Page 24 of Cruel Master

Nobody comes over to help the man. Nobody even stops what they're doing to look. I guess they know better. Gabriel's not even paying the writhing man on the floor any attention.

Instead, his sole focus is on me. He grabs my chin and yanks my face up to him so that I'm looking up into his icy blue eyes.

“How dare you give another man what you've never given me?” His voice is deceptively calm but so cold. “I own you,” he reminds me with a hiss, his eyes blistering down at me.

My mouth falls open as comprehension dawns on me. He's mad I smiled at the other guy.

Guilt immediately assaults me. Oh my god. It's my fault the poor guy was shot. I smiled at him, and Gabriel is jealous because I've never smiled at him, yet I smiled at another man.

How stupid can I be? With all of Gabriel's comments about how he owns me, I should have known better than to even look at another man.

I glance at the man writhing on the floor alone with no one to help him. “You shot an innocent man,” I hear myself voice my thought without thinking. I can't keep the horror from my voice.

Gabriel's voice cracks like a whip over me. “He's not innocent, and he should have never looked at what's mine.”

Gabriel's hot breath fans my ear as he leans in close to me and warns, “Smile at him again, and I’ll blow his other leg off.”

His voice is calm and cool like he didn't just shoot someone for an insane reason.

We stare at one another for another beat. I'm sure he can see the thoughts swirling in my eyes. Let him see I think he's insane.

I'm insane for allowing myself to lay my head on his shoulder. Who does something like this? Who shoots someone just because I smile at them?

Gabriel’s mouth presses into a straight line before he releases my chin roughly and then stands. He straightens and pulls on the lapels of his suit jacket before he holds out a hand and yanks me up.

He wraps a possessive arm around me and doesn't speak a word to anyone else as he guides me toward the door.

I still feel the rage simmering off of him. Every muscle in his body is tense.

I want to resist. I want to scream for someone to help me, but one look at all the unconcerned faces in the room and I know I won't find any help here. Hell, they didn't help a man or react at all when Gabriel shot him in the leg.

And I can't help but wonder if he was willing to shoot a man for smiling at me, what's my punishment going to be for smiling at him?

ChapterSixteen

The rideback to Gabriel's mansion is quiet and filled with a dangerous energy. Gabriel is as tense as a tiger like he's going to pounce on me at any minute. He studiously doesn't touch me, but I can feel his heat emanating off his body burning me. That's how close he sits to me without touching me.

When I peek a glance over at him, he's staring straight ahead, his nostrils flared, his lips set in a thin line. His hands are balled into fists, and I swallow. He looks so dangerous and while I'm frightened and my heart is pounding a mile a minute, I feel wetness between my thighs.

What the hell is wrong with me? Surely this is just a natural response to fear, right? I cannot be turned on by this psychopath.

When the limo finally comes to a stop, Gabriel doesn't even wait for the driver to open the door for us. Instead, he flings it open himself and pulls me from the car. He heads for the door with me in tow.

My short strides are no match for his long ones, though, so I'm practically sprinting to keep up with him.

I stumble, but before I go crashing down, Gabriel swiftly scoops me up into his arms and carries me the rest of the way into the house.

My arms instinctively wrap around his neck for lack of anywhere else to go. Though I'd rather be anywhere but in his arms right now, the scent of his expensive cologne wraps around me intoxicatingly, and I hate that I like the way he smells.

I have to fight against the urge to inhale him deeper.

And that's the thing about Gabriel. He's like a fucking vampire or something. I know he's dangerous, and I don't want to like him, but everything about him calls to me. My body reacts to him on some primal level that pisses me the hell off.

Only when he bursts into my room does he set me on my feet and then grab me roughly by the back of the neck. His face hovers directly in front of mine, his eyes blazing into mine with their blue intensity. His voice is rough as he rasps out, “Say it.”

I press my lips together firmly and shake my head, already know what he's wanting me to say, but I'll be damned if I say it, especially after what he just did.

“Dammit, Nora,” he curses, his hand tightening on the nape of my neck to the point of pain.

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