Stolen Vows Ch. 03

Laura was luxuriating in a delicious dream. She was wrapped tightly in a cocoon of hot smooth silk that sent an electrical charge along her sensitive skin from head to toe. She felt an orgasm building inside her womb, as if the warmth she felt within was bursting forth, stimulating her aching sexual organs as it spread outward toward the light.

Then she was spinning around in a pool of clear, warm water; her mouth invaded by the sweet, insistent tongue of a dear lover whose face was just out of focus. As she began to concentrate more on that tongue and mouth, she surfaced from the calm pool and realized that she was no longer dreaming and there was no cocoon. The wetness she felt was between her legs. She was clasped tightly in the arms of her flesh and bone lover, and it was his mouth plundering her own. The silk was his fevered skin, and the warmth inside her was the desire that rose up from her unconscious self, so strong was the pull of this man.

She dropped her head back away from his probing mouth, and slowly opened her eyes. Gabriel was gazing down at her, a proprietary look on his handsome face. His eyes were dark green and full of wanting and tenderness. Laura slowly released a contented sigh. All of it was real. He was here in her bed. Her passion found its match in his.

"It was all real..." She said sleepily. As she stretched herself against his taut body, Gabriel thought that the look on her face was full of innocence and a completely guileless beauty - rather like a child. He lifted her chin so he could better access her lips. He pressed his mouth to hers, and felt the flames ignite between them. His hand cradled her head so he could press her more closely to him. He felt a thrill, like a flutter of tiny wings beneath his skin, as she softly slid her hands around to his back. Gabriel felt himself grow hard as his lower body brushed against hers under the cool sheets.

His hand moved down her neck, to her back. He probed the bones and muscles beneath her velvety skin. Then his hand continued on its journey to her lower spine, the soft crest of her tailbone, finally cupping the firm curve of her heart-shaped ass. He ground his erection into her as he pulled her toward him. Gabriel's fingers slipped around further to plunge into the tender mound of moist flesh between her lean legs. Laura moaned into his mouth as he inserted first one, then two long fingers into her wet folds.

Gabriel shifted his body to move on top of her, his knees pushing her thighs apart so he could slip himself inside her.

Suddenly they both jumped and looked at one another in alarm as the gate intercom buzzer sounded. Two sharp rings, then a momentary silence, then two more.

Their heads both turned toward the clock on her bedside table. It was 7:00 AM.

As their eyes met again, they both understood that this was the reckoning they'd been expecting. The buzzer sounded insistently yet again.

"I'll go speak to them." He said slowly. His face, just moments ago filled with desire, was now etched with sadness and a sort of resignation.

Her hand nervously found its way to her brow. It was trembling. Laura sat up in bed, pulling the sheet up to cover her nakedness as she watched him pull on his trousers and slip his tee shirt over his head. He picked up his shoes and sat down by the foot of the bed with his back to her. He stared into space for a moment before bending forward to put them on. The buzzer rang a fifth time.

Gabriel stood and walked toward the bedroom door, looking back at Laura over his shoulder before stepping through it and into the hallway. Her eyes were huge, and full of fear. Her face was pale. He paused, his hand resting lightly on the doorjamb.

"Don't worry, this will just take a minute. I'll be right back." Then he flashed a smile at Laura meant to comfort and reassure her. To Laura, his smile seemed full of pain, like a man bravely going to a firing squad.

He moved into the hallway and disappeared from view. The sound of his hard-soled shoes echoed down the hallway like the blows of a hammer. Laura was frozen in place for several moments, listening intently. When she heard the door shut behind Gabriel, she was suddenly reanimated and sprang out of bed. As she struggled into her robe, Laura started violently when the buzzer rang a sixth and final time.

She nearly ran down the hallway, her bare feet making virtually no sound on the smoothly polished wood. She went to the French doors in the living room that opened to the balcony. From there she'd be able to see the courtyard gate. For some reason, Laura feared being seen by whomever had come for Gabriel. She gently, noiselessly opened the door so she could hear their conversation, and hid behind the lace curtain, standing on tiptoe, peering down at the scene that unfolded. Her heart pounded in her chest.

Gabriel had just reached the gate, and opened it to allow an elderly gentleman in a Jesuit robe to step inside. He was tall, white-haired and very lean. His face registered a mix of relief and concern as he looked at the younger man.

"I'm very thankful that you're alright. We were very worried when you didn't return last night." He said. His voice was deep and calm, and he spoke excellent English with a slight accent that Laura could not pinpoint.

"Yes, I'm perfectly well. I'm very sorry to have caused you concern. It was not my intention." Gabriel's Irish accent was more pronounced. Laura could hear that it was thick with emotion.

"When you did not appear at dinner we didn't think too much of it. But when midnight came and you still had not returned, I asked Vittorio if he had any idea where you were. It was then that he told me about coming here, and how strangely you behaved after meeting the young woman. So it was not hard to guess where you had gone."

Gabriel didn't respond to this. He looked down at the paving stones of the courtyard, his hand rubbing the back of his neck rather absently.

"You love her." The older man was not asking a question. He already knew the answer. He was simply stating it aloud.

Gabriel looked him in the eye for a long moment.

"Yes, Father." He said simply. Laura was overwhelmed with love and admiration at the simple, unapologetic way he expressed himself.

"What is her name?" As he asked this, his eyes glanced up to the balcony. Laura knew he couldn't see her from this distance through the curtain, but still had to resist the impulse to duck.

"Her name is... Laura." Gabriel said softly, pausing almost reverently before uttering her name.

"And she loves you, in return?"

"Yes, she does indeed." Gabriel said, his voice sounding quietly proud.

"You are certain of this?" He asked softly. Laura felt a stab of pain at this simple question -- knowing instinctively that its aim was to create a sliver of doubt. She feared that it would succeed.

"I've never been more certain of anything in my life." Gabriel said. A touch of defiance was clear in his tone. "Not anything." He added meaningfully.

"I see." The elder priest seemed thoughtful for a moment, he then sighed with resignation. "So, what will you do?"

"What I must. What I was meant to do." He said.

"Yesterday morning, you were convinced that you were meant to be an emissary of God. And now you are convinced of something else, is that it?"

"I'm sorry if this disappoints you, Father. But as we know, He works in ways we cannot predict." Gabriel spoke with a determination that filled Laura with pride.

"Yes... yes, He does. But are you so sure that this is His work, and not something else?"

Gabriel straightened, and his voice became almost steely.

"Such as what? Please say what you mean."

"Calm yourself, my son. I only meant that you were on the verge of making a very powerful commitment: a commitment that is rather like a marriage contract - yet far more binding. You would not be the first man to feel trepidation at such a crossroad."

"This is not about fear of commitment, Father. This is something much larger than 'cold feet'. You must understand: I've been given a gift. It is now quite clear to me that everything... everything has led me here, to this woman. This is my true destiny. I see God in this."

"Ah yes... il destino. Very well. So... we shall just explain to the children in Guatemala that you cannot honor your promise to return to them, yes? They are children, so they will most likely forgive and forget." The elder priest smiled sadly at this, and clasped a hand on Gabriel's shoulder. Laura felt chilled to the bone. She saw Gabriel stiffen, and by the slightest incline of his head, knew that this last arrow had struck its mark.

She dropped the curtain, silently closed the door, and walked slowly back to the bedroom, her throat tight and her eyes burning with unshed tears. Laura felt as if she'd been given a glimpse of Paradise before being ruthlessly cast out. She could not decide if this was worse than never having seen it at all.

It was another 20 minutes before Gabriel returned to the bedroom. She could tell by his ashen face that he was in the midst of some torment.

He looked at her from the doorway, and her heart ached. She held her arms out to him and he rushed to her, pushing her back onto the bed as he crushed her against him. He buried his face in the curve of her neck. She felt hot tears sliding down her cheeks. Neither of them spoke for several minutes.

Laura finally broke the silence.

"I love you, Gabriel. Nothing will ever change that. So you mustn't be afraid to tell me anything." He groaned into her skin, before pulling back to look at her tear-streaked face. He said her name softly, as he gently wiped away her tears with his thumbs. Gabriel held her face still as he brought his mouth down on hers. The kiss was desperate and sweet. Laura pulled him even closer and returned his kisses with greater intensity, sinking her teeth into his lower lip and moving against his body. She needed him to make love to her suddenly - more than ever.

He seemed to hesitate for the briefest of moments, and then exhaled raggedly and pressed her wrists back into the mattress. Gabriel ground himself into her as his lips, teeth and tongue moved all over her face, ears, neck and shoulders. Releasing her hands he roughly pulled open her robe and captured one of her aching nipples in his mouth. Laura took advantage of the freedom her hands now had to tug his tee shirt up and over his head. She then impatiently reached down to unfasten and push off first his trousers and finally his underwear. He was already fully erect.

She whispered to Gabriel to roll onto his back, as she moved down the bed to take his hard, already glistening penis into her mouth. He shouted out as she immediately took as much of him into her mouth as possible - relaxing her throat to accommodate his considerable length. She worked up and down, swirling her tongue around the tip, and using her hand on what she couldn't fit into her hot, moist mouth. Had she looked up from what she was doing, she'd have seen Gabriel watching her in awe, his hands moving her hair aside to better see what she was doing to him. Finally, he knew that if he didn't stop her he would soon violently climax in her mouth - when what he really wanted was to make love to her.

Gabriel tried to coax Laura up, but she moaned in protest and refused to stop what she was doing. As exciting as that was, he would not be deterred, so he grabbed her by the arms and pulled her up, almost throwing her onto her back. He put his hands under her knees and yanked her legs up and apart, which caused her to gasp, throwing her head back ecstatically and arching her back into the mattress. He slid his now throbbing erection up and down her wet folds, teasing her clit with the tip of his penis. She looked up at him, her eyes wide and pupils dilated, and simply breathed the word "please".

In a swift action, he thrust himself inside her, pushing so hard that the force caused the bed to move. The feet of the bed frame jumped a few centimeters on the floor with a noisy scraping sound.

They clung to each other as he moved inside her. She exclaimed "oh" loudly each time he pushed inside. A fine sheen of sweat covered both of their bodies, and the telltale warmth and tingling sensation began to spread through her, from deep inside her vagina to her thighs and abdomen. Her stomach muscles were fluttering from the exertion as she thrust upward to meet his body, stroke for stroke. Gabriel caught her mouth with his and kissed her so passionately that it was almost bruising. Tiny, rapturous tears slid from the corners of her eyes, mixing with the beads of sweat.

Suddenly, the dam broke and Laura shouted, her voice deep and resonant, as she climaxed. All the tension and emotion of the last 14 hours rose to the surface. She burst into tears, crying out Gabriel's name as her body shook with wave after wave of pleasure. She heard his own cries as he soon joined her, shooting jet after jet inside her as he pressed his face into her neck until he had finished.

They both stilled, their breath still coming in pants as if they'd been running for miles. He sighed into her shoulder and placed a series of gentle kisses along her collarbone, neck, and finally her mouth. Her fingers laced through his hair as she lovingly returned his slow, reverent kisses.

Laura realized that she was wrong about being cast out of Paradise. While she wasn't sure how long she'd be able to stay, it was where she dwelled at the moment. For that, she was thankful.

To be continued...