He moaned, his hips pumping against her. Less controlled now as his own passion took over. Her hips were rocking, too, needing relief, but unwilling to stop until she’d made him come.
She could hear him softly coaxing her beneath his breath. “Yes, baby. Suck it... Suck my cock with that hot, sweet mouth . . .”
The hand on his testicles squeezed at the same time she swallowed against his flesh and he shouted out her name. The rich tang of his come filled her mouth as he reached his climax. “Angel. God, it feels...”
She couldn’t stop shaking. He slipped his softening shaft out of her mouth and she let him go, wrapping her arms around her waist, trying to get her body under control.
Had that act ever worked her up to this degree of arousal? Ever had her longing to take him in her mouth again? To beg for him to take her again? To take her now?
Before she realized what was happening, Gabriel had turned the water off, wrapped her in a towel, and was carrying her toward the large bedroom at the end of the hall.
“Wait.”
His green eyes intense, he looked down at her and she shook her head. “My room.” She gestured toward the closer door.
She couldn’t take him into the master bedroom. She was kinky, but not that kinky. That had always been her mother’s room.
Gabriel lifted one dark brow, but followed her directions in silence. He shouldered the door open and stopped, gazing around her room.
She looked around, too, trying to see it through his eyes. It was the room of the youngest Rousseau, the princess of her family. The queen-sized bed was draped in an ivory quilt edged with lace. Framed black-and-white pictures, several of blues singer Bessie Smith, as well as—she blushed—one or two posters of her favorite boy band, still hung on her walls.
“Cute.”
Angelique blushed. “I wanted to be a singer until I discovered boy singers. Then I just wanted to be a groupie. I leave all the real singing to Kelly now. It’s safer for everyone that way.”
Gabriel grinned as he absently caressed her bare legs with his fingers. “Good to know. If Mama’s stories are any indication, I wanted to build things.”
If. She recalled what she’d learned about his childhood. He’d been so young when he was taken away, he didn’t even remember his dreams. What he wanted to be when he grew up. It suddenly seemed insensitive for her to bring him here. Regardless of her absentee father, she’d known real love here. The kind of love he’d been starved for.
“Maybe we should—”
“Maybe you should get ready for payback, angel.”
She swallowed. “Payback?”
He smiled wickedly as he walked over to the edge of her bed and dropped her still-damp body onto the mattress.
“For all the teasing. For making me crazy.” He showed her the foil-covered condom before setting it on her nightstand. Where had that come from? Had he brought one into the bathroom ? Talk about being prepared.
He spoke again, drawing her attention back to his words. “For breathing in and out and not knowing how distracting your breasts are when you do. Pick one.”
“I didn’t tea—” Okay, she did, but not for long. What was he up to?
He came to sit down beside her, adding to the damp mess her bed was becoming, and patted his thighs. “Come over here and take your punishment.”
Punishment. Did he mean what she thought he meant? “Now? Here?” Was he a machine? Didn’t he know about cuddling?
She studied his stirring body and decided he didn’t, but she wasn’t sure how she felt about his request. She’d always joked about spanking and being tied up. The idea was alluring, in theory. In practice she’d always imagined she would much rather be the one in control.
Until Gabriel. He brought out a side of her she hadn’t known was there.
“The more you make me wait, the harder it will be.”
She glanced pointedly at his lap and he chuckled. “That, too. Lie across my legs. On your stomach.”
Her dubious expression made his eyes sparkle. “You asked for it.” He reached for her before she could move away, turning her semi-reluctant body until it was right where he wanted it: her breasts pressed against his thigh, her ass in the air.
“I’ve wanted to spank you, for one reason or another, since you told me off in the garden. I’ve wanted to do more than that.” His voice was low and intense. He wasn’t pretending. This wasn’t play for him. Was this what he liked to do with other women?
She wriggled against him. “Had a lot of practice at it?”
“More than you want to know.” His grip tightened on her when she instinctively moved away. “You asked, angel. Not me. I didn’t grill you about all the boys you’d practiced on to get so good at sucking cock, did I?”
She flinched. “I forgot for a minute what a jerk you can be.”
His voice was grim. “And I forgot what an innocent you are. Maybe too innocent to be spanked at all.”
Every part of Angelique rejected his words. She wanted what he did, and despite her tough talk, her heart was racing, expectation making it hard for her to breathe. “You wish.”
She thought she heard a whispered, “Good girl,” before the sounds and sensations that followed the first cupped blow to her backside replaced coherent thought.
The stinging turned to heat on her skin and adrenaline rushed through her body. The heat spread, and with each carefully aimed, perfectly timed tap on her flesh, it grew.
“Oh!” She shouldn’t like this. His hand landed with a loud smack and her eyes watered. She shouldn’t, but she did.
The arousal from earlier came back, stronger than before. She’d had no idea it would feel this good. Her body became attuned to his movements. As he quickened his pace, the palm of his hand marking every inch of her sensitive backside, her hips lifted to press against his hand. God, she was shameless.
Her legs spread and she sighed when the cooler air soothed her heated sex, offering momentary relief.
Gabriel groaned. “Your body knows, doesn’t it? Knows it was made for this. All these soft curves and golden flesh designed to be pleasured and fondled and fucked.”
She couldn’t respond beyond a pleading moan when his fingers slid along the seam of her ass until they were drenched in her need. Two thick fingers dipped in and out in time with the motion of her hips. But it wasn’t enough.
“Please.”
Her head was spinning again, although she wasn’t certain whether it was from his touch or the fact that he was repositioning her, moving her until she straddled his lap.
His rough thighs burned against her tingling butt cheeks. She heard the sounds of the condom, knew he was protecting her, but she couldn’t see through the haze of arousal. All she could hear in her head, over and over, was now. Please. Now. No matter how many times she’d come in the last few hours, she was desperate for more.
“Eventually I’m going to be able to take it slow with you. Take my time.”
She looked into his eyes as he lowered her onto his cock. Deeper. Even deeper than before, she thought in wonder, her body arching as every cell reacted to the invasion.
Before lust took over completely, Angelique sent out a secret wish that “eventually” would take a very long time.
Preferably forever.
“ARE YOU WHISTLING? OR HAVE I ACCIDENTALLY POPPED back into a different dimension where my assignment isn’t an asshole?”
Gabriel continued scrambling the eggs, focused intently on the one meal he knew how to cook. “Go away.”
Behind him, Emmanuel huffed out a laugh. “Nope. I’m in the right place. But you do look different. Had a good night, have we?”
Gabriel smiled. “Not sure about you, but I did.”
A great night. Best sex of his life, if anyone was keeping score. Angelique was . . . Well, she inspired the hell out of him. Every time he’d fulfilled one fantasy, he looked at her and his mind conjured ten more to take its place.
He couldn’t remember the
last time he’d woken up in such a good mood. The last time he’d slept so well, free of the incessant nightmares that had plagued him for the last year.
Though the dream he’d had was strange. Only one shadowy figure had followed him, and it wasn’t the djab, but something nearly as ominous. He’d woken up just enough to feel Angelique’s body cuddle close to his in her sleep, and all his worries had disappeared.
It was disconcerting, the way she did that.
“Your eggs are burning.”
Gabriel swore and pulled the small frying pan off the stovetop. Angelique was still asleep, and he’d wanted to wake her with the delicious aroma of eggs and coffee, not an apartment on fire.
He turned on the vent above the stove and opened the cupboard to grab a plate. He paused when he looked at it. A colorful, if oddly shaped, rainbow and what Gabriel thought might be a dog or chicken decorated the dinnerware. The plate beneath it held another image, this one of a giant smiling sun, complete with gapped teeth and sunglasses.
A familiar ache returned to his heart as he studied the evidence of a proud mother and happy children. He’d hardly ever eaten with his father, but when he had, it was servants who set the table, and the plates were fine china, often embellished with silver or gold gilt. Nothing but the best for the Giodarnos. No laughter. No plaques on the wall saying World’s Best Dad or drawings proudly put on display.
This was a world he didn’t know. Her world.
He set the plate down and covered the brightly colored image with eggs, his smile gone.
Emmanuel shook his head. “There’s the face of doom we all know and love.”
Gabriel was no longer in the mood for banter. “Shut up.”
“You know, if you want to get control of your abilities, you have to get that chip off your shoulder. You had a bad childhood, blah, blah, blah. Would you like to compare scars? I bet I’d win.”
He wanted to argue the point but he couldn’t. He knew about Emmanuel’s childhood. His death. The long years he waited for someone to solve his and his sister’s murders. Bastard.
His own abilities. His affinity for drawing in darkness. He didn’t want to think about that. He wanted to go back to Angelique’s bedroom and find new ways to make her come. She was sunshine to his shadow. She made him forget what he was. Unfortunately, he’d exhausted her long before he’d had his fill.
He’d been naïve to think one night would be enough. And even more foolish to entertain the notion that he could have much more than that.
“What’s this?”
Gabriel blinked, looking through the kitchen entry to see Emmanuel standing over Angelique’s coffee table. “What do you mean?” He walked over to him and followed his gaze. “The necklace?”
“There’s something off about it. Wrong. Even I can see its darkness. Can’t you?”
A sleepy female voice interrupted him before he could look closer. “Talking to yourself again?”
“She’s alive.” Gabriel smiled and walked over to Angelique. “I was worried I’d overdone it.”
Her brown eyes, bleary with sleep, still twinkled. “There are some things worth being sore over.”
He leaned down for her kiss. “I like your style, angel.”
“Ask her about the necklace. This is bad mojo; there’s no reason she should have it. Ask her where she got it.” Emmanuel’s command was sharp, drawing Gabriel’s glare.
“What’s the blue-eyed cutie bothering you about now?”
Gabriel’s head whipped around and he gripped her shoulders a little too tightly. “What did you say?”
“Aha!” She pulled away, pointing at him. “I can see it on your face. I’m right. You are talking to someone, aren’t you? Someone not even your sister can see. How is that possible? Can’t she see all spirits?”
“Listening at keyholes again?” he snapped. Remembering where Bethany had taken her the day before, he turned to Emmanuel. “She probably got it at the voodoo shop.”
Angelique rushed past him and picked up the necklace. “Don’t talk about me as if I’m not here.” She raised her voice. “To someone too afraid to show himself, no less.”
Emmanuel started to reach for her but stopped himself. “She shouldn’t have that, Gabe. Especially in the weak state you put her in.”
“The state I put her in?” Gabriel snarled, unsure why he was so angry, and whirled on Angelique. “What are you doing with something like that? Did the Mambo send you home with a spell to snare her problem child? I didn’t think she worked those kinds of spells. Or was Bethany in on it? Did she send me over here to help you discover what’s on everyone’s mind?” He threw his hands up in the air. “ ‘What’s wrong with Gabriel? Is he evil or just an asshole? Oh, what can it be? Inquiring, nosy, meddling fucking minds want to know.’ ”
Angelique stood still, her shoulders unnaturally rigid beneath her long T-shirt that at any other time Gabriel would have found irresistibly sexy.
“If you think that, you should go now.”
He didn’t want to. The desire to stay was so strong he had to force himself to take one step, then another, away from her. So strong he lashed out. “What? No after-sex cuddle? Not even a blow job for the road?”
“Fuck you.”
“Too late.” He grabbed his keys and opened her door, feeling no sense of satisfaction as it slammed behind him.
Emmanuel clung to his back like a burr. “Gabriel. Damn it, Gabriel, she doesn’t deserve that.”
He stomped down the staircase, already regretting what he’d said, and wondering how the morning had gone to hell so quickly. “I blame you. You, this supposed ability I have, you, my meddling family.” He headed toward his car. “Oh, and you.”
A shove between his shoulder blades sent Gabriel stumbling against the car door, and he looked over his shoulder, incredulous. “Did you just push me? What are you, nine?”
“You’re the one acting like a child. More of an ass than usual. You should apologize. You shouldn’t leave her alone right now.”
He studied Emmanuel. “I’m acting like a child? That’s rich. Here’s a question for you, oh, wise, ghostly one. How does she know your eyes are blue?”
Emmanuel pressed his lips together, but Gabriel saw something in his expression that made him seethe. “Find your own pussy, Manny. Unless it’s me you keep looking at.” He smiled mockingly. “That’s it, isn’t it? You’re not following me around because you have some great plan—you just have a crush. Unfortunately I don’t swing that way.”
The punch took him off guard. It shouldn’t have. The really fucking laughable thing was, he was grateful. He deserved it. He’d taken something that had been unbelievable but fragile and smashed it on the ground without a thought.
Jesus, what was wrong with him?
Angelique. He didn’t want her to have any ulterior motives for being with him. Didn’t want her to know about the darkness that followed him. He’d had a few hours of perfect, and he’d wanted it to last just a little while longer. None of what he was dealing with, what he was, should have touched that perfection. When it had, the part of him that knew exactly how to push people away came out to make someone, anyone, bleed.
He cupped his sore jaw. Emmanuel was right; he should go up there and apologize. On his knees if he had to. He knew her desire for him hadn’t been a lie. It was too potent, too raw, to be faked.
But he wouldn’t. Maybe it was better this way. It was messy, but she’d figure out quickly, if she hadn’t already, that he was not worth the effort. She’d stay away from him. Stay safe. And he’d remember that he wasn’t cut out to be in any kind of relationship. It wasn’t in his genes.
Emmanuel hadn’t left. Gabriel was oddly glad. At least he could do one thing right. “Sorry.”
“Me, too.”
They got into the car and Gabriel started the engine.
“Gabe, you should know something.”
He sighed. What? That he was damned? That Angelique made the sweetest moaning noises
when she slept? “I’m sure I should.”
“Your ‘supposed abilities’ affected her.”
He straightened. He didn’t like the sound of that. But he hadn’t seen any darkness around her. “How?”
Emmanuel’s tone was somber. “You don’t just draw out the darkness.”
Gabriel banged his hands on the steering wheel. “That’s it. No more cryptic remarks. No more riddles I need to solve or thugs to fight. If I’ve—” His voice rasped with emotion. “If I’ve hurt her, and you could have stopped it—”
“You’re right.” Emmanuel sounded just as disturbed as Gabriel was. “You’re right and they’re wrong. I’ve been wrong. The rules no longer apply, not if I’m actually supposed to be helping you. You aren’t ready to talk to the Mambo? That’s fine. Just go back to Isabel’s . . . I mean Bethany and BD’s house. We’ll tell them everything. Maybe they can help.”
Gabriel put the car in drive without another word. Let them think he was crazy, or judge him for what he drew to himself. He couldn’t let what touched him hurt Angelique.
He’d never forgive himself.
CHAPTER 10
THE POUNDING REFUSED TO STOP.
Ignore it.
She couldn’t. Curled up in one corner of the couch, hugging the pillow she’d stitched for her mother when she was eleven, she listened to the female voices arguing on the other side. Ive and Kelly? She thought they’d gone back to Baton Rouge.
Your friends are gone. If you ever had any. Was Bethany your friend for sending Gabriel?
If she ever had any? Shit, she was maudlin today.
Bethany. After this morning, Angelique had just enough energy to open the envelope she’d sent last night. The one that was so important she’d directed Gabriel to her apartment to hand deliver it. Inside was a single page of paper, with two short sentences.
You’re welcome. Be careful.
If the morning had gone differently, Bethany would be her hero. As it was, well, Angelique wished she would have read that last part before she’d kissed him.
She heard Ive’s worried voice through the door. “Angelique? If you don’t bounce your ass over to this door and let us know you’re okay, we’re calling your mama!”
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