39 | Deliriously Happy

**Third Person POV**

***Present***

“So, are we good?” Irene asked hopefully. “I mean, you won’t mess up my recommendation letter to the Ivy League schools, right?”
Unlike the last time, she was much sorted and had control over her nerves. She was not crying anymore, but that does not mean that Irene was not highly strung.
“Depends on what’s in the recording,” Gabriel said casually and collected the device.
“But I did what you asked!” She objected too quickly and a little loudly but quickly corrected herself. “Sorry. You can’t do that…I mean…you gave me your word.”
“I did no such thing, Miss Hutchins,” he said easily. “You did everything on your accord, for your future. And if you ever raise your voice again, I will make sure that your bleak chances of securing an admission in a reputed school are forever wiped off.”
“Please, Father, I…I am sorry. I really am. It was Eva. She did it, not me,” Irene defended herself as if it mattered to him.
It did not. Father Gabriel Sullivan was more of a devil than a priest, and very soon, Eva Porter was going to be acquainted with his bad side as well. Until then, he did not want to let Irene off his leash as well.
He tossed her a nonchalant look and jutted his chin towards the exit. “If you know what’s best for you, show yourself out of my office. For future references, if I find a single slightest misdemeanour from your end, you will be expelled, and your parents will be informed accordingly. And I will personally make sure that your records are reflected for future admission to any institute.”
“I am sorry, please, Father Sullivan. This won’t happen again,” she tried one last time with forlorn hope.
“I will make sure it doesn’t. There’s the door.”

*****

Gabriel left his office for the day and headed straight to the rectory where Sienna laid on her bed and cursed him left, right and centre. She was a restless soul, and being restricted to a room did not bid well for her.
So when the door opened and in walked Gabriel, donned in his quintessential black shirt and slacks, the strip of the white band around his throat, suddenly her dull day brightened up at the forbidden sight of him.
But at first, she frowned.
“Where the hell have you been?” She demanded, pushing his buttons for the sake of it.
“I missed you too.” He winked at her, climbing into the bed by her side. It was as if the distance was killing him.
“You look happy.” She arched up a quizzical brow. “What happened, Gabr—”
The rest of her words were drowned down in a long moan. In an instant, he smashed his lips on hers and his mouth hot against her.
He gathered her body gently into his arms, holding himself tightly to hers but carefully so as not to hurt her. Every muscle, every plane of his met by corresponding curves and softness. His strong arms travelled down her sides and to her waist, a little hesitating in the act. In response, Sienna pressed herself more tightly against him. And all this while, their tongues and lips tangoed and explored, never satisfied. His long, thin fingers slid to her back and down so that they were cupping two rounded globes. He squeezed them tentatively and smiled against her mouth when she moaned.
Gabriel had long forgotten what a kiss was before he had kissed her yesterday, what it meant to have someone taste the hunger and lick the urgency right off his lips.
When the kiss broke, he rested his forehead against hers.
“No one kisses like you,” Sienna exhaled, almost breathless.
His hands framed the sides of her face and imprisoned her gaze. “That’s because they are boys,” he clarified haughtily. “You need to be kissed by a man.”
“Hmm, now where do I find a man, Father?” She teased for good measure, earning a spank and a hard tug at her hair. His dominance was making her head dizzy and her heart flutter. His ultra-masculinity appealed to all her feminine instincts.
“Miss Emerson,” Gabriel firmed his voice and changed his playful tone, “…do you need to be taught a lesson again?”
“I don’t know,” Sienna played along. “…perhaps, a lesson in sin and everything immoral, Father Sullivan? As long as you are the one who’s teaching me.”
His lips quirked up in a boyish smile that Sienna has come to adore in these few days. “You are beautiful,” he breathed in adoration. “I am sure you have heard that many a time.”
“Not in such reverential voice, though. What has gotten to you, Gabriel? You are happy.” She managed to move her unhurt arm and bring it up and then raked her fingers through his short, immaculate hair. The soft hair felt like velvet against her skin. “I like this version of you—happy version.”
“You make me happy, Miss Emerson,” he confessed without any inhibition. Around her, he had completely forgotten his role.
Gabriel missed sex; it was true. But was it unbearable? Perhaps, not until the passion took over his brain after he met Sienna. Sometimes, he wondered how he would be able to keep to his regimen of chastity, whether his hunger might overtake him. His past was littered with examples of raw sex and mindless BDSM activities, throes of conquests of women whose faces were forgotten the next morning.
But Sienna was different. She was both a beautiful dream and a lingering nightmare, and that realisation continued to both frighten and excite him every day of his life.
“No, seriously, tell me what happened?” Sienna demanded, noting his change of mood. “I am going bonkers, lying here and nothing to do.”
As badly as he wanted to share the news with her, he relented. He had not decided what to do with Eva, so he could not risk spilling the secret.
Gabriel sobered up and pretended to think. “You did miss a lot of classes, too,” he murmured.
She glared at him and punched the biceps. “You are changing the topic.”
“No, I am bringing in a new one. Starting tomorrow, we will take care of the problem.”
“We?” A short bark of laughter pushed out of her throat. “There’s no ‘we’ in here. If you want me to study, you are going to have to allow me to go back to classes.”
“I am amazed to know that you think I can be manipulated.”
“Gabriel, please!”
He kissed the tip of her nose and hauled her in for a long evening and probably a longer night, depending on if they were just going to snuggle up or laugh to their heart’s content.

****
**What do you think Gabriel should do with Eva? A punishment or a suspension?**