The Man She Can't Forget

by Maggie Cox

  In one fluidly effortless movement he suddenly lifted her up high against his chest. Still avidly kissing her, he strode across the honey-coloured wooden floor and headed towards a closed door at the end of it. When they reached the door he kicked it open and carried her across to the palatial black-silk-covered bed that dominated the room. He toed off his shoes and Lara followed suit. And when he drew back the covers and lowered her down onto the sensual silk sheets niceties were forgotten as they tore at each other’s clothes and breathlessly dispensed with them.

  Their hungry eyes met in mutual wonder just once before Gabriel covered Lara’s trembling body with his. And as soon as their skin made contact conversation was rendered redundant. There was simply no need for preamble to the seduction they both longed for.

  Gabriel nudged Lara’s slim thighs apart with his knee and she immediately sensed her hips soften and then naturally relax. But as she held on tight to the bunched iron biceps in his arms she found herself momentarily tensing as he urgently pushed his hard silken shaft deep inside her. He stilled for a moment. She was more than ready for him, but strangely she felt the eagerly anticipated invasion even more acutely this second time round.

  She saw a briefly questioning look in Gabriel’s eyes. But the suggestion of uncertainty—if that was what it was—was quickly banished as he started to move deeply inside her, bending his dark head to devour her lips, then her breasts, his searching hands exploring her even as he seduced her.

  Yearning to tell him that she loved him, Lara didn’t know how she suppressed the impulse. I’ll tell him afterwards, she vowed, gasping aloud in shock and then pleasure as he bit down on the delicate skin at the juncture of her neck and shoulder with the edges of his teeth.

  She couldn’t help revelling in the thought that he would be leaving his mark on her in more ways than one. But then she was gasping for a second time when the hot, pulsating need inside her peaked and flooded her with dizzying warmth and she found herself riding an exhilarating wave of pleasure that stole every thought from her head to replace it with unmitigated joy.

  The profoundly exquisite experience was heightened when Gabriel suddenly tensed and cried out, spilling his liquid heat deep inside her. His sculpted, handsome face looked to be deeply stunned by the intense release. Lara couldn’t help but feel gratified that she had been the one to give him such a gift.

  Just before Lara’s hot satin heat had enfolded him and he’d driven himself deep inside her Gabriel had shivered hard at the terrifying realisation of how much this woman had come to mean to him. He had been like a cat on a hot tin roof waiting for her to arrive. Not even the demands of the trading floor had been able to distract him from the thought of her for long, and never in his history had he let his guard down so completely around a woman so that she might easily breach it.

  He didn’t doubt there would be a serious price to pay. But after the stunning satisfaction of their urgent lovemaking he almost didn’t care what that price would be.

  ‘That was amazing,’ he breathed, lying down beside her and gathering her against him.

  Glancing up, Lara smiled warmly into his eyes. ‘I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who thought so.’ Dropping down again, she pressed her face close to his. ‘Gabriel...?’

  She whispered his name close against his ear, her soft lips brushing the tender lobe and sending a flurry of goosebumps scudding across his flesh.

  ‘What is it, baby?’ He lifted his head to examine her. When he saw that her sultry dark eyes glimmered with tears he immediately tensed. ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘Nothing.’ Her lips parted in the most engaging and bewitching smile, and again he was caught off-guard by her incandescent beauty—so much so that his heart hurt just looking at her.

  ‘I just want you to know that I’m so glad I waited,’ she said gently.

  ‘Waited? For what, sweetheart?’

  ‘To make love with the only man I’ve ever loved and to give him my virginity.’

  If she had struck him hard Gabriel couldn’t have been more shocked. He ached for her, body and soul, but somehow right then he found himself immobilised by the confession.

  Lara had been a virgin when they’d first made love? It didn’t make sense. She’d been so willing and ready. Even as doubt settled in the pit of his stomach and seriously unnerved him he remembered that when he’d first taken her she had indeed been exquisitely tight—not at all like an experienced woman...a woman used to having lovers.

  In the throes of his passion he had stupidly dismissed the fact. However, he’d thought about it again just now, when they’d made love again.

  But what had him reeling even more was Lara’s declaration that she loved him—that he was the only man she had ever loved. Gabriel honestly didn’t know how he felt about that. Love was not something he had ever figured as coming into the equation.

  Clearly there was a red-hot attraction between them, but not love...surely? Besides, what could a relationship with him bring her other than more grief and pain? She deserved a man who was utterly devoted to her happiness, a man who was whole in every respect of the word, not some embittered automaton that just went through the motions of life but didn’t truly enjoy anything very much.

  As the waves of shock and surprise and, yes, fear continued to eddy through him, Gabriel expelled a long breath in a bid to try and regain his equilibrium. Then he lifted himself away from the lovely woman at his side to lie back against the bank of satin pillows behind them. Glimpsing the confusion in her eyes as he moved away, he felt his heart drum hard as he tried to think what to say to reassure her.

  Sitting up, Lara lightly shook her head and folded her arms over her breasts. As she turned to face him he saw the silken skein of long, dark hair that nestled against her collarbone and he longed to give in to the impulse to wind it round his fingers as he had done once before, when things between them had been far less complicated than they suddenly seemed to be.

  ‘Did I—did I say something wrong, Gabriel? Something you didn’t like?’ she enquired hesitantly.

  ‘You told me that you were on the pill,’ he replied, endeavouring to keep his voice steady. No easy feat when his whole world had just been tilted on its head once more.

  ‘It’s true. I am. But why should that disturb you? Was it because you thought I must have had other lovers before you?’

  ‘Frankly, yes. I did think that.’

  ‘But—but couldn’t you tell when you— When we...’ Her cheeks reddening, Lara stared at him as if his answer was hard to comprehend.

  Emitting a heavy sigh, Gabriel sat up. ‘I seem to recall I was driven by lust and desire at the time and wasn’t exactly thinking straight. But tell me this, Lara. If it’s true that you were a virgin then why in God’s name are you on the pill?’

  She drew up her legs beneath the covers and folded her arms round them. ‘I take the pill to help regulate my periods. A lot of women do.’

  ‘And you’ve never slept with another man before me?’

  ‘No.’ Her dark eyes flashed. ‘I haven’t. I don’t tell lies, Gabriel.’

  ‘No. Of course you don’t. How could you, coming from the family that you do?’

  It was a back-handed compliment and he wasn’t proud of it. Lara had flinched when he’d delivered it. But things between them seemed suddenly to have gained a momentum he hadn’t envisaged, and his instinct was to perhaps put the brakes on a little in order to have some time to reflect.

  She’d given her virginity to him and told him that she loved him. Whilst both acts were significant in their own way, and had definitely pleased him, did it mean that she was hoping they could make their relationship more permanent? Right at that moment Gabriel didn’t see how such a thing could possibly be achieved. How could it when both their lives and their lifestyles were poles apart? As much as he wanted to be with Lara,
he couldn’t see her taking to life in New York. As beautiful and intelligent as she was, she was more hometown girl than ambitious career woman, and he didn’t deny he liked it that she was that way.

  Moving across to the edge of the bed as he wrestled with what to do, he reached down for the black silk boxers that, in his haste to make love to Lara, he’d thrown onto the floor. Hastily pulling them on, he turned back to survey her and saw her shiver.

  Despising himself for not being able to summon up the words that might help ease her distress, he remarked, ‘You should probably get dressed.’ Jerking his head towards another door, he continued, ‘You can get a shower, then come and join me in the living room. You should find everything you need. I’ll use the bathroom down the hall. We don’t have much time before I have to get back to work and I need to tell you a few things.’

  CHAPTER NINE

  WHAT THINGS DID HE need to tell her? Lara wondered. She was sure that whatever it was it couldn’t possibly bring more distress than she felt already.

  Her heart bled because Gabriel hadn’t exhibited the slightest pleasure or even concern that she’d been a virgin when they’d first made love. In fact he had sounded quite angry about it. Neither had he looked remotely pleased when she’d confessed that she loved him.

  Was he really as cold-hearted and uncaring as all that? What if she had made the most horrendous mistake in confessing her feelings to him? She surely hadn’t forgotten that he’d rejected her advances once before, albeit a long time ago. But it chilled Lara’s blood as she contemplated that perhaps Gabriel really couldn’t commit to her, or allow himself to love her.

  She knew there was a genuinely good man behind those ice-blue eyes, even if the evidence was far too rare, but he was like a wounded bear that snapped at anyone who exhibited concern or ventured too near and she knew the reason why. His fractured—and some might say, dysfunctional—past haunted him. That was why he found kindness and concern so difficult to deal with. Maybe that was also the reason he couldn’t immediately accept that she loved him or that she’d given her virginity to him rather than another man?

  With that unhappy conclusion dominating her thoughts she hastily showered and dressed in the luxurious Art Deco bathroom, reapplied the lipstick that she kept in the pocket of her dress and went in search of the living room to find him.

  Promising herself that she would play it cool and not let him see that he had hurt her, nonetheless she felt her heart skip an anxious beat when she saw him again. Gabriel was relaxing on one of the sleek black couches in the light and airy living room with its arresting clear-glassed views of the New York skyline. He had changed into another stylish Italian suit.

  The far from welcoming expression on his hard-jawed visage made her insides plunge.

  Standing in the doorway, she anxiously smoothed her hand down over the blue tunic dress she’d admired and bought especially for her trip to see him and made a silent vow never to wear it again. In her mind it was jinxed. Moistening her lips, she gave him a greeting that was understandably cautious. From now on she wasn’t going to presume anything.

  ‘You said you had some things that you needed to tell me?’

  ‘Why don’t you come over here and sit down?’ he invited.

  Lara thought she spied the merest glimmer of a smile on his lips, but because she wasn’t sure she didn’t allow herself to believe it. As yet she had no idea what he was going to tell her and couldn’t help but fear the worst.

  ‘Did you find everything you needed?’ he asked.

  ‘In the bathroom, you mean?’

  Gabriel nodded.

  ‘Yes, I did.’

  She walked towards him, twisting her hands nervously together in front of her, then stopped, feeling her body helplessly warming when she remembered what they’d been doing just a short while ago. Who could have believed that such heated passion could turn cold so quickly? Gabriel had poured ice water on her feelings when he’d so hastily left her alone in his bed. What if he’d come to the conclusion that she should leave? That he’d made a mistake in inviting her to New York?

  Sick with apprehension, she asked, ‘Is my suitcase still out in the hall?’

  ‘I’ve put it in the guest bedroom for now. Later on, when I return from work, I’ll take it into my room.’

  Even as relief washed through her Lara couldn’t help feeling it wasn’t right he should have everything his way. ‘There’s no need.’ Lifting her chin, she defied him to disagree with her.

  Making her knees knock together, Gabriel rose to his impressive height and covered the space between them. Just bare inches away from her, the scent of his arresting, sexy cologne sent Lara’s pulse nervously skittering. Her tender nipples still stung from his attentions in bed, and as she came face to face with him again they burned and tingled fiercely.

  ‘I know I might not be able to give you what you want, Lara,’ he said, gravel-voiced. ‘But I haven’t brought you to New York for us to sleep in separate rooms. I should have been more thoughtful, more caring when we were together just now, but what you told me robbed me of all ability to think straight. I’ve been reflecting on things and I want to make amends.’

  ‘And how do you plan on doing that? By buying me things? By showing me a good time as is probably your style with the women in your life before you kiss them goodbye and move on to the next one?’ Despite her vow not to let him see that he’d upset her, Lara couldn’t suppress the scalding angry tears that burned at the backs of her lids. She impatiently wiped them away. ‘To be honest, I’d rather go home.’

  ‘No. I don’t want that.’ A perturbed muscle flinched in the side of his hollowed cheek. ‘I want you to stay. Whatever you think of me.’

  ‘Why should it always be about what you want, Gabriel? Don’t you think that I have needs, too?’

  About to turn away, Lara choked back a gasp when she suddenly found herself slammed against his chest and her lips taken prisoner by a hard, hot, almost punishing kiss. Her resolve to leave melted like ice cream beneath the burning rays of a Sahara sun.

  As the kiss eased in intensity to become surprisingly tender, Gabriel lifted his head to study her.

  ‘I want you to have what you want, Lara, I really do. But while you’re with me I’m afraid I’m driven to be greedy. Perhaps I can’t quite believe that you’d surrender your virginity to a man who’s notoriously selfish, who puts himself above everyone else when it comes to getting the thing he wants and consequently doesn’t consider feelings. But I’m too enamoured of you not to see it as the most unbelievable blessing that you’re here, and I can’t help but want to make the most of it.’

  Reaching out, he cupped the side of her face and looked to be aiming for a smile, but he didn’t quite manage it.

  ‘Don’t go. Please don’t go.’

  Lara caught her breath. It wasn’t just the simmering desire she saw reflected in his eyes that took her aback, but the almost childlike need that told her he would be nothing less than devastated should she insist on leaving. It was then that she was poignantly reminded that he’d grown up bereft of his mother’s love and care, and likely believed he didn’t deserve similar consideration from any woman who came into his life.

  Moistening lips that still throbbed from his ravenous kisses she carefully examined his carved features. ‘I’m not going to leave, Gabriel.’ She breathed out a gentle sigh. ‘I wouldn’t walk out on you when I’ve given you my word that I’ll stay—at least until my holiday comes to an end.’

  Seeing the relief that spread across his handsome features, Lara was pleased that he seemed to be reassured.

  Recovering her good humour, she teased, ‘Besides, do you really think I’ve come all the way out to New York not to see some of the sights while I’m here?’

  ‘I’ll make sure you get to see everything you want to, I swear. Just s
ay the word and I’ll arrange it.’ His hands dropped to her shoulders. ‘And, by the way, one of the things I needed to tell you was that we’re going out tonight to a function. It’s a corporate dinner at a restaurant not far from the Stock Exchange. I can’t duck out of it, I’m afraid. I have to go and I want to take you as my escort.’

  It was on the tip of Lara’s tongue to say no. She would be so far out of her comfort zone in such elite company and in surroundings that were about as alien to her as the grand Regency house where Gabriel had grown up that it would be no joke. But then she saw the hint of steel in his eyes that told her it would be a waste of time even attempting to refuse, because one way or another he would persuade her differently.

  * * *

  He had never felt more possessive of a woman than when he walked into that stylish New York bar and restaurant with Lara. From the moment they’d arrived heads had turned—not just to greet him, because Gabriel knew everybody who was anybody, but to cast curious, admiring glances at his companion. And how could he blame them when Lara added a whole other level to the term ‘drop-dead gorgeous’?

  The little black dress that she’d insisted was the only suitable garment she’d brought with her to wear to a ‘posh’ dinner made Gabriel feel like the mythical Ares worshipping at the feet of Aphrodite. It didn’t cling to her sublime curves but it couldn’t help but pay homage to them whenever she moved. And the way that she wore her hair, in a very feminine loose topknot, with curling tendrils brushing the sides of her cheeks, and with her shoulders bare courtesy of the halterneck style of the dress, she looked utterly exquisite.

  Gabriel’s hand gripped Lara’s a little tighter as they moved through the crowd milling around the bar. There were more greetings and back-slapping as people recognised him, and frankly for once he could have done without it.

  When he sensed that his companion was drawing back, and guessed she was feeling overwhelmed, he deliberately pulled her near and his smile was reassuring. She wasn’t used to this. The stylishly attired Wall Street patrons and the competitive atmosphere they created whenever they were together was a million light years away from the world Lara inhabited.