Chapter Fourteen
Aurora
Gabriel keeps his distance from me for days to the point where I start to miss him. I never thought I would miss him. But I remember seeing his face when I got hurt. The worry there. I know he has the ability to care for others. I know he cares for me.
It was obvious the way he rushed me to the hospital. The way he looked scared if I was hurt when I got hit by the airbag. The possessiveness in him when it comes to me.
I don’t hate Gabriel like I should, especially after learning about his family.
It makes so much sense. His entire family was killed right before his eyes and the man who did it to him gave him the scar on his face.
I understand why he wants Giovanni dead and I don’t blame him.
If someone killed my father, I would want them dead too.
I should want Gabriel dead for even putting my father in his cell in the first place but I just… don’t. Not when I know Gabriel is providing food for my dad. Not when Gabriel didn’t kill him when he easily could have.
There’s a horrible darkness in Gabriel but there’s also hope there. That’s why it hurts even more when he pushes me away like this. I am his wife. We’re bound together forever. We have to try and make this marriage work because if we can’t… I don’t even want to think about my life then.
I don’t want to be miserable forever.
I wake up in the night. My wrist is itching from the stitches. The bandage in place is keeping everything protected. I still can’t believe I was so close to dying. My dad doesn’t even know. It’s probably for the best.
Something makes me get out of bed. Another instinct. Is Gabriel torturing someone in the basement again?
But when I make my way to the hallway that leads to the dungeon, I don’t hear anything. No screaming.
I walk past the windows that lead out to the backyard to see a figure in the darkness. The faint light from the back porch helps illuminate Gabriel as he heads to the hedge maze. What is he doing out there this late at night?
I have to know.
My body propels me outside before I even think about what I am doing. The glow of the moon lights up the air, helping me to see. Gabriel is walking into the maze with determination.
I can’t help but think of the party he threw out here – the orgy. He hasn’t done one since that time. Since he killed George. Since he married me.
What life does Gabriel live? A lonely one, I’ve gathered. He keeps himself at bay from others, even the ones who attended his party. He never joined them in the ‘festivities.’
The summer air is warm even at night but despite that, goosebumps break out on my skin. My footsteps don’t make a sound in the grass.
I enter the maze and catch a glimpse of Gabriel up ahead. Without thinking, I follow him.
He walks with purpose. What is he doing?
I keep following him until he reaches the center of the maze. Where he’s stopped in the center. I stay behind the wall, sneaking a look at him. Gabriel, under the glow of the moon, takes his shirt off. I’ve never seen him shirtless until now. He’s always held that part of him back from me.
His chest is a thing of beauty. Strong and muscular. Dusting of hair down his chest to his stomach. Masculine. It makes my body tingle.
He doesn’t take his pants off though, I notice, but he does kick his shoes off.
I watch as he curls his toes into the grass, as if he were a kid again.
My own bare feet tickle in the grass. My silk nightgown doesn’t offer me any protection, ending at my knees.
The thin straps can easily fall down, as I know since Gabriel has pulled this exact dress down on me many times now.
I observe him. He looks up to the moon, shutting his eyes. A sense of peace overcomes his expression. Why this place? Why this night?
I feel like I shouldn’t be seeing this. Like it’s too intimate.
I take a step back but I’m not quiet enough.
Gabriel’s eyes snap open. “Who’s there?”
I go quiet, hiding behind the wall. If I take off running now, he’ll hear me. It’s all pointless anyway.
Gabriel walks around the wall and spots me instantly. “Aurora?” There’s honest surprise in his voice. “What are you doing here?”
“I woke up. I went walking around. I saw you come out here.”
“So you followed me.” He crosses his arms, making his biceps look bigger.
“Yes.” There’s no point in denying it now.
“Why did you follow me? This is my private time.”
“You always have private time,” I mutter.
He frowns. “What does that mean?”
“It means you keep your distance from me. You saved my life. But before that, you’re the reason I was put into danger in the first place.
And then you tell me about your family. How they were killed right before your very eyes.
And then you want to push me away again.
You confuse me. You can’t blame me for wanting to know you.
For following you out here. You don’t get to treat me like this, Gabriel. It’s not fair.”
“I decide the rules.”
“Who decided that you decide the rules?”
“I do.”
I stand up straighter, facing him down. I’ve always had to be brave when it comes to him. “No. You don’t get to make that decision for both of us. I am my own person. You will treat me a such.”
“This is just for me!” he shouts, pointing at the center of the maze. “It’s just for me.”
I slowly walk towards him until we’re toe-to-toe. “Why is it just for you?”
“I don’t have to explain myself.”
“Yes. You do. To your wife you do. You made me your wife. You now have to treat me as such.”
“Aurora, go back inside,” he growls.
“Or what? You’ll spank me some more? Touch me again? Confuse me? Make me care for you and then leave me alone, making me more upset?”
He blinks. Clearly, no one has ever spoken to him like this before. Good. He needs to hear it. “I am in charge.”
“What will happen if you’re not?”
“You will get hurt!” he shouts. His voice echoes through the maze.
I gasp, taking a step back. “I already got hurt, Gabriel.” I hold my wrist up. “What else can happen to me?”
“A lot. I have seen it. I have to keep my distance from you or you will get hurt.”
“So then why make me your wife in the first place?”
“Because I had to make you mine. I had to keep other men from touching you. It was the only way.”
“So you wanted me and yet… you don’t want me? It doesn’t make sense.”
“It makes perfect sense,” he growls. “Your innocence calls to me. I want to make you mine so fucking badly. But I’ve also seen what it’s like to care about people and lose them all. I will not care for you.”
“Just because you’re worried you’ll lose me? You’ll let yourself be miserable and alone forever just to avoid heartbreak? Gabriel, that’s just… sad.”
“I don’t want your pity.” He clenches his fists, turning away from me. “Go back inside.”
“Why are you doing this? Why come out here? Why get shirtless?”
“You ask so many questions.”
“I wouldn’t have to ask so many questions if you just opened up to me.”
“Fine,” he spits out, looking me in the eye. There’s an intensity there that scares me. “I come out here to find peace. My parents were killed in that house.” He points at the mansion. “They were killed there. I can find no peace in there. So I come out here to find it.”
I blink. “They… they were killed in the house? The house you live in?”
“Yes.”
“But… why stay?”
“I did leave. When I was a kid. I was put into foster care. But then I found Giovanni and he brought me under his wing and I gained power. I made enough money to buy this house back. Even he doesn’t know that.”
“Why buy it? Why do that to yourself?”
“I needed to honor it. No one else could own the house my parents died in.”
I reach out for him and he doesn’t pull away for once. I rest my hand on his chest. “Why hurt yourself like this? Why?”
“I can’t let them go,” he whispers, showing me more vulnerability then he ever has. “I can’t let them go, Aurora.”
“Ok. That’s ok. Thank you for telling me this. I need to know these things, Gabriel. I want to know you.”
“You should want to run far away from me.”
“You’ve made that impossible. I am staying because of you, whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing. I don’t know. But it is what it is. I am here to stay. You can’t push me away forever. I don’t think you want to. You’re angry and alone but you can let it go.”
“You just want that for yourself.”
“Yes,” I answer honestly. “But I also want it for you, Gabriel. No one should live with this kind of pain alone. I can help carry it. I did it for my father. I can do it for you too.”
He sucks in a sharp breath. “How are you so good?”
“I just am. And you can be good too. You can be good to me.”
We both fall silent and stare into each other’s eyes. Our breath comes out harsh and fast.
And before I know it, Gabriel brings his lips to mine. It’s a rough, passionate kiss that steals my breath away. My hands splay out on his chest, trying to steady myself. Never have I been this close to him. It feels like a barrier is falling away between us.
Gabriel grabs my waist and pulls me to the ground, right in the center of the maze, under the soft glow of the moon.
Our kiss deepens and heats up. I don’t think I ever want to stop kissing him from how good it feels.
With a growl, he shoves my nightgown around my waist and parts my legs. I let him because I love this. There’s no denying it.
I gasp when he cups my pussy, rubbing his palm over my nub. My hips buck into his hand.
“You need this, baby?” he whispers into my ear. “I need to touch you. All of you.” The desperation in his voice only turns me on more. I love when he’s vulnerable with me. Real with me.
“I need you too,” I cry out, not caring that I sound just as desperate as him.
“Then let me fuck you. Claim you. It’s time.” He rubs me harder and I part my legs more. I grind my hips into his hand.
“Gabriel,” I gasp.
“Tell me. Tell me to fuck you. Tell me.”
“I can’t say it.” My face is on fire.
“Yes you can, baby. Tell me to fuck you. I know you want it.”
“I do.”
“So tell me.”