He’d kissed her long and slowly until she’d been trembling all over and half-wishing that they were near a bed instead of under the night skies.
While she had gone all out and was wearing a floaty, flowery silk dress with thin straps and sandals, the very opposite of anything she’d normally consider wearing, he was in a pair of faded jeans, a T-shirt and some loafers.
The waiter emerged from the shadows to remove the plates and reappeared minutes later with a silver platter groaning under the weight of tiny desserts, exquisitely made and begging to be eaten.
‘I shall have to email Mia to get all the gory details,’ Izzy went on, slipping down so that she could nestle in the crook of his arm, leaving the desserts for a while. He was staring out towards the dark sky and so was she. His house was within sight, just, but it still felt as though they were the only two people in the world.
‘I’m picturing a ten-page email.’ His voice was low and amused. ‘Might be a better idea to call...’
‘Therewouldbe a lot of questions,’ Izzy agreed, grinning. ‘You’re right about a phone call. I wonder if James knows? I guess he must... I’ll have to find out.’
‘I want to make love to you right here, right now. How does that sound to you?’ Gabriel murmured, angling his big body so that he could kiss her.
‘Is sex all you ever think about?’ Izzy teased, but she curved against him, angling back so that she could trail little kisses against his neck as she slipped her hand underneath his T-shirt, thrilling to the feel of solid, packed muscle. ‘Besides, we can’t do anything out here. Don’t forget, there’s a very attentive waiter in residence.’
And remember the last time we were surprised in a state of disarray, she was almost tempted to add. She didn’t think her blood pressure could stand anyone else catching herin flagrante delicto, so to speak.
‘I’m paying for that attentive waiter,’ Gabriel drawled. ‘He’ll do whatever I tell him to do.’
‘Yes, but what on earth would he think?’
‘Yes,’ Gabriel mimicked, half-laughing. ‘But why on earth would you care?’
He gave the waiter instructions that they were not to be disturbed under any circumstances, short of his daughter waking up or the house burning down.
He pushed aside the tray with the tasty titbits. He pushed the silver wine cooler to one side and then he tenderly semi-undressed her, instinctively seeming to know that she would feel more comfortable if she weren’t in a state of complete undress.
There was something exquisitely thoughtful about that, a subconscious act of consideration that warmed her heart.
Their sex was stupendous. With him she had dropped all her inhibitions—had even gone on the pill so that neither of them had to worry about an unexpected accident—but she was still shy when it came to nudity and he had clocked that without her ever having to say.
He slipped the straps of her dress down and methodically undid all twelve pearl buttons down the front so that he could suckle on her breasts, swirling his tongue across her nipples as she moaned softly, eyes closed, her hand behind his dark head.
Around them, the breeze whispered through the acres of vines, and the shadows of little flying insects were exaggerated around the lanterns and fairy lights.
They made love quietly. When his hand slipped under her panties to sink into her wetness, she felt her muscles contract, and small ripples of pleasure grew longer and fiercer, from ripples to waves, until she was so close to coming that she had to squeeze shut her legs and focus on just hanging on for a bit longer.
He didn’t strip off his T-shirt but he shoved his jeans down, unzipping them unsteadily, kicking them off. Then he tugged off her panties and came inside, filling her, stretching her until she was soaring and clasping him tightly against her.
Their bodies were slick with perspiration and their grunts of satisfaction were muted, which added to a certain sizzling excitement. They were two teenagers making out in the back of a car, even though Izzy had never had that experience first-hand, so she could only surmise.
Afterwards, sated, they lay back. Izzy wriggled her dress back on, he climbed into his jeans and then he drew her towards him and haphazardly began pointing out various constellations, some with silly names, obviously made up to make her giggle.
She talked to him about Max and growing up. She’d dipped into that conversation on a few occasions now, revealing a little more about herself with each foray.
He asked her about her brothers, and she laughed and told him that she’d always been closer to James, who was relaxed, easygoing and instantly charming in a way Max had never been.
‘Although,’ she said pensively, ‘who knows how he’s changed since he’s fallen in love and is full of the joys of getting married?’ She paused and then said cautiously, ‘You could come to the wedding with me. If you like.’
Silence greeted this and Izzy could have kicked herself. Everything had been going so well.
‘Just a thought,’ she added hastily. ‘Crazy, considering I’ll be well gone by then! We will both have moved on.’
Gabriel didn’t have to see her face to know exactly what was going on in her head. Was it so far-fetched? Here they were, having a great time—why should they be compelled to limit their enjoyment to a two-week period? Things were in place with regard to Bianca. He had consulted a top lawyer, handing over all the evidence at his disposal. It seemed that he would have no problem in levelling the playing field, if not taking it over completely, fencing it off and putting up a sign that trespassers, in the form of his dearest ex-wife, would be prosecuted. Her parenting was borderline negligent and he had the proof to present.
Izzy didn’t want to tread on any toes by presuming anything and he really liked that about her. She was funny, smart, touchingly disingenuous, forthright and she had never, not once, overstepped the mark.
Not once had she asked anything of him that she knew he would be unwilling to give, do or say.
