Gabriel's Rapture (Gabriel's Inferno #2)(129)

Gabriel caught her hand in his and pressed his open mouth to her palm. “Julianne, you were never just my student. You’re my soul mate. My bashert.”

He pulled her to his chest, and she hummed against his tuxedo. And when Dean Martin switched to Italian, it was Gabriel’s voice that sang in her ear.

* * *

As Gabriel stood outside of Julia’s hotel room in the wee hours of the morning, he looked at her appraisingly. Her long, curled hair, her beautiful skin and flushed cheeks, her eyes sparkling with champagne and happiness. The way her dark red strapless dress complemented her figure. His brown-eyed angel still had the power to enchant him.

As he gently caressed her cheek, she gazed up into the hazy blue eyes he was now hiding behind his glasses. He was so handsome in his tuxedo. So very, very sexy.

Boldly, she reached out to pull the edge of his bow tie and felt the silk come apart in her fingers. She wrapped the tie around her hand once to tug his lips to hers.

As they kissed, Julia suddenly realized how difficult it must have been at the beginning of their relationship for Gabriel to keep his hands off her. The boiling of blood and heating of flesh when one knew what lay beyond kissing in the voluptuary dance that was foreplay. She could barely contain her need for him.

“Please,” she whispered, straining on tiptoe to place tiny kisses across his neck as she tugged on his tie once again.

He groaned. “Don’t tempt me.”

“I promise I’ll be gentle.”

Gabriel laughed gruffly. “This is a stunning reversal.”

“We’ve waited a respectable amount of time. I love you. And I want you.”

“Do you trust me?”

“Yes,” she said breathlessly.

“Then marry me.”

“Gabriel, I—”

He cut her off with his kiss, pulling her against his chest. Somehow his hands were in her hair, clutching her tightly. And then as he gently slid his hands to caress her naked shoulders, he tentatively pressed into her mouth.

Julia released his bow tie to wrap her arms around his neck, tugging him until their bodies were flush against one another. She nibbled his full lower lip and moaned as his tongue slowly traced the curve of her mouth.

Suddenly, his fingers were touching her collarbones and moving to her back, gliding across the surface of her skin as it began to flush and heat.

“Let me do things the right way,” he pleaded, his hands cupping her face.

“How could this be wrong?” she whispered back, eyes dark and desperate.

He kissed her again, and this time she shamelessly wound her right leg around his hip, trying to recreate their tango against a wall from the Royal Ontario Museum.

He pressed forward until her back was flush against the door to her room, his hands roaming up and down her thighs, before pulling back suddenly. “I can’t.”

Julia removed his glasses in order to smooth the creases around his eyes, and saw passion, conflict, and love staring back at her. She unwound her leg from his hip and pressed their lower bodies together.

“Gabriel.”

He blinked at the sound of her voice, as if she was awakening him from a dream.

When he didn’t move, she placed a few inches between them and handed him his glasses. “Goodnight, Gabriel.”

He looked stricken. “I don’t mean to hurt you.”

“I know.”

He remained perfectly still, staring down into eyes that were filled with sadness and longing. “I’m trying to be strong for both of us,” he whispered. “But when you look at me like that…”

He kissed her lips softly and nodded his acquiescence as she fumbled for her slide card, and the two of them disappeared behind her hotel room door.

* * *

Early the next morning, Julia left the comfort of Gabriel’s warm embrace to tip toe to the washroom. When she returned, she found him wide-awake and gazing at her with concern.

“Are you all right?”

Blushing, she smiled. “Yes.”

“Then come here.” He opened his arms, and she snuggled close, placing a leg over both of his.

“I’m sorry if I embarrassed you in the hallway.”

“You didn’t embarrass me.” The urgency of his tone took Julia aback. “How could I be embarrassed by the woman I love showing me that she wants me?”

“I think we gave some of the other guests a bit of a show.”

“And some inspiration,” he spoke against her lips, kissing her.

When they broke apart, she rested her head on his shoulder. “I guess you’re serious about waiting until the wedding.”

“You weren’t complaining last night.”

“You know me.” She winked at him. “I don’t like to complain.

“Thank you for compromising, Gabriel.” She tightened her arms around his waist. “Last night was important for me.”

“For me too.” He smiled. “I could see that you trust me.”

“I’m glad, because I’ve never trusted you more.”

He kissed her again, before pushing a lock of hair away from her face. “I have something to tell you,” he said, his fingers gently running up and down her neck. “Something strange.”

Her eyebrows knit together curiously.

“Go ahead.”