A Thin Line (28 page)

“No,” he said before he could stop himself.

“Are you hurt?
 
What’s the matter?
 
Dammit, talk to me!”

“If you will be quiet long enough, mayhap I will!”
 

“I will return to my room.” She reached out a hand, after sitting up to make certain she did not encounter any objects between the bed and the door.

“Stop,” Gabe commanded, grabbing her other hand.
 
“Please, I need to talk to someone.”

Kala’s heart turned over at the hint of desperation in his voice.
 
“I’m listening,” she remained standing by the bed.

“I had to identify someone today.
 
That exotic woman you heard me with on those two occasions.”

“Has she been arrested?”

“No, she’s dead.
 
Mutilated.”

“Oh.” Kala stood next to the bed, her arms wrapped about her waist, her back stiff.
 
“And you were having a nightmare about her?”

“Yes, no.”

“Make up your mind Gabe.
 
Either you were or you weren’t.
 
Were you dreaming of another woman on our wedding night?”

“No, dammit!
 
I dreamed about you!
 
You were the dead woman in my nightmare!
 
Satisfied?”

“Were you wishing it were me?”
 

“My word, Mikala, how could you even think that?”

“Because of so many things of late.”

“Like?”

“Do you really want me to start?
 
Fine then, let me see, could it be that you called me stupid?”

“I called your actions stupid.”

“You wrote to my father demanding that he come and take me home.
 
You were forced into marrying me.
 
You took your mother’s word over mine.
 
Does that sound like a man who is overly fond of his wife to you?”
 
All of a sudden she felt firm hands gripping her upper arms causing her to jump.
 
“You said our marriage was not your choice.”

“Mikala, sometimes I swear you push me too far.”

“Did you ever stop to consider it was not mine either?”

“I, oh, bloody hell,” he said before pulling her against his nude form and kissing her firmly and deeply.
 
At first he felt her sink into the kiss as well, then she started pushing against him.
 

“Stop!
 
You don’t like me.
 
You don’t want to be married to me.”

“Maybe not, but we are, and I want you,” he growled before kissing her once more.
 

“And you think that will be enough for me?” She demanded after tearing her mouth away.

“It will have to be.”
 
Kala struggled at first then he felt her become passive.
 
“Dammit, I would rather you fight me.”

“And I would rather you shrivel up.”

“Oh, but I am far from shriveling up, Pest.”
 
He captured her lips and invaded the deep recesses of her mouth.
 
He felt her struggle but wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close.
 
He knew the exact moment she felt the proof of his attraction to her.
 
She jumped slightly in an attempt to pull away, but finally began to relax bit by bit.
 
Gabe couldn’t help but smile.

Kala savored the sensation of his mouth moving on hers and found herself wrapping her arms around his shoulders.
 
Her hands touched warm skin with hard muscle beneath it.
 
She desperately wished she could see what he looked like, but she had to rely on her other senses.
 
Rough palms pushed her dressing gown off her shoulders and she dropped her arms to let the silky material slip down her arms and puddle on the floor.
 
Soon fingers worked feverishly at untying the strings of her gown.
 
Her breath hitched a little, either in excitement or fear, she couldn’t exactly be sure which.

“Trust me, Kala?” One of those palms cupped her cheek gently.

“I shouldn’t,” she replied bluntly.

“I know.
 
I need you so much, though.
 
Need this.
 
Need to know that you are alive and well, even if you hate me.”

“I don’t hate you.
 
I don’t always like you, but I don’t hate you.”

“Always honest.”

“Kiss me.”
 
Once again, she felt his lips plying hers.
 
She tunneled her fingers into his hair, enjoying the silky feel.
 
The warm air caressed her legs as he lifted her gown.
 
Mikala felt it pulled over her head and then lost track of it.
 
He stopped kissing her, and she could feel him step back from her.
 
She felt self-conscious and started to cover herself.
 

“No, just let me look a moment.”
 
When a moment turned into several, Mikala started feeling uncomfortable.

“This was a mistake.”
 
She bent down and searched for her clothes.

“Mikala, you’re beautiful.”

“What?” His words stopped her.
 

“You are beautiful, and you’re mine.”
 
He stepped towards her and swept her up in his hard arms before gently laying her on the bed.
 
Gabe quickly crawled up beside her, kissing her once more.

She couldn’t quite decipher where he was in relation to her; she only knew he seemed to be everywhere.
 
His right hand ran up her left leg starting at her ankle, gently skimming and caressing.
 
He paused at her hip, using his thumb to rub gently back and forth.
 
She felt his calloused hand skate up her ribs until he reached the underside of her breast.
 
He gently squeezed and caressed the small globe causing her to go a little breathless.

“Gabe,” she moaned huskily when he finally let her breathe.
 
She felt him drop kisses along her chest and the upper slope of her breast before he captured her tender tip in his mouth and suckled gently.
 
Her back arched off the bed and she clung to his shoulders.
 
Never before had she felt anything like this.
 

“Just the beginning,” Gabe breathed into her ear before returning to suckle her other peak.
 

How would she survive this?
She wondered desperately.
 
Already she felt as if she had caught afire.
 
Beads of perspiration popped up on body, and her apex had come to life in a way she had never known before.
 
She pressed her thighs together tightly, attempting to ease the ache.
 
She felt his hand at her knees, caressing, working his way up her inner leg.

“Relax, sweetheart,” he whispered as he moved up to kiss her once more.
 
His hand massaged her inner right thigh, his thumb moving closer and closer to where she so desperately needed his touch.
 
She let her left leg fall open at an angle hoping to coax him to touch her as he had the other night.
 
“What do you want, Kala?” He asked between kisses.
 
She whispered in his ear exactly what she wanted and, if possible, he felt himself harden even more.
 
His calloused hand dropped to cover her womanhood, and then she felt one of his finger’s gently enter her channel.
 
“You are so ready for me,” he moaned.

“Yes,” she replied huskily.
 
She felt him shift until he lay between her legs.
 
This placed them in a starkly intimate position.
 
Mikala felt a moment of panic before she reminded herself that she had seen animals mate.
 
Surely this can’t be much different
, she thought pragmatically.
 

“Mikala, this might hurt, but only this once.”

“I don’t care.”
 
He began kissing her once more and then she felt something infinitely larger than his finger probing her.
 
She pulled away. “Will you fit?” She asked desperately.

“Relax,” he whispered as he spread her legs a little wider and pushed slowly into her.
 
She felt a momentary twinge and then he fully impaled her until their groins touched.
 
“How do you feel?”

“Full of you,” she whispered and caressed the scar on his face.
 
“I wish I could see your face.”

“I wish you could, too,” he said, caressing her face and kissing her tenderly.

“You’re not stopping are you?”

“Don’t worry, Pest, nothing could stop me now,” he kissed her.
 
“You tell me when you’re ready.”
 

“I’ve always been ready for you,” she whispered.

“Kala,” he groaned, and began the slow cadence.
 
They alternately kissed and touched, not getting enough of each other.
 
He drove her mad, almost pulling out and then slowly plunging back in.
 
She dug in her heels to meet his every move, not willing to be a passive partner.
 
Unable to reach him anywhere else, but needing the contact, she held onto his upper arms, squeezing his muscles, urging him on.

“Too slow,” she said, almost feeling frantic.
 

“Wrap your legs around my hips,” he instructed.
 
When she did, he quickened his pace.
 
Mikala tried to hold onto his sweat-slick shoulders.
 
She enjoyed the feel of him pounding into her, the rawness of it.
 
It felt so elemental.
 
She felt she would fall from this great height at any moment.
 
Kala heard herself whimper in frustration.
 
Gabe must have heard her, for she felt one of his hands travel to where they were joined.
 
He found a swollen piece of flesh and gave it a tender squeeze.
 
She gasped.
 
The next time he timed it with a deep thrust and she felt herself splintering.

Gabriel heard her hoarse cry and saw her face as she reached her fulfillment.
 
Her legs dropped limply to the mattress.
 
He lifted her hips slightly and rose up on his knees.
 
He thrust hard and deep, once, twice, three times before he felt himself go over the edge.
 
His essence pulsed into her.
 
Gabe gave a shout to the ceiling before collapsing onto his supple wife.

After several moments, he came back to himself and rolled off of her.
 
He lay beside her, pulling her into the cradle of his arms.
 

“So that is what the maids giggle about,” Mikala said breathlessly.

“Hmmm,” Gabe agreed.
 
They lay in quiet repletion for a while.

“Gabe.”

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry I am so difficult.”

“If it brings us to this, it is well worth it, wife.”
 
Mikala huffed up like she would say something, but he had captured her lips once more, cutting off whatever she had been about to say.

Chapter 21

Gabriel awoke the next morning with his head pounding and a list of things he needed to do.
 
He rolled over to find the other half of his bed empty.
 
Frowning, he slipped from the bed and crossed the room, pulling open the connecting door to peek inside.
 
He saw no trace of Kala.
 
Now he noticed the pounding in his head came with a rhythm and lacked the aching that usually accompanied a headache.
 
Gabe turned back and looked at the bed once more, remembering the night before.
 
He should have known that Mikala would take to bed sport as she did with all other physical activity.
 
Just thinking about last night made his body ache.

He jerked on his dressing robe over his nude form before pulling open the bedroom door. “Hamlin,” Gabe yelled.

“Yes, Your Grace?”
 
Was he imagining the coolness in Hamlin’s voice when he addressed him just now?

“Where is my wife?”

“Gaining her independence of you, Your Grace.”
 
No, no mistake.
 
His voice practically formed icicles.

“What?”

“May I speak freely, Your Grace?”

“Why not?
 
You’ve known me since I was in leading strings, and I doubt that I could stop you anyway.”

“Too true, Your Grace.
 
The way you treated her last night and the things you said, you are lucky indeed that she did not leave you in the middle of the night.”

“Thank you for your candid observance of my personal life, Hamlin.”

The butler bowed deeply, mockingly.
 
“I am glad to oblige, Your Grace.”
 
Gabe ignored the sarcasm in the butler’s voice.