Chapter Twenty: Blissful Normalcy
And all my walls stood tall painted blue
I'll take them down, take them down
And open up the door for you
And all I feel in my stomach is butterflies
The beautiful kind making up for lost time
Taking flight making me feel right.
"Everything Has Changed" by Taylor Swift featuring Ed Sheeran
Life went at a normal pace. Well as normal as you could get with two werewolves sleeping in your apartment. Victoria had vanished once again, gone into deeper hiding according to Carlisle who was now actively pursuing her. Sam wouldn't ease his position of having me followed pretty much at all times but it was mostly Leah and Embry and they stayed hidden. It had been four weeks since Paul got the bite and I hadn't seen him, thankfully, in that time.
"So are you nervous about tonight?" Ray asked leaning in my doorway. Gabriel had arranged for me to come to a family function with him where I would meet his father and some of his other family as well. I shrugged.
"He said your Dad is easier to deal with than monster mom so I figured I was getting a good deal," I said.
"So does this mean you two are officially dating now?" He asked. I rubbed my forehead.
"I hate defining anything," I said. "But we are seeing each other. Trying to take it at a natural pace."
"Sounds smart," he said. "His ex-wife did quite a number on him."
"Can I ask what happened there?" I asked. Ray shrugged.
"They met in high school. He saw a beautiful, sweet theater girl and she saw dollar signs," he answered. "They got married at twenty and when he was about twenty-five he came home from a trip early to find her in bed with five guys." I shuddered.
"Wow," I said. Ray nodded.
"Unfortunately for her there was an infidelity clause in the pre-nup monster mom made her sign. She walked away without a dime," he said.
"She did take the dog though," Gabe said. I jumped because I hadn't noticed him come in.
"Sorry," I said automatically but he just shrugged.
"I would have told you," he said. "Just never came up. I actually came to see if you were ready to head out."
"Twenty minutes?" I asked. "Campbell emailed me and I have been putting off a response."
"I'll wrap up then," he said.
"So who are you bringing tonight?" I teased Ray as I quickly typed the email to my author.
"No one," he said. "So you will be the focus tonight." I threw a book at him and he dodged it, laughing and returned to his own office. Dinner with his family went better than I expected. Everyone was nice and it was blissfully normal. Gabriel held my hand nearly the entire night, even when his nephew teased him about it. We got his car to leave and he turned to me hesitantly.
"Did you want to maybe have a glass of wine at my place?" He asked.
"Sounds nice," I said. His house was set against some hills and woods, the driveway invisible from the street. He led me into the sprawling house almost nervously. It was very sparsely decorated but tastefully done.
"Do you want red or white?" He asked.
"Um white's fine," I said. He brought me a glass and settled onto the couch with a glass of what smelled like bourbon. The wine was crisp and surprisingly delicious and light.
"So I'm sorry if my family asked too many questions," he said. "They tend to do that."
"It's fine," I said. "They were an interesting bunch." He put his glass down and took mine from me gently. Then his lips touched mine, gently at first and then more firmly when I didn't pull away. His lips tasted like bourbon and I swiped my tongue over them to catch the lingering flavor. His lips opened and his tongue met mine. Lightly at first and them again and again until I was dizzy and practically drunk on his taste.
"I want you," he murmured quietly when our lips parted. And I found the courage to utter the words I had been trying to swallow.
"I want you too," I said softly. He stood and held out one hand, waiting with one eyebrow arched. I took it without hesitating and followed him down a few hallways and into his room. He flipped on the light, revealing a large bed with snow white sheets and a huge fluffy looking comforter. He released my hand and moved swiftly around the room, lighting candles I hadn't seen and the scent of lavender filled the air. He flipped the light off again and the room glowed softly now instead. He pulled me in for a slow, deep, burning kiss that left me swaying slightly. I recovered enough to help him pull my shirt over my head and unzipped my skirt and let it fall.
"God but you're beautiful," he whispered trailing his hand along my stomach. The rest of our clothes disappeared as our hands wandered. His touch was firm but not rough at all. He was in amazing shape, and coming from a girl who hung around with werewolves that was saying something. I let my fingers wander over his chest and he closed his eyes at the touch.
"It's been awhile huh?" I asked as he leaned into my touch like a cat being stroked. His blue eyes opened and met mine.
"I haven't slept with anyone since I left my wife," he said quietly. Shock must have shown on my face because he laughed softly. "I had offers but I never wanted anyone in my bed. Until now."
"Way to put the pressure on," I teased. I inhaled sharply when he ran both slightly rough palms over my nipples.
"No pressure," he said softly. He bent his head and pressed kisses to the skin there. "Just two people enjoying each other." We fell into bed and laughed as we got tangled in the ridiculously poofy comforter.
"Very erotic," I said wryly. In answer his mouth fell to one nipple. It has been awhile since Paul and I was so sensitive to every touch and the feeling of his wet tongue on my nipple flooded my body with pleasure. For someone so out of practice he sure knew how to play a woman's body like a fine instrument. His mouth and hands worked me to a fever pitch. He pulled away and I heard the tearing of a foil packet and watched as he rolled the condom on with shaking hands. I urged him to his back and straddled his hips.
"Like this?" He asked running a shaking hand up my stomach, to between my breasts and flattening there. I lowered myself onto him in response. His eyes closed and his hand fell away from my skin.
"Yes, like this," I said with as much composure as I could manage. We moved together effortlessly and soon were both panting; sweat beading on our skin. He caught my hands in his as I moved to adjust and lifted his hips to mine. I felt like a bomb had gone off and I vaguely heard a groan before I collapsed on top of him. He stroked my sweaty back soothingly as I came down from my orgasm. He lifted me gently to remove the condom and turned to dispose of it.
"What an ending to a drought," he said. His lips curved into a slight smirk as he pulled me into his side. I pressed my face to his shoulder and threaded one leg through his. He pulled the sheets over us and lifted my chin with one finger. His kiss this time was gentle, slow and full of the intimacy we had just shared.
"Gabriel I," I began but he shushed me.
"We can talk in the morning," he said quietly. "Let's just enjoy this moment." There would be plenty of time to talk in the morning, I agreed in my head. Tomorrow was Saturday, we were both off…and I drifted to sleep at that moment.