Ascension (19 page)

“I still have not. I was a virgin until our night together.”

He closed his eyes, beginning to feel foolish. “I know.”

The water sloshed around him as she moved closer and he opened his eyes.

She shook her head, smiled, and continued to close the gap between them, then sat on his lap with her legs around his waist. If not for the very cold water, the position could have been very interesting.

Belinda’s elbows rested on his shoulders, her fingers threaded through his hair and her forehead touched his. “As a woman, I am yours alone Gabriel. As a demon hunter, I am divided. I do not know if you can live with what I must do, but I will never be for another. Brice is a very nice man, and I care for Reece very deeply, but no man can have my heart because it belongs to you.”

“Bella.” The name tumbled gently from his lips. “I thought you might be waiting for me to end our engagement so you could pursue another.” A heavy weight lifted from his chest after having said the words.

Her lips closed over his and she pulled her body tight against him. Firm breasts press against his chest. “I want no other. The engagement is another issue. If you end our betrothal, I will understand. I do not know any men, outside the Company, that would tolerate a wife who fights demons each night. In fact I know of none in the
ton
who would accept a woman continuing with any occupation after marriage. It is a lot to ask of you.”

He knew she was right. He hated the danger she put herself in. The minute he waited for her to get out of the building had been longer than any in his life. Yet, he couldn’t fault her for her loyalty to a cause. Hadn’t he felt the same way when he left for France? Belinda was protecting England. She was a soldier and a damned fine one. He gripped her ass and pulled her tighter. “Let’s get out of this cold water.”

He didn’t wait for an answer, held her bottom and stood in the fountain. Water rushed down their bodies. He moved his lips against hers. His tongue devoured her mouth, meeting her soft warm tongue and exploring every nuance.

He carefully stepped over the fountain wall.

“Take my skirts and go around to the right.”

Still holding her, he bent and picked up the yards of fabric that made up her skirt. She had pointed to a pathway to his right, and he walked down the path wearing only Belinda to shield him from the elements. She continued to kiss him and he didn’t notice the path opening into a grassy area. He might not have noticed at all, but for the soft dampness on his feet.

Out of the cold water for a few minutes, his cock bumped against her ass.

She unwound her legs, and he released her. Completely naked with wet hair that had not been brushed out, she should have looked as if she was a rag doll, but she took his breath away. It was the kind of setting from a dream. The small patch of grass was completely surrounded by plants and shrubs. “What is this place?”

“A picnic area.” She pulled the skirt from his grasp and laid it down across the ground before stretching herself out. She arched her back and extended her arms above her head. She looked as if she were a cat settling in for the night.

His cocked jumped against his torso and he knelt by her side. His fingers trailed lightly over her wet skin. He let the pads of each digit feel the curve of her neck and the hard line of her collarbone. She threaded her fingers through his, as he caressed her breast, stopping only to make a path around the hard nipple. When he continued on, she kept her hand on the sensitive bud, worrying it with her thumb and finger.

Her back arched and a small gasp escaped her open mouth.

He stroked each rib and the smooth expanse of her belly. His index finger dipped in her navel and she rewarded him with a cry. He put his lips to the sensitive spot and dipped his tongue inside.

Belinda bucked and called his name.

He explored every inch of her stomach with his tongue while his hand continued its voyage down to her thighs. He palmed the muscular leg, caressed the back and gripped her ass, desperation coursing through him. His fingers grazed the space between her cheeks and she screamed with pleasure.

His body thrummed with want.

He tickled the tight orifice.

Belinda’s head thrashed from side to side while little gasps and cries flew from her lips.

He lowered his mouth to the apex of her thighs. His tongue darted between her soft folds.

Immediately, her hips lifted begging for more.

He wrapping his lips around her tender bud and sucking. She opened for him, and his mouth devoured her center, licking and sucking while his finger continued to explore the sensitive puckered hole behind.

Her hand wrapped around his cock.

He had to stop long enough to see her touching him. Her small, strong hand with pale skin gripped his hard, ruddy shaft and moved the taut skin up and down. His body quaked with need and he buried his face back into her core. His tongue lapped at her juices, and her hips pumped against his face. He sucked hard on the pebble, and she screamed.

Her body contracted and she came in a rush.

Gabriel lapped up every drop of her sweet nectar.

Her hand continued to pump him to pleasure. Waiting until her orgasm subsided he sat back. She released him and smiled up. He sat cross-legged.

“Sit the way you did in the fountain, Bella.”

She looked at his rigid cock and up at him. “Really?”

He raised his eyebrows. “Do you want to?”

She practically jumped to a seated position and mounted his lap facing him. Her thighs wrapped around his waist.

He lifted her ass and pulled her forward until his rod perched at her wet slit. Slowly, he pulled her down over him.

She gripped his shoulders and moaned deep in her throat.

“My God, Bella. You feel so good.”

She gripped his waist tighter and her sheath tightened too, squeezing him in the most erotic way.

He lifted his thighs and slid out of her before letting her cover him again.

Soft cries fell from her lips. “Gabriel…I…that is so…Oh Gabriel.”

He had no idea what she was trying to tell him, but it didn’t matter.

Her sheath closed around him in waves of pleasure as the bud of her pleasure rubbed against his pelvis on every descent.

His own completion was quickly approaching. He slid his hand around her soft round ass and found the sensitive hole. His finger traced a path only just breaching.

Her body contracted around him violently.

Belinda screamed and he covered her mouth with his to muffle the sound.

His own orgasm crashed around him as if he were coming apart. His grunts mixed with her cries in the impassioned kiss.

They stilled holding each other as the pleasure ebbed.

The garden was quiet except for the sound of the fountain.

Belinda looked up at the dimming night sky.

Gabriel rested on his side leaning over her. His hand hugged her hip possessively. “I want you to marry me, Bella.”

She’d thought for a long time that she wanted Gabriel to walk away from her. Protecting him from the evil that walked the streets was important enough that she had planned to lose him, expected it. Lying beneath him in the secluded picnic area and hearing him say he still wanted to marry her, sent a jolt of unexpected pleasure through her.

She pushed him off her and rolled to a sitting position. Grabbing the skirts they had used as a bed, she covered herself, though he remained gloriously naked. “Because you’ve bedded me?”

He shook his head. “Because I love you.”

A million thoughts rushed through her head at one time. How would they live? Did he really know what he was asking? Did she?

He lifted her hand and kissed her fingers. “Do not look so terrified. I have not asked for your soul, Bella.”

She had tried to seem unaffected, but she’d failed miserably. Her skin pricked with perspiration in spite of the cool night air. “I’m going to keep hunting.”

“I know you are.”

“I will not be ordered about as if I were chattel.”

“Bella, when have I ordered you to do anything?”

She searched her mind for other demands. Her eyes searched the grass as if she might find fault in Gabriel there in the full moon’s light.

“Look at me, Bella.”

She did. The moonlight illuminated him as if he was a god, the god of war. Though, he made love as if he were the god Adonis. His smooth shoulders begged for her touch, and the hard planes of his face called for kisses.

“How is it that a woman who is fearless in battle against monsters of all kinds, is terrified of me?”

“I do not fear you.”

“No? You look as if you are terrified of the prospect of becoming my wife. You sit there charmingly covering yourself and wondering what motives I might have to want you for a wife instead of considering the idea that I may not be able to live without you.”

Her heart had moved to her throat. “I do not want to make you unhappy, Gabriel. I admit that part of me still wishes you would walk away and find yourself a proper wife. The kind of wife that I can never be.”

“And the other part of you? What does she wish for?”

She allowed the idea to envelope her before she spoke. Her skin prickled deliciously. “She adores the idea of spending every day with you. She wishes that nothing beside the two of us existed in the world. She longs for nights like this one, where we battle together and then make love into the morning. She is a dreamer.”

He got up on his hands and knees and leaned over her until she lost her balance and tumbled into the grass on her back. She stared up into his eyes, and though he didn’t touch her, his energy caressed her entire body. “I cannot give you a world where no evils exist, Bella. I can only promise you that I will face every one with you. You and I will fight this war together. You are a demon hunter. I recognize that. I cannot change the facts. I also recognize that I am very aroused by your formidable skills.”

Her body tingled. “Are you?”

“Not to mention seeing your bottom in those trousers. I think it was the trousers that first made me jealous. I could not imagine that Reece is not aroused by seeing you in such a costume.”

“You have nothing to fear from Reece.”

“No. I know that now.” He kissed her cheek. “Tell me that you will marry me, Bella.”

Her heart beat wildly. “I will.” She couldn’t believe she had said the words nor could she have imagined how happy saying them would make her.

Gabriel’s smile could have lit the garden. His happiness added to her own and he collapsed on top of her and pulled her into a hug.

She giggled and allowed herself to be rolled around in the grass.

When she was on top of him with her mass of skirts trapped between them, she rested her head on his chest and breathed in the scents of grass and Gabriel. The garden gained an orange glow. Dawn.

“We had better find our clothes before the gardener gets a view he will not soon forget.” She eased off him, tucked the skirts around her and got to her feet.

Gabriel stood up as naked as the day he was born and strode through the garden looking very much the part of an earl. How he managed to look dignified was a mystery.

They donned their filthy clothes, and he walked her to the terrace. “Shall I call on you after tea time? I assume you wish to have a private meeting with Miss Dellacourt.”

“Come for dinner? We can tell mother the news. She will be delighted if she is coherent.”

He frowned, but said nothing about her mother’s condition. His hair was out of his queue and his eyes bright.

She stood on the first stone step and ran her fingers through the wavy mess. Happiness bloomed in her chest and for the first time, the future might not be a dismal place.

Lips as soft as a rose petal brushed across hers. A small sigh echoed in the garden, and it had come from her.

“I will see you at dinner, my love.” His words still vibrated against her lips minutes after he’d left the garden by the iron gate.

* * * *

A bath and a few hours of sleep, and Belinda descended to the parlor just in time for tea when Lillian arrived.

Lillian wore a very traditional day dress and she sat wringing her hands in her lap.

Belinda handed her a cup of tea. “You seem nervous, Lilly.”

“Do I?” She’d pulled her hair back in a severe style and a small hat finished off the very stylish look.

“You do. In fact, I would say you have something on your mind that is troubling you.” She sipped her tea. “Would you care for a biscuit?”

Lillian put the cup to her lips but did not drink. She stopped, put the cup and saucer down on the table and stood. She paced the room muttering to herself.

Lillian Dellacourt was the most in control person Belinda had ever known. It was astonishing to see her so out of sorts.

She put her own tea aside. “What is it, Lilly?”

Her friend stopped pacing and faced her. “I was in Scotland.”

“You said as much. You went to the school.”

Lillian nodded. “I’d been there before. I trained there. No one at the school ever mentions the name of the castle. I do not think I ever knew. You have to believe that I never knew or maybe I just never made the connection. I was young. It was a long time ago.” Her eyes were wide and pleading.

“What are you talking about?”

“I would have told you. I should not be telling you now, but how can I not tell you? We are friends and you have the right to know.”

Belinda stood up and approached her. A knot formed in her stomach. Whatever had upset her friend must be truly terrible. “Lillian, for god’s sake, what are you talking about? Start at the beginning.”

When nothing was forthcoming, Belinda asked, “Where did you go when you left London?”

“Blackpool. It is a small town in the northwest.”

“What did you do there?”

“There is a young girl who lived there. She is the illegitimate daughter of a powerful man. She’d been kidnapped by demons and rescued in Wales. The capture left her quite shaken. She needed to be brought to the school for treatment and evaluation.”

“Why send you all the way to Blackpool? The hunters that rescued could have taken her. And why take her all the way to Scotland. Would not the hospital in London have been closer?”