Page 65 of Salvation

The dash clock says 7:27PM as Davey pulls in front of Gabrial’s house. He parks in the middle of the circular drive, allowing me to get out. Rolling down the window as I walk to the door, he waves and calls out, “I’ll wait ‘til you get into the house and take off. Enjoy your night, Hope.”

Nodding at him, I call out, “Have a good night, Davey.”

As I knock on the door, and wait for Gabrial to open it, I laugh. I’m kind of used to Davey being around me all the time now. Though, things have been so quiet, I’m not certain he even needs to be. I plan on talking to Gabrial about that. It seems like a waste of time to have Davey “protecting” me when it doesn’t appear that I need to be protected from anything.

I don’t know what that package was for, but nothing else has shown up and now it kind of seems like someone was messing with us all. It worked.

I hear the lock turn, and then, the door opens. Gabrial is standing there in slacks and a white t-shirt. My breath catches at how casual he looks. Swallowing, I turn and wave at Davey before smiling at Gabrial. His bruises have faded a good bit, though his cheek still has a slight scab. His arm is in a sling, and he looks very young, very vulnerable… and gorgeous.

He nods a greeting at Davey as he puts the vehicle in drive behind me, and then, pulls me into the house with his good arm. Before the door fully closes, he’s kissing me. My passion is ignited, and I kiss him back with abandon. He groans against my lips before pulling back and pressing a kiss to my forehead. He whispers, “I missed you.”

My arms are around his neck and I’m looking into his dark eyes. “I missed you, too.” Stepping around him, I head to the kitchen. As I walk, I ask him, “How’s the arm? Is the therapy helping at all?”

He’d confessed a few days ago that he’s taking physical therapy a few times a week to regain full strength in his arm and hand after the shooting. He doesn’t answer me until he enters the kitchen. It smells divine. Looking around, I see the food is already set out on the table, along with a bottle of wine, and two glasses.

Taking the initiative since he’s only got one working arm right now, I uncork the bottle and fill both glasses about halfway. He smiles at me. “Thank you. I hate this, you know?”

Grinning at him, I take a tiny sniff of the fruity wine in my glass. The complexity of the scents almost explodes inside my nose, and I moan at the small treat. “I know that. You’re used to being in charge and doing everything… well, now it’s my turn to take care of you.”

Pointing to the chair he demands, “Sit. Everything is out. I gave Mrs. Lopez a bonus just for setting the table up for us.”

Of course, he did. He pays her very well, but I’m sure he did pay her more, since this is not on her usual list of responsibilities. He adores her and she dotes on him.

Complying with his demand, I sit, swirling the wine in my glass, and dip just the tip of my tongue inside. It tastes as good as that small sniff smelled. Gabrial picks up his own glass and takes a healthy swallow. He grimaces as he sets it back on the table.

“Are you hurting?”

He nods. “Yes. It throbs at random times. The ligaments are weaving themselves back together and trust me… it’s excruciating. But I won’t take the pain pills the doctor gave Max for me… I’d rather just deal with the pain. Like everything else, I’ll defeat it. Suffocate it.”

My eyes center on him, and I notice the strain around his lips, and at the corners of his eyes. His lips are pinched, white lines are visible when I really look. He’s in more pain that he wants me to know about. Picking up my fork, I stab into a steak medallion on my plate. Raising the fork to my lips, I take a bite of the succulent meat. My eyes close as I savor it. It’s medium rare and perfectly cooked. After swallowing the bite, I look back at him. He’s watching me. I say, “You know there’s no way to defeat pain, Gabrial. You can only endure it, and eventually you can learn to live with it, but you can’t suffocate it. It’s a constant companion.”

He stares at me silently for the longest time before he says, “Perhaps you’re right, but that’s unacceptable. Simply accepting things is not something I’m accustomed to.”

Nodding, I laugh lightly, though a twinge forms in my chest because it’s not funny. “I’m fully aware of that, Gabrial. You’ve fought everything since you were a child. Every stigma placed on you… every man who had the misfortune to attempt to control you… and every rule that tries to bind you.”

His eyes are dark and unreadable as he looks into his wine glass, as if he can decode the secrets of the universe in its shallow depths.

Looking up, he sees me watching him, and his next words have my heart stopping in my chest, before it threatens to burst free. “You’re right… I have and I do… I instinctively fight against everything… except you.”

Standing, I push my chair back. Watching him as I cross the room. Once I’m at his side, I slide my leg over his lap and straddle him, taking care not to jostle his arm. The skirt of my dress rides up my legs, straining against my thighs. He says nothing. He simply watches me with those coal black eyes. As I settle over him, the tight material of the purple dress, digs into my thighs, and I lean down. His face tips up to look at me, but he still remains still, and deathly quiet, except for the raggedness of his breathing.

Angling my head, whisps of my hair dance over his forehead and the sharp angles of his face. I cup his cheeks with my hands. My fingers trace the prominent, as though carved from stone, planes and angles of his face, taking special care over the jagged scab on his cheek bone covering the fresh skin. He groans and his chest rumbles against mine.

My fingers drift down, slowly tracing his full, perfect lips. He opens his mouth and nips the soft skin of the pad of my pointer finger. My nipples bead beneath my dress and a shiver of awareness races down my spine before pooling in my belly. My hands weave into his hair and I line my lips with his, softly brushing mine against them. He exhales sharply.

My tongue takes over from where my fingers just were, tracing the outline of his perfect lips. His good arm comes around my back, and he yanks me against him. I gasp and he takes over the embrace. His mouth molds to mine. Our tongues dance and slide against each other. His one hand is trailing up and down my spine. As it reaches the skin of my nape, and he grips it tightly, I moan, “Oh, Gabrial.”

He whispers against my mouth, “I love you… you are the only thing that matters to me, Hope.”

Tears form in my eyes and I can’t prevent one from slipping out and rolling down my cheek. It splashes against his. He breaks the kiss, and his lips follow the trail the tear just created.

I rub against him as he shoves my dress up to my waist. The tight material is bunched in his hand at my back. Sliding off him, I stand. He opens his eyes and the molten want in them is my absolute undoing. I hold out my hand. He places his left hand in it, and I gingerly pull him up. The food is forgotten. Leading him from the room, I head for the stairs. Gabrial follows behind me.

Stopping on the second step, I turn, pressing my mouth to his. We kiss deeply for several minutes. When I pull back because I need to breathe, Gabrial smiles at me and my stomach jumps at the fact that this beautiful, dangerous man loves me. I have power over him. I know that loving him is a curse, but when he looks at me like he’s looking at me now… I believe he means it when he says I’m his salvation and his reason for living.

Once again taking his hand, I link our fingers, saying, “Make love to me, Gabrial. Love me… just love me.”

Growling deep within his throat, he pushes past me on the stairs without letting go of my hand. Following after him, he leads me into his bedroom.

---