Finding Isadora (45 page)

“
Spent some time imagining, did you?”

“
Oh yeah.”

“
Me too.” Now his voice was gruff. “Time to find out how close I came.”

In less than a minute he had me out of my
cotton pants and panties. Then it was his turn to stand back and my turn to feel anxious. Very anxious. Until he raised his eyes and I saw the fire in them. “Fuck, Isadora. I was right. You should be a model, for a sculptor who understands how the lines of a woman’s body can sing with beauty.”

The man could go from Anglo-Saxon expletives to poetry in less time than it took me to draw breath.

He held out a hand and I took it, then he pulled me gently toward the bed. “Down,” he said firmly. For a moment I thought he was talking to me, but then Pogo leaped off the bed, shot Gabriel a reproachful look, and went over to lie on his rug.

“
Lie down?” Gabriel said softly, suggestively, to me.

I pulled back the
duvet, feeling self-conscious at the thought of his eyes on my naked backside. Then I scrambled onto the bed, and he was right behind me. Before I could worry about how to arrange my limbs gracefully, he was doing it for me, spreading me on my back, kneeling between my legs, bending down to kiss my breasts.

Sighing with pure pleasure, I stretched like a cat and offered myself to him. I wanted to explore his body too, but there
’d be time for that. I would make sure of it. For now, his lips, his tongue, his fingers, filled my world.

When we
’d kissed last night at Spanish Banks, there’d been a sense of urgency, but that was gone now. It felt as if we had forever to touch and taste, to enjoy.

Well, maybe not forever. My skin was super-sensitive, pricking to attention wherever he touched, each nerve ending shooting a spark of arousal that fueled the building fire. His fingers curled in my pubic hair, caressed the mound underneath, and his tongue slid between my thighs.

“Gabriel.”

That clever tongue strummed me, made me sing in a chorus of whimpers and moans. I reached down, tugging fiercely on his hair until he raised his head.
“Together,” I whispered huskily. “I want the first time to be together.”

He rose and slid up the bed to lie beside me, and I reached down to circle his shaft, wrapping my hand around him like a glove, feeling him pulse and throb at my touch.

“Keep that up,” he rasped, “and you can forget about together.”

“
No self-control?” I teased, trailing a finger around the crown.

“
Not an ounce. Not with you.” He pulled away from my hand then kissed me gently. “Condom?” he murmured.

“
Oh, uh…” It had been so long since I’d been with a new man that I’d forgotten about the awkward but necessary conversation. “I … I’m on the pill. And I’m, uh, clean. I give blood regularly. You do too, right?”

“
Yeah. Besides, I always use a condom.”

“
Sure, of course. So you, uh…”

He shook his head, slowly but firmly.
“No. I don’t want to.”

From Gabriel, it was almost a declaration of love.

“Me either.”

He kissed me again, our mouths knowing each other by now, knowing the ways to tease and tantalize. I closed my eyes and felt his body cover mine, felt his hardness against my belly. I raised my legs and sucked in a breath as he slid down and pressed against aching flesh. I tensed, wanting him so much. What was he waiting for?

His mouth broke from mine. “Isadora. Look at me.”

My eyes flew open. He was so gorgeous with his dark skin, striking features, long, tangled hair. But the most beautiful thing was the expression in his chocolate eyes. Passion and longing—and love.

I love you.
I didn’t say the words aloud, but spoke them with my eyes and my whole body. “Gabriel.”

And then he was inside me and I shuddered with the sheer joy of it. Our bodies had been made for each other.

I stroked down the long, sleek line of his shoulders and back, gripped his butt, and felt his muscles work as he pumped into me. Long thrusts that went so deep they pulled me inside out when he drew back, then tiny ones so intense and concentrated that the pressure built unbearably.

I arched, pressing my breasts against his chest, raising my hips to him, my body begging his for the relief I craved. He stared deep into my eyes, then pulled away a little and his entire body tensed. He thrust deep, even deeper into my body, and everything inside me shattered in heat and fire and I cried his name as he gasped mine.

It was incredible. Absolutely incredible. Sex, yes, but the best, most amazing sex I’d ever experienced. And so much more than sex. Intimacy, a joining of hearts as well as bodies, the feeling of absolute certainty that this was the one man for me.

Realizing tears of joy filled my eyes, I blinked to hold them back.

He was sprawled on top of me, a Gabriel-blanket. His chest heaved against mine and his head rested in the curve of my shoulder. I turned my own head so I could kiss his hair. He moved slightly, enough to kiss my neck.

He sighed, a deep contented sigh that I could feel moving through his body.
“Too heavy,” he mumbled. “I’ll move. Soon as I can.”

I circled my arms around him tightly. He was still inside me and I didn
’t want to lose him. “Don’t move.”
Don’t ever move. Let’s keep this perfect moment forever.
“You’re not too heavy.”

I
’d always thought mirrors on ceilings were tacky, but now I wished I had one so I could see his naked back. Instead, I let my fingers roam. When I reached the base of his spine, he tensed. I smiled against his hair and explored further. His butt muscles flexed under my fingers, and inside me he began to grow again.

Instinctively, my own body responded.

He lifted his head, then shoved himself up on his elbows. Dragging the hair back from his face, he smiled. A lazy, seductive smile. And then he rolled us so I was on top and he was still inside me, growing even harder. “I promise I’ll last longer this time,” he said.

I
’d never been at ease in this position. I felt like it was up to me to make sure the sex was good, and I wasn’t confident I knew how to do that.

Perhaps he read my hesitancy, because he caressed my thigh and said,
“Anything you want, Isadora. Do anything, everything.”

What did I want? I studied his body, sprawled out beneath me, and suddenly I knew. I eased up, freeing him, exposing him. Then I swung myself off the bed.

“What?” he said, sitting up, looking alarmed.

“
No, it’s okay. I just…” My cheeks burned. “I want to look.”

“
Look?” Then he chuckled. “I’m flattered.”

“
You’re gorgeous. Just lie there, Gabriel, and let me look.”

He lay back obligingly and I studied him, taking in every detail. Especially of his
erection, slick with moisture from our bodies, growing even bigger under my inspection, jutting up until it almost touched his navel.

Then I sank down beside him, took him in one hand, and eased my mouth around him, opening wide to take him in. He reached up to touch my face, my breast. Then, as I ran my tongue up and down his length, his hand fell away, clenched, at his side.

“Tell me,” he gasped, “what you want. Before it’s too late to stop.”

Did I want him to come in my mouth? No, not this time. My body
burned with need. So I straddled him and took him inside, then leaned down to kiss him. When I would have stayed there, huddled over his chest, he took hold of my shoulders and pushed me back. “No, sit up. Tall and proud. Let me see your beautiful body.”

I obeyed, gripping his hips between my thighs
.

He grasped my hips as,
instinctively, we found the right pace. A pace that soon quickened, both of us gasping for breath. It was so unbearably delicious, so tantalizing, I wanted it to go on forever—but I also really wanted another orgasm.

His
fingers unerringly found my clit and stroked it. “Now, Isadora!” he commanded, and we exploded together.

I collapsed on his chest and he held me close. Slowly I straightened my legs, still holding him inside me even though he was wilting.

He chuckled, surprising me.

“
What?”

“
Bet your parents raised you on that saying, ‘today is the first day of the rest of your life.’ ”

“
Yes.”

“
It feels like that, doesn’t it?”

I nodded against his chest.
“Exactly like that.” He wasn’t pulling away, wanting to run. He was acknowledging that our lives had changed because of each other. I raised my head and touched my lips to his. “It’s a pretty fine first day.”

“
The best,” he said softly.

Again, tears of happiness swelled in my eyes.

We spent the rest of the night talking and dozing and making love again. In the morning, we made love in the shower, then stumbled into the sitting room, yawning. “I have to take Pogo out,” I said as I pulled on a jersey and leggings.

Gabriel frowned at the jumbled pile of clothing on the floor, then resignedly started to put on yesterday
’s rumpled garments. “I’ll come with you. I could really use a coffee.”

“
Me, too.”

He looked up from buttoning his shirt.
“I’ve never seen you drink coffee.”

“
Decaf only, but I love the occasional latté. There’s a place Jan and I go that makes great coffee and blueberry bran muffins.” The, remembering the dishes, I hurried into the kitchen and ran a sink-full of soapy water to soak them, wishing I had a dishwasher. “That’s first on the agenda when we get back.” I paused. “Sorry, I shouldn’t assume… I mean, you’ve probably got plans for the day.”

“
Bet on it.” He embraced me from behind, kissed the top of my head, and wriggled his hips suggestively.

“
Oh, those kind of plans.” I pressed back against him. “You sure you’ve got any, uh, juice left in your battery?”

“
Coffee’ll recharge me.” Then he pulled me even tighter. “You’ll recharge me, Isadora.”

Outside, we waited for Pogo to do his stuff, then headed off toward Denman Street. Gabriel reached for my hand, then released it.
“Should we be doing this in broad daylight?”

Harsh reality.
“I guess we need to talk about that.” I wanted us to touch, to act like lovers. I was proud to be with Gabriel and I wanted the whole world to know. But not before we decided how to deal with Richard.

Was Gabriel willing to admit to his son that we were a couple? If he was still trying to convince himself this was a short-term fling, he
’d probably want to keep it secret. I bit my lip. “This isn’t Richard’s part of town. It’s unlikely we’d run into him. Still, I guess there’s nothing wrong with playing it safe.”

“
Hell.” He grabbed my hand. “I’ve had enough of not being able to touch you.”

I bumped my hip against his.
“Me, too.”

When we reached the coffee shop and were standing in the order line, I said,
“Eat here, take the stuff to the beach, or go back to my place?”

His eyes twinkled.
“I’d say the beach.” He bent to whisper in my ear. “Give me another half hour to recharge. Or you’ll think I’m too old to satisfy you.”

Too old. I
’d wanted a man to grow old with, yet I’d fallen for one fifteen years my senior. Grace was right: you couldn’t plan love. But if you were lucky enough to find it, you should damn well enjoy it. And I was.

I tugged on his hair, pulling him down so I could whisper in turn.
“If I was any more satisfied, I wouldn’t be able to walk.”

He gave one of those smug male grins and I had to kiss it off his face.

“Next!” an annoyed voice said, and we hastily broke apart and moved forward to place our order.

But, after we
’d breakfasted lazily at the beach—sitting on what was now “our log”—we were both in a hurry to get back to my place.

As
soon as we were inside and I’d let Pogo off his lead, I reached for the buttons on Gabriel’s shirt.

“
Thought dishes were first on your list,” he teased.

“
Nope, you’re first.”

And, as it turned out, he was second and third as well.
We spent most of the morning touching each other, and my whole concept of sex changed. Before, I’d pretty much defined love-making as intercourse. Now, the boundaries were blurred. Every caress, whether it was blatantly sexual or subtly sensual, felt like making love.

At some point I managed to actually do the dishes and feed the animals, Gabriel took Pogo out for a quick visit to the front lawn, and we dug out cheese, crackers, and fruit for a snack in bed. But mostly we just touched and talked.