Rachel's Rebellion (Moss Bayou) (11 page)

“I think you
are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” He reached out to trace the sexy
space just above the edge of her panties and then the soft curve of her hip. As
his hand slid slowly down her thigh, she gasped.

“Gabri…”

“Shhh. I
told you. I’m studying. I want to learn you.”

As he stuck
a finger inside the band of her panties, her breath came in pants. Pulling the
fabric down, little by little, he felt his own breath quicken as the edge of
dark curls began to appear. Then with a flick of motion, the panties went down
her sexy legs and sailed to the floor. The sight before him stopped his breath.
Rachel, all woman, all soft and curved. Rachel was even more beautiful than
he’d dreamed.

“Gabriel,
please.”

“I want to
remember this moment.”

“Make love
to me.” She reached out a hand.

Gabe smiled
at her. She felt the heat and the need just as he did. Leaning down once more,
he found the left nipple. He suckled the hard tip and then teased it with his
tongue. Slowly, he licked a trail to the other side. A suckle of the tight bud
and then a tease with his tongue. He heard Rachel’s response deep in her
throat. With his mouth, he worked his way from her breasts down the smooth skin
of her belly and came to the sweet spot just above her pelvic bone as his hand
made its way toward her center. His eyes found hers. Deep, dark and filled with
the demanding hunger he felt. She licked her bottom lip and he felt the vision
race through him like wild fire. With a deep breath and a determined iron will,
he held it together. His fingers traced her momentarily and she shifted her
legs apart to give him access. The wet heat invited him inside and holding her
eyes to his, his finger teased and then slowly entered her.

“You are
hot,” he rasped. “Wet.”

“I want
you,” she answered. “I need you.”

“I want you,
too.”

“Gabriel, I
want you inside me.”

The past
month have been filled with a burning need to sooth the ache they had created.
The explosion that was promised was only a moment away. He couldn’t deny her.
He wanted this – needed this – as much as she did.

“God,
Rachel…” He took another breath. “I want this to go on forever.”

“I want you.
Now.”

“Gabriel,
love me…”

“Going to,” he
said as he quickly stood and did away with the jeans.

He couldn’t
fight her, himself, or the white hot desire he had for this woman. Spreading
her legs, he drank in the view as he positioned himself over her. Balancing on
one arm, his mouth found one of the tight nipples. He had waited so long to
taste all of her. His tongue teased the tight bud and then when he couldn’t
keep himself in check any longer, he sucked her inside his mouth. A low groan
reached his ears. Was it from her? Him?

He pulled
back to look once more into her eyes.

“No more
torture. I want you. All of you.”

Rachel
reached for him and pulled him to her.

“Wait.”

Quickly he
pulled back enough to reach for his jeans on the floor. Grabbing the condom
from his pocket, he tore the packet open. He dealt with the condom and found
her mouth once more. A kiss that burned him from the inside out. He responded
in kind and the world tilted wildly.

Gabe
maneuvered over her and between her thighs. Pushing her leg with his knee, he
looked deep into her eyes. Waiting for a sign. A signal. A cease and desist.
None came. Instead, Rachel shifted slightly, grabbed his hips with her sweet
thighs and wrapped herself around him. Without conscious thought of movement,
he drove inside. Deep. Scorching hot and slick. Tight. He felt a shudder
throughout his body as she stiffened and called out. He froze.

“Rachel?”

She
whispered. “It’s been a long time for me. A very long time.”

The most he
allowed himself was a deep breath. The pleasure was so intense.

Lightning
sizzled the sky and light strobed across them once more.

Gabe
remained still. She was so tight around him. Just when he thought he couldn’t
wait any longer, she started to move.

“Easy,
Rachel.”

“I want
this. I want you, Gabriel.”

Ever so
slowly he started to move inside her. Gentle was his middle name. Rachel’s hips
moved and then again. As she rocked her hips into him he began to move with
her, mimicking her pace. He tried to keep things slow but Rachel picked up
where he left off and took him with her. His body took over and he answered her
thrusts with his own. The rhythm escalated as Rachel moved faster under him.
Faster, drenched in a wet heat, each stroke drove them closer. The connection
between them floated from the physical to something he couldn’t define as each
heavy breath fed a need neither could hold back.

Her inner
muscles grip him tighter. He knew she was going to come. He thrust deeper and
quicker, meeting her challenge. Together they worked in a frantic rhythm. She
climbed higher and he was clinging to the last bit of will he could muster.

With a gasp
of his name, she reached the edge. He thrust his tongue into her mouth,
simulating the action that was bringing him to the edge with her. They broke
apart long enough to catch a breath.

“Gabriel…” she
moaned deep and low.

“Coming,
Beauty?”

“Oh. God.
Yes!”

“Good.”

He pushed
deeper and with jackhammer precision worked them to the top. Rachel’s nails dug
into his back as her legs tightened around him and he drove harder. Deeper.
Faster. The white hot fire roared as her name escaped his lips. She was there.
Knowing she was climaxing, he couldn’t fight his own. He pushed into her as she
tightened around him. With no air left in his chest, he somehow managed to call
her name once more. His mouth found hers and he took possession, making her
very his own.

**********

Rachel lay
against Gabe, her breaths no longer coming out in short gasps. Smoothing a hand
over the flat, hard abs, she leaned in to kiss his chest. Her body hummed. She had
never experienced lovemaking with such a wow factor. The chemistry was
explosive, but even more satisfying was the emotional connection. She smiled as
Gabe pulled her closer.

“You are
amazing, Beauty.”

She looked
up into his beautiful eyes. Her heart swelled with emotion. He leaned in and
kissed her.

“You are
amazing, Gabriel.”

“Remind me
to thank Phillip again.” He grinned.

“Yes,
Phillip definitely has my gratitude at the moment.”

Shifting
their bodies closer, she returned her head to his chest and placed her hand
over his heart.

“What’s
Phillip’s story?”

“He’s a
good, trustworthy friend. We’ve been buds forever, it seems.”

“Why the
secrecy about his love life?”

“Phillip’s
parents are very old fashioned. Phillip just isn’t comfortable or ready to tell
them he’s gay, I guess.” She sighed. “That’s what came between him and Alec.
Other than Alec, I think I’m the only one who knows Phillip is gay. He’s been
trying to work on dealing with that fact.”

The room was
quiet. Even the rain had slowed. The flashes of lightning had ceased and the
thunder silenced. A peacefulness filled the quiet room. She felt like she could
purr. The soft glow of the bedside lamp provided a touch of romance to the
scene of two lovers wrapped together in twisted sheets, enjoying the aftermath
of hot sex. Definitely the hottest sex she’d ever experienced.

“Gabriel?”

“Hmm?”

“You said
your mother left when you were a little boy….”

A barely
noticeable sharp intake of breath escaped Gabe and he remained quiet. Rachel
regretted opening her mouth. She wouldn’t pry so she said nothing more. Then,
softly, his deep voice began to fill the silence.

“She left
when I was about four. I don’t really remember her.”

“What about
your father?”

Another
pause followed by another intake of breath.

“Dear old Dad
was in prison by the time I was eight. He had a long history with the police.
Guess that’s why she left. Don’t really know for sure. It’s not like she called
or wrote.”

“Where did
you go? Any brothers or sisters?”

“No
siblings. Thankfully, they could only screw up one kid.”

He sounded
soft, but hard at the same time.

“Gabriel,
I’m sorry you had that.”

“It improved
a bit,” he finally spoke again. “I went to live with my grandfather. While he
wasn’t constantly in jail like his son, he was an alcoholic.” He paused. “He
wasn’t a mean drunk…just drunk. Morning, noon, and night.”

“From the
sound of it, you didn’t have a grandmother in the picture.”

“No. When I
arrived, I was eight and scared. Eventually, I toughened up. When I was about thirteen,
a girlfriend of his moved in with us. Her name was Estelle. She became a mother
and a grandmother to me, but it wasn’t easy for her. By that time I had a huge
chip on my shoulder. I’d been doing what I wanted for a long time. She stuck it
out, though. She later told me she remained with my grandfather because of me.
She never had any children of her own.

“She had to
do something right,” she told him. “Look at what you’ve become.”

He had to
laugh. “I didn’t make it easy on her in the beginning.”

“But she
stayed. I bet she influenced you more than you were willing to admit.”

“Estelle
talked me into the military. She knew I needed stability and needed to feel
like a part of something. Right after high school, with her encouragement, I
enlisted. She had been right. The military, my time in the army, was right for
me.”

Rachel
smoothed a hand over his chest but said nothing. She let him keep talking.

“When it was
time to re-up, Estelle pushed me into college.” He laughed. “Said I had the
brains to do it and the G.I. Bill to fund it. She was right, again. I separated
from the military, landed a training position with a small police force while I
attended the police academy. It was also then that I enrolled in college. Got
my degree in Criminal Justice and was lucky enough to have the State Bureau of
Investigation grab me before the ink was dry on the diploma.”

“Are your
grandparents still around?”

“No. Both
have passed on. My father died in prison when I was twelve.” Another pause.
“Our lives were very different, Rachel.”

Something in
his voice stabbed at her heart. Was this all they would have? Did Gabriel not
see them in the future? She felt the sting of tears but forced them back. If
this was all she could have with him, she would take it. Cherish it. She would
remember it all and never let it leave her heart.

Gabriel
quietly dressed, occasionally stealing a glance at the bed he’d just forced
himself to leave. His sleeping beauty lay silently in the midst of rumpled
sheets and displaced pillows. He hated leaving her. He had no choice. Sunday
night had transitioned into Monday morning while they made love, slept, and
made love again. The images of Rachel, under him, calling his name, made him
grow rock hard all over again. He wanted to crawl back into that bed and make
love to her once more, but duty called. He had to leave her now, like it seemed
he always did. He had to be Deke Johnson again.

Grabbing Phillip’s
keys from the pocket of his jeans, he leaned down and placed a kiss to Rachel’s
lips. She stirred slightly. Yes, he felt the same. A night of lovemaking with
her had taken every ounce of his energy reserves. Did he regret the lack of
real sleep? No. If nothing else, he had last night to call his own. He had more
than just a fantasy. Yet, he knew it wouldn’t ease the ache when it was time to
leave her. Forever. She deserved so much more than him. He gently stroked a
dark strand of hair from her face.

With a deep
sigh, he grabbed his wrist watch from the night stand and turned away. Looking
at his watch as he strapped it to his wrist, he picked up the pace as he made
his way to the front door. It was early. Dawn was only a small hint on the
horizon. He looked around for signs of life and saw none. Somewhere in the
distance, the sound of a car engine came to life but for his needs, the street
was asleep. Hurrying to Phillip’s car, he quickly made his getaway. He smiled
and then it faded away when he realized, being a cop was still not enough for
her. He was still that kid. No badge would change the past.

As he drove
to Phillip’s apartment, his mind focused on that old, run down house of his
childhood. The peeling paint, the rotting steps leading to the dilapidated
porch, the torn furniture, and the smell of everything old and worn surrounded
him. He thought of the big, rambling farmhouse with the wrap around porch,
flower gardens, and well-tended lawn that Rachel Emerson called her childhood
home. The closest thing to that house in his old neighborhood had been the
Burgess place. It was a double-wide trailer with a detached carport.