Gabriel's Inferno (Gabriel's Inferno #1)(87)

“You were cruel.”

“So were you.”

“You hurt me.”

“And you hurt me. Is revenge everything you dreamed it might be?”

Gabriel continued whispering, his warm breath huffing across her cheek.

“You’ve transformed from a rabbit into a furious kitten. Well, you scratched me deeply today, my kitten. You drew blood with every word. Are you happy now? Now that you’ve humiliated me in front of my students by reciting all my secret sins? It was a true bonfire of the vanities, with you lighting the flame.”

He brought his lips even closer to her ear, and the air from his mouth caused her to shiver.  “You’re a coward.”

“I am not a coward.”

“You’re the one who’s leaving.”

“You’re sending me to him.”

“Like hell I am! Do you do everything people tell you to do? Where’s my furious kitten now?”

“I’m just a student, Professor Emerson. You’re the one with all the power. You could — destroy me.”

“Bullshit. Is that what you think? That this is a power trip?” Gabriel pul ed her book bag from her tense and twisted fingers and cast it aside.

He spun her around and grasped her face, moving his hands to the curves of her cheeks. “You think I’d destroy you? After our history?”

“I’m not the one with the memory problem. You think I’m happy?

You think this is what I want? I’m miserable. To finally see you after all these years and to see you like this? I don’t even recognize you!”

“You never gave me a chance. How the hell would I know what you want, Julianne, when you won’t f**king talk to me? You tell me nothing!”

“Shouting at me won’t persuade me to talk to you!”

His mouth collided with hers, passionately but briefly, until he tore himself from her lips to whisper in her ear. “Talk to me.” His lower lip trailed temptingly along her earlobe.

She was silent as she felt the energy between them shift, like a serpent circling back on itself, swallowing itself whole, anger and passion feeding off one another.

“Tell me that you want me, or get out.”

When she didn’t answer, Gabriel slowly withdrew. She felt ill from the loss of contact and didn’t even think about the words as they tumbled impetuously from her lips. “I never wanted anyone else.”

He stared into her eyes before he initiated the kiss. Lips met tightly, warm breath against warm breath, mouths wet and slick. Gabriel’s right hand smoothed across Julia’s cheek and slowly past her ear, before moving to the nape of her neck. As his mouth engulfed hers, he began to rub his thumbs across the surface of her skin, coaxing her to relax. Their lips floated together, sliding and smoothing. After a moment or two, he tilted her head back slightly — a silent plea.

Open for me.

Julia wasn’t breathing. How could she when the sensation was so intense? The taste of peppermint, the scent of Aramis, the way his breath consumed her. When she didn’t respond to his plea, Gabriel’s tongue slowly emerged, hesitantly exploring her lower lip, before curving over it and coaxing it backward dexterously into his mouth. Julia inhaled sharply at the strange but intimate sensation.

He pulled her lip between his, tugging and teasing. It was all so new, yet strangely familiar. Lips, teeth, the gentle play of tongue. Passion remained, but anger gave way to a bracing electricity that burned and crackled around them, as Julia answered his invitation and opened to him.

Her jaw was tense. He could feel it. Gabriel slipped his left hand from her cheekbone to the curve of her jaw and began stroking, willing her to loosen. As she relaxed under his fingers, he grew bolder. The tip of his tongue rolled over her lower lip as he tugged on it with his mouth, and slowly his tongue touched hers. There were timid introductions as their tongues met first as friends, shy and soft, then as lovers, sensual and erotic, as the heat exploded in their mouths and the dance of the two became a tango of one.

It was better than Gabriel imagined — so much better than in his dreams or imagination. She was real. Beatrice  was real. As he pressed his lips to hers and explored her mouth, he could say in those moments that she was his, body and soul. If only for those moments.

So sweet, thought Julia. So warm.

She tugged Gabriel closer, her tentative hands tangling in his hair, pulling him until she was sandwiched tightly between him and the door, her petite frame pressed up against his tall, muscular one. Gabriel moved his right hand to cup the back of her head, protecting it with his knuckles while he groaned loudly against her mouth.

He groaned because of me.

The groan was loud, feral, and erotic. Julia would remember that sound and the way it vibrated against her lips, echoing into her mouth, for the rest of her life. She felt the blood course through her, hot and thick, as her skin bloomed under his touch. She had never wanted anything more than to feel his arms around her and his lips against hers.

There was no Paul. No Christa. No university. Just them.

Gabriel’s lips enveloped her, owned her. A fire ignited inside as their bodies moved together, soft curves against unyielding steel. Julia inhaled frantically, but it wasn’t enough. Her head grew light.

Gabriel swore he could feel her heartbeat through his shirt they were so tightly bound together. His left hand trailed under the hem of her blouse to inch toward the bare skin of her lower back. He moaned again as his fingers spread across that valley, claiming it. He didn’t need to see it to know that it was beautiful and precious.