Music Track List: SEEMS LIKE OLD TIMES ~ Vaughn Monroe
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Emma's POV
Thankfully, no one pestered me to find out if I was all right while I quickly scrubbed my skin under the shower and changed back into my dark blue frock. I guessed they had all really listened to Gabriel's command to leave me alone. And I'm glad they did. There's nothing I hate more than being made a fuss over. Especially over something as silly as this, although I did feel a little unsettled by the entire affair. It just wasn't like me to ever lose my nerve...over anything. In fact, I was often very unsympathetic to those who let their own fears and weaknesses build up to such a crisis. I had one cousin who often had spells such as these, and I used to believe her to be both weak and spineless. Now that I had experienced that wild beating in my heart and uncontrollable fear in my soul, I regretted ever having judged her badly for it.
But even now as I tried to remember the feeling of panic, it was dim and fuzzy. It felt so very far away and removed from me. I was, as the expression goes: right as rain (whatever that means). It was like the experience had become blocked entirely from my psyche, and when I tried to think on it, it was almost as if the whole thing had happened to someone else... to another girl who looked like me, and sounded like me, but whose soul wasn't usually clothed with my body. I can't explain the feeling, and I don't think anyone could. It wasn't like I was possessed...it was more like...two very different people occupying the same position in space at the exact same time. Only one of us was being eaten alive by the Norns. And the other was being used to serve sushi.
As I rolled up my stockings and snapped them to my garter, I realized I felt most at ease and wondered if it was all this Gabriel person's doing. What a strange man. And what a powerful hold he suddenly had on me. I decided I must have been imagining the calming effect of his fair weather eyes. Yes, imagining it all. His mollifying influence must have had something to do with my reaction to his pheromones. I read about that in some airline magazine once.
Gabriel was waiting for me in the lobby, seated at the bar when I finally came out, and I realized, now that I was at a distance and could get a good look at him, what an imposing figure he struck – tall, and lean, and self-assured to the point of being almost cocky. He had a regal air about him, like he exuded old money, so that even his costly dark silk suit managed to look cheap in comparison.
As I sauntered towards him, I felt the air-conditioning blast my still-wet hair, which was wound into tight ringlets and pinned into sections on my scalp. Gabriel turned and smiled at me, and I slowed in my steps as a thunderous attraction for him rocked me to the core. What was it about this guy? I've certainly fucked handsomer men. And as the saying goes, handsome is as handsome does. This was something different. It was like...I knew him. Had always known him. I felt a connection to him in the depths of my being. Maybe I was under his spell after all.
"So..." I said as I approached, grateful we were alone so I wouldn't have to endure anyone fawning over my health and well-being.
"So," Gabriel repeated, smiling at me.
I handed him the jacket that he had graciously lent to me earlier and he took it from my hands. I tried to say thanks but he insisted it wasn't necessary.
I was worried for one second that this was about to get awkward, and that agreeing to go out with him was all a mistake, but Gabriel just rose from his seat at the bar, grabbed his black trench coat off the stool beside his, and motioned for the exit. "Shall we?" he said.
Outside, Gabriel and I discussed where we should eat while he hailed a taxi. We finally decided we would let him surprise me just as we got into the back of the cab.
I set my purse on the floor, and when I looked back at Gabriel, he was smiling at me. I smiled back demurely and, out of nowhere, he quickly kissed me full on the lips. Not in a ravishing attack or lecherous sort of way. But longer than a quick peck. It was a kiss of familiarity. Like a husband greeting his wife or old lovers being reunited after some time. It was pleasant, but uninvited, and I needed to set the ground rules and show exactly who was in charge here.
"Wow, you go right for the kill," I remarked, and pushed him gently back into his side of the seat. "Most men would have asked if I had a boyfriend or was married first. Or at least permission first."
"I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself. It's been such awhile. Would you prefer me to ask if you have a boyfriend first?" Gabriel patronized with a knowing smile. It's been awhile? Gawd, I hope he's not referring to sex. Nothing extinguishes an amorous night faster than a man just coming out of a dry spell.
I quickly reviewed the facts: 1) He was famous. 2) He was good looking. 3) He was sexy as hell. 4) He was a man of means. There was simply no way women weren't throwing themselves at his feet, and unless he was under a celibate vow for some....no, he's an atheist. That much I knew.
"I'm unattached," I replied, and for some reason my mind briefly flashed to the hipster from yesterday (almost a lifetime ago) and I felt conflicted. What the hell was that about? I wondered before shaking him from my mind. But then I decided to reinforce the rules and chastise him, "Still, my single status shouldn't encourage you to take liberties."
"Good. You didn't strike me the type who would let any man tie her down," Gabriel replied
"Oh, I wouldn't go as far to say that. I have been known to get tied down on occasion," I said with a wicked smile.
"Literally and figuratively, I presume," Gabriel quipped.
I answered by crossing my legs slowly while Gabriel held my steady, seductive gaze. He slid closer, put one arm around my shoulders and then started tracing his finger along my collarbone. I shivered at his touch. "Emma, why must we always play these games," Gabriel whispered, his breath hot against my neck.
"Who's always playing these games?" I asked while sinking against him, electric currents stirring under my skin wherever his fingers traveled. I couldn't understand why I was letting him be so handsy; it was as if I was under a spell.
"Why, you and I of course," Gabriel answered.
"And when are we supposed to have played these games," I asked, thinking it was such a strange thing for him to say seeing as we had only met. I hope he didn't end up turning to be crazy...or worse.
"All the time," Gabriel replied. I could feel his soft chuckles against my skin.
"Why do you always play these games with me, then, if they are so tiresome?" I stared back at him with a challenging gaze, and began to feel quite like Little Red Riding Hood interrogating the Wolf right before he ate her up.
Gabriel stared at me with his brooding blue eyes. "Because you are so much fun to play with, Emma. The best playmate I've had in years and years. I mean that truly," and he said it with such intense fondness that I began to doubt my very existence. Perhaps this was all a dream. Or perhaps I was an amnesiac victim in the movies and with one bonk on the head, suddenly I would recall everything regarding a former life I knew nothing of. I half expected for Gabriel to claim I was his long lost wife.
I reached down and pinched myself. "Ow," I cried, and Gabriel smiled warmly.
"You do that every single time."
I was about to ask him, "Do what?" when the taxi stopped and Gabriel announced, "Ah, we're here."
"Where's here," I asked, as he held out his hand to me while I alighted from the cab.
"Why, this is our place, Emma, don't you recognize it?" Gabriel said, arching one eyebrow at me.
I looked around for a restaurant on the block but didn't see one, and then I realized he meant the hot dog stand right in front of us. I shot him a bewildered stare, and he only laughed knowingly and then drew me into the crook of his arm.
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A/N
Wow guys...over 10,000 reads so far! That's cray-cray. And my life has been cray-cray too! In the last two weeks I've been in LA and Vancouver and still no sight of home until this coming Tuesday. But hopefully when I get back we can start releasing some of that special extra content for yous! Thanks for all the support. Big hugs from us around the world! <3
Also what do you think of Hugo's sketches for Gabriel at the start of the chapter? I kinda always saw a bit of Viggo Mortensen in Gabriel, myself.
Be sure to support this amazing artist by checking out his etsy site, where he sells illustrations and stickers and other fun stuff: https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/hugoisaghost
~C
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All Your Fates © 2012 Carrie Cutforth, Jim Martin and Tom Liljeholm. All Rights Reserved.