Tom watched the exchange between his daughter and the violent but valiant cokehead and walked over to Richard. The two friends spoke for a minute before they shook hands.
“Jules? Do you want to come home? Richard says you’re welcome to stay at his place if you’d rather.” Tom shuffled his feet uncomfortably.
“I can’t go home.” Julia pulled away from Gabriel and hugged her father with one arm. He immediately teared up and whispered an apology in her ear before walking out of the hospital.
Richard bade the couple good-bye, leaving Julia to dry her tears.
Gabriel turned to her immediately. “We can pick up your prescriptions on the way back to Richard’s. I’m sure Rachel has clothes that you can borrow, or I can lend you something. Unless you’d rather go home and pack your suitcase.”
“I can’t go back there,” she whimpered, curling in on herself.
“You won’t have to.”
“What about him?”
“You don’t have to worry about him anymore. The police have already picked him up.”
Julia looked into his eyes and almost lost herself in the warmth and concern that radiated from them.
“I love you, Gabriel.”
At first he didn’t react to her statement, he simply stood there as if he hadn’t heard. Then his expression softened. He drew her into his side, crutches and all, and kissed her cheek, saying not a word.
Chapter 28
After dinner, Scott had dropped by a friend’s house for a visit. When he arrived home, he was shocked to discover two police cruisers in the driveway. Officer Jamie Roberts was interviewing Julia in the living room, while Officer Ron Quinn was interviewing Gabriel in the dining room. Richard had already been questioned.
“Will someone please explain why there are cops in the house? What did Gabriel do now?” Scott stood in the kitchen staring down his sister and their father.
Aaron walked to the refrigerator and pulled out a Samuel Adams. He opened it and handed it to Scott, who drank it gratefully. “Simon Talbot attacked Julia.”
Scott almost spat out his beer. “What? Is she okay?”
“He fucking bit her,” said Rachel. “And he almost broke her ankle.”
“Did he…” Scott’s voice was matter-of-fact, yet he couldn’t bring himself to say the words.
Rachel shook her head. “I asked her. Maybe I shouldn’t have, but I did. And she said no.”
Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Scott slammed his beer down on the counter. “Well, where is he? Let’s go, Aaron. Someone needs to teach him a lesson.”
“Gabriel got to him first. Ron told me that they had to take Simon to the hospital to have his jaw wired shut. Gabriel smashed his face in,” Aaron explained.
Scott’s eyebrows shot up. “The Professor? Why would he do that?”
Aaron and Rachel exchanged a knowing look.
“I’d still like to pay the asshole a visit.” Scott cracked the knuckles on his right hand. “Just to talk to him.”
Aaron shook his head. “Listen to yourself. You’re a prosecutor; he’s the son of a senator. You can’t tune the guy up. And besides, Gabriel finished it. They’ll take him into custody when the doctors are done with him.”
“You still haven’t explained why Gabriel would get his pretty little hands dirty for Julia. He barely knows her.”
Rachel leaned over the kitchen island toward her brother. “They’re a couple.”
Scott blinked like a lazy stoplight. “Come again?”
“Just what I said. They’re—together.”
“Holy shit. What the hell is she doing with him?”
Before anyone could offer a hypothesis, Gabriel walked into the kitchen. He looked at the worried faces of his family and frowned. “Where’s Julianne?”
“Still being interviewed.” Richard smiled at his oldest son and clapped a hand to his shoulder. “I’m very proud of you, for what you did for Julia. I know we’re all grateful you arrived in time.”
Gabriel pressed his lips together and nodded uncomfortably.
“Clocking Simon Talbot will earn you a medal. But screwing around with Julia will earn you a beating. You aren’t good enough for her. Not by a long shot.” Scott put his beer down and cracked his knuckles again.
Gabriel’s eyes glinted coldly at his brother. “My personal life is none of your business.”
“It is now. What kind of professor screws his students? Don’t you get enough tail already?”
Rachel inhaled deeply and slowly moved toward the door, away from the impending titanic clash.
Gabriel’s fists clenched at his sides, and he took a step closer to his larger but younger brother. “Speak about Julianne that way again and you and I are going to have more than words.”
“All right, you guys, no more Cain and Abel bullshit. There are cops in our living room, and you’re scaring your sister.” Aaron stepped in between the seething men, placing a light hand on Scott’s chest.
“Julia is not the kind of girl that you screw around with and then dump. She’s the kind of girl you marry,” Scott said over Aaron’s shoulder.
“You think I don’t know that?” said Gabriel, with evident hostility.
“Don’t you think she’s had her quota of assholes?”
Richard held his hand up. “Scott, that’s enough.”
He looked at his father curiously.
“Gabriel rescued Julia from her attacker.” Richard nodded slightly.
Scott stared at his father as if he’d just told him that the earth was flat. And everyone, except him, already knew it.
Rachel jumped in, eager to change the subject. “By the way, Gabriel, I didn’t know you knew Jamie Roberts. Did you go to high school with her?”
“Yes.”
“Were you friends?”
“Vaguely.”
All eyes swung to Gabriel, who turned on his heel and disappeared.
Richard waited a few minutes for the tension in the air to dissipate before turning his attention to his remaining son. “I’d like a word with you, please.” His voice was calm but firm.
The two men climbed the stairs to the second floor and walked into Richard’s study. He closed the door behind them.
“Have a seat.” He pointed to a chair in front of his desk. “I want to talk to you about your attitude toward your brother.”
Scott sat opposite his father and prepared himself for what was to come. Richard only brought his children into the study for the most serious of conversations.
He gestured to a reproduction of Rembrandt’s The Return of the Prodigal Son, which was proudly displayed on one of the walls. “Do you remember the parable behind that painting?”
Scott nodded slowly. He was in trouble.
***
Julia sat bolt upright in bed, gasping for air.
It was only a nightmare. It was only a nightmare. You got away.
It took a moment to bring her frantic breathing under control. But once she realized that she was safe in the Clark’s guest room and not underneath Simon on the floor of her old bedroom, she was able to relax. Somewhat.
She leaned over and turned on the lamp. The light dispelled the darkness of the room but did not cheer her. She picked up the glass of water and the pain pills that Gabriel left when he tucked her into bed several hours earlier. He’d curled around her, fully clothed, and held her until she fell asleep. But he was gone now.
I need him.
More than the pain pills or the light or the air, Julia needed Gabriel, to feel his body wrapped around hers, to hear his deep voice whisper words of comfort. He was the only person who could make her forget what had happened. She needed to touch him. She needed to kiss him in order to blot out her nightmare.
Julia took the pills to soothe the pain in her ankle. She hopped on one foot to Gabriel’s room in order to soothe the pain in her heart. She was quiet as a mouse, listening for any stirring or footsteps in the other rooms. When s
he was satisfied that she would not be surprised, she silently opened Gabriel’s door and closed it behind her.
It took a moment or two for her eyes to adjust to the semi-darkness. He’d neglected to pull the shades on the windows and was lying on what was normally her side of the double bed. She wondered if it was accurate to say that she had a side of the bed. She limped to the other side, pulled the covers back, and placed one knee on the mattress.
“Julianne.” Gabriel’s low whisper startled her.
She clapped a hand to her mouth so that she wouldn’t cry out.
“Stop.”
She froze. When her wits finally returned, she lowered her head. “Um, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have bothered you.” Shame flooded through her, and she blinked back tears as she slowly turned to go.
“That’s not what I meant. Wait.”
Julia watched him throw off the covers and stand up, his back toward her. He was naked and the streaming starlight through the shades scattered across his back. It was an optical illusion of sorts, the delicate points of light dancing across his athletic form. She saw his shoulder blades and his spine, and the muscles of his lower back where the skin stretched as he leaned over to find his pajama bottoms.
And of course, the most beautiful backside and legs…
When he’d pulled on his pants, he turned to face her, his brilliantly sculpted chest and shoulders perfect in the dimness, the tattooed dragon slightly muted but ever present.
“Now you can crawl in with me.” He chuckled. “I thought I’d make you nervous if you found me naked.”
Julia rolled her eyes. She didn’t like when he laughed at her, but she saw his point.
(Or rather, she didn’t actually see it, but she understood what he meant.)
“Come here,” he whispered, extending an arm and drawing her close so that when they reclined, her head rested naturally on his chest.
“I set my alarm so I could check on you. It would have gone off in fifteen minutes. How is your ankle?”
“It hurts.”
“Did you take the pills I left for you?”
“Yes. They haven’t kicked in yet.”
Gabriel carefully shifted so that he could reach her hand and tenderly pressed his lips against her fingers. “My little warrior.” He stroked her hair, caressing the waves with his fingertips. “Were you having trouble sleeping?”
“I had a nightmare.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“No.”
He squeezed her more closely just to indicate that he’d heard her and that if she changed her mind, he would listen.
“Would you kiss me?” she asked.
“I thought that after what happened you wouldn’t want me to touch you.”
Julia angled her head so that she could bring her lips up to his, ending their conversation.
Gabriel’s mouth was soft and gentle, barely moving against hers. He could feel that her mouth was still tender, and he silently cursed Simon for making it that way. But Julia was having none of that. She wanted to drink him in, to let his fire engulf her, so that he was all she could feel or think about.
Opening her mouth, Julia traced his bottom lip with her tongue, savoring his sweetness. She pushed her tongue inside his mouth, laving his with hers and dancing, tangoing, tripping over it. Gabriel’s fingers tightened in her hair, gently pulling her head back. Now his tongue pushed hers back, entering her and caressing her.
Julia began to hum at the sheer pleasure of his unhurried affection. While she was kissing him, she could think of nothing else. She kept her injured ankle away from him in order to protect it, and with her hands she found his hair, pulling and twisting it.
Gabriel groaned but didn’t stop. She felt his body begin to stiffen next to her, pushing out against her bare thigh. He ran his right hand down her side, hovering over the swell of a breast before rubbing against her ribs and then her hip. He liked the way Rachel’s tank top and yoga shorts fit Julianne’s form, hugging her curves and exposing a great swathe of pale skin across her shoulders and above her breasts. She was beautiful, even in the semi-darkness. All of a sudden, she was on her back while he hovered over her, pressing his weight into his forearms. His knee came between her legs, and she parted them willingly.
She wanted more. She needed more. Her breathing was ragged and coming in gasps as she refused to loosen her hold on his hair, forcing their mouths together.
Gabriel responded by stroking her breasts over her tank top with his long fingers, applying just enough pressure to make her tingle and want more but not enough to satisfy her desires. Then he was pulling back, leaning on one forearm with eyes closed. This was her moment. Without even thinking about it, she grasped the hem of her tank top and tried to pull it off.
Gabriel’s hand came to hers and halted her movement. He pressed their lips together, and soon they were teasing each other with their tongues, panting with warm and moist breaths. Julia freed her hands from underneath Gabriel’s when he moved to stroke her upper thigh, dragging her leg around his hip as he pressed closer to her. Now that her hands were free, nothing prevented her from wresting off her top. She found the hem again and began to pull, twisting and writhing beneath his naked chest.
Both of Gabriel’s hands clasped over hers. “Julianne,” he gasped, for he was breathing hard. “Would you…please…stop.” He rocked back on his heels and kneeled next to her, trying to catch his breath.
“Don’t you want to?” Hers was the soft voice of an innocent, and it made Gabriel’s heart clench.
He shook his head and closed his eyes. As his response sank in, so did something else. All of the cruel things Simon had ever said to her began to echo in her ears.
You’re a stupid bitch. You’re going to be a lousy lay. You’re frigid. No other man is ever going to want you.
Julia rolled to her side, effectively sidestepping Gabriel, and swung her feet gingerly to the floor. She wanted to make it to the door before a sob ripped from her throat. But before she could put her weight on her good ankle, two long, strong arms wrapped around her waist, and she was trapped.
Gabriel placed his legs on either side of hers and pulled her so that their bare legs were dangling over the side of the bed together and her back was flush against his naked chest. She could feel his swift heartbeat and his breathing through her shoulder blades. It was an odd but especially erotic feeling.
“Don’t leave,” he whispered, pressing a light kiss to the edge of her ear. He leaned forward to bring his mouth to the right side of her neck, nuzzling her.
Julia sniffled.
“I didn’t mean to upset you. Are you hurt very badly?” When she didn’t answer, he kissed her ear again and squeezed her more tightly.
“Not physically,” she managed, stifling a sob.
“Then tell me,” he whispered. “Tell me how I hurt you.”
Julia threw her hands up in desperate frustration. “You said that you wanted me, but when I finally work up the courage to throw myself at you, you reject me!”
Gabriel inhaled sharply, his breath making a whistling sound against her ear. She felt his arms stiffen and his tendons press into her skin. And something else, further down, pressing into the curve of her behind.
“Believe me, Julianne, I am not rejecting you. Of course I want you. You’re so beautiful. So very lovely.”
Gabriel reached down to kiss the side of her face. “We talked about this. Our time is coming. Do you really want our first time to be tonight?”
Julia hesitated, and that was the only answer he needed.
“Even if you were ready, darling, I wouldn’t make love to you tonight. You’re injured, which means you’re going to be on the disabled list for a while. I need to make sure that you’re fully recovered before we explore—ah—various positions.”
She could hear his smile coloring his words. He was trying to make her laugh.
“But most importantly, there’s this.” He shifted so that he was leani
ng around her left side, gently tracing a finger around the angry bite mark on her neck.
She winced at his touch, and a flame of anger flared within him. He inhaled and exhaled several times to get his emotions under control, then he placed gentle kisses near the mark over and over again, until she sighed and let her head relax against his shoulder.
“You were fetal a couple of hours ago. I wouldn’t be a very good lover if I capitalized on your vulnerability. Does that make sense?”
Julia thought about it, and nodded slowly.
“Something frightening happened to you tonight. Of course you want to feel safe and cared for. It’s not a crime, Julianne. And I want to help you, my love, so badly. But there are many different ways to do that. You don’t have to take your clothes off in order to capture my attention. You have it. Completely. You don’t have to have sex with me in order for me to make you feel wanted.”
“How?” Her voice was a tentative whisper.
“Like this.” Gabriel pressed a kiss to her neck and shifted her so that she was reclining on her back.
He lay on his side next to her, propped up on his elbow, staring down into her wide, sad eyes. Starting with her hair, he began to touch her with gentle, unhurried caresses. He stroked her face to remove her tears. He traced her chin, her jaw line, her eyebrows. He moved to her neck and down to the lines of her collarbone.
She gasped when his fingers followed her sternum between her breasts to her abdomen, where he drew patterns on her naked skin. He placed his palm flat against her and leaned over to kiss the very tops of her breasts.
When he withdrew, her eyes were closed. “Darling?”
Her eyelids fluttered open.
“In this bed, there’s only us. You and me. You are all that matters.” He smoothed his hand across the curve of her waist and down to her left hip, where he gripped her loosely. “If you want to go back to your room, I’ll walk you back. If you want to sleep alone, I’ll let you be. I just need you to tell me what you want, and provided it’s within my power, I’ll give it to you. But please, darling, don’t ask me to take your virginity. Not tonight.”