Lavender Fields Page 16
It was getting very hot in that little cafe, in the middle of a cold winter day. I wanted to lay Caleb across that table and explore his body again with my hands and my mouth. Being close to him was like having a constant fever that overtook my senses and made me crazy with desire.
“Why did you come back, then?”
Fool! Isn’t it obvious?
“Because I was in love with you and I just couldn’t not see you.” Our mouths melded together again, his tongue prying its way between my lips and playing havoc with my senses. “You aren’t very forgettable, you know.”
Underneath the table, I slipped my hand farther up his thigh and smiled. He was as aroused as I was. I cocked my head to the side. “There’s a nice little hotel around the corner. We have time.”
Before we knew it, I had him pinned to the wall of the quaint hotel room, stark naked and burning with desire. I loved every inch of his handsome, lean body, and I made sure he knew I did. I caressed, licked, and kissed him from his eyelids to the most sensitive part of his body. His hands, splayed across my chest, fueled the fire roaring inside of me. I grabbed hold of one and guided it down my abs, then lower still until I could feel the heat of his palm against my arousal. Even now I was still surprised by the feelings this human could evoke within my body and soul. I didn’t think I would ever get tired of it.
I turned him around to face the wall and felt the taut muscles of his chest and abs. Unable to control myself any longer, I rubbed my lower body against his and nearly exploded. Caleb pressed his backside against me, and I barely had time to pull out the condom and slip it on before I sank myself into him. We moaned loudly at the same time, and Caleb pressed himself even closer to me. My body spasmed in waves of pleasure, leaving me breathless. Still panting, I caressed Caleb until he joined me, his body shaking in climax. Still connected, we slid all the way to the floor and curled around each other, not wanting to break apart. We were one, body and soul.
The clerk at the hotel looked at us with a dirty smile as we checked out less than two hours later. We didn’t care. He could think what he wanted; that was his privilege. Our love was pure and wholesome, and I was walking on air.
The bakery was down the street, but the cake wasn’t ready yet. “What do we do now?” Caleb asked, looking at his watch. “Do we go back to the hotel and give the dirty-minded clerk something more to talk about?”
I laughed just as Caleb’s phone rang. It was Joan.
“Where the fuck are you guys?” I could hear her voice from the other end. Caleb shook his head. “Everybody’s waiting for you.”
“Joan, we’re waiting for your cake. You know, the one you wouldn’t compromise on?” Her precise words had been “No way in hell will I accept any cake from any other fucking bakery.” Joan could be very persuasive when she chose to.
“Well, I’m hungry, and so are the guests.” I heard her yell something, probably to said guests.
“Grab something from the fridge. God knows I bought enough food to feed an army.” Caleb had the phone slightly away from his ear so I could hear his sister. “Why are the guests already there, anyway? They weren’t supposed to come around until after eight.”
“I called them all and told them to come earlier.” Of course she did. “I was lonely with you lovebirds making googly eyes and unable to take your hands off each other.”
“Boohoo.” Caleb made a face at the phone as if Joan could see him. “Now you have to wait. Just feed the crowd before they turn on you and eat you.” He hung up, laughing. “My sister. I swear she’s crazier than a loon.”
The cake wouldn’t be ready for another hour, so we decided to walk on the beach. The air was freezing our breath as we strolled hand in hand along the shores of the harbor. I had been so distracted by Caleb’s account of some of Joan’s crazy tirades of the past that I hadn’t realized we were walking on the same exact beach where we had met for the first time. The same sand I had crashed into after a mad plunge to Earth, knocking myself out. My breath caught in my throat as I spotted the rock where we sat and kissed for the very first time.
Unaware of the turmoil inside my heart, Caleb kept talking, his thumb caressing the top of my hand distractedly. When I stopped abruptly in front of the rock, it took him a few seconds to notice the change in pace.
“Can we sit for a second?” I asked, tears threatening to pour out.
We sat on the cold rock, the icy temperature seeping through my clothes and into my skin. Caleb looked around, staring out into the bay, eyes faraway. “This feels familiar.” My heart thumped. “I know I’ve been here many times, but I mean this, here with you, feels so right.”
My hand went around his waist and pulled his warm body closer to mine. “Yes, it does.” What could I say? “This is where our lips met for the very first time?” “This is where I saw your lavender field eyes and fell head over heels in love with you?” I wanted him to remember, but not because I was placing those memories there by telling him what happened. I wanted him to remember because he felt as strong a pull as I did.
“What were you doing the first day we met?” My eyes opened wide. “I mean, before you came to collect my soul. What were you doing?”
I chuckled. “What I always did: flying free-form as fast as I could, all the way down.” A shiver went through me at the memory of the feeling the crazy speeds always brought me. “I’m not really liked by the other angels. I’m the weird one, the one who enjoyed doing things other angels couldn’t care less for. Gabriel calls me the ‘liability.’” I laughed. It didn’t feel so bad now that I was with my love. “Were you weird in school?”
“No, I was one of the cool ones.” He wasn’t being cocky; I could tell it was a plain, simple fact. “I already drove a motorcycle, and I guess that made me cool in the eyes of everybody else.” His voice went down to a somber whisper. “But when my parents died in that accident, I withdrew from everything and everyone. I had Joan to take care of. She was just a kid, and I was the only family she had left.”
I had read his file, from his C-section birth in nearby Portland through the traumatic years following his parents’ death. He had gone from being a young man without many cares to the one responsible for bringing up a school-age sister. Gone were the parties, the haunting of bars at night, the wild hookups with strangers. Overnight he had become an adult and shut off his youth.
“I’m sorry about your parents. I’m sure they went to a good place.”
Caleb turned his face and kissed me on my cheek. “It’s in the past, and the future is looking very bright.” Our lips fused again. When we separated, Caleb’s eyes shone like stars in the night sky. “Kiss me again.”
I obliged, sweeping my tongue over his lips slowly and then thrusting it into his mouth, exploring and tasting the honeyed tartness of him.
He blinked his out-of-focus eyes and licked his lips as if trying to place the flavor I left behind. “I remember.” It was so sudden, I almost jumped off the rock.
“Remember what?” I was afraid of hoping for the impossible.
“It was here, on this same rock.” My heart flipped a couple times. “You had crash-landed on the beach, and my friends and I found you unconscious by the shore. I remember thinking I must’ve been dreaming, but my friends saw you too, a creature of beauty and light.”
I began crying. First it was just a soft whimpering that I doubted Caleb heard, but it became more intense as he continued his story. “My friends left and we sat on this rock. I knew you were an angel as soon as I saw you. When you unfurled your wings and sheltered us from outside eyes, I thought I might have died and gone to Heaven. But I wasn’t there yet. Your lips took me there.”
Crying in earnest, I wrapped my arms around him. “You don’t know how happy you made me by remembering. Gabriel erased your memory of me, of our first meeting.”
He caressed my head, then buried his fingers in my curls. “Was that the day I was supposed to die?” I went stiff against him. I didn’t want him to rememb
er that. Not that part. I couldn’t lie to him though, so I nodded. “Ironic, don’t you think?”
I pulled away so I could look into his eyes. “What do you mean?”
He smiled then, that beautiful, pure smile that stretched from his lips to his eyes. “Instead of dying that day, I started living again.”
Acknowledgements
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A heartful thank you to my amazing NVWP writing group whose gasps of surprise, sighs, and encouraging words over the first scene of Lavender Fields motivated me to write this special romance. A very special thank you to Katlyn who beta read the novel.
A huge note of gratitude to my readers past, present, and future. You make my job as a writer so very rewarding.
As always, many thanks to Hot Tree Publishing for believing in my stories and supporting me all the way. A big heart-you to the kick-ass women at Hot Tree (staff and authors) who are amazing and a second family of sorts. You ladies rock!
My fabulous editor Jonathan from iFlow Creative, who has been lending me a hand since book one. He’s a great cheerleader—without the pom-poms.
My husband who does not understand my love for fiction but indulges me nevertheless. Thank you for your patience and support.
My son Christopher whose passion for weather mirrors my passion for writing.
My mom and dad for always encouraging me to follow my dreams. My sister for being my best friend forever and whose love for angel lore is sure to have inspired me to write Sky.
And my son Kyle who dreams of finding the love of his life and getting his own happily ever after. This is for you.
About the Author
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Natalina wrote her first romance in collaboration with her best friend at the age of 13. Since then she has ventured into other genres, but romance is first and foremost in almost everything she writes. Her novel, We Will Always Have the Closet, is her first published romance.
After earning a degree in tourism and foreign languages, she worked as a tourist guide in her native country, Portugal, for a short time before moving to the United States. She’s lived in three continents and a few islands, and her knack for languages and linguistics led her to a master’s degree in education. She lives in Virginia where she has taught English as a second language to elementary school children for more years than she cares to admit.
Natalina doesn’t believe you can have too many books or too much coffee. Art and dance make her happy and she is pretty sure she could survive on lobster and bananas alone. When she is not writing or stressing over lesson plans, she shares her life with her husband and two adult sons.
You can reach out to Natalina at the following places:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/authornatalinareis
Website: https://catarinadeobidos.wordpress.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TichaB
More from Natalina
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Paranormal Fantasy Romance
Contemporary Romance
About the Publisher
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Hot Tree Publishing opened its doors in 2015 with an aspiration to bring quality fiction to the world of readers. With the initial focus on romance and a wide spread of romance sub-genres, we envision opening up to alternative genres in the near future.
Firmly seated in the industry as a leading editing provider to independent authors and small publishing houses, Hot Tree Publishing is the sister company to Hot Tree Editing, founded in 2012. Having established in-house editing and promotions, plus having a well-respected market presence, Hot Tree Publishing endeavors to be a leader in bringing quality stories to the world of readers.
Interested in discovering more amazing reads brought to you by Hot Tree Publishing or perhaps you're interested in submitting a manuscript and joining the HTPubs family? Either way, head over to the website for information:
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Table of Contents
Dedication
Falling
Starting Again
Waking Up
Samael
Punished
Falling Again
Together
Pain
Wingless
Surprises
Acknowledgements
About the Author
More from Natalina
About the Publisher