Free Beauty and the Feast by Julia Barrett Page A

moments, she couldn’t remember why she was in bed or why her knees were burning, why her palms felt raw or why her head hurt like hell. When she reached up to touch her forehead, she found a wet plastic bag filled with cold water stuck to the side of her face. As she peeled it away, her hands brushed against a hard male body lying next to her. Eva inhaled sharply. Gabriel Abbott. It hadn’t been a dream. She really had crashed on her bike near Domaine Chandon, and Gabe really had found her and brought her home on his motorcycle. He’d bathed her knees and her hands and put medicine on them, and he’d made an ice bag for her. He’d taken out her ponytail and he’d stripped off her clothes. Eva could feel her cheeks flame. She was surprised she didn’t catch her pillow on fire. She ran her hands slowly, cautiously, down her sides. She wore the boxers and old tee shirt she used for pajamas. Gabe had put those on her, she remembered now.
    Moving carefully so as not to disturb the sleeping man, Eva reached between her legs, wondering if she’d maybe done something she didn’t remember, but as far as she could tell, she hadn’t. She wasn’t certain if she felt relief or disappointment, but she decided upon relief. If by some miracle of fate she ever did make love to Gabriel Abbott, she didn’t intend to be semi-comatose during the experience. Maybe afterwards, but not during.
    Eva turned and studied Gabe’s face in the half-light. Jesus, he was beautiful. In sleep, his features relaxed, softened. A thick lock of chestnut brown hair fell across his brow in a gentle wave. He had the kind of hair a woman wanted to bury her hands in while she was fucking him. Eva felt herself blush again.
    Although Gabe’s eyes were closed, Eva had gotten a good look at them in the sunlight at Domaine Chandon. They were a dark, deep, emerald green, wide set, with enchanting tiny laugh lines in the corners when he smiled. His nose was aquiline, his jaw strong and masculine, with a pronounced shadow beard that she could see despite the poor lighting. Eva suspected he hadn’t shaved since Friday morning. She was tempted to run her fingers along his cheek and down his jaw, but she didn’t dare take such liberties. Eva rolled her eyes. Liberties. He’d already stripped her naked for Christ’s sake.
    Eva glanced at his mouth with longing, noting his full, sensuous lips. They were slightly parted in sleep and she wondered what he would taste like if she licked him. If she were to slide her tongue… Instead, Eva slid a bit farther away. She tried to remember when she had last been with a man, and she couldn’t come up with a date. It had been a very long time.
    Eva’s eyes traveled the line of tendons down his neck and she gauged the width of his strong, broad shoulders. She saw that he’d crossed his arms over his chest. Her quilts were pulled up to his waist, covering what Eva knew to be a very significant piece of him. Her cheeks felt on fire again as she remembered how her fingers had accidentally brushed against his erection on the ride home. At least she thought it was an erection. She supposed it could have been a very big wallet stuck in a very unusual place.
    As Eva looked at the man, she was struck by the notion that he must be quite strong, both in body and in mind. When she’d heard his voice in the parking lot and turned around, she’d been aware of an intensity, an energy in the air about him despite his grin. He seemed almost hungry, like he’d been starved at some point in time. Eva bet he was a man who didn’t take anything for granted. A man who worked hard, fought hard, played hard. Someone who didn’t suffer fools lightly. He reminded her of an intelligent, opportunistic, predator. A wolf. That’s what he reminded her of, the alpha male of the pack, the wolf who led the others on a hunt and established the pecking order. Gabe was definitely not the wolf left behind to baby sit the cubs, although Eva had to admit