Chapter 22

22

EVANGELINE

A few minutes into the ride back to Gabriel's, I broke the comfortable silence between us.

"Is it weird that I'm a little disappointed?" I asked.

Gabriel cocked his head. "How so?"

"I've just… I've never been to anything like that before. It was so fancy and extravagant, and I have this amazing dress that makes me feel so goddamn great, and I didn't even get to enjoy it," I said. "You know what, forget it, that sounds so stupid. We were doing important stuff."

"Enjoying yourself is also important," Gabriel said.

"When I was little, I daydreamed about stuff like this. A big, dramatic masquerade, having a romantic dance with someone. I mean, I pictured it with fewer vampires, but still."

Gabriel laughed softly. "The night's not over," he said as we pulled up to his manor. "Come on."

Gabriel led me through the quiet house to a room Lissa had skipped on my tour. It was big, with tall ceilings, and warm parquet wood floors. When Gabriel flipped the lights on, half a dozen chandeliers lit up.

"It's not quite as elaborate as the Alinejad ballroom," he said modestly. "But I hope it'll do."

"It's beautiful," I said. "I can't believe you have an honest-to-God ballroom in your house."

Gabriel went over to an old-fashioned gramophone, big brass trumpet thing and all. He fiddled with it, and music drifted through the air, something slow and sweet I didn't recognize. In the middle of the ballroom, he held out a hand to me.

"May I have this dance?" he asked.

I beamed at him, feeling fluttery and nervous. "I'd love that. But, um. First…" I raised a hand to his face, took off his mask, and dropped the spell hiding his face . The tall, mysterious figure who'd taken me to the masquerade was great, but Gabriel was the one I wanted to dance with.

He smiled down at me, eyes warm. God, how had I ever thought he was stoic? He took my mask off, too, and my breath caught when his hand brushed my cheek.

"There," he murmured. "Perfect." He settled a hand on my waist, and I stepped closer, putting my hand on his shoulder. I felt drunk, even though I'd only had a few sips of my champagne. The way he was looking at me was intoxicating all on its own.

Gabriel, predictably, was light on his feet, graceful, and lithe. I was a capable dancer, but in his arms I felt weightless. We moved together effortlessly. My hand slipped from his shoulder to his chest while his hand moved to my hip. The moment was so dreamlike and natural, it almost surprised me to realize I was turned on. I felt electrified, completely aware of every spot we were touching. Gabriel's eyes hadn't left mine. I wished Lissa hadn't given me gloves because it seemed unfair that we weren't touching skin-to-skin.

The song came to an end, and we slowed, swaying together in the middle of the empty ballroom. We were close enough that our noses were brushing. I could feel my pulse between my thighs.

In the end, it was breathtakingly simple to lean up and press our lips together. Gabriel met me halfway, his mouth cool and soft against mine. My eyes slid shut. It was a sweet kiss, slow and gentle. I was used to first kisses being a little awkward as you tried to figure each other out, but there was none of that with Gabriel. It felt like we already knew every inch of each other.

The music started again, playing a jarringly modern pop song, and I pulled away. Gabriel's eyes were still closed, and he scrunched his brow in annoyance.

"Sorry," he said, pulling out his phone and pausing the music. "The Bluetooth on that thing is a little fussy sometimes."

Of course, he had a Bluetooth-enabled gramophone. I liked this weird nerd so much.

"Thank you," I said softly. "That was a perfect dance."

"I…" Gabriel paused. "It's been a long day," he said finally. "You must be tired." He took a half-step back, and I let my hands drop.

"Yeah, I guess," I said, a little thrown. The moment had broken and turned into something awkward and strange.

We went upstairs in silence. I felt completely wrong-footed. Had I missed something?

I closed the door of my room and leaned against it, thumping my head back against the wood with a groan. My hair was still in an updo, so it was less of a thud and more of a thwomp , which wasn't very satisfying. I kicked off my heels and sighed.

Actually, no. This was stupid. I wheeled around to face the door, straightening my shoulders like I was preparing for a fight, and I pressed my finger against the ring Gabriel had given me.

Come here, I thought at him, letting all of my desire for him flow through the connection.

Immediately, there was a knock on my door. I knew Gabriel could move fast, but not that fast. He must have been right outside already. I threw the door open, and there he was, staring down at me with dark, intense eyes. His hair was mussed like he'd been running his hands through it, and his tie was undone.

"May I come in?" he asked, his voice a low rasp.

"What, now you're doing classic vampire stuff?" I teased, then grabbed him by the lapels and yanked him down into a kiss.

Gabriel froze against me for a moment, but then he let out a tortured noise low in his throat and pulled me closer. Our first kiss had been sweet, almost cautious. This was desperation and hunger, and as he licked into my mouth, I opened for him eagerly.

"Please," Gabriel gasped against my lips. "Please."

I didn't know what he was asking for, and I didn't care. "Anything," I said nonsensically. "Anything you want."

He groaned, ducking his head to mouth at my neck, and I felt the prickle of a fang against the underside of my jaw. He wrapped strong hands around my waist, and then I was landing on the bed with a thump. I let out a shocked laugh. The only part of my brain that wasn't wildly horny let me know that being thrown onto the bed was surprisingly fun.

I fumbled for my zipper, yanking it down and shimmying out of the dress as quickly as I could. Gabriel made a sound like he'd been punched, and I grinned up at him. Lissa, bless her, had made me lingerie to match the dress. The top was a longline, strapless thing in soft purple lace, sheer enough that everything was on display, and the panties matched. In just my lingerie and the gloves, I felt luxurious, and surprisingly powerful. From Gabriel's reaction, I knew I'd have to do something nice for Lissa.

Gabriel bent over me and kissed me deeply, tugging at my bottom lip with his fangs. I moaned into it, tangling a hand into his hair. I kind of expected him to go for his belt, but he began to kiss his way down my body, pausing at my chest to lap at the hard pink nubs of my nipples through the lace. He sucked one into his mouth, brushing his thumb teasingly over the other. I gasped, and he looked up at me, clearly pleased with himself. He didn't linger, though, moving down until he was between my legs.

Gabriel went down on his knees by the side of the bed, leaning forward to press his face against the lace between my thighs. I was still wet from our dance, and it must've been enough to soak the delicate fabric. I shifted my hips restlessly, and he looked up the bed to meet my eyes.

"God, look at you," I murmured. Gabriel looked completely wrecked, like he was already fucked-out before I'd even gotten to touch him properly. His pupils were blown dark and heavy-lidded as he parted his lips, pressing a kiss against me through the damp lace.

"Do you have any idea," Gabriel said, quiet and intense, looking me dead in the eye, "how long I've wanted this?"

I shook my head.

"Since the library," he told me. "I would have gone down on my knees for you right there." With every word, his breath ghosted over me. I tried to keep myself from squirming as a fresh gush of liquid heat pooled between my thighs.

His nostrils flared.

"Better make up for lost time, then," I said weakly. He gave me a wolfish grin, then licked a stripe up the length of my slit. I hissed out a curse and dug my fingers under the waistband of my panties, shoving them down. Gabriel fell on me like a starving man on a feast. Whatever restraint he'd had left was clearly gone, and he lapped at me desperately. My grip on his hair tightened, and my hips twitched upward. I'd imagined that the cooler body temperature would feel weird, but it was a glorious, contrasting coolness pressed against the burning core of me. I fisted a hand in the sheets tightly.

My hips rolled up against Gabriel's mouth without my permission, and I gasped out something that might have sounded like an apology, but he groaned and tugged me closer. I felt raw and almost frantic.

Gabriel sucked at my clit gently, and I arched off the bed with a strangled moan. He pressed two fingers into me, and I clenched around them as he sucked again, again…

My legs were shaking. Suddenly, I felt the gentle presence of Gabriel in my mind, and a split second later, his feelings came through the connection. I felt his arousal, how much he wanted me, how having me stretched out like this for him made him fucking burn. At the same time that I could feel him eating me out, I could feel him touching himself through his suit paints like he was rubbing a hand against me instead. He curled his fingers inside in time with the next pulse of suction, and I could feel him grind into his own hand at the same moment.

It was too much in the best possible way, and I was gone, flying, completely lost in the pleasure he was giving me. The orgasm was like nothing I'd ever felt before, my peak and his hitting at the same time, creating a dizzying feedback loop that seemed like it stretched on forever. As the aftershocks faded, I slumped back against the bed, panting like I'd run a marathon. Gabriel let out a shattered sound, his mouth going slack against me for a moment before he started licking lazily at the spot where his fingers entered me.

"Did…" he said, sounding dazed. "Did you mean to activate your ring?"

"What?" I managed. Thinking seemed unnecessary right now.

He nodded at my hand, still clenched in the sheets. My thumb was pressed against the gold band.

"Oh," I said. "No, but that was fucking incredible, so don't you dare apologize."

Gabriel shut his mouth. He would've done a better job looking chastened if he'd been able to shake off his smile. He curled his fingers inside me, just a little, and I squirmed, oversensitive.

"C'mere," I said, patting the bed next to me, and Gabriel obliged, climbing up with a level of grace that seemed frankly unnecessary. I tugged him down into a kiss, and I could feel his smile against my lips. Tasting myself on him would have been enough to get me going again even without the way he was kissing me. It was kind of a shame that he had already come, because now that his fingers were gone, I was feeling a little too empty, but it had been so goddamn hot that I couldn't find it in myself to mind.

Gabriel pressed down against me, sliding a leg between my thighs, and I ground into him lazily. His suit would be ruined, but I couldn't have given less of a shit. Something seemed odd, though, even to my afterglow-dazed mind.

I glanced down, then back up at him. "I thought you just…?"

"What?" He looked down, then back to me. "Oh. Yes. But I'm a vampire, so."

I blinked at him. "Wait, so how many times do you usually…?"

He raised one shoulder in a little shrug. "Two or three, generally."

"Huh." I looked up at the ceiling, trying to process that. "Okay." I nodded to myself. "Okay, cool." I pulled off my gloves and undid my bra, tossing them both onto the foot of the bed. I made sure to save the ring, and left it on my bedside table. "You're wearing way too many clothes."

He huffed out a quiet chuckle and pressed a kiss to my neck before standing up and stripping out of his suit with the quick efficiency of someone totally aware of how hot they were and didn't feel the need to turn undressing into a production. I ogled him unabashedly.

Gabriel's body was trim and angular, packed with lean muscle. His olive skin was flawless, and I was surprised to see the edges of a tattoo curling over his shoulders. I had spotted them when we'd shared the tent, but I'd been so busy trying not to stare, I hadn't gotten a good look. Now, I could ogle as much as I wanted.

The markings were beautiful, large flowing sigils that reached from his shoulders to the small of his back, fitted around his spine and ribs like they were a vital part of the pattern. I traced the line of a sigil from just below Gabriel's shoulder blade to the curve of his lower back with a finger, and he shivered, looking over his shoulder at me with dark eyes. He shucked off his pants and turned to face me.

Gabriel's cock was long and hard enough that it bumped up against the firm planes of his stomach. It wasn't flushed the way I was used to, but precum beaded eagerly at the tip. I grinned, rolling over and sticking my ass up in the air. Gabriel sucked in a breath, which was gratifying.

The mattress dipped as Gabriel climbed onto the bed behind me on his knees. I felt the cool, solid weight of his chest against my back as he leaned forward to press a kiss to my spine. I needed his mouth on mine, and when I turned my head back, he kissed me eagerly, rubbing a firm touch over my clit.

I practically collapsed onto the bed when Gabriel pushed into me in one long, slow slide. I was always more sensitive after an orgasm, and just the press of him inside me was dizzying. His arm wrapped firmly around my chest, holding me up, and I grabbed onto it blindly, digging my nails in. The pace he set was slow at first, relentless, and when I let out an embarrassingly petulant whine, I felt him huff a quiet laugh against the back of my neck.

Gabriel began to move faster and faster until he was pounding into me. Even without him in my mind, I felt surrounded, filled to the brim. I reached down to rub my clit, setting a rough pace to match his thrusts. God, he was holding me up, I realized, supporting both our weights with one arm as he kept me close.

It didn't take long. Between the perfect stretch of him inside me and my hand on my clit, I came hard, clenching tightly around Gabriel's cock as he fucked me through it. His grip on me tightened, too, while I shook apart beneath him.

As I came back to myself, he slowed until he was just barely rocking his hips against me. "Do you want me to stop?" he asked, voice rough.

"Fuck, no," I managed. "Just… slow… for a minute?"

He hummed in agreement, grinding into me slowly. I sagged down against the bed, and he lowered me down gently, running a hand along my back with a touch that felt possessive. Even the slow, patient grinding was almost too much, but I didn't want it to stop. I felt like I was a million fragments of myself, just on the edge of coming undone in the best possible way.

Soon, the need to come again was more important than the discomfort. "More," I said. "I need more, Gabriel, please…"

He moaned, and his hips snapped forward, just the right side of too rough. The slow, teasing pace must have been just as wonderfully torturous for him as it had been for me, because he seemed wilder now, less restrained. As his thrusts began to get less steady, he reached beneath me, brushing my clit.

"Should I…?" he rasped, apparently unable to get the rest of the question out.

I shook my head. "In me, fuck, come in me, Gabriel." I could feel him pulse inside me, and he let out a broken groan, his fingers working faster over my clit as he came. My third orgasm was softer, but it left me a shivering wreck with tears prickling in the corners of my eyes.

We collapsed onto the blankets, both floppy-limbed and sweaty, and I curled against Gabriel before he could ask if I wanted him to stay.

"Holy fuck," I said.

"I couldn't have said it better myself," Gabriel said, resting a hand on my hair.

We were quiet for a moment. My chest was still heaving, and my eyes felt heavy. "I know you don't have to sleep," I said softly, "But… can you sleep here tonight?"

I felt the rumble of assent through Gabriel's chest, an echo of how it had been to have him in my mind.

"Of course," he said.

If he said anything else, I was asleep before I could hear it.