Page 82 of Vicious Temptation
He’s taking pleasure in my happiness, and I never knew how wonderful that could be.
Clara was right, I think as the server brings us our sandwiches, and the lemonade I ordered. He is going to set an impossibly high bar for anyone else. But that’s a good thing. I’ll never again let anyone treat me as less than what I’m worth. I’ll always expect more, because Gabriel has shown me that men like him do exist. And even if it can’t be Gabriel, there will be someone.
I have hope, and that matters more than anything. And while I do have him?—
I’m going to enjoy every second.
“Do you want to go driving on the back roads again?” Gabriel asks me, a glint in his eye as we leave the restaurant. “I don’t really think I need to ask, but—” He draws out the last word with a smile, as I nod.
“Alright then. Let’s go.”
He leads me back out to the car, my pulse tripping excitedly at the thought of speeding down a back road in the Ferrari again. “You’re going to let me drive this one day, right?” I ask him teasingly as I slide in, and Gabriel laughs.
“One day. If you practice, and get good enough, sure.”
The promise makes my heart flutter. He starts the car, turning on the folk station as we drive out of the city, and that makes my heart feel warm and soft, too—the fact that he remembered what kind of music I like. The faint notes of Sweet Heat Lightning trail through the car, mostly swept away by the wind, and I lean back against the buttery soft seat, thinking about how good Gabriel’s hand felt on my thigh, and how I wish he’d put it there again.
In a matter of days, I’ve gone from being terrified by being touched, to wishing Gabriel would touch me more often. Good progress. I smile to myself, and I see Gabriel glance over at me.
“What are you thinking about?” he asks, turning off of the main highway and onto one of the back roads.
I laugh softly. “I was thinking about what I’m going to tell my psychiatrist at my next appointment. She said I should try to make progress. I’m not sure if this is what she meant.”
Gabriel laughs, too. “Well, I’m glad this is what you decided on.” His hand moves to rest on my thigh again, and I hear his indrawn breath when the muscle beneath his palm twitches, my legs squeezing together as heat floods through me.
We drive all the way out to the back road where he opened up the car last time, and he takes his hand away, resting it on the gear shift as he glances over at me. “Ready?” he asks, and I nod, excitement and anticipation fluttering through me as he turns onto the long, open road. It stretches out ahead of us for at least a mile, nowhere else to be seen, and Gabriel presses his foot down on the gas.
It’s mesmerizing, watching him drive. He shifts fluidly, his hands moving as if he’s one with the car, the transitions so smooth that I wouldn’t know they were happening if I wasn’t watching him. The world whips by us, the car gaining speed, and I can see from the flush on Gabriel’s face and the glint in his eyes that he loves this. That it’s thrilling him as much as it is me, that he’s as reluctant to slow down as I am as he starts to run out of road.
He slows down, turning as the road loops into a secluded cul-de-sac with empty park space at the back of it, no houses or civilization to be seen for miles. My heart is still pounding, and I look at the thin path that leads deeper into the trees, my pulse beating wildly in my throat.
“Can you park back there?” I whisper, nodding to the secluded grove. “And turn the car off?”
Gabriel looks over at me, his eyes still mischievous, even as his pupils darken. “Now it’s just the car turning you on,” he teases, a smirk at the corner of his lips. “Not me.” But he drives forward anyway, deeper into the trees, stopping at the end of the path and putting the car in park. He turns off the engine, and the view in front of us is incredible—acres of gorgeous upstate New York forest—but all I can look at is him.
“No,” I whisper. “It’s definitely you.”
Gabriel leans over, one hand sliding into my hair as he unsnaps first his seatbelt, and then mine, with his other hand. He pulls me towards him, his eyes dark and hungry as he takes me in, my mouth a breath away from his.
“I didn’t realize how much I missed feeling alive until I met you,” he breathes against my mouth, his voice a low, aching rasp. “I’m going to remember that forever.”
His mouth crushes against mine, hard and hot, the deepest kiss he’s given me yet. Trusting that I want it, trusting me to tell him to stop if I don’t—but the only thing I don’t want is for him to stop. All I want is his mouth, hungry and devouring mine, his other hand falling to my waist and sliding into the space between my dress and my shirt as he tugs it free, the knot in the front coming undone so that the shirt falls open.
“Tell me how far I can go,” he whispers, his hand sliding up to my breast, his tongue tracing my lower lip. “Tell me what you want.”
Right now, all I want is for him to never stop kissing me. “Just keep going,” I whisper. “And I’ll tell you if it’s too much.”
He groans into my mouth, the sound vibrating against my lips as his hand slips beneath the slit in my skirt. The touch of his fingers against my bare thigh is electric, and I gasp, my legs parting without a thought as his hand curves against my leg.
“So soft,” Gabriel breathes against my mouth, his thumb brushing over my breast. My nipple stiffens against the silk, and he lets out another shuddering groan. “You’re not wearing a bra.”
I shake my head wordlessly, arching into his touch. I’m no longer afraid. I want his hands everywhere, everywhere that they can be, and I whimper against his mouth, pleading for things that I don’t know yet how to ask for.
Gabriel’s fingers slide higher, up my inner thigh, nearly to the soaked fabric of my panties. He hesitates, pulling back from the kiss briefly, giving me a moment to tell him to stop.
“Please,” I whisper. “Keep going.”
“God, Bella.” His hand leaves my breast, reaching up to twine gently through my hair. “You’re going to be the death of me.”