Chapter Thirteen
Jackson
"This can't be real."
I laughed as Gabrielle pushed away from the window and scurried across the plane to press herself to the opposite window. She had been doing that since the pilot announced that we could take off our seatbelts and each time she did, she seemed more delighted by everything that she was seeing.
"You've never flown before?" I asked.
"Not like this," she said.
"There is more than one way to fly?" Aiden asked.
She looked over at him as if she couldn't believe that he would ask something like that.
"They're definitely more than one way to fly," she said. "The one and only time that I was ever in an airplane it was when I was seven years old and we had to go to Maine for a family funeral."
"That's sad," Lucas said.
"I barely even remember the funeral," she said. "I honestly can't even tell you who it was. What I can tell you, though, is that my father bought the absolute cheapest flight that had probably ever existed in the history of air travel. We were sitting in rows of three and we had a layover in Atlanta."
I narrowed my eyes at her.
"Atlanta?" I asked." I thought you said that you were going to Maine."
She looked back at me from the window and nodded.
"Oh, I did. We were most definitely flying to Maine. Which means that we flew to Atlanta for a layover, then flew back over the same airport where we had started in order to finally get to Maine. A flight that should have taken us a few hours took us almost a day. We probably could have driven there faster than that flight. We also only got little tiny bags of peanuts and miniature cups of soda during the entire flight. So this," she looked around, opening her arms to indicate the cabin of the private jet, "this is most definitely a different type of flying."
Lucas laughed and walked up to her, sitting her down in his lap and wrapping his arms around her.
"Get used to it," he said. "This is how you will always travel."
It had been a little over a month since the gala and we had barely stopped traveling. She had come home from a day at the chocolate shop to her bags packed and our driver waiting at the apartment to bring her to our house. She wasn't terribly pleased that we had broken into the apartment just so that we could pack her luggage for her, but she had gotten over that quickly when we told her that it was time to start our adventures. The first few suggestions that she made kept us fairly close to home, but finally she had seemed comfortable enough to tell us one of her life dreams, saying it almost dismissively as if she didn't believe that we would fulfill it for her. Now as we soared across the sky on our way to see the pyramids, I hoped that she was learning that we really did want to give her the life of her dreams. We wanted to show her that the world was open to her now and that we would do anything to help her explore it.
It took Gabrielle several hours into the flight before she finally settled down to sleep, but I stayed awake. I wanted to watch her and make sure that she stayed safe. I knew that eventually I would have to get some sleep too, but kept my eyes open for as long as I could, occasionally glancing over at her. I had learned so much more about her over the time that we had been able to spend together and I could feel all of us getting closer. It was better than I could have even imagined and I had begun to let myself dream about what it would be like when our baby was born. I wondered what it would look like and if it would have her sense of humor. I hoped that it had her whimsy and her determination, and I knew that she would be an incredible mother. I fell asleep that night with the image of Gabrielle cradling her baby in her arms easing me into sleep.
Aiden
Back home the late April weather was still chilly and rainy, making the island heat even more welcome. We had only spent a few days back at the house in between trips, but it had been enough for the spring chill to settle all the way to my bones and I had been eager to leave on this adventure. Gabrielle had told us that she loved the beach, though she hadn't gotten much opportunity to visit when she was younger, and I immediately knew that we needed to bring her here. The private section of the island had been a refuge for us when we were younger, but we hadn't spent as much time there in recent years. Now we had an amazing reason to come back. Her eyes had brightened the moment she looked down from the plane window and saw the shimmering blue water that surrounded the island and I couldn't wait to get her into it.
That water looked almost black now as it swept up onto the beach in the moonlight. Gabrielle had come out to the beach by herself to run and I watched her, the starlight illuminating her hair and silhouetting her body against the sand. She turned and started back toward me, pausing when she noticed that I was standing there. She stood a few feet away, her shoulders rising and falling with her labored breath and the swells of her breasts over her bathing suit shimmering with sweat. She was beautiful and in that moment there was nothing that I had ever wanted as much.
I said nothing, but lunged toward her, catching her around the waist and sweeping her down onto the ground. I tucked my hands between her thighs and forced her legs apart so that I could position myself between them and leaned forward to capture her mouth in a crushing kiss. My desire toward her in that moment was intense, almost animalistic, and I felt like I couldn't control myself. A primal need for her had overwhelmed me and I tore away my clothing. She did the same, untying the narrow cords at her hips to pull away the bottom of her bathing suit and then releasing the clasp on the top to release her breasts. They bounced free into the moonlight, giving me full access to fill my hands with one and suck the other into my mouth. She cried out as I suckled her, arching her back to press further into my attention and spreading her thighs to encourage me to touch her. She wanted me to come closer and I had no intention of denying her.
I positioned myself on my knees and grabbed her hips, pulling her forward so that she lifted up and braced herself in the sand. I pulled her closer until she positioned her hips into my lap and placed her legs on either side of me. The position opened her to me completely, making her vulnerable and exposed, yet she looked at me without even a glimmer of fear. There was trust in her eyes, blending with the passion and desire, and I stared into it as I plunged into her. Her head fell back as I filled her and she released sounds of pleasure that sent my arousal spiraling upward. She was supporting herself enough that I didn't need to use my hands for leverage, so I wrapped one arm around her hips and used the other hand to grasp one of her breasts so I could feel it move as I pound it into her at a feverish pace. A growl poured from my lips and I yanked her forward until she lifted her hands off of the ground and came forward to sit in my lap. Gabrielle's feet were planted on either side of me, allowing her to sit as she bounced harder. The warmth and slickness of her body was nothing short of euphoria and I gripped her tighter, increasing my pace. I caught her mouth in a desperate, crushing kiss and instantly felt her muscles clench around me. She cried out into my mouth and her body spasmed on my cock. I forced her down as hard as I could into my lap and roared in an orgasm that pulsed into the tight squeezes of her walls, pouring myself into her.
When our bodies had begun to cool and relax, I eased her down into the sand. The dampness cooled us further, but the crash of the waves on our feet, rising up over our legs, seemed to waken my body again, I ran my hands over her body, exploring every inch of her, enjoying the feeling of her skin and the rise and fall of her breasts and stomach with each breath. She moaned softly as I touched her and I knew that her body was coming alive again just as mine was. I rolled over onto her, easing inside of her, and moaning into her kiss as she wrapped her arms and legs around me, holding me closely to her.
Talon
I felt the seafoam touching my toes as I stood behind Gabrielle on the beach. My body molded against hers, and I held her tightly against me as we stared out over the ocean. My hands cupped her breasts, filling my palms with her warm, pliant flesh. They were perfect and I never wanted to take my hands away from them. Her nipples tightened in response to my touch and she let out a happy sigh, pressing slightly into my hands. I eased us down so that we sat on the beach and felt her body trembling with desire and anticipation. I let my hands travel off of her breasts and down to the dip between her hip bones. They paused at the waistband of her bathing suit and I let my fingertips trail from hip bone to hip bone.
"Kiss me," I whispered into her neck.
Gabrielle turned her head and offered me her mouth, welcoming my tongue into her mouth and tangling it with hers. I let my hand slip into her bathing suit bottom and my fingertips glided through the petals of her core. She was already hot and wet, ready for my touch, and she gasped at the intensity of the sensation. It was not the first time that I had touched her, and yet somehow this felt different, as if what was building between us made each encounter more powerful.
She lifted her hips and eased her bathing suit bottom down her legs and dropped it to the sand beside her. She was completely naked now, sitting between my legs and leaning back on me. Her body felt warm and lush against me and I wanted more of her skin. I took my hand reluctantly away from her just long enough so that I could undress and then took her in my arms again. She drew in a shuddering breath and I saw her eyes flutter closed.
I pushed back slightly and leaned forward to run my tongue up her back. She gasped and I cradled her close again. I reveled in the silkiness of her body as I brushed my fingers across her taut nipples and then down to the softness of her inner thighs. My body was aching for her, but I took my time, wanting to appreciate her and every moment that I got to spend with her.
I brought my hand between her thighs again and Gabrielle writhed as I explored her. I slid my fingertips over her butt and her thighs opened further, her hips lifting into my touch. Each of her movements pressed back against my cock, stroking me and bringing me into more intense desire. Her orgasm crashed over her suddenly and she gasped, lifting up off of the sand as her muscles clenched around my fingers and I pressed them deeply into her body. I felt like she had given over her trust to me and that made me want her even more. I groaned deep in my throat and withdrew my fingers from her, carefully turning her around so that I could lay her back on the sand. She gazed up at me, smiling lazily. Though her face looked softened and satisfied, I could still see the spark of hunger in her eyes and knew that she wasn't totally fulfilled. The sand around us was damp and cool, soothing the searing heat on our skin. I parted her legs and settled my hips between her thighs. For a moment, I just looked at her, allowing the tip of my cock to massage her, wanting to keep the pleasure rolling through her.
She was still trembling with the last shocks of her climax, but she bent her knees, pulling them back to open herself more to me. I sank fully into her and she wrapped her arms around me. I rolled my hips in long, slow strokes at first, massaging her, nurturing her as the sensation of our bodies melding into one overtook me. Everything around us distilled into purely sensory experiences. The sweet smell of Gabrielle's body blended into the smell of the salt from the water while the heat of her skin created an incredible contrast to the cool waves that washed up along our bodies. She ran her fingers through my hair and stared into my eyes, seeming to connect us in an even more powerful way than we ever had. I could feel myself falling for her. This was more than just the unbelievable, explosive passion of our bodies. This was something that transcended, that went beyond anything that I had felt before.
I rocked my hips harder and faster, filling my mouth with her breast to muffle my sounds. Our climaxes hit at nearly the same moment so that her body held tightly to mine as I pulsed and spilled into her. I could feel her body drawing every drop deeper. I rested down onto her and let the waves glide along us, washing away the sand and sweat, cooling us, and relaxing us so that I nearly felt myself falling asleep in the sand. When I felt like I could move, I stood and scooped her up, carrying her toward the hammock that hung from two nearby trees. We climbed into it and lay back against the pillow, her body curled into mine. I stared up into the trees overhead as we swayed, finally allowing myself to drift into sleep.