Finding Isadora(104)

His fingers unerringly found my clit and stroked it. “Now, Isadora!” he commanded, and we exploded together.

I collapsed on his chest and he held me close. Slowly I straightened my legs, still holding him inside me even though he was wilting.

He chuckled, surprising me.

“What?”

“Bet your parents raised you on that saying, ‘today is the first day of the rest of your life.’ ”

“Yes.”

“It feels like that, doesn’t it?”

I nodded against his chest. “Exactly like that.” He wasn’t pulling away, wanting to run. He was acknowledging that our lives had changed because of each other. I raised my head and touched my lips to his. “It’s a pretty fine first day.”

“The best,” he said softly.

Again, tears of happiness swelled in my eyes.

We spent the rest of the night talking and dozing and making love again. In the morning, we made love in the shower, then stumbled into the sitting room, yawning. “I have to take Pogo out,” I said as I pulled on a jersey and leggings.

Gabriel frowned at the jumbled pile of clothing on the floor, then resignedly started to put on yesterday’s rumpled garments. “I’ll come with you. I could really use a coffee.”

“Me, too.”

He looked up from buttoning his shirt. “I’ve never seen you drink coffee.”

“Decaf only, but I love the occasional latté. There’s a place Jan and I go that makes great coffee and blueberry bran muffins.” The, remembering the dishes, I hurried into the kitchen and ran a sink-full of soapy water to soak them, wishing I had a dishwasher. “That’s first on the agenda when we get back.” I paused. “Sorry, I shouldn’t assume… I mean, you’ve probably got plans for the day.”

“Bet on it.” He embraced me from behind, kissed the top of my head, and wriggled his hips suggestively.

“Oh, those kind of plans.” I pressed back against him. “You sure you’ve got any, uh, juice left in your battery?”

“Coffee’ll recharge me.” Then he pulled me even tighter. “You’ll recharge me, Isadora.”

Outside, we waited for Pogo to do his stuff, then headed off toward Denman Street. Gabriel reached for my hand, then released it. “Should we be doing this in broad daylight?”

Harsh reality. “I guess we need to talk about that.” I wanted us to touch, to act like lovers. I was proud to be with Gabriel and I wanted the whole world to know. But not before we decided how to deal with Richard.

Was Gabriel willing to admit to his son that we were a couple? If he was still trying to convince himself this was a short-term fling, he’d probably want to keep it secret. I bit my lip. “This isn’t Richard’s part of town. It’s unlikely we’d run into him. Still, I guess there’s nothing wrong with playing it safe.”

“Hell.” He grabbed my hand. “I’ve had enough of not being able to touch you.”

I bumped my hip against his. “Me, too.”

When we reached the coffee shop and were standing in the order line, I said, “Eat here, take the stuff to the beach, or go back to my place?”

His eyes twinkled. “I’d say the beach.” He bent to whisper in my ear. “Give me another half hour to recharge. Or you’ll think I’m too old to satisfy you.”

Too old. I’d wanted a man to grow old with, yet I’d fallen for one fifteen years my senior. Grace was right: you couldn’t plan love. But if you were lucky enough to find it, you should damn well enjoy it. And I was.

I tugged on his hair, pulling him down so I could whisper in turn. “If I was any more satisfied, I wouldn’t be able to walk.”

He gave one of those smug male grins and I had to kiss it off his face.

“Next!” an annoyed voice said, and we hastily broke apart and moved forward to place our order.

But, after we’d breakfasted lazily at the beach—sitting on what was now “our log”—we were both in a hurry to get back to my place.

As soon as we were inside and I’d let Pogo off his lead, I reached for the buttons on Gabriel’s shirt.

“Thought dishes were first on your list,” he teased.

“Nope, you’re first.”

And, as it turned out, he was second and third as well. We spent most of the morning touching each other, and my whole concept of sex changed. Before, I’d pretty much defined love-making as intercourse. Now, the boundaries were blurred. Every caress, whether it was blatantly sexual or subtly sensual, felt like making love.

At some point I managed to actually do the dishes and feed the animals, Gabriel took Pogo out for a quick visit to the front lawn, and we dug out cheese, crackers, and fruit for a snack in bed. But mostly we just touched and talked.

“What are we going to do about Richard?” I asked, as we lay side by side facing each other, our hands clasped between our bodies.

“We can’t sneak around and hide this,” he said positively.

I shook my head, relieved that Gabriel didn’t want to deny our relationship. “And we don’t want him to hear about it from someone else.”

“So we have to tell him.” He sighed, looking despondent. “I’ll do it. He already thinks I’m an *.”