Obsession: Darkness Falls Read online

  “I didn’t say I hadn’t eaten in great volume. Just that I hadn’t eaten so well.” He replied, mildly teasing. “Lean proteins and steamed veg are food for the body. Whatever you called that duck and sausage thing is food for the soul.”

  “Food for the soul, huh?” Food for the hips more like, she thought silently, amused. “I don’t mind cooking. It’s up to you.”

  “I’d like to take you out. Spoil you.” There he went with that damn smile again, the one that made her legs feel like noodles.

  “Okay, I’ll look forward to your email.” She backed down and he leaned down to kiss her gently on the lips.

  “I’ll look forward to sending it.” He gave a shaky laugh. “Right. I really am going this time.” She followed him to the door, watched him put his coat on and waved him out into the bitter night, only belatedly realising as she started the washing up that she had no idea how he was getting home. Opening the door again, she stepped out into the porch but he’d already disappeared. His footsteps in the snow led up the street and around the corner and she guessed he was going for a taxi. She’d maybe email in the morning, she reassured herself as she closed the door again. Just check he’d got home all right.

  Out in the night, Gabriel wrapped his coat tightly around him and watched from the shadows as she moved around her kitchen, putting things to rights in the aftermath of dinner. Her hair was catching glints from the copper pans, making it seem almost lustrously metallic. His fingers ached to touch it. His whole body ached to fuck her. But not yet. It was too soon. She needed to trust him.

  Chapter two

  When she opened the door to him the following evening, he just about swallowed his tongue. She looked glorious in a vivid green dress that brought out the red in her hair and the warm creamy gold of her skin. She looked like some sort of woodland fairy, her delicate features flushed with pleasure at seeing him. The dress was nipped in at the waist, with a full skirt, and cut modestly on top, emphasising her generous curves. She wasn’t in any way fat, but nature had seen fit to bless her with a shape so feminine it made his throat dry.

  “Gabriel.” She peeked shyly at him from under her lashes and he smiled foolishly.

  “Noelle. You look gorgeous.” He leaned down and kissed her cheek, the heady scent of her perfume giving him vertigo.

  “Thanks.” She blushed an even deeper shade of cerise and he stepped back as she covered her embarrassment by turning to fetch her coat. “I wasn’t sure if it would be all right.” She said when she turned back to him, stepping out into the cold air. “I didn’t know where we were going and you didn’t say if there was a dress code.”

  “You look just perfect.” He took her arm and steadied her across the ice to the car that was idling by the kerb. “You really should get this gritted.” He told her seriously, as she picked her way across ice that was so smooth it was like glass. “You could fall.”

  “I keep meaning to get a bag of salt and then forgetting.” She admitted. “I’ll try and remember next time I go to the shops.” He wouldn’t let it go that far. He would make sure she got home safely tonight and then he’d send someone out to deal with it in the morning. The thought of her getting hurt by anything other than him made his jaw clench with a fleeting rush of rage.

  “I’ll try and remind you.” He said amiably, pulling open the rear door for her and then moving around the other side to get in. For the first time she noticed that he had a chauffeur and he watched as unease passed across her face, quelled as suddenly as it had risen.

  “You never did tell me much about what you do.” She seemed subdued at the overt display of wealth and he smiled, trying to ease her discomfort.

  “It really is a little bit of everything.” He explained vaguely. “I do some producing, some song-writing, a little bit of singing here and there. It’s the song-writing that keeps me in expensive clothes and cars driven by someone else.”

  Despite herself she was fascinated. “Have you written anything I’d have heard of?” He reeled off a couple of well known songs and she was duly impressed. “Well now I know how you stay in nice clothes and fancy cars.” She joked. “Those are great songs.”

  “I’m glad you think so.” He took her hand and encircled her small wrist with his long fingers, marvelling at how delicate it was. “I’m glad you decided to come tonight. I thought maybe...after last night...I don’t know...You might have changed your mind.”

  “Because we kissed?” She asked and he shook his head, refusing to look at her.

  “Not the kiss, no, it was what stopped it.” For a moment her brow creased in thought and then she had to fight the laughter that bubbled up out of her chest.

  “You mean...?” She gestured in the general direction of his groin and he nodded. “No, that didn’t put me off. If you must know, it was rather flattering to be so desired. I haven’t had that effect on someone for quite a while.” She obviously hadn’t noticed the way men’s eyes followed her about.

  He consulted his watch, realising the restaurant was a good half hour away. “Come here.” He said huskily, pulling her arm gently so she slid across the leather seat and into his side. “We have a way to go and I’ve been thinking about this all day.” He lowered his lips to hers with a gentle urgency that devoured her with all consuming want. She couldn’t understand the hold he had over her. She’d never been so physically attracted to anyone in her life. She didn’t kiss people like this, certainly not after only 6 or 7 hours in each other’s company, yet the need ached deep within her, demanding release. When his tongue slid into her mouth, she thought she was going to lose her mind and barely noticed when he scooped her up to straddle his lap. When his lips left hers to travel down her neck, she came to her senses slightly and remembered they were in a moving vehicle. It should have bothered her that she wasn’t strapped in, but before she could consider the thought with any depth, his hands slid up her thighs beneath her dress and she moaned softly as he cupped his hands around her waist and ground his hips against her.

  “God you drive me crazy.” He murmured, echoing her own thoughts back at her. “I don’t think I’ve ever wanted anyone as much as I want you right now.” As he captured her mouth again, his hands smoothed over the curve of her rear and then one of them slid between her legs, caressing her over the flimsy fabric of her briefs.

  “Gabriel!” She broke away with a strangled squeak, acutely aware suddenly that there was someone else in the car sitting less than ten feet away. The driver gave no impression that he was paying them any attention, but, if she let Gabriel go where she thought he was headed, the driver would certainly be hearing them.

  “Shh.” He soothed, his hands continuing their relentless exploring, and Noelle was torn between wanton abandon and abject shame. It felt so good. Her whole body shuddered with delight as he slipped first one finger and then two underneath the fabric and into the folds of her body. It had been so long. She wanted this, needed it even, but her brain simply couldn’t ignore the fact that there was someone else who could clearly hear everything that was going on.

  “You’re so fucking wet for me.” He murmured almost silently, his lips caressing the shell of her ear, and she shivered anew at the profanity. No-one had ever spoken to her like that before. It was strangely thrilling.

  “Gabriel please.”She panted as quietly as she could manage into his ear. “I don’t want him to hear us.”

  His answering grin was wicked. “Then you’ll have to come quietly.” Before she could protest, he freed his hands, using one to tangle in her hair, pulling her mouth to his, and the other sliding blatantly down inside the front of her briefs. She moved helplessly against him as he coated his fingers in her slickness and teased her clit with an experienced touch. He could tell she was struggling to contain herself against the onslaught of sensation storming through her body and it pleased him, sending his lust roaring into overdrive. She hadn’t made any serious attempt to stop him, so perhaps his little kitten could be trained into exhibitionis
m more easily than he had thought, the incentive just had to be right. He thrust two fingers inside her and had to stifle a laugh as her whole body jerked. Even in his wildest dreams he hadn’t expected her to be so responsive.

  She fought to breathe quietly as he set up a gentle rhythm, massaging her clit with the palm of his hand as his fingers thrust in and out of her cunt. He could feel she’d be tight and it set his dick to twitching crazily in his pants. When he sensed she was too far gone to pull back, he released his hold on her hair and she rested her forehead on his shoulder as he played her like his own private orchestra of silence, writhing and squirming on top of him.

  Pushing his fingers deeper inside her he began circling her clit with his thumb until everything inside her began to clench, teetering on the edge. “Sometime soon kitten, as in the next day or two, I’m going to be doing this with my tongue.” He murmured in her ear. She gasped and then convulsed silently as an orgasm crashed over her. He kept going, kept teasing her until she was shuddering uncontrollably in his arms and then, finally, he let her come down. She slumped bonelessly against him, struggling to gather her wits as he licked his fingers clean.

  “I can’t believe you just did that.” She mumbled when she finally found her voice and he smirked.

  “Kitten, you just came for me. I had to know what it tasted like.”

  “That’s not what I meant!” She was utterly scandalised and her voice came out as a strangled squeak. He shook with silent laughter at her outrage.

  “You enjoyed it.” He protested mildly when she regained enough energy to push upright and glare at him.

  “That’s not the point!” She whispered hotly, her cheeks flushing crimson as she glanced over her shoulder at the driver, who was oblivious to the scene playing out behind him.

  “He didn’t see or hear anything.” Gabriel reassured her, but she was still blushing. “Look, we’ll be there soon. Take a few moments to calm down. Do you want me to open the window slightly?”

  “Yes please.” She eased off him as he pressed the button to open her window slightly and she pressed her forehead to the cool glass.

  “I take it you’ve never done anything like that before?” He asked in a slightly more normal voice, shifting slightly to ease some of the pressure beneath his zipper.

  “Never.” She sounded shaken.

  “Okay, then we should probably talk about this.” He took her hand again. “I guess I’m a little different to what you’re used to. Was any of it familiar to you?”

  “Familiar in what way?” She asked uncomfortably, checking to see if the driver was listening.

  “Has anyone ever talked dirty to you?” He asked, bluntly but quietly.

  “No.”

  “Has anyone ever done anything like that to you outside of a bedroom?”

  “No.” She said in a small voice.

  “Has anyone ever really wanted to taste you like I did?” He shook his head when she couldn’t answer. “Hasn’t anyone ever pushed you to the edges of your comfort zone, made you explore your boundaries? Haven’t you been at all curious as to what’s out there?”

  “I didn’t know I needed to be curious.” She didn’t sound angry, just confused, and he smiled inwardly, realising he’d played it just right. He let the silence sit for a few minutes and then cleared his throat.

  “I wish I could say I regret doing that just now, but I’m pretty sure I’d be lying.” He squeezed her hand.

  “Me too.” She closed her eyes. “Me too.”

  By the time they arrived at the restaurant she had relaxed enough to be her usual chatty self and they spent almost four hours talking and laughing over three courses of excellent Italian cuisine. The waiters were clearing up ready to close by the time Gabriel paid the bill, and they strolled out into the winter air, laughing over some small joke he’d made. He’d texted the driver to meet them at the end of the street and they walked up, stopping under a street light to wait for the car.

  “Thank you for this.” Noelle smiled up at him, the overhead light accentuating her cheekbones, making her look almost otherworldly. “I’ve had an amazing night.”

  “Me too.” He leaned down and kissed her gently, just once, on the lips. “I take it you’re working every day this week?”

  “Yeah, we don’t break up for the Christmas holidays until Friday.”

  “Well I’m busy the next couple of days, but I could meet you on Wednesday for lunch at the cafe?” He suggested.

  “That would be nice.” She glanced up, her breath misting between them as she smiled shyly at him. “You could always come for dinner again one night?”

  “Not on a school night.” He teased, semi-seriously. “I don’t want to be the one that keeps you up late when you have an early start.”

  “I could promise to kick you out by ten?” She said hopefully and he burst out laughing.

  “Kitten, you and I both know that you kicking me out is not going to happen.” He stepped back as the car pulled up beside them. “I promise I’ll call you every night, but I’m not coming over.” Opening the door, he waited for her to get in and slid in beside her. It felt like he could almost sense the flush blooming in her cheeks as she remembered the journey to the restaurant, almost taste her arousal as the memory turned her on. “We’ve got half an hour...” He said mildly and she shivered.

  “Not happening.” Her tone was prim but betrayed by her body. “I’m a nice young lady, Gabriel Hallow. I don’t do unspeakable things in the back seats of cars, most especially not on a second date.”

  “I think you’ll find they’re very speakable.” His tone was still mild, but had a darker, teasing edge to it. “I have no objections to telling you exactly what I want to do to you.”

  “I object to you telling me when someone else can clearly hear you.” She glanced pointedly at the driver in the semi-darkness, but Gabriel just grinned, flashing his teeth.

  “I can tell you quietly. Whisper it in your ear.”

  “Gabriel stop it!” She laughed as he came closer, trying to swat him away. “Behave yourself.”

  “Oh no. I have a promise to keep.” He took advantage of her moment of confusion to pull her down beneath him, so she was turned with her back to the door.

  “What promise?” She asked breathlessly as he kissed her and he moved his lips to her ear.

  “On the way here I told you that in the next day or two I’d put my tongue here.” He slid a hand between her legs and stroked her over her briefs. “If I’m not seeing you for another five or six days, that means I have to do it...oh yeah. Now.”

  “No. Gabriel, no!” She squeaked, utterly scandalised, but he just grinned and touched a finger to his lips.

  “Shhh kitten. Squeak any louder and the driver will hear you.”

  “Gabriel!” She hissed, trying to push her skirt down. It rode up her thighs as he pulled her further across the seat and she eventually abandoned her modesty as she tried to pull herself back up by the door. By the time she realised it was a futile struggle, her skirt was around her waist, strong hands were holding her hips down and he was studying her lingerie with amusement.

  “These are real pretty.” He commented, taking in the filmy crimson fabric.

  “Please!” She whispered, flashing a panicked gaze at the driver who was still seemingly oblivious. “He’ll see you!”

  “He can’t see us.” He whispered back. “Shh.” He dipped his head and breathed through the fabric, sending a flood of warmth across her pussy, and she covered her face with her hands in shame, even as her body rocked beneath his touch. “Good girl.” He murmured almost silently in approval. It seemed a shame to ruin her underwear, but he wasn’t going to risk backing off to pull them away so he snapped them at the seams. She was so caught up with embarrassment and want, she didn’t appear to notice. He quietly tucked the scraps of fabric into his pocket, promising himself he’d look up the maker from the label and order replacements.

  Before she could make any more protest, h
e lowered his mouth and thrust his tongue inside her. Her whole body bowed off the seat and he grinned fiercely against the creamy skin of her thighs as she whimpered quietly, trying to cover her mouth with her hands. Despite her protests, she was already wet and his tongue glided up and down through her folds with ease, swirling around and around her clit as she bucked against him silently. He wanted to finger her, to drill into that hot, tight sheath, but he had a firm grip on her hips and she was still moving. His kitten was stronger than she looked. Instead he pushed his tongue inside her again and again, occasionally pulling back to flicker up and over her clit, driving her wild. She moaned softly and he grinned. She was losing it. When she moaned again he just couldn’t resist, letting her go and sliding a hand beneath her so he could fuck her with his fingers. She writhed helplessly at his touch and, when he sealed his lips over her clit and sucked, she just came apart beneath him, her orgasm crashing over her in waves. The effort of staying silent brought tears to her eyes.

  It took her almost until they got back to her house to sit up. She was so blissed out that her muscles didn’t seem to want to obey her will.

  “Are you okay?” He murmured quietly, helping her upright as the car pulled to a stop at the kerb.

  “Yeah.” Her eyes were still a little unfocused and he tried not to laugh. “Can I have my pants back?”

  “No. They got a little damaged. I’m going to buy you new ones.”

  “Oh.” Her brain didn’t seem to want to process. “Uh...okay.”

  “Stay there. I’m going to help you in.” She obediently waited as he got out and came around to her side of the car. The snow had turned to slush and he scooped her easily into his arms so her shoes didn’t get ruined. “I’m sending somebody to deal with this in the morning.” He told her as he picked his way across the ice on her path.

  “On a Sunday?” She blinked at him.

  “Yes on a Sunday. Promise me you’ll stay in until it’s safe to walk on?”