Gabriel instantly grabbed her hand and dragged her through the garden, back into the ballroom. He pulled her through the huge, crowded space, wading against the flow of new arrivals. Laura heard people shouting greetings to him in a variety of languages, but he didn’t stop. He didn’t even look
at them. He just pulled her relentlessly up the wide, sweeping stairs to the front door, where he tersely summoned his driver.
As they waited, they stood at the end of the red carpet, not looking at each other. His hand gripped hers, crushing her fingers through her gloves. She heard the hoarseness of his breath. Or maybe it was her own. Her heartbeat was rapid. She felt dizzy.
“What’s taking so long?” Gabriel muttered beneath his breath. She felt his barely restrained power, felt the grip of his hand as if only sheer will kept him from turning to her and ripping off her slinky red gown, pushing her against the wall and tasting her skin, in front of all the servants, the valets and flash of the paparazzi’s cameras.
It took three minutes before the Rolls-Royce sedan pulled up and Carlos leaped out. Laura stared at the man’s crooked tie. She saw a smudge of lipstick.
“Finally,” Gabriel growled, grabbing his door.
“Sorry about the delay, senhor,” Carlos said, casting a regretful glance back at the palace. Laura followed his gaze and saw a housemaid looking down from the second-floor window. Laura was so filled with joy, she couldn’t bear the thought of everyone not being happy tonight. Standing on her tiptoes, she whispered in Gabriel’s ear, “Give him the night off.”
“Why?” he snapped. “I don’t want to drive. I want to be alone with you in the back—”
“He was enjoying his time here.” She tilted her head toward the window. “Look.”
Gabriel glanced behind them, then instantly faced his driver, who’d just come around the car. “Carlos, you’re dismissed.”
“Senhor?” the man gasped in horror.
“Enjoy your night,” he said. “I trust you can get a ride home tonight?”
Delight flooded the older man’s face. “Yes, sir.”
“I have an early appointment tomorrow. Do not be late.” After opening the door for Laura, Gabriel walked around the car and climbed into the driver’s seat.
Smiling at Carlos’s dumbfounded expression, Laura fastened her seat belt, and Gabriel pressed on the gas. They drove down the tree-lined lane with a spray of gravel, and the flash of cameras from additional paparazzi parked outside the gate.
“I know a shortcut,” Gabriel said a moment later. Turning off the busy main road, he drove down the rocky coast, the luxury sedan bouncing hard over the rough road. Laura looked out her window. The landscape was hauntingly beautiful, filled with trees and thickets of jungle that wound along the sharp cliffs overlooking the moonlit Atlantic.
She looked back at the dark silhouette of Gabriel’s brutally handsome face, his Roman nose and angular jaw. She saw the tight clench of his hand on the gear-shift, saw the visible tension of his body beneath his tuxedo.
As a warm breeze blew tendrils of hair across her face, she was so filled with joy she thought she might die. Life was wonderful, incredible, magical. How had she never fully realized it before?
It was Gabriel. He was the dark angel who’d changed her life forever. Her heart was his. Forever.
She loved him.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he said in a low voice, glancing at her. “It’s a two-hour drive back to the city.”
She sucked in her breath. “Can’t you drive any faster?” she begged.
With a curse, he suddenly steered the car off the road with a wide spray of gravel, taking a sharp turn past a thicket of trees that ended on a dark bluff overlooking the wide ocean. He slammed on the brake and turned off the engine. The headlights went black, and with a low growl he was upon her.
But the front of the sedan hadn’t been made for this. The two luxurious leather seats were separated by a hard center console, and the steering wheel pressed against Gabriel’s hip. He’d barely kissed her before he was jumping out with a low curse. Opening her door, he yanked her out. She had one glimpse of the moon-drenched ocean beneath the cliff, and then he pushed her into the backseat.
He kissed her, his lips hot and hard against her, and covered her body with his own. She felt his weight against hers in the tight confines of the backseat. His scent of musk and soap mingled with expensive leather, the forest, wild orchids and the salty sea. The notched satin collar of his black tuxedo jacket moved against the bare skin of her shoulders. He gripped her gloved hands, pulling them back over her head, against the car window.
He kissed down her throat, his hands cupping her breasts through the corset bodice of her red dress. But their feet still hung off the end of the seat. His legs were dangling out of the car. And though the seat was comfortable and wide, he had scant space to brace his arms around her. With a low growl, he moved away, so fast he hit his head against the ceiling. He gave a loud, spectacular curse. She saw the flash of his eyes in the moonlit night.
“It’s still not enough,” he growled. “Not nearly enough.”
He kicked the door wide open behind them. Taking her hand, he roughly pulled her out of the car. Kissing her, he pushed her back against the hood.
Laura gasped as she felt the warmth of the hard metal beneath her. Gabriel moved over her, kissing her lips, kissing her bare neck. Overhead, she saw the twinkling stars of the night sky as he peeled off her long white opera gloves one at a time, tossing them to the soft earth. She felt the shock the warm air against her bare skin. Standing up straight, he looked down at her as he yanked off his tuxedo jacket and tie, and she realized that he did not intend to wait until they got back to Rio.
Right here. Right now.