Rachel's Rebellion (Moss Bayou) (10 page)

The rain
continued to pour. Occasionally, lightning flashed and thunder answered with a
resounding roar. Driving back to Moss Bayou had been quiet. Rachel had said
little, sniffled more often than not, and stared blankly into the darkness as
he steered them back to her apartment. He supposed he should be relieved no one
of any real consequence had spotted him or Wyatt. It would be easy enough to
hand a load of bullshit to Denny Dennis, but other law enforcement could
present a big problem. Gabe knew he had to get his act together. He had already
crossed the line by revealing so much to Rachel.

Now, as he
held her close on the blue sofa in her living room, he thought the emotions
seeping through every inch of his body would overtake him. The feelings were
unlike anything he knew what to do with. Hell, his last semi-serious
relationship was almost five years ago. His life was not one for relationships.
He lived as a loner. A woman had no long term place in his life. Stroking her
hair, he inhaled deeply. Flowery citrus. The scent filled his lungs. He forged
the scent to memory. His life, his career, seemed ill-fitted for Rachel
Emerson.

A knock at
the door sounded and Rachel jumped against him. She had been so quiet, he
thought maybe she had found a little peace in sleep.

“I guess I
should see who it is,” she murmured.

“I’ll
disappear.”

“Don’t leave
me, Gabriel. Just go into the bedroom.” Her deep brown eyes found his.
“Please.”

He stood,
pulling her with him and into his arms. “I’ll be here,” he told her as he
placed his lips to hers.

Another
knock at the door. “Let me see who it is,” she told him. “Don’t move yet. I may
ignore it.” She went to the door and moved to look through the peep hole. She
turned to him and offered a hint of a smile as she opened the door. Gabe stood
by as Rachel pulled Phillip Latini into the room and quickly closed the door.

“I was hoping
you would be with her,” Phillip told him as he tried to wipe the rain from his
face.

“Couldn’t
leave her.”

“He’s been a
rock,” Rachel told Phillip. “News?”

“Tanner’s
parents are at home and half of Moss Bayou is there.” Phillip smiled. “Of
course, my mother has the ovens at the bakery going. Says that’s how she can
help them.”

“Your mom
wants to keep busy,” Rachel finally replied. “We all knew Laurel.”

“My dad is
worried everyone in Moss Bayou is addicted to heroin,” Phillip retorted.

“It did hit
close to home.”

Gabe stood
beside Rachel but said nothing.

“Listen, the
reason I really stopped by is,” Phillip looked directly at Gabe. “Your car.”

“My car?”

“Deke, it’s
out front.” Phillip threw a thumb over his shoulder toward the door. “Moss
Bayou. Mavis Cavett. Velma Toups. Need I say more?”

Gabe hated
to admit it, but Phillip was right. He would have to go. He couldn’t risk
breaking cover but even more he would not risk hateful stories about Rachel
being spread all over town, either.

Lightning
splashed bright light through the blinds covering the window. Gabe saw it as a
sign.

“Phillip’s
right. I should go.”

“Not what
Phillip said,” Phillip cut in. “I think we should trade cars, Deke.”

A blast of
thunder stole his attention for a moment. Rachel moved in closer.

“Trade cars?
You’d do that?”

“Here are my
keys.” Phillip handed him the keys.

“Thanks,
Man. I don’t know what to say.”

“My Fusion
is no Mustang, but…” Phillip took Gabe’s keys. “I better get out of here before
an even stranger story starts to circulate our quaint little town.”

Gabe felt
the need to speak. “Phillip, you’ve been above and beyond a friend. I don’t
know what to say to that. Thank you seems lacking.”

“Deke, it’s
what we do in Moss Bayou. Hell, bayou country is the backbone of the
help-your-neighbor way of life.”

“Phillip is
a wonderful friend,” Rachel she told him.

“Hope we’re
not interfering with your life.”

“Deke, I’m
coming out of a bit of heartache, so I’m not seeing anyone right now.”

“Phillip
says we’re giving him a chance to lick his wounds,” Rachel told Gabe.

“Any chance
of patching things up with her?” Gabe asked.

“No chance,
it seems of patching things up with
him
,” Phillip replied. “Deke, I’m
gay.”

“Phillip is
gay but to his family and the rest of the world, he’s straight,” Rachel
supplied. “I’m one of like four people who knows the truth.”

“See why I
don’t mind the act?” Phillip smiled, bent to kiss Rachel’s cheek and turned
toward the door. “Be together. Deke, I’ll stash your car around the corner from
my apartment. I’ll put the keys inside the glove box.”

With those
words, Phillip Latini walked out of the apartment and into the rainy night.

Gabe pulled
Rachel close as the sound of the rain filled the small space. “Beauty, you
should try to get some sleep.”

“Gabriel,
kiss me. I need you to kiss me.”

No need to
think about it. He put a hand to her cheek and his lips to hers. He held them
together a moment and then pulled away.

“No.
Kiss
me
, Gabriel.”

“Rachel, I want
to. Believe me. But you’ve been through a lot and I don’t want to seem
insensitive, here.” He couldn’t stop the chuckle.

She smiled.
“Insensitive would be not to kiss me when asked.”

His lips
went to hers once more and moved against her mouth. She opened her mouth to him
and he entered, searching for the taste that sated his soul. Yet, he still held
back. He wouldn’t rush her. He wouldn’t take more than she could offer. When he
finally pulled back and looked into her big, dark eyes she smiled.

“Sometimes I
think you’re my fantasy,” she whispered. “A figment of my imagination.”

“Glad I’m
the real deal.”

“I’m glad I
found the guts to ask a stranger to kiss me.”

Thinking
about that night at the Bayou Mart kicked his libido into a higher gear. That
control he was holding on to was going to slip if he wasn’t careful.

“Rachel, why
don’t you get some rest?”

She looked
at him a moment. “Under two conditions.”

“Two
conditions?”

“Get rid of
those contacts. I want to look into the eyes of Gabriel Deacon, not Deke Johnson.”

He nodded.
“And?”

“Come to bed
with me.”

“Rachel…”

“Gabriel…”

“You’ve had
a rough time. You should rest.”

“I’ll rest
if you’re with me. Beside me.” She gave him a quick kiss. “Lay down beside me
and hold me, Gabriel.”

He hesitated.
He knew where that could lead. Frankly, he didn’t know if he had enough
strength to just lay beside her. Holding her. Touching her. It would be
torture.

“Coming?”
Rachel turned and walked out of his arms. He watched her long brown hair
shimmer in the light as she made her way down the hall. He felt the throbbing
heat deep in his groin.

“Rachel?”

“Phillip has
given us this time,” she called out. “Let’s not waste it.”

And that’s
when the first bit of resolve was chipped away. He allowed his feet to move and
carry him down the hall behind her. At her bedroom door, he stopped. She stood
beside the bed, yanked the covers back, unzipped her jeans, shed them quickly
and crawled into the bed. He swallowed hard when Rachel patted the mattress in
invitation. Slowly, he moved toward the appointed side of the bed and watched,
totally mesmerized as she did some kind of wiggle, twist, and turn and then
flung her bra to the floor. How did she do that? Her shirt never left her body.

“Climb in,”
she urged.

He wasn’t an
idiot. He was a man. A seriously horny man who would have to fight like hell to
keep what remained of his control. Another hard swallow and he toed off one
boot, then the other. When he started to sit on the edge of the bed, Rachel
wagged her index finger.

“No, no.
T-shirt, too.”

Shit.

There went
another chip in that resolve he was desperately holding with a tenuous grip. He
yanked the T-shirt over his head. Pulling the small plastic case from the
pocket of his jeans, one contact and then the other was removed. He blinked a
couple of times then turned his face to her. The bedside lamp gave a soft glow
to the room and Rachel was etched in an outline of soft golden haze.

Damn
.

With nerves
of jelly, he laid down beside her and she immediately came to his side, resting
her head on his bare chest. Her hand splayed across his heart.

Another roar
of thunder sounded as the rain pounded heavily. Like his heart.

“Better,”
she whispered.

“Try to get
some sleep. It’s late.”

“I’ll try.”
She ran her fingers over the light spray of dark hair covering his chest. Her
hand moved downward a bit. “I like this,” she said. “Your hair gets thicker as
it goes lower.”

“Uh, yes.
Umm…”

Ok, I’m
not a religious man, but I’m praying here.

“Rachel?”

“Gabriel,
stop fighting this. Make love to me, now.”

Holy
shit.

“Is that a
good idea?”

Raising her
head, she looked at him. “Don’t want to?”

Did he want
to? Was she kidding? He’d spent the last month in agony he wanted her so much.

Gabe looked
into those dark eyes and fell in. He wanted her. Weeks of steamy kisses
followed by cold showers had driven him to the brink. He was hard. Achingly
hard.

“I want
you.”

The words
were that simple. That true. He said nothing else.

Rachel’s lips
were parted and he almost came when her tongue darted out to lick her bottom
lip. That was his undoing. No more safe. No more arguing with himself. He
wanted to be inside her.

He pushed
her onto her back, levered over her and found her mouth with his. His tongue
swept in and tasted the heat and the desire she was offering. He wasn’t done
with her wet, hot mouth, but his hand had plans of its own. As he explored her
mouth completely, his hand found a full breast. Her breath caught as he teased
the nipple.

He broke
away from her mouth. “This won’t do,” he rushed out with a hurried breath.

Slowly, his
hand moved down to her flat belly. His eyes locked with hers, as he reached for
the hem of her shirt, he thought the pain of moving slowly would kill him. But
slow and tender and loving is what he wanted this woman to have. If nothing
else, he would give her tenderness and he would cherish her.

The word hit
like a fist to the gut.

Cherish.

Light
flashed across the bed like a camera’s flash. Thunder rolled. Rain drowned out
all sound except that of her shallow breaths. He swallowed hard.

As his hand
guided her navy blue shirt upwards, slowly her creamy white skin appeared. His
other hand came forward. The delicate rib cage felt like glass under his
fingers. Her full, bare breasts begged for his attention. His fingers touched
the mounds, giving each its own attention. Without a second thought, he bent
forward and touched his tongue to her and traced at the edge of her left
breast. Rachel’s body bowed upward toward his mouth. He pulled the tight nipple
into his mouth for a quick taste. He pulled back from her and positioned his
weight on one elbow. Reaching for the shirt once more, he continued its journey
upward. “I want to see all of you.”

Rising to a
sitting position, Rachel took matters into her own hands. In a blink, the shirt
was gone. Before she could get rid of the pale blue panties he could now see,
he gently pushed her back down onto the mattress. The tightly peaked nipples
demanded his attention. But first he wanted to see his beautiful Rachel. He had
to see her. Tattoo the vision onto his heart. If this was all he could have, he
would remember it.

Situating
himself on his knees, he leaned in to place a trail of kisses on her belly.
That was all he allowed himself. More would push him over the edge and control
would be lost. He wanted to savor the gift she gave him. He looked at her.
Memorizing every beautiful inch. Sweeping a hand over her breast, down her flat
belly, and stopping at the edge of the pale blue panties, he took a breath.

“Gabriel…”

“Shhh. I’m
studying.”

Tracing the
edge of the panties, he sucked in another ragged breath as fire burned wildly
through him. He ached. He throbbed. He swallowed hard and focused on the beauty
that was Rachel Emerson.