Gabriel’s Inferno Trilogy by Sylvain Reynard Page 0,231

Should I strip down to my panties?

As her brain stalled on how best to make her entrance, Gabriel tidied the terrace and moved everything inside. He placed the pillar candles around the room, grouping several of them by the bed. He adjusted the music so that a playlist he’d created solely for that night filled the air. He’d entitled the playlist Loving Julia and was more than a little proud of it. He placed a few personal items on the nightstand and turned out all the lights.

Then he waited.

And waited. But she didn’t appear. He began to worry.

He walked over to the bathroom and pressed his ear against the door. He could hear nothing, not even the sounds of running water or the rustling of silk. His heart leaped into his throat. What if she was afraid? Or upset?

What if she locked me out?

He took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

He was surprised to be so invited. He opened the door carefully and peeked inside. Julia was standing in front of the mirror, looking shy. “Are you all right?”

“Yes.”

He frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I just—Gabriel, will you hold me? I had all these plans, and then I came in here and froze and…” She rushed over to him.

His face wore a concerned expression. “It’s only me, love. Maybe I’ve overdone it.”

She shook her head and pressed her face to his chest. “No, I’m over-thinking things, as usual.”

“Then think about how much you are loved, my sweet, sweet girl. Tonight I will show you just how much.”

He kissed her tenderly, and when she smiled up at him and nodded, he picked her up to carry her to the bed.

Julia wasn’t afraid. She thought she might be, but as Gabriel held her in his arms, pausing with each step to kiss her, her nerves began to relax. She loved him. She wanted him. And she knew that he wanted her too.

He placed her on the edge of the bed and looked down on her with kindness. Julia’s breathing stilled; that was the look he had given her in the orchard. In their orchard. Now she wanted him even more.

“You turned the lights out,” she said.

“You have beautiful skin. It will be particularly alluring by candlelight.” He kissed her forehead. “A figure such as yours would have inspired cavemen to carve on walls.” He kneeled in front of her and slowly removed her high heels.

“Are you sure?” she whispered.

He sat back and looked up at her, pushing a lock of hair out of her eyes. “Only if you are, love.”

She smiled. “I meant—about the shoes. I could keep them on.”

The thought thrilled him. He couldn’t deny it. But he worried about her comfort, and there would be plenty of time for other, more playful moments.

“I shouldn’t have let you navigate the cobblestones in such high heels. It had to be painful. No shoes tonight.”

He caressed her feet slowly, running his thumb up and down the arch of her foot, a move designed to relax but also to arouse her. She began to whimper; it felt so good. She wondered briefly how his thumb would feel on other parts of her body, and a shiver coursed up and down her spine.

Gabriel paused. “You’re quivering. We don’t have to do this.”

“It’s a pleasant kind of quivering,” she murmured.

He continued to caress her feet for a few minutes before his hands ascended the backs of her calves to rest behind her knees. His magical fingers teased the hidden erogenous zone, almost making her cry out. She couldn’t keep her eyes open as her breathing came quicker.

He knows a woman’s body the way…somebody knows something. What was I saying?

In truth, he knew her body better than she knew it herself, which was a regrettable state of affairs. Nevertheless, she trembled as she thought of what delights awaited her when he actually moved his hands a little higher.

As if he was reading her mind, he ceased his attentions to her knees and moved his hands up to her thighs, pressing and parting them slightly so he could run his thumbs up and down, pausing before coming to the tops of her stockings. He was trying his best to take his time, making sure that she enjoyed every movement, ensuring that he skipped nothing.

“Gabriel, please don’t sit on the floor.” She reached her hand out to him, and he kissed it.

“The whole evening is a gift. Simply accept it.” A smile tugged at the edge of his