by D. L. O'Neal
A delicious ache began in the pit of her stomach as his mouth and hands began to work magic on her. A tiny moan escaped. She shook her head, trying to clear it. Gabriel wanted her trust but was unwilling to give the same in return. She couldn't let it happen, she realized in sudden, sure knowledge. If he won this battle, he would stay hidden behind that invisible wall forever.
Barely able to think, assaulted by the swirling storm he was relentlessly building in her, she clung to one truth. Gabriel wanted her. Against his better instincts, he had been unable to stay away tonight. Kalesia found the strength to wedge her hands between them. Startled, Gabriel drew back.
She smiled up at him, a small curve of her lips that was as old as time. He looked instantly wary. She traced the strong line of his mouth with one burgundy-tinted nail. Gabriel had an utterly sexy mouth, a mouth that could give a woman forbidden fantasies. Resting her index finger against his lower lip, she realized his mouth had fascinated her from the beginning. A chill that had nothing to do with cold, chased down her spine when he opened his mouth and took the tip of her finger inside, sucking lightly.
"Do you believe in witchcraft, Gabriel?" she asked, her voice low and throaty. Sliding her hand to his chest, she spread her palm over his heart. It was pounding. She pressed harder, enthralled by the ripple of response he couldn't suppress.
"You're playing with fire," he warned thickly.
"Um-um. Never with fire. Witches aren't particularly fond of fire, you know," she teased, a wonderfully wanton and wicked feeling welling up inside her. Giving a light shove, she was delighted when he obeyed and rolled onto his back.
She straddled his hips and, inch by inch, slid her nightgown up and over her head. The gown floated to the floor as she tossed it aside.
Gabriel inhaled sharply. God, she was beautiful. The light of the full moon bathed the ample curve of her breasts and outlined the dusky darkness of her nipples. He reached out and cupped one breast, swallowing hard when it immediately responded to his touch.
He slid his hands around to cup the sweet curve of her bottom. "If that is the case, lady, you'd better find a spell to quench this blaze you've started, or we'll both go up in flames," he grated, flexing his fingers in the resilient flesh.
"Perhaps I'm a new breed of witch, after all," she whispered huskily, twining her hands with his and pressing them to the mattress, "because I find I have this insatiable urge to play with matches." She bent her head and drew his bottom lip into her mouth.
Gabriel couldn't remember ever being so hard. He shouldn't let her get away with this, he realized through the wave of heat enveloping him. Kalesia was supposed to be writhing under him, not the other way around. He was supposed to be the one safely in command.
Except Kalesia wasn't cooperating.
The tip of her tongue danced over his as she explored the depths of his mouth with a soft, feminine aggression. Gabriel groaned and tried to engage it in a duel, but she eluded him. This time he groaned in pure frustration. Immediately, she brushed the sensitized roof of his mouth, once, twice, small, flitting caresses that slowly drove him to the edge of sanity. A part of his mind warned him that he was walking on dangerously unstable ground. Allowing Kalesia to take charge was risking losing a part of himself. Gabriel consigned the small, insistent voice to the outer edges of Purgatory.
He wasn't going to fight her! Kalesia sensed it in the subtle shift of tension. Elated, she initiated a tiny duel. Gabriel immediately accepted the challenge. She loved the dark taste of him, warm and musky and all male. His breathing changed, became heavier. The ache in the pit of her stomach became a slow fire.
He untangled their hands and then Kalesia felt his hands in her braid, loosening and combing through the heavy mass. It fell free in a curtain that flowed past her hips. Gabriel seemed fascinated by the silken length.
"I didn't think women still wore their hair this long," he murmured hoarsely, letting it slip through his parted fingers.
"Don't--don't you like it?" Some of her wonderful confidence fled.
His hands clenched in her hair, and he used the leverage to pull her head back so that he could look at her. "I love the way it feels on my body, like a waterfall of cool fire."
Kalesia gave a brilliant smile of relief. "I'm glad. I couldn't bear to cut it." She placed her hands over his, caressing the elegant strength. "Not everyone likes it, you know," she confided.
"He was a fool," he told her fiercely, but his touch gentled. "I burn wherever it touches me. Can't you feel what it does to me?"
She shifted, feeling incredibly sexy and excitingly aware of his swollen length brushing her inner thigh. It was a heady experience. Bending her head, she kissed the hollow of his strong neck, following the line over to his shoulder. Beneath her lips, Kalesia felt an unusual ridge. Puzzled, she pulled back. Silvery light shadowed a wickedly curved scar. Starting at the top of his shoulder, it curved around in a half moon to end midway down his ribs. Kalesia traced it lightly with the tips of her fingers, shivering. The pain he must have endured! She pressed a soft kiss, then ran her tongue along its length, eliciting a ragged groan. She smiled in the darkness when she reached the thin line of hair that bisected his torso, tormenting him with deliberate slowness as she followed its path.
Sliding her hands over the sculptured muscles of Gabriel's abdomen, she discovered a network of scars marring the warm satin of his skin. The crisscross pattern stopped at his groin. Even without the benefit of light, it was obvious that the wounds had been intentionally inflicted. A potent wave of rage and horror washed over her. Who could have been vicious enough to do such a thing?
"Tears?" He brushed his thumb across her lashes, catching one silvery drop.
"The pain....It must have been unbearable. How...?"
"Don't think about it. It happened a long time ago." Placing his hands on both sides of her head, he brought her mouth closer to his and rasped, "Kiss me."
Kalesia obeyed. Her mouth, as she tasted him ,as desperate as his. She broke the kiss to tease a nipple in its nest of dark hair until it was as taut and hard as her own. Moving lower, she ran the edge of her teeth over his stomach before salving it with her tongue.
He shuddered under the provocative assault.
Kalesia smiled against the skin of his belly, refusing to hurry. Gabriel's body fascinated her. It was so different from her own; hard and sleek where she was soft and supple, lightly furred where she was smooth. She wanted to explore all of him. When she knelt gracefully between his thighs, she was aware of his sudden stillness. She became bolder. Her hand closed about his shaft, shaping and molding his length. "So smooth, so hot," she murmured as she lowered her head.
Gabriel froze, the gentle wonder in her voice almost his undoing. Then her mouth found him and he nearly exploded off the bed. Torn between sinking himself into her warm depths and the need to feel the heated moistness of her mouth surrounding him, he withstood the storm of pleasure bordering on pain for as long as he could.
He pulled her astride him, finding her mouth and slipping his tongue inside to mate with hers in a wild frenzy. His hand went to the apex of her thighs, forging a path through the coppery curls, testing her readiness.
"So hot," he marveled, breathing raggedly. He probed again, separating the plump petals, his fingers dancing an erotic pattern on the sensitive flesh. "And wet." His body shuddered in response to the feminine message. Sliding one long finger inside, he slowly and carefully stretched Kalesia. So tight. She was going to wrap around him like a heated, velvet glove.
She arched against his hand. Moving his hands to her hip, he guided her down on himself. She sucked in a tiny breath, making him excruciatingly aware of the differences in their sizes. She wriggled erotically, engulfing him in one smooth motion. Gabriel's concerns disappeared.
She began a deliberate rocking, lifting until he was barely inside before sinking back down. He shuddered, his hips thrusting, a demand that she ignored. From beneath lowered lashes, Gabriel gazed at the wo
man riding him with an exquisitely measured tempo, timed to drive him crazy. Her eyes were closed and she wore a faint look of concentration. The fact that she wanted him so much was a seduction all in itself.
Kalesia moaned as Gabriel kissed away the trickle of sweat running down between her breasts, but her heart threatened to stop entirely when he took one nipple in his mouth. Each time she forcefully joined their bodies, encasing the satiny steel fully inside her sheath, a ragged hiss of air escaped him. His fingers sunk into her hips as he strained upward. She'd probably be bruised in the morning, Kalesia thought dazedly. She didn't care. Gabriel was completely out of control, rising to meet her with a primitive hunger that bordered on the savage.
Suddenly Gabriel shuddered and stiffened, his hips arching violently as he poured his seed inside her. It seemed to go on forever. The hot flood triggered her release. The shimmering brilliance that had been growing behind her lids, shattered, a million prisms set loose. Kalesia collapsed, exhausted.
Gabriel rolled over, keeping their bodies joined. Kalesia smiled, running gentle hands down his damp spine as he sprawled over her. His head was nestled next to hers on the pillow. Their combined scents lay heavy in the air.
Kalesia stirred. The slight ache of her inner thighs reminding her pleasantly of passion just sated. As if she needed reminding, she thought with a sigh of amusement. Despite his intentions, Gabriel had lost control thoroughly. Kalesia found that satisfying. Very satisfying, indeed.
A frown pleated her brow as her fingers discovered another network of scars, this one covering the broad back and thighs. Gabriel's magnificent body was deliberately marred, much more severely than she had realized in the heat of passion. This time, Kalesia vowed, she wouldn't allow him to distract her.
"Gabriel?" she questioned, tentatively, not wanting to disrupt the magical aura surrounding them, but needing to know.
"Umm?"
She smiled in the darkness, reminded of Hannibal back from a wild night on the town. Satisfied, content, sleepy.
"How did you get the scars?" She traced the pattern slowly.
Although he didn't open his eyes, Kalesia had the distinct impression he was very much awake and listening. She decided she was wrong when he muttered a sleepy, "Umm."
Exasperated, she decided to try to pry the story from him in the morning. Then she thought of something. She'd worn him out. Kalesia pulled the cover up over her shoulder and closed her eyes, unable to prevent a silly smile from shaping her lips.
Several hours later, she awoke with a start. She lay there for a moment, listening, hearing the soft shirr of a cicada, the rustle of the river against the banks, the sound of a breeze in the saw grass and cattails. Reassured, she turned on her side, her hand reaching for Gabriel...and finding cold sheets. She sat up, her heart pounding, only to slump with relief when she spotted him on the veranda.
Struck by the utter sense of isolation in his still form, she slipped out of bed and donned her robe. Tying the belt, she walked slowly to the open French window. The light of a nearly full moon turned his body to polished teak. A shadow angled darkly to his waist and below, contrasting starkly with the ridged bands of white mapping the glistening skin.
Kalesia shivered, and stepped outside.
GABRIEL FELT a light touch on his spine. He was already spinning around, his elbow hurtling toward a point just below the diaphragm, when his mind caught up with conditioned reflexes and confirmed it was Kalesia. Her eyes were as big as saucers. Anger exploded inside his head.
"Are you out of your mind? Don't ever sneak up behind me again."
"I'm sorry." She placed a faintly trembling hand on his arm. "I didn't mean to startle you. I woke and you were gone."
"I don't like people coming up behind me." Gabriel spoke harshly, his heart pounding. He could have killed her. Something twisted loose inside him at the thought. Unwilling to put a name to the emotion, he shoved it aside.
"I won't do it again," she promised, stroking and kneading his arm. Gabriel didn't think she was aware of the small, distracting action, but he was. Her expression was earnest in the moonlight as she turned her face up to his. He gave a short, sharp sigh and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, turning toward the night-shrouded landscape.
"Hell, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have jumped down your throat like that." His stomach was still jumpy at how easily he could have hurt her. She was such a fragile, little thing. He shot a sideways glance in her direction. Gabriel was disgruntled to discover Kalesia had recovered from the incident much faster than he had.
"I meant what I said, though. Don't ever sneak up on me," he reminded her, a note of hard warning in his voice.
"Don't worry," she told him fervently. "I won't."
"Good."
"Gabriel, do you mind if I ask you something?" she ventured.
"Umm."
"How did you get the scars?"
The tension returned. "I told you before, it happened a long time ago." Damn, he should have known she wouldn't let it drop. He never spoke of how, or when, he received the scars. And he wasn't about to begin now because a pair of large eyes sparkled with warmth and concern. He hunched a shoulder, not looking at her. "I'm sorry if they bother you."
"Gabriel, I never meant for you to think such a thing!" She turned a stricken gaze toward him. "You have to know they don't bother me." Even in the darkness, he could see the blush steal into her cheeks. "I've never been like that before, wanting to touch a man the way I touched you."
Something inside him lightened and he couldn't resist teasing. "You like my flawed body, hmm?"
Kalesia took immediate exception and rounded on Gabriel. "Don't call it flawed," she told him fiercely. A slow, wicked smile began to curve his sensual mouth. Kalesia didn't trust it one bit. He looked like a cat who had just swallowed a mouse.
He parted her robe at the neck. Bending, he placed a feathery kiss on her neck just under her ear. Kalesia shivered. Taking his time, he placed another, slightly lower. The tip of his tongue barely brushed her skin.
"Gabriel?" she quavered, her eyes closing. She hadn't realized a single caress could be so arousing.
He trailed a path of fire to the curve of her throat, just above her collarbone. Warm breath sent tendrils of flame licking across her senses when he spoke. "Show me how much you want me. How much you like my body."
"You're trying to distract me," Kalesia accused, but there was no real heat in her accusation. Already, a familiar ache was starting down low.
He lifted his head, a purely masculine grin causing her heartbeat to double. He didn't try to deny it. "Is it working?"
"Yes, damn you." She sighed, her arms going around his neck. "You're not going to have everything your way, you know."
"Care to make a bet on that?" he asked, his hands dropping to the sash of the robe as his strong, elegant fingers worked on the knot.
Leaning forward, Kalesia touched the tip of her tongue to a flat, masculine nipple. "Never dare a redhead." She emphasized the warning by carefully closing her teeth around the hard nub.
"Witch," he growled, his hands clenching into her waist. His eyes glittered in the moonlight. "I never lose." But he seemed to lose patience with trying to untangle the knot, and rent the belt with a casual strength. Kalesia's robe pooled at her feet.
Gabriel forgot to breath. Her eyes were luminous as she stared up at him. The tips of her breasts hardened, begging for his touch. Unable to resist, he lowered his head to sample the lush ripeness. One hand found her breast while the other cupped her bottom and pressed her against him. Gabriel pressed his groin into her, allowing her to feel his heavy arousal. She moaned softly, the tiny sound urging him on.
"Do you know what it does to me when you make that noise?" he asked her raggedly.
Kalesia shook her head, moaning again as his fingers found, and explored, the dark cleft separating the rounded globes.
"It drives me crazy. Makes me feel the most powerful man in the world." Gabriel sipped at the nectar
of her mouth, swallowing her soft cry.
"You're the one trying to drive me crazy. Gabriel!" she cried as his fingers skimmed the peak of her breast.
"Not this time, witch. This time we're doing it my way. I intend to take my time." He slipped his knee between hers, using his thigh to open her to his exploration. He traced random patterns on the soft, inner skin of her thigh, weaving his own spell of magic.
"Gabriel, don't tease me!" Her breath was coming in shallow pants.
"Do you like this?" he taunted, tracing another intricate pattern, his knuckles just brushing the silky curls. Kalesia arched uncontrollably.
"Oh, God, yes!" She bit his shoulder when he refused to deepen the caress.
"What about this?" He combed his fingers through the damp curls, a fierce satisfaction welled as he felt her heat. She opened her legs wider, willingly allowing herself to be vulnerable. She wanted him and wasn't attempting to hide it.
"Tell me what you want, Kalesia. Tell me!" he demanded.
"I want you to touch me," she said, her breath coming in ragged little bursts.
"Where? Here?" He slid his palm down her spine, "Or here?" he said, fastening his mouth on a taut breast.
"Blast you for an arrogant tomcat. Here," she mumbled against his shoulder, showing him where she wanted him.
"Ah, Kalesia, sweet witch. You ask so nicely." Laughter rumbled up from the depths of his being. An answering, rueful amusement curled her lips even as she leaned back to glare at him.
"Gloating is a terrible thing."
"Don't be an ungracious loser." He kissed the tip of her nose, feeling on top of the world. There wasn't any real resentment in her eyes. Passion drowned amusement as he stared down into her eyes. He found her slick passage and pressed inside, then withdrew just as slowly. Kalesia moaned in protest.
"Be patient, my sweet," Gabriel murmured thickly. Grasping her hips, he rocked her back and forth on his thigh. Kalesia threw her head back, her nails biting into his arms as her slender spine arched.