She cocked her head and looked at the sculpture. ‘She’s beautiful,’ she said. A statue of about sixty centimetres tall stood on the workbench. He’d created a winged fairy and caught her mid-flight. Her wings were laced with intricately carved patterns, almost like a complex root system, and she held an orb in her hand and looked as if she was going to throw it at the viewer.
Gabriel nodded. ‘I call her Misty.’
Bella chuckled. ‘Misty would love that.’
She hadn’t seen the old woman or the Pells since that night. Ramsey and Ellie had moved to another district, and Misty had gone with them. They occasionally received a letter from Misty, which was nice.
Gabriel reached for something on the shelf under the workbench, and when he straightened he pulled her back in against his side.
‘When I first met you, I wasn’t at my nicest,’ he said, and she laughed.
‘You were acting like a beast.’
He nodded. ‘Fine. I was a beast. I wanted to apologise for that.’
Bella waved a hand. ‘Oh, I never thought you were a beast, just that you were carrying on like one. I knew you were in pain. Once we started treating that properly, you weren’t so bad.’
He arched an eyebrow. ‘Not so bad, huh?’ He leaned down to kiss her briefly on the lips, before pulling back to look her in the eye.
‘I’m so lucky to have you in my life,’ he said, and her cheeks warmed at his sincerity. ‘You never gave up on me. You had more faith in me than I did, and I’ll never forget that.’
He hugged her to him. ‘You had every reason to leave me,’ he said softly into her hair, and her arms stole around his waist. ‘I was a jerk, and you ignored that part and stayed. You were nearly killed twice, and yet you stayed.’
‘Stop beating yourself up about it,’ she whispered as she hugged him tight. ‘You have endured so much pain, and you’ve worked so hard to overcome your injuries. I’m so proud of you, and all of that effort.’
He’d saved her. Sure, he’d risked his life, and his arm, to hold on to her and keep her from plummeting to her death, but he’d also given her purpose. After her father had died she’d felt so numb, as though she was merely going through the motions of life. Gabriel had woken her up, challenged her, delighted her, and loved her. She looked after him, and he looked after her. They made a great team.
‘What I’m trying to say,’ Gabriel said as he pulled back to look at her, ‘is that I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.’ He raised her hand and placed a little wooden box on her palm.
She gasped. The edges were curved and polished a warm nut brown, and on the lid he’d carved an intricate Celtic knot.
‘Open it,’ he told her, and she looked up at him. His gaze was dark with apprehension. She lifted the lid of the box and gasped.
Nestled on a black velvet cushion sat a diamond ring, simple in its elegance. A central stone in a princess cut was surrounded by a band of smaller diamonds, set into a platinum setting. The band was smooth on the outside, and had more intricate patterns carved on the inside. The ring had an ageless quality to it.
Her gaze rose to Gabriel, shocked. ‘It’s – it’s stunning.’ She frowned. While they were steadily bringing in an income, they couldn’t afford something like this. ‘How – where…?’
He grinned. ‘Oh, I found the cupboard that Ellie and Ramsey were talking about. The stuff in there is pretty awesome.’
He took the ring from the box and held up her left hand. ‘Bella Tompkins, will you marry me?’
Tears welled in her eyes as she nodded. ‘Yes,’ she answered simply, and he slid the ring on to her finger. She laughed as he pulled her to him, and she lifted her lips to meet his. Of course she’d marry him. She couldn’t think of spending a day away from him, much less a lifetime.
Gabriel’s lips slanted across hers, and her heart raced. That was the effect this man had on her. He could frustrate her, sure, but more than anything he made her happy. Giddy. He backed her toward the bench and lifted her up so that she sat there, her legs around his hips as he kissed her passionately.
She laughed against his lips. ‘Here?’
He started to unbutton his shirt, and she helped him, opening the garment to reveal the roped muscles of his chest and arms. Just one look at his magnificent body was enough to turn her reservations to dust.
He nodded. ‘Uh-huh. I think we need to christen each room.’
She smiled as she kissed him, darting her tongue into his mouth before pulling back. She lifted her shirt up and over her head, flinging it away. ‘That’s a lot of rooms.’
He ran his hands up her back, and she trembled at his touch, her nipples pebbling against the lace of her bra. ‘I’m up for it if you are.’ He cradled her face as he kissed her some more, before switching his attention to her ear, then blazing a trail down her neck. She moaned.
‘You’re right,’ she gasped as she peppered his neck and shoulders with kisses, shuddering as he palmed her breasts through her lace bra. ‘We should work our way down.’
He undid the clasp of her bra, and slid it down her arms, flinging it away. Something fell and broke.
Neither paid any attention.
‘What an excellent idea,’ he whispered, then proceeded to kiss his way down her body to the waistband of her jeans. She lifted her hips as he pulled the jeans from her body, quickly rejoining her at the bench. She unsnapped the button of his jeans and pushed them down his legs, and he stepped between her thighs. She was wet and ready, and he slid inside, pulling her to him. She wrapped her legs around his hips as he leaned down to kiss her.
‘I love you,’ he said against her lips.
‘I love you, too,’ she whispered back, then gave herself up to the sensations bombarding her.
The room turned a golden pink as they made love, each finding home in the other’s arms.
A while later they lay on the floor, watching the sky darken outside. Bella turned in his arms. ‘You found the cupboard?’
He nodded. ‘Uh-huh. Awesome.’
‘What was in it?’
‘Oh, some ve-ry interesting things.’
‘Like what?’
‘Like handcuffs.’
‘Handcuffs?’
‘Uh-huh. Looks like my great-times whatever grandparents were really, you know, a great-time couple.’
Bella shivered as Gabriel nuzzled her neck.
‘I feel we should live up to the family name,’ he told her, and she chuckled.
‘And how exactly do you think we should do that?’
Gabriel nipped at her earlobe. ‘Let’s start in the dining room. I’ll bring the handcuffs.’
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ISBN: 9780857991775
Title: Enraptured
Copyright © 2014 by Shannon Curtis
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises (Australia) Limited, Level 4/132 Arthur Street, North Sydney, NSW, Australia, 2060.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
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