Page 54 of Blood & Kisses

“No,” I snap angrily, refusing to make eye contact. “I’ll leave as soon as I return to your place.”

“Your choice,” he answers indifferently as he walks away, slashing my heart into a million pieces.

***

The atmosphere at the restaurant changed after Gabe left. I wasn’t in the mood for lighthearted conversations and wanted Blake to take me back to Gabe’s, so I could load my car up and go.

Was it the houseplants? No, of course not. It was him seeing me being fucked by his son and Blake over the kitchen table. Or was it because I snuck into his bedroom and fell asleep in his bed that tipped the scales for him?

Who cares? The sooner I’m out of his life, the better.

I sigh in relief to find his car not up the drive, so I kiss Blake goodbye and run inside Gabe’s lakeside house. I don’t stop running until I reach my room. My bag is on my bed, and my clean and dirty clothes are neatly folded inside. I wipe the tears from my cheeks.

I check the drawers and the bathroom to ensure I have everything because I won’t return. For the last time ever, I gaze down the hall at his door and find it open a crack. The desire to plot revenge comes over me, but by the time I push his door open, that desire has evaporated, replaced with gratefulness.

He took me into his home, fed me, and arranged to have my apartment cleaned up after the break-in. Let’s not forget that he also arranged to complete my list with extras, such as planted evidence that leads back to Blackadder.

His room smells of his cologne, and the view of the lake outside his window is beautiful and enticing. I run my hand along his perfectly made navy bed cover, and the scent of new linen rises with each stroke.

“How about one for the road,” I sigh. “It’s not like we’re going see each other again, apart from my relationship with Cormac, so is that going to end too?”

Slipping off my sneakers, I pull back his sheets and crawl inside, bundling myself in his scent. I’ll stay here for a few minutes, nestling into his comfortable mattress.

27

“I see you’re a sucker for punishment,” a smooth voice radiates into the air, and my eyes snap open. It takes me a few seconds to catch my bearings and see where I am. Fuck. I’m still in Gabe’s bedroom, and he is standing at the end of the bed, unfastening his belt. I’ve made him angry because his gaze is penetratingly sinister and frightening.

“I’m so sorry,” my voice trembles as he pulls his belt out from the loops of his trousers and steps to my side.

“Stay where you are,” he snarls without warmth or compassion, which is how he usually looks at me.

“I’ve fucked up. I’m sorry,” I sit up, and he shakes his head, signaling me to lie back down.

“You wanted this,” his deep voice trembles down my spine. “I told you to leave, but you disobeyed me, so I’m giving you what you want.”

He seizes my wrists, raises them above my head, and uses his belt to fasten my wrists to the headboard. Then he turns his back and walks toward the door, making me panicky.

“Are you leaving me here?” I whimper like a sook who shouldn’t have snuck into his room in the first place, and now he’s mad.

He doesn’t answer but instead leaves me lying there under his sheets as he vanishes down the hallway.

“I’m sorry,” I scream after him, knowing who he is and what he’s capable of. In a way, he is so much more dangerous than Cormac and Blake because he can manipulate place data to make this murder look like a suicide. If he’s about to kill me, then I refuse to die.

I start wrestling with the belt, but somehow, I twist the belt even tighter around my wrists, creating a knot that’s harder to break free from that digs into my skin. I’m tempted to scream for help, but I doubt anyone would hear.

With my heart slamming against my ribcage, Gabe walks back into the room carrying a knife, and I sob uncontrollably, begging for him not to hurt me.

“Hurt you?” he says smoothly as he grabs the covers and pulls them off my body, leaving me vulnerable.

“I’m so sorry, and I promise if you let me go, you’ll never see me again,” I beg as tears stream down my cheeks and my entire body trembles in fear.

He moves to my feet as I raise them into the air to kick him hard if he dares hurt me.

“This is what you want, Rae,” he says, running those eyes all over my body as he unbuttoned his white shirt.

“What do I want?” I need him to clarify this because I’ve never said that I wanted to be bound and slashed with a knife. It’s not until he takes his shirt off that my fear becomes charged with hot desire.

His smooth arms bulge with muscles and black tattoos, and his chest has a light covering of silver hair. Once the shirt is off and draped over the bed, his hands drop to the button of his pants, and a sigh is drawn from my lips.

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