her throat. ‘Give yourself, cara!’
‘Yes…’ she breathed raggedly. ‘Oh, yes! Oh, God, yes…!’ Bella gasped and writhed against Gabriel’s hand as her climax surged out of control and wave after wave of burning, shattering pleasure rippled through her.
Gabriel held her captive as his fingers continued to pleasure her, Bella climaxing again and again, her body quivering and shaking at Gabriel’s slightest touch.
‘No more, Gabriel!’ she finally sobbed as she collapsed weakly in his arms.
CHAPTER EIGHT
BELLA woke slowly, slightly disorientated as she looked around the unfamiliar room.
And then she remembered.
Not just where she was, but everything that had happened since she had entered this bedroom.
Bella turned her face into the pillows, the aching protest of her body as she curled into a foetal position reminding her all too forcefully of the way Gabriel had touched and caressed her.
So much for her claim, her determination, that her marriage to Gabriel would be in name only—they hadn’t even left British airspace before she’d succumbed to his caresses!
It was—
She looked sharply towards the door as she heard the handle turning softly before it was opened, her expression becoming defensive as she saw Gabriel standing in the doorway.
The cream polo shirt and jeans he wore showed that he had remained in the bedroom long enough to change his clothes after Bella—after she—After she what? Collapsed from the sheer ecstasy Gabriel had given her time and time again until she simply couldn’t take any more?
Oh, God…!
Her mouth tightened. ‘If you’ve come to gloat—’
‘I came to see if you were awake yet,’ he corrected coldly. ‘We will be landing shortly, and you need time to dress before we do.’
Which reminded Bella all too forcibly that she was completely naked—apart from her panties and hold-up stockings—beneath the bedclothes.
It also reminded her that although she had been almost naked Gabriel had remained completely dressed throughout their earlier—Their earlier what? Sexual encounter? Lovemaking? It could hardly be called the latter when there was no love for each other, on either side.
Sexual encounter, then.
How awful did that sound?
‘Thank you,’ she accepted with polite dismissal.
Gabriel scowled across the cabin at Bella for several long seconds. Knowing her as he did, he hadn’t been expecting her to fall lovingly into his arms when she awoke, but her coldness, her accusation that he had come here to gloat over her earlier capitulation, was unforgivable.
His expression was grim as he crossed the cabin in three long strides to stand beside the bed and look down at her. ‘It is not me you are angry with, Isabella—’
‘Don’t presume to tell me what I’m feeling,’ she said resentfully, her eyes glittering with suppressed emotion as she glowered up at him.
Gabriel sat down on the side of the bed, trapping her beneath the bedclothes as he put a hand either side of her to lean over her. ‘We are husband and wife, Isabella; there is absolutely no reason for you to feel embarrassed because of what happened between us earlier—’
‘I’m not embarrassed, Gabriel—I’m disgusted. With myself as much as with you!’ she added, her expression defiant as she met his gaze squarely.
Gabriel wanted to reach out and shake her out of this mood of self-recrimination. But if he were to touch her again now, even in anger, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from making love with her again.
Just looking at Bella, her hair a cloud of darkness against the gold colour of the pillows, her mouth a sensual pout, and knowing her body was almost completely naked beneath the bedclothes was enough to make Gabriel shift uncomfortably as his thighs became engorged with arousal. His own lack of release earlier had become an aching throb he’d remained totally aware of while Bella slept.
He stood up abruptly, needing to put some distance between himself and Bella before speaking again, but before he could do so she got in first. ‘Just don’t count on a repeat performance, Gabriel,’ she snapped.
Where Bella was concerned Gabriel didn’t take anything for granted. Not one single thing. ‘We will be landing in ten minutes, Isabella, so I suggest that before we do you get some clothes on,’ he bit out tersely.
She kept the covers pulled up against her as she sat up, her hair falling silkily about her shoulders. ‘I thought you said it was a small Caribbean island?’
‘It is,’ Gabriel confirmed. ‘We will complete the rest of our journey by helicopter.’
Bella had never been in a helicopter before, and wasn’t sure how she was going to respond to being in such a small aircraft.
She was even less comfortable when she realised that Gabriel intended piloting the small black wasp-looking craft himself!
She looked at him uncertainly as he climbed into the seat beside her after stowing their cases in the back. ‘Are you sure you know how to fly one of these things?’
‘Very sure,’ he drawled. ‘I assure you, Isabella, you will be completely safe in my hands,’ he added mockingly as she still didn’t look convinced.
Bella shot him a narrow-eyed glare before turning away to look out of the window beside her at the bright sunshine reflecting on the beautiful blue-green ocean beyond a beach of white-gold sand.
A relaxed pose that didn’t last any longer than it took for Gabriel to start the engine and move the controls to lift the helicopter from the ground!
Bella reached out to clutch at Gabriel’s arm as the helicopter bucked and swayed as it rose into the air. ‘I think I’m going to be sick!’ she cried frantically.
‘You will not be sick if you look out at the sea and not down at the ground,’ he instructed.
Easy enough for him to say, Bella groaned inwardly as her stomach continued to heave in protest for several long minutes, only settling down to a slight queasiness as the helicopter levelled out and she could finally appreciate the beauty of the scenery.
The sun was bright and very hot, the sea so blue and clear that Bella could see the sandy bottom in several places, even more so as they began to approach a small island edged by unspoilt beautiful beaches and covered in lush green foliage and trees.
Gabriel flew the helicopter over the beach, almost but not quite touching the tops of the trees, Bella’s eyes widening as she saw he was heading towards a white-painted villa on top of a hill, only slightly inland and surrounded by more trees and huge brightly coloured flowers.
‘Home.’ Gabriel nodded in answer to Bella’s questioning look as he began to lower the helicopter onto the patch of flat
