NOCB 008 - Scions 02.5 - Patrice Michelle - Perception (2 page)

She gave a low, sexy laugh and whispered in his ear, “Now what would Kaitlyn think you and I could possibly have in common?”

The feel of her ful breasts pressing against his chest, combined with her sweet scent wrapping around him and her warm breath fil ing his ear, set Gabriel’s inner wolf off, snarling for him to claim her. He mental y worked to slow himself down. Abby might seem strong, yet he knew humans were much weaker and might not be able to handle a wolf’s rougher sexual appetites.

Not that he’d ever entertained having sex with a human woman, despite the numerous blatant offers from his female clients in the city. But this woman made that proposition seem incredibly appealing…
No,
necessary. Abby’s cheek was so soft against his skin, Gabriel gave into his wolf’s desire to share a moment of intimacy with her.

When he pressed his lips against her jaw, she shuddered and a powerful tremor rol ed through him. Their connection stunned him. Suppressing the howl of satisfaction that threatened to erupt, he moved to kiss her throat, but Abby shoved at his chest. He landed flat on his back. The woman kneeled over him with a scowl and poked his chest. “Don’t believe everything you hear.”

Gabriel rol ed to a seated position as she retrieved her bag. Propping his elbows on his knees, he asked. “What do you do when you’re not breaking into friends’

houses?”

“I teach martial arts.” Abby cut her gaze his way as she passed him, bag in hand.

“And I wouldn’t have had to pick the lock if you hadn’t taken the spare key.”

Gabriel swiftly stood and fol owed her into the kitchen. “I’m intrigued that you knew how to pick a lock, let alone that you did so in less than thirty seconds. Who taught you how to do that?”

Abby flipped on the light and set her overnight bag on the kitchen table. Opening one of the cabinets, she gazed at him briefly as if measuring his sincerity, before she shrugged and retrieved a glass. “My best friend taught me. He was fourteen and I was eleven.”

Gabriel leaned against the counter next to the sink, thoroughly fascinated and a bit jealous of the boy who knew Abby before she grew into the wil ful woman in her early twenties who stood in front of him tonight. He glanced at her ful breasts pushing against the zip-up jacket and wondered if she went through the scrawny teenage stage most humans did, or if she’d skipped al that and developed those womanly curves early on, attracting every hormonal boy in sight. Another stab of jealousy hit him, making his chest burn. “Did your first boyfriend teach you those self-defense moves, too?”

Abby tried to shoo him out of the way so she could get some water from the sink, but he kept his feet planted. Gabriel didn’t care if she was forced to lean against him to run the water into her glass. He’d take any physical contact he could get…along with any other tidbits she’d share about herself. He wanted to know every intimate detail.

She snorted as she stuck the glass under the tap. “If Marcus had known how to defend himself, maybe he wouldn’t have gotten himself stabbed before he turned sixteen.”

Gabriel heard the pain and anger in her voice and saw her hand shake slightly when she backed away and lifted the half-fil ed glass to her lips. Sudden protective instincts swept through him, tensing his shoulders. “Was your childhood that rough?”

Setting the glass down, she met his steady gaze. “I take it you know Kaitlyn fairly wel , since you’re staying at her house.”

He noted how deftly she’d changed the subject. Rubbing his jaw, he answered honestly. “Landon and I grew up together and now that Kaitlyn is part of the ‘family’

she has earned my respect and friendship. Landon knew my instal ation jobs had picked up in town, so he suggested I stay here while I worked to complete them. As a thank you, I’m instal ing a system in Kaitlyn’s house.”

Abby blinked in surprise. “You work in town, but you live in the Shawangunks?”

He shrugged. “I like the open space the mountains offer.” When Abby moved to set the glass in the sink, Gabriel turned and placed his hands on the counter on either side of her smal er frame, locking her in place. “Staying too long in the city makes me feel caged in…trapped.” Leaning his chest against her back, he inhaled along her neck. “What about you, Abby? Care to share your deep dark secrets?”

She stiffened. “Not particularly.”

His chuckle sounded sandpaper-rough to his own ears. Abby’s heat level had just spiked and her aroused smel was making him dizzy. “What are you afraid of?”

“I’m not afraid of anything.” She shoved past his arm and started to walk away.

“Prove it.”

She halted and turned, her green eyes narrowed. “What’d you say?”

He studied her tense stance and the fact she seemed to be holding her breath.

“Show me you’re not afraid of me.”
Even though you should be. I have every intention of
seducing you before the night is out, my little human.
Abby crossed her arms over her breasts. “I’m not. Want to go another round?”

“I wasn’t referring to your ability to defend yourself.” He raised an eyebrow and leaned back casual y, his hands cupped on the counter behind him. When his meaning dawned, she stiffened and her face flushed. “Of al the arrogant

—”

“I’m not being arrogant. Just perceptive.” Her agitation intrigued him. The way she carried herself, he had a feeling she didn’t al ow people to fluster her often. Gabriel liked the fact he’d gotten under skin. He sure as hel wanted to explore
every
emotion with this woman. He gave her a feral smile and laid down a chal enge.

“Prove me wrong.”

Why am I letting this man get to me?
“Fine. As sil y as this is…” His dark, knowing smile made her stomach flutter as Abby marched up and stood on her toes to plant one on him. She refused to inhale his masculine scent or touch his body as she brushed her lips against his mouth for the briefest of seconds. “See, no big deal. Don’t mistake adrenaline for something it’s not—”

Her shoes hadn’t even flattened to the floor when his muscular arm came around her waist. Yanking her against his chest, his striking blue eyes flashed with heat. “Let’s try that again—my way. Shal we?”

Abby placed her hands on his hard chest and her stomach tumbled. “I—”

Gabriel’s warm lips brushed hers, stealing her words as he tested the texture of her mouth. When his tongue traced her parted lips, her breath caught. Then he began to suck gently on her bottom lip. Heart thumping harder, she curled her fingers inward to keep from fol owing her natural instincts, tel ing her to grip his shoulders tight.

“You have the sexiest lips,” he mumbled against her mouth right before he nipped the sensitive flesh. Abby closed her eyes as fire consumed her, licking every sensitive place with tingling awareness. She moaned, waiting for him to kiss her deeply. A warm hand caressed the back of her neck and she felt him smile against her mouth. “Uh uh, sweetness. This time, kiss me like you mean it.”

He was making her kiss him? Damn the man! But she needed to know. Abby gave into the temptation. Sliding her tongue inside his mouth, she inhaled, taking his earthy, masculine scent deep inside her.

The moment her tongue touched his, Gabriel’s chest rumbled and he reversed their positions. Locking her against the counter with his hips, he thrust his fingers into her hair and slanted his lips across her mouth in a dominant kiss that swept through her entire body. When his tongue caressed hers in a curling, provocative sweep, Abby fel into their kiss. His piercing upped her excitement, adding an erotic edge to the arousing friction of his tongue’s imitate glide against hers in an aggressive exploration of her mouth.

Lost in his hard embrace, her brain fogged with unadulterated lust, Abby slid her hands up his muscular shoulders and wrapped her arms tight around his neck. The feel of his erection pressing against her, and the way his lips claimed hers, as if he couldn’t resist—as if he
had
to taste her—silenced al the warning bel s that had been clanging in the back of her mind from the moment he pinned her to the floor in the hal .

When Gabriel began to slide her sweat jacket’s zipper open, Abby’s breasts tingled and her breathing turned shal ow. His lips moved to her jaw before he slowly made his way down her throat, pressing tender kisses along the way. She couldn’t deny the irresistible need clawing within her, creating a magnetic pul that demanded she wrap herself around the sexy man and relish every tender touch and arousing sensation he planned to share with her.

Then, as suddenly as the warnings had silenced in her mind, they came rushing to the forefront—chiming. The sound was incessant and irritating. Abby froze and jerked away when she realized the noise wasn’t in her head. Someone was ringing the doorbel quite forceful y.

Pushing on Gabriel’s chest, she mumbled, “I have to get that or they’l knock the door down next.”

As Abby walked briskly down the hal to answer the door, the pent-up sexual tension within her eased off a bit and her mind cleared.
What the hel was I thinking:
kissing him and opening up
that
can of worms?
While it was true Gabriel exuded the kind of “dangerous for your health” persona that she normal y went for in men—

the kind of guy she dated, then broke up with soon after—something about this man felt…different. It was the way he touched her, the seductive force of his kiss. He radiated a level of serious intensity she’d never experienced before with another man.

Abby blinked at the five gouges on the wood door in front of her—four were lined up in a column on the right and one was by itself on the left.
How odd
, she thought before she pul ed open the door. A man in his late seventies stood on the porch, his short gray hair fluttering in the wind and an old, battered raincoat hastily buttoned around him. He held an umbrel a with a tight grip, and a concerned look pinched his forehead.

“You must be Abby. I’m Frank Donohue from across the street.” He blew out an embarrassed breath at the same time he peered around Abby, staring into the house. “Kaitlyn cal ed my wife, Alice, earlier to say you’d be staying at the house, and when I mentioned seeing a strange man walking around the perimeter of Kaitlyn’s house earlier this evening, my wife got worried and tried to cal . Since the phone just rang and rang, she sent me over to check on you—“Mr. Donohue cut himself off when his gaze locked on something in the hal .

Glancing behind her, Abby saw Gabriel leaning casual y against the hal way wal , watching them with interest. His arms were folded across his naked chest, and a slight smirk tilted his lips.

“Oh…I see,” Mr. Donohue said, drawing Abby’s attention. The older man’s gaze had lowered to Abby’s unbound breasts pushing against the thin white tank top underneath her unzipped jacket to Gabriel and then back to her. Damn, she’d forgotten she hadn’t put on a bra in her rush to get out of her apartment earlier. Abby’s face heated when she realized Gabriel’s shirtless and shoeless appearance, along with her own braless one, had led Mr. Donohue to one conclusion. Zipping up her jacket, she gave a sheepish smile and went with the easiest response. “Thanks for your concern. My boyfriend and I are housesitting for the weekend. He’s going to instal a security system while we’re here.”

Mr. Donohue cleared his throat and nodded his approval in Gabriel’s direction.

“Wel , that’s good to know. The house needs a system, since Kaitlyn’s away more often than she’s here. I hear the storm’s going to get worse, so hunker down. Have a good evening.”

“Be careful on the ice,” Abby cal ed after him as he shuffled back across the driveway.

Abby shut the door, and when she turned to walk into the office, Gabriel’s amused voice floated her way.

“Boyfriend?”

“I wouldn’t have had to lie if you’d have kept your half-naked self in the kitchen,” she snapped, feeling both flustered and exasperated as she flipped on the light. His presence fil ed the doorway behind her, but Abby choose to ignore him. She had to step over spools of wire, a tool belt, a power dril and other security-system equipment to reach the combo phone and answering machine on the credenza. Leaning over the furniture’s smooth wood surface, she pul ed on the cords running behind it. “What’s up with the phone?”

Gabriel planted his hands on the desk, his hips trapping her against the furniture.

“That wasn’t a complaint, Abby.”

His comment made her pulse trip with excitement, and her stomach twist with concern at the same time. Abby straightened and redirected their conversation.

“They were unplugged!” She held the loose answering machine and phone cords toward him, her gaze slitted.

He nodded toward the cords and equipment on the floor at their feet. “I was testing the line, preparing to run the new line for the security system when the storm blew in, making accurate testing near impossible as everything began to freeze.”

Sighing, Abby leaned across the desk once more and plugged the cords into the wal outlets. “We may as wel put these back until the storm is over.”

When she straightened, she expected Gabriel to move and give her space, but he remained where he was. Leaning close once more, he inhaled along her throat, his voice gliding over her like the finest velvet. “Being your boyfriend is a start.”

Abby’s warning alerts went off once more, making her heart palpitate and her palms sweat.
A start?
Was he thinking of something more permanent? She didn’t
do
permanent, no matter how much he made her heart pound and her pulse thrum. Brushing his arm out of her way, she put some distance between them. “Don’t let that kiss go to your head, Hawthorne. I’m going to go take a much needed shower.”

As she walked toward the doorway, she felt his penetrating gaze measure every step she took, seeing more than she wanted.

“Stil afraid, Abby?”

Abby tensed inside, but she didn’t let her confident stride falter. In just a few short conversations, Gabriel had seen more than any man ever had. Way more than she wanted.

Ten minutes later, Gabriel had just come in from the garage with the rest of the security equipment when the telephone rang. He let the answering machine pick up, but once Kaitlyn’s voice came across the line, he grabbed the phone, his voice gruff with suppressed sexual tension. Al he could think about was Abby upstairs in a hot shower, rubbing soap al over her lush, naked body. “Hey, Kaitlyn.”