Chapter 22
Gaby followed Peter through the door of the flat where he lived overlooking a park in the east of Hamblehurst. When they’d walked through the town towards Blackberry Hill, she’d enjoyed the busy high street and nightlife, taking it all in.
But during their hurried walk to Peter’s flat, she’d been oblivious to her surroundings, and wouldn’t have noticed the nearby park at all if he hadn’t mentioned it as they’d skirted around its fenced perimeter.
Her mind had been filled only with Peter and what they were about to share.
She had no thoughts about changing her mind. If she was trembling as they walked inside his flat, it was thanks to the nervous expectation.
Peter turned on a lamp, took her coat, did the gentlemanly thing and asked if she wanted a drink.
She only shook her head and stepped into his arms and kissed him.
After that, things became a little blurry. Deliciously blurry.
Alone together, Peter kissed her with a sensual tenderness that quickly turned to passion as he steered her towards his bedroom. His arms around her as he held her close only made her desperate to get closer still.
When they fell onto his bed together, shedding clothes and laughing softly when they encountered stubborn buttons or awkward zips, their shared amusement only made the moment more wonderful.
Peter had told her that she made him feel like he was eighteen again.
As Gaby wrapped her arms around him and let her mind surrender to his touch and his kiss, she felt like she, too, was a teenager once more, transported back to that summer when she’d discovered true love and the miracles of sex for the first time.
Finding those things again with Peter, all these years later, was a gift beyond measure.
As they moved together and loved each other, her mind stopped thinking and she surrendered to the moment while it lasted.
* * *
Gaby lay in Peter’s arms still riding the waves of sensation that had turned her body into a boneless puddle, her mind empty of everything except the man beside her.
Peter ran his fingers through her hair and traced the curve of her forehead with gentle kisses while she moved her hands across the strong breadth of his shoulders and along biceps that rippled beneath her touch.
If there was a more blissful feeling in the world than what she was experiencing right now, Gaby had never encountered it.
“What are you thinking about?” Peter whispered, his breath against her ear only adding to the soft pleasure of being warm and loved in his bed.
“I’m incapable of thought right now,” she said.
His quiet laughter was rich. “My ego likes that answer.”
She gave him a mock swat on the arm. “What are you thinking about?”
“I’m incapable of thought right now.”
Gaby laughed to hear her words echoed back at her and laughed again at the amused look on his face. He kissed her forehead again, his lips roaming across her skin and making her sigh and close her eyes.
“This feels just as amazing as it did when we were kids,” Peter murmured.
“Except better.”
She felt his smile lift his lips as he kissed her. “Yes, except better.”
His mouth found hers and she lost herself in his kiss.
The touch of his fingers along the edge of her jaw and down her neck made her sigh with pleasure.
Peter brushed one last lingering kiss across her lips and when she opened her eyes his gaze was on her, his expression one of wonder and longing and intense enough to make her heart trip-hammer inside her chest.
“I can’t stop thinking about the first time we were together,” he said softly.
“I remember us lying in bed as the rain lashed against the bedroom window. I remember holding you in my arms. I remember all the things we talked about. I asked what your dreams were, your dreams for the future. You said you wanted to see the whole world and live every moment like it might be your last and fill every second with something wonderful. I was already in your spell, but after you said that I was completely bewitched.”
His words and the way he looked at her as he said them sent a bolt of emotion straight through her. “I was filled with romantic dreams just like any seventeen-year-old.”
“No, you were never like anyone else I’d ever met. No other kid I knew talked the way you did, had dreams the way you did, was passionate the way you were. I never knew anyone like you before then and I’ve never known anyone like you since then, either. You’re a one-of-a-kind, Gaby.”
“That’s a really sweet thing to say.”
“It’s true. The way you talked about your dreams for the future made me want to dream bigger in my own life, too.
That stayed with me after we parted. Maybe I didn’t quite realise the connection at the time, but when I ditched my job with the investment company to pursue a career in teaching, I think you were the inspiration behind it.
Maybe not consciously, but you were part of it just the same.
I wanted to do something meaningful and worthy with my life. ”
“And you are. You should be proud of what you’ve done and the difference you make for kids in your school.”
“I might not have done it if we hadn’t met and if what you said to me that afternoon after we slept together for the first time hadn’t made such an impact. I just want you to know that.”
“You’re giving me too much credit, Peter. We all find our own way in life and work out what’s right for us.”
His smile was soft, his expression tender.
“That’s not true. Most people stumble from day to day, not really thinking about what they’re doing or why they’re doing it.
That summer we were together, you were filled with so much passion and drive and determination.
You completely stunned me every day. Every conversation we had was a revelation.
And you sparked something in me to choose a path that I might not have chosen otherwise.
Until we met again last week, I don’t think I fully realised you were the inspiration that made me step off one path and choose another.
What you said, and how you made me feel, was always buried inside my mind, just waiting for the right moment to make an impact. ”
“If that’s true, then thank you for telling me. But you would’ve found the right path whether we’d ever known each other or not. You’re a good man, Peter, leading a very good life. And that’s all down to you.”
Gaby was overwhelmed by what Peter had said and overwhelmed too by the sensation of his lips moving across her skin to find her mouth. His kisses sent her flying and made her forget everything except the pleasure of being in his embrace.
“Tell me what your dreams are now, Gaby,” he whispered. “You’ve already made so many of your dreams come true. So, what’s next?”
She sighed softly again, her mind struggling to formulate an answer while Peter’s fingers roamed through her hair and over her skin.
“There’s still so much of the world to see,” she said at last. “No matter how much I’ve seen, there’s always more.
Sailing off to the Caribbean is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time and I’m excited it will soon happen.
After that, I’m not sure. There are resorts in the Alps I’d love to work at.
And I’d love more time in Tuscany exploring the Italian countryside.
And there are places in northern Spain I’d love to spend more time working, too, along the Atlantic coast in Galicia and the Basque Country, where the landscape is wild and rugged and dramatic. ”
“That all sounds wonderful.”
“I think so too.”
“What else? What other dreams do you have?”
“I dream about the beautiful hotels and resorts I want to work at. I dream about one day becoming a hotel manager, although that’s still a long way off.”
“It will happen for you. I’m sure of it.”
She squeezed his arm, touched by his confidence in her. “I have a lot more to learn before then. And that’s okay. Learning and travelling and experiencing things are all part of the process, part of the adventure.”
Peter kissed her forehead and twirled her hair in his fingers. “Do you think…”
When he stopped talking, she tilted her head to look up at him. “Do I think what?”
His gaze settled on her, his expression hesitant. “Do you think you’ll ever… want to settle down somewhere? Find a place to call home?”
The question caught her short. “I… I don’t know. Maybe one day. I’m not sure.”
His blue eyes were unreadable in the darkness. After a long moment, he smiled and tucked her back against his chest and kissed her forehead. “Why settle down when the whole world is waiting out there for you, right?”
“Right,” she said.
She heard a sliver of regret in his voice but didn’t want to think about what it might mean. As Peter’s hands caressing her skin erased her ability to dissect what he’d just said, she gave herself over to the moment and to their time together… while it lasted.
* * *
She might have lain in his arms all night long, enjoying the sensation of his fingers running through her hair and his lips brushing soft kisses against her forehead, if she hadn’t finally come to her senses.
The clock on his bedside table showed it was almost two in the morning.
“I should go,” Gaby said.
“What? Why?” Peter said, tightening his embrace. “You said you’d spend the night.”
“I know, but when I said that you’d seduced me with wine and starlight, Peter. I should go back to my aunt’s house. It would be weird to stay out and then saunter through the door tomorrow morning after obviously being with you all night.”
She sat up in bed and reached for her clothes. “If I go back now, it’ll just be a late night, nothing more and nothing less.”
She pulled on her jeans and jumper, feeling Peter’s gaze on her back with every move.
“Are you embarrassed that we slept together, Gaby?”
“No, of course not. I loved being with you again, Peter. Wasn’t it obvious?”
The wry smile she offered had the effect she hoped for and his expression lifted.