Gabriel's Inferno

Chapter 32

Julia awoke the next morning stark naked.

Or so she thought.

She was in Gabriel’s bed with their bodies wrapped around each other.

Her head rested on his shoulder while his left arm ran across her right hip, their legs scissored, their hips pressed close.

She moved a hand down his back until she found soft cotton covering his most beautiful of curves, which she explored surreptitiously. Then she looked in between them and realized she was wearing her pink bra and panties.

In her dream, they’d fallen into bed naked and made love for hours.

Gabriel had placed his body over hers and held her gaze like a magnet as he entered into her slowly, until the two became one. An eternal circle with no end and no beginning. He’d worshipped her with his body and his words, and it was far more emotional and lovely than she’d ever dared hope.

But it was only a dream. She sighed and closed her eyes as the previous evening’s events came flooding back. Sorrow and relief commingled and spread across her heart; sorrow for Gabriel’s loss and tortured desperation, and relief that all their secrets had now been spoken.

Gabriel murmured her name, his eyes moving beneath his eyelids in deep rem sleep. He’d been so tired the night before. So broken. Julia kissed his cheek and quietly extricated herself from his arms, padding to the bathroom.

When she regarded herself in the mirror, she saw wild, rumpled hair, smeared eye makeup, and lips made fuller from kissing. Several love bites, mild in color and quite painless, dappled her neck and chest. He’d been a gentle but enthusiastic lover.

She washed her face and brushed her hair, taming her mane into a high ponytail and provocatively forsaking her purple bathrobe for one of Gabriel’s button down shirts. She fetched the Globe and Mail from the ex-terior hallway and waved a shy good morning to Gabriel’s nervous but not entirely unfortunate-looking next door neighbor, who stared through his rimless spectacles at her shapely bare legs before retreating like a frightened mouse into his apartment. He was not used to seeing such beauty so early in the morning, and he’d been clad only in Superman pajama bottoms of dubious origin.

When Julia entered the kitchen she was faced with a mess, for no one had cleaned up after dinner, their hands and minds too full for such pedestrian concerns. After indulging in a slice of apple pie with Vermont cheddar, Julia proceeded to return Gabriel’s apartment to its formerly pristine condition. It took longer than she anticipated.

When the kitchen was spotless and Gabriel still had not emerged from his bed, she poured herself a very large mug of coffee and sat in his favorite chair by the fireplace with the newspaper. The sight of his Oxford shirt and her silk blouse lying on top of one another on the floor brought a blush to her cheeks and a smile to her lips.

“And this, alas! is more than we would do.”

Gabriel had stopped her. She would have given herself to him gladly because she loved him. For her, it was not a matter of if she would make love with him, but when. But Gabriel had mumbled something against her naked breast and stopped.

He’d been so afraid that she would abandon him when she found out about his relationship with Paulina and the tragic loss of their child. But if anything, his confession had brought them closer. At least she’d been able to make that clear to him.

And in three days, perhaps, we will be as close as a couple can be. In two days they would leave for Italy, and she would accompany Gabriel to his lecture as his girlfriend. And when their time in Florence was ended, perhaps they would travel to Venice or Umbria as lovers.

Despite everything she and Gabriel had experienced, she felt very much at peace in his shirt and in his chair. They belonged to one another, she believed this. And as long as the Fates did not conspire against them, they would have their happiness. She hoped. However, the knowledge that Paulina had the ability to throw Gabriel into a tailspin with a single telephone call troubled her deeply.

No less than an hour later, Gabriel strolled into the living room, scratching his head and yawning. His hair was messy with the exception of one perfect, errant curl that had taken a liking to his forehead. He was wearing a pair of faded blue jeans, his glasses, and nothing else. He wasn’t even wearing socks. (Parenthetically, it should be noted that even Gabriel’s feet were attractive.)

“Good afternoon, my love.” He caressed her cheek with his fingers and leaned over to kiss her firmly. “I like your…outfit.” His eyes took in the naked flesh that was visible below the edge of the shirttail.

“I like your outfit too. You’re looking awfully casual this morning, Professor.”

He leaned forward and gave her a heated look. “Miss Mitchell, you’re lucky I decided to put on any clothes at all.” He chuckled at her fierce blush and disappeared into the kitchen.

Oh, gods of all virgins who are planning to have sex with their sex-god (no blasphemy intended) boyfriends, please don’t let me spontaneously combust when he finally takes me to bed. I really need a Gabriel-induced orgasm, especially after last night. Please. Please. Pretty please…

A few minutes later he reappeared and sank down on the couch with his coffee cup, scrubbing at his stubble with one hand. At length, he frowned in her direction.

“You’re too far away.” He patted his knee invitingly.

She grinned and walked over to him, allowing him to guide her so that she was seated comfortably on his lap. Gabriel crooked an appreciative arm around her hips, pulling her shirt up so that he could rest it comfortably against the lace of her boy shorts.

“And how is Miss Mitchell this morning?”

“Tired,” she sighed. “But happy.” Her eyes darted to his. “If it’s okay for me to say that.”

“It is. I’m happy too. And God, so relieved.” He closed his eyes and leaned his head back, exhaling a very deep breath. “I was certain I’d lose you.”

“Why?”

“Julianne, if one were doing a cost-benefit analysis, I would be a high-cost, high-risk, low-benefit venture.”

“Nonsense. I don’t see you that way at all.”

He gave her a half-smile. “Only because you are the soul of forgiveness and compassion. Although I must admit, my best qualities and talents have heretofore remained hidden.” Now his voice was husky, and the familiar spark of sensuality lit his blue eyes. “But I look forward to placing them entirely at your service again and again and again, ad infinitum, until you are weary of both them and me. And entirely, blissfully sated.”

Julia swallowed. Hard.

He reached up to kiss her forehead, placing his coffee on the side table so that he could wrap her in his arms. “Thank you for staying.”

“I love you, Gabriel. You have to accept the fact that I’m not going anywhere.”

He hugged her in response, but remained silent.

“And you don’t have to win me sexually. You’ve already won me,” she whispered. “Your best quality is your heart, Gabriel, not your sexual prowess. It’s your heart I fell in love with.”

He was silent for so long, Julia thought she had upset him. Or insulted him.

Not a wise move to insult a prospective lover’s lovemaking skills before you’ve had the opportunity to sample them. She opened her mouth to apologize, but he stopped her.

He kissed her firmly, a closed mouth kiss that quickly developed into the tugging of lips, the gentle play of tongues, and the caressing of cheeks.

When he pulled away, he crushed her to his chest and whispered in her ear. “You strip me bare. You see through everything. You are the only one who has ever known everything and still wanted me. Only you, my beloved.”

She’d known intuitively that Gabriel used his sexuality as a shield to keep true intimacy and love at bay. But with his admission, she realized how painful and lonely it must have been for him all those years, and that was after the soul-crushing time in which he was invisible to his mother and the painful adjustment of becoming an adopted child. Having recognized all of this, in addition to his sorrow over Maia, she tried very hard to fight back tears, for she didn’t want to upset him, but she couldn’t stop them.

“Sssshhh, don’t cry,” Gabriel breathed. He wiped away her tears and kissed her forehead. “I love you. Please don’t cry. Not because of me.”

She snuggled in his arms and worked at stemming the flow of tears.

He rubbed her back, gently petting her over and over. And when she was calm, she spoke.

“I love you, Gabriel. And I can’t help but think that Grace would be very proud of you.”

He frowned. “I’m not sure about that. But she would certainly be proud of you and all you’ve accomplished.”

Julia smiled. “Grace had the gift of mercy.”

“She did. Your choice of words is very interesting. A Severe Mercy was one of Grace’s favorite books. She tried for years to get me to read it. I have a copy of it somewhere in the study. Maybe I should look for it.”

“What’s it about?”

“A young couple. The man ends up studying at Oxford, and I believe he becomes a protégé of C.S. Lewis. It’s a true story.”

“I’d love to go to Oxford, to see where the Inklings drank their beer and spun their tales. Katherine Picton talks about Oxford a lot.”

Gabriel kissed her forehead. “I’d love to take you. I can show you the statues at Magdalen College that inspired Lewis to write about the stone animals in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. We could go in June, if you like.”

Julia smiled and kissed him back. “If you lend me Grace’s book, I’ll take it to Italy. It might be nice to have something to read during our vacation.”

He smirked at her and tapped a single finger to the end of her nose.

“What makes you think I’ll let you have time enough to read?”

She blushed and fumbled a vague response, but Gabriel continued, a grave expression on his face.

“I’m sorry we had to stop last night. It isn’t right for me to tease you like that and just…” He searched her eyes for her reaction.

She wrapped her arms around him and embraced him tenderly. “It was an incredibly emotional evening. I was happy to be close to you and to fall asleep in your arms. I just wanted to comfort you any way I could.

You don’t need to apologize.”

He cupped her face in both hands. “Julianne, your mere presence comforts me. But I was exhausted, and I’d been drinking…a recipe for disaster.” He shook his head and looked ashamed. “I didn’t want our first time together to have so much baggage, with all the ghosts of my past swirling in the air. I want us to go to a place that is ours alone and make some new memories. Some happy ones.”

“Of course. Although I must say that I was pretty happy with our interactions last night.” She laughed lightly and kissed him.

He returned her kiss eagerly. “So you aren’t upset?”

“Gabriel, you are a gentleman worth waiting for. What kind of person would I be if I threw a tantrum because you said stop? If I were to say stop, I would hope that you would accept it and not get angry.”

He frowned. “Of course, Julianne. You can always say stop.”

“Well, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.”

“So I’m a gander now, am I?” He kissed her once again.

“It’s better than being a geezer.”

“Oh, no.” He squeezed her tightly. “No age jokes. I’m sensitive enough about our age difference.”

She tossed her hair. “Our souls have to be about the same age. So who’s counting?”

He tugged at her ponytail. “You’re incredible. You’re intelligent and funny, and damn, you’re gorgeous. Last night, kissing your breasts…” He placed a hand reverently over her heart. “You rival Botticelli’s muse.”

“Botticelli?”

“Haven’t you noticed how several of his paintings all feature the same woman? She is the topic of my lecture for the Uffizi Gallery — Botticelli’s muse.”

Julia smiled at him sweetly, placing a corresponding hand on his heart. “I can’t wait.”

“Neither can I.”

After a lonely shower, Julia had a deuce of a time convincing Gabriel to let her out of his sight so that she could go shopping. He insisted on accompanying her. But when she finally explained that she wanted to shop for lingerie, alone, he relented.

“Promise me you’ll stay with me until we leave for Italy.” He looked at her through his eyebrows.

“I have to pack. My suitcase and all my things are at my apartment.”

“When you’ve finished shopping, take a cab home and pack before you have the driver bring you back here. I have to run a few errands, but you have your own key and security card to let yourself in.”

“And what kind of errands does Professor Emerson have to do today?”

He smiled at her seductively, and Julia felt her boy shorts slip along her hips as if they were intending to take a header to the floor.

“Perhaps I have my own shopping to do for — ah — personal items.” He leaned forward to press his lips against her ear, his voice a smooth whisper.

“I told you I was a good lover, Julianne. Trust me. I will anticipate your every need.”

She shivered at the way his breath breezed across her neck, almost fluttering the omnipresent scarf she wore to hide her scar. She had no idea what he was implying, but she found herself tantalized by the way his words tripped off his tongue.

He owned her, body and soul.

While Julia was pulling lingerie from the store racks to add to her ever expanding pile of items to try on, her iPhone chirped. She quickly checked it and found a text:

What are you looking at? — G

She giggled slightly and typed a short response: Very tiny things. — Julia

Gabriel replied immediately:

How tiny? — G

P.S. Send pictures

Julia rolled her eyes as she hit reply: Too tiny. No pictures — they’d ruin the surprise. Love, Julia It took a little longer for Gabriel’s next text to arrive: Darling, No picture could ruin the experience of seeing you in all your glory for the first time…You’re that beautiful. Love, G

Julia’s fingers couldn’t type fast enough:

Thank you, Gabriel. I love you

Gabriel’s final text message reached her just as she entered the dressing room:

I love you too, sweetheart. Have fun…Hurry home to me. — G

The next two days were a whirlwind as Gabriel finished his administrative duties for the university, ensuring that all his grades were submitted.

The semester was finally over.

Julia made a special trip to a spa for some pre-Italy pampering. In keeping with her low pain tolerance and overall Mediterranean sensibility, she politely declined the aesthetician’s invitation to embrace all things Brazilian.

Gabriel had kept most of their travel plans a secret, wishing to surprise her. So it was with amazement that their arrival in Florence on a warmer than usual December day resulted in the happy couple walking into the Gallery Hotel Art. The hotel was upscale, modern, and located very close to the Ponte Vecchio, Julia’s favorite bridge, and a few minutes from the Ponte Santa Trinita, which was featured in Holiday’s painting of Dante and Beatrice.

The concierge, Paolo, greeted them immediately. Although Gabriel had not stayed in his hotel before, Paolo had been instructed by Dottore Massimo Vitali, the Executive Director of the Uffizi Gallery, to extend every courtesy to Professor Emerson and his fidanzata. In fact, Paolo himself accompanied the bellhop and the lovers to their seventh-floor suite, which was called the Palazzo Vecchio Penthouse.

Julia gasped as the men parted like the Red Sea before her so that she could enter first. It was, perhaps, the loveliest room she’d ever seen. The floor was a dark hardwood offset with light-colored walls. The sitting room was graced with elegantly modern furniture and a sliding glass wall that partitioned it from the bedroom.

The bedroom itself was spacious and featured a large bed that was piled high with crisp, white linens. Mere steps away was a glass door that opened out onto the rooftop terrazza, which allowed bright sunlight to spill over the bed, illuminating it. One of the bathrooms boasted a huge pedestal bathtub, not unlike the tub Julia had enjoyed in their hotel in Philadelphia, while the other bathroom had a shower and two matching vanities. Gabriel took one look at the bathtub and decided that he needed to share it with Julianne that very evening.

But the crowning glory of the space was the terrazza itself, which offered breathtaking views of the Duomo, the Palazzo, and the surrounding hills. Julia envisioned curling up with Gabriel on the comfortable futon bed, which dominated the terrace, with a glass of Chianti, looking up at the stars. Or perhaps (she blushed), making love with him by candlelight underneath those same stars.

Orgasms with Gabriel by starlight…

Once they were alone, Julia hugged him tightly and thanked him over and over again for choosing such a beautiful room.

“It’s all for you, my love.” He kissed her softly. “All for you.”

Truthful y, he would have liked nothing better than to spread Julianne out on the bed and make love to her immediately, but she hadn’t slept well on the airplane, and he knew that she was tired. She yawned twice in a row and giggled when he tried to kiss her.

“I should clean up and pay a visit to the Uffizi. Would it be all right if I left you on your own? You can take a nap, if you like, or I could ask the concierge to book a massage for you in the spa.”

Julia’s eyes lit up at the latter offering, but she knew she was too sleepy to enjoy it. “A nap sounds good. I know it isn’t the best strategy for overcoming jet lag, but I will be much better company over dinner and, um, later on, if I have a little more sleep.” She blushed.

Gabriel traced a single finger around her jaw line. “I’ll only say this once, Julianne. There is no rush. We can take our time tonight and just relax. Although I think it would be nice if we were to try out the bathtub.

Together.” His lips curled up into a sexy half-smile.

“I’d like that,” she said.

He kissed her nose, chuckling. “I requested special amenities from the Farmacia di Santa Maria Novella. See if any of the scents are to your liking, and we’ll use them. In the meantime, I’ll book our dinner reservations for nine or nine thirty.”

“Sure. Where will we go?”

He smiled widely. “The Palazzo dell’Arte dei Giudici. Do you know it?”

“I’ve walked by it, but no, I didn’t know they had a restaurant.”

“I’m looking forward to showing it to you.” He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it softly. “I ordered a fruit basket and a few bottles of sparkling water. Charge what you like to the room.” He grinned. “Although save the champagne to share with me later. In the tub.”

Julia looked down at her feet. “You’re spoiling me.”

He lifted her chin. “No, my love, not spoiling. Just treating you as you deserve to have been treated all along. You’ve been surrounded by fools your whole life. Of whom I was chief.”

“Gabriel, you are many things, but a fool you are not.” She leaned up on tiptoes to brush his lips with her own before leaving to take a shower.

A few hours later, Gabriel returned from a cordial meeting with his friend Massimo Vitali. Over espresso, the gentlemen discussed Gabriel’s lecture the following evening and the plans for an elaborate banquet to be held inside the Uffizi in his honor. Gabriel was very grateful for the gesture, but more on behalf of Julianne than himself, for he thought only of how pleased she would be to participate in such a festive event. And in her favorite art gallery.

Entering the penthouse, Gabriel walked through the sitting room to the bedroom and found Julia asleep in the geographic center of the bed, on top of the covers. She was wearing champagne-colored satin pajamas, her long hair flowing around her head like a warm mahogany halo. She looked like a dark-haired Sleeping Beauty.

He watched her sleep for a moment and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

When she didn’t stir, he decided to pour himself a drink and sit out on the terrace until it was time to wake her. Truthfully, he was glad to have a moment to himself to plan and dream about the next few days. He felt as if the world had been lifted from his shoulders. Not only did she know the truth about Paulina and Maia, but she still loved him. And they’d escaped the wrath of the judicial committee and survived the academic semester together. He had much for which to be grateful. And most of all, he had his Julianne all to himself for two entire weeks.

Julia is not the kind of girl you screw around with. She’s the kind of girl you marry. Scott’s words resounded in his ears.

Scott was right. Julianne was special: an intel igent, compassionate beauty who loved deeply and gave freely. She deserved much more than just an affair, although Gabriel refused to consider their relationship an affair, no matter what people might say. He stealthily patted the small velvet box he’d hidden in his jacket pocket. The thought of being in a long-term relationship had always been so remote. Julianne had changed all that.

Tonight his plan was to show her how much he loved her. To adore her and to relax her. A bubble bath, a massage…anything he could do to make her comfortable with having him see her body. Julianne was still shy with him, and he wanted her to feel sexy and desirable. Simon had wrought deep fissures in her confidence. She thought she was frigid. She thought she was clumsy and sexually inadequate. She feared she would disappoint Gabriel when they eventually made love.

Gabriel knew that it would take a long time to dispel those lies and to heal those wounds. He was resolved to build her confidence incrementally, to help her see herself as he saw her — sexy, attractive, and passionate.

The only way he could do this would be to take his time and be patient and affirming. He was looking forward to demonstrating his love for her and subjecting all of his erotic arts to her service. She would never demand such things, such attention, which made the thought of giving everything to her so much more satisfying.

If their relationship was more advanced and Julianne was less shy, he would suggest that they make love on the terrace. The thought of how Julianne’s rose and cream skin would glow in the starlight made his heart soar and his trousers twitch. But having sex outside would likely be too nerve-wracking for her, and he’d be damned if he’d push her to do anything that would make her even remotely uncomfortable.

We’ll just have to come back…