Thecouch dipped deeply as he sat right next to her, he was so close his thigh waspressing directly against her own. The extreme heat rolling off his body,though, made her look past the self-conscious moment.
"Here,"handing him the warm tea from the coffee table. "Drink this."
Takingthe mug Gabriel began to drink, only to immediately set his face into a bitterscowl.
Shakingher head, she gave him the same no-nonsense look her mom gave all of Salene'ssiblings. "No Sir, I do not want to hear it. I know it is nasty just keepdrinking."
Furrowinghis brow even deeper the bright green eyes stared daggers at her as he gulpedthe rest of the bitter liquid down.
Settingthe mug on the table Gabriel sat back heavily against the couch cushions inobvious fatigue. "Now what?"
"Well…"Feeling self-conscious Salene looked down at her hands in her lap before slowlymaking eye contact again. She can hardly believe she was going to suggest this,but much like earlier in his room when he told her about the lack of maternalaffection she acted instinctively. "If you want you can lay your head onmy lap."
Thelook he gave her was void of any emotion.
Embarrassedshe rushed to clarify. "My mom did that with all of us kids and I know itdoes not sound like it would make a difference but I can swear it does."
Nowher face was getting really warm, Salene felt very foolish for offeringsomething so personal as she endured the awkward silence. Shifting his weightagainst the cushions Gabriel scooted away from her down the sofa. A stab ofpain lanced through her as Salene took the move as a blatant rejection, so whenthe weight of his head hit her lap, Salene sat frozen.
Withoutany reason, her heart began to beat harder in her chest. For a brief moment,she regretted initiating the move, the intense feeling of intimacy it broughtwith it was completely unaccounted for. Looking down at her lap she was alittle relieved to see that his eyes were closed. Unobserved she let her gazesweep over the large man partially in her lap. Wearing a simple T-shirt andmatching sweats Gabriel appeared normal, but Salene could tell he was not.Small almost indiscernible lines creased his forehead as he fought through thediscomfort. Ignoring her growing nervousness she gently ran the pads of herfingers across the warm skin of his forehead.
"Christ,your hand is cold," he murmured tiredly.
"Oh,sorry," pulling her hand back.
"No,Don't," green eyes snapped open giving her a piercing stare. "It feelsnice."
Theonly sound between them was the far-off ticking of the clock on the fireplacemantle. Apprehensively she used her left hand to gently repeat the earlieractions. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the heavy rise and fall ofhis chest as he relaxed deeper. The hair beneath her palm was so soft as shecontinued to stroke his forehead. Never in her life would she have imaginedthis situation, just a couple of weeks ago they were having vicious fights.
Pressingthe coolness of her other hand against his warm stubbly cheeks Salene's eyeswidened slightly at the deep rumble like purr he emitted. Smiling she continuedto gently soothe the man in her lap as she observed him unwatched. Looking downthe length of the sofa Salene observed the long, strong body. At one point inthis man's life, he was not always so big nor so strong at one point he wasjust a little boy. A little boy that she just found out today who had nomother. What kind of woman abandoned their own child?
Lookingat Bishop who was asleep in his bed in the corner Salene looked down to seethat Gabriel had fallen asleep as well. Carefully relaxing into the cushions,Salene turned her head to stare out at the pouring rain, eventually sleepclaimed her as well.
Aloud crash of noise startled her wake. Sitting up from the cushions she wasleaning against, Salene looked around the room. Gabriel was no longer on thecouch, and the room was nearly pitch black. The only light filtering into theden was the greenish gray hue of light from the large patio doors. Squintingthrough the heavy darkness, Salene could see that Bishop's bed was empty aswell. Alarmed she stood up in the empty room, with narrowed eyes she made outthe dark doorway to the kitchen but another strong howl of wind caused her toturn back to look out the window.
Therain seemed to have completely stopped, and the dark clouds had now dispersed.A greenish sky and ghastly winds were left in the storm's wake, blowing backtrees with its force.
"Don'tpanic," Gabriel's voice from the dark doorway made her jump.
"Ohmy God, what's going on?" Instinctively she walked closer to him in thedark. "Why is it so dark in here?"
"Again,don't panic I just got off the phone and supposedly there is a tornado warningfor this area. That's why the lights went out."
Fora moment his words gave her a strange feeling of disbelief, like beingsuspended in a sea of nothingness. Everything in her life was always socarefully planned out, nothing left to chance. Even if things didn't work out,there was always a next step to be taken. With a tornado, there was no nextstep, no options whatsoever.
"Isaid not to panic." The touch on her arm brought her back to the presentas she looked up to see Gabriel standing inches away from her giving her anintense look.
Hewas right she was panicking, her breathing had become shallow and sporadic.Wiping her sweating palms on her pants Salene swallowed a gulp of air to tryand compose herself.
"Idon't know how I cannot panic," she said barely in a whisper. "Shouldwe be standing here near the windows?" Her voice trailed off as she watchedthe trees shake viciously through the whipping winds. "Should wehide?"
"No,we won't need to," Salene could hear him put on his most reassuring voicethrough the opaque darkness. "A tornado hasn't hit Dallas in…" Hepaused as if thinking. "Well, it's been so long actually don't know theexact date."
Therelief from his words didn't last long before worry set in again. "Butdon't we live on the outskirts of Dallas technically? We…"
"No,we live in Dallas Salene. Look just come over here and sit down," his handslid around her waist and propelled her along with him as he rounded the backof the sofa towards where they sat earlier. "And it will all be over in afew."
Toonervous to sit she remained standing in the spot where they stopped. The groanlike whine from the cushion next to her alerted her to Bishop's presence, hernervousness was most likely agitating him. The sound of the shrieking wind madeher jump, immediately she turned to Gabriel for guidance.
