Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Aurora
Iam haunted all night by the memory of Gabriel killing George and also kissing me between my legs. It was just a little touch, nothing more, and yet it has driven me wild.
How can a man kill another person and then touch me like he did?
Gabriel doesn’t make any sense to me but I can’t deny that my body responds to him. Why do I have to be attracted to the man who kidnapped my father? Shame wracks through me.
I can’t let Gabriel get control of me like he did last night. The only way to control him is if I have information and to get information, I need to go into his room. I know he’s keeping something in there. But what, I have no idea.
I wait until the middle of the day when I know Gabriel won’t be around. He usually leaves for work or remains in his home office. This is my chance.
I tiptoe to where his room is. The grand door stares back at me with the lion’s head knocker glares at me like it’s trying to tell me I am doing something wrong.
I guess in a way I am. Gabriel told me I was not allowed to go in here and yet I’m disobeying him.
But I am a grown woman. Gabriel doesn’t get to control me like I’m a child.
With a deep breath, I pull on the lion’s head and open the door.
It’s heavy so it takes a lot of my strength but I manage.
The first thing I notice is how chilly the room is like it’s devoid of any kind of life.
The second thing I notice is how dark it is.
It’s light out now so there should be light coming into the room but the blackout curtains keep everything sealed in tight.
I walk carefully into the room and pull back one of the curtains, letting light in.
Now, I can finally see. The bed is large – four poster.
Black sheets. The rug is ornate and helps muffle my steps.
A fireplace dominates one of the walls. It looks like it hasn’t been used in years.
There’s no sense of anyone living in this room. No pictures. No knickknacks. Nothing.
A drawer beside the bed catches my attention. I open the top drawer to reveal a picture. It’s not in a frame. It’s a printed out photo like people used to take all the time before cell phones became common.
Picking it up, I see that a young woman, a slightly older man, and a young boy sit on a park bench, smiling together. The woman has a baby bump.
Is this Gabriel’s family? I study the young boy more closely. It does look a lot like him just without a scar. So Gabriel wasn’t born with it. He somehow got it later.
This picture doesn’t answer the question to how he got the scar but it does answer other questions I’ve had. Gabriel is hiding this photo away just like how he puts curtains over the mirrors. He doesn’t want to look at this photo.
But why exactly?
“What are you doing in here?” Gabriel’s deep voice startles me. With a gasp, I spin around, still holding onto the photo. His eyes flick right to it and a deep, intense anger crosses his face. “Let that go. Let that go!”
I immediately drop the photo from my hand. Gabriel storms over and picks it up, setting it gently back into the drawer.
“Is that your family?”
He gives me a cold, hard look I can feel all the way into my bones. “I told you to never come in here.”
“I know. But –,”
“There are no buts, Aurora. I told you and you didn’t listen.” He grabs me around the waist and throws me onto the bed.
“What are you doing?” I ask as a spike of fear flits through my heart.
Gabriel flips me onto my stomach and lifts up my dress, spanking me hard on my backside. I can’t stop myself from screaming. With a growl, he grabs my underwear and pulls it down, spanking me skin to skin. It hurts even more this way.
“Please,” I beg. “Please.”
“I told you to never come in here. You weren’t supposed to see that.”
“But why?” I sob. “Please, just tell me. Stop pushing me away.”
“Why?” His hand stills, giving me some relief. “So you can use that photo against me? I am in control. Not you.”
“Who are they? Please, just tell me. Open up to me. It’s not to control you.”
“I don’t believe you, baby. You’re a good girl but right now, you’re very, very bad.” He spanks me again, even harder this time. I doubt I’ll be able to sit down for a week after this.
“Please. Just stop. I’m sorry. I’m sorry!”
He pulls his hand away. “No one is allowed in here.”
“I’m your wife. Am I not allowed to know you?”
He’s quiet. With my face against the mattress, I don’t know what he looks like to know what he’s thinking.
“Why did you come in here?” he asks.
“Because I want to know more about you. You don’t give me anything. You only confuse me more. I just want to know the man I married to. You’re never going to let me go. I wanted to know the man I am bound to forever.”
“You’re not trying to use it against me?”
I frown. “How would I use it against you? I don’t even know who those people are.” I pause, waiting for an answer and when it doesn’t come, I speak again. “Are they your family? Is that you as a little boy in that photo?”
“Yes,” he says in a gruff voice.
“Where are they? You’ve never mentioned your family before.”
“You don’t get to know everything, Aurora.” He settles his hand onto my sore backside. “You’re my wife, yes. But you’re still my plaything. You are nothing to me.”
I suck in a sharp breath as the sting of his words hit me. “If I am nothing to you, then why did you kill George last night? I thought it was to protect me.”
His scoff is hard. “It wasn’t to protect you. I am a possessive man. I just didn’t want what belongs to me to be touched by another man.”
Tears slip out of my eyes.
“Why are you crying?” he asks in a tone I can’t decipher.
“Because you are so cold.”
Gabriel doesn’t respond for a long moment. The only sound in the room is my soft sniffles.
“Your pretty little ass is all red,” he murmurs, running his hand along my backside. “I spanked you good. I’m sure it hurt.”
“Of course it hurt,” I snap.
“So if it hurt, why are you wet?” He slips his fingers lower, brushing my folds.
My hips jerk up and a gasp escapes me. I didn’t even realize my body responded to his touch and yet, here it is.
Arousal flits through my lower body. I bury my head into the mattress to forget the shame working its way through me.
“You can try to deny it,” he says, sliding his fingers along my folds.
When he brushes against my nub, my hips grind down into his hand.
The laugh that leaves him is a little sadistic.
“But you like it when I touch you, don’t you, baby?
” He rubs his finger along my clit, flicking it and bringing my body to fire.
“What are you doing to me?” I whisper.
He cups my entire pussy, running his hand along it. In this position, his hand brushes against my sore lower backside. “You like this, don’t you? Tell me. Be my good girl and tell me.”
A whimper leaves my lips. My hips have a mind of their own as I buck into his hand. It feels too good to ignore. I know I shouldn’t let Gabriel touch me like this. Not if I want to keep my own sense of self around him. I also suspect he’s trying to distract me from what I saw in his drawer.
But right now, all I feel is the pleasure of his hand between my legs. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before.
“Tell me you like this,” he demands in a soft tone.
“I can’t,” I whisper, yet my hips still move against his hand. I grip the blanket beneath me, burying my head into it. If I can just forget who Gabriel is, then maybe I don’t have to feel bad about the pleasure he’s showing my body.
“You can. You can.” He presses against my clit. The surge of pleasure that spikes through me is intense. I never want it to end. “I know no man has ever touched you like this. I will be your first. In everything.” His hand stills. “Have you had your first kiss?”
“No,” I admit. “I haven’t… done anything.”
He flips me onto my back and spreads my legs wide. An intense heat hits me. Gabriel looks both menacing and sexy in his black button down shirt rolled to his elbows, showing his strong forearms. Wooziness flows through my head.
He hovers over me, his lips so close to mine. “I haven’t taken your lips yet. I will take all of you one day. You’ll be begging me.”
“What are you doing to me?”
“You are mine, Aurora. That’s what I am doing to you.
I am marking you as mine.” He captures my lips with his.
At first, it’s just a brush, making me gasp.
Gabriel smells of sandalwood and other musky scents.
I could sink into his smell but I know it’s dangerous.
How can I let this man have this kind of control over me?
Gabriel deepens the kiss, consuming the first part of me.
He guides me expertly. I find myself responding and kissing him back.
It feels too good and right now, I don’t want to be scared.
I want to feel special. I want Gabriel to open up to me.
Show me kindness. I saved my father’s life to live this life with Gabriel.
He knows how to kiss me. Both soft and rough. Fast and slow. My lips feel like they’re on fire.
Gabriel lets out a low growl and pulls back from me. The fire and darkness in his eyes is terrifying but also thrilling.
In one fast motion, he grabs the straps of my dress and pulls it down, exposing my bare breasts. I gasp, holding still.
Gabriel cups my breasts in his large, strong hands. “You are mine, Aurora. Which means if I tell you to not come into my bedroom, I mean it. Leave things alone that you don’t understand.” He bends down and captures one of my nipples in his mouth.
“Oh,” I gasp. His hand cups my pussy again, rubbing me harder. I can feel the pleasure building through me. I can’t make it stop and I’m not sure I want to.