How Gabriel Noticed

Drawing closer

Consciously aware of his hand on her 'derriere', Nathalie lied awake for at least an hour, then her fatigue became stronger than her uneasiness and she slowly drifted into a dreamless sleep. It was already past midnight and when she woke up for the next time, noticing it was still dark outside and gazed at the time on the screensaver of her phone, showing only 1.30 AM, she started to wonder, why she had woken up despite being so very sleepy.

Then she felt it again and remembered. Gabriel, obviously still halfway asleep, had not only somehow moved his hand from her bottom under her shirt and was gently drawing endless patterns on her bare back, he as well had begun to feather light kisses on her neck and shoulder, making a shiver run down her spine every time his lips touched another sensitive spot.

"Gabriel?", she asked, getting only a grunting noise as a response. "G-Gabriel?", little louder, but just when he had started to caress her delicate skin in the crook of her neck, and that had made her stutter.

She could feel something moving at her middle and became aware, that it was his other hand, trying to untie her belt, to open the pyjama shirt on the front.

"Gabriel!", she now wanted to say out loudly, but her voice failed her and instead she squeaked it in a high pitched tone, which only seemed to edge him on and increase his efforts, because he now sucked on the side of her neck and Nathalie was very certain, he would leave a mark by doing that. She couldn't deny though, that she liked, what was happening, but as he was somehow still asleep, it felt weird, not even being able to tell, whether he knew who she was or if he was, most likely, dreaming about Emilie.

Pulling herself together and clearing her throat, she tried again:

"GABRIEL!"

That one came out the way she intended it to and he opened his eyes and gave her a bewildered look.

"Nathalie? Is there anything wrong?", he questioned with confusion. Then he noticed the position of his hands and his head and lifted up his head to look into two beautiful eyes, wide open in, it wasn't shock or fear, rather surprise. Her cheeks were reddened and she seemed to have trouble to breathe evenly.

"I'm sorry!", he whispered turning even more red than her. "I didn't mean to do something you didn't want me to do. I...."

Gabriel inhaled deeply, then began to retract his hands, when hers stopped him in his movement once more.

She was a mess right now, as she tried to figure out, how she could explain to him, that it wasn't 'what' he was doing, but that she didn't know, to 'whom' he thought he was doing this.

The designer gave her an encouraging smile as he waited for her to speak. He could tell, that something was bothering her, even though she wouldn't let go of him.

"I....", she croaked, then cleared her throat again, "it's, well, I.....you were.....not awake......and not sleeping either.....and you...uhm....", she subconsciously moved her left hand to the place he had sucked on last, "you did......do things.....you usually would do to someone else.....like not me and...... it felt wrong, knowing you were thinking about Em.....someone other than well, me!"

There, she had managed to get it out. Awkwardly but she had said it. And she could even hold his gaze, even after saying 'that'!

Gabriel frowned and narrowed his eyes. Then he suddenly understood. She had thought, he was having some kind of dream about his wife and she was just the object he had coincidentally grasped as he tried to make his dream come true. Well, partly she was right, he had been dreaming and not very innocently, to be honest, but not about Emilie. His 'object' of desire was exactly the one he was holding and he now started to smile at her lovingly and pulled her closer.