Gabriel’s Inferno Trilogy by Sylvain Reynard Page 0,136

with me.”

“Then I’ll stay.”

Julia fell asleep while Gabriel remained awake contemplating the scars she had shown him, wondering with queasiness and anger about the scars she had not revealed.

“Julia?” he whispered. Her regular breathing and lack of response indicated that she was sleeping.

“I won’t let anyone hurt you.” He kissed her cheek softly. “Least of all myself.”

Chapter 19

Julia awoke the next morning to the sounds of the shower. She was trying to work out how someone other than she could be in her washroom when the sounds stopped and a tall, brown-haired man wrapped in a small, purple towel came through the door. Her eyes widened in surprise, and she gasped, clapping a hand over her open mouth.

“Good morning,” said Gabriel, clutching the towel that was slung low on his hips with one hand while grabbing his clothes with the other.

Julia stared. And she wasn’t staring at his face.

Regardless of what she was staring at, his hair was wet and sticking out in unruly spikes from his head. Beads of water clung to his shoulders and chest and glistened off the surface of his tattoo. The contours of sinew, muscle and veins, symmetry and balance, idealized proportion, and classical lines would be breathtaking even to the casual observer. But Julia was anything but a casual observer, for she had spent the entire night with this very body in her bed, spooning her close and playing with her hair. And this body was attached to a damn fine mind and a very deep, passionate soul.

Nevertheless, Julia was staring at his physical form, and thus the term aquatic demi-god flitted through her consciousness.

Gabriel grinned. “I said good morning, Julianne.”

She closed her mouth. “Um, good morning.”

He walked over and leaned down, pressing a firm but gentle opened-mouth kiss against her lips. A few droplets of water splashed around her on the sheets. “Did you sleep well?”

She nodded slowly, feeling a good deal too warm.

“You’re not saying much.” He straightened up and smirked at her.

“You’re half-naked.”

“Right. Would you prefer me wholly naked?” He shifted the towel provocatively on his hips and grinned.

Julia nearly expired in shock.

“I’m just kidding, sweetheart.” He kissed her again, with a furrowed brow.

A discomforting thought occurred to him. He retreated backward with a very serious expression on his face. “I forgot about what happened to you in St. Louis. When you were little,” he clarified. “I’m sorry to barge in on you like this. I wasn’t thinking.”

Julia looked over at him with mute appreciation. She smiled shyly. “It’s all right. You’re just distracting. You seem happy this morning.”

He grinned. “Sharing a bed with you agrees with me. Can I make you breakfast?”

“Um, sure. But you know I don’t have a kitchen.”

“I’m a resourceful man.” Gabriel smiled at her genuinely, his warmth enough to overcome her embarrassment about her cooking facilities.

Just before he closed the bathroom door behind him, she was treated to the barest glimpse of the most beautiful gluteus maximus muscles as Gabriel dropped his purple towel.

Julia gaped like a codfish.

***

The following evening, Rachel returned to Philadelphia from her romantic holiday with Aaron and promptly checked her voice mail. After a frantic call to her father, she immediately telephoned Gabriel and left a message.

“What the hell is going on up there, Gabriel? What did you do to Julia? She only disappeared once in her life and that was when she was completely humiliated by her ex! So what the fuck did you do to her? I swear to God I’m hopping on a plane. Call me…

“By the way, Dad says hi and he’s glad you called. Would it kill you to call him once a week? He has decided to go back to work because he can’t stand being home alone. And by the way, he put the house up for sale.”

Then, more than slightly worried about her best friend, Rachel called Julia and left a message on her voice mail, as well.

“Julia, what did Gabriel do? He was raving like a lunatic on my voice mail. He isn’t answering his phone, so I can’t get his side of the story. Not that I expect the truth from him. Anyway, I hope that you’re all right, and I’m really sorry. Whatever he did, please don’t disappear on me again. Not when this is our last Thanksgiving in the house. My dad put it up for sale. Aaron still wants to get you a ticket, so call me, okay? Love you.”

Afterward, Rachel returned to her normal life in Philadelphia, anxiously