Spectrum (Stone Society #14) - Faith Gibson Page 0,95

Dante.”

“Esmeralda?” Gabriel prayed Rebekah didn’t have a child. She said her relationship with her husband had been platonic.

“My cat. She wasn’t crazy about being around the others since they are Gargoyle. Tessa is going to ask Tamian to fix it so she’s okay with those shifters who come around, but until then, I don’t want to keep her crated. I will need to travel back to Oregon and pack up some things, then get the house ready to sell.”

“Don’t be so hasty. What if you realize after a few months or years you don’t want to be here? Rebekah, don’t go making all these changes without really thinking about it.”

“Do you not want me?”

“Of course I do. I want you more than I want to breathe.”

“Then don’t push me away again. Please.” Rebekah’s eyes filled with tears.

“What kind of life will that be for you? Coming to a prison every day? Waiting around years for me to maybe be released?”

“I’m not living now!” Rebekah fisted her hands as she yelled at him.

Gods, she was breaking his heart. Not the one in his chest. That one continued to beat steadily day after day. For the last thirty years, Gabriel believed he could no longer feel anything, but his mate was proving him wrong. And it hurt. Gods, did it hurt. He moved quickly, not giving her time to retreat. He picked his mate up and kissed her again. This time, he poured his own love into her mouth. Their tongues tangled, entwining as though they were making love. Memories flooded Gabriel’s brain from their time together all those years ago.

When they broke apart to catch their breath, Rebekah threaded her fingers through his now-white hair. “Gabriel, please. Please don’t ask me to leave you again.”

Gabriel should turn her away for her own good, but he couldn’t. Not with her begging. He had to trust she knew her own mind and heart, and if she wanted him, as limited as their time together would be, he would give it to her. “I have conditions.”

“Anything.”

“You become my true mate. I can’t promise you a future without doing so. I can’t know you are out there waiting on me while you continue to age. Not that I would love you any less, but I need to know there will be a day when I get out of here and we can be together the way we should have been all this time.”

“Yes. Absolutely yes,” Rebekah agreed without hesitation.

“Second, before we complete the bond, you spend some time here in New Atlanta getting to know the area and my family again. Visit me as often as you like so you can get to know who I am now. I’m not the same male I was when we were younger. I’m not the same male I was a year ago either, but I’m trying. Being in here” — Gabriel waved his arm around the room — “doesn’t offer much chance at redemption. I read and exercise. I get to go outside for an hour each day. Isabelle visits when she can, but other than that, I don’t have conversation.”

Gabriel squeezed the back of his neck and sighed. “I’m still messed up in here.” He tapped the side of his head. “I’ve been messed up for a long time, and I don’t know that I will ever get better.”

“I became a psychologist because of you,” Rebekah said, surprising Gabriel. “I wanted to learn all I could about how the mind works so that I could help you if we ever reunited.”

“You want to dig inside my head?” Gabriel took a step back. What if she didn’t want a relationship with him, but instead, wanted to pick his brain for science?

“No, Gabe. I want to help you. If I can. There’s no guarantee of that since I only studied cases which had been documented. I never came across anything like what happened to you. So maybe I can’t help, but I can listen. I can be here for you, offering an ear or a kind word, both of which you seem to have little of.”

“And what if you don’t like what you find? What if the damage is irreparable? I won’t claim you until you’ve spent enough time to know what you’re getting into.”

“You gave me your conditions, now I’ll give you mine.”

“And those would be?” Gabriel fisted his hands, then crossed his arms over his chest. He would call on his beast to help steady his breathing,