Up In Smoke (24 page)

“Sounds like my kind of man. I'm not heavily into possessions, either. I've never had the resources to develop that taste, and if I did, I had Magoth to consider. He'd never allow me to keep anything with any true value. So, honestly, Gabriel has nothing to be nervous about.”

She gave a little half shrug, watching along with me as Gabriel, Tipene at his side, argued some point or other with a growing circle of customs officials. “He has not had enough time to be sure of you.”

“He's not sure of me?” I asked, pain biting into my gut. Gabriel had doubts about us? About me?

“It's not surprising given how little time you have spent together,” she said, and I saw the truth in that. “How many days have you spent in each other's company?”

I cast my mind over the last couple of months. “Just a few,” I admitted, feeling like a fool. How could I have allowed my common sense, the common sense that Cyrene had given up to create me, to be so completely overlooked? Of course Gabriel wasn't sure of me—we'd known each other for only a few months, ninety percent of which I'd spent in Abaddon. But my heart had managed to ignore the obvious and fall madly in love with him, building all sorts of wonderful rosy images of a future together, images that suddenly turned to dust and wafted away.

“He is in no doubt that you are his mate,” she continued, watching as suddenly the bulk of customs people turned and walked away, leaving Gabriel and Tipene alone with one important-looking official. “No one can be in doubt of that. But it is your feelings he is unsure of.”

I said nothing, just rubbed my fingers, suddenly cold.

“He does not see as I have that you have given him your heart,” she said, turning back to me with yet another smile. “But he is male. We will cut him some slack for that handicap, yes?”

“Is it so obvious?” I asked, horrified that I'd been caught wearing my heart on my sleeve. Gabriel had not once mentioned the moment when I'd blurted out that I loved him. I figured he hadn't heard me, or had chosen not to acknowledge it. “Does everyone know?”

Her smile turned wry. “I did not get to see you with Kaawa, so I do not know if she saw the truth, but it is very hard to hide anything from her. She sees beyond this realm.”

I remembered the odd look Kaawa had given me as we'd left her camp that morning. She hadn't said anything other than to bid us farewell, and to come back for a longer stay, but there was something in her manner that had me thinking she was holding things back.

I shook off the premonition and returned my mind to the present. I might have had a lapse in judgment in falling so quickly in love with Gabriel, but I wasn't Cyrene with her many love affairs. I wasn't ready to tell the world of my feelings, especially if Gabriel was so unsure of me that he had doubts about our relationship.

“I do not tell you this to upset you, May,” Maata added, suddenly looking worried herself. “I wanted you to be prepared, so you would not upset Gabriel by a lack of enthusiasm for his home.”

A note in her voice pulled me out of my dark introspection. “You love him, don't you?” I asked.

“Yes,” she answered promptly, surprising me. “Not as a lover or a mate, as you do, but as a leader. He is truly an exceptional wyvern. He would die to protect the sept, and has given himself selflessly his entire lifetime to bettering our lives, to keeping the peace within the weyr. His actions may not be viewed by all in that light, but I know the truth. He was born to be wyvern, and his strength comes not from vast wealth as it does for some dragons, but from the true depths of his character. I hope you can see that and value him for what he truly possesses.”

“I do,” I said, watching as he shook the official's hand. It was a loaded handshake, one I hoped did not contain too many folded New Zealand dollars.

“Come along, little bird,” he said as he opened the door and waited for us to file out. “We have the passport issues sorted out and can go to the cottage now. It's outside of Auckland, on the water. I think you'll like it.”

“I'm sure I'll love it,” I said, allowing him to take my hand, tightening my fingers around his as a sudden spurt of emotion filled me.

“Don't be so certain.” He gave me a little peek at his dimples. “It's not up to Drake's standards, not even up to those of the house in London I took for the winter. It's just a modest little cottage on the beach, but it's mine. I designed it myself.”

“Sounds like heaven to me.”

The ride out to Manukua City didn't take long. Gabriel and his two bodyguards chatted about sept business, plans for a meeting at which I would be formally presented, and updates on various members. I listened with only part of my attention, watching as the busy Auckland streets changed to those of suburbia, which in turn morphed into a beach community. I kept a pleasant expression on my face, determined to love Gabriel's house, no matter what it was.

“Here we are,” Gabriel said as the car suddenly turned into a private drive guarded by a gate. Tipene, who was driving, punched a couple of buttons on a remote, and the gate slid silently open. “My little cottage.”

The car pulled up outside a pair of double doors. I looked at the expanse of sixteen-foot-tall glass doors, pale melon-colored stone, and tall fluted marble columns, and promptly socked Gabriel in the arm.

He laughed as I got out, staring with openmouthed amazement. “What do you think, little bird?”

“I think I'm going to hit you again. Little cottage, Gabriel? How many rooms are in your
little cottage
?”

“Bedrooms?” he asked, taking my hand in order to smooth out my fist. “Ten. But ours is the best. It has an unobstructed view of the water. Come in and see the house. Cyrene will love the room with the indoor pool—it's directly below our room and also has a fine view.”

The interior of the house was all light, with fresh white walls, huge floor-to-ceiling windows that must take weeks to clean fully, glass skylights allowing the room to fill with sunlight, and a gorgeous curved white stone staircase that emerged from the profuse plant life that was everywhere. I remembered the dark house in London that Gabriel had rented for a short while, the one that felt so empty to me, and reflected that this house was the reason for that. This house had heart—Gabriel's heart—and I fell just as much in love with it as I did with its creator.

“What do you think?” he asked after taking me on the grand tour. Tipene and Maata had disappeared into rooms Gabriel indicated as their private domain. We left his bedroom for last, with its gigantic, mosquito-netted bed, array of electronics that would dazzle any computer geek's eyes, and breathtaking view of the water.

“I think it's heaven on earth,” I said truthfully, turning to him, noting that Maata was right; he had been worried. At my words, he visibly relaxed, pulling me into a loose embrace.

“It wasn't before you came here, but I agree that now it approaches perfection.”

“I'm just sorry we can't stay here long,” I said, leaning into him and allowing the wonderful woodsy scent of him to sink into my bones. “Maybe Cyrene can put off Neptune for a bit.”

“Unfortunately, there is too much to be taken care of elsewhere to stay here,” he said, rubbing his chin on the top of my head. “We must talk to the other wyverns about reforging the dragon heart.”

“I know. It just seems like everything is so far away from here; it's tempting to just let it all go.”

“What you need,” he said, scooping me up in his arms and marching me out to the balcony that opened off the room, “is some incredibly satisfying sex with an even more incredible dragon, and I know just the man to do the job.”

“Really?” I asked, getting into his suddenly playful mood. I tugged gently on one of his dreadlocks, twining it around my finger. “Would he happen to have the most amazing silver eyes that melt me with the merest look?”

“He might. He might also have every intention of giving you more pleasure than you've ever had before he takes his own,” he said, setting me down on a wide chaise longue. “Stay there. Don't move.”

He disappeared back into the room, and I took a moment to look around the balcony. Tall plants bordered either side of the deck, providing privacy from neighboring houses. Only the front facing the vast sapphire ocean was unobstructed. A few sailboats dotted the coastline, but they were too far off to see what we were doing. I started to take off my shirt, but Gabriel called from inside the bedroom, “Do not undress yet, Mayling. I plan on disrobing you slowly. Just sit there and mull over the many ways I'm going to pleasure you.”

“You're not going to insist that we try to do foreplay, are you?”

His head popped around the opened French door. “I promised you foreplay, and I fully intend to fulfill that promise. I am a wyvern. I have immense self-control. Just not around you, but that will change, mate; just you wait and see. I will control my seemingly insatiable desire for you and pleasure you as you deserve.”

He disappeared before I could answer. “I think you're beating yourself up unnecessarily,” I called to him, relaxing against the sun-warmed chaise, closing my eyes to better enjoy the thought of Gabriel, naked, and allowing me to frolic all over his delectable body.

A small fire broke out next to me. I beat it out as Gabriel answered, “That is not the point. As your mate, I am honor bound to show you certain respect. That includes giving you foreplay.”

“Somehow I doubt that ‘Must provide reasonable amount of foreplay' made it into the wyverns' handbook.”

He leaned out of the door to grin at me. “You'd be surprised what makes it into the handbook.”

“Are you naked yet?” I asked, noting that what I could see of his chest was bare. I held out my arms. “Come foreplay me, you handsome dragon, you.”

“Not just yet.” He withdrew back into the room. I began to wonder just exactly what it was that he was doing—not to mention why it was more important than making love to me. “Well, so far as I'm concerned, foreplay is overrated. The way you do things is perfectly all right by me.”

“It's not all right by me,” he answered, a loud thump punctuating the sentence, followed by a muffled oath. “Would you mind saying something lengthy?”

“Something lengthy?” I sat up and leaned over to peer into the door, astonished by the site of Gabriel blindly groping his way out of the bedroom. “
Agathos daimon.
What on earth are you doing?”

“Pleasuring you,” he said, waving a hand around in the air. “Say something. If I can follow your voice, I'll find you.”

“Pleasuring me?”

“Well, I will be once I find you.” His hand waved around in the air as he took another couple of steps forward. “Speak, mate.”

“How about this: I highly approve of the fact that you are naked. No, more than highly approve, am sincerely grateful and completely enjoying the fact that you're naked. But the bowl, the eyeshade, and the peacock feather have me more than a little concerned. You haven't been hiding some deviant dragon-sex secrets from me, have you?”

He grinned again, grabbing the hand I had held out for him, edging forward until he found the small round glass table next to me. Carefully, he set down the covered bowl and the feather. “Not deviant, Mayling. Well, perhaps a little. Now I shall undress you, and then we will be able to proceed.”

I watched with amusement as he groped his way over to my chest, unbuttoning my shirt. “I wouldn't be female if I didn't attribute the fact that you've had to blind yourself before touching me to a sudden, overwhelming disgust at my appearance, but knowing you, I suspect it has something to do with some perverted sense of determination to provide me with foreplay. Or are you just suddenly indulging your tactile senses?”

“The sun will never rise on the day in which I do not look at you and am overwhelmed with my incredible luck in having such a breathtaking mate, Mayling.”

My toes curled at his words. “Thank you,” I said, attempting to accept the compliment with more grace than I normally possessed. “But if that's the case, then why—”

“I am a visual person. If I see you sitting there, all naked and silky skinned, I will not be able to control myself. I have tried, and failed, but at least I know why I have failed. By limiting my ability to see, I will eliminate the worst part of the temptation. It will still be a struggle to exhibit control over my other senses—” His hand froze for a moment when I shifted so that my breast brushed his palm. His Adam's apple bobbed up and down for a moment. He cleared his throat and moved his hand away from my breast to pull my now-unbuttoned shirt off. “—but I think it will help.”

“You are a strange man,” I told him, watching as he tossed my shirt onto the floor of the balcony. Before he could reach for me again, I divested myself of my pants, shoes, and underwear.

“I am a dragon, Mayling. As the shard has shown you, we feel things differently than humans. Now for your jeans.” His hand descended upon my bare belly. His fingers flexed for a moment.

“Already off,” I said, leaning forward to press a kiss crookedly on his mouth. “What do you have in the bowl? Is it something sticky? Honey?”

“Better than honey,” he said, clearing his throat again. I smiled to myself. Gabriel normally had an incredibly sexy voice, made up of tones that stroked my skin like velvet, but whenever he struggled to control himself, it deepened, becoming huskier, which in turned aroused me all that much more. “It's gold.”

“Jewelry?” I asked, remembering how gold affects dragons. It seemed to act as both an aphrodisiac and a sort of dragonish catnip, driving them wild.