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Once again, Sarah found herself lost in a dream; only this time, she realized with a thrill, she was fully and completely awake.
Dressed in a flowing kaftan of sleek ivory silk that flowed gracefully to her feet, Sarah left her coffee bar behind and escaped into the night. Once she was seated at the edge of the lace covered table—one situated at the center of Le Jardin, an elite French restaurant she counted among her favorites—she sipped chamomile tea from a floral print cup and basked happily in the attentions of her dashing young dinner date.
Dressed for the occasion in a black silk dinner suit with a crisp white shirt underneath, the ethereal Gabriel insisted on spoon feeding her every bite of the filet mignon, escargot and fluffy chocolate mousse that comprised their elegant dinner.
“I must tell you, Gabriel, this meal is delicious,” she praised, adding with a casual shrug, “No match for the ramen noodles and cheese puffs that this college girl consumes on a regular basis, of course—but it’ll do.”
Pitching his bronzed head back, her dinner date let loose with a deep melodic laugh; the long strands of his silky gold hair falling gracefully across his broad shoulders as he took her hand in his.
“You, Madame, are an absolute delight,” he praised her, squeezing her fingers tight between his own. “And speaking of your studies, I am most intrigued to know, why is it that you happen to favor Renaissance literature?”
Sarah shrugged.
“I don’t know…there’s something about the stories and legends of that era that just transfixes me. I’m simply awestruck whenever I read another story in the Renaissance canon. I lose myself in the pages,” she breathed, adding more seriously, “Honestly, I never tire of reading about princes and queens, of studying their courtly ways and imagining myself as a Renaissance queen.” She paused here, waving away her own lofty sentiments with a most dismissive hand. “Ridiculous, I know.”
Her breath suspended as her attentive date raised her hand to his soft lips, holding her gaze as he released on a whisper, “Nay, it’s not ridiculous at all. You are a queen, my lady. Your wit, your strength, your humor, the way that you carry yourself. Perhaps you were indeed born at just the right time, but not in the right place.”
Sarah looked at him for a moment, wondering as to why his seemingly nonsensical words made perfect sense in her fanciful mind. And when her mysterious date asked her to dance, she felt almost compelled to accept.
Soon she and Gabriel moved and swayed with a certain grace across the Le Jardin dance floor; a small but distinguished space denoted by the presence of sleek red carpeting, lush wallpaper of silver brocade, and an overhanging candle-lined chandelier—a brilliant luminary that lent an angelic cast to the features of her already devastatingly handsome date.
Acting on instinct, Sarah threw herself deeper into Gabriel’s strong arms and graced him with a shy smile, issuing him a silent invitation that he seemed prepared to accept.
Seizing her lips in a passionate kiss, his mouth enveloped hers in the tenderest of advances; his agile hands running like warm water down the planes of her sturdy back.
Angling his head over hers to intensify their kiss, Gabriel held her closer than close as they continued to sway as a single radiant unit across the vast expanse of the dance floor.
Their fingers entangled as one as their joined beings made broad, slow circles on a smooth clean-tiled surface, with a besotted Sarah leaning full and hard into Gabriel’s heavenly kiss.
Leaning her body backward in a thrilling dip, Gabriel kissed her deeply as her breasts crushed his hard massive chest and he cradled her in his arms.
Finally, he surged upward with her in his arms, breaking their kiss as she moaned in protest.
“As much as I would love to continue this dance, my lady—indeed, this very evening—I fear that it is most difficult for me to resist the intense temptation that you represent,” he told her, cupping her flushed cheeks in two tender hands as he kissed her smiling lips.
“I don’t want you to go, Gabriel,” she demurred, losing herself in his arms as he encompassed her entire body in a long last embrace. “I don’t want this night to end. It’s simply been…magical.”
“It has,” he released on a soothing whisper, running his fingers through the strands of her long dark hair as he led her from the dance floor. “For now, my princess, I do have to go.” He paused here, adding as he seared her lips with a final kiss, “Please believe me when I say that I will see you again. And soon.”