“On your stomach. Eyes closed.”
She couldn’t help trembling at the tone of his voice, but she did what he said. With eyes closed, her other senses were heightened. She felt the breath of air from the open window. She could hear Gabriel’s sure footsteps against the tiled floor.
Soon he chose music to fill the air, “The Look of Love” performed by Diana Krall. Julia opened her eyes and saw that he’d turned the lights out and lit candles next to the bed. A luminescent cloud filled her gaze.
“Eyes closed,” he commanded.
She did as she was bidden and felt the mattress move. His hands found her waist, lifting her in order to slide a pillow beneath her hips. Seemingly satisfied with her position, his lips blazed a trail from dimple to dimple before coming to rest at the base of her spine.
A single finger traced up to the nape of her neck, gliding across her shoulders. Another pillow was placed under her naked breasts before he stretched her arms above her head.
“A work of art.” He breathed in her ear before kissing just behind it, drawing the skin into his mouth. His palm traveled the length of her back twice before exploring her bottom and legs.
The bed shifted and the music changed to Sting’s “I Burn for You.” Julia felt more than a fluttering of desire.
She could feel his presence next to the bed, but she heard nothing until he set a couple of objects on the table. She turned her head in the direction of the sound, but Gabriel placed a hand over her eyes, blocking her sight.
“Do you trust me?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” He passed his hand over the back of her head, pulling her hair to one side. “I’ve missed you these past few days. I’ve been looking forward to getting reacquainted.”
Julia heard him straighten, and after a few moments she heard the rustling of clothing and the sound of his belt hitting the floor. Then she heard the subtle sound of his underwear sliding over his skin.
She opened her left eye, drinking in the sight of her naked husband, watching as he turned his back in order to arrange things on the table. She sighed in appreciation of his form and closed her eyes once again.
She heard something liquid and the sound of his hands rubbing together before the bed moved once again. Then he was massaging her shoulders.
She groaned.
“You like that, do you?”
She hummed. The scent of satsuma and sandalwood filled her nose: the scent of their first time together.
“Thank you.”
“I’ve only just begun.”
He took his time, worshipping her body with his hands. On occasion, his nakedness would rub up against her. She would move to deepen the contact, but he would only chuckle and retreat.
After what seemed like hours she drifted into an almost unconscious state, totally and completely relaxed. All thoughts of anything other than Gabriel flew out of her head.
He brought his mouth to her neck, drawing the flesh against his lips and gently sucking. His large hands slid the length of her arms until they took hold of her wrists, stretching them out to her sides like a cross.
Then his naked body was over hers, pressing his front to her back.
She murmured at the contact.
“If it’s too much, tell me.”
It was an intense feeling. She preferred frontal contact, but there was something about Gabriel spread over her like a second skin that was especially intimate and erotic.
When he heard her breathing grow shallow, he took his weight with his knees, separating her legs. She inhaled and he placed a hand under her to cup her right breast.
Julia moaned her approval.
He moved his left hand beneath her to the junction of her thighs, his fingers sliding against her skin.
He petted her, his hands working in concert, drawing pleasure from both parts of her body. Then, ever so slowly, he pushed inside.
He stilled. The feeling of being inside her in this position was almost overwhelming. They always fit together well, but on this occasion, the sensation of their joining assailed his control.
Julia pushed back against him. “Please.”
“Don’t move,” he rasped.
She froze and he felt her inhale shakily, her back moving against his front.
“You’re a goddess. But—don’t—move.”
Julia smiled against the sheets, and then ever so slowly, she lifted her hips and pressed back against him.
With a groan and a curse, he moved inside her, quickly and forcefully. Within minutes they were joining at a frantic pace, the air alive with the sounds of pleasure.
Julia lifted her hips one last time, and he felt her shudder around him.
He could contain himself no longer and rapidly followed.
When he’d caught his breath, he stretched over her like a banner, his lips smiling against her shoulder.
“This is transcendence,” he whispered. “I’ve never had better.”
Julia’s heart skipped a beat. “Never?”
“Never.”
His palm rested on her backside and he felt her body sink into the bed as a wide, joyous smile spread across her face.
Chapter Twenty-eight
The next morning Julia awoke to the sound of Gabriel snoring. He rarely snored, but when he did, it was a force of nature.
(Even Dante specialists snore, on occasion.)
She’d slept soundly all night. He’d given her a gift—the knowledge that she was the sexual pinnacle for him as he most gloriously was for her. A delicious feeling of anticipation and uncertainty filled her at the prospect of repeating the previous evening’s activities.
Gabriel loved her. That fact gave her confidence when it came to ceding control to him. But as C.S. Lewis had once written about Aslan, Gabriel was not tame. There was always a hint of danger and unpredictability surrounding him.
With caution in mind, she elected not to wake him and inform him that he was snoring. Instead, she decided to brave convention and skinny-dip in the hot tub.
The hot tub sat on the balcony just outside their bedroom. Since their closest neighbor was several miles away, Julia didn’t worry about dropping her bathrobe. She merely climbed into the tub and allowed the sun and gentle wind to caress her face, while the water soothed her tender spaces and sore muscles.
She’d almost fallen asleep when she heard the sound of Gabriel’s voice. She opened her eyes to find him clad only in his boxer shorts, talking on his iPhone.
She took a moment to admire the rugged beauty that was her untamed professor.
With her eyes, she traced the curves of his muscles, the lines and tendons that etched his arms. She watched the strands of hair that decorated his chest, and their cousins that led from his navel to the band of his underwear.
Julia glanced at their surroundings—at the hills and valleys surrounding their villa. No one could see them.
Without warning, Gabriel ended his conversation and put his phone on a table nearby.
“Can I join you? Or are you simply interested in a show?” He flexed his biceps theatrically.
Julia swallowed noisily. “Um, what’s included in the price of admission?”
He smiled slowly.
“Whatever you desire. I’m here to please, Mrs. Emerson.” He dropped his voice. “So name your pleasure.”
Julia indicated that he should approach, and he quickly divested himself of his shorts and joined her in the hot water. She straddled his lap, wrapping her arms around him. “All I want is the pleasure of your company.”
Gabriel hugged her and she rested her chin on his shoulder.
“Thank you for last night.”
“It is I who should be thanking you, Mrs. Emerson.”
“I’m a little dense sometimes. It only just occurred to me that you went to so much tro
uble last night because you were trying to cheer me up.” She toyed with his chest hair.
“That isn’t exactly true. We hadn’t made love for a few days, since you were on your cycle. That gave me time to think about how I wanted to go about reconnecting with you.” He lifted her hair off the back of her neck, and slid his fingers through it.
“I wanted you to know that I appreciate it. I appreciate the care you take in planning our times together and also that you knew I was feeling bad yesterday.” She placed her palm over his tattoo, near his heart. “And that you told me you’ve never had better.”
“It’s true. Sex is different with you. We have attraction, of course, and chemistry. But we also have affection and love. When all of those things are combined . . .” He trailed off.
“Thank you.” She brushed her lips against his. “Who were you talking to on the phone?”
“Scott.”
“Oh, really? What did he want?”
“He and Tammy would like to bring Quinn to Boston for a weekend in the fall. They’d like to stay with us.”
“That sounds fun.”
“I said I’d have to check with you, but we’d be glad to have them.”
“I’m happy you and your brother have patched things up.” She kissed his neck. “Sometimes I wish we were the same age. We could have gone to the prom together.”
Gabriel nuzzled her.
“It would have been an honor to take you to prom, but it’s a good thing I didn’t know you when I was a teenager.”
“Why not?”
“Because I wouldn’t have treated you the way you deserve.”
She moved so that she could see his eyes. “I don’t believe that. You treated me well the first night we met, back in the orchard. You would have behaved the same way when you were younger.”
“Perhaps. There’s something about you . . .” He smiled. “We can arrange to have a prom here, just the two of us.”
Julia laughed. “I’ll have to buy a dress that’s too short and that will give my father a heart attack.”
“I don’t recall inviting him,” Gabriel growled, kissing her. “How short is too short?”
“For me, just a bit above the knee. I’m shy.”
He nipped at her lower lip. “You weren’t shy last night.”
She stroked the stubble on his jaw. “Your love makes me brave.”
“That’s good, because I’ll keep loving you. Forever.” Gabriel slid his hands to her waist and pulled her against his chest. “I’m sorry about what happened with Paul.”
“Me too.” Her expression turned wistful. “From now on, if we’re having problems I’ll keep them between us.”
“I promise to do the same.” He cleared his throat. “I’m afraid that when couples marry, their friendships change.”
She shrugged. “I guess so.”
“I’ve neglected our social life. I’ll do better, I promise. We can invite people over for dinner and I’ll accompany you to the pub nights at Grendel’s Den with the other grad students.”
Julia’s eyes widened. “I thought you didn’t like socializing with grad students. You’d never join me before.”
Gabriel brushed his thumb across her jaw.
“I’d do almost anything to make you happy. I don’t want you to regret a single moment we’re together.”
His eyes grew dangerous. “So come here.”
A few hours later, Gabriel heard the house telephone ring. He ignored it.
Curiosity eventually got the best of him and he stuck his head through the study doorway and into the hall. From a distance, he could hear Julia speaking Italian. Wondering who she was speaking with, he left his study to descend to the kitchen.
“No, Fra Silvestro. Non è necessario.”
Julia caught Gabriel’s eye and lifted a finger, indicating that he should wait.
“Allora dovremmo organizzare una festa per i bambini. Non per me.”
Gabriel’s eyebrows lifted and he crossed over to her, leaning against the counter.
“Sì, per i bambini. Possiamo festeggiare i loro compleanni.” She paused, and Gabriel could hear the Franciscan brother chattering away on the other end of the line.
“Ci dovranno essere regali, palloncini e una torta. E del gelato.” Julia laughed. “Certo. E’ proprio quello che vorrei. . . . Ci vediamo, allora. Arrivederci.”
Julia hung up the telephone. “Good grief.”
“What was that all about?”
“That was Brother Silvestro from the orphanage in Florence.”
“Why is he calling you?”
“He wanted to speak to you but seemed delighted that you were indisposed.”
The edges of Gabriel’s lips turned up. “Sounds like he wanted to sweet-talk us and thought you’d make a better target.”
“Perhaps. He wanted to host a party for us when we visit the orphanage next week.”
Gabriel appeared surprised. “And you said no?”
“I asked him to throw a party for the children, instead. We don’t need a party.”
Julia turned her attention to what she’d been doing before she received the telephone call, which was preparing a light lunch.
Gabriel wrapped his arms around her from behind.
“You’re very assertive.”
“It’s for the children.”
“This is something about you that’s always puzzled me, Julianne. You give up what you want rather easily. But you’re adamant about not giving in when it comes to someone else.”
“I don’t think I give up what I want so easily. I didn’t give up on you, did I? And you were pretty awful in the beginning.” Julia peered up at him out of the corner of her eye.
He shifted his feet.
“I had in mind how much you wanted to stay at Magdalen College and how you were willing to leave when I insisted.”
She turned back to what she was doing.
“Sometimes I don’t have the energy to fight with you. You were upset about the room. I don’t like seeing you upset.”
Gabriel pressed his lips to her neck.
“I think you need a party.”
“I do.” She reached up and tangled her fingers in his hair. “I need a private party that involves me peeling my handsome husband out of his favorite pair of jeans.”
She moved her mouth to his ear. “But your glasses stay on.”
He chuckled and pulled their lower bodies flush. “I didn’t know you had a thing for men in glasses.”
“Oh, I do. The way you feel about my high heels? That’s how I feel about you in glasses. But first I have to call Fra Silvestro’s assistant to see if she can rent a pony.”
Gabriel straightened.
“A pony?”
“Is that a bad idea?”
“Can you rent ponies? In Florence?”
“I don’t know. I’m sure none of the children have ever seen a pony, let alone had the chance to ride one. I thought it would be fun.”
Gabriel observed his wife’s excitement with no little amount of joy.
“If you look after the gifts for the children, I’ll find a pony.”
“Thank you.” She gave him a saucy wink. “Oh, and while you’re at it, see if you can rent a petting zoo.”
Chapter Twenty-nine
Julia didn’t respond to Paul’s email. He’d asked her not to contact him, and she decided to honor his request. She knew that eventually their paths would cross at a conference or a colloquium. She thought that once he became used to the idea that she’d married Gabriel, he’d be able to be friends with her again.
Or so she hoped.
But his request and the way he’d done it—via email—had hurt. So she avoided her email for a couple of days. When she finally checked her account, she found a message from her father.
>
Jules,
Call me on my cell phone as soon as you get this message,
Dad.
Tom’s emails and telephone messages were usually terse. He was not a man of many words. But the tone of this particular email was so ominous, Julia didn’t bother to alert Gabriel as to what was happening. She simply picked up the telephone in the kitchen and dialed her father’s cell phone.
He picked it up on the first ring. “Jules.”
“Hi, Dad. What’s going on?”
Her father paused as if he were struggling to find the words. “We’re at the hospital.”
“The hospital? Why? What’s wrong?”
At that moment, Gabriel walked into the kitchen. Julia pointed to the telephone and mouthed the words My dad.
“Yesterday we went to have an ultrasound. We were supposed to find out the sex of the baby. But something was wrong.”
“What?”
“His heart.”
“His?”
“My son.” Tom’s voice broke on the last word.
“Dad.” Julia sniffled and her eyes filled with tears.
Gabriel stood very close to his wife, so that he could hear both sides of the conversation.
“Where are you now?” she asked.
“At the Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia. They agreed to see us right away.”
Julia heard a muffled noise in the background, then heard her father whisper, “It’s going to be all right, honey. It’s going to be all right. Don’t cry.”
“Is that Diane?”
“Yes.” Tom sounded strained.
“I’m so sorry, Dad. What did the doctor say?”
“We just met with the cardiologist. He says that the baby has hypoplastic left heart syndrome.”
“I’ve never heard of that before. What is it?”
“It means he only has half a heart.” He inhaled slowly. “It’s fatal, Jules.”
“Oh my God.” A tear spilled onto her cheek.
“He won’t survive without surgery. So they’ll have to operate after he’s born. That is, if Diane can carry him to term. Sometimes . . .” Tom’s voice trailed off.
“Can they fix it?”