Higher Ground, page 18
His hand moved, went to touch hers. Just a brush of fingertips against the back of her hand, but that was enough to send heat flooding through her, to make her heart speed up and the world seem to spin a little. Good thing the car was driving with no need of her admittedly shaky input.
“I thought so, too,” he said, his tone quiet, intense. Then he smiled slightly. “I suppose the inside of your vehicle is possibly not the best place for this sort of discussion.”
“Maybe,” she admitted. “But it’s okay.”
He lifted his hand from hers, settled back in his seat. “I’m glad it’s okay.”
By that point, they were almost at the house, since the hotel was barely five minutes away from her place. Ava touched the button to open the garage door and let the SUV park itself inside. Neither of them said anything as they went through the garage’s back door and on through the garden. It was beautiful, the hollyhocks waving in the breeze, the roses so vibrant, it almost looked as if they were glowing from within.
Or maybe everything looked so resplendent because of the way she was feeling inside.
She barely had a chance to drop her purse on the kitchen counter before Gabriel pulled her into his arms. His mouth touched hers, hungry, and her lips parted so she could taste him, so he could taste her. Their bodies pressed together, and his hands were sliding down her cheeks, fingertips drifting against her neck, moving lower so they brushed against one of her breasts.
A gasp escaped her lips, but at the same time, she could feel herself flinch. No one had ever touched her like that before…mostly because she could never quite get up the nerve to go from kissing to, well, anything else. It wasn’t that she didn’t want this, but….
At once, Gabriel moved away slightly, his hands falling to his sides. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I am going too fast for you.”
Damn it. Ava shook her head. “No, that’s not it. I — ” The problem was, she didn’t know what she needed to say to him. She wanted this; she hadn’t lied about that. But wanting and doing were two entirely different things.
In frustration, she went to the fridge and got out the pitcher of iced tea, then fetched a couple of glasses. Without even bothering to ask Gabriel whether he wanted some, she poured drinks for both of them. She lifted one of the glasses and took a large swallow. After a pause, he took the second glass and drank some tea as well, his expression growing increasingly puzzled.
“Let’s go in the family room,” she said.
Still looking confused, he followed her into the space, which always felt a little more homey and prosaic to her because of the TV. It wasn’t like the living room, which always looked like something from the set of a living history museum to her.
She sat on the couch, and after a brief hesitation, he seated himself next to her. Not too close, but near enough that she could reach out to him if she wanted to.
That was the real trick, wasn’t it? Part of her wanted to…and part of her was scared shitless.
Another bracing swallow of iced tea, and then she said, “You don’t know that much about me, Gabriel.”
His brows drew together. “Is that what’s bothering you? That we are so new to one another? I can wait as long as you need me to.”
Of course he would. Because she could tell he genuinely cared about her. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was…her.
“I’ve never been with anyone,” she blurted, but he only smiled, apparently not put off by that revelation.
“That isn’t so strange for a witch your age, is it?” he responded. “This sort of thing is different for witches and warlocks than it is for civilians.”
Damn him for being so understanding, or at least attempting to be understanding. The problem was, he’d completely missed the point, mostly because he could have no way of knowing what the point actually was.
Despite her frustration, she couldn’t prevent herself from raising an eyebrow. “Was it different for you?”
He didn’t pretend to misunderstand. “No. But I have only been with civilian women. There was no one in Pico Negro who called to my heart, and I did not want to lead anyone on. In San Salvador, it was easy enough to meet those who only wanted to share a night of pleasure and wished for nothing else. I had much the same experience in Mexico City.”
Of course he had. Gabriel was so drop-dead gorgeous that Ava was sure he’d never had a problem finding partners. It made her even more uncomfortable to realize that his remark sounded a little too close to the way her brother had managed his own love life, or at least how he’d handled things until he met Cassandra Sandoval. Ava had never told her brother that she knew all about his various conquests, mostly because she’d seen no reason to bring it up. He hadn’t wanted to settle down but had wanted to get laid, so pretty tourists seemed like the obvious — and easiest — solution.
“Thank you for being honest,” she said.
Gabriel shrugged, although the intensity of his expression seemed at odds with the casual gesture. “You know I would never lie to you, Ava. I always took precautions. But I have experience, yes.”
She supposed she should be glad of that. At least one of them would know what they were doing…assuming they got to that point.
“Anyway,” he went on, “I hope you don’t think that I wouldn’t still want this simply because you’ve never been with anyone before.”
“No, it’s….” The words trailed off, and she wanted to kick herself for leading them down this path. Why couldn’t she have just let him kiss her and caress her like a normal person?
“It’s what, Ava?”
His voice was so gentle, so kind. How could he be so patient with her when she was acting like such an idiot? Worse, he’d just had his powers restored. He should have been able to freely celebrate that particular miracle, instead of having to hold her hand while she worked through her neuroses.
“I used to be fat,” she blurted out, and he stared at her, expression both puzzled and startled.
“You’re not fat now,” he said, pointing out the obvious.
“No,” she replied. “But I wanted you to know.”
Another frown touched his brow. “Why do you think I would care?”
“Because…because….” She flailed for a moment, then said desperately, “Because what happens if I get fat again? You told me you thought I was beautiful, but I don’t feel beautiful. I feel like chubby old Ava Castillo, the girl no guys wanted to date.”
“Ava.”
His tone was still quiet, but something about it made her go silent. He reached over and clasped her fingers in his, then moved his free hand to touch her cheek.
“You are beautiful,” he said. “Here” — his fingertips traced over her cheekbone — “and here.” He paused to touch her temple. “Beautiful, inside and out. If you want to eat dulce de leche cake three times a day and get as chubby as my cousin Annabella, I will still think you beautiful.”
No way could anyone be this perfect. She stared at him, the impulse to look inside his mind and see whether he was telling her the truth almost overwhelming. But no, she’d already broken that rule once today. That had been in a good cause. This would be only to satisfy her own doubts and her own insecurity. Gabriel deserved better than that.
“Really?” she asked, hating how her voice quavered.
“Really,” he said. “I don’t know who told you that you weren’t worthy, simply because of a few pounds. But you should not allow people like that to have any power over you. I think you are perfect, Ava. You are perfect now, and you will always be perfect, no matter what happens.”
She wasn’t sure which one of them moved first. Not that it really mattered; their lips met again, and they were kissing one another, Gabriel shifting so he pushed her down against the sofa cushions, his weight on her now, his body strong and hard and so unbelievably amazing. Once again, his hand moved to her breast, only this time she didn’t stop him, let his fingertips glide over her, let him push up the cotton blouse she wore so he touched the bare flesh of her stomach.
Such heat in such a gentle caress. She pulled in a breath and hardly dared to let it out, because now he’d pushed her blouse all the way up so the plain white bra she wore was exposed. And damn, if she’d known the day was going to end up like this, she would have worn something prettier, would have gotten out the new dark pink satin bra and matching panties she’d bought last month to celebrate the loss of those last five stubborn pounds. At the time, she hadn’t expected anyone to see her in them, but now….
His lips touched the sensitive skin at the side of her neck and she gasped, wondering how that could possibly feel so good. The only boyfriend she’d ever gotten semi-serious with, a guy she’d met at the university her junior year, had kissed her there, but those kisses hadn’t felt anything like this.
Then Gabriel paused, his murmur almost a purr in her ear. “Where is your bedroom?”
“Upstairs,” she replied, realizing that it probably would be better to do this somewhere other than the family room couch. “The door at the end of the hall.”
Those words had barely left her mouth before the room around them vanished, including the couch they were lying on. They fell — or were dropped — onto the bed from a height of about six inches, and again she gasped, although for an entirely different reason this time.
“Sorry,” Gabriel said. “I misjudged the height of the bed.”
Of course he did. She recalled how he’d managed to teleport Tony and Cassandra right out from under his brother’s nose, sending them all the way back here to Santa Fe, to this very house. Compared to that, a short hop from the living room downstairs to the master bedroom must have seemed like nothing, although Ava knew it was going to take her a while to get used to Gabriel having all his powers again.
“It’s all right,” she replied, sounding a bit breathless. A pause as she kicked off the flats she wore before she added, “I don’t mind.”
“Good,” he responded.
Then he was tugging at her blouse again, this time pulling it over her head. She didn’t mind seeing it go, because now he bent to leave a line of kisses across her chest, moving down to one breast, tugging at her bra so it was enough out of the way for him to flick his tongue across her nipple.
Oh, my God.
She moaned and, obviously encouraged, he reached back to unhook her bra, then tossed it off to one side. Now his hands closed on both her breasts, caressing them, and she moaned again, feeling her body seem to come alive at his touch, heat building in her core. There had been times in the past when she’d found herself vaguely aroused by something she read or something she saw on TV, but none of that had prepared her for the ravening need he seemed to awaken in her, a throbbing, hungry desire so strong that it felt almost like a separate entity, like something that wasn’t completely a part of her at all.
A beast that needed to be fed.
Her fingers pulled at his T-shirt, and he obligingly slid it up and over his head. Now she could see so much more of his body than she had back in their Airbnb in New Orleans; the body he revealed was just as flawless as his face, chest and abs heavily muscled and defined, biceps bulging as he balled up the shirt and flung it onto the floor to lie next to her abandoned bra.
If he saw any flaws in her own body, he didn’t seem to notice them. He lowered his mouth to her breast again, suckling, even as his fingers went down to the button of her jeans and unfastened it, then slid down the zipper. Another Ava might have protested, might have said this was all going too fast, but she knew she wouldn’t do a thing to stop him, wanted him to ease down her jeans and the panties underneath so they, too, ended up on the floor with the rest of their discarded clothing.
Since her jeans and underwear were now gone, it only made sense to get rid of his as well. She undid his belt, then had to wait while he bent down to loosen the laces on the shoes he wore. Not for too long, though; soon enough, they were gone, along with his socks. At last she could pull down his jeans and the dark gray briefs he wore.
Maybe this should have been an awkward moment, but all she could think of was how amazing he looked, how much she wanted him…all of him. And he must have been thinking pretty much the same thing, because his finger slipped into her, stroking, and she moaned again, louder this time. That was so good…so unbelievably good.
He apparently wasn’t content to stop there, though, because a moment later, he bent and touched her with his tongue, tasting her. Dear God. She’d tried to imagine what this might feel like, but those fantasies didn’t come close to the sensation of Gabriel making love to her with his mouth as her fingers tangled in his thick black hair and he pushed her closer, ever closer….
The orgasm swept over her, and she knew she was lost, that all she could do was ride the wave of ecstasy flooding through her body until she was finally able to return to herself. Which she did at last, only to see him looking up at her, a smile on his lips.
“You are the sweetest thing I’ve ever tasted,” he said.
A shudder moved through her body. “That was the most incredible thing I’ve ever felt,” she breathed.
His dark eyes glinted. “Oh, I’m not done yet.”
He shifted, and now she felt him pressing up against her, felt the heat and the hardness of his shaft. A tremor moved through her body, although she wasn’t sure whether that was from anticipation or possibly just the tiniest bit of fear at what was going to come next. Yes, she’d been on the pill for two years, mostly to regulate her periods than because she actually needed it for its true purpose, but….
Somehow seeming to note her hesitation, he paused, still touching her but not attempting to move any further. “Do you want to stop here? I thought….”
“No, I don’t want to stop,” she said. “I want you, Gabriel.”
A relieved smile broke over his face, and he pushed in a little farther. He was big, but it didn’t hurt, just felt as though he was filling an empty space she hadn’t known existed until this moment. Her legs wrapped around him, pulling him in all the way, and then he began to find his rhythm, moving in and out, while she clung to him and let herself experience all these strange and wonderful new sensations.
Another wave seemed to be building in her, one even deeper and stronger than the first. Her fingers dug into the heavy muscles of his shoulders, and she found herself moaning again and again, gulping for air, as his movements grew quicker and his own breaths became short as well.
He climaxed, spilling his heat into her, but that was all right, because only a few seconds later she came as well, a strangled little cry forcing its way from her throat. This orgasm felt different from the last, not as quick and intense, but welcome nonetheless. For a long minute…or maybe three or four…they both lay there, gasping, bodies still joined as though neither of them wanted to end this moment.
At last, though, Gabriel shifted, pulling out of her even as he bent to kiss her gently on the cheek. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
“No,” she said. “It was perfect. Just like you are.”
A brilliant flash of a smile, and then she was in his arms again, being held close so she could hear the strong, heavy beating of his heart, maybe a little faster than normal because of their previous exertions. Ava was glad to stay there, glad to have the man she loved holding her as though she was the most precious thing in his world.
She knew that no matter what happened next, nothing would ever be the same again.
15
Eventually, they rose from the bed and put their clothes back on; it was still not even five o’clock yet, and Gabriel supposed it probably wasn’t a good idea to lounge in bed naked until they decided what they were going to do for their evening meal…although the thought crossed his mind. However, better to be dressed just in case Miranda put two and two together more quickly than they’d expected, and showed up on the doorstep to demand an explanation for Elena Salazar’s disappearance.
When he and Ava made their way downstairs, he thought he caught sight of a pretty woman in an old-fashioned gown standing in the hallway, arms crossed and an expression of severe disapproval on her face. He blinked, wondering whether he was seeing things.
“Is there someone else in the house?” he asked, and Ava startled.
“What?”
“I just saw someone in a long dress standing over there.” He pointed toward an antique side table with a burnished gilt-edged mirror hanging above it.
“Oh, that was just Victoria,” Ava said. She looked especially delicious right then, hair tousled, her full mouth even fuller from the kisses he’d bestowed upon it. “She’s the ghost who lives here.”
“‘Ghost’?” he repeated.
A grin. “The house is haunted. Victoria is mostly harmless, but she hates it if you try to rearrange the furniture or make changes to the place. I have a feeling she isn’t too happy about what we just did in the bedroom.”
That would explain the scowl the strange young woman had been wearing. “Well,” he remarked, “if she doesn’t approve of those sorts of activities, she is always welcome to move on to the next world instead of lingering here.”
“I wish it were that easy.” Ava headed into the kitchen, where she poured water for both of them and then pulled some of the uneaten cheese from their previous snack out of the refrigerator. “Cat’s talent is talking to ghosts. She tried to get Victoria to transcend or whatever you want to call it, but Victoria wouldn’t budge. I get the feeling she’s going to stay in this house until someone tears it down.”
“I’m surprised no one in your clan has done that already,” Gabriel said, reflecting that getting rid of the ghost’s abode might be the simplest way of dealing with the property’s haunting problem.
A pucker of Ava’s delicious mouth, and she replied, “We’re too big on tradition to destroy a historic home like this. Besides, it seems kind of mean to try to drive her out. She’s not really that much of a bother.”
“You have a kind heart, my love,” he said, and she stared up at him, expression wondering as she seemed to take in the term of endearment he’d just used. Because she looked so surprised, he thought he should make it very clear where matters stood between them. “Yes, love,” he repeated, emphasizing the word. “For I do love you, Ava. You are a miracle I wasn’t expecting, and are that much more precious because of it.”
