my skin as he pulls away. “I thought they were making that shit up.”
Wait…what?
I shove him away. Stare open-mouthed.
He grins, rakes his hair out of his eyes, and pounces on me again without a word of warning.
They told him what I tasted like?
I thump a fist into his chest, but he just grabs my wrist and moves it off to one side without pausing his kiss.
It’s ridiculous to attack him, especially since I’m still kissing him back. Fuck…kissing him back? I’m barely holding my ground. He’s so passionate, so enthusiastic, my heart starts fluttering in my chest like a moth trapped in the tub.
But still I try and pound him with my other fist.
And then he snatches that one too. Now they’re both at the small of my back, and he uses both hands to keep them there while he urges me forward, closer to the edge of the desk.
He tips his head forward, leaning his brow against mine. We’re both panting, and this time it has nothing to do with climbing stairs.
“I could kiss you all day,” he breathes, and then brushes his lips over my nose, my cheek, my ear. “But that bell’s going to go off in a minute.”
And then the craziest words fall out of my mouth. “Can we go back to your room?”
Hormones.
That’s my story, and I’m sticking with it.
He grins against my mouth, and a happy huff caressing my lips. “I’d love to, but I can’t. Raincheck?”
I nod, biting the inside of my lip hard enough that I’m surprised I don’t taste blood.
He lifts me, twirling me around once before letting me slide to the ground, kissing me on the way down.
Then he herds me out of the tiny room, allowing me a precious second to stare at his media mural before he shuts the door and locks it.
When he turns, I force a wide smile onto my face and desperately hope he can’t see through it.
That photo is going to haunt me. Those faces…
I push the thought out of my mind. It’s pointless trying to understand, especially when the answer is but a question away.
Gabriel wants to see me? Well guess what…?
I do have questions for him.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Trinity
I spend a good half hour fussing with my hair as I stare at my reflection in the restroom mirror.
Stalling.
Trying to convince myself that going to see Gabriel is for the greater good, even if I’m not sure I actually want him to answer my questions.
Eventually there’s nothing left to do but to start climbing those stairs.
I’m so deep in thought that I don’t notice his door is open until I’m about to walk through.
I pause.
Should I announce myself or just go in? He did invite me and I doubt he’d leave the door open if he didn’t want me to come inside.
The antechamber’s door is partially closed. I step up to it and touch my hand to the worn wood before I hear their voices.
Thank God I stop to listen.
“I’m nothing like you! I’ll never be like you!”
I flinch and snatch back my hand. What is Zachary doing here? I back up, intent on turning tail and getting the hell out of here, but then I hear Gabriel’s voice.
Compared to Zachary’s outburst, his soft reply is barely audible. I move closer to the door and put my ear right by the crack.
“…only hate…for so…”
Speak up, damn it.
I move closer and push gently at the door so it swings a little wider. Zachary stands in the middle of the room, silhouetted by the fire.
There’s a hand on the back of his neck.
“…nothing more to do but forgive.”
I slap a hand over my mouth when Zachary twists away with a grimace on his face. Had Gabriel just tried to kiss him? I stagger back, but I can’t bear to take my eyes away from them.
“So you can fuck a man, but you can’t bear to kiss one?” Gabriel moves closer but Zachary retreats until his back is flush with the wall.
“It might feel like less of a sin but trust me, God has already condemned you to hell.”
What the fuck?
My heart’s in my throat as they glare at each other. The tension from whatever argument they were having before I arrived presses down like gravity on steroids.
I half-expect them to break into a fight, and the thought has my chest so tight I can’t breathe.
My brain works overtime as I try to piece together what might have happened.
Is this because I told Zachary I wouldn’t come back