A Breath of Scandal, page 6
Adele’s eyes turned molten and every fibre in her being began to throb inside her. “Gillian…” she managed to say, barely breathing.
Gillian held her hand out and Adele took it.
Adele stood before her and suddenly her eyes filled with tears. Gillian brushed them lovingly away.
“I love you, Gillian,” Adele said softly as she kissed her lovingly. The tenderness of the kiss began to gradually demand more, and Gillian’s mouth opened and allowed Adele to begin her possession.
Slowly Adele lowered her onto the bed and between kisses and caresses they both lay half clothed. Caresses that began slowly became demanding and possession of one another became a paramount need.
“Cara…” Adele pinned Gillian beneath her, and their bodies fused in a primal effort to become one.
“Ah…” Gillian let her head fall back as she felt Adele’s caresses moving lower. The throbbing between her legs begged for release and when she felt Adele’s touch, her world began to spin as she felt Adele’s mouth take possession of her. “Dell, oh God, Dell…”
Their love making had begun slowly, with tenderness, touching, exploring, feeling, kissing, and tasting each other’s skin until the fire and passion that had bound them from the very first moment erupted and their bodies fused, melting into one another with screams of pleasure that filled their worlds.
During the night the light coming from the large window awakened Adele and the warmth of the woman in her arms filled her with more happiness than she thought possible. Adele tightened her arms to hold her closer still.
†
“I love you, Dell,” Gillian said softly.
Gillian turned around to face her and gently caressed the face of her dark-haired Contessa. Adele held her hand, turning it to kiss the inside of it.
“I need you like the air I breathe, Gillian,” Adele said passionately. And at that moment Gillian heard the fragility of that statement.
Gillian smiled softly and leaned to kiss her. She then pressed the Contessa down onto the bed and began to make love to her with all the tenderness she felt inside for her. She sensed that Adele needed this, this tenderness from her. It was at this moment that Gillian took her own possession and they both truly became one.
†
Adele had never had anyone love her as Gillian had done. She had never allowed anyone to get that close. The gentleness of her lover’s touch had gone beyond anything she had ever experienced. Adele wept from the beauty of the union. Gillian held her tighter and told her over and over again that she would never leave. And thus, began their life together, based on a promise of love and a forever.
†
Dinner was a formal affair. Gillian concentrated on the baby that was first excited at being at the table on her highchair during dinner with both her mothers. Adele barely spoke unless Catty addressed her.
Towards the end of the dinner, Catty began to look visibly sleepy and cranky.
“Time for beddy-bye, sweet pea,” Gillian said gently as she began to take her daughter out of the highchair.
“No… no, Mommy, no.” Catty began to fuss.
“Let me.” Adele came to her aid and Gillian stepped aside. “Does my principesa want to fly?” she asked indulgently.
The child immediately smiled and nodded. “Come along then, Mama will fly you upstairs.”
Catty held her arms out for her mother to take her and giggled. Her little fingers beckoned to be picked up.
Gillian noticed how the maid, clearing the table, smiled secretly at seeing that the austere Contessa was so very human after all. No one doubted that she adored her child. And Gillian felt the pain inside her magnify once more. She then took a step back and repeated to herself again, I am doing the right thing, it is better this way.
“Come along, cara, let’s put this little one to bed.” In her joy of her daughter, Adele had forgotten their estrangement and had called Gillian her beloved. Adele continued making buzzing noises and never realized what she had said. The child began to giggle and wiggle and continued encouraging her mother to make the airplane sounds.
Gillian followed them up the stairs. They both helped get the little girl to bed; both helping her put on her pajamas and both stood by her bedside after kissing her good night.
“Good night, baby,” Gillian said as she pulled up the covers over her daughter.
“Night, Mommy,” Catty said as she gave her mother another hug.
Adele then leaned down and kissed her daughter goodnight.
“Mama, sleep with me?” the sleepy child asked Adele.
“No, my darling, not tonight,” Adele said as she caressed the child’s hair, leaning down, and kissing her on the forehead once more.
“Mommy can sleep with us too, Mama,” the little girl insisted.
“Not tonight, little one, not tonight,” Adele replied tenderly.
“Okay, you sleep with Mommy,” Catty finally conceded, turning on her side, grabbing her stuffed toy, and falling quickly asleep.
Both women walked out of the room quietly, closing the door behind them. Once in the hallway Adele faced Gillian. “You can use the bedroom to the other side of Catty’s room. It has been prepared for you. I know that you want to be close to her.”
“All right, thank you, Adele.” Gillian felt weak suddenly and swayed unexpectedly, and without warning, towards Adele.
She was immediately held in a warm embrace. An embrace that she craved to surrender to but knew she must not. Gillian pulled herself away.
“Gillian…?”
“I’m so sorry. I think I’m just tired,” Gillian apologized and walked away towards her bedroom.
†
Adele stood without moving, looking at her as she walked away wondering how she would ever survive losing the woman that, to her shame, she still loved. She felt ashamed of wanting someone that had betrayed her, was sleeping with someone else and obviously no longer wanted her. She had always been the one that did the chasing, the one that others wanted and now she felt the feeling of being rejected. Rejection had never been a part of her vocabulary. She had felt rejection from her mother once too many times. Adele learned early on not to need, to just take and never allow anyone close enough to hurt her. Gillian had been someone that she did not want to hide from and now she was paying for that folly she told herself. Her eyes stayed on Gillian until she entered the other bedroom. Adele could not stop her mind from asking herself so many questions; like how can I never kiss her again, how can I never hold her again, how can I breathe without her again? She found that the pressure she constantly felt in the middle of her chest was allowing her to hardly draw a breath of late.
†
Gillian walked into the room that she had decorated only two years before. This had been her home, and now she was just a visitor. She ran her fingers over the comforter that had taken her a month to choose and smiled at the memory. Then she sat down and took in a deep breath. Her new journey had begun, and she would see it through. Gillian reached over to the telephone on the nightstand and proceeded to call Candice.
“You are what?” Candice could not believe what she had just heard. “Are you crazy?”
“This is what it will take to make things work,” Gillian said rubbing her temple. Her headache was unbearable.
“Gillian, I don’t think this is a good idea. I’m afraid for you. She won’t be the same now, Gilly. Her true colours will come out.” Candice wanted her words to strike Gillian and they did.
“I… I have to believe that she will keep her word, Candice. I can’t fight her… and I don’t want to.” The exhaustion could be felt over the telephone.
Candice remained quiet. She could hear the weariness in Gillian’s voice. “She...”
“I’m tired, Candice.”
“I know you are, baby, I know you are. I’m sorry that it’s so hard. You have a headache, don’t you?” Candice asked sympathetically.
“Yes…” Gillian said as she began to weep. “How did you know?”
“You always get a headache when you are stressed, sweetheart,” Candice said tenderly.
Gillian then began to sob. “Oh Candy, why? Why would this happen? Oh God, why?” Gillian held on to the phone and wept inconsolably.
“Oh Gilly, please don’t cry, baby. Please don’t cry. God! I wish I was there!” Candice took a deep breath. “Gilly, baby, please, please.”
“I’m sorry…”
“There is nothing to be sorry about. I know how hard this is. I will stand by you no matter what, babe. You are not alone, okay? Remember that. Will you remember that?” Candice waited for the answer patiently.
“Yes, yes I will,” Gillian finally said a little calmer. “Goodnight Candice…”
Before she finished saying goodnight, she heard the door open, and instantly she knew that Adele had heard her say goodnight to Candice.
Gillian hung up the phone and stood up to face her. Adele stared at her with such hatred that it physically hurt her to see it.
After a moment Adele spoke. “I thought you might need these.” She handed Gillian a negligee and a few other toiletries.
“Yes, thank you.” Gillian looked down at the clothing and then looked back up into Adele’s eyes. “Thank you.”
Adele took a step forward and brushed a tear away. “She doesn’t like the arrangement, does she?” As tender as the touch had been her words sounded as cold as steel.
Gillian merely kept looking into her eyes.
“She will have you back soon enough. Don’t embarrass me, Gillian. Another scandal I will not allow. Keep your lover away from the public eye or I will take Catty away and you will never see her again,” Adele hissed at her.
Gillian’s eyes overflowed with tears. “Dell, why are you being so cruel?”
Adele said nothing, the coldness in her eyes unyielding. “I don’t owe you anything,” she finally said, seething.
Gillian reached out to touch her and found her hand held in a tight grip.
“Don’t you ever touch me!” Adele spoke through her teeth barely controlling the anger within as she suddenly pulled her roughly to her. “Missing my touch already, cara?” Her voice held the menace she was barely keeping below the surface.
“Dell, please.” Gillian let her forehead lean forward until it touched the side of Adele’s temple. “Don’t hate me, please,” Gillian pleaded miserably.
Adele could feel Gillian’s breath on her skin and closed her eyes. She released her hold and Gillian’s arms came up around her neck as she wept.
“Please Dell…I…” A sob racketed Gillian’s body as her arms tightened around Adele’s neck.
Gillian clung to her, and this brought to the surface too many emotions for Adele to process. Holding Gillian like this another minute would surely kill her. Her body did not register that the woman in her arms was no longer her lover and the need to touch her, love her, came alive faster than she could control it. Adele’s arms came up to hold her. But just as suddenly, the pain of the betrayal was all that she could feel. She could not be Gillian’s friend. What Gillian was asking for was impossible. She could no more be her friend than she would be her lover ever again. Adele removed Gillian’s arms from around her neck and walked out of her arms and out of the room without saying a word.
†
Gillian fell on her knees as soon as she saw the door close. She knew that in her moment of weakness she had placed another scar on Adele’s heart.
Chapter Six
“Hello…”
“Contessa, we have a cab here at the gate. The driver says it is picking up Mrs. Visconti. Should I let him through?” The guard waited for an answer nervously. There was obviously trouble in paradise, and he didn’t want to be in the middle of it in any way. The Contessa valued her privacy, and he did not want to know more than he should.
“Pay him for coming out here and send him away. It was an error.” Saying no more, the line went dead.
The security guard then spoke to the cab driver. “Sorry for the inconvenience, buddy. No cab needed. Here is twenty dollars for your trouble.”
“All right, Mack. Thanks.”
The cab backed out and away from the gate. The guard looked towards the house and noticed a few lights coming on. He shook his head as he mumbled, “Marital bliss, you gotta love it.”
†
Gillian stood by one of the windows that looked over the front lawn of the estate. Her cab should be arriving any moment now. It had been a mistake to stay here overnight. Her head was throbbing, and her chest ached. Everything inside her was filling with a pain she could not bear. She wanted to cry but she had no more tears left. Being away at this moment—no, running away—was the only thing that would give her any hope of surviving this. Dell was too formidable of an opponent. Dell had always been stronger, more persistent, and Gillian knew that if she didn’t put some real distance between them things were only going to get worse. Candice had been right. It had been madness, sheer madness for her to have stayed.
“Where did you think you were going?” a voice in the dark room said softly. Its softness however could not hide the coldness.
Gillian turned around trying to find Adele in the darkness that covered the room.
“Running away so soon? Couldn’t you stay away from her for one night?” The words seemed to get harsher and the timbre of them more menacing. “I can take care of your need cara… I always have before.”
Suddenly Adele was right in front of her pulling roughly towards her. Adele’s whole body was pressed against her. She felt Adele’s breath on her cheek. Gillian tried to take in a breath and found it impossible. Adele’s lips were running lightly on her cheek. “I want you.” The words were unmistakably raw and sensual. Adele’s body was beckoning, and her hands were pulling her closer while caressing her.
The warmth fused them both, sparking between them. All that could be heard was the strained breathing coming from them both. Strained and bursting, rushing to a release that only the body pressed against it could provide.
Gillian pressed forward and her eyes closed as she lost herself in the recognition of the passion that had always existed between them. “Dell…”
Adele’s hands travelled down and as her palms cupped Gillian’s ass, she squeezed, and pulled her closer to her as her mouth took control of Gillian’s lips.
Gillian’s mouth opened and a moan escaped her. “Oh Dell,…” she moaned as her hand went up to Adele’s neck. Her hands travelled up to feel the fullness of the dark mane that she had loved and as she did, she felt Adele’s arms pulling her closer still. The fire that had always consumed them when they were this close to one another became a raging volcano running out of control.
†
Adele’s mouth kissed her with such raw passion and desperation that all the anger she had felt while looking for Gillian through the dark had simply vanished. All that she felt was the need to hold onto her life. Because that is what Gillian was to her. Gillian was life, love, passion, and all the other baser emotions that had once been held in check but were now running rampant within her, and she could no more control her desire than she could her love for her.
Adele’s mouth travelled down her neck and her hands began to quickly pull up Gillian’s dress. She had to touch her; she had to feel Gillian’s wetness so that she could once more know that it had been she who had made her feel. Her ardour made her rush; she pulled aside Gillian’s panties, and her fingers found the folds that indeed were hot and wet.
“I want you, oh God, I want you,” she whispered in Gillian’s ear. “I want to be inside you… I need to be inside you.” Adele’s voice was horse in desperation.
†
Gillian’s eyes suddenly opened wide and roughly pushed her away. The look of pain in Adele’s eyes were almost her undoing. She had never seen a look of such betrayal mirrored at her. Adele just stood in front of her looking like someone had just torn her heart out of her chest; and of course, someone had. Gillian wrapped her arms around herself and began to weep. “I can’t… I can’t.”
†
Adele suddenly felt the rage rise within her and the growl that came out of her not only frightened Gillian but made her take a few steps away. Adele wrapped her arms around herself protectively without thinking.
Instead of running away, Gillian went to her. “I’m sorry…” she said as her hand reached out for Adele.
Adele grabbed her hand and just stood staring at her. Her grip had become solid rock. Gillian was not going anywhere.
“I’m going to fuck you,” Adele said between her teeth. Her eyes had taken on a glazed look of madness that Gillian had never seen before. “I’m going to fuck you until I get you out of my soul.” As she finished speaking, she yanked Gillian hard against her.
“You promised me that you wouldn’t hurt me…” Gillian said gently. “I know that I’ve hurt you. You said you would always love me and never hurt me Dell, remember?” Tears ran down her face freely as she said this.
“I’m going to fuck you,” Adele said as her grip tightened. “You are mine,” she whispered as her mouth caressed Gillian’s ear as one hand began to touch her while the other kept a hold of her.
