by Jayne Rylon
“There had been other things bothering me for a while. Hypocrisies that I reasoned away and doubts that kept creeping in. But that…there was no going back from that.” Gabriel threw his head back. “Even then I still didn’t understand what kind of establishment I belonged to. Until I got back to my room to pack and realized people were giving me odd looks, refusing to speak to me. I found out later that rumors began to circulate about how I had been the one found committing those horrible crimes.”
“No one would believe that of you, Gabriel. No one who really knew you.” She shook her head. “I wouldn’t.”
“You don’t understand what it’s like. When you’re that deep into any belief system, you don’t question what you’re told. I wasn’t staying anyway, but they made sure everyone I’d ever known or cared for stayed far away from me.
“I didn’t have anywhere to go. No money. Nothing. I’d been raised in a Catholic orphanage. I guess that’s why it took me so long to see what was really happening. It’s hard when you’re raised to believe something is the ultimate truth, to start seeing the cracks in those beliefs. It’s easy to rationalize them away. For a while I had been floundering, but I believed in the greater good and blew off stories of corruption as the one bad apple in the bunch. Until I realized it wasn’t one person and it was a system of deception. It’s about politics. Power. Money. Keeping people in line more than helping them out. So I left even though I didn’t know anything else. I have no skills.”
“So how did Mr. Sapriano find you?” She had always enjoyed chatting with the old man who’d owned this place before Gabriel. He’d had so many interesting life experiences. He’d listened to her, never judged, always offered sound advice when she hadn’t realized she was looking for it.
“He used to be a parishioner in my church.” Gabriel shrugged. “He’d asked me to come out here and perform private services for him after he got too sick to attend. That wasn’t something our bishop would consider without a major donation, despite how generous Paulo had already been with them. So I…”
“You came on your own time.” Of course he had.
“He’d become a friend through the years. I’d been over here a few times to see his collection of relics. It was actually my discussions with him that started me thinking I might want to take another direction in my life. He encouraged me to see more of the world and broaden my perspective. Lent me a lot of books on various religions and cultures. Did you know he studied all sorts of belief systems? And though he’d been baptized Catholic, he spent more than ten years as a Scientologist at one point in his life.”
“Really?” She tipped her head, fascinated.
Gabriel nodded. “He found a lot of value in the introductory courses they offered that led to self-improvement but as he moved up their Bridge to Total Freedom without making the spiritual gains they’d sold him on, he became disillusioned and left.”
“It seems like he really did try just about everything.” Everly couldn’t imagine searching her whole life for something and never finding it. Then again, maybe that’s what she was doing hunting for a partner. If things didn’t work out with Gabriel, she’d eventually move on and hope for a connection with someone else. How many times would she have to be disappointed before she gave up on that dream?
“He wanted to believe there was something bigger out there. But I was here with him at the end. He told me that after all his research and travels, he was pretty sure all that mattered was making the most of the time we’re given here and now.” Gabriel sighed. “Which makes me think, those times he asked me to come here…he was really trying to help me.”
“I wouldn’t put it past him. He was clever and a little sneaky like that.” Everly smiled for the first time since they’d started this discussion. “I’m so glad you broke the rules for him.”
“It was the right thing to do.” He lifted his chin and puffed out his chest at that, as if she would argue with him. How long had he had to defend making ethical decisions when they went against the policy of his church?
“Are you still trying to convince yourself? Come on, Gabriel. You’re a decent, compassionate, all-around good man.” No, a great one. But she didn’t think he was ready to hear that from her or anyone else. Not when he’d been brainwashed otherwise. The emotional scars were so deep she didn’t know if he’d ever be able to erase them fully.
“You sound like Paulo.”
“Well, he was smart. And generous. And a great judge of character.” Everly shrugged.
“I believe that. He used to rave about you all the time.” Gabriel smiled and reached beside his calf to ruffle the dog’s fur. “Once he became confined to his wheelchair, he really appreciated how you helped him take care of Goliath. You know he dreaded having to send this guy away.”
She nodded. “He was also terrified of dying alone. Goliath was his only true companion. Until you moved in and took care of them both.”
“The truth is…he really was looking after me. When I came to tell him I had been excommunicated and that I wouldn’t be able to carry out my duties with him, he offered me a position here. I told him I’d lost my faith. He still didn’t care. He made me feel useful, and maybe that made it bearable for him to finally ask for so much help himself. The truth is, he was doing it to save me. I’m not an idiot. I know that. He could have hired a hundred helpers more qualified than me both as a nurse and as a spiritual advisor. I suck at both.”
“The fact that he left you his entire fortune, including this place, tells me that you were far more than hired help to him. You were like a son. Someone he felt deserving of his life’s work.” How could Gabriel not see that?
“Or I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.” He shook his head, looking off to the side, out of the floor-to-ceiling glass that allowed a panoramic view of the city spread out below them. “I’m grateful for everything I have today. Especially the time I’ve had to start finding myself again and figuring out how to actually do what I thought I was accomplishing before—helping people. But damn, it’s lonely up here.”
“You’re not alone tonight,” Everly promised, leaning toward him in the candlelight.
“After everything I told you about how I blindly supported a corrupt organization that has ruined countless lives, about how fucked up I am inside over it, you’d still take a chance on me?” He held his hands up, palms out, as if he simply couldn’t understand.
“Hell yes.”
He swallowed hard, rested his fists on the table, and mumbled, “I have no idea how to do this, Everly. I…uh…I’ve never been with a woman.”
“You’re a virgin?” Why the hell hadn’t she considered that? “I mean… Of course you are. Vow of celibacy and all that. Right? Wow.”
Holy fucking shit.
Gabriel didn’t say anything. He just let his admission sink in, all while staring at her as if she was twice as delicious as the meal he’d prepared for them.
So why wasn’t he whipping his arm across the table, sending crystal and silver smashing to the floor so he could ravage her right there in the middle of the dining room? She’d made it obvious that she’d be happy to let him feast on her.
Everly asked, “Do you still want to be? Are you holding on to your vows even though you’re not officially a priest anymore? Or maybe you’re waiting to be married?”
“I don’t believe in that stuff anymore.” He shook his head.
Thank God. Everly nodded. “Then what’s the problem? Are you gay?”
“What?” He squinted. “No, I don’t think so. I mean, not that I have a problem with that either. Yet another reason I couldn’t belong to an organization that vilified decent people, shamed them, for loving another human being. That wasn’t what I thought I’d signed up for.”
“Okay.” She nibbled her lip. “Then why? You’re rich as fuck, sexy, and available. You could have hooked up with half the city by now if you’d wanted to.”
“Didn’t appeal.” He shrugged. �
�Maybe I’m still too screwed up inside. Lost.”
“You’re not confused, Gabriel. You’re tormented. Deep down you know what you want, but I think you feel guilty about it. If you’re attracted to me and would like to experiment…there’s nothing wrong with that. I want you, too. A hell of a lot.”
“You don’t know how many times I’ve dreamt of hearing you say that.” He groaned.
Everly bolted to her feet, ignoring the scrape of her chair on the expensive flooring, afraid that if she didn’t seize the moment it might slip away from them like all the near misses they’d had in their shared evenings these past few months.
She rounded the corner of the table and stood beside Gabriel. Holding her hand out to him, she said, “Let me show you what you’ve been missing.”
4
Everly tried her best not to be distracted by their opulent surroundings as they crossed the main living area to the owner’s suite. It was one thing to admire the high-end finishes and impeccable interior design while doing a safety walkthrough and entirely something else when she actually occupied the space as part of her regular life.
During the entire trek to the master bedroom, which had a killer view of Manhattan, Gabriel held her hand. She promised herself she’d take in the epic skyline later. While it glowed with the burnt orange and pinks of the sunset in progress, it would be even more spectacular when the field of infinite lights below began to look like a universe of stars twinkling furiously in the night.
When they reached the side of the enormous bed—carved from some exotic wood, with a tufted leather headboard—Gabriel faced her and took her other hand in his. He brushed his thumbs over her fingers, melting her heart just a little bit more.
She wasn’t prepared for how much he made her feel in addition to how badly she wanted to seduce him. He raised her knuckles to his lips and kissed them softly. Without saying a word, he made her certain he respected her and trusted her to make this great for them both.
“Don’t worry. I promise it’s going to be amazing.” Everly smiled up at him, then took advantage of her tall heels. She craned her neck, he leaned in as if he couldn’t resist, and then their lips were brushing across each other’s again.
This time it was more subtle, less flashy, than this afternoon’s venting of pent-up passion. She’d bet Gabriel would become a damn fine kisser. The kind of guy she could snuggle and make out with for hours before giving in to a round of sweet, slow sex that would unravel her thread by thread.
Someday soon. After he’d had some practice.
Tonight would be something else entirely.
She sighed and pulled back before unbuttoning his perfectly pressed shirt. The aqua blue made his eyes stand out. It was also an interesting contrast. Gabriel was the single most humble person she knew, standing here in a fancy shirt he’d probably only ever worn this once, for her, in the middle of a modern-day palace he hadn’t asked to rule.
His dirty blond hair was longer now, along with his beard. She liked to think of him as a hipster priest. It was probably wrong for that thought to turn her on, but hey, she’d never claimed to be a saint.
As she admired each inch of his defined chest and abs, she placed a kiss over the parts of him he allowed her to reveal. He stared, transfixed, as she worshiped his body. And she didn’t plan to stop with an act as simple as that.
Before she could continue her deliberately slow stripping, afraid of spooking him, Gabriel flew into action. He unbuckled his belt. A few flicks of his fingers were all it took to unbutton and unzip his pants. They dropped around his ankles a moment later.
She licked her lips when she realized there was nothing else between her and his already erect cock. Damn. It would have been impossible not to tease him, just a little, about how eager he was after he’d separated them so savagely earlier. “Commando?”
“A habit.” He shrugged.
“Are you telling me you were free-balling it beneath your priest robes?” Everly wondered if she’d go to hell if she asked him to dress up for her once while they got it on… Thoughts for another time.
“Maybe I was just as perverted as the rest.” His face clouded over.
Oh no, she wasn’t going to let his past ruin their future. Or at least not their present.
This was going down tonight. She was going down. That would guarantee he thought of nothing but her and what her mouth could do to him.
“Get up on the bed.”
“Shouldn’t I undress you first?” His hand hovered over her blouse, waiting for her explicit permission to remove her shirt.
Everly didn’t give it. She preferred to put on a show for him.
“Just lay back and enjoy.” She had never felt this confident in bed before. Something about the awe in Gabriel’s stare and the trust necessary for him to take this step with her added to her conviction that she was about to introduce him to more pleasure than he’d ever experienced before.
She took her time, slowly rubbing her hands up and down her torso, chest, and neck over her clothes before she began to sway in place. Bit by bit she removed first her blouse, then her skirt, revealing her figure to his inquisitive gaze.
Everly pivoted, flashing her lace-covered ass and the length of her mostly bare back to him. She gathered her hair then let it drop in a silky waterfall that stroked her shoulders. Gabriel muttered a curse that she took as a major compliment.
Reaching behind her, she unclasped her bra. The straps tumbled down her upper arms. She faced him again, dipping the garment bit by bit until her full breasts and nipples were on display.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered.
She wasn’t sure when he’d moved, but his hand had returned to his cock, rubbing it slowly and thoroughly, like he had been doing when she’d busted him in the pool. Could it have been her he envisioned as he got himself off?
Tonight he wouldn’t have to pretend.
Feeling moisture pooling at her opening, she realized she was torturing herself just as much as him. She slipped a finger beneath the waistband of her panties near each of her hip bones, then walked them down, down, down.
Now wearing only her heels, she stepped from the lace without tripping and breaking her neck. That part of her striptease impressed herself the most.
“Can—?” Gabriel clamped his mouth shut before he could make his request, swallowing hard as if to keep the plea inside.
“What do you want?” she asked. She’d give him damn near anything if it spiraled his pleasure higher.
“Can I smell them?” He grimaced, as if she would ridicule his desire or find his natural curiosity disgusting.
Instead she bent over, giving him a stellar view of her ass, and plucked the lace from the floor. She crawled onto the bed, then held the flimsy material up to his face.
Gabriel buried his nose in the panties and breathed deep of her scent. It seemed only fair since he had driven her crazy with lust for hours. No, months. Now he would know what it felt like to burn with need.
He took the panties from her and balled them into his fist, claiming them as a souvenir of their liaison. Everly figured she was turning him on enough to push him beyond his inhibitions. Her not-so-evil plan was working.
She straddled him where he sat, with his shoulders propped on a mountain of pillows.
Everly paid careful attention to his expression as she lifted her breasts, squishing them together to enhance her cleavage. He gulped.
“Do you want to touch them?” she teased.
He obviously did. His hand shot out and he went straight for her nipples, making Everly flinch at the unexpected rough contact. A shocked yelp escaped her before she could stop it.
Gabriel drew his hand back as if he’d been smacked. “You deserve more than a thirty-year-old guy who doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing in bed.” He clenched his jaw. “Maybe this was a stupid idea. Maybe I should have found someone I don’t give a shit about…”
“Hey, look at me.” She tipped his chin
up, lightly massaging the muscles in his jaw until they relaxed some.
He stared into her eyes.
“It turns me on to know that you’re not a man-whore like some of the guys I’ve dated. To know that this is special to you. That you’ll remember tonight for the rest of your life. Because I sure as hell will.” Everly kissed his forehead. “It means a lot that you’d choose me. Don’t take that away from me.”
“Then tell me what to do and how to do it to make it good for you.” Gabriel’s giving nature could make him one damn fine lover, if only he’d quit stressing and trust his instincts.
Everly took his hand in hers and placed it over her breast. They gasped simultaneously as the tentative contact from his palm drew her nipple into a tight peak. “I’d rather show you.”
“Yeah. Okay,” he mumbled, his gaze fixated on the spot where he cupped her chest. He began to explore, brushing his thumb over her skin and weighing her breast in his hand. “You’re so…soft.”
“You should feel my skin against your lips, taste it, smell it.”
She didn’t have to tell him twice. No sooner had the words left her mouth than he’d surged forward, nuzzling her cleavage. He hummed as he captured one nipple between his lips and began to suckle. His teeth scraped her, making her hiss. Observant and responsive, he adjusted his approach by wrapping his lips around the sharp edges before sucking again.
“Use your tongue, too,” she urged, threading her fingers into his hair and guiding him to the place that felt the best.
When he flicked it against her, she twitched. One hand landed on her hip to steady her.
She knew right then that when she unleashed the beast within him, he was going to be the one rocking her world. In addition to being compassionate, generous, and protective, he was fierce. Things were going to keep getting better and better. She could hardly wait.
Everly squeaked when he pressed her back farther, knocking her off balance. Instead of righting herself, she clasped his hand and drew him over her, getting him used to asserting himself. His cock nudged her thigh, making her squirm beneath him.
