Forever With You (Bayou Dreams Book 5) (16 page)

“I’ve never been here before,” Leslie said. “Although, I can say that about every bar that lines Frenchmen Street.”

“Are you serious?”

She lifted her shoulders in a hapless shrug. “It’s sad when I think about it, but in all the years I’ve lived in Gauthier I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve come into New Orleans for something other than work. I’ve just never taken the time to do it.”

“How can you live so close to New Orleans and not take advantage of all the things there are to love about this city? You know what this means, right?” She shook her head. “We’re going to take this drive every weekend for the next year if necessary. You are going to experience New Orleans the way she is meant to be experienced.”

An odd look flashed across her face, and Gabe immediately wanted to take back his bold statement. He’d already admitted to her that he was falling in love with her. He didn’t want to freak her out by making plans for their next year together.

Baby steps. They would have to take baby steps.

Thankfully, they were saved from the awkwardness that had suddenly sprung up between them by a call to the center of the floor for all who wanted to participate in the salsa lessons. The thirty-minute session would be followed by live Latin music from a local band that had made a name for itself among the city’s growing Latino community.

“Now, I know there are professionals here to teach you,” Gabe said. “But you’ve got a pretty good salsa dancer sitting right here in front of you.”

“
You’re
going to teach me how to salsa?”

“My mother is from Honduras, remember? When I wasn’t listening to 1960s Motown with my dad, I was dancing the salsa and punta with Mami.” He held his hand out to her. “Now, let’s see how well you listen to the teacher. Let’s salsa.”

Gabe took her through the steps of the rhythmic dance, his arousal heightening with every sensual shake of her hips.

“You’re a quick learner, Mrs. Kirkland.”

“Well, you’re not my only teacher, Mr. Franklin. As you already pointed out, I got a head start watching
Dancing with the Stars
.”

“Ah, that’s right. You’re starting ahead of the curve.”

“So, how am I doing?” She stepped forward, twisting her waist and sticking her chest out.

Gabe leaned forward and brushed his lips against her neck. “Your body was born to salsa,” he whispered against her skin.

He felt the slight shudder that rippled through her. An answering wave of desire coursed through him.

“Leslie,” Gabe pushed out on a shaky breath.

“Is something wrong?”

“Hell no,” he said. “Everything about this is right.”

He glided his fingers along her arms. Her skin was damp from their dancing; the glistening softness matched what he’d dreamed she would feel like in his arms, hot and wet from making love. He wanted that so badly every molecule in his body ached with it, and every minute he spent feeling her move against him made him ache that much more.

By the time their dance lesson was over, Gabe was so aroused he was sure he would burst clear out of his skin. Sweet, pleasurable agony was the only way to describe what he was forced to endure for the next hour as he watched Leslie continue to dance to the beats of the live Latin band.

By the time they made it back to the car, Gabe was so wrung out he could barely walk. She reached over the center console and entwined her fingers with his.

“Thank you for tonight,” she said. “I haven’t had this much fun in so long. I forgot it was even possible.”

“You already thanked me,” he said. “Every time I saw you smiling and enjoying yourself, it was all the thanks I need.”

“My goodness, you’re sweet,” she said on a rush of breath.

“Thank you.” He brought her hand to his lips and kissed the crest of her fingers. “And you’re welcome.”

Her eyes narrowed in confusion. “For what?”

“For the kiss good-night you’ll be thanking me for when I bring you home,” he said with a wink.

Moments passed before she softly said, “Gabriel?”

“Yeah?” He started the car and put it in Drive.

“I don’t want to tell you goodbye until the morning.”

Gabe put the car in Park and shut off the engine.

He groaned, thumping his head back against the headrest. “How can you tell me something like that when we still have an hour’s drive ahead of us?”

“Sorry,” she said, a hint of nervous amusement tinting her voice. “I probably should have kept it to myself until we made it home.”

He squeezed his eyes tight and commanded his body find some control. It was a losing effort.

“If you knew how much I’m fighting the urge to lean that seat back and join you over there, you would probably run.”

Her teasing laugh only heightened his arousal. “I’m not going anywhere but home with you.”

He looked over at her, swallowed down the ball of lust that had instantly formed in his throat and asked, “Are you sure about this, Leslie? I don’t want to pressure you into doing anything you’re not ready to do. Don’t think—”

She put two fingers up to his lips. “I’m sure,” she said. “I’m ready to take this step, Gabriel. You make me
want
to take this step.”

Gabe thought he would die of pleasure right then and there.

He started the car again and jerked the gearshift into Drive.

“This will be the longest damn ride of my life.”

Leslie trailed a single finger along his jaw. “Just think about what will be waiting for you at the end of it.”

He released another aching groan.

The next hour would be agony. Sweet, pleasurable agony.

* * *

With every mile the tires ate up on the road, Leslie tried to convince herself that she was ready for this. She was, dammit! She wanted this.

Of all the victories she’d celebrated on this journey of moving on with her life after losing Braylon, this one would be the most momentous. Giving her body to another man, sharing herself so intimately after all this time, was not something to take lightly. Leslie could not think of a single person she wanted to share this with more than the man sitting next to her.

She glanced over at Gabriel and studied his strong jaw. He had been quiet on the ride across Lake Pontchartrain, save for the deep, ragged breaths he would take ever so often. His grip on the steering wheel was so tight his knuckles were white.

“Are you okay?” Leslie asked.

He nodded. “Just trying not to blast through the speed limit on this damn bridge,” he said.

“We have all night, Gabriel. The girls won’t be home until morning.”

“The night is more than halfway over,” he said. He looked over at her, his eyes fiery with need. “If I knew this was how you planned for our night to end, you wouldn’t have gotten salsa-dancing lessons.”

She grinned. “I’m happy I didn’t say anything until my lesson was over. I enjoyed dancing the salsa with you.”

“It’s so much better when you dance it naked. I’ll show you how to do that, too.”

She laughed, but the closer they got to Gauthier, the more her nervousness grew. By the time Gabriel turned into her driveway, Leslie was wound so tight her skin itched with it. Her anxiety must have shown on her face.

“Stop overthinking this,” Gabriel said. “Nothing you said tonight is written in stone, Leslie. If you’re not ready, then you’re not ready.”

She let out a shaky laugh. “You don’t think I’ve made you wait long enough?”

“Have I complained?”

No, he hadn’t. He had been so incredibly patient with her. For that reason alone she wanted to give herself to him.

He cupped her jaw and gently turned her to face him. “I’m not some horny teenager who’s going to move on to the next girl if you decide you don’t want to do this tonight. We don’t have to. You’re worth the wait, Leslie.”

Instant heart melting.

He
was the one who had been worth the wait. Leslie was convinced that she’d turned down all those dates with nice, sweet men this past year because she somehow knew
this
man was in her future. He was everything she had been looking for.

Yet her nerves still consumed her.

“It’s been a long time since I did this, Gabriel,” she admitted.

“I know,” he said.

“And I’ve only done this with one man,” she said.

He went still. The silence that entered the car was deafening.

“Don’t let that freak you out,” Leslie said.

“Your husband is the only man you’ve ever slept with? Ever?”

She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and nodded. “I met Braylon when I was a freshman in college. He was the first boy I’d ever been with. And the last.”

“Damn.” He shook his head, his hands once again gripping the steering wheel. “And I’d always heard the girls who went to James Madison put out.”

Her jaw dropped open. He looked over at her and Leslie burst out laughing at the wicked grin creasing his face.

How could she be nervous about being with this sweet, kind, funny, gentle soul? Suddenly, Leslie couldn’t think of anything she wanted to do more than release her body to him.

She slid her palm over his firm jaw and brushed her thumb over his lips. “Would you mind following me inside? I think it’s time for you to reintroduced me to what I’ve been missing.”

An irresistible grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. “It would be my pleasure.”

They made it into the house in record time, kissing their way from the kitchen through the living room to the bedroom. Gabriel lifted her into his arms and lowered her onto the bed, trailing his mouth down her throat to the valley between her breasts.

“Lift up,” he breathed against her skin. Leslie complied, sitting up so that he could unzip the hot-pink dress. He peeled it from her back and over her shoulders, then past her waist and down her legs, leaving her in her black satin panties and black pumps.

His desperate groan sent a hedonistic burst of pleasure ricocheting through her.

“I just need to look at you,” he said.

“You just need to take your clothes off,” Leslie returned.

That devilish grin returned. “My, aren’t we eager?”

She lifted her leg and tapped at the center of his chest with her shoe. “I told you it’s been a long time. I don’t want to wait any longer.”

His eyes instantly smoldered with heated need as he grabbed her leg and lifted it to his shoulder. He pressed a kiss to the inside of her ankle, then continued his way down, trailing his tongue along her leg and to her inner thigh. He flattened his palms on her legs and pushed them open. Then he dived for her center, nuzzling his mouth and nose against her dampening panties. He licked on either side of the strip of silky material before moving it to the side and brushing his lips against her exposed flesh.

Her body instantly melted with desire. Sensations swirled within her, tugging at her senses, teasing her brain with every delicate swipe of his tongue.

“More,” Leslie whimpered, rolling her hips up and lifting herself to his face.

She felt Gabriel’s breath flitter against her. “You asked for it,” he whispered against her as he dragged the satin down her legs. He returned to the spot between her legs, spread her apart with his fingers and thrust his tongue inside.

Pleasure crashed through her.

He was relentless in his pursuit, stroking his tongue in and out while his finger toyed with the pulsing spot at her cleft, massaging it with increasing pressure. He moved his fingers aside and sucked the throbbing nub into his mouth, wrenching a scream out of her with every delicious tug.

She came with such force her entire body shook with it, yet Gabriel continued, his lips and teeth and tongue eliciting the most decadent sensations she had ever experienced. With one last, hard pull of his mouth, she shattered again, her body going limp with the ecstasy rioting through her.

Leslie’s eyes fell closed as mind-bending pleasure washed over her.

“Give me just a minute,” Gabriel said.

She managed to open her eyes long enough to see him undressing. He unbuttoned the two top buttons of his shirt, then pulled it over his head, along with the undershirt beneath. He made quick work of unzipping his pants and pushing them and his briefs down in one quick motion.

Despite her orgasm-induced daze, Leslie was still conscious enough to recognize the sheer magnificence of his strong, compact body. He was all taut golden-brown skin over firm muscle.

He produced a condom from his wallet and rolled it over his stiff erection, then he climbed over her and went straight for the spot behind her ear. He teased the skin there, nipping and sucking, licking and biting. He slipped his hands underneath her and rolled her over, changing their position so that she was on top.

“That’s better,” Gabriel said. “This is the view I’ve been dreaming about.” He glided his hands up her stomach and over her breasts, scraping his thumbnails across her nipples.

Leslie’s stomach tightened in response.

“I can’t wait any longer,” she said. She reached between them and wrapped her fist around his thick erection. She lifted herself up slightly and, with her eyes falling closed, guided him into her.

Gabriel groaned. So did she.

With painstaking slowness she lowered herself onto his impressive length, her body opening around him, welcoming him inside. Leslie didn’t move for several moments as she allowed her body to adjust to the sensation of being filled so completely.

It was breathtaking. His size, his strength, his understanding patience. She was so grateful it nearly drew tears to her eyes, but then Gabriel undulated his hips and she forgot about everything but the hot, engorged erection penetrating her body.

Leslie braced her hands on either side of his head and pumped up and down, rolling her hips with increasing fervor, squeezing around him with every plunge. Gabriel clamped his palms on her ass and pulled her down as he lifted up. The hard, deep thrust sent Leslie spiraling, another explosive orgasm tearing through her, leaving her spent and sated and gasping for breath.

“Oh, goodness,” she said as she fell onto Gabriel’s solid chest. She looked up at him, her mouth relaxing into a tired smile. “You, Mr. Franklin, were definitely worth the wait.”