had refused to succumb to the local custom of wearing knit caps or toques. A black wool beret to match his overcoat did nicely enough.
And he was very elegant in it.
Gabriel’s Rapture
“What?” His face crinkled as he watched her watching his reflec-
tion, a slow smile playing about his lips.
“You’re handsome,” she stammered, unable to take her eyes away
from his striking figure.
“You’re the attractive one, inside and out. A beautiful popsicle.”
He kissed her long and good in front of a hundred bone china
place settings, and gently pecked her ear. “Let’s take a cab to dinner.
Then I’ll be able to devote my full attention to you. I’ll run inside to take out some cash from the ATM and I’ll be back in a minute.
Unless you’d rather join me.”
Julia shook her head. “I want to enjoy the snow while it lasts.”
He snorted loudly. “This is a Canadian winter. Believe me, the
snow will last.” He moved her scarf aside to kiss her neck, and he chuckled to himself as he disappeared into the Manulife Building.
She peered through the window at the display of china and began
to admire one place setting in particular, wondering how it would
look in Gabriel’s apartment.
“Julia?”
She turned around and came face to chest with Paul. He smiled
at her and engulfed her in a warm hug. “How are you?”
“I’m fine,” she responded somewhat nervously, worrying that
Gabriel would surprise them.
“You look great. Did you have a good Christmas?”
“Very good. I brought you a souvenir from Pennsylvania. I’ll put
it in your mailbox in the department. How was your Christmas?”
“Fine. Busy, but fine. How are your classes?”
“They’re good. Professor Picton is keeping me busy.”
“I’ll bet she is.” Paul chuckled. “Maybe we can get coffee sometime next week and you can tell me all about it.”
“Maybe.” Julia smiled back, resisting the urge to turn around and
look for Gabriel, when all of a sudden Paul’s smile slid off his face.
His dark brows came together, and he took a step closer, a scowl
clouding over his usually benign features. “What happened to you?”
Julia looked down at her winter coat but saw nothing that would
alarm him. And then she wiped at her face, wondering if Gabriel
had smeared her lip-gloss across her cheeks.
131
Sylvain Reynard
But Paul was looking elsewhere. He was looking at her neck.
He came closer still, so he was truly violating her personal space, and pulled the edge of her purple pashmina aside with his bear-like paw.
“Holy God, Julia, what the hell is that?”
She flinched as one of his work-roughened fingers tentatively
skimmed the bite mark on her neck, cursing the fact that she’d ap-
parently forgotten to use concealer that morning when she applied
her make up.
“It’s nothing. I’m fine.” She moved backwards and wrapped her
pashmina around her neck twice, fussing with the ends so she wouldn’t have to look at him.
“I know what nothing looks like, and that ain’t nothing. Did
your boyfriend do that?”
“Of course not! He would never hurt me.”
Paul cocked his head to one side. “You told me he hurt you before.
I thought that was why you broke up the last time.”
Julia found herself wrapped in the coiled python grip of her lies.
She opened her mouth to protest and quickly closed it, trying to
think of something to say.
“Did he bite you out of love? Or anger?” Paul tried to keep his
voice calm. He was furious with whoever had treated Julia so violently and more than willing to track down the offender and kick his ass.
Several times.
“Owen would never do something like that. He’s never put a
violent hand on me.”
“Then damn it, Julia, what happened?”
She blinked at his anger and found herself looking down at her
boots.
“And don’t lie to me,” he breathed.
“Someone broke into my father’s house during Thanksgiving
Paul was quiet for a moment as he considered what she said.
“A bite mark seems awfully personal for a burglar, don’t you think?”
Julia chewed at the inside of her mouth.
132
Gabriel’s Rapture
“And why should you be ashamed of being attacked? It wasn’t your
fault.” Paul fumed. “You don’t want to tell me. I get it.” He reached out and took her hand in his, stroking the surface of her palm with his thumb. “If you need to get away from him, I can help.”
“That’s very kind, but the police caught him. He can’t reach me
here.”
Paul’s shoulders softened. “I’m your friend, Rabbit. I care about
you. Let me help you before something worse happens.”
She withdrew her hand. “I’m not a rabbit, and I don’t need
your help.”
“I didn’t mean anything by the nickname.” Paul offered her a
repentant look. “Why didn’t Owen come to your rescue? I would
have beaten the burglar to a pulp.”
She began to tell him that Owen had, in fact, rescued her but
swiftly thought better of it.
“He must not be a very good boyfriend if he allows you to be
manhandled like that.”
“I was home alone. No one could have known that someone
would break in and attack me. I’m not a damsel in distress, Paul,
despite what you might think.” Her eyes flashed.
Paul gazed at her sharply. “I never said you were a damsel in
distress. But that thing on your neck is not something a burglar
would do. It’s a fucking mark. And you have to admit that you’ve
been knocked around by a couple of people, even in the short time
I’ve known you. Christa, Professor Pain, Emerson…”
“This was different.”
“You deserve better than to be someone’s punching bag.” His
voice was soft and it made Julia shiver. “I’d never treat you like that.”
She looked into his kind, brown eyes and stood mutely, hoping
Gabriel would not appear.
Paul thrust his hands into the pockets of his coat and shifted his weight back and forth. “I’m heading over to Yonge Street to meet
some friends for dinner. Would you like to join me?”
“I’ve been out most of the day. I’m going home.”
He nodded. “I’m running late, or I’d walk you. Do you need
money for a cab?”
133
Sylvain Reynard
“No, I’ve got it. Thanks.” She fidgeted with her gloves, adjusting the fingers. “You’re a good friend.”
“I’ll see you around.” He gave her a pained smile and began
walking away.
Julia turned to look through the glass doors of the building, but
couldn’t see Gabriel.
“Julia?” Paul called to her.
“Yes?”
“Be careful, okay?”
She nodded and waved, watching as he turned and walked away.
P
At two o’clock in the morning, Julia startled. She was in Gabriel’s bed, and his room was dark. But she was alone.
After Pau
l disappeared, Gabriel returned to her side. If he’d seen her exchange with Paul, he gave no sign of it, although he was somewhat quiet during their celebratory dinner. Later, when she was ready for bed, he’d kissed her on the forehead and said he’d join her soon.
Hours later, he still hadn’t come to bed.
She tiptoed down the hall. The apartment was swathed in dark-
ness. Only the light from underneath Gabriel’s study door was visible.
She stood in the hallway, listening. When she finally heard a few
clicks of the computer keys, she turned the doorknob and walked in.
To say that Gabriel was surprised would have been an understate-
ment. His eyes swung to hers, narrowed and uneasy, from behind
his glasses.
“What are you doing?” He stood up immediately, placing a large
Oxford dictionary on top of the papers that were scattered across
his desk.
“I — nothing.” She hesitated, looking down at her bare legs. She
wiggled her toes on top of the Persian carpet.
He was at her side in an instant. “Is something wrong?”
“You didn’t come to bed. I was worried.”
134
Gabriel’s Rapture
Gabriel removed his glasses, rubbing his eyes. “I’ll come to bed
soon. I just have a few things to do that can’t wait.”
Julia reached up to kiss his cheek before turning to go.
“Wait. Let me tuck you in.” He took her hand in his and led her
down the dark hallway to their room.
Gone was the large medieval bed, the dark furniture, and ice
blue silk fabrics from his bedroom. Gabriel had hired an interior
designer to recreate the master bedroom he’d shared with Julia in
Umbria. Now the walls were cream-colored, and a large canopy bed
hung with gauzy curtains sat in the center of the room. Julia had
approved of the transformation and the inspiration behind it. The
room was no longer his, but theirs.
“Sweet dreams.” He pressed an almost parental kiss to her forehead before closing the bedroom door behind him.
Julia lay awake for some time, wondering what he was hiding.
She wrestled with the question of whether or not she should strive to find out or simply trust him. Without a satisfactory resolution, she fell into a troubled sleep.
135
Chapter 16
Paul couldn’t sleep. Had he been a melodramatic sort of person
he would have described his restless evening as a dark night of the soul. But Paul was from Vermont and thus not melodramatic.
Nonetheless, after a long evening over dinner and beer with players from his rugby team, Paul couldn’t get the image of Julia’s marked skin out of his mind.
He had well-defined views about how a man should treat a
woman, views that had been shaped largely by his parents. His mother and father weren’t overly demonstrative in their affection nor were they sentimental. But they always treated one another with respect.
Paul’s mother had encouraged him to treat girls like ladies, and his father had demanded the same, saying that if he ever heard of Paul treating a girl badly, he’d have to answer for his behavior.
Paul thought back to his first keg party, during his freshman year at St. Michael’s College, and how he’d run into a girl in a torn shirt on his way to the bathroom. He’d calmed her down and demanded
that she point out who had attacked her. Paul cornered her assailant and held him until the campus police showed up, but not before
roughing him up a little.
When his younger sister Heather was being tormented by boys
in junior high school, boys who made lewd comments and snapped
her bra strap against her back, he waited for the little fuckers after school and threatened them. Heather continued her education bully-free after that.
In Paul’s romantic economy, violence against women was ab-
solutely unthinkable, and he would have used his savings to get on a plane to track down the person who had marked Julia, if he only
knew the asshole’s name and location.
Gabriel’s Rapture
It was his own fault she wouldn’t talk to him, he reasoned, as he
stared at the wall of his simple apartment. He had gone all knight in shining armor on her, and she’d retreated. If he’d been less angry and more supportive, then perhaps she would have revealed what
actually happened. But he’d pushed her, and now it was unlikely that she’d ever tell him the truth.
Should I respect her by staying out of it? Or should I try to help her no matter what she says?
Paul didn’t know which arm of the dilemma he was going to
choose, but one thing he knew for sure — he was going to keep his
eye on Julia, and he’d be damned if anyone would injure her when
he was around.
P
Shortly before eleven the next morning, Julia rolled out of bed
from under Gabriel’s arm. She pul ed on one of his white Oxford
button-down shirts and stood in front of the large black and white framed photograph of Gabriel kissing her neck.
She loved the photograph but had been surprised to see it so
prominently displayed on his wall and in so large a size. It made her think back to her first visit, when she studied the black and white photographs that used to grace his walls. And he’d vomited all over her and his British-racing-green sweater.
Gabriel certainly had panache when it came to his clothing. He
would have looked good wearing nothing but a brown paper bag.
(Julia meditated on that thought for more than a few seconds.)
Leaving Gabriel to snore softly in peace, she walked to the kitchen.
As she helped herself to breakfast, she thought back to his behavior the night before.
What had he been doing in his study on a Friday night?
Before she could consider the implications of her actions, she
found herself wandering into his office. She walked over to his desk and saw that his laptop was switched off. All the papers from the
night before had been cleared away, the gleaming oak of the desktop almost bare. There was no way she was going to open his files and
desk drawers in search of his secrets.
137
Sylvain Reynard
However, she found something on his desk that she had not
expected — a small, sterling silver frame with a black and white picture in it.
Maia.
She picked up the photo and held it in her hand, marveling
that Gabriel had progressed so far as to have the ultrasound picture framed. Lost in thought, she stood looking at it for what seemed
like a long time.
“Did you find what you were looking for?”
She whirled around to find Gabriel leaning against the doorframe,
arms across his chest, clad only in a T-shirt and a pair of striped boxer shorts.
He stared a little too long at the naked flesh that peeked out
from between the top buttons and at her shapely legs. He glanced
at the picture frame and his expression shifted.
Julia quickly replaced the frame on the desk. “I’m sorry.”
Gabriel strode toward her. “I haven’t decided where to put it.”
He looked at the picture. “But I don’t want to keep it in a drawer.”
“Of course. It’s a beautiful frame,” she offered.
“I found it at Tiffany.”
Julia cocked her head to one side. “Only you would buy a frame
at Tiffany’s. I would have gone to Walmart.”
“I went to Tiffany for quite a different purpose.” He searched
her face.
Her heart skipped a beat. “Did you find what you were looking
for?”
Now his eyes burned into hers. “Absolutely. But I found it long
ago.”
Julia blinked as if she were in some sort of fog until he leaned
down to kiss her. It was a remarkable kiss. He placed his hands gently on either side of her face and then brought his lips to hers, pressing firmly before beginning his joyous movement. Within a moment,
she’d forgotten all about why she’d wandered into the study.
He stroked her tongue tenderly with his, sliding his hands
through her hair to rest on the back of her head. And when he
withdrew, he kissed her cheeks.
138
Gabriel’s Rapture
“I wish I’d known you my whole life. I wish everything had been
different.”
“We’re together now.”
“That we are, my lovely. You look beautiful in my shirt.” His voice was gruff all of a sudden. “I was planning to take you out for breakfast.
There’s a small crêperie around the corner that I think you’d like.”
She took his hand gladly as he led her back to the bedroom so
they could shower together and begin their day.
Later that afternoon they worked in his study. Gabriel sat at
his desk, reading an article, while Julia sat perched in his red velvet armchair, checking her email.
Dear Julia,
I owe you an apology. I’m really sorry I upset you when I ran
into you yesterday. I didn’t mean to. I was worried about you.
If you ever need someone to talk to, I’m just a phone call away.
Hoping we can still be friends,
Paul.
PS. Christa has been asking why Professor Picton is directing
your thesis.
Julia looked over at Gabriel and found him lost in thought behind
his eyeglasses. She quickly typed a response.
Hi Paul,
Of course we’re still friends. The incident in Selinsgrove was
traumatic, and I’m trying to forget about it.
I should mention that my boyfriend saved me — in more ways
than one.
Someday I’d like to introduce you to him. He’s wonderful.
Not sure why Christa cares who is directing my thesis. I’m only
an MA student.
Thanks for the warning.
I’ll put your Christmas present in your mailbox in the
department on Monday.
It’s small but I hope you like it.