Chapter 5

Gabriel woke first, to a bed covered in transparent, glassy roses which glowed faintly where they touched Pandora. He smiled, looking at her, and slid down her body, trailing little kisses, until he was kneeling between her legs, lapping at her cunt, tasting her juices mixed with his cum, wanting her to wake to the feel of his tongue on her clit.

Gabriel's eyes widened at the taste of blood, and he remembered suddenly that he did have claws. There was a strong scent of blood coming from the bed, and he had an instant of surprise that he could smell the blood before he sat up abruptly. "Oh God! Pandora? Wake up! Wake up!" He slid one hand under her butt, trying to roll her to the side and see how badly he'd injured her.

"Mmm? Mmmm ... gabriel..." she murmured dreamily, not opening her eyes. "Mmmhmmm ... s'wrong?"

"How bad does your back hurt? Is it really bad?"

"Hurt? Oh god no, I don't hurt at all ... I feel wonderful."

Gabriel blinked. "You don't? But ... I can smell the blood ... and I think I remember ... or was that you?" He wriggled his shoulders experimentally. "Maybe that was you raking your nails down my back, not me clawing you, but then where did the blood come from?"

Pandora sat up, reaching for the lamp by the bed. When she flipped it on, he could see the blood on the sheet ... a dark stain the shape of her body ... and on her back, a glistening candy-red coating. But she wasn't moving like she hurt.

Gabriel leaned closer. "Your back is covered in blood, and so are the sheets, but I don't see any cuts..."

She flexed her shoulders. "I'm fine. I don't feel anything-- Ohhhhhh..." Her eyes widened as she looked down at the bed and saw the fragile, magic-created roses. "Oh how beautiful..." But she went a bit pale when she saw them outlining the dark stain where she'd been laying. "Oh my ... I don't think I'm hurt? But..."

Gabriel reached out, running a finger across her back, and his eyes widened. "I ... think I did claw you. But it healed. You've got ... there are scars running down your back."

"Scars? Oh ... I remember ... something. I think. Your claws cutting me, but..." She blushed, not meeting his eyes. "It was so ... good. I just ... didn't care. I ... I better go shower, I guess. I'm sorry. Um. About your bed, I mean." She was more embarrassed than he'd seen her all day.

Gabriel smiled, reaching out to pull her close. "That was ... that was incredible. I never ... I never even dreamed it could be like that. I ... just for an instant there, I was you, underneath me. Were you..."

Pandora trembled when he touched her. "yes," she whispered, and he could tell that it wasn't just shyness or even embarrassment; she was afraid of something now, when she wasn't before.

Gabriel pulled back, looking at her, worried. "What is it? Did I do something?"

"No! Oh god no, I just..." She looked up at him. "I don't understand what's going on. What's happened. I ... I don't know what to think. And I'm ... scared. This isn't what I expected. I mean ... how could it be? And the way I'm reacting, the way I feel..." She trembled in his arms. "It's scary. It's ... it's not very much like me."

"I don't understand it either. There was an instant there ... where you were completely ... completely open to me, and I had to choose whether to be open like that to you, and when I did, it was ... was ... I don't know what happened. I don't have a clue. But it was..."

She ran her fingers along his lips. "I'm not saying it's bad. Or that I don't like it, or would change anything. I just ... don't know what to think right now. It was so... fast. And ... and if something goes wrong, if I'm wrong about ... things ... it's going to hurt ... so bad..." She swallowed hard, dropping her hand and her gaze. "I'm just scared," she whispered.

Gabriel put a finger under her chin, tilting her head up, and leaned forward, planting a gentle kiss on her lips. "Wrong about what?"

She shivered, and he could feel her aura starting to coil around him for a moment before she pulled away and it jerked back as well. "I ... about how ... whether it's right to ... feel the things I do. Whether it's safe." She looked at him, her shadowed eyes showing her confusion. "Whether it's even real," she finished sadly. "I ... just need some time to think."

"Define 'safe'."

She slid out of bed. His aura reached for her automatically as she took a step away, but seemed to recoil when hers reached out and batted at the creeping tendril. She didn't seem to notice anything, though, as she crossed her arms over her chest tightly and paced a couple of steps. "I'm not even sure. I'm so confused right now."

Gabriel looked at her for a moment. "Pandora ... Siren ... I ... what do you want? I'll give it to you. It's yours. I never..." He looked away. "I never expected to feel this again. Ever. Maybe it's ... it's because of whatever happened to me, but I don't care. I don't care. I don't care what caused it, how it happened, anything. It exists, and that's all that matters." He looked up at her, the pain clearly visible in his eyes. "If ... if it seems too sudden, think about this. We've known each other online for over a year. I really liked you, even when that was the only way I knew you. You've got a delightfully wicked sense of humor, an amazing amount of common sense, a razor sharp mind ... what's not to like? It's not a matter of ... of..." He swallowed, actually blushing a little. "Of love at first sight. Maybe this is the first time we've met in person, but it's not the first time we've met. I think I know you better than I did Lissa until we'd been married for over a year. So ... so I don't think it's that surprising." He swallowed again, looking at her, clearly terrified now that he'd come out and said it.