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The four hours and thirty-six-minute drive to Flagstaff from Las Vegas went like a charm, and they rolled into the outdoorsman’s paradise on empty. Cabrina’s stomach growled like a hungry bear, making Gabriel ask if it was safe to get close to her. He could get as close as he wanted but she required food.
Navigating them to Oregano’s for lunch, Cabrina was hungry enough to eat the platter, the edges of the pizza crust, and nibble on the drinking glass. The apple had hit her stomach like a ball of breadcrumbs, leaving a trail for the hunger bugs to nosh on until the real food arrived. The idea struck her that maybe if she had eaten a real breakfast, she wouldn’t be this ravenous. She only prayed she didn’t stick her face in the plate and eat the food without the use of her hands as they entered the over-decorated pizza joint.
“Welcome! Are you members of or Kaboom Club?” The perky chested waitress asked Gabriel, intentionally moving her attention away from Cabrina.
“We are not,” Cabrina said. “We would like a table for two please for lunch.”
“Booth or table?” The girl asked, giving Gabriel googly eyes.
“A table for two, please,” Cabrina repeated.
“We are all out of tables. Would you like a booth?” The girl asked, looking glassy eyed at Gabriel.
Cabrina turned to look at her husband, wondering if the girl was either a robot or an idiot. She arched her eyebrows at him as he placed his hand in hers, giving a wicked grin. The girl stood there waiting for a response from Gabriel, who refused to answer her.
“The booth is fine. We will follow you,” she told the waitress.
Gabriel’s eyes were low, and he allowed Cabrina to lead him to the table as the young waitress nearly tripped three times trying to swish her handful of bottom to get the man’s attention. Taking a seat first, Cabrina slid into the booth seat, surprised to see Gabriel slide in next to her.
“I’ll take your drink orders as well,” the waitress said, eyeballing Gabriel with moon eyes.
“Honey, you want an iced-tea or something fizzy like a Pelligrino?” Cabrina asked him.
He nodded, then used sign language for a drink, which confused the waitress. “Make that a Diet Coke for me and a Pelligrino with lime for my husband,” Cabrina said.
“Is he deaf or something?”
“Deaf is unable to hear, mute is unable to speak,” she told the young woman.
“He’s a deaf-mute? Wow! And he is so fine, too,” she said, looking disappointed. “I will get those drinks.”
Bouncing off, Cabrina took in the gaudy restaurant which was a cross between Buca di Beppo and a mean old Italian woman’s kitchen turned museum. A large motorcycle sat atop a counter which appeared to be taken from the movie set of the Outsiders. Every inch of wall space was covered either in horrific wallpaper or Italian memorabilia, including several photos of Sophia Loren, opera singers, and red, white, and green stripes. If she weren’t so hungry, she would lose her appetite.
Gabriel’s seemed to be picking up her discomfort as he slid closer to her, his hand on her thigh, gently rubbing it as he also looked about the place. She is so warm and cordial. I fully expected her to eat the young woman for her blatant flirtations with me, but again, she’s surprised me.
“I guess you can add sign language to your list of languages you speak,” Cabrina said, looking down at his hand on her thigh. It didn’t go any further. He rubbed up and down her thigh in the same spot. “Gabe, you didn’t want to sit on the other side of the table?”
“No,” he said, gently squeezing her thigh. “You feel so good.”
“Oh, okay,” she said, blushing at the intimacy.
“You are so warm,” he said to her, taking off his glasses.
“Well, we have been sitting in a hot vehicle for four hours. I may be bordering on smelly before the day is over based on this menu,” she said to him. Every item came loaded with cheese. “Have you decided what you want to eat?”
He gave her a lascivious grin, which caused her to blush even more. “I’m going to have the Big Beefstro salad,” he told her, thinking the slices of prime rib would hold him over until dinner.
The bouncy-boobed waitress returned with the drinks, ready to take the orders for their lunch selections. Cabrina ordered the Beefstro salad for Gabe and the All Kale Caesar for herself. His hand continuously caressed her thigh as he handed back the menu, still not making eye contact with the young woman.
“You are thinking mighty hard about something,” she told him, uncertain what to make of his behavior.
“Waterfalls,” he said.
“As in don’t go chasing them,” she said, throwing in the words from one of her favorite 90s groups.
“Have you ever come across a natural waterfall, especially in the tropics?” He asked. “You are simply wandering along a nature trail, and wham, there is it. Splendid. Glorious. Cascading droplets fall over the edge from a high location, making you wonder from whence streams the never-ending supply of energy and water flow.”
“I’ve been to Niagara Falls,” she said.
“No, that one is different. It is powerful, forceful, aggressive. I am talking about simple beauty, nothing complex or complicated, but soothing to the soul,” he said. His hand still massaged her thigh as he spoke, looking away, but in a way remaining in sync with her.
Cabrina didn’t know where he was going with the conversation or if it was perhaps a Biblical reference. She answered him softly. “Yes, I have seen one of those in the mountains,” she said.
He asked, “When you came upon the waters, did you first stick your hand in to test how cold the water could be before you added your body or was it a sweltering day and you wanted to feel the coolness of the water on your head, to wash away the stickiness of the hike to find it?”
“Initially, I stuck my fingers in it to test the coolness of water since it wasn’t quite hot enough to immerse my body,” she said. “Why do you ask?”
He turned his torso slightly in the seat to look at her, the faux leather seat covering wailing at his movement like a squeaky mouse. The hand on her thigh, came up to gently tug on one of the strands of her curly black hair, wrapping it around his finger, pulling her face to his. His lips met hers, kissing Cabrina tentatively, his tongue briefly probing her lips, then sliding inside of her mouth. He ended the kiss with warm lips trailing down the side of her face, to her neck, nibbling, sucking quickly, then pulling away. Her lids were heavy with an ignited passion as his thumb ran across her bottom lip.
“You are my waterfall,” he said to her. “Initially, I simply wanted to test the waters, but now, I want to immerse myself completely in your beauty, allowing you to cover me.”
“Mr. Neary, I do believe you are trying to seduce me,” she told him, gripping his hand tightly.
“Believe it, because I plan to, every day, every night until I am completely drenched in every cascading drop of your flowing loveliness,” he said, leaning in to kiss her again.
Cabrina turned her head to the side, avoiding his lips. “Mr. Neary, you act as if I am not a sure thing,” she said.
“Nothing in this life is certain, Mrs. Neary. If a man wants success, he has to labor for it,” Gabriel said to her. “I want you to love me and I am willing to put in the work in order to reap the rewards.”
“Then get to work if you wish to receive the bounty tonight for your toils,” she said, turning her face, her cheek touching his, her hand now on his thigh, the other on his chest. Her soft voice whispered in his ear, “Make me fall hard for you, Mr. Neary. Make me crave you, your touch. I want you to hunger for my mouth on your skin, this heart thudding in your chest when I touch you, kiss you, tell you how good you feel next to me.” Her long fingers pressed against his breastplate as if her hand could permeate the skin and bones to touch his heart.
Gabriel turned, mumbling almost incoherently, “Check, please!”
The waitress, who made her approach with their lunches, nearly dropped the meals. “Oh wow! Did you just learn to talk?”
He nodded his head up and down like a dashboard doll while Cabrina sputtered with laughter at his antics.
Fascinating.
This man is an enigma, but fascinating.
Cabrina was all in and ready for whatever the rest of the day would bring.
****
THE GIFT SHOP ONLY carried three tee shirts with attitudinal sayings for the brand: Legalize Marinara, Oregano Dispensary, and Practice Safe Sauce. The sauced one was perfect for Gabriel since he stated his plan was to create the perfect bar-b-que sauce, and she opted for the Legalize Marinara shirt. He purchased a bottle of the house wine, along with requesting the empty shipping box the wine came in for the back seat of the vehicle.
“That’s where I will store the collection we gather,” he told her with pride.
Cabrina noticed the second box in the back of the vehicle. “What’s in this one?”
“Your wedding present from me that you will get to open tonight,” he told her. “But first, we need a photo of us in the shop, buying the tees.”
Six photos later, they were fueled up and rolling hard towards Albuquerque where they would spend the night. The five hours sped by as Gabriel put his foot in the floor, ready to call it an evening.
“I can get us a room at the Holiday Inn. It’s reasonable, plus we get a free breakfast,” she said, checking her rewards points.
“Not for this evening,” he said. “I went ahead a booked us something special for tonight.”
“Honey, we talked about a budget before starting this trip,” she cautioned.
“Yes, and we will stay on it, but tonight, I have something special in mind for my wife,” he said.
“Is this part of your grand seduction plan?”
“Cabrina, you truly can’t expect a man to win, woo, and have you fall head over heels in love with him by spending a hot night at the HoJo,” he said.
“Odder things have happened, and if all the man can afford is the NoTell Motel, then he will have to get his love on with limited funds,” she said, laughing.
“My pockets are all right,” he said, exiting I-40 towards the airport, turning down MLK Drive to Central Avenue, and pulling up at the Hotel Andaluz in historic downtown. “Plus, you said there were a couple of shops downtown you wanted to visit. This is a win-win.”
The vehicle pulled in front of the hotel as a valet, dressed like Aladdin opened her door. Gabriel pointed to the bags which would need to accompany them inside as well as the box on the back seat. In his hand, he held the tee shirts from Oregano’s as they went to the check-in at the counter.
“Ah good evening, Mr. Neary,” the man behind the counter said. “We have your suite ready and everything you requested.”
“Thank you, Sabid,” he told the man, taking his key. “It has been a long day.”
“Your dinner reservations are in an hour. You are booked in the Mint Casbah for your meal,” Sabid told him.
“Very good,” Gabriel responded, taking the key from his hand.
“You are in room1217. Enjoy your stay,” Sabid added before they walked away from the front desk.
To Cabrina, the hotel reminded her of a down-sized version of the Aladdin Hotel in Vegas, minus the faux sky ceilings and a street urchin with a Capuchin monkey. The lobby greeted them with oversized tufted chairs, colorful wall art, and archways. However, the bedroom was subtle. The walls were beige, nearly white, with an understated wood headboard. Dark curtains covered the entire window and wall, giving privacy to the guests. Sliding barn doors of tinted glass hid the bathroom with a standalone rocker tub trimmed in dark brass where she longed to soak her sore body, but there wasn’t enough time.
On the bed lay a black dress with silver heels next to a black suit for her husband. Her fingers slipped into her mouth, the dryness of her tongue shielding her words as she looked at him with new appreciation.
“Tonight is ours, but first, we shower and change, and then you can open that box,” he told her.
“Am I showering alone, or do you plan to wash my back, Mr. Neary?”
“The aloneness is over,” he told her, pulling her by the hand to the shower. He started the taps, kissing and undressing her at the same time. While she stood nude before him, he opened the shower door, encouraging her to climb inside. The water pelted her skin, and tiny beads of liquid life clung to her as he sat on the side of the tub, watching, waiting, and observing.
She took the sponge from the shelf, opening the plastic wrapper and wetting the material. It doubled in size as she added a bit of shower gel to it, and starting with her breasts, washed her salty skin. Cabrina’s eyes remained focused on her husband as she cleaned herself, taking time on her arms and long legs. The delicate parts she touched with the sponge, and thinking better of it, turned her back to him while she washed intimately.
The shower door opened, allowing in a moment of a cool air which hardened her nipples. He’d joined her in the shower, turning her quickly to face him, his lips finding hers as he lifted her against the shower wall, moving against her, raising her slightly, then lowering her body as he impaled her in one sudsy, liberating moment. She clung to Gabriel as he breathed hard in her ear, pumping his hips, the water assaulting him in the back. Cabrina cried out his name as she found her release, holding on tightly as he found his, kissing her as if it would be their last night, the only moment they would be able to steal away to be alone.
She’d never seduced a man in her life, but tonight she had. Her eyes wandered to the bed where the lone box from the back of the vehicle awaited. The box. What is in the box?
Curiosity got the better of her, and she washed quickly, climbing out of the shower and wrapping her body in a hotel robe. Waiting patiently on the side of the bed for him, she toyed with the ribbon around the pink box. While they were in the shower, she assumed the bellman had brought up the truffles and bottle of sparkling cider which sat on the bed. She wasn’t interested in that; she wanted what was inside the box.
“Go ahead and open it before you pop,” Gabriel told her, smiling at his blushing bride.
Cabrina was worse than a kid at Christmas as she opened the box and peered inside. Never in her wildest dreams would she have imagined her husband giving her a perfect wedding gift. Shaking fingers ran over the contents, as she grinned at his thoughtfulness.
“I figured it would be easier if you had a mini mobile printer for the images on your phone. This way, you can print the pictures from the day saving storage on your phone and add them to our honeymoon scrapbook,” he told her.
The white scrapbook in her hand was the most basic on the market, but to her, it was simply perfect. She waved her finger at him to join her on the bed and they rested their heads against the board. The bottle of sparkling cider between them, she held up her phone, snapping a selfie of him, minus the glasses and wet hair.
He was a master at the game.
She was going to have to step up hers on their next stop. If Mr. Neary wanted to seduce his wife and make her fall in love with him, it was only fair that she returns the favor. Gabriel Neary wasn’t going to know what hit him.
