by ERIN BEDFORD
When I was once again alone save for the two looming angels, I picked my drink up. Lounging back in my seat, I sipped on my straw staring up at the two of them. The possessive alpha aura they had been exuding seemed to slowly dissipate as their eyes settled on me.
“So, what’s up?” I asked, cocking my head to the side. A matching look of confusion covered their faces as their eyes bore into me. I released my straw from the corner of my mouth and touched my cheek. “Do I have something on my face?”
They didn’t answer at first, their eyes hot on my skin. Then Michael crossed his arms over his large chest and asked in a low voice, “You do realize you are practically naked in front of all these people?”
My brows furrowed together and then I looked down at myself. The bathing suit I’d chosen, a deep red two-piece with thick straps on the top and bottom, wasn’t even as revealing as some of the others on the beach.
Turning my eyes back up to Michael, I chuckled nervously. “You’re worried about what I’m wearing? That woman is wearing a thong!” I gestured a hand to a woman in her mid-thirties not too far away from me. “And that one is only a hop away from a nip slip.” I pointed at a bouncing beauty that was getting the majority of the bachelor party’s attention.
“They are not our concern,” Lucifer interjected, his eyes solely on my form. “That man didn’t come over here because he liked your hair.”
I made a face and then fluffed my brown locks. “What’s not to like? It’s long and luxurious. Any hair commercial would be happy to have me.”
Michael and Lucifer exchanged an equally bewildered look before Michael stepped closer. “Is this a usual occurrence for you? To flaunt yourself to the public?”
I snorted. “Like you’re one to talk. If anyone flaunts themselves, it’s you guys. There are books, songs, even freaking statues depicting your likeness.” I scanned my eyes over his form and winked. “All of your likeness. And here you are getting your panties in a twist because some silly boy decided to try his luck with me.”
Michael fumed, his nostrils flaring almost comically. “My panties are not in a twist.”
“Oh right.” I giggled. “You don’t wear anything under those butt-hugging jeans.” My eyes moved over to Lucifer. “And you. You’re at a freaking beach, and you are wearing a suit! A three-piece fucking suit!” I threw my hands up in the air and shook my head. “And here I thought I was having a good influence on you three. Apparently, Gabriel is the only one who takes notice when I speak.”
“You rang?” Gabriel popped up beside Lucifer. His eyes immediately went to my outfit and then where we were. “Oh cool. Are you going to go swimming? Can you do that thing they do on T.V.? That slow running, chest bouncing thing.” He put his hands up to his chest, mimicking what he was saying.
“See?” I gestured a hand at Gabriel. “That is an angel acclimated to the human world. Really, you two, I’m disappointed.” I shook my head and picked up my sunglasses, perching them on the edge of my nose. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have sunbathing to do in my scandalously clad outfit. Shoo.” I pushed my glasses up onto my face and laid back on my lounger, not bothering to see if they left. This was my vacation damn it, and I was going to enjoy it!
8
After my time at the beach, I clothed myself, chuckling the whole time at Michael and Lucifer’s antics. Seriously. They acted like they’d never been to a beach before.
Since the spa was a classy place, I had settled on a green sleeveless dress that clung to my side and sparkled in the light. It was the only dress I had that would expand as I would, and I fully expected to add a few pounds during my time here. Their brochure said they had an epic buffet, and it was just calling my name.
“Hey, there.” Gabriel strolled up beside me, his hands in his cargo shorts and a twinkle in his eye. “You look great.”
I smoothed my hands over my dress and grinned. “Thanks. I’m heading to dinner. Want to join me?”
Gabriel’s grin expanded but then dropped. “Wait, this isn’t going to be like with the hot sauce will it?”
The memory of giving Gabriel hot sauce while he ate his very first human food came to mind. He had thought he was so big and mighty. When he had shoved the huge bite into his mouth he had been in for a big surprise. I still hadn’t been able to get any of the others to try it as well. It was something that I knew I had to see before I died.
Giggling at the memory, I shook my head. “No. No hot sauce. Promise.”
“Okay, then. Sure.”
“Wait,” I paused and pointed at his outfit. “You can’t wear that.”
Frowning, Gabriel glanced down at his colorful Hawaiian shirt and shorts. “Why not?”
I scowled. “Because, this is a classy place. I don’t know if they’ll even let you in without a suit jacket.”
Suddenly, a jacket not unlike one of Lucifer’s appeared on Gabriel, the rest of him still clothed like some kind of surfer. A snorting laugh escaped me before I could contain it. Really, I didn’t know what was wrong with these guys. You’d think they had some kind of fashion sense in heaven. Unless they were all wearing robes and sandals. Or better yet, no clothes at all. The thought made me grin until I remembered there were female angels as well. They better not be naked, throwing their perfect bodies all over my angels.
“What?” Gabriel asked, turning this way and that. “Is this not what you meant?”
I shook my head, my hand over my mouth as I chuckled. “Not quite.”
The next blink had me faced with a full suited Gabriel, his brown hair slicked back from his face and a dazzling grin on his lips. “How about now?”
I gaped at him, all the sane thoughts chased from my mind. Swallowing thickly, I nodded like a bauble head. “Yeah, that’ll work.”
With that settled, I kept walking toward the dining room, but Gabriel didn’t follow. Turning on my heel, I looked back at him expectantly, but he simply stared at me. It took me a moment, and then I smacked myself in the forehead.
“Sorry, brain fart.” I grinned and sauntered back over to him. I opened my clutch and dug around for something sharp. Tampon. Hair tie. Cell phone. God. Where’s a knife or a random safety pin when you needed one?
“Ah hah!” I pulled out a tiny pearl earring that had been wedged in the corner of the bag. Without thinking too much about it, I shoved the sharp end into my finger and held it out to him.
Unlike Lucifer who had made the act of taking my blood as obscene as possible, Gabriel flicked his tongue out to taste the blood bubbling up. The change was instantaneous. Gabriel already had a presence to him, but now that he was solid, the hallway seemed to shrink under the full force of his existence. His very being made my hair stand on end in the best way possible.
God, let this last through dinner.
“Shall we?” Gabriel offered me his arm and a cocky smirk like he knew exactly how he affected me and loved it.
I looped my arm through his and pressed myself closer to him. Warmth filled me through the line of his suit, and I suddenly wasn’t thinking about dinner any longer. My only desire was to get Gabriel’s clothes off.
Opening my mouth to suggest skipping dinner, I clamped it shut when we moved into a crowd of dinner goers. Too late now.
“Hello, welcome to the Sea Side Buffet. How many in your party?” The maître d’ glanced between us with a curious look.
“Just two,” I stuttered out, my eyes searching behind him to the room beyond. Many of those I had seen on the beach were in the dining room as well. Even the bachelor party was there. Mick though didn’t seem to be having as much fun as the rest of his group.
Poor guy. I should have been a bit nicer to him, maybe slipped him a nip or something so he’d have a tale to bring back to his friends.
Gabriel squeezed my arm in his, snapping me back to the present. I looked up at him, a feat on its own with the height difference between us. For a moment, I wished I’d chosen to wear the heels I’d packed instead of my flats.
We were ushered into the dining area and toward a table. Unfortunately, that table was right next to another one with a full group of women, all who turned their gazes to Gabriel. Need a bib for that drooling, ladies?
Forcing myself to restrain my need to claw their eyes out, I took a seat in the chair Gabriel had pulled out for me. I leaned up and pressed my lips to his before letting him push me in. I might as well have lifted my skirt and pissed on him for as subtle as I was being.
He’s mine, bitches.
It was odd, how possessive I felt over Gabriel. I’d never been this way with any of my other boyfriends. I’ve always been the ‘if he wanted to go with another woman then he obviously wasn’t for me’ type. Not this time though. This time I had something I wanted, and I planned on keeping it.
Never mind the fact that he was an angel and wouldn’t stay corporeal for more than an hour or so, but still, who needs rational thoughts like that?
Our waitress came by and took our drink order, all the while the table of four stared at Gabriel. With a tight smile, I reached over and took Gabriel’s hand. “I’m so happy you came today. We’ve hardly spent any time together lately.”
Gabriel squeezed my hand in return. “Well, my brothers aren’t here to interrupt us, so let’s make the most of it.” He glanced around the table, his brows furrowing. “Where are the menus?”
I patted his hand and started to stand. “Oh, silly. This isn’t that kind of restaurant.”
“It’s not?”
“It’s a buffet. You serve yourself.” I gestured toward the line of food set up along the wall. He followed me over to the line, and I handed him a plate. “Here. You put what you want on here, and when you are done, you come back up and get another plate.”
“How many times can I do this?”
“As much as you want.”
Gabriel’s eyes widened, his mouth gaping. We went along the line, and I pointed out different items to him as I piled my plate full. “Also, don’t feel like you have to eat everything on your plate. The beauty of a buffet is if you don’t like something you got, you can come and get something else.”
“That’s so awesome.” Gabriel grinned, his plate already filled to the brim with a mixture of foods that even I found suspect.
“Okay, let’s go.” I led the way back to our table, but a commotion behind me made me stop. Turning back around, I found Gabriel with his plate of food held in one hand and one of the women assigned to the table next to us draped over his side.
“Pardon me,” she purred, her fingers trailing over Gabriel’s chest. “I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
“No problem.” Gabriel grinned. “It could happen to anyone.”
The woman didn’t give up there. She pressed herself closer to him and simpered. Yes, simpered. I wanted to yank her off him by the roots of her overbleached hair.
“I’m so lucky to have such a big strong man to catch me. I really appreciate it.” She started up on her tiptoes, her mouth close to his ear. “How can I possibly repay you?”
Gabriel, completely oblivious to this woman’s come-ons, released her and stared back down at his plate. “You can tell me … how’s the lobster? I’ve never had it before, but I’ve heard it’s quite good.”
Gaping at him, the woman stuttered out, “It’s okay.”
“Great.” Gabriel smiled at her once more. “Thanks.”
I couldn’t help my giggle as he made his way toward me, leaving the woman dejected and confused. And I worried he’d be more interested in one of them? He had eyes only for the food on his plate. The angels didn’t seem to know it, but they were more like human males than they wanted to believe.
“So, have you found any clues yet?” Gabriel asked after he’d finished off his fifth plate. They were piling up in front of us at an alarming rate. Most of them were his, but I found his love for food had liberated me into going past my two-plate limit.
Guilt rushed through me at his question. “Actually, I haven’t really been doing my job. I’ve been too caught up in vetting the place out.”
“Don’t feel too bad about it. You’ve been working too hard. You should have a little fun.” Gabriel stroked his thumb across the side of my mouth, taking some kind of sauce with him before popping that thumb into his mouth. Hot need raced through me, and after having filled my stomach, my other needs were demanding I sate them as well.
“Will you look at that?” a snotty voice asked from the table over. I didn’t turn, but my ear peaked at their words. “How did a plain Jane like that get an Adonis like him?”
“I know exactly what you mean.” I recognized the blonde woman’s voice immediately. “I’d lick every gorgeous inch of him.”
“You’re so bad.” Another woman giggled. “But good luck getting past his guard dog. I swear my bulldog’s face isn’t even that pudgy.”
My hand tightened around my fork, biting into my skin. I was two seconds away from slamming it into the woman’s eye when Gabriel spoke.
“You know. It takes a real man to see beyond just his eyes.” This had the women at the table clamming up as Gabriel took my hand gripping the fork. “I never thought I’d find anyone like you in all my existence.”
I let out a heavy breath and all my anxiety with it. Gathering up a genuine smile, I stared into Gabriel’s eyes. “I feel the same way. You can’t imagine how much you’ve made my life better. Made me feel normal and accepted.”
Gabriel moved closer his voice lowered. “There’s nothing that needs accepting. You’re perfect the way you are.” His words made my heart swell, and all my insecurities wash away. “And I know my brothers feel the same way. We never expected all to fall for the same woman.”
A collective gasp from the other table made my shoulders tense. My face swiveled slowly from Gabriel to the four women all in a state of horror.
“You hussy,” the blond hissed.
“Lucky bitch.” Another fanned herself with her napkin.
“Gladys!” one of the others cried out in disgust. “How can you think that?”
Gladys looked at her friend and then gestured to Gabriel. “Well, look at him. If he had brothers, I wouldn’t say no to a little ménage a trois action.”
A wicked grin crept up my face as I stood. Bringing Gabriel to stand with me, I turned to the women and leaned in as if I had a secret to tell. “Try ménage quatre.”
The gasps of horror and envy followed after us as we left the dining room, Gabriel and I laughing all the way.
9
We didn’t stop laughing until we reached my room. I fumbled with my key, the giggles making me shake. When I finally got it open, Gabriel and I practically fell in.
“That was hilarious.” Gabriel chuckled, leaning up against the kitchenette counter.
I grinned. “Did you see their faces when I implied all have sex together?” I giggled, my hand going to the fridge. “Like that would ever happen.”
“You don’t think so?” Gabriel asked, his breath suddenly on the back of my neck.
I closed the fridge without actually looking inside and turned around, my face inches from his. “No, I just haven’t really thought about it.” Lie. “Besides, Michael and Lucifer are far too alpha male to want to share me at the same time. I’m lucky to get them separately. Wouldn’t want to rock that boat. At least, not now.”
“And me?” Gabriel’s hands circled my waist, pressing me against his hard chest. “Am I not an alpha male, as you say?”
I licked my lips, my mouth suddenly dry. “I wouldn’t say that, no, but you have your own kind of strength. One that doesn’t quite require all the peacocking.”
“Peacocking?” Gabriel cocked a brow. “Is that what you call it?”
I smiled slightly. “Well, that’s what they do. Both flaunting themselves, trying to get my attention over the other. If that’s not peacocking, then I don’t know what is.”
One hand came up to cup my chin. “And you don’t think I peacock for you?” For some
reason, every time he said peacock, I could only focus on the one part of it. Cock. And Gabriel’s was hard and pressing into my stomach, making my mind turn to goo.
“I’m not saying that.” I leaned into his touch, my eyes closing briefly. “I’m just saying you aren’t the kind to make demands on me. Or the others. Not like they do. You seem more than happy to share me as long as you get a piece of the Jane pie too.”
Gabriel smiled slightly, but it wasn’t his happy-go-lucky smile. It was one I hadn’t seen before. No, this smile was hard with a hint of danger attached to it.
“I’m not as laid back a guy as you think, Jane.” The way his said my name caused a shiver to run down my spine, my blood beginning to pulse in anticipation.
“Really?” I breathed out, not able to think of anything else to say. “Then what kind of guy are you?”
Gabriel stroked along my bottom lip before tugging it slightly. “The kind who bides his time.” He leaned in until his mouth brushed against mine, just barely hinting at his taste. “I watched and waited, all along making jokes.” His mouth pressed to mine again, this time catching my bottom lip between his teeth pulling until it almost hurt. He let it go before lavishing it with his tongue, soothing the ache. “But you see, it’s the patient man who really gets the prize.”
His mouth covered mine, pinning me between the counter and his body. I had no neurons left shooting in my brain to even comprehend what he said, let alone what was going on. They had long since flown the coop in the face of a serious Gabriel. His lethal tongue took over my mouth, making me groan for more.
My hands grabbed his hair, pulling him closer to me still. The hand holding my face released me to fondle the hem of my dress and then, without warning, it was pulled up and over my head, leaving me in my underwear. I tried to bring Gabriel’s face back down to mine, but he pushed me back, forcing me to stay still while his eyes took me in.
“God, you’re beautiful,” he announced, and I came out of my haze long enough to giggle. “What?”