Rachel's Rebellion (Moss Bayou) (4 page)

Gabe’s mouth found her neck and kissed, wet and hungry until
he got to the hollow of her throat. There, he gently suckled the pulsating
point and then licked the spot as her hands began to pull at his T-shirt.

“Deke,” she breathed.

He stopped. There it was. The one thing he didn’t want to
hear. The name was like ice water. Slowly, he shifted his weight and unpinned
her body from the wall.

“Deke?”

He looked at her to find her eyes searching his. Hell,
searching Deke’s eyes, not his. He was alone with her and secrets kept him
frozen in place.

“Deke? What’s wrong?”

Her expression was like a knife in his gut. He had to end
this. He couldn’t keep doing this. He should have never gotten involved. That
was the smart side of his brain talking but the heart that pounded in his chest
wanted her. Needed her.

“Rachel, I …”

“Please don’t give me the speech about my getting hurt if we
get involved.”

He shook his head in answer and moved away from her. He
couldn’t think when she was that close.

“I want you, Deke. I know you want me.”

She had no idea just how much he wanted her.

“Rachel, sit down. We have to talk.”

He didn’t dare turn to look at her. He just waited until she
sat on the blue couch to his left. As she sat, she started to say something
else but he waved a hand to stop her.

“Please, Beauty. Let me say some things.”

“All right.”

With her attention focused on him, he wondered if he could
find the right words. He had to say this. He had to tell her, even though he
wanted her. He had to tell her. His heartbeat pounded. He had to tell her. He
wanted her. He had to tell her …the truth.

“Rachel, I have some things to say but I need to tell you
that much of what I’m going to say cannot leave this room.” He tried to offer a
smile at her puzzled expression. “Lives could depend on it.”

“Deke, what are you trying to tell me?”

“I’m trying to tell you that as much as I want you right
now, as much as I would give anything to strip you down and drive deep inside
you, I can’t…until we talk.”

“Deke?”

He took in a big breath of air. “Let’s start with my name.”

Rachel started to leave her seat and again he waved a hand
to stop her.

“No, let’s finish this because I may lose the nerve if I
don’t. Hell, I may lose my job if I do.”

“Lose your job? Please tell me. I promise to keep things
between us.” Rachel gave him a soft smile and as he looked closer he saw the
hint of tears forming in her eyes.

“Don’t cry Beauty, please.” He sat beside her and pulled her
into his arms. The feeling of right and good that always wrapped around him
when he was with her overtook him.

“I won’t cry, Deke.”

“My name isn’t Deke Johnson.”

“What? Is it because you work for that shady character Denny
Dennis?”

“No.” He shook his head as the word came out. Now, he had to
finish the conversation and hopefully not finish his career. What would an
unemployed ex-cop have to offer Rachel?

“My name is Gabriel Deacon. Sergeant Gabriel Deacon,
Louisiana State Bureau of Investigation.”

Her face went pale.

“I’m currently on undercover assignment. The name Deke
Johnson is part of that assignment.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Rachel mumbled.

Gabe had one last thing to show her. Standing up and reaching
into the front pocket of his jeans, he pulled out a small white plastic case.
Sitting beside Rachel once more, he placed the case on the coffee table, opened
its lids and then went to his left eye. Pulling out the dark contact, he placed
it in the case and then repeated the process with the right eye. When he was
through and the lids on the case closed once more, he turned to look at Rachel.

She gasped.

“I know, not your normal blue or gray or whatever color they
are.”

“They look like ice with the palest hint of blue.”

“I’ve been told. That’s why the contacts are necessary for
undercover work.”

“They’re startlingly beautiful eyes, De... Gabriel.”

“My friends call me Gabe,” he told her with a smile.

“I like Gabriel,” she said. “I like you, Gabriel.”

“I like you, too. But I hope you can see why our being seen
together could be dangerous to you and to me.”

“I want to be with you,” she said adamantly. “I understand
what you’re saying. I understand you’re working undercover. Are you saying that
you don’t want to meet me anymore?”

He grinned. If only she knew. He would handcuff her to him
if he could.

“I guess what I’m trying to say is we need to think things
through carefully. And then, now that I’ve told you the truth, you can see the
need for secrecy.”

“De…Gabriel.” She waved a hand in the air. “I’ll get used to
it. I’ll be saying your real name in no time. Right now, I want you to know
that I understand the need for secrecy. I know I can never tell a soul about
this. What I also know is, knowing you’re a cop doesn’t change things for me.
It was never about what you did for a living, Gabriel.”

She amazed him on so many levels.

“I want you so much.”

Pulling her into him, he found her mouth with his and staked
Gabriel Deacon’s claim. As he worked her mouth with his tongue, he felt the
unwanted vibration of his cell phone in the pocket of his jeans. Tearing his
mouth from hers was the hardest thing he’d ever had to do.

“My phone. I’m afraid I have to answer it.”

She nodded as he stood to retrieve the phone.

“Yeah?”

“Where are you?” Wyatt Hawke barked into the phone.

“Couldn’t sleep.”

“Man, you’ve been suffering from a lot of insomnia lately.”

“What’s up,” Gabe quickly changed the subject.

“Meeting. Get this,” Hawke laughed through his words. “In an
hour. Same location. Jenkins says there’s new things to discuss.”

Gabe moaned silently. “On the way.”

“Usual place.” Hawke ended the call.

He turned and looked at Rachel. He didn’t want to leave her
now.

“You have to go?” It was really a statement.

He nodded. “I don’t want to.”

“Can you come back? After…”

“Probably not,” he admitted. “I’ll have to go to work as
Deke afterwards. These things can run long.”

“Okay,” she murmured. “I understand.”

He reached for her and pulled her to her feet. With a hand
fisting in her hair, he closed his mouth over hers. Her lips parted and he took
what he would need to carry him through until he could come back to her.

“I have to go, Beauty.”

“I’ll wait for you, Gabriel. As long as I have to.”

Sunday
morning finally arrived even if sleep had not. The lack of sleep last night
meant feeling sluggish this morning. Coffee was her very best friend at the
moment. Tellie’s Café was already busy and bustling around her and her friends
as they enjoyed an after wedding breakfast. Rachel tried to focus on the
chatter around her because that would mean she wouldn’t think about Gabriel.
The only thing to come to her after he left last night was the knowledge that
she wanted him to come back. She would keep his secret. She would not endanger
his life. Turning her head toward the sound of conversation, she forced her
brain to pay attention.

“Are you and
Luke fighting?”

Rachel
watched as Heather’s attention went to Leslie’s face and then she promptly
began an intense study of her coffee mug.

“He was like
a bear with a sore paw last night,” Hope remarked as she shifted little Levi’s
body against her chest.

“Yes, he
was,” Nik agreed. “Something ticked off big ol’ bad Luke.”

“I know,”
Heather finally spoke. “I tried to explain some things.”

“Did you hit
him over the head with each sentence? Sometimes a little reinforcement helps
Luke understand.” Rachel grinned. Having dated Luke Devlin for almost three
years, she knew a thing or two about him.

“The truth
is,” Heather admitted, “I can’t explain everything without breaking a
confidence. That pisses Luke off even more. He wants to know everything.”

Rachel
understood Heather’s position. After last night, now more than ever.

“If there’s
one thing about Luke everyone knows,” Lily giggled, “it’s how much of a nosy
old lady he can be.”

Heather
laughed, nodding her head in agreement. “Let’s not talk about that. Where do
you think the honeymooners are?” Obviously, she needed to change the subject.

“According
to my mom,” Lily answered, “they’re going to be boarding the plane in a little
while. After that, boarding the cruise ship. Then it’s off to Bermuda.”

“The limo
ride to their hotel in New Orleans must have been interesting,” Nik added with
dancing brows, “for the driver.”

“It was
dark,” Lily laughed. “There’s the partition.”

“Like you
and Tanner will be any different,” Hope teased Nik.

“Instead of
a limo, we’ll need one of those stretched Hummers,” Nik replied. “Aren’t those
equipped with heavy duty shocks?”

Laugher erupted
and little Levi gave a jump in his mother’s arms. “Shhh,” Hope said to the baby
through a giggle and placed a kiss atop his little nearly bald head. Levi, all
of two months old and unimpressed, continued his nap.

“After the
cruise,” Lily continued her update, “Jesse and Paige will spend a week in New
York City. Paige wants to see all of those touristy things.”

“Jesse will
actually leave PJ Nites for two whole weeks,” Hope stated. “Surprising.”

“Barney and
Charlie will run things,” Leslie supplied, as she forked her scrambled eggs.

“The wedding
was gorgeous, wasn’t it?” Hope smiled.

“Paige was a
beautiful bride.” Lily sighed. “Would love to use her in an ad campaign.”

“Jesse
looked at only Paige all night,” Rachel said. “I hope I find that kind of love.”

“Well,
something’s up.” Hope pointed a finger in her direction. “You do seem to have a
glow about you recently. Something is definitely happening. Must be Phillip
Latini’s doing.”

“I noticed
that too,” Heather said. “Fill us in.”

“You have
been spending a lot of time with Phillip,” Leslie agreed as she buttered a
fluffy biscuit.

Rachel
ducked her head momentarily. Was she embarrassed? No. But she knew she had to
play this carefully. Her friends were astute. And, sometimes her facial
expressions could give her thoughts away.

“All I will
say for now,” Rachel could feel a blush creeping in as she spoke, “is something
hot and wonderful is happening.”

“I could use
some hot and wonderful,” Lily stated. “Been a while since hot and wonderful
knocked on my door.”

“Not me,”
Hope teased.

“Me either,”
Nik said with a giggle.

“Now that
we’re on the subject,” Leslie joined in.

“Great,”
Lily muttered. “How do I get a membership into this secret club?”

The giggling
broke out again as Tellie arrived to check on them. Another fresh basket of
warm, fluffy biscuits appeared and Rachel grabbed one. They were the biscuits
of heaven in her opinion.

“Y’all got
everything?”

Before
anyone could answer, Mavis Cavett and her friend Velma Toups stopped by the
table.

“You ladies
looked lovely last night,” Velma Toups said. The short, heavy-set woman with
blue-white hair was nearing eighty but still kept her finger on the pulse of
the town’s gossip. That made her the perfect best friend for Mavis Cavett, also
short and plump with blue-white hair and the biggest gossip hound in town.

“Thank you,
Mrs. Toups,” Lily said, polite smile in place.

“Yes, they
did, Velma.” Mavis Cavett’s small dark eyes went from one face to another. “I
guess the Conner girl had to have such a large bridal party.”

“I didn’t
find it ostentatious,” Lily’s brow crinkled as she shook her head.

Hope
laughed. “Not at all.”

“That was a
beautiful wedding,” Tellie said as she waved and walked away.

“We rarely
see such a large bridal party at our church,” Mavis Cavett said as she shifted
her purse onto her arm and then pushed her thick glasses up on her nose.

Rachel
watched as Mrs. Cavett and Mrs. Toups continued speaking as if they were alone.
They were the queens of back-handed compliments. Correction. Those two ladies
were the queens of the busy-bodies. In Moss Bayou there were three super-fast
forms of communication: telephone, telegraph, tell Mavis and Velma. The
internet had yet to catch up to the speed of the two ladies. One could only
imagine the havoc they could stir up if they figured out how to use social
media and texting.

“Rachel
Emerson, you were especially lovely last night,” Mavis spoke directly to her.
“You attended with that Latini boy, didn’t you?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Then why
did you not leave with him? I hope there wasn’t an argument.”

Rachel could
feel everyone focus on her. She cringed. Someone knew she hadn’t left the
reception with Phillip. They had been so careful. Rachel opened her mouth but
didn’t speak. How should she answer?

“What are
you talking about, Mavis?”