Gabriel's Rapture by Reynard, Sylvain (reading comprehension books .TXT) 📕

that decorated the boy’s head, smiling widely as he seemed to offer a contented sigh.

“Why do you want to get married and have children all of a sudden?” Julia blurted.

He shrugged uncomfortably. “Things happened while we were separated. I realized what was important—what I wanted for a happy life. And I went to an orphanage.”

“An orphanage? Why?”

“I volunteered with the Franciscans in Florence and they used to bring candy and toys to the children at the orphanage. I went along.”

Julia’s jaw dropped. “You didn’t tell me about that.”

“It wasn’t a secret. I planned to stay in Assisi indefinitely, but I met an American family who were going to run a medical clinic for the poor in Florence. I decided to join them.”

“Did you like it?”

“I wasn’t especially good at it. But I found my niche, eventually, telling stories about Dante in Italian.”

Julia grinned. “That’s a good job for a Dante specialist. What about the orphanage?”

“The children were well looked after, but it was a sad place. They had babies there, some of whom had AIDS or fetal alcohol syndrome. Then there were older children who would never be adopted. Most adoptive parents want younger kids.”

Julia placed her hand on his arm. “I’m sorry.”

Gabriel turned and gently touched the little boy’s head. “When Grace found me, I was at an age that would have been considered unadoptable. She wanted me anyway. I’ve been blessed.”

Julia heard his sudden vulnerability and was struck by how much he’d changed. She couldn’t have imagined the old Professor Emerson talking about his blessings, or stroking a little boy’s head. Especially if the boy had ruined his new Armani suit.

Just before the last dance, Gabriel walked over to the DJ and spoke to him in hushed tones. Then, with a wide smile, he returned to Julia and extended his hand.

They walked slowly onto the dance floor just as “Return to Me” filled the air.

“I’m surprised you didn’t choose ‘Besame Mucho,’” she said.

Gabriel gazed into her eyes intensely. “I thought that we needed a new song. A new song for a new chapter.”

“I liked the old one.”

“We don’t have to forget the past,” he whispered. “But we can make the future better.”

She gave him a half-smile and changed the subject. “I remember the first time we danced.”

“I was an ass that evening. When I think of how I behaved…” His tone was remorseful. “I had a strong reaction to you but didn’t know how to act.”

“You know how to act around me now.” She touched his face and pressed their lips together before tentatively fingering his black silk bow tie. “I remember admiring your ties when I was just your student. You always dressed impeccably.”

Gabriel caught her hand in his and pressed his open mouth to her palm. “Julianne, you were never just my student. You’re my soul mate. My bashert.”

He pulled her to his chest, and she hummed against his tuxedo. And when Dean Martin switched to Italian, it was Gabriel’s voice that sang in her ear.

* * *

As Gabriel stood outside of Julia’s hotel room in the wee hours of the morning, he looked at her appraisingly. Her long, curled hair, her beautiful skin and flushed cheeks, her eyes sparkling with champagne and happiness. The way her dark red strapless dress complemented her figure. His brown-eyed angel still had the power to enchant him.

As he gently caressed her cheek, she gazed up into the hazy blue eyes he was now hiding behind his glasses. He was so handsome in his tuxedo. So very, very sexy.

Boldly, she reached out to pull the edge of his bow tie and felt the silk come apart in her fingers. She wrapped the tie around her hand once to tug his lips to hers.

As they kissed, Julia suddenly realized how difficult it must have been at the beginning of their relationship for Gabriel to keep his hands off her. The boiling of blood and heating of flesh when one knew what lay beyond kissing in the voluptuary dance that was foreplay. She could barely contain her need for him.

“Please,” she whispered, straining on tiptoe to place tiny kisses across his neck as she tugged on his tie once again.

He groaned. “Don’t tempt me.”

“I promise I’ll be gentle.”

Gabriel laughed gruffly. “This is a stunning reversal.”

“We’ve waited a respectable amount of time. I love you. And I want you.”

“Do you trust me?”

“Yes,” she said breathlessly.

“Then marry me.”

“Gabriel, I—”

He cut her off with his kiss, pulling her against his chest. Somehow his hands were in her hair, clutching her tightly. And then as he gently slid his hands to caress her naked shoulders, he tentatively pressed into her mouth.

Julia released his bow tie to wrap her arms around his neck, tugging him until their bodies were flush against one another. She nibbled his full lower lip and moaned as his tongue slowly traced the curve of her mouth.

Suddenly, his fingers were touching her collarbones and moving to her back, gliding across the surface of her skin as it began to flush and heat.

“Let me do things the right way,” he pleaded, his hands cupping her face.

“How could this be wrong?” she whispered back, eyes dark and desperate.

He kissed her again, and this time she shamelessly wound her right leg around his hip, trying to recreate their tango against a wall from the Royal Ontario Museum.

He pressed forward until her back was flush against the door to her room, his hands roaming up and down her thighs, before pulling back suddenly. “I can’t.”

Julia removed his glasses in order to smooth the creases around his eyes, and saw passion, conflict, and love staring back at her. She unwound her leg from his hip and pressed their lower bodies together.

“Gabriel.”

He blinked at the sound of her voice, as if she was awakening him from a dream.

When he didn’t move, she placed a few inches between them and handed him his glasses. “Goodnight, Gabriel.”

He looked stricken. “I don’t mean to hurt you.”

“I know.”

He remained perfectly still, staring