“I’ve seen men’s arms dislocated and bones separated from sternums with that little trick. That’s when I discovered I wasn’t Superman. I screamed and sobbed like a baby.”
“It’s a misconception that a person always passes out when pain becomes too intense. I would have given my balls to be able to pass out. I prayed for it. Then I prayed to die.” Gabriel shrugged. “I lived. I also stayed conscious. I never heard the man with the ring speak but, dimly, I understood that the Teacher was asking questions at his direction. The entire time I was captured, the worst sessions were when he was present.” Gabriel’s hand flexed convulsively on the glass, then he dropped it to his side. “Not that Chavez wasn’t creative on his own.”
“I’m so sorry,” Kalesia whispered, horrified. She’d never dreamt that mentioning the ring in her vision would garner this.
He turned. “You have nothing to be sorry for, sugar. It’s simply an old enemy coming back to haunt me.” Moving until he was standing next to the bed, he reached out one tentative hand and smoothed a strand of hair from her face. “Actually, I should be the one to apologize. I shouldn’t burden you with ancient history.” Aching need replaced the bitterness of past memories on his face. He placed one knee on the mattress.
“Don’t,” she pleaded, her insides tightening at the sensual promise in the gray eyes. Dear God, how she wanted him. “Don’t hide things from me. I want you to share what hurts you. I’m stronger than I look.”
He studied her. “Yes, you are. Much stronger. Oh God,” he muttered darkly, burying his hands in her hair, “give me some of your strength tonight, sweetheart. You have no idea how much I need it.” His mouth came down on hers.
She responded with every fiber of her being to the naked power and need, unable to do anything else. She was dazed by the force of his passion. He was coiled and leashed as tightly as a panther. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled him down on top of her.
One big palm skimmed up her thigh under her nightgown. Kalesia arched uncontrollably at the caress. She nipped his shoulder in passionate demand. She was already burning.
“Now, Gabriel!”
Impatient hands tugged at the hem of the gown, pulling it over her head and throwing it to the floor. She tried to tug him back down. He resisted and Kalesia heard the nightstand drawer open. Within less than a minute, his large form settled over hers. Kalesia welcomed the heavy weight. Her hands sought the small of his back. Gabriel was extra sensitive there she’d learned. She feathered her fingers over the area. A shudder went through him. Spreading her fingers, she raked her nails lightly down the firm muscles of his buttocks. The tip of one finger strayed into the cleft that defined them. Dark words of encouragement spilled from his lips.
“Fuck, sugar! Harder. I want to feel your hands all over me tonight.” He rocked against her, the hard, hot length of his cock sliding between her pussy lips.
Kalesia caught her breath. She nipped his shoulder again. Hard enough to leave a mark. His hips flexed, a short, hard stroke. A jolt of pleasure stole her breath when the head of his cock lodged against her clit.
Tension spiraled higher. The edge of his teeth raked her nipple. Lights exploded behind her lids. She arched, her nails sinking into the taut muscles of his ass.
“Tell me you love me, Kalesia,” he muttered against her breast. “I need the words.”
Gabriel was well aware he wasn’t being fair. He couldn’t return the words but, son of a bitch, he needed them more than he needed his next breath. He licked at the bead of sweat pooled in the delicate hollow of her throat. The salty, hot taste of woman exploded on his tongue. Her pulse there fluttered frantically. “Tell me,” he commanded, heart pounding in his chest.
“I love you.” Her voice caught in the back of her throat. The soft, wildly sexy sound ignited a white-hot blaze.
“Again, tell me again.” He fisted one hand in her hair. “I want to hear you say it.” Greedy. He was goddamned greedy. He stared down into her emerald eyes, demanding, compelling, needing the words. Hearing them was fast becoming a fucking obsession.
Understanding lit her gaze. Her eyes became warm and tender. “I love you. I’ll always love you, Gabriel.”
She was his. No one would know her touch, her sweet trust, her honesty. He nipped her neck wresting a broken cry from her. The spicy, feminine scent of her arousal surrounded him. He untangled his hand from her hair and slid it down her arm, until he could tangle his fingers with hers. With his other hand, he found the swollen nub of flesh between her thighs. Slick moisture coated his hand. God, she was so hot, she was burning him alive. He circled the delicate bud with his thumb and forefinger and pinched.
“Gabriel!”
Her hips thrust in unconscious demand, her fingers tightening around his like a vise. Gabriel set his teeth to her nipple, working and worrying it until it was reddened and engorged. Another small scream rang into his ears. Her pussy wept more thick cream. He could feel her pulse and, if possible, her clit swelled further.
Gabriel grabbed his cock in his hand and swirled the head in the thick moisture. He gritted his teeth, the pleasure almost too much to bear. He entered her, feeling the tight muscles of her pussy give way as the wide head of his cock stretched her. He sank to the hilt. Lightning streaked up his spine.
He slid his hand up her belly, searching for and finding her hand, sliding his fingers through hers. He brought their hands up until they rested by her shoulders. Head to toe he covered her, but the only places they actually touched were their palms and where her hips cradled him as if he were a part of her. Eyes locked with hers, Gabriel began to move, stroke the humid warmth of her feminine core. Each thrust rubbed his pelvic bone over her clit, wringing a gasping little moan from her. Gabriel loved the small sounds she made when they made love. Each one told him she loved what he was doing to her. He thought he might be able to live on the husky, little murmurs.
He touched his lips to hers, causing the hair on his chest to rasp her hard nipples.
“Gabriel!”
The feminine muscles fluttered around his cock, clenching him like a silken fist.
“Faster, Gabriel.”
The little witch could never resist trying to command him. He grinned against her lips. Not this time. This time they were doing it his way. His desire for immediate satisfaction had changed to the need to imprint himself on her. He needed the knowledge he was so deep inside her that she could never be free from him. That he was as deep inside her as she was in him.
“No,” he whispered against his lips, his breath mixing with hers.
“No?” she moaned, eyes closed, arching so she could rub her breasts more firmly against his chest.
“No. My way. My pace.” He pressed his hips to hers, then pulled, so slowly, from her until just the wide tip of his cock remained inside. Just as slowly, he sank back into her heat.
Her eyes shot open. “No?”
He circled his hips, wringing a moan that was half-growl from her. “No. Not this time. This time it will be slow, so very slow, until you can taste me, feel me, with each breath.” He freed her hands so he could cup the back of her head in both palms. Her arms went to his back. Her fingers traced the bumps in his spine.
His hips surged forward.
Kalesia gave a sultry chuckle, her hands resting in the dip above his buttocks. “Wanna bet?”
The urge to tease was still so new that Gabriel wanted to stop time and savor it. Instead, he scraped his teeth down the side of her neck, feeling chills erupt over her flesh. “Yeah, I wanna bet. What do I get if I win?”
“Me?” Her breath caught as he soothed her skin with his tongue.
“I have you.”
“Mmm. Yes, you do, don’t you? Interesting conundrum, isn’t it? Win, you get me. Lose, you get me. Which would be more fun? Your way or mine?”
“Let’s find out.”
He slid out of her again, his teeth nibbling on her neck, her ear. He grinned, pleased, when she could barely find
the breath to speak.
“Umm.” She arched, her hands digging into his hips. “Did I tell you—”
He nibbled on her ear again, distracting her. “Yes?”
“Umm?”
“You were saying?” It was becoming harder to remember what he meant to say as the scent and heat of her body enveloped his.
“Oh. Oh yes.” She pressed tiny kisses on his shoulder, using her teeth to nip. “Did I mention I like to win?” Her fingers drifted from his hip to the dark cleft separating his buttocks.
Gabriel’s heart actually stuttered.
He clenched his teeth as she trailed the tip of one slender finger down, down until she could circle the tiny pucker. Sensation exploded as she dipped just the tiniest bit inside.
He threw his head back. “Aw, shit,” he mumbled, knowing he’d lost this round. He began pounding into her. As the first of the small, gentle convulsions tightened her inner muscles around his shaft, a guttural groan was ripped from him as he felt his balls draw up tight against his body. Over and over, he thrust.
“I love you, Gabriel.” Breath hot on his throat, Kalesia gasped the words.
He came.
Gabriel collapsed, shattered but whole, on top of her.
“Gabriel?” Kalesia murmured long minutes later.
“Hmm?” he answered too drained to lift his head.
Kalesia kissed the side of his neck tenderly. “I’m glad you didn’t.”
Making a supreme effort, Gabriel raised his head from the pillow. “Glad I didn’t what?” His breathing was slowly returning to normal. God, he felt great, able to conquer entire worlds single-handedly. Loving Kalesia always gave him that feeling of supreme contentment. When she stretched sensually beneath him, he became excruciatingly reminded that they were still joined. Maybe he wasn’t as tired as he first thought.
“Give up your balls.”
Gabriel gave a great shout of startled laughter. Hugging her tight, he rolled over until Kalesia was draped over him. “Lady, will you never cease to amaze me. To think I was afraid Badger would corrupt you.” He shook his head, still shaking with laughter.
“You’re the only one I want to corrupt me. Gabriel?” Kalesia propped her chin up on crossed arms.
“I’m afraid to ask what,” he confessed dryly, amusement still lurking with a renewal of passion.
“We ought to check, you know.”
“Check what?” Gabriel watched as Kalesia licked her lips in a seductive manner. His cock stirred in response. In the soft light of the lamp with her long hair passionately tangled, Kalesia looked like a sensual wood sprite. Especially since her eyes were twinkling mischievously. Gabriel braced himself.
“That everything is where it belongs and still in working order!”
Gabriel did his best to supply solid proof.
A long time later, Kalesia kissed his shoulder and sat up.
“It was you, wasn’t it? In my vision?”
Chapter Fourteen
“Yes.”
“Oh God, Gabriel. Why didn’t you tell me?” She had been wrong. Nightmares were not necessarily easier to deal with than visions. She knew that now.
Gabriel had taught her.
He shifted until his shoulders were propped against the headboard. He brought his knees up, putting his arms on them and letting his hands dangle between them. “I didn’t know I was the man in your vision at first.”
“Not even when I had it the second time?” Kalesia’s stomach cramped. Not until this moment had she comprehended the full severity of the torture he had undergone. But she knew now. More than anyone outside Gabriel himself. She had lived through a portion of that torture with him.
“I had my suspicions. Until you mentioned the ring. That clinched it for me.”
“How can you be so sure? It could still be another man.” Kalesia hugged her arms about her middle.
Gabriel nodded. “It could be. But it isn’t. Ironic, isn’t it that after years of searching, the man in the shadows has instead found me.”
* * * * *
“Gabriel, I warn you,” Kalesia hissed the next morning as Gabriel shoved the swinging door to the kitchen open. “I’ll want the whole story, all the bits and pieces, when this is over.”
Last night, after dropping his bombshell, he’d refused to say another word. She was very much afraid she knew why, Gabriel was on the hunt and he wanted to protect her from that aspect of his personality. Well, she wouldn’t have it. Like it or not, they were partners and partners shared the bad as well as the good.
“Is everything in place?” Gabriel asked as they joined the group around the table. Disapproval coated his voice.
Wolf passed him a cup of coffee. “We’ve got security in place around the cabin. Men, locals and Feds, are posted in the woods, with full view of all entrances. Electronic surveillance has been set up in and around the house and barn. Since we want Kalesia to appear as vulnerable as possible, I’ve arranged to bring in a horse so she’ll have a reason to leave the cabin on a regular basis. If our man is as smart as we think, it’ll take him only a few days to discern her pattern and come to the conclusion that the barn is his best bet,” Wolf finished with satisfaction.
Gabriel’s knuckles turned white on his coffee cup. “Why the hell didn’t you consult me? You know her vision has her getting killed in a barn. This way, the damn thing reeks of setting up matters for Kalesia’s vision to come true.”
“Because you’re too close. You’ve lost the necessary objectivity, Gabe.” Tom Harley looked tired. A plate of untouched food was in front of him.
“Bullshit. I’ve never been that close to a mission.” Gabriel’s voice could have cut steel.
“You’ve never cared this much before.” Harley’s voice was understanding but final.
“If anything happens to her, I’ll make each one of you pay,” he stated coldly.
Kalesia put her hand on his arm, hoping to soothe him. “Don’t blame them. The choice was mine.”
“And don’t think I’m not all too aware of that little fact,” he bit out.
Kalesia gnawed on her bottom lip. Gabriel was not in the mood to be soothed. She racked her brain to come up with something, anything, that would take the coiled tension from his large form.
“Ease up, man. Don’t you think we’ve added in the danger to her? We don’t want her hurt any more than you do. Hell, if something does go wrong, I’ll give you my knife to cut my throat.” Wolf’s quiet promise sounded all too sincere to Kalesia’s ears.
That was it. “No one is going to get hurt, so this conversation is a moot point. Is that clear?” she challenged with a defiant glare at Gabriel, then the others. To her satisfaction, the conversation returned to the details of the trap.
* * * * *
Everything slid into place with a polished efficiency that was uncanny. It seemed almost too easy, Kalesia mused as she looked out the bedroom window of Wolf’s cabin three nights later.
Dammit, she wondered, irritated, as the long twilight faded and night slipped through the woods, why hadn’t Gabriel warned her about the sheer boredom of waiting?
The soughing of long-needled Australian pines reinforced the cabin’s isolation.
Gabriel had probably neglected to mention it just to make her regret her insistence on being the bait, she decided morosely.
Kalesia shivered in the warm evening air. To think she had actually thought it would be something of a relief to get away from Gabriel’s continual lectures and reminders. The man was nothing if not persistent. And vocal. Especially once he learned of the barn.
Trees and a slight rise blocked her view of the empty house the men were using as a base but just knowing they were only minutes away kept her from feeling quite so alone.
Reluctantly, she closed and carefully locked the window, shutting out the tempting evening air. Throwing herself down onto of the bed, Kalesia fervently hoped something happened soon. Waiting, she discovered, was hard on the nerves. Besides, she missed
Gabriel.
Kalesia grabbed her laptop off the nightstand and opened the latest futuristic erotica e-book she’d downloaded. She’d started it before the first vision about her death and, what with one thing or another, had not finished it. It was set in a matriarchal society in which women were warriors and men, slaves. A slow, mischievous smile curved her lips. Kalesia began reading.
Out loud, in a low, husky voice.
Ranni’s mouth went dry. It was time for the bedding and she realized just how badly she wanted Dakor. She forgot about her witnesses, didn’t hear their ribald comments and advice. With hands that trembled slightly, she untied the cape and let it drop to the floor. Her hands measured the breadth of his massive shoulders, the thickness of the hair on his chest and the leanness of his hips.
He was magnificent.
Both hands cupped his face and she pulled his head down to hers. Her mouth covered his, her tongue tracing the shape of his mouth, her teeth nipping at the bottom lip. Impatient to be joined with him, she used the tip of her tongue to insinuate her way inside so she could sample the dark, erotic musk of his mouth. Her hands went to the sonic locks and fumbled.
“Damn.” She tore her mouth from his so she could see what she was doing. She had to try three times before she got the combination right. The belt fell from his hips, his manhood slipping free from its confinement. Her hand closed over him. Ranni heard a strangled groan and wondered if it came from Dakor or herself.
He had used the depilatory for the ceremony. His flesh glistened with a faint sheen of oil. Ranni ran the tip of one nail the length of the underside of his cock. It quivered and swelled. She smiled. One hand went between his legs and cupped the heavy sac. Ranni began massaging it gently. The other hand stroked and shaped his shaft, coaxing it to swell and lengthen further. Nuzzling his chest, Ranni latched onto a nipple and sucked hard. Dakor bucked beneath her hands. His hands came up to hover tentatively at her shoulders.
She was on fire. Never had she responded so quickly to a man before. Ranni ached to taste his straining cock but regretfully decided to wait until he was more comfortable with the act of making love. Still working his cock and balls, Ranni lifted her head, inviting Dakor to take her mouth. His head swooped. Eager but unskilled lips sampled Ranni’s in imitation of the way she had his.
Tapestry of the Past Page 23
