章 19: Beautiful Girl

Megan and Gabriel showed up in the breakfast room about ten minutes later.

Afton huffed at them. "I have been waiting for you two for an hour. Breakfast finally showed up a few minutes before you did. I swear, Mim knows exactly when you intend to arrive and plans accordingly."

"Mim?" Megan asked and Gabriel shot Afton a scathing look. Afton raised his hand in a 'what?' gesture."

"Mim is who looks after us here at the manor." Gabriel said after a beat.

"Like staff? Someone I could talk to if I had a question?" Megan asked feeling like that wasn't the case.

"You could ask Mim a question but like you asked the house for your wallet only out loud. If it's deemed worth answering, I am sure that Mim would find a way to answer you." Gabriel told her in a quiet voice.

"I see. Is Mim a girl or boy name?" Megan asked.

Gabriel sighed heavily. "Neither..." Megan looked at him sharply for a long minute and he waited for the fallout. Then she shrugged and went back to tearing chunks off her croissant.

Afton looked over the top of Megan's head and made a 'phew' face. Gabriel pointed at Megan and mouthed 'she's a virgin', he had to do it three times but then Afton got the message, and his mouth fell open in shock. He snapped his mouth shut when Megan looked up glancing between the two men.

"What are you two idiots doing?" Megan asked sharply.

"Nothing, just being idiots." Gabriel grinned at her and leaned in, kissing her quickly. Megan giggled and turned back to her breakfast. Afton rolled his eyes at Gabriel but smiled. It was good to see his old friend happy.

"How old are you?" Megan asked Gabriel suddenly. Afton choked on his food across the table. Gabriel's face was frozen in trepidation.

Megan sighed, "what now? How can age be something to get hung up on?"

"I'm thirty-two," Gabriel managed after a minute. He really didn't like lying to Megan and wasn't sure when he had started to care so much about inconsequential secrets.

Megan stared at him for a moment. "How come I feel like that isn't the whole story? Which makes no sense, by the way."

"Sweetheart, you have an uncanny knack for seeing more than you should, but this is not a conversation for today." Gabriel said simply.

After that they finished their breakfast in relative silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Ten minutes later they were finished and headed off to their own pursuits. Afton went to the study to work. Megan thought about asking what his work was but decided it wasn't her business.

Gabriel asked Megan to take a walk with him around the grounds. Megan declared she needed the exercise if Mim was going to continue feeding them like this. Gabriel laughed and told Megan that she wasn't wrong about the food.

They skipped the maze choosing instead to stroll through the flower gardens. Megan noted that they must have an amazing gardener, and Gabriel chose not to tell Megan that Mim took care of the gardens at night. When one was an ancient magical, unsleeping creature that moved in shadow they tended to be capable of just about anything.

Being tied to him by his birth and status, Mim would do anything for Gabriel and by extension, Megan and Afton. Gabriel hoped Mim had heard the praise for the gardening, it was well deserved.

After a while they stepped through the hydrangeas into the pool area. They walked along side-by-side for a moment then Megan lamented that she wished she had put on her swimsuit. An idea formed and Gabriel chose to follow it. He swept Megan into his arms and walked to the side of the pool.

"Gabriel, what are you doing? Don't you..." Megan shrieked as he tossed her into the pool. Gabriel started stripping out of his shoes and socks as Megan came up spluttering. He pulled his shirt off and dropped his pants. Just as Megan was about to scream at him, Gabriel went running by in just his boxers and cannon-balled into the center of the pool. Megan started laughing at his antics.

Gabriel grinned widely at Megan hearing her laugh. She was busy pulling her flats off and flopping them onto the pool deck. Gabriel swam over to her to help her get her sundress off so she could swim more properly. Together they managed to accomplish it leaving her in her bra and thong underwear.

"Nice ass." Gabriel smirked getting a shove from Megan. He was enjoying the way her white bra was hiding nothing from him at that point. Megan looked down, realizing what held his attention and tried to turn away.

"No," Gabriel stopped her. "You are my beautiful girl, don't hide from me." He pulled her to him trapping her against the rim of the pool and pulled her mouth to his as their legs tangled together under the water. The kiss turned passionate in an instant and Gabriel had to pull himself away when Megan nipped at his lip and the sensation sent a jolt of fire through his system.

Megan felt Gabriel pull away and was starting to understand it was because his control was slipping. However, was that such a bad thing? If they were going to be together this way, why did he need to have so much control. Megan realized she wasn't exactly sure she understood what he was talking about controlling. He said his baser instincts, the thing that changed his eyes. Was that a dangerous thing? Megan didn't know. Deciding to give him a minute Megan swam across the pool to a rock water feature with a waterfall.

A few minutes later, Gabriel joined Megan under the water feature where she was seated on a rock bench enjoying the feel of the water hitting her shoulders. He sat down beside her, took her hand, and kissed the back of it.

"I'm sorry about that. Every time I touch you it feels like I've been set on fire. I can't risk being out of control. Gabriel explained.

Megan turned and looked at him, her eyes squinted. "What is out of control? I am not sure I understand. If you want me too much wouldn't that be a good thing?"

Gabriel felt stuck, not sure how to answer her. He stared at Megan for a long minute before looking away still trying to figure out what to say.