Title: Claim Day
Chapter 32: A Hand Over the Button
Gabriel
I gripped Nia’s hips tighter as I thrust into her, watching her slender body respond to every movement. Her shy nature made these moments even more intoxicating—the way she’d blush when I looked directly into her eyes while inside her, how she’d bite her lower lip to stifle her moans until I told her I wanted to hear her. The carpet beneath her bed muffled the rhythmic creaking as I drove into her with increasing intensity.
“Oh God,” she whimpered, her fingers clutching the sheets. “Gabriel, please…”
Across the room, Imani sat cross-legged on her own bed, completely naked, her dark skin glowing in the afternoon light filtering through the blinds. She had papers spread around her, a tablet propped against her knee, completely unbothered by our activities. Her focus was remarkable—almost amusing.
“How can you possibly concentrate with all this going on?” I asked Imani, not breaking my rhythm as Nia writhed beneath me.
Imani looked up from her work and flashed that brilliant smile of hers. “It’s nice, actually,” she said, tapping her stylus against her tablet. “Helps me focus knowing you’re here, enjoying yourself.” She tilted her head, observing us with academic interest. “I don’t have to worry about whether you’re pleased, I can see you are, so I can just focus on these neural pathway models.” She gestured toward Nia with her stylus. “I bet our shy little molecular biologist feels it even more intensely right now, doesn’t she?”
Nia moaned in response, her eyes half-closed. “Yes,” she gasped as I hit a particularly sensitive spot. “It feels so good knowing you’re… ah! …enjoying me, Gabriel.”
The door opened without warning, and Olivia froze in the doorway, her eyes widening at the scene before her. I noticed her immediately but didn’t stop. Under normal circumstances I would have been mortified to have Olivia walk in on me fucking, but these weren’t normal circumstances. I’d made my peace with the idea of facing the consequences of my actions once we figured out a solution to the claiming mess, though the thought of how Olivia would feel about this little encounter once freed did send a shiver of dread down my spine that I quickly dismissed.
Imani looked up, studying Olivia with curious eyes before breaking into a warm smile. “Well, hello there. You must be Olivia, Gabriel’s new acquisition. I’m Imani.” She didn’t bother covering herself or acting embarrassed.
Olivia recovered quickly, smirking as she leaned against the doorframe. “Yeah, that’s me,” she said with casual confidence despite the awkward situation. Her eyes drifted to where Nia and I were connected, and her smirk deepened. “Should I, like, join in?” The question was delivered with practiced nonchalance, but I caught the eager curiosity beneath it.
I chuckled, maintaining my rhythm as Nia gasped beneath me. “Definitely not,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m not looking to drive your father completely over the edge.” I met Olivia’s gaze directly. “Besides, you’re more like family to me, kiddo. Always have been.”
Olivia nodded, looking slightly disappointed but not surprised. “Fair enough,” she said with a shrug. “I can come back later if you want to finish up here.”
I was getting close, my movements becoming more urgent as Nia trembled beneath me. “What do you need?” I asked Olivia, my voice rougher than I intended.
“Erm... Sorry. One of your other girls told me where I could find you... Wendy went to see my dad this morning,” Olivia said. “They told me to go get snacks or whatever, but I just pretended to leave. Walked down the hall, then doubled back and listened through the door.” Her eyes gleamed with mischief and pride at her subterfuge.
Imagining the unpleasant conversation between Wendy and Cedric pushed me over the edge. This was it. He was going to give me my wife back. I had left him no choice. I gripped Nia’s hips hard enough to leave marks and drove deep inside her one final time, releasing with a groan. She cried out, her body shuddering beneath mine as she came simultaneously.
I took a moment to catch my breath, then pulled out of Nia, watching with satisfaction as my cum began to leak from her. I turned to Imani with a grin. “Clean her up, would you?”
Imani set her tablet aside with a theatrical sigh. “Always interrupting my work,” she teased, crawling across the carpet toward Nia’s bed. “But I suppose someone has to keep things tidy around here.” She settled between Nia’s legs, giving me a playful wink before lowering her head to lap at the mixture of our fluids.
I pulled on my boxers and turned my full attention to Olivia, suddenly very interested in what she might have overheard. “So?” I asked, gesturing for her to continue.
Olivia settled on the edge of the bed, careful to keep a respectful distance from where Imani was still attending to Nia. I pulled on my pants and sat across from her, eager to hear what she’d learned.
“I couldn’t hear everything clearly,” Olivia began, tucking her hair behind her ear. “But Dad told Wendy she’d have to go back to you. That was pretty clear.”
A wave of satisfaction washed over me. Finally, Cedric was being reasonable. After days of this ridiculous standoff, he was going to return my wife to me.
Imani finished with Nia and sat up, wiping her mouth delicately. “Thank goodness,” she said, her voice warm with genuine relief. “This whole thing with Wendy has been driving us crazy...”
“There’s more, though,” Olivia continued, her expression growing uneasy. “Wendy didn’t take it well. She was really upset about coming back to you.”
I snorted. “I’m not surprised. Cedric’s been filling her head with ideas about how I was mistreating her for days. But it’s not up to her.” I studied Olivia’s face, noticing her continued discomfort. “What else?”
Olivia shifted on the bed. “They said something about a standoff, but then how it wasn’t one? Dad said it was like a cold war, and Wendy said something about how cold wars are fought behind the scenes or whatever.” She frowned, trying to recall the exact words. “She said people spy and put pressure and try to win the war behind closed doors.”
“What?” I felt a surge of anger mixed with disbelief. “A war? Is he fucking serious?” I stood up and began pacing, my mind racing. “I never intended this to be a war. I just wanted to put Cedric in my shoes so he’d stop messing with my wife, so he wouldn’t go any further with her. It was defensive, not offensive!”
The idea that Cedric was viewing this as some kind of strategic conflict infuriated me. I had claimed Olivia as a last resort, a way to protect what was mine after he’d taken Wendy. It was meant to be a standoff, yes, but a standoff that would lead to a peaceful resolution, not some prolonged conflict.
“What the hell is he thinking?” I muttered, more to myself than to the women in the room. “This isn’t a standoff if he’s plotting against me. It’s just—” I broke off, unsure how to finish the thought. Was I being naive? Had I miscalculated how Cedric would respond?
Fear crept in alongside my anger. What was Cedric planning? Should I put more pressure on him through Olivia, or would that just escalate things further? Clearly, he wasn’t being rational about this.
“Did you hear what they’re planning to do?” I asked Olivia, trying to keep my voice steady.
She shook her head. “Not really. They lowered their voices at some point.” She hesitated, looking down at her hands. “But Wendy said something about… about you hurting her.” The words came out reluctantly, as if she knew they would displease me. “She told Dad he needed to protect her, put conditions before giving her back to you.”
“Hurting her?” I stopped pacing, genuinely shocked. “What the hell does that mean? I’ve never hurt Wendy. Never.” The accusation stung more than I wanted to admit. Yes, I’d been treating her poorly since Claim Day, but I’d never been violent with her. She didn’t mind it. She didn’t mind it until Cedric told her what to think. “What kind of conditions?”
Olivia shrugged. “I couldn’t hear that part clearly. Something about limits? Making sure you understand my dad is still in control?”
I paced the room, running a hand through my hair as I tried to make sense of what Olivia was telling me. This was spiraling out of control. What had started as a desperate measure to protect my marriage was turning into some kind of psychological warfare.
“I need to talk to Cedric,” I muttered. “We need to de-escalate this situation before it gets any worse. This isn’t what I wanted.”
Olivia made a frustrated sound, rolling her eyes in that distinctly teenage way. “Dad’s being ridiculous,” she said, her voice sharp with annoyance. “I totally get why you claimed me. You needed a counter-balance. He’s been in love with Wendy for years, you know. Ever since Mom died.”
I stopped pacing. Of course I knew—I’d seen the way he looked at my wife when he thought no one was watching. But hearing it from Olivia, his daughter, hit me like a physical blow. It made it real in a way I hadn’t fully accepted before.
“Even if he hasn’t done anything yet,” Olivia continued, “he owns her now. And if Wendy feels about him the way I feel about you…” She gestured vaguely toward me, her meaning clear. “He’ll be tempted eventually, if he isn’t already. Trust me, I know my dad.”
She leaned forward, her expression intensifying. “If he thinks this is a war, then it’s a war we need to win. Now, before it’s too late.”
I studied her face, unsettled by her determination. “What exactly are you suggesting?”
Olivia thought for a moment, her eyes narrowing as she considered the question. “We need to scare him,” she finally said. “Shock him. Show him what could happen. Give him a real taste of your control over me.” Her voice hardened. “He’ll back off then. He won’t risk you messing with me. I promise you that. My dad acts tough, but he hates conflicts, and he loves me. He’d do anything to keep me safe.”
“Jesus, Olivia,” I said, rubbing my temples. The moral quagmire I’d waded into was getting deeper by the second. “I can’t hurt you just to put pressure on Cedric. That’s—that’s not who I am.”
Imani and Nia exchanged uncomfortable glances, clearly unsure whether they should be part of this conversation. I didn’t blame them.
“You don’t need to hurt me,” Olivia said, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial tone. Her eyes gleamed with an unsettling eagerness that reminded me this wasn’t really Olivia speaking—it was the claiming. “You just need to use me to illustrate the control you have. Make me do something I would never do. Something so fucked up he’ll realize he can’t win.”
The way she said it, almost eager, sent a chill down my spine. This was the girl I’d watched grow up, Cedric’s daughter, practically family. And now she was offering herself as a weapon in a conflict I never wanted.
“What did you have in mind?” I asked, already dreading the answer.