Deliver the Moon (24 page)

“Lou, Lou, Lou,” he chuckled softly. “You’re not getting off so easy.”

“Twice? Oh, I don’t think I could—”

He silenced her with a kiss. “Then your memory isn’t as good as mine. Of course you can.”

As if to prove his words, he slid his hand between them to caress her sensitive nub. Gabe saw the surprise in her eyes. “See?” He increased the rhythm of his hips, and she met him move for move. He wanted to prove to her that only he could make her feel this way. He needed to prove to himself that he wasn’t dreaming. His urgency drove him deeper, faster, harder, not slowing his tempo as her fingers dug into his shoulders and she arched against his chest.

This was as good as he remembered. No. Better. Glorious.
On the verge of exploding.
Not yet.
Wait for her.
Her thighs squeezed against his hips.

“Oh, God, Gabriel! I’m really going to—”

His own impassioned cry drowned hers out as he climaxed, gasping her name over and over before collapsing in spent passion onto her chest.

****

Gabe’s warm breath blew the wispy hairs at her temple as Louisa leaned back against his chest. He was propped against the pillows and headboard with his arms snugly around her. She could stay like this forever. For the first time in a very long time, she felt utterly content.

A distant popping sound echoed from the direction of the water. “Oh,” Louisa said with sudden disappointment. “We missed the fireworks.”

“No, we didn’t,” Gabe said, nuzzling her neck.

“
Mmm
,” she murmured, turning in his arms. “I guess you’re right.” She lifted her mouth for his kiss. After a few minutes of leisurely necking, another sound interrupted them.

He chuckled. “Was that your stomach?”

She giggled. “I can’t help it. I haven’t eaten anything since breakfast.”

They debated whether to go into town for a late dinner or to order something in. Louisa contended she’d have to take a shower before she’d be seen in public, and although Gabe had no objections to joining her in the shower, he figured that might delay dinner too long. He certainly didn’t want her fainting from hunger. They decided on pizza. And he knew just what to do to pass the time until it was delivered.

Forty-five minutes later, the pizza arrived. Before answering the door, Louisa smoothed her hands over her clothes, but it was a lost cause. Her yellow dress was hopelessly wrinkled. She glanced over her shoulder at Gabe. “Remind me not to wear anything from now on, okay?” she quipped before admitting the delivery boy.

After paying for the pizza and closing the door, she found Gabe watching her, an intense expression on his face. She stopped in her tracks. “What?”

“You said
from now on
, Lou.”

She blinked fast a couple of times. “Well…yes. I meant that—I mean, we’ll probably—” She blinked again, flustered.

“
From now on
sounds like you’re thinking about the future,” he said, still watching her.

She didn’t quite look at him as she brushed past him to set the warm pizza box on the table near the windows. “It was just a figure of speech. I was making a joke about my dress being so wrinkled.”

He came around to stand in front of her. “Tell me what you’re thinking, Lou. What do you want to happen when we get back to Seattle?”

No, no, no.
She didn’t want to think about that yet. “Could you please put some clothes on? I can’t carry on a normal conversation with you when you’re standing there naked.” It was true. Too distracting. She glanced at his beautiful chest and followed the line of dark, curly hair down his rippling stomach to his penis. She cleared her throat and looked away.
Way
too distracting. “I need to eat.”

He obligingly reached for his jeans from where they’d been discarded in a rumpled heap on the floor. She sat at the table and opened the pizza box. Her stomach growled at the tantalizing sight and aroma of melted cheese and pepperoni. She’d already taken several ravenous bites when he joined her.

“We need to talk about this eventually, Louisa,” Gabe said, sitting across from her and reaching for a slice.

She broke the long string of mozzarella joining the bite in her mouth to the piece in her hand, then finished chewing and swallowing. “Well, I don’t want to talk about it now. I just want to eat.” She finally met his gaze across the table. “Okay?”

His eyes narrowed a bit, then he nodded. “Okay.”

They spent the remainder of the meal in silence. Louisa didn’t want to talk about the future just yet, but knew he did. He wanted to know what her decision would be. Him or Evan?

After making love to Gabe, Louisa didn’t know that there
would
be a decision to be had. Evan may not even
want
her back after she told him what had transpired this weekend. In limited detail of course.

“Stay with me tonight.”

“What?” She licked sauce from her fingers.

“I want a full night with you, Louisa. I want to wake up with you in my arms tomorrow.”

Louisa’s first thought was to say no, that she needed time to think, but something in his eyes made her change her mind. The thought of waking up in his arms sounded heavenly. She found herself nodding weakly. “Okay,” she whispered.

A slight curve tipped his mouth. He put down his pizza and stood up, holding out his hand. “I’m done eating.”

She closed her eyes.
Don’t think about tomorrow. Don’t think about Evan or the fact that you could lose your job. Just think about now.
She opened her eyes and
placed her hand in his, letting him pull her to her feet. He led her slowly toward his bed.

When the backs of her knees touched the edge of the mattress, he began to unbutton her dress. “You mentioned losing the dress.” He pushed the dress and her bra over her shoulders and let them fall to the floor. She stood naked before him in the dim light.

His gaze swept over her body, and she flushed from head to toe. “You are so beautiful,” he whispered, turning her around so her back pressed against him. He used the position to his advantage, caressing his hands from her shoulders to her breasts to her belly. She tipped her head back, giving him access to her neck and shivering as his mouth met the sensitive area where her neck and shoulder met.

This felt so good. So right. But then, it had felt right the first time they’d made love, too. She bit back a sigh. Gabe had been her first love. She thought he’d be her last.

She tried to tense her body to his touch, knowing they really had no business doing this with all the unfinished business between them. But then he slipped his hand between her thighs, and his fingers slid inside her folds. She moaned and writhed against his hand. Their problems would be waiting for them back in Seattle. Why rush it? It was too late now anyway. No turning back.

With a deep sigh, she leaned back against him, his swollen shaft pressed against her bottom through his jeans as he rubbed against her.

His free hand reached around and cupped her breast, massaging and kneading the aching flesh. His thumb flicked over her pebbled nipple, and Louisa groaned at the exquisite sensation. His hand slid around her waist, and rubbed up and down her back, as he continued his assault on her sex. Then, suddenly he stopped.

“Gabriel?” she whispered when his frozen state lasted more than a few seconds.

Finally, his hands moved again, but this time they both were beneath her breasts, his fingers feather-soft, trailing a path down her ribcage and around her waist—

Louisa’s gut clenched. He was touching her scars from the accident. “Gabriel, don’t,” she cried softly.

He ignored her plea and traced a finger over the thin, flat ridge that ran from her breastbone to her abdomen, and another from her ribcage around to her back.

Slowly, he turned her around and nudged her down onto the bed and knelt in front of her. He skimmed a finger down her side. Louisa shivered. The scars had faded, but were still a grim reminder of that awful night. Gabe closed his eyes.

“Gabriel?” she whispered. When he didn’t say anything, she said, “They’re ugly, aren’t they? I was hoping you wouldn’t notice them, but—”

He cut her words off by enveloping her in a fierce embrace. “Oh, Lou,” he moaned into her hair, hugging her tighter, not wanting to ever let go. “God, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I should never have made you come with me that night. I should have let you stay at your parents’ party. If I had, Joey would still be alive, and you—” The rest of his words caught in his throat.

She cupped his shoulders and pushed him gently away from her. “Gabriel,” she said softly. Her eyes were soft and golden, full of gentleness. “The accident wasn’t your fault. The other driver was drunk, there’s no way you could have avoided the collision.”

Her expression was so compassionate he couldn’t bear to look at her. He backed away and sat next to her on the bed, leaving space between them. “I made you come with me that night. And then—” A shaky breath cut him off again, and he turned his shoulders away from her, needing to gather his composure. God, how could he ever forgive himself? How could
she
ever forgive him?

Louisa scooted closer to him and rested a hand on his thigh. His muscles tensed beneath the denim material. He couldn’t meet her eyes.

“I’ve played this what-if game, too,” she said. “It doesn’t help. Maybe I shouldn’t have left with you. I was a grown woman, I could have stayed. Maybe we shouldn’t have gone to the party at all. Maybe we should have left Joey with a babysitter. Maybe we should have taken another way home.” She cupped his jaw and turned his face toward hers. “Stop torturing yourself, Gabriel. Stop blaming yourself.”

“You almost died, Lou,” he said, his voice ragged. “As your husband, I was supposed to protect you, to keep you from harm. But I almost killed you. I could have lost you, too. I had a hard enough time dealing with Joey’s death. What would I have done without you?”

She began to cry.

He grasped her hands and lifted them to his mouth, kissing the backs of her fingers one at a time. “All this time I’ve been trying to put the past behind me, trying to get over the loss of our son,” he said. “I couldn’t figure out how anyone could ever recover from such a tragedy, how anyone could ever get their life straightened out and feel normal again. I thought there was something wrong with me, that maybe something in my past made it impossible for me to heal.”

He let go of her hands and cupped her face, staring into her eyes. “I know now what the problem is,” he said, and he knew it with sudden clarity. “All this time I thought I was mourning only for Joey. But I was wrong. I was also mourning for you. For us. Leaving you was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made. I am so, so sorry.” He smoothed the hair from her face. “I love you, Louisa.”

Louisa opened her mouth to speak, but Gabe’s finger pressed against her lips, silencing her. “Don’t say anything,” he said. “Whatever happens after we get back to Seattle, just know that I love you and that I’ll always love you. Okay?”

She finally nodded, knowing she wouldn’t be able to speak anyway. He loved her. That wasn’t such a surprise. The surprise was hearing him say it. Throughout their marriage, he’d had a hard time saying those three little words. But now he said it with such conviction, she had no doubt he meant every word. So why was she feeling so torn inside?

Because they’d loved each other before, too. And still they’d grown apart.

As two fat tears rolled onto her cheeks, Gabe kissed her. She felt his love in every whisper of his lips, every caress of his hands. He proceeded to make the most exquisite, breathtaking love to her, taking her over and over to that special place. Even though she was several hours from her house, she felt like she’d come home.

Chapter Sixteen

The half-hour ferry ride from Bainbridge Island to Seattle seemed more like hours. Rather than fight for a seat inside the crowded boat, Gabe and Louisa stayed in the car. Sarah and Arty had driven back in Louisa’s car and were somewhere near the front of the boat. The other couple had good-naturedly ribbed them for their trickery in getting them together in Port Townsend. Louisa was pleased to see them so happy again.

When Gabe went up for coffee, Louisa sat rigid in her seat, staring at nothing in particular out the car window.

What was she going to do?
If she had to make up her mind this very instant, she’d choose Gabe. In a heartbeat. But she owed it to Evan not to make that split decision. This was the rest of her life she was talking about. She couldn’t afford to be wrong.

She loved Gabe. He loved her. But she also loved Evan. Granted, it wasn’t the passionate, all-consuming love she felt for Gabe, but it was safe. It was easy. What’s more, her parents loved Evan. That was important. It wasn’t that she
needed
their approval so much as she
wanted
it. They were delighted she had found Evan. For the first time in her memory, they were proud of her. No matter the strong feelings she had for Gabe, she couldn’t just wipe out the past year with Evan because of one glorious weekend.

For all she knew, though, Evan might not even want her back. If that was the case, would that make her decision any easier? She rubbed her suddenly throbbing temples. Was she really willing to risk everything, including her heart, with Gabe?

She also had to accept the very real possibility that she would lose her job if she broke up with Evan,
especially
if she chose Gabe. And Jody certainly wouldn’t give her a glowing reference either.

She imagined her family’s reaction if she told them she was leaving Evan. She squeezed her eyes shut at the thought. She imagined their reaction if she told them she was leaving Evan for Gabe. Oh, God—they’d be irate. Probably want to have her committed.