took her bookbag and luggage. Out on the curb, the driver put her things in the trunk of the Town Car and opened the back door for her.

Friendly and professional, he gave Bailey the grand tour of New York, pointing out the sights to the obviously-overwhelmed young woman. The trip into Manhattan went by quickly.

The limo stopped near the Museum of Natural History at an upscale apartment building. A doorman helped the driver unload Bailey's bags. She offered to tip both, but they declined, saying it wasn't necessary.

"Miss Crawford, Mr. MacKenzie told me to give you this when you arrived," the doorman handed her an envelope. "Would you like assistance with your bags?"

"No, thank you."

He nodded and pointed down the hallway. "Take the elevators to the fifth floor, then turn left and it will be the third door on the right."

"Thank you, Paul," she said reading his nametag.

"You're very welcome," he replied with a slight bow. "And welcome to New York."

Like his house, Gabe's apartment was clean and in order. The envelope contained a key and some more instructions. It smelled of his sweet cologne.

Gabriel had a large space for being a single guy. There were two bedrooms, a living room, one full bath, a kitchen and a third bedroom he used as a small office. Posters and mementoes lined the walls. It felt very much like Gabe.

Where the house had been his mother's and Gabriel just lived there, the apartment reflected more of his personality. He displayed lots of pictures. She recognised Chuck and Teri, as well as a few famous people whom Gabe had worked with in the past. There were knickknacks on the shelves and tables. She smiled when she saw several pictures of herself in frames around the apartment.

In the foyer, there was a red rose laying on the floor next to a card with her name on it.

Welcome to my home, Bailey. Leave your things here and go into the bedroom. XOXO, —G.

She went to the master bedroom and found another flower and card in the middle of the bed. The covers were turned down. She opened the card.

Take your clothes off and lay them on the dresser. Get in the bed and call me. I love you. —G.

Once she was naked, Bailey lay back on Gabe's bed. It smelled like him. The mattress was soft and the sheets enveloped her. She closed her eyes for a second, imagining making love to Gabriel in his bed.

Her nipples were standing straight up as she reached for the phone and dialed his cell phone number. True to her word, she had never programmed it into her phone or told anyone else how she got it. She had it memorised.

The phone rang twice and then she heard his voice. "Hello, Bailey."

"Hi," she said, content to hear him speak. Knowing he wasn't five states away anymore.

"Did you do what I told you?" he asked. She could hear people talking in the background.

"Yes," she whispered.

He lowered his voice, "Are you naked?"

"I am."

"Hold on," he said. Bailey heard him talking to someone else, then she heard a door close. "Sorry about that. Are you in bed?"

"Yes." Indulgently, she cupped one of her breasts.

"I want you to touch yourself," Gabe told her. "I want you to cum in my bed ... like I did this morning. Right where you are ... right now ... I lay there this morning thinking about you. Think about that, Bailey. And think about this: When we get home tonight, I'm going to go down on your pussy ... I'm going to eat you out in my bed."

Bailey's breathing became ragged at the sound of his sexy voice. She could hear the undercurrent of desire as he spoke.

"After you cum, go into the kitchen."

"Okay."

"And, Bailey?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

She purred as she began to stroke her clit. "I love you, too."

"Bailey!" Gabriel waved her over.

Her skin was still a little flush. She thought she reeked of sex, having been explicitly forbidden from showering or putting on lotion or even washing her hands.

She threw herself into his arms. Gabe spun her around, laughing. Bailey was oblivious to the stares of those around them. She kissed him hard, unleashing eight weeks of pent-up frustration on to his tongue.

Gabe finally managed to extract himself from her grasp, even though she knew he didn't want to. With his arm around her waist, Gabe gave her a tour of the set, introducing her to the actors and staff of the show.

Everyone was friendly to a fault, especially Lori Craven, one of the show's main stars. She welcomed Bailey to the studio and told her that she was also a small town girl. Lori seemed very down-to-earth for someone making a gajillion dollars on TV and in movies. Bailey tried not to seem too starstruck, but Gabe only laughed at her and continued the tour.

"We thought Gabe made you up," the show's feisty head writer told her. Bailey instantly liked her. She was smart and sassy and wasn't afraid to tell things exactly as they were. Or give her best friends down the road about something.

"Would I do something like that, Rose?"

"I don't know, Gabe. Would you?" the other woman taunted. "You'd been celibate for so long, there was a pool in the writer's room that you'd gone gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that."

"Celibate?" Bailey asked incredulously.

"Ever since the divorce, Gabe stopped dating," Rose said, obviously enjoying a chance to get under his skin. She took Bailey by the arm. "Girl, when your boy showed back up, we were going to all pitch in and get you a big fruit basket. You're the best thing to happen to him in a long time. He's got his smile back and we owe you!"

All Bailey could do was blush.

"Chuck and Teri vouched for Bailey," Gabe said with a mock pout.

"Best friends don't count. Chuck and Teri would help you hide a body," Rose said, her eyes twinkling. "Helping you make up a girlfriend would have been child's play to them."

Rose leaned in to have one final, private word even though she spoke loud enough for Gabe to hear. "Don't let him go, young lady. He's a keeper!"

"I know," she whispered back. Rose winked and left them to continue their tour.

Gabe was so animated. Back home ... well, home to her ... Gabe always seemed to be a little guarded. Aloof, even. She recognised it in herself; around unfamiliar people, both she and Gabriel were introverted and quiet. However, when among friends, they let their hair down. As a matter of professional survival, Gabe had developed an outgoing public persona that could hobknob and schmooze with the best of them, even though he hated it.

It was hard for her, being in a big city around lots of people who knew about her, but to her were strangers. As Gabriel shared this part of his life with her, she sensed that the people he worked with accepted her because a friend of Gabe's was a friend of theirs. Despite all the stories of showbiz backstabbing and personal/professional jealousies, Bailey sensed The Sun Also Sets was one big family ... now that prime backstabber Montana/Milton Morehead was gone and that her/his producer-conspirator David Barnes was killed at a place called Der Waffel Haus in a freak accident involving a taxidermied swordfish, a skateboard and some legwarmers.

Gabriel led her back to his dressing room. The show's head wardrobe and costume director was laying out some clothes for the next week. He introduced her to Bailey.

"You're the envy of the set," Tawny giggled and that made Bailey blush some more. "We had a bet on who would be the first one to get Gabe to ask them out ... looks like we all lost."

"Go on, get out of here," Gabe gave he a mock scolding. The other woman winked at Bailey then left.

As soon as the door shut, they were all over each other. Bailey's heart fluttered as she melted into Gabriel's arms. They kissed hungrily. She pawed at him, realising how much she had missed his touch over the past two months.

He pulled back for a second and reached for her hand. He sucked on her fingertips and smiled mischievously.

A jolt ran through her body, both from the sensitivity of her fingers and the knowledge that he was suckling on the same hand that had been touching herself not an hour before.

Her pussy was soaked. One of the reasons was that she was around Gabe for the first time after a long drought. They both knew what the other reason was.

Gabe's eyes glanced over towards the clock on the wall. "It's about that time, isn't it?"

"Yes," she moaned. Two weeks ago, when Gabe called and invited her to visit him in New York, he told her that he wanted her to masturbate three times a day for him: once when she got up, once before dinner and once before bed. She was all too happy to comply, even though she didn't quite understand why he would ask her to do that, and he often called to make sure she kept the schedule.

Now, not only was she hot and bothered from her earlier session, her body was responding to the Pavlovian conditioning brought about by her timed self-pleasure, and she had a feeling Gabe wasn't going to get her get off until later. Surely he was reveling at the success of his secret evil plan to torture her.

"Spread your legs," Gabe whispered. He was beginning to assert himself as being in control of their sexual encounters. Bailey willingly surrendered to him, knowing that he wouldn't cross the boundaries she set.

He lifted her skirt, his fingertips brushing her legs. Bailey had to bite her lip to keep from screaming. Gabe's movements were slow, as if he was deliberately trying to draw this out as long as possible.

"Oh, god, Gabe!" A shudder ran through Bailey's body as his hand cupped the bare mound of her pussy.

His middle finger brushed the nub of her clit and she cried out. She could feel her excitement beginning to drip down her legs.

Her labia were surely swollen. He played with her pussy for a few seconds, its slickness coating his fingers.

"Good girl," he whispered in her ear. "You follow instructions well."

She smiled to herself, delirious with pleasure. She appreciated Gabe's praise, but also having him touch her again after so long.

Her toes started to curl up when he stopped suddenly.

Bailey whimpered in frustration. He had just gotten her going!

Gabriel kissed her behind the ear. "I've missed you."

She groaned as he withdrew. "You're killing me, Gabe!"

"That's the idea, sweetheart," he smirked. Before she could move, he opened the door and led her back out into the hallway.

Her face was red. Her heart raced. And at that moment, she would have done anything Gabriel asked of her.

The sexual tension between them was palpable for the remainder of the night. They held hands and sat as close to each other as they could.

While it was still light out, Gabe took her on a tour of Manhattan. Using the same limo driver that had picked her up at the airport, they drove around the island. They toured Little Italy and Chinatown. Downtown, he showed her Wall Street and Trinity Church. The driver dropped them off in Times Square. From there, they walked to Sardi's, a famous haunt of Broadway actors.

The restaurant was definitely unlike any place Bailey had ever been before. Many of the men wore coats and the women cocktail dresses. Gabe was in a nice pair of pants and a dress shirt, and per his instructions, she wore a nice blouse along with her skirt. Still, she felt under-dressed.

As she looked at the menu, her jaw dropped at the prices. She anticipated that things would cost a little more in New York, but she didn't expect the least expensive thing on the menu to be $15. Gabe told her to get whatever she wanted; he was buying and she deserved nothing less than the best. Even if she felt a little guilty for spending more on one meal than her whole family usually spent when they went out.

They talked for a little while, catching up and the like. Her hands lingered on his arm, as if she didn't quite believe that they were together again. Throughout dinner, she caught Gabriel's eyes lingering on her with more than fondness.

His desire mirrored hers.

The tingling between her legs never went away. The fabric of her skirt brushed against her bare pussy and ass. She remembered Gabe's hungry touch. And she was looking forward to the fulfillment of his promises for the coming night.

He asked about her family and how school was going. She updated him on the bedroom remodeling project. As their meal ended, both felt the tension level rise.

As they stood outside the restaurant waiting for their car to pull up, Gabe whispered in her ear, "I'm gonna make you cum so hard, you pass out."

"Promises, promises." Bailey barely managed to get the words out, she was shaking so badly.

They stumbled into the car. The ride back to his apartment only took a few minutes, but to Bailey, it seemed like an eternity. Gabe's hand rested on her knee, his fingers intertwined with hers.

When they arrived at his apartment building, Gabe tipped the driver and the two headed inside.

"Have a good evening, Mr. MacKenzie?" the doorman asked politely.

"Very good, Paulie," Gabriel replied. Bailey slipped her hand into the crook of his arm. "How's your daughter doing?"

"Just getting over the flu," the other man replied. "Thank you for asking."

"Tell her I hope she feels better."

"I will. Have a good night, Mr. MacKenize. Miss Crawford."

Bailey waved politely as the elevator doors closed. In an instant, she was all over Gabe. His hands groped her breasts. Hers went straight to his ass.

"I want you to fuck my brains out tonight," she gasped between kisses.

His only reply was to kiss her harder. They pulled apart when the short elevator ride ended. Holding hands, they raced down the hallway. No one else was around and she tugged at his shirt as he fumbled with the lock.