Bella raised her lids to look at Gabriel, deliberately holding his gaze with hers as her tongue swirled provocatively about the head of his pulsing erection. Licking. Teasing. Tasting.
Gabriel’s face was flushed with arousal, his eyes fevered, his jaw clenched, and the muscles standing out in his throat as he fought not to lose that control.
‘No more!’ he growled even as he reached down and pulled Bella away from him, grasping her arms to lift her
up so that his mouth could capture hers. Bella straddled him as they kissed wildly, feverishly, Gabriel’s hands hot against her back as his mouth made love to hers.
Gabriel stood up, their mouths still fused wildly together. His hands cupped about Bella’s bottom to lift her up with him before he lay her down on the carpeted floor, lifting his head to part her already ruined blouse and then feast on her naked breasts.
He kissed first one nipple and then the other, Bella whimpering softly when he finally raised his head to look down at the swollen fullness of her breasts. His gaze deliberately held hers as he moved to his knees beside her to brush the pads of his thumbs over those achingly sensitive nipples, watching the way Bella’s eyes darkened and she groaned low in her throat even as she arched up into that caress.
Gabriel continued to hold that gaze as he unfastened her jeans and peeled them down her thighs to remove them completely, parting her legs so that he could move in between them. His hands were big and dark against her abdomen as he caressed her in slow swirling movements in a deliberate path to the soft, dark curls that were visible to him through the cream lace of her panties.
Bella was breathing hard as she watched Gabriel touching her, his fingers warm and gentle. A low moan escaped her as he swept one of those fingers against the lacy material that covered the cleft between her legs, her hips moving up to meet that tantalising caress.
That finger moved against her again.
Again Bella moved up to meet that caress.
And again.
Teasing her. Pleasuring her. Torturing her.
‘Yes, Gabriel…!’ Bella finally pleaded as she moved against him in frustration.
He peeled her panties down her thighs and legs to discard them completely, his eyes intense as he looked down at her before slowly lowering his head. First his hands touched her, then his lips, softly, tenderly as he kissed the scar that hadn’t been there five years ago.
But Bella had no time to dwell on that as his fingers parted the dark curls beneath and his mouth moved lower…
Dear God!
Pleasure unlike anything she had ever known before radiated out to every part of her body as the sweep of Gabriel’s tongue against that pulsing nub brought her to the edge of release and then took her crashing over it in wave after wave of such intensity it was almost pain.
Bella was mindless with pleasure, her breath releasing in a sob as she felt Gabriel part her sensitive folds and enter her, first with one finger, and then with two. As his tongue continued to caress that aching nub her head moved wildly from side to side and her hands clenched as Gabriel took her to a climax that was even more intense than the first.
It wasn’t enough.
It would never be enough!
Bella surged up to push Gabriel down onto the carpet and pull off his remaining clothes before moving up and over him, her hands resting against his shoulders as the heat between her thighs became a hot caress against the hardness of his shaft, her breasts a temptation just beyond his reach as she bent slightly towards him.
‘No, Bella—’ Gabriel broke off with a groan as she opened herself to him and took him into her, inch by slow inch, until he was completely inside her. Her heat, her tightness wrapped around him. ‘We must not do this—’
‘
I
must,’ she insisted.
Gabriel ceased breathing altogether as Bella began to move with an agonising slowness that sent the pleasure rocketing into his brain and down to his toes.
Gabriel felt himself grow even harder, bigger, no longer able to bear the torment of her breasts above him as he moved his head up and captured one of those rose-tipped breasts into his mouth.
Bella plunged down to take him deeper, before moving up so that only the very tip of him remained inside her. Before plunging down again and again. Gabriel was so big now, so long that it felt as if he touched the very centre of her.
His hands moved to grasp her hips and guide her movements as he felt his imminent release, hearing Bella’s cry as she reached a climax at the same time as he did.
‘W
E SHOULD
not have done that!’
Bella had collapsed weakly against the dampness of Gabriel’s chest as the last of the pleasure rippled through her body, but she raised her head now to look down at him incredulously. ‘
What
did you just say?’
Gabriel’s expression was grim as he returned her gaze. ‘I should not have done this, Bella—’
She gasped in shock, moving abruptly back and then away from him, clasping her ruined blouse about her nakedness as she disengaged their bodies before standing up. ‘Get out, Gabriel,’ she choked.
‘Bella—’
‘Just
get out
!’ she repeated shakily, turning away to find her panties, her legs trembling slightly as she tried to balance before pulling them on over her nakedness.
How could Gabriel do this to her? How could he?
What she had thought of as being something beautiful, utterly unique, had now become nothing more than something she wished to forget.
To wish had never happened!
‘Would you just put some clothes on and leave, Gabriel?’
He rose slowly to his feet, magnificent in his nakedness, his hair tousled about his shoulders, his chest broad and muscled, thighs powerful still, his legs long and elegant.
Bella turned away from looking at all that raw, male beauty. ‘I don’t want you to say anything, Gabriel. I don’t want you to do anything. I just want you to get dressed and leave. Now,’ she insisted.
‘Bella—’
‘Now!’
‘You misunderstood my reasoning just now, Bella—’
‘Don’t touch me!’ She moved sharply away from the hands he placed on her shoulders, shying away from even that physical contact.
Gabriel frowned fiercely as he saw her expression. ‘You did not seem to find my touch so distasteful a few minutes ago,’ he rasped.
‘Any more than you did mine,’ she retaliated. ‘I guess we both just got so carried away with the moment we forgot to look at the broader picture!’
Gabriel’s eyes narrowed. ‘And what might that be?’ he asked softly.
‘Will you just get some clothes on?’ she repeated impatiently. ‘I find it a little disconcerting talking to a man when he’s completely naked.’
‘I’m not just any man, Isabella, I am your husband,’ he pointed out harshly as he swiftly pulled his jeans back on and fastened them.
‘I know exactly who and what you are, Gabriel,’ she said. ‘What I meant, Gabriel, is that the only reason you married me was because of Toby—’
‘Isabella—’
‘Would you have even thought of offering me marriage if not for Toby?’ she challenged.
‘Neither of us will ever know now what would have happened after we met again in San Francisco—’
‘
I
know,’ Bella said scornfully. ‘I very much doubt we would ever have seen each other again after San Francisco if you hadn’t learnt of Toby’s existence!’
Gabriel drew in a deep, controlling breath. ‘This is perhaps not the time to talk about this. You are distraught—’
‘I’m
angry
, Gabriel, not distraught. With myself,’ she added. ‘For falling—yet again!—for your seduction routine!’
‘My seduction routine?’ he echoed incredulously.
Bella nodded. ‘No doubt honed over years spent on the Formula One racing circuit! And don’t bother trying to deny it,’ she warned. ‘I still remember the practised way you seduced me five years ago!’
He scowled. ‘That was five years ago, Isabella—’
‘Then you must be pleased to know that you haven’t lost any of your seductive skills!’ she snapped.
Gabriel studied her closely, wanting to take her in his arms, to explain his fears for her—
‘Insulting me is only making this situation worse, Bella,’ he told her softly instead.
‘Worse? Could it be any worse?’ she cried. ‘We’ve just ripped each other’s clothes off in a sexual frenzy—in my case, literally.’ She looked down at her gaping blouse, the buttons scattered on the carpet at their feet. ‘I don’t want to talk about this any more, Gabriel,’ she told him flatly, her expression bleak. ‘All I want is for you to leave.’
Gabriel’s mouth firmed. ‘I will return tomorrow—’
‘Don’t hurry back on my account!’ she exclaimed.
‘We need to talk.’
‘I very much doubt that there’s anything you have to say that I will want to hear,’ she told him wearily.
A nerve pulsed in Gabriel’s clenched jaw. Bella looked so beautiful with the darkness of her hair tangled about her shoulders, and her lips still swollen from the heat of their kisses, so utterly desirable, that all Gabriel wanted was to take her in his arms and make love with her again. And again.
‘Nevertheless, I will return later tomorrow,’ he bit out with grim determination.
She raised mocking brows as he made no effort to leave. ‘I hope you aren’t waiting for me to tell you I’ll be looking forward to it!’
‘No, I am not expecting you to say that.’ Gabriel gave a humourless smile. ‘Your honesty is one of the things I like most about you, Bella.’
‘One of the few things, I’m sure,’ she said knowingly. ‘If you’ll excuse me, now?’ She turned away. ‘I would like to take a shower and then go to bed.’
Alone, Bella could have added, but didn’t. What was the point in stating the obvious?
She raised her chin defensively. ‘Goodbye, Gabriel.’
‘It will never be goodbye between the two of us, Isabella,’ he stated calmly.
No, it never would be, Bella accepted heavily once Gabriel had finally gone. They would continue with this sham of a marriage for as long as it took. For as long as Toby needed them to do so.
For Toby…
Her small, happily contented son had absolutely no
idea that his very existence had condemned his parents to a marriage that was completely devoid of love.
Except Bella’s love for Gabriel.
A love she would never—could never, reveal to him…
‘Where have you been?’
‘Where does it look as if I’ve been?’ Bella answered Gabriel sarcastically as she carried on taking the bags of shopping from the boot of her car. ‘I wasn’t expecting you back just yet,’ she added as Gabriel took some of those bags out of her hands.
She had seen the powerful black sports car parked outside the cottage as soon as she turned her own car down the lane, a heaviness settling in her chest as she easily recognised Gabriel sitting behind the wheel.
Despite her exhaustion Bella had lain awake in bed for hours the previous night, unable to stop thinking about Gabriel. About the wild ecstasy of their lovemaking. And then of his declaration that they shouldn’t have made love at all…!
Consequently it had been almost dawn before she had finally fallen asleep. Almost midday before she’d woke up again, feeling as if she hadn’t slept at all. Several hours, and half a dozen cups of black coffee later, before she’d summoned up the energy to dress and go out to shop for food.
Which was where she had obviously been when Gabriel had arrived at the cottage. Much earlier than she had expected—it was only a little after five o’clock—and looking much too rakishly handsome for Bella’s comfort in a black polo shirt and faded jeans.
‘Thanks,’ Bella accepted coolly as he carried half a
dozen of the bags through to the kitchen for her. ‘Can I get you a coffee or anything?’ she said offhandedly, her face averted as she began to unpack the bags.
But—as usual!—she was still very much aware of Gabriel as he stood only a couple of feet away from her as she put the groceries away in the cupboards. Silently. Watchfully.
‘Better yet,’ she added brightly, ‘why don’t you make yourself useful and prepare the coffee while I finish putting these things away? Gabriel…?’ she said uncertainly when he didn’t answer her. In fact, Bella realised with a frown, he hadn’t said a word since asking where she had been…
Gabriel looked at her quizzically, easily noting the dark shadows beneath her eyes, and the hollows of her cheeks, the pallor of her face thrown into stark relief by the fact that her hair was drawn back and secured at her crown with a toothed clasp.
Dressed in a deep pink T-shirt that clung to the fullness of her breasts, and jeans that emphasised the slenderness of her hips and legs, and with her face completely bare of make-up, Bella looked ten years younger than the twenty-six years she had only yesterday evening assured him she actually was.
Gabriel’s mouth tightened as he thought of yesterday evening. ‘I will make the coffee. Then I wish for the two of us to talk.’
She stiffened. ‘Not about last night, I hope?’
He gave a stiff inclination of his head. ‘Amongst other things.’
Bella made a movement of denial. ‘There’s nothing left for us to say about last night—’
‘There is
everything
for us to say about last night!’ Gabriel contradicted her furiously before visibly controlling himself. ‘I will not let you put even more barriers between us, Bella. If you prefer, I will talk, and you need only listen…?’
Bella eyed him warily, having no idea what he could have to say that she would want to listen to. He had said far too much last night!
‘And if I don’t like what you have to say?’ she challenged.
‘Then I will have to respect that,’ he said curtly.
Bella continued to look at him wordlessly for several long seconds before giving an abrupt nod of her head. ‘Fine,’ she said. ‘Just make the coffee first, hmm?’
What should have been a relaxed domestic scene, with Bella putting the groceries away and Gabriel making the pot of coffee, was anything but! Bella was far too aware of Gabriel—on every level—to feel in the least relaxed.
How could she possibly relax when Gabriel was just too vibrantly male? Too ruggedly handsome. Too physically overpowering. Too—too everything!
But, having finally put all the shopping away, two mugs of hot coffee poured and Gabriel already seated at the kitchen table, there was nothing else Bella could do to delay sitting down and listening while Gabriel talked.
‘Well?’ she prompted sharply after several seconds, the silence between them so absolute that Bella could hear every tick of the clock hanging on the wall above the dresser.
Gabriel’s expression was pained. ‘I realise you are still angry with me, Bella, but I do not believe I have done anything to deserve your contempt.’
Not recently, Bella acknowledged self-derisively, having accepted during her deliberations last night that she was just as responsible for what had happened between them the previous evening as Gabriel was. That she had wanted him as much as he had appeared to want her.
She sighed heavily. ‘I’m not angry, Gabriel,’ she admitted ruefully. ‘At least, not with you.’
He gave her a searching glance. ‘You are angry with yourself because we made love last night?’
‘We had
sex
last night, Gabriel—’
‘We
made love
—’
‘You can call it what you like, but we both know what it really was!’ Her eyes glittered angrily.
Gabriel drew in another controlling breath. ‘I thought I was going to talk and you were going to listen?’
‘Not if you’re going to say things I don’t agree with!’ she snapped.
Gabriel didn’t know whether to shake Bella or kiss her! Although he very much doubted that Bella would welcome either action in her present mood.
‘I will endeavour not to do so,’ he teased.
‘You just can’t guarantee it,’Bella acknowledged dryly.
Gabriel shrugged. ‘It is not always possible to know what is or is not going to anger you.’
‘Well, as long as you steer clear of last night or anything that happened five years ago, you should be on pretty safe ground!’
Gabriel grimaced. ‘Ah.’
Her eyes widened. ‘You
are
going to tell me about five years ago…?’
‘It was my intention to do so, yes.’
‘But—you’ve never wanted to talk about it!’
‘The situation has changed—Bella…?’ he questioned as she stood up abruptly and moved to stand with her back to the room as she stared out of the kitchen window.
Bella’s neck was so delicately vulnerable, her back slender, her shoulders narrow—far too narrow, Gabriel acknowledged heavily, for her to have carried alone the burden of her pregnancy and then the bringing up of their son for the last four and a half years.
‘Please, Bella…?’ he asked again softly.
It felt as if Bella’s heart were actually being squeezed in her chest as she heard the gentleness in Gabriel’s tone.
When they were on the island she had asked Gabriel to tell her what really happened five years ago. At the time she had genuinely wanted to know the answer. But now—now when Bella already felt so vulnerable and exposed by her realised love for him, by the wildness of their lovemaking the previous evening—she really wasn’t sure she could bear to hear Gabriel talk about his feelings for another woman.
Especially if he were to tell her he still had those feelings for Janine Childe…!
Coward, a little voice inside her head taunted mockingly. Bella had always known that Gabriel hadn’t, didn’t, and never would love her, so what difference did it make if he was now willing to talk about five years ago?
It shouldn’t matter at all!
But it did…
Bella stiffened her shoulders, her expression deliber
ately unreadable as she turned back to face Gabriel. A defensive stance that almost crumbled as the gentleness she had heard in Gabriel’s tone was echoed in the darkness of his eyes as he looked across the kitchen at her.
Damn it, she didn’t want his pity!
She wanted his love. She had wanted that five years ago, and she wanted it even more now. But if she couldn’t have that then she certainly didn’t want his pity!
Her shoulders straightened and her chin raised in challenge. ‘Go ahead,’ she finally invited tightly.
Gabriel continued to look at her silently for several seconds, and then he gave a decisive inclination of his head. ‘First I need to tell you where I have been since we parted yesterday evening—’
‘You said we were going to talk about what happened five years ago!’ Bella cut in impatiently. Having built herself up, having placed a shield about her shaky emotions, Bella now needed to get this conversation over with before that barrier crumbled into dust!