49. Gabriel
Morning light filters through the blinds in thin, neon-tinged strips, painting soft gold and pink across the sheets. I wake before she does. The city never truly sleeps, and neither do I. But for once, the usual edge in my blood is quieter. Muted. Because she's here. Where she belongs.
Audra lies curled on her side, facing me, copper hair spilled wild across the pillow like a flame frozen mid-burn.
Her lips are still slightly swollen from last night.
A faint bruise blooms on the side of her neck where I sucked too hard, marking her like the possessive bastard I am.
Good. Let it stay. Let every inch of her remember who she belongs to now.
I shift closer, careful not to wake her yet.
My hand ghosts over the curve of her hip; her bare skin feels warm under my palm.
Fuck, she's soft. So goddamn soft everywhere, where I'm hard edges and violence.
Last night I took her rough. Needed it. Needed to fuck the days of her running out on both of us.
Needed to feel her come apart screaming my name.
She hadn't minded. Not even close. She'd begged for more, clawed at me, sobbed yours like a prayer while I buried myself so deep, I didn't know where I ended and she began. But this morning… this morning I want different.
I lean in and press my lips to her shoulder, slow, open-mouthed.
Just a brush. Then another, trailing up the line of her neck where her pulse flutters under thin skin.
She stirs, a tiny sound escapes her, half sigh, half moan.
My cock twitches against her thigh, already hard, but I ignore it. For now.
"Audra," I murmur against her skin, my voice is low and rough from sleep and everything we did. My hand slides up her ribs, thumb stroking the underside of her breast. "Wake up for me, baby."
She makes another soft noise, her eyelids flutter. When those green-gold eyes finally open and focus on me, something tight in my chest eases. Recognition. Heat. A flicker of that same pull that hit me the first night in the station hallway.
"Gabe…" Her voice is husky, still heavy with sleep. She shifts, and the sheet slips lower, baring one perfect breast. I can't resist. I lower my head and kiss the soft swell, then drag my tongue over her nipple until it tightens under my mouth.
She arches with a gasp, and one hand slides into my hair. Not pulling hard like last night. Gentle. Almost tentative. I like both versions of her. The wild one who took my cock like she was born for it, and this one, soft, open, letting me worship her like the queen she is.
"I was too rough with you," I confess quietly, while my lips brush her skin as I move to her other breast. I suck gently this time, slow circles with my tongue until she whimpers.
"I needed it. Needed to feel you fall apart for me after you ran." I lift my head, meeting her eyes. "But you took it so fucking well, Audra. My perfect girl."
Her cheeks flush darker. She bites her lip, and fuck if that doesn't make me want to ruin her all over again.
Instead, I roll us slowly, settling between her thighs without putting my full weight on her.
My cock rests hot and heavy against her folds, already slick from how wet she's getting just from this.
This time, I don't thrust in hard. I rock against her, letting the head nudge her clit with every slow glide. Teasing. Building. Her breath hitches, her hips lift to chase the friction.
"Easy," I whisper, kissing the corner of her mouth, then her jaw, then the sensitive spot beneath her ear. "Let me take care of you this morning. Let me show you how good it can feel when I'm not trying to fuck the fear out of both of us."
I reach down, wrap my hand around my cock, and guide the tip to her entrance.
She's soaked. Ready. I push in inch by slow inch, watching her face the entire time.
Her lips part on a soft moan; her eyes flutter half-closed as I stretch her open.
When I'm buried to the hilt, I stay there, forehead pressed to hers, breathing her in.
"Feel that?" I murmur, rolling my hips in a lazy circle, grinding deep without pulling out. "That's where I belong. Right here. Inside you. Every morning, if you'll let me."
She wraps her legs around my waist, ankles locking at the small of my back.
Her hands slide up my arms, over my shoulders, her fingertips tracing the scars and muscle like she's memorizing me, too.
I start to move, long, deep strokes that drag against every sensitive spot inside her.
No slamming. No bruising grip. Just steady, relentless pleasure that builds, slow and thick.
I kiss her through it. Soft at first, then deeper, tongues sliding lazy and wet. Every thrust matches the rhythm of the kiss until she's gasping into my mouth, nails digging lightly into my back.
"Gabe…" she breathes my name, and it sounds like heaven.
I slide one hand under her ass, tilting her hips so I hit that spot inside her on every stroke. My other hand cups her face, brushing her cheekbone with my thumb. "Look at me, baby."
Her eyes open, hazy with pleasure, and gold catches the morning light. Beautiful. Mine.
"I love you," I confess. No games. No hiding it behind dirty talk or possession, though both are still there underneath.
"I've loved you since that fucking hallway.
Since you smirked at a cage full of animals, like you belonged in the fire instead of running from it.
I stalked you because I couldn't stay away.
Sent you gifts because I needed to take care of you even when I couldn't touch you.
And last night… fuck, Audra. Having you back in my bed, under me, taking everything I gave you?
I'm never letting you go again. Not for grief. Not for guilt. Not for anything."
Her breath catches; her eyes shine with unshed tears. Not fear. Something deeper. She tightens around me, her inner walls flutter as the pleasure coils tighter.
"I love you," I repeat, thrusting a little deeper, a little slower, grinding against her clit on every downstroke. "Say you feel it too. Say you're mine, not because I took you, but because you chose to come back."
She sobs a soft moan, hips rolling up to meet me. "I feel it… God, Gabe, I don't know what I feel. But I need you. I'm yours."
That's all I need.
I keep the pace steady, fucking her with long, rolling strokes while I kiss her like I'm trying to pour every dark, obsessive part of me into her.
When she comes, it's quiet and devastating.
Her back arches, she lets out a broken cry against my mouth, and her walls clamp down around me in rhythmic pulses that drag me right over the edge with her.
I bury myself deep and spill inside her, groaning her name like a vow. Hot pulses that mark her from the inside, claiming her in the only way that feels permanent enough.
We stay locked together afterward, breathing hard, sweat cooling on our skin. I don't pull out. I never want to. I roll us to the side, keeping her leg hooked over my hip so I stay buried inside her warmth.
My hand strokes slow circles over her back.
"No running today," I murmur against her hair. "No hiding. We figure the rest out together. Your mom. The questions. The shit with Pete. All of it. But you stay right here. With me."
She nods against my chest, pressing a soft kiss over my heart. Her voice is quiet, still a little shaky. "Okay."
It's not everything. Not yet. But it's enough for this morning. I close my eyes, holding her tighter, and let the rare peace settle over both of us. She's mine now. Body. Heart. Soul. I'll burn the whole fucking city down before I let anyone take her from me again.
We stay tangled like that for a long time, my cock still half-hard and buried inside her, her leg hooked over my hip, our breathing slowly syncing.
The city noise is a distant hum far below the penthouse.
For once, the violence and calculations that usually fill my head are quiet.
All I feel is her, warm and soft, breathing against my chest. She was made for this.
To fit right here. For me. My fingers trace lazy patterns up and down her spine.
She makes a small, contented sound and nuzzles closer, her nose brushing my collarbone.
Fuck, I could get used to this. Dangerous thought for a man like me, but I don't push it away.
"So, what's new with you?" she asks, stroking my chest, something else I could easily get used to. "I feel like all we've done is talk about me and my fucked up life with my dead husband. What about you, Gabe?"
She takes my hand and kisses the bruises on my knuckles. "These are new."
I chuckle and slowly pull out of her. "Well, I've tried to keep busy so I didn't have to think about you every second of the day."
"Gabe, if you want to have a relationship with me, we need to be able to talk to each other. I need to know what's going on in your life as much as you want to know what's going on in mine."
Fuck. Nobody has wanted to hear what I have to say or fucking feel for years. Not since Catarina died.
"You'll have to be patient with me. I haven't… shared—" Fuck, I hate that word so much, I stumble over it. One of Catarina's favorites. "—since my sister died."
"Your sister?" Her brow furrows. "Gabe, I didn't even know you had a sister."
Catarina. I exhale through my nose, and the familiar ache blooms sharp and immediate in my chest. It's worse today—stronger—because of what Damiano and I discovered a few days ago.
The kid. My nephew. The DNA results have landed, proving he's Damiano and Catarina's son.
I knew it in my gut the second I understood the significance of that god damn ring around the boy's neck.
"My sister," I say quietly. No more hesitation. No lies. I'm never going to hide anything from her again. Not if I want this—us—to be real. "Catarina was killed. Three years ago."
The words come out flat, but she can see the pain on my face.
I'm not hiding it. The raw edge that never quite dulls.
The way my jaw tightens, and my eyes go distant for a second, remembering the morgue, the water damage, the fish marks, the video that showed up weeks ago with her screams still echoing in my skull.
Audra's expression turns to sorrow for me. "Oh… I'm sorry."
I nod once, pulling her a little closer even though part of me wants to get up and pace, burn off the sudden pressure in my chest. Instead, I stay wrapped around her, skin to skin, my cock still nestled inside her warmth like an anchor.
"She was my twin," I continue, holding nothing back.
"Same eyes, same stubborn streak. She was the only person in this world who could make me laugh when I wanted to burn everything down.
And then one day she was gone. We tore the city apart looking for her.
We found her eventually. What was left of her. "
I swallow hard. The ache is sharper now, tangled up with the revelation of her son. Catarina had been in love with Damiano. Had his kid. Worse, she kept it all from me. The kid, I still can't bring myself to say his name out loud.
Audra's hand comes up, hesitant, and rests against my cheek.
Her thumb brushes the edge of my jaw. "I didn't know.
I'm so sorry." She wiggles free of my arms, sliding away from me with a soft gasp as my cock slips out of her.
The sudden loss of her heat hits me harder than it should.
A sharp, hollow ache blooms in my chest, loneliness, raw and unfamiliar.
I've spent years sleeping alone, waking alone, ruling alone.
One night with her wrapped around me, and already the bed feels wrong without that.
Audra sits up, pulling the sheet over her breasts like a shield. Her copper hair is a wild mess around her shoulders, and her cheeks are still flushed from sex and confessions. But her eyes are serious now.
"Anyway," I shake it off. "A couple of days ago, Damiano and I found a kid, a three-year-old boy who turns out to be my nephew. Damiano and Catarina's son."
"Oh my God," her eyes are wide as saucers. She looks absolutely adorable. Maybe there is something to that sharing. "And you didn't say anything?"
I shrug. "You had your own demons."
She pokes a finger into my chest, her eyes are blazing, and even though I just pulled out of her a few seconds ago, I'm already stiff again at the sight of her.
"I don't care what either of us has going on in their lives. We. Share." With each word, she stabs me harder in the chest, making me grin.
Because, whether she realizes it or not, she just planned our future together. I'm about to pull her into my arms when my phone rings. Brick.
"This better be good."
"Oh, it's good." I can hear the satisfied smirk in his voice. "We've got Salazar. Fucker walked right into the casino, demanding to talk to you."
I stare at the phone, not feeling any of the satisfaction Brick is projecting. This doesn't add up, not one bit. "Why the hell would the fucker walk in here?"
"Beats me, but I have him in the basement, ready for you."
I look at Audra, I promised her… no, I'll tell her about it once I know what the fucker wants. She can be there when he dies. That will have to be enough.
"I have to go," I tell her, then to Brick, "Get your ass up here and guard the women. Get extra guards, too." Something smells foul. I don't like this. Not one bit.
Audra jumps out of the bed and grabs my hand. She rises to her tiptoes and kisses me. "Be careful."
"Always am," I reply. I won't lie, her concern for me is… heartwarming. Fuck. First whimsical, now heartwarming? Next, I'm going to start watching Hallmark movies.
"I love you," I tell her again.
"I know."
I know she's not ready to say it back, but being worried about me is a good first step. "I'll be back soon. Stay out of trouble."