that any impropriety on her part would be eagerly watched and noted by her fellow students. The Professor would know this too, and thus be far more professional than usual.

So when Christa confronted Paul and Julia, she was beyond

pissed. She wanted to insult the two of them so they would leave

before the Professor arrived. She did her damnedest to make sure

that happened. Nevertheless, her attempt at intimidating her fellow graduate students went horribly awry. Professor Emerson arrived

earlier than expected and overheard her.

“Miss Peterson.” Gabriel pointed toward an empty table far away

from Paul and Julia and indicated that Christa should follow him.

“Professor Emerson, I bought you a venti latté with skim milk.”

She tried to hand it to him, but he waved it aside.

“Only barbarians drink coffee with milk after breakfast. Haven’t

you ever been to Italy? And by the way, Miss Peterson, skim milk is for wankers. Or fat girls.”

He spun on his heel and walked over to the counter to order his

own coffee while Christa tried valiantly to hide her rage.

38

Gabriel’s Rapture

Damn you, Julianne. This is all your fault. You and the monk.

Christa sat in the chair that Professor Emerson had pointed out,

feeling almost defeated. Almost, for from her vantage point, she had a lovely view of Professor Emerson’s ass in his gray flannel trousers.

Rounded like two apples. Two ripe, delicious apples.

She wanted to take a bite out of them.

At length, the professor returned with his own damn coffee. He

sat as far away from her as possible, while still technically sitting at the same table, and gazed at her harshly.

“I need to speak to you about your behavior. But before I do, let

me make one thing clear. I agreed to meet you here today because

I desired a coffee. In the future, we will meet in the department as we normally do. Your transparent attempts at engineering social

engagements between the two of us will be unsuccessful. Do you

understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

“One word from me and you’l be finding yourself a new dis-

sertation director.” He cleared his throat. “In the future you wil address me as Professor Emerson, even when speaking of me in the third person. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Professor Emerson.” Ohhhh, Professor. You have no idea how much I want to scream your name. Professor, Professor, Professor…

“Moreover, you will refrain from making personal remarks about

my other students, especially Miss Mitchell. Is that clear?”

“Clear.”

Now Christa was beginning to seethe a little, but she kept her

reaction to herself. She placed all the blame on Julia. She wanted to drive Julia out of the program. She simply wasn’t sure how to do that. Yet.

“Finally, anything you hear from me about another student or

person connected with the university will be deemed to be confidential, and you will not repeat it or else you will find yourself another dissertation director. Do you think you are intelligent enough to

comply with these very simple instructions?”

“Yes, Professor.” She bristled slightly at his condescension, but

truth be told, she found his grumpiness sexy. She wanted to tease it out of him. To seduce him into doing unspeakable things to her, to —

39

Sylvain Reynard

“Any more abuse directed toward MA students will be brought to

the attention of Professor Martin, the department chair. I believe you are well aware of the regulations governing the behavior of graduate students. I don’t need to remind you about the prohibitions against hazing, do I?”

“But I wasn’t hazing Julia, I was — ”

“No sniveling. And I doubt that Miss Mitchell gave you permis-

sion to use her first name. You will address her properly or not at all.”

Christa bowed her head. Threats of the sort he was making were

not sexy. She’d worked very hard to get into the PhD program at the University of Toronto, and she wasn’t about to let it all slip through her fingers. Not for some pathetic little bitch who had something

cooking with the Professor’s research assistant.

Gabriel saw her reaction but said nothing, slowly sipping his

espresso. He felt no remorse and was beginning to wonder what else he could do to make her cry.

“I’m confident you are well aware of the university’s policies governing harassment. Those policies work both ways. Professors can

file a complaint if they believe they are being harassed by a student.

If you cross the line with me, I’ll drag you to the Dean’s Office so quickly your head will spin. Do you understand?”

Christa lifted her chin and gazed at him with wide, frightened

eyes. “But we — I thought — ”

“But nothing!” Gabriel snapped. “Unless you’re delusional, you’ll

realize that there is no we. I won’t repeat myself. You know where you stand.”

He glanced at Julia and Paul one last time. “Now that we have

dispensed with today’s pleasantries, I’d like to tell you what I thought about your last dissertation proposal. It was rubbish. In the first place, your thesis is derivative. In the second, you’ve made no attempt to provide a literature review that comes close to being adequate. If you cannot amend your proposal to address these issues, you will need

to find another director. If you choose to submit a revised proposal, you will need to do so within two weeks. Now if you’ll excuse me,

I have a meeting that is actually worth my time. Good afternoon.”

Gabriel departed Starbucks abruptly, leaving a rather shell-

shocked Christa staring off into space.

40

Gabriel’s Rapture

She heard part of his speech, of course, but her mind was focused

on other things. First, she was going to do something to get back

at Julia. She didn’t know what and she didn’t know when. But she

was going to shank that bitch (metaphorically speaking) and cut her (also metaphorically speaking).

Second, she was going to rewrite her dissertation proposal and

hopefully win Professor Emerson’s academic approval.

Third, she was going to redouble her efforts at seduction. Now

that she had seen Professor Emerson angry, there was nothing she

desired more than to see him angry with her — while naked. She was going to change his mind. She was going to break through his harsh exterior. She was going to see him kneeling before her, begging for her, and then…

Clearly, the four-inch heels and the Bordelle lingerie weren’t

enough. Christa was going to head over to Holt Renfrew, and she was going to buy herself a new dress. Something European. Something

sexy. Something by Versace.

Then she was going to Lobby to set her third scheme in motion…

41

Chapter 4

In the penthouse of a boutique hotel in Florence, clothes had

been tossed haphazardly across a sitting room floor, trailing

like breadcrumbs from the doorway toward a wall that was no longer blank. Groans and obvious rhythms floated in the air, wafting over a man’s fine handmade shoes, a black bra, a tailored suit tossed wantonly over a coffee table, a taffeta dress puddled into a Santorini-blue pool…

If one were a detective, one would notice that the lady’s panties

and shoes were missing.

The air was thick with the smell of orange blossoms and Aramis,

mingled with the musk of sweat and naked flesh. The room was dark.

Not even the moonlight streaming in from the terrace reached the wall where two nude bodies clung to one another. The man stood upright, supporting the woman, who had her legs wrapped around his hips.

“Open your eyes.” Gabriel’s plea was punctuated by a cacophony

of sound — skin sliding over skin, desperate cries muffled by lips and flesh, quick gulps of oxygen, and the slight thud of Julia’s back against the wall.

She could hear him as he groaned with every thrust, but her

ability to speak had withdrawn as she focused on a single sensa-

tion — pleasure. Every movement of her lover pleased her, even the friction between their chests and the grip of his hands as he held her aloft. She danced on the very edge of satisfaction, breathless with anticipation that the next movement would push her over. Building, building, building, building…

“Are — you — okay?” He was breathing hard, his last word leaving his mouth as a cry as the slightest turn of her ankles pressed her sharp heels into his flesh.

Gabriel’s Rapture

Julia threw her head back and let out a few incoherent sounds

as she climaxed, intense waves radiating out from where they were

joined and speeding along her nerves until her entire body vibrated.

Gabriel felt it, of course, and followed soon after; two deep thrusts and he cried her name into the crook of her neck, his body shaking.

“You worried me,” he whispered afterward. He lay on his back

in the center of the large, white bed while his sleepy beloved curled into his side, her head resting over the surface of his tattoo.

“Why?”

“You wouldn’t open your eyes. You wouldn’t speak. I was worried

I was too rough.”

She moved her fingers along his abdomen to the few hairs that

trailed down from his navel, tracing the texture lazily.