Gabriel Is No Angel

by Wendy Haley

  His eyes held the possibilities of many things that were primitive, suggested men and women and sensuality. And those things compelled her at the most basic of levels.

  She’d thought herself immune. She’d made the mistake of thinking she could be an island, and, like so many other fools who’d thought the same, she had fallen. Love had won.

  “I’ve got to go,” she said, pushing away from the table.

  “What the hell—”

  She walked out. It took all her willpower to keep from running. Evidently, Gabriel got caught up in paying the dinner tab, for she managed to get on the elevator without him.

  Once safely in her room, she took a long, hot shower. But there was no escaping what she’d learned about herself today.

  She scrubbed herself dry, then stared at her reflection in the fog-shrouded bathroom mirror. Her eyes had changed. They held awareness now, a woman’s acknowledgment of. desire. She made a face at herself. A bad marriage should have taught her better. A bad marriage to a cop, she reminded herself sternly.

  “Instinct, hah!” she muttered. “All it takes is a little willpower.”

  Willpower, right. At least she’d managed to get a room overlooking the condos across the street. She could watch for Peter Smithfield, leaving Gabriel to cool his heels downstairs, primitive instincts and all.

  She wrapped one bath towel around her head, the other around her body. It was a tight fit; the Ritz, this wasn’t. Whistling under her breath, she opened the bathroom door.

  And saw Gabriel lounging on the sofa.

  He dangled a key between thumb and forefinger. “The room is registered to Mrs. MacLaren,” he said. “I’m Mr. MacLaren, remember?”

  Rae scowled at him, trying to hide the hammering of her heart. “Okay, buster, you’ve had your fun. Out.”

  “Uh-uh.”

  He smiled at her, a crooked, gosh-ain’t-I-something grin that made every nerve in her body tingle. His gaze drifted downward, and she had the uncomfortable feeling that he could see right through her towel.

  Even as she stood there damning herself for her weakness, reaction spurred through her.

  “You heard me,” she said, low and strained. “Out.”

  “Make me.”

  “That’s it.” she snarled.

  Hitching her towel a notch, she strode across the room to him. He rose from the sofa to meet her, his mouth still curved in that infuriating, inveigling grin.

  She stopped directly in front of him. Toe-to-toe, Rae jammed her hands on her hips. “Get out of my room,” she said.

  “Sorry, sweetheart. My orders are to stick to you like glue, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

  With a hiss of indrawn breath, Rae laid her hand flat in the center of his chest and shoved. He didn’t budge. She planted her feet more firmly and shoved again. Damn him, he stood there smiling at her as though she hadn’t put any pressure on him at all.

  And then it happened.

  The world took a shift. Anger turned to arousal; frustration turned into passion hot enough to singe her soul. If it had happened only to her, she might have been able to regain a measure of control. But as she stood there looking up into Gabriel’s eyes, she saw it happen to him, too.

  Oh, this was bad. And so very, very good.

  Against her will, her fingers spread out over his chest, feeling the swift, strong beat of his heart against her palm. Slowly, he reached up to cover her hand with his.

  Her breath went out all at once, and she felt as though someone had punched her in the stomach. The world vanished; the only reality for her was Gabriel MacLaren, and the storm he’d caused in her soul.

  Gabriel reached up to caress her cheek. He wasn’t surprised to find that his hand was shaking. Everything shook. This woman had stirred him so deeply that he wasn’t sure he’d ever be right again. He had to have her. Body and soul, mind and heart and indomitable will, he wanted her.

  “Rae,” he said.

  “I—”

  “Never mind,” he interrupted, his voice harsh with arousal. “Talking never works for us.”

  She opened her mouth to protest. Before she could get a single word out, he claimed her lips in a kiss that rocked her to her toes. He swept in like a conqueror, tasting her, exploring her, taking every heated response she had to give. Rae could deny him nothing, nothing. Sinking her hands into his hair, she let herself fall into a yawning well of sensation.

  He dragged the towel off her head and discarded it. Her wet hair came tumbling down around her shoulders, a cool touch against her overheated skin. Gabriel’s hand felt callused and very warm as he slid it to the back of her neck. He tilted her head back, gaining still more access to her mouth.

  Rae moaned, a soft, breathy sound of pure arousal. She slid her hands along his wide shoulders and then down his arms, reveling in the hard maleness of his body. She explored the long, strong line of his back, his taut waist and, finally, the washboard-ridged plane of his abdomen.

  “Damn, Rae,” he gasped, tearing his mouth from hers. “You feel like heaven, and taste like it, too.”

  “I thought you didn’t want to talk,” she said.

  He smiled, his eyes raging with need and desire and a tender yearning that upped her heart rate still more. “I just didn’t want you to talk.”

  “I see. And what else do you want from me?”

  His smile vanished. Utter seriousness darkened his eyes as he stared right into hers. “Everything,” he growled.

  Rae trembled. It should have been outrageous, impossible, terrifying. But his eyes promised as much as they demanded, and more. The lure of it was more than flesh and blood could resist.

  And oh, boy, was she ever flesh and blood. Her skin was so sensitive that she thought she could feel every loop of the terry-cloth towel as he slid it slowly off her body.

  Gabriel laid his hands on her waist, immobilizing her. He’d become one great heartbeat. He’d never been so tuned to a woman before. He’d never felt such desire or such tenderness.

  Slowly, with exquisite care, he slid his hands up her ribs until the lush undercurve of her breasts brushed his fingers. Then he stopped, just looking at her.

  He’d never seen a woman more beautiful. And naked... she was everything he’d ever wanted in a woman, everything he’d ever dreamed of. Her breasts were full and round, crested with rose brown nipples that begged for his mouth. He let his gaze rove downward, taking in the sweet curve of her hips, the sleek, silken lines of her belly and thighs.

  “You’re so much woman,” he muttered. “So beautiful.”

  Had anyone else said such a thing, Rae might have scoffed. But she could see that he truly believed what he’d said. And strangely, instead of making her feel silly, it made her feel... well, beautiful.

  She’d never felt beautiful before. As he framed her face between his big, hard hands, she felt her heart contract with love for him. It was a huge, powerful thing, that love, almost painful in its intensity. At another time, she might have been frightened of it. But now she could only tremble, and wait, and want.

  To her surprise, she found herself leaning toward him, her rib cage pressed against his hands. He smiled at her, holding her for a moment. Then he gathered her in, pressing her naked body against his. He was hot, even through his clothes. Her skin took up that fire. Man and woman, woman and man, they seemed to meld, merge, their separateness burned away by passion.

  Rae gasped as he slid his hands down her back to her buttocks, his touch infinitely possessive. She understood then. This would be no simple, civilized lovemaking. Gabriel MacLaren intended to claim her in a way that was as compelling as it was primitive. He really did want everything.

  And she would give it to him. This was their time, a magical rift in the reality of what they were and what they had to do. For this brief, precious interlude, there would be no holding back between them, no subterfuge, nowhere to hide.

  His hot breath brushed her ear. That ephemeral touch became more as he nibbled
the upper curve of her ear. She drew her breath in with a hiss as sensation ran in waves from that contact point

  “You like that,” he murmured.

  “Ah,” she gasped as he sucked her sensitive earlobe, “I like everything you do.”

  “That’s good,” he said.

  This was too one-sided. He was slowly driving her bats and enjoying every moment of it. The time had come to make things a bit more even.

  She slid her hands along the hard swell of his pectorals, seeking his nipples. Finding them already tight and hard, she ran her thumbs around the small male nubs. He didn’t move, but she felt him exhale sharply against her ear.

  “You like that,” she whispered.

  He lifted his head and gazed deeply into her eyes. “Are you playing games, Rae?”

  She stilled, pinned by the emotion she saw in his eyes. She could hurt him now, stab straight to the heart with the right answer. Or wrong. She rejected the possibility.

  “Does this feel like I’m playing?” she asked, moving so that her right leg slid between his.

  He was fully aroused, hot and hard beneath his jeans. Reaction shot through her, and she had to hold on to his waist to maintain her balance. His eyelids drifted downward. He slid his hands along her back to her buttocks, tilting her so that she could feel him where she ached the most.

  “Oh,” she whispered, stirred beyond all hope of rational thought. “Oh,”

  Things got a little hazy then. She tore some buttons getting his shirt off him. She wasn’t clear on who actually got his jeans off, but once she had access to his skin, nothing else mattered. Her hands seemed to have a mind all their own. She reveled in the feel of him, the differing textures of skin and hair and muscle, the steel-in-satin hardness of his manhood.

  The world tilted and spun as he lowered himself to the sofa, bringing her with him. She sprawled across him, kissing him with an abandon that would have astonished her had there been room for anything but desire in her, then sliding downward to explore the rest of his body with her hands and tongue.

  He arched, calling her name in a voice gone hoarse with need. She didn’t stop. His voice began to shake, and still she didn’t stop. Couldn’t.

  “Rae,” he said. “Look at me.”

  She obeyed. He brushed a few damp strands of hair back from her face, and the tenderness in his hands made her tremble.

  “It’s my turn,” he murmured.

  Slowly, yet with a shaky urgency that excited her still more, he shifted, placing her beneath him. For a moment, he lay poised above her, looking at her with eyes that had gone hazy with sensuality. Then his eyelids lowered, and his lips parted.

  His kiss was torrid, unbridled, untamed as a thunderstorm. Rae gave herself up to it, to him. The world had turned to fire and passion and the feel of his mouth, his hands. A bomb could have gone off in the room, and she wouldn’t have cared. She shifted her hips, trying to ease the ache between her thighs.

  He left her mouth to kiss his way along her jaw. Then she felt his tongue, warm and wet as he delved into her ear. Her breath went out in a long sigh as he moved to straddle her. The satin weight of his arousal slid against her belly, a sensation that soon had her shaking with need.

  “Gabriel,” she gasped.

  He laughed, a deep male note of triumph. “Do you know that’s the first time you’ve called me by my first name?”

  “Which do you prefer... Ah!” she gasped as he licked his way along her neck.

  “Darlin’, you can call me anything you want,” he said against her skin. “As long as you love me like this.”

  Love me, he’d said. Oh, yes.

  His mouth was hot as he trailed a wet path along her collarbone. Slowly, oh, so slowly. Rae thought she’d go crazy wanting more. She shivered with anticipation as he licked downward along the outer curve of her breast.

  He let go of her hands finally, but all she could do was sink them into his hair and hold on. He kissed the full undercurve of one breast, then the other. Her nipples swelled into taut peaks, needing his hands, his mouth. He would get there. she. knew. But she’d passed the point of waiting.

  “Please,” she whispered.

  Gabriel looked into her eyes. They were glazed with passion, heavy lidded and sultry. Please, she’d said. Please. It stirred him immeasurably to know he’d brought her to this.

  “Anything you need, Rae,” he said. “Anything you want.”

  beyond reticence, beyond shame, Rae slid her hand beneath her breast, offering it to him.

  With a muttered exclamation, Gabriel took it. Her hips swayed beneath him as he suckled her, until he thought he’d go crazy from the feel of all that heat and silken skin rubbing against him.

  He rose to his knees so that he could look at her. Her face had gone soft with passion, and her lips were parted, giving him a glimpse of the lush wetness within. Ah, hell, she looked just like heaven. Her breasts were swollen with arousal, the areolae deep pink and glistening.

  The time for waiting had passed. He got to his feet beside the sofa and scooped her into his arms.

  “What...?” she began.

  “We’re going to bed,” he said.

  He laid her on the bedspread. Then he paused, one knee on the cover, and looked at her. Oh, woman! he thought. She was as sumptuous as a banquet against the dark blue fabric, and he wanted nothing more than to lose himself in her. Maybe forever.

  He’d intended to hold back a while longer. But her arms came around him, she parted her legs and that was it.

  “Rae,” he groaned. “Oh, Rae.”

  She cried out in pure, sensual abandon as Gabriel slid deep into her. He felt so good, so very good. She felt complete, as though something in her soul had been crying out for his possession.

  Time seemed to end. Her passion spiraled up and up and up as she met his driving thrusts. She wrapped her arms around him and held on tight, for he was her only anchor in a spinning maelstrom of sensation.

  Higher and higher they strove. Together, always together they moved, hearts pounding in unison, breaths mingling, sighs and soft moans of pleasure taken, pleasure given.

  The first tremors caught her. Gabriel watched it happen to her, saw her eyes lose focus, felt her clench around him. He held out until she called out his name. Pressing his face into the hollow of her throat, he let himself go. He was flung up high, then slammed down into a climax so powerful that stars pinwheeted across his vision.

  “Rae,” he groaned

  They held tightly to each other as they spiraled back down to earth. Gabriel rolled onto his back, bringing her with him. She laid her cheek on his chest, melded to him as though she’d been a part of him forever.

  Soon, her breathing slowed. He ran his hand along the tumbled mass of her hair, smoothing the wild curls against her shoulder. She murmured his name. Even asleep, he thought, she’d known his touch. His heart contracted.

  Again, he remembered how he’d begun this thinking he’d work her out of his system. But now, with Rae lying warm and lush against him, he knew he’d been wrong.

  Oh, hell.

  Chapter 9

  Rae stared up at the velvet blackness of the ceiling. Gabriel slept beside her, his arm around her waist, but her mind wouldn’t relax. She kept replaying the night, over and over and over. And still she found no answers.

  Simply, making love to Gabriel MacLaren had been the most stunning, beautiful thing that had ever happened to her. He’d been fierce and tender, passionate and incredibly sensual all at once. She felt new and strange, as though she’d been taken apart and put back together a whole new way.

  It scared her. She didn’t want to be vulnerable. She’d found that Rae Ann Boudreau, process server extraordinaire, was simply a woman. No more, no less.

  Gabriel MacLaren had made her feel cherished. He’d made her feel loved.

  And it wasn’t real.

  Reality was Peter Smithfield, and those three kids who’d be desperately poor until they got some support. Re
ality was that Gabriel had spent half a lifetime in a heart-breaking, spirit-souring job, and cynicism had no place in love.

  And reality was that he hadn’t offered her love. Sensation, sensuality, pleasure so hot there’d been times when she thought she’d surely be consumed by it, but not love.

  “Oh, damn,” she muttered.

  Gabriel stirred, reaching for her in an automatic gesture of possession. She laid her hand on his chest, and watched, fascinated, as his body reacted to her touch, even in sleep.

  Temptation whispered in her ear, seductive as the devil himself. Almost of its own volition, her hand slid downward, tracing the line of hair that ran from his chest to his sex.

  She stopped at his navel. Breath suspended, she fought her own arousal.

  Hoo, boy, you’ve got it bad! Yes, she did. She wanted to awaken him and make love to him all over again. All she had to do was let her hand drift downward a few inches....

  “Easy, girl,” she whispered. “Time to engage brain.”

  The only way to do that, she knew, was to get out of this bed. Moving slowly and carefully, she slid free and got up.

  She needed a walk. A good, free-swinging mile or so to get her mind functioning on a useful level again, and she might be able to decide exactly what to do with Detective Gabriel MacLaren.

  And herself.

  She glanced at the lighted dial of her watch—2:45a.m. Perfect Moving swiftly and silently, she got dressed and grabbed her well-stuffed fanny pack. It had to weigh five pounds, but she didn’t think it would be a good idea to leave it, just in case Gabriel woke and got curious. It wouldn’t do for him to see her locksmith tools or the little .380 she carried with her.

  The night clerk eyed her curiously as she trotted through the lobby. “Miss; I’m not sure it’s safe for you to go out at this hour,” he said.

  “I’ll be fine,” she assured him.

  At least a mugger would only steal her money. Gabriel MacLaren had slipped in and stolen her heart right out from under her, and she hadn’t even seen it coming.

  The night air was cool and humid, and here near the waterfront, tinged with the sea. Rae turned left, toward the beach. Nothing like a breeze off the water to scour cobwebs from the mind.