Wraith(48)

‘You’ve been through a great deal, Gabriel, and you’re still not recovered. At least sit down.’

He remained where he was. ‘Usually I have no problem getting to the crux of a matter and understanding what’s going on. Where you’re concerned, it’s like staring at a closed book. Give me something, Saiya. Anything.’

You think the world would be safer place if I didn’t exist, I thought. ‘I’m worried that you’re going to collapse again,’ I said aloud. ‘Not to mention what will happen if we don’t find the Stone of Scone before the goblins do. Or what your Prime Minister James will do in the meantime.’

‘No,’ Gabriel said slowly. ‘Those are concerns, valid concerns but they’re not what’s really bothering you.’

‘I thought I was a closed book,’ I snapped.

‘You are.’ His dark eyes glittered. ‘I’ll just have to work harder to get you to open up. After all,’ he added, ‘I know one thing for certain about you.’

‘What’s that?’

‘You feel the same way about me as I do about you.’ He gave a self-satisfied smile. ‘You wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of saving my life if you didn’t.’

‘Have you ever thought that maybe I just feel sorry for you?’

Gabriel’s smile grew. ‘No.’

I hissed in irritation. ‘Until recently you were all but dying. Get some rest.’ I turned away towards the cave’s entrance, as if I were going to keep watch.

Gabriel reached out and gently tugged me back. ‘I don’t want rest. I told you before that I wouldn’t touch you until you begged but we’re a bit short on time, so I’m going to have to resort to faster methods. Thirty minutes, you said?’ His eyes gleamed. ‘I can work with that.’

‘Gabriel,’ I began, my frustration rising even further. ‘You…’ My voice caught as he reached out, his thumb gently brushing my bottom lip. His head dipped and he sucked on it then his hands were on my waist.

‘I can’t help it,’ he murmured against my ear. ‘The poison is clearly still acting in some very strange ways.’ He planted several small kisses along my jawline. ‘Perhaps the taste of your skin will counteract the effects.’ His tongue darted out, licking me.

I yelped and sprang backwards. ‘Stop that! I’m not a lollipop!’

‘But you’re so sweet.’ He moved towards me again.

I held up my hands to ward him off. ‘You know that’s a terrible line, right?’

Gabriel took my right hand and caressed each finger in turn. Then he placed my palm flat against his chest. ‘You can feel how fast my heart is beating. I told you already, Saiya, our heartbeats are in unison. So if mine feels like it’s hammering against my ribcage then yours will too.’

‘My pulse is perfectly normal.’

His smile took on a wicked tinge. ‘Really?’ He bent his ear towards my chest, hovering less than an inch away. ‘If that’s normal,’ he whispered, ‘then you need to see a doctor. It just so happens that I’m a fully trained first aider.’

‘Pah!’ I scoffed. I moved my hands down to my sides. They were shaking – and the last thing I wanted was for Gabriel to see how scared I was.

He stood back and pulled off his shirt. Under the dim, magical light, his skin glowed. My eyes involuntarily tracked down from his hard pecs and erect nipples to the trail of dark, curly hair leading to the waistband of his trousers.

‘Do you like what you see?’ he asked.

Embarrassed, I looked away. ‘Get some sleep,’ I said, although my insistence was growing weaker by the second.

‘Tell me to stop.’ He took my hand again, turning it over and tracing my heart line with his index finger.

I shivered. Gabriel placed it over his heart. The skin-to-skin contact sent another delicious shudder rippling through me.

‘Tell me to stop.’

My body felt as if it were suddenly on fire. With the gentlest of touches, Gabriel nudged my hand down. And down. And down. I gasped. Then he stepped back, the smile disappearing from his face. ‘Tell me to stop, Saiya.’

My mouth was dry. My hands were still shaking and speaking was beyond me. Was this normal? No wonder poets waxed lyrical about love.

‘Saiya?’ Gabriel prodded.

I shook my head, mute. The consequences of this might be too great to handle. He still hated my kind – and by extension me. I was still lying to him. Right now, however, denying either of us was beyond me. I wanted more of him. Fuck it. I wanted all of him.

A low growl emitted from Gabriel’s throat and he pulled me into him. Then his lips were on mine, gentle at first, then hot and bruising as if he tried to control himself and couldn’t. I pressed into him, my arms round his body and my hands against his back. I marvelled at the smoothness of his skin and the hard nubs of his spine. I didn’t feel revulsion when I touched Gabriel; I felt joy.

‘I haven’t told you,’ he breathed shakily, ‘how sexy you look in my shirt.’

My stomach flipped. Doing my best to hide my thoughts, I made a weak attempt at a joke. ‘Maybe I should keep it on then.’

He gave a low laugh. ‘Not a chance.’ His fingers reached for the buttons and began to undo them. He was halfway down before he stopped. ‘I will stop if you want me to. At any point. Just say the word.’ His voice was tense, anxious.

My turbulent emotions were written on my face. With my heart in my mouth, I responded to him the only way I could think of; it was the only way that made any sense. I undid the next button. And the next. And the next. I shrugged off the shirt and discarded it. Wearing only my old underwear, I was standing in a cave with Gabriel de Florinville. I swallowed. What if I wasn’t good enough?

He groaned. ‘You’re so beautiful. And so damn skinny. When we get out of here, I’m going to feed you up until you burst.’

My heart was hammering so hard so that I felt as if I were going to burst right now. Awkwardness and embarrassment surged through me. He was right; I was nothing more than skin and bones. What was desirable about that? I raised my arms as if to conceal my body but he shook his head.

Suddenly understanding seemed to light through him. ‘You’ve never done this before,’ he said, as if in wonder.

‘I don’t like being touched,’ I muttered. ‘Normally.’

He bent down and picked up the shirt, handing it to me. Without thinking, I took it. ‘I didn’t realise.’ He ran a hand through his hair. ‘I … wow.’ He stepped away, still looking flummoxed.

I stared at him. ‘So that’s it?’

He glanced at me. ‘Pardon?’

‘I’m a virgin who’s never allowed herself to be kissed before so I’m weird and you no longer want me? Or have you changed your mind because I’m too thin?’ The accusation in my voice made him flinch.

‘No. God, Saiya, no.’ He drew me into his arms. ‘I want it to be special for you. If this is your first time then…’

‘Then there should be a four-poster bed with rose petals and candlelight?’ I snorted. ‘We might be dead before we see another bed, Gabriel. You can’t spend all this time convincing me and then change your mind.’ I set my jaw. ‘This is happening.’ I threw the shirt back onto the ground, reached down and started unbuckling his belt but I couldn’t unfasten the buckle and my fingers kept snagging against the leather.

‘Enough,’ he said softly. He lifted my hands away. ‘You have such a look of grim determination on your face. It’s like you’re about to hold your nose and swallow some awful medicine.’

‘We are doing this. You and me. Sex. Now.’

Gabriel quirked an eyebrow in amusement. ‘I almost died an hour or two ago. A few minutes ago you wanted me to stop.’

I shook my head. ‘You’re not dead. And I don’t want you to stop any more.’

He cupped my face and stared deeply into my eyes. ‘Then I’m going to have to use all my powers to make you relax.’ He whispered into my ear, ‘Then I’ll make you moan. This cave had better be sound-proofed because if there are any goblins nearby they’ll hear you.’

I opened my mouth to speak but he pressed his index finger against my lips and hushed me. While I continued to tremble, he gently lifted my bra straps and slid them down my shoulders. I turned and allowed him to unclasp it. Every time his skin connected with mine I felt the same wonderful shiver. When I turned back and he brushed his thumbs against my nipples, I actually staggered.

‘Trousers,’ I said, my voice more hoarse than I’d expected.

Gabriel dipped into a bow. ‘As my lady commands.’ He undid his belt, the button, then the zip. He’d barely pushed the material over his hips before evidence of his erection was fully apparent. I sucked in a breath. A moment later, I hastily pulled off the last of my underwear, kicking it out of the way. When we were both naked, he reached for me again, pulling me against him until his heat pressed into mine.

Gabriel’s hands ran down the length of my body, alternately caressing and exploring. His lips followed, first at my nape before blazing a trail along my collarbone and down. When his mouth found my breast and his teeth grazed the soft flesh there, I couldn’t stop myself any longer. My fingers reached for his head and twined into his hair. His breathing was uneven and ragged but he didn’t stop.