How had he ever thought that fucking some woman he didn’t even know in one of the washrooms at Lobby was exciting? How had he believed that nameless, faceless orgasms would ever satisfy him? He’d spent his life worshipping at the altar of a silent, absent god who promised everything but delivered something fleeting that always left him wanting. He’d trafficked in lust masquerading as eros. But nothing had been further from reality.
Vanity of vanities. All is vanity.
Everything had changed since he found Julia again, and especially since he’d fallen in love with her. She’d broken him open and taken his emotional virginity, but she had done so patiently and gently. He would give her nothing less.
While Gabriel pondered the ways in which he could worship her, Julia was leaning against the vanity in the bathroom trying to catch her breath. Gabriel’s sensuous foreplay was the equivalent of a scorched earth seduction. There was no going back. There was no slowing the tremendous, irresistible pull they felt toward each other.
Oh God, how I want him.
She studied herself in the mirror as she fixed her hair and makeup and brushed her teeth. Minty fresh and freshened up, she reached for her nightgown and robe, only to discover that in her passion-soaked haze, she’d entered the wrong room. Her lingerie was in the other bathroom.
Merda.
She could take off her clothes and wrap herself in one of the Turkish robes hanging behind the door. But that would rather defeat the purpose of purchasing lingerie. She could try to sneak into the other bathroom, but that would mean crossing through the bedroom, and Gabriel was sure to have come in from the terrace by now. No doubt he was reclining on the bed, like King Solomon in all his glory.
Julia trembled with anticipation at the mere idea. Should I take a shower first and just wander out there in a towel? Should I strip down to my panties?
As her brain stalled on how best to make her entrance, Gabriel tidied the terrace and moved everything inside. He placed the pillar candles around the room, grouping several of them by the bed. He adjusted the music so that a playlist he’d created solely for that night filled the air. He’d entitled the playlist Loving Julia and was more than a little proud of it. He placed a few personal items on the nightstand and turned out all the lights.
Then he waited.
And waited. But she didn’t appear. He began to worry.
He walked over to the bathroom and pressed his ear against the door. He could hear nothing, not even the sounds of running water or the rustling of silk. His heart leaped into his throat. What if she was afraid? Or upset?
What if she locked me out?
He took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
He was surprised to be so invited. He opened the door carefully and peeked inside. Julia was standing in front of the mirror, looking shy. “Are you all right?”
“Yes.”
He frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I just—Gabriel, will you hold me? I had all these plans, and then I came in here and froze and…” She rushed over to him.
His face wore a concerned expression. “It’s only me, love. Maybe I’ve overdone it.”
She shook her head and pressed her face to his chest. “No, I’m over-thinking things, as usual.”
“Then think about how much you are loved, my sweet, sweet girl. Tonight I will show you just how much.”
He kissed her tenderly, and when she smiled up at him and nodded, he picked her up to carry her to the bed.
Julia wasn’t afraid. She thought she might be, but as Gabriel held her in his arms, pausing with each step to kiss her, her nerves began to relax. She loved him. She wanted him. And she knew that he wanted her too.
He placed her on the edge of the bed and looked down on her with kindness. Julia’s breathing stilled; that was the look he had given her in the orchard. In their orchard. Now she wanted him even more.
“You turned the lights out,” she said.
“You have beautiful skin. It will be particularly alluring by candlelight.” He kissed her forehead. “A figure such as yours would have inspired cavemen to carve on walls.” He kneeled in front of her and slowly removed her high heels.
“Are you sure?” she whispered.
He sat back and looked up at her, pushing a lock of hair out of her eyes. “Only if you are, love.”
She smiled. “I meant—about the shoes. I could keep them on.”
The thought thrilled him. He couldn’t deny it. But he worried about her comfort, and there would be plenty of time for other, more playful moments.
“I shouldn’t have let you navigate the cobblestones in such high heels. It had to be painful. No shoes tonight.”
He caressed her feet slowly, running his thumb up and down the arch of her foot, a move designed to relax but also to arouse her. She began to whimper; it felt so good. She wondered briefly how his thumb would feel on other parts of her body, and a shiver coursed up and down her spine.
Gabriel paused. “You’re quivering. We don’t have to do this.”
“It’s a pleasant kind of quivering,” she murmured.
He continued to caress her feet for a few minutes before his hands ascended the backs of her calves to rest behind her knees. His magical fingers teased the hidden erogenous zone, almost making her cry out. She couldn’t keep her eyes open as her breathing came quicker.