Gabriel Is No Angel

by Wendy Haley

  There was something very compelling in being desired so very much, Rae thought. This was a woman’s ultimate power over a man, and it was a heady thing. She bent down to pick Tom up. Then she straightened, looked directly into Gabriel’s eyes and smiled.

  He drew his breath in with a hiss. Sliding his hand around to the back of her neck, he pulled her against him. She felt as though an ocean wave had hit her from behind, tumbling her end over end until she didn’t know up from down. For a moment, she was actually afraid of losing her balance.

  “Come with me,” he whispered.

  She’d have gone anywhere. “Take me,” she said.

  He let his hand slide from her neck to her shoulder, then down her arm. She shivered as his fingers curled around her wrist in a hold that was both erotic and possessive. Her heart slammed against her ribs as he drew her to the car.

  The puppy curled up on the seat beside her and went to sleep. Gabriel put the Taurus into gear. Rae found herself leaning toward him, her body drawn to him as though tugged by a string.

  “You’re beautiful,” he said.

  “I’m not,” she replied. “But I’m glad you like me.”

  He turned his head to look at her, and kept his gaze on her so long she became concerned.

  “Don’t you think you ought to look at the road occasionally?” she asked.

  “Once in a while, it would help,” he agreed, shooting a brief glance at the traffic. “How can you say you’re not beautiful?”

  “Come on. I’ve got eyes and a mirror.”

  He smiled at her, another of those crooked, tender grins that made her insides leap and quiver. “Ah, darlin’, you have so much to learn.”

  “About men?”

  “About yourself.”

  He steered around a parked delivery van, apparently by ESP since he didn’t appear to be watching the road. Rae turned his head so that he was facing forward.

  “Am I making you nervous?” he asked.

  “Very.”

  “That’s good,” he said.

  Rae held her breath as he reached over, laying his hand on her knee. She hadn’t realized that the knee was an erogenous zone. But then, when Gabriel touched her, her whole body became an erogenous zone. She reached across with her right hand and twined her fingers with his.

  Of its own volition, her thumb began to move, caressing the side of his thumb. Up and down, lightly, seductively. She liked the friction, the contact and the way his breathing changed. The temperature of his skin went up. Oh, boy.

  He moved his hand upward, spreading his fingers so that they slid along the inside of her thigh. His touch seared her, and for a moment she thought she might slide right off the seat.

  “Oh,” she breathed.

  Gabriel was really having trouble keeping his attention on the road. His whole being was centered on Rae, her responsiveness, her heat, the tiny, aroused movements her body was making. He loved the way she felt under his hand.

  A few minutes, he told himself. Just a couple of blocks more.

  He’d always prided himself on his iron control over his emotions and his actions, but now, under the lash of his desire for this woman, he was losing it. And he wasn’t going to be satisfied until he’d brought her to an equal state of recklessness.

  Holding his breath, he let his hand drift farther up her thigh. She made a small, constricted sound deep in her throat, and it sounded just like heaven. Her leg quivered beneath his hand. Then she shifted, spreading her legs apart to give him access to what he wanted.

  “Oh, woman,” he muttered.

  And then he cupped her, possessing her heat. Her hips bucked, pressing her more firmly against his hand. It was all he could do not to stop the car and take her right here, right now.

  He didn’t know what to call this thing between them. But it was powerful, stirring, more intense than anything he’d ever felt. The moment he’d met her, he’d stepped into an emotional whirlwind, a jolting, uncontrolled roller coaster of the soul.

  Rae let her head fall back against the seat as Gabriel caressed her. Some kind of madness seemed to have claimed her, making her feel hot and cold, reckless and frightened all at the same time. This was too big to be contained, too crazy to be understood or explained.

  “I’m going to taste every inch of your skin,” he said, his voice hoarse with arousal. “I’m going to love you, touch you, take you, make you scream.”

  Rae drew her breath in with a hiss, unbearably aroused by his words. It was no idle threat. During that sultry, magical night at the hotel, he had loved her, touched her and taken her until she had screamed his name.

  She made a soft sound of protest when he pulled away, and reached out to bring him back. Instead, he captured her hand and brought it to his mouth. He licked her fingertips slowly, one by one, his tongue hot and excitingly rough against her skin.

  “Do you like that?” he murmured.

  “I like that. I like everything you do.”

  Rae took his hand and brought it to her lips. He rubbed the pad of his thumb along her upper lip, then her lower. She opened her mouth, letting him slip his forefinger in. Out. In again.

  “Ah, Rae,” he groaned.

  He swung the car in a tight left turn, and hit the button on the garage-door opener strapped to his visor. The headlights spotlighted a white paneled door sliding up out of the way. Rae registered a standard cookie-cutter town house: two story, brick-and-vinyl-siding construction.

  Gabriel pulled the Taurus into the garage and hit the remote again, sealing them into privacy—and the magic of the night. Rae turned toward him. He stroked her face with gentle fingertips, then reached across her to scoop the sleeping puppy off the seat.

  “If we don’t go in now, we’ll never get out of this car,” he said.

  Rae got out in a hurry. Gabriel followed her inside. The door opened directly into the kitchen, which was as bland and conventional as the outside of the town house. It was tidy, however, so unlike her own haphazard housekeeping. An antique oak table occupied the eating area, its much-polished surface gleaming in the light from the overhead lamp.

  “Nice,” she said.

  Gabriel cupped her cheek in his hand, his thumb straying to slide across her lower lip. Reaction jolted down to her toes, and her eyelids began to drift downward. Then Tom the Dog woke with a snort, and whined to get down.

  Chuckling, Gabriel set him on the floor. “Go get ’em, tiger.”

  Tom went exploring, his nails clicking on the floor. Gabriel filled a bowl with water, and set it down for the dog. Then he came to Rae, reaching out with one long arm to pull her against him.

  “Now,” he said, “you’re mine.”

  “Got a bill of sale?” she countered.

  “Yeah. Right here,” he said, claiming her mouth.

  The kiss was tempestuous, thorough and not the least bit gentle. It was as elemental as nature itself, as untamed as a thunderstorm, as devastating as a Class 4 hurricane. Rae clutched him, holding on as though he were the only thing anchoring her. Finally, when her limbs had gone rubbery and her breath went swift and shallow, he raised his head and gazed straight into her eyes.

  “You’re mine,” he said again.

  Rae wasn’t inclined to dispute his claim just now. Her emotions were as tangled as her thoughts, and her body seemed to be agreeing enthusiastically with everything he said. So she just smiled and slid her hand into his hair, making a claim of her own.

  His eyes darkened as he reacted to her touch. He pulled her top off, flinging it over his shoulder to land in a tawny pool on the linoleum. Her bra followed a moment later. Crazy to get to his skin, she tugged his shirt up over his head.

  He stilled for a moment, his gaze burning into hers. Then, slowly, exquisitely, he fitted her to him. Skin to skin, softness to hardness, they matched. His hands seemed to be everywhere, leaving fire wherever they went. Rae cried out softly with arousal, and he drank the sound in as though it were wine.

  “Yes.” he ras
ped. “Rae.”

  She arched her back as he deftly unbuttoned her pants and eased the zipper down. His hands were hot as he slid them beneath her panties. He caressed the smooth curves of her behind, cupping her. Then he dipped lower, sliding two fingers into the secret heat between her legs. For a moment, Rae felt completely molten, even her bones melting into the sweet, liquid heat of passion. She was so aroused that she hardly registered movement as he picked her up and carried her to the kitchen table.

  The wood was cool against her back, but Gabriel’s hands were hot as he claimed her breasts. He caressed her knowingly, excitingly, running his thumbs around her nipples until they swelled into tight peaks. Rae wanted more, more. She ran her hands down the hard-muscled length of his arms and up again.

  “Come here,” she pleaded.

  But instead, he straightened. For a moment, she thought he planned to leave her, and dismay landed hard in the pit of her stomach. Then he met her gaze, and the tenderness in his eyes washed away all her fears.

  Still holding her gaze, he slowly worked her pants down her legs and tossed them away. He held her hips for a moment, just looking at her. Again, he made her feel beautiful. Again, he made her feel sexy and desired, and she wanted only for him to keep touching her forever.

  He worked her panties down, kissing every inch of skin as it was exposed. Finally, she lay naked before him. His mouth was demanding as he kissed her, a man’s primitive claim of a woman, His woman. In accepting it, she became his. Completely, totally. And he became hers. She could feel it in his kiss, the tension in his body, the way his hands trembled when he touched her.

  He licked a hot, wet path down her neck, pausing to dip his tongue into the hollow at the base of her throat. His hands roved her body, stroking her hips, her belly, caressing her breasts until they swelled. And still she wanted more. With a soft moan, she sank her hands into his hair.

  He raised his head and looked at her.

  “What do you want, Rae?” he murmured against her skin.

  “Everything,” she said.

  He laughed softly, cupping her breasts in his hands, mounding them as he lowered his head. Rae rolled her head from side to side in extravagant arousal as he laved her nipples, first one, then the other. Teasing her. Preparing her for more. She couldn’t stand it, couldn’t wait. Slowly, he drew one nipple into his mouth. Rae cried out in sheer voluptuous pleasure.

  Ah, but he had more for her, much more. He played with her breasts until she writhed helplessly. Then he moved lower, sliding his tongue into her navel, then claimed the core of her. Rae could only gasp, and respond. He took her higher, higher, seeming to know everything she wanted, everything she needed.

  And then the exquisite rushing pleasure swept her away. She cried his name, completely lost in the shuddering climax.

  As she drifted in the aftermath, he entered her. She didn’t question how he’d gotten rid of his clothes, or how he knew exactly the right moment to claim her. She only knew that he was there, and she wanted him more than anything else in the world.

  His eyes had narrowed to ice blue slits. This was no civilized lover, one ruled by technique. No, Gabriel MacLaren made love with all the wildness of a tornado. His passion was uncontrollable, irresistible.

  Rae wanted it all. This was passion as she’d never experienced before, and it set her free. Her world narrowed to encompass him, only him. He would take her to the heights, and he would keep her safe. His movements grew deeper, stronger, and Rae could only hold on as he drove them both straight up toward heaven.

  They reached it together, an incredible sharing of passion that left them both gasping and stunned.

  He collapsed against her. Rae closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of his strong shoulders beneath her palm. He shuddered. pressing his open mouth against the skin of her neck.

  “Rae,” he muttered hoarsely. “Rae.”

  She stroked his hair back from his face. He lifted his head to gaze down at her with eyes hazed with satiation, then leaned down to kiss her tenderly.

  “I—” she began.

  “Shh.” He laid his hand over her mouth. “This was magic. Don’t question what’s happening here. Just accept it. Even if just for tonight.”

  “Is that enough?” she asked.

  “This is more than I’ve ever had before,” he said. “More than I ever expected. More than I ever imagined.”

  Stirred by his words, she reached up and traced the hard, sensual line of his mouth. Maybe he was right. Maybe they could have this precious, magical time, and use it to carve something still more precious for themselves.

  Because she loved him, she let herself believe. Only because she loved him.

  “The table was nice,” she murmured, “But—”

  “But it’s time we moved upstairs,” he finished for her.

  She put her arms around his neck. “Yes.”

  The phone rang at five the next morning. Gabriel answered groggily, but roused quickly when he heard his partner’s voice.

  “Get to down to the station ASAP,” Eddy said. “Smith-field got away. Slithered out the bathroom window and climbed two floors down a damned drainpipe.”

  With a muttered curse, Gabriel flung his covers aside. “I’m on my way.”

  “Wait, there’s—”

  “I’ll meet you in Petrosky’s office,” Gabriel said, tossing the receiver into the cradle.

  Rae sat up. “What is it?” she asked.

  “Work,” he replied. “Go back to sleep.”

  “You can turn on the light,” she said.

  “Don’t need it.” He got out of bed and instantly stubbed his toe on the dresser. “Damn,” he muttered.

  “You don’t need the light,” she said.

  He chuckled. “Another woman would have said ‘I told you so.’”

  “I’m not another woman.”

  “Darlin’, that was the first thing I noticed about you. Maybe it was the belly dancing costume.”

  Still chuckling, Gabriel limped over to the closet and flicked the light switch. He found Rae quite a delectable sight first thing in the morning, curved and feminine and infinitely desirable, her hair sleep tousled, her skin gleaming like smooth ivory satin. Then she opened her eyes, and looked at him. His heart did another of those curious flip-flops.

  Damn. Whatever this thing was between them, he’d fallen fathoms deep. And he didn’t think he’d ever come up again.

  Quite a revelation for a guy who’d managed to stay emotionally remote for most of his adult life. But Rae—tough, stubborn, infuriating, beautiful, passionate Rae—had shaken the very foundations of his soul. Simply, he was a goner.

  “Damn,” he muttered.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “Nothing’s wrong,” he said, pulling his clothes on with efficient haste. “It’s just that I’d rather stay here with you, and I won’t be able to.”

  “Hey, look on the bright side,” she replied. “Maybe they’ll tell you not to follow me anymore.”

  “Darlin’, I’d follow you to the moon and back again, and not because of orders,” he said.

  He sat down on the bed to tie his shoes. That was nearly his undoing, because it put Rae within arm’s reach. Of course, he had to kiss her goodbye. Of course, the kiss lasted about ten minutes and got him so aroused he thought he might die of it.

  “I’ve got to go,” he groaned. “I’ll see you later.”

  “At the office,” she said. “I’ve got a job to do, too.”

  Gabriel felt as though he were floating as he drove down to the station. Morning traffic was still fairly light at this hour, and he made good time.

  He knew something was wrong the moment he walked into vice. Nobody insulted him, nobody called out ribald jokes. As he passed the desk of one of the other detectives, he quirked one eyebrow questioningly.

  “Petrosky’s in the hospital. Appendix.” the man said, keeping his voice low. “We’ve got—”

  “MacLaren!” someone el
se called.

  Gabriel couldn’t place the voice. The other detective scribbled something on a notepad and held it up.

  “Roth,” Gabriel growled, recognizing the name of an up-and-coming lieutenant from the next precinct. “He’s subbing for Petrosky? Oh, brother.”

  The other detective nodded. Roth had the reputation of being a real political hack. He’d probably go far—on the backs of better men.

  “MacLaren,” Roth called again, “I want to talk to you.”

  “Wish me luck,” Gabriel whispered to the grinning detective.

  Roth sat behind Captain Petrosky’s desk as though he owned it. Gabriel disliked him instantly. The man had a weasel-clever look and a weak chin, and didn’t offer to shake hands.

  “Detective MacLaren,” Roth said.

  “That’s me,” Gabriel replied.

  Roth’s dark eyes turned as hard as pebbles. “Put your gun on your badge there on the desk—”

  “What?”

  “You’re suspended.” With obvious satisfaction, Roth added, “Without pay, pending investigation.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Gabriel demanded.

  “We’ve had a complaint about you, Detective. Now, I don’t mind if a fellow strays from the straight and narrow once in a while, but when I get a call that you’ve been sexually harassing the subject of a police surveillance, I’m forced to act.”

  Gabriel struggled to make his mind work through a haze of numbness. “Rae Boudreau?

  “Rae Boudreau.”

  Something cold and hard and very heavy dropped into Gabriel’s stomach. “I should have known,” he muttered under his breath. “I should have known. With this, she took me right out of the game.”

  Roth pointed to the desk. “Internal affairs will be in touch. The gun and the badge, Detective.”

  Gabriel laid them down on the desk gently, barely repressing the urge to throw them both through the window. Without another word, he turned and stalked out of the office.

  She’d done it again, he thought. Rae Ann. She’d sabotaged him just the way she’d sunk her ex-husband. Damn her. Damn her!

  Brett Wilson came in just as Gabriel went out, almost getting himself mowed down. “Hey, MacLaren, what’s up?”