by Anne Conley
She decided right then and there, that come Hell or high water, she would find out. Tonight. She honestly didn't care if he was a psycho. Hope was going to take her chances.
As she turned to open her door handle, she squealed to see Gabe standing at her car window, looking in at her with a question in his eyes. Probably wondering what she was still doing. She'd been sitting here talking to herself for at least five minutes. She smiled at him as she opened her door.
Hope gasped when they entered, and Gabe sent her one of his melting smiles. The restaurant was exquisite, from linen table cloths to candelabras hanging from the ceiling, to rustic wood finishes on the walls. The entire ambiance screamed pastoral elegance. It was unlike anyplace Hope had ever eaten before. Gabe looked totally at home here, and she noticed that he turned heads, especially female ones. A strange mixture of pride and jealousy sparked inside her, especially when Gabe's hand slid from her back to her waist in an almost possessive gesture as they walked to their table. Wolf. Definitely a wolf.
Her eyes widened as she scoured the menu, noticing the prices. She looked up at Gabe, who was, as always, watching her. "Would you like for me to order for you?"
She nodded, unable to comprehend spending so much money on food that was just going to be pooped out the next day.
Gabe waved the waiter over, and pointed some things out on the menu. The waiter nodded, with a quiet, "Very good, Sir," and left them alone again.
Hope was still taking in her surroundings and trying to remember a time when she had eaten somewhere this nice, coming up with a big fat blank, when Gabe broke the silence.
"Did you have a nice dinner with your parents last night?"
She slumped. "Not really. But I never do."
His forehead wrinkled. "Why not?"
"My mother is convinced I need to go on a diet and find a suitable husband, and neither of those can be accomplished if I'm not living with her." Hope played with her fork, nervously.
"Do you eat with them regularly?"
She nodded. "Every Thursday.”
"Take me next week."
"What? Why?"
"Well, it seems to me, it would accomplish a couple of things. One: I'm wooing you, and as the wooer, I should meet the wooee's parents. Two: If your mother sees you being wooed, she might leave you alone about the rest. And Three: I think you're beautiful as you are, and I just might tell your mother that." He took a sip of water, and looked at her over the rim of his glass, eyes sparkling.
"Are you making a joke?"
He lowered his glass and smiled at her. "I'm making a humorous play on the word woo, which you seem to enjoy so much, but I'm deadly serious about the actual plan of action."
Once again, Hope was speechless. He thought she was beautiful? How could she take him to her parents' house and explain the shrine and Melissa? What would he think? There was a reason her parents thought she'd never had a boyfriend. She wouldn't let them near one. He thought she was beautiful?
"You think I'm beautiful?"
He reached across the table and stilled her hand playing with the fork, holding it in his. "I think you're the most beautiful woman in the room." He picked up her hand and lowered his head to brush her knuckles against his lips. It left a searing heat on her skin that raced up her arm.
"But I'm short, and I'm fa-"
"No, you're not. Society is unhealthy. You've been told you're one way, and that one way is ugly. You are a stunning woman, covered with curves and valleys, any man would be lucky to explore." His voice lowered to a rough whisper that she almost couldn't hear, but his eyes spoke louder than his words. The pupils had widened and darkened his irises to an almost black, and she shivered.
Three waiters chose that moment to arrive, setting down plates, appetizers, and wine. Gabe tasted it, nodding his approval, and they poured two glasses before leaving them alone again.
"Are you seducing me, Gabe?"
His eyes widened in surprise, and he chuckled. It was the first time she'd heard him laugh, and it delighted her. She smiled at him, widely, unable to contain her happiness with this moment. The succulent food, good wine, ambience, Gabe, it all worked together to make her feel like the most special person in the world.
"I'm just trying to get to know you and to let you know that my intentions are honorable. I genuinely want to get to know you. I'm not using you or anything." He speared an escargot and put it into his mouth, chewing. Hope watched his jaw muscles do interesting things as his mouth worked, and she wondered at this man, and what he hid under his clothes.
Blushing furiously, she tried to change the subject. "Tell me about you, Gabe. What are your parents like? Are they happy with you as you are?”
She watched a rare display of emotion crossed his features. Oddly, it looked a little like despair, and Hope regretted asking.
“I have no mother, and my Father apparently thinks I have failed Him in some manner. But I’m not sure what I’ve done wrong.” He had stopped chewing to answer her question, but apparently he was finished, because he speared another piece of escargot. “I think this is a conversation for another time, actually. Ask me something else.” His tone had changed, and he’d schooled his expression to a careful mask again.
“Okay, what's your favorite place?"
He swallowed and looked at her, an intense expression in his chocolatey eyes. Seeming to come to some sort of conclusion, his gaze softened with a question. "Can I show you? It's difficult to describe."
"Sure." She put a piece of escargot in her mouth and leaned back, closing her eyes to savor the experience.
Gabe sent her an image of a mountain top, covered in mist. She could feel the moisture of the mist against her skin, could smell grasses floating on a breeze. She could hear goats bleating in the distance. Beyond the mountain was water, blue-gray and intense-looking, lapping waves with white-tops that crested with the weather. The entire landscape was breathtaking, with a rugged intensity. It looked like a harsh place, wherever it was. Harsh, yet inviting. She wanted to visit.
"It's not like that anymore." His voice almost sounded sad.
"Where is it?"
The waiters returned, simultaneously setting down two dinner plates holding steaks covered in a mouth watering sauce, with a side of steamed veggies and loaded baked potatoes.
Gabe began cutting into his steak immediately. "Mt. Sinai, during the time of the exodus of Moses." His tone of voice left no room for question. So, instead of asking the obvious, Hope dug into her steak and put a piece into her mouth. It melted on her tongue, while questions swirled through her mind. How had he been to Mt. Sinai during the exodus? Something about this man told her to expect the unexpected.
She was fascinated with the way he moved through his food, as if it was a chore, not to be savored.
“Do you like the food here?”
“Yes. What’s not to like? Do you?” His face was open, curious, as if he thought there might be something wrong.
“Oh absolutely. It’s fantastic. I’ve never eaten snails before, only read about them. They’re wonderful. I was just asking because you don’t seem to be savoring anything.” She carefully cut a piece of melt-in-your mouth steak and placed it on her tongue, watching him watch her actions. In fact, he seemed surprised at her enthusiasm about the food. Sure she liked food, probably a little more than the average person, but out of all the things that made her odd, that wasn’t one of them.
"Where's your favorite place? You want to show me?" He asked her around a mouthful of food that he wasn't savoring. It was such a waste to Hope. She wasn't going to talk around any of this amazing aged beef. She finished chewing carefully and swallowed, then grabbed his hands.
She sent him a vision of her balcony in full bloom, with the possible addition of a naked Hope and Gabe on a rug on the ground, writhing in the throes of love-making. She smiled as she felt his grip on her hands tighten, and when she opened her eyes, he was staring at her, mouth agape.
"Tell me, Hope. Let m
e know how you really feel about me."
She giggled. "I’m sorry. That just happened. I've been thinking it since I met you. If I invite you into my mind, you're going to find yourself there, some way or another." She managed to keep the next words to herself, probably naked.
"Is that so?" He shoved another piece of steak into his mouth, not looking at it, and chewed automatically. He watched her as she carefully put her piece into her mouth and chewed slowly, trying to make it last. She smiled at him, but his eyes remained fixated on her lips. She took another bite.
"Tell me about this balcony. No more showing, okay?"
"Why?"
"Because I'm not used to it, and I'm…Just don't. Okay?" He ended the statement with a menacing growl, and Hope was again reminded of a wolf. She trembled.
"Sure. Um, it's like my little oasis. I keep it neater than the rest of my apartment, and I can't hear the phone ring out there, so when I want to escape stuff, I go to my balcony. I have planted flowers that attract butterflies. Oh, I have this one butterfly that's been coming the past few days that has like, a demon head on its back. It's really unusual. And it flashes at night, like a firefly. I talk to that one, and it seems to understand me." She stopped herself from talking by a hand to her mouth. "Whoops! Did I go too far? Am I weird now, I talk to butterflies?"
He smiled at her. "No, you’re not. But I'd like you to finish eating. I want to see this balcony, if I may."
"Can we box it up? I don't want to rush through this meal. It's too good."
"Absolutely." He signaled the waiter who whisked away the plates, and brought back a shopping bag full of food for them to take home.
As Gabe followed Hope to her apartment, she decided he was most likely a wolf-shifter, who had just come of age. For some reason, it happened later with him than others, but he had chosen her for his mate. It explained his lack of "wooing" skills, his total bossiness, and his periodic insecurities. Maybe he was from one of the clans that stayed in their wolf-forms until they hit maturity, so he was using clan memories to speak. That would explain the formal language he pulled out sometimes. And the Mt. Sanai thing…
At her apartment, Hope led Gabe up to her door. Before she opened it, she turned to him. "Fair warning. I'm not the best housekeeper."
He lifted an eyebrow but didn't say anything, so she opened the door and gestured for him to come inside.
Once inside, he stopped and took in his surroundings. Hope tried to look at it from an outsider's perspective: piles of books, laundry in various places, dishes in the sink, colorful pillows not exactly where they needed to be, and on top of it all were fairies. Glass fairies, ceramic fairies, stuffed fairies, hanging fairies, sitting fairies, lounging fairies, clay fairies, wooden fairies. Gabe picked up an iron fairy on a shelf near him and blew dust off the top of it.
"Fairies?"
"Yeah, it started when I was a kid, with my sister, and it just…grew. Now it's a part of me. I love anything Fey."
A furry white streak darted out of the bedroom and wound around Gabe's ankles. He stooped down to stroke it.
"That’s Di. Originally, it was Diana, but then she dropped her testicles, and after I had them cut, I modified his name to Dionysus. But I just call him Di." A meow came from under the couch and Gabe looked up at Hope in surprise. "I should also tell you that I have five cats. That' not generally a first date topic, but there you go. Dionysus, Perseus, Poseidon, Hermes, and Athena. Watch out for Athena though. She gets a little aggressive sometimes. She's the really pretty silver one."
"Well, good thing this isn't our first date." Gabe stood, and Hope was suddenly dwarfed by him. "Show me the balcony?" His voice was a husky murmur, sliding across her body, and Hope was certain he had no idea what he did to her.
She led the way through the kitchen, with the sink full of dirty dishes, cringing inwardly, towards the sliding glass door that led to her oasis.
"Ta-da…"
She turned to see him staring at her. Again. Instead of letting him drive her to distraction trying to figure out what the hell he was thinking, she grasped his hands and pictured the two of them kissing tenderly.
His gaze focused on her lips, and he breathed some words out loud, but she couldn't hear.
"What did you say?" Hope didn't recognize her own voice. It was raspy and weak with longing. She wanted his lips on hers. Badly.
His eyes snapped up to hers. "I want to know what you taste like."
He took a step toward her, and his arm reached around her waist drawing her closer, against him. His other hand reached behind her neck, as he lowered his mouth to hers, slowly. The anticipation was too much. She stood on tip-toes and met him halfway, pushing her lips against his.
At first, he was still, and Hope worried that she had overstepped, but then his lips began to move, suckling on her bottom lip, then his tongue snaked out and ran along the edge. Hope opened her mouth to him, and his tongue slipped inside, running along the inside edges of her mouth. She was swimming, drowning, unable to breathe. Hope whimpered against him, and he tightened his grip on her waist. Hope was burning hot, like a fire was raging inside her, and she could feel his body against hers, all hard and hot and not satisfying her need.
She needed all of him.
Without thinking about it, Hope's hands went to the buttons of his shirt and started fumbling. He stilled her, pulling back.
"Wait," he gasped, then kissed her again. "I just want to kiss you. For now." Her face must have fallen, because he was quick to correct himself. "Not that I don't desire you, Hope. Heavens above, I do. You are everything I need in a woman and more. I just don't…" He ran his hand through his hair and leaned his head back on the glass door. "I'm a bit confused about my feelings right now. I'm not sure what they mean, and I can't quite explain it yet." He looked at her, his eyes searching hers. "It's really intense. This…lust?"
She laughed, a full-on belly laugh. "Are you asking? Yes Gabe. This is lust. Have you been living in a cave your entire life?"
He looked at her, alarm ringing his features. "Maybe."
She took his hand and led him to the bench on the balcony. "It's okay. Let's sit. Maybe my butterfly friend will pay us a visit. And in the meantime, we can kiss a little. You're really very good at it." She giggled.
When they sat next to each other, Hope was at eye-level with his shoulder, so she leaned over and kissed it through his shirt. She looked up at him, and he was looking at her.
"What?"
"I'm a messenger. I don't know how to fall in love." His voice sounded so sorrowful, she wasn't sure what to make of it. "I'm supposed to tell people what to do."
"Are you any good at taking orders?"
His face brightened considerably. "Oh absolutely."
"Then kiss me again, Gabe."
He obliged her, hauling her against him and kissing her breathless all over again, until she couldn't see straight. He tasted like he smelled: spicy. And it mixed well with the tangy taste already in her mouth, which had become more of an aftertaste. He was right. It had gotten better. Mixed together, the two flavors combined to make ambrosia, nectar of the gods, and Hope couldn't get enough of it.
She was addicted to Gabe.
They sat on her balcony and kissed until almost dawn, taking small breaks to talk a little, though not about anything important. They talked mostly about her job, and she told him about the petition she had to deal with but was putting off. Hope still had questions, but she wasn't willing to break the spell between them. When her yawns got too large, he kissed her soundly again, and bid her goodnight.
After locking the door behind him, Hope collapsed in her bed, thankful she was off work for the weekend. She snuggled into her covers, an indignant Hermes climbing onto his accustomed spot on her chest, resentful of her not being there at her usual time. She was confident that they would all wake her up in a couple of hours for food anyway. Imagining Gabe sitting in the corner watching her sleep, she drifted off to dreamland, where Gabe was entirely
naked and at her disposal.
Chapter 7
Gabe was in a nearby park, sitting on a bench because it was peaceful. The bench he sat on bordered a small man-made pond with ducks, and he watched as they dove under water to catch food, then bobbed back to the surface, shaking their head and flapping their wings to shake off water. But his thoughts were still consumed with Hope. Last night had been fun.
Yes, he'd actually had fun.
She was truly a delightful creature. Beautiful, despite what her mother told her, smart, funny, a treasure with the children that came into the library, kind, quirky, and it was obvious that she was attracted to him. She may even care for him. Could love him eventually?
He shifted, uncomfortable at her dreams running through his mind. He hadn't been completely honest with her. She'd asked him if he could read minds, and he'd said not without permission. But dreams were another story. Once a connection with a target was made, he could see their dreams at will. Tonight, after the kissing, he hadn't been able to stop himself from taking a peek, and it had almost been his undoing. She was dreaming of him, naked, in various erotic poses, sometimes with fur, sometimes with fangs, sometimes with wings. She certainly was imaginative. But all of the dreams involved her, writhing beneath him, on top of him, in front of him, beside him.
But that was lust, not love.
Gabe thought back to what Rafe had said about love. "Man, it's impossible to not be able to tell you're in love. You eat, sleep, and drink that girl. She's your everything. You can't miss it."
Uri had been a little more subtle in his description. "It's like you wake up thinking about her, you go to sleep thinking about her, and you think about her all hours in between. And when you think about her, and she's not there, it hurts."
Well, Gabe still wasn't sleepy, or hungry, or angry, nothing hurt. Nothing had any flavor. He wasn't any different than he had been five days ago, when he'd first walked into the library.