Salem Moon (16 page)

“
Oh? Is he new in town?
”
Lily asked politely.

“
I guess
.
”
Lilac shrugged
in a
“
who cares
”
ge
sture.
“
Anyway,
”
she went on,
“
h
e looks kinda like Heath Ledger did in
‘
The Patriot
,
’
but even cuter
.
His hair is longish and dirty blond, with the most beautiful golden streaks in it. His face has that oh so sexy little bit of beard stubble. And his eyes
.
Mmm
m.
He
has the most beautiful blue eyes, bedroom eyes. Looks like he
’
s from California, like he just stepped off the beach
;
but then
again
, he has a slight accent, although I can
’
t place it. Maybe French
or
German
.
But
it
’
s sexy.
I guarantee he has a killer bod to go with the face from what I could tell. Nice.
”

“
This is not going to end in another sex story is it, Lilac? Sometimes you share too much, yah know?
”

“
No way! He was a total gentleman. He even kissed my hand, if you can believe that!
”

Lily remembered that Gabriel had also kissed the hands of the women he met.

“
I
’
m meeting him tomorrow. He said he
’
s going to take me to
a
very secret place, that I
’
ll love it.
”

“
Lilac, what the
hell?
You don
’
t even know him! What if he
’
s a psycho or somethin
’
and no one knows where you are?
”
Lily was alarmed. Sure, Lilac was a high
-
spirited girl, to put it mildly, but Lily knew the boys and men she
’
d been with. This stranger could be anyone
.

“
You sound like my fa
ther, always goin
’
on about my
‘
lifestyle
.
’”
Lilac
made
little quotation marks with her fingers
and
rolled her eyes.

“
Please tell me you
’
ll call me and let me know where you are after you meet him.
”

“
Yeah, yeah, I
’
ll call yah.
”

Lily was silent. She felt uneasy bringing up the subject she
’
d wanted to talk to Lilac about. So, she just blurted it out before she could change her mind.

“
There
’
s something…off about Gabriel.
”

“
What do you mean,
off
?
”

“
Like, the way he talks, sorta
’
old fashioned
, and yesterday at the museum, w
e were having a nice time
,
and then he saw the
peine forte et dure
display
,
and he…became so frightened, he…fainted.
”

“
Wow! Seriously
? I
s he okay?
”

“
Yeah, he
’
s fine. Told me he just got a touch of claustrophobia, but still…something is, well
,
different
about him.
”

“
I never saw anyone faint before
,
”
Lilac mused.

“
He was pretty embarrassed. And that
’
s another thing
.
H
e talks about things like honor and respect. He treats me as if I were a delicate flower
,
unlike most boys his age who just want to get into my pants. He
’
s more of a man than any eighteen
-year-
old guy I
’
ve ever known. And the way he looks at me, is, well…I just melt at the thought of his arms around me…
”
Lily
’
s voice trailed off before revealing anymore of her innermost thoughts about Gabriel.

For some reason, these thoughts had become sacred to her and she was unsure of how much she wanted to confide in Lilac about her feelings toward Gabriel. She had to tell someone;
had
to say the words aloud thereby admitting not only to another person, but to herself as well, that which she already knew to be true. She was without a doubt passionately and hopelessly in love with him.

Curiously, Lilac didn
’
t say a word for a few minutes.  
“
Lily, I don
’
t know what
’
s off or not about him, but one thing is certain.
”

“
What
’
s that?
”

“
You
’
re in love with him.
”

Lily was so wrapped up in her thoughts of Gabriel
;
in fact
,
he was all she could think of that it never dawned on her that she hadn
’
t found out the name of the man that Lilac was having her clandestine meeting with.

T
he pond and
the
field
s
surrounding it were so very peaceful. Filled with Queen
’
s lace and wild daisies, fragrant wild roses
,
all growing naturally in this meadow
, where
the frogs croaked and the birds sang.  Was there a more perfect place to be with Lily? The very land they were standing on was directly behind the Snow
’
s home and Gabriel did not
need
to hear any family history, to know that this land had originally belonged to his own family.

All he needed or wanted to know
at that moment
was right in front of him;
she
was here. The sun danced upon her hair, her eyes of blue sparkled with vibrant life as they met his. She was unlike any other girl or woman he
’
d ever known and could obviously take care of herself. She didn
’
t need a man to fulfill her as a woman
,
which made her all the more desirable in Gabriel
’
s eyes because she
chose
to be with him.

They stood, facing one another and oh, how he wanted to kiss her
.
But, he hesitated. He
’
d been brought up in an entirely different era
,
with the dogma of the Puritan times still weighing heavily upon his conscience. As he looked down at her, a strand of hair fell
across
his forehead, lightly touching his eyelash
. S
he reached out and gently brushed it away.

She thought of how many men adored a woman
’
s long, lush eye lashes and half closed, sensuous eyes looking up from beneath them. Ah, but what about women? The truth was they loved long lashes on men as well.

“
Have you ever been in love?
”
Lily asked.

“
No, have you?
”

“
No.
”

As they moved closer to one another, he put his arms gently around her waist. Still, they were a few inches apart. She placed her hands on his shoulders, both of them moving in a slow, deliciousness toward one another. Gabriel tenderly pulled her to him. They looked into each other
’
s eyes, their lips no more than an inch apart, their breathing shallow, both of their hearts racing with anticipation. He leaned in and gently kissed her mouth, savoring the sweetness of it.
So very slowly,
he continued to brush her lips in a whisper of a kiss.

He pulled her closer
,
until their bodies were melded as one.
For a brief moment, she ran her fingers along his cheek, her touch soft and warm and electrifying all at once.
She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, wanting his mouth fully upon hers.
H
is mouth came down on hers, hard
and
demanding. She kissed him back, matching his desire.

The passion of it was indescribable
.
Gabriel was helpless to resist. He felt so many unfamiliar feelings, both emotionally and physically. He wanted her to be one with him always
,
and his loins burned fiercely in the wondrous heat of
desire
.

He reached up, cupping her face, just as she held his, never once breaking apart from one another
’
s mouth as their kiss grew deeper and more passionate. Body touching body, mouth against mouth, and at an even deeper level
,
a depth neither of them had ever experienced
,
their very souls intertwining, becoming one
. Ah,
the inherent beauty of it
,
that which was like nothing else in the entire world
,
the magic of that first kiss!

Gabriel no longer felt shy with her. She brought all his senses to life. The sight of her, the uniqueness of her own personal scent mingled with a light, sweet smelling perfume called
“
Stellanude,
”
which he later learned was her favorite perfume, the only one she ever wore. Unlike many girls of this day and age, she wore very little make up. She was naturally beautiful.

The heat of the day was incomparable to the heat he felt within. He pulled away from her
,
not wanting to, but the heat had radiated down to his very loins and he did not want her to think him disrespectful by revealing the lust that had been born of that kiss.

Unknown to him, Lily had the same response and she wanted him more than
she
’
d
ever wanted anything in her life
.
She, who was known in town as the history buff, the smart and strikingly beautiful, yet untouchable girl, wanted him to take her,
make love to her
. If she hadn
’
t experienced such passion firsthand, she would
’
ve never believed it existed.

A fleeting vision of the dream he
’
d had in the Salem of old came back to him. What was it she
’
d said in the dream? She had been waiting a long time for him. Yes, that was it. And, truth be told, he
’
d
waited a long time for her.

Now
he understood why no other girl had ever caught his attention, let alone captured his heart. She was the only girl he would
ever
love;
he knew it as well as he knew his own name. Even though he was only eighteen years old, he recognized true love.

In Gabriel
’
s day, a boy became a man at eighteen, with all the responsibilities that entailed, unlike the boys of this time. He would certainly lay down his very life for her. Although, they
’
d only just met, their shared destiny had in fact begun over
300
years ago.

“
I…have something for you Lily,
”
Gabriel said, his voice raspy with desire
. He had to fight to control it.

He took something from his pocket, something golden and shiny that
glittered
in the sunlight. He paused before saying anything more. He looked at the object lovingly, as it lay in the palm of his hand. It was his mother
’
s locket. He turned her around so that her back was to him and lifted up her long hair, gently placing the thin golden chain around her neck.