Page 34 of Cruel Master

Gabriel leaps from the bed, and I scramble to sit up.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” a man's voice says.

I gasp and pull the sheets up closer to me, though I'm still dressed. Gabriel never took all of my clothes off before he forced orgasm after orgasm out of me, and Gabriel still has his clothes on too, which is a good thing I suppose in light of the current circumstances.

I gasp again when I recognize the man towering in the doorway.

It’s the man from the club—the one whom Gabriel shot in the leg.

He's ranting and waving a gun around.

Gabriel doesn’t speak. He keeps his eyes trained on the man’s gun, his jaw tight.

I watch as Gabriel hedges his body closer to me, but the man sees him and lifts his gun in response, pointing it straight at me.

He sneers as his eyes sweep over me, “And there's the little whore that got my leg blown off.” My eyes flick down to the man's still-wrapped leg. Oh god, he blames me for what happened to him, and he's right. It is my fault. If he'd never smiled at me—if I'd never smiled back at him—Gabriel would have never shot him.

I close my eyes. This is it. I can't believe this is how I'm going to die. After everything I've gone through with Gabriel, it's going to be this guy who kills me.

I wince when I hear a gunshot go off, but I never feel a bullet.

My eyes snap open when I hear Gabriel groan and see him pinning the other guy to the ground. I hear another gunshot, and the guy stops moving. Relief fills me as Gabriel kills him, but then I panic when Gabriel falls on his ass and slumps against the wall, clutching his shoulder.

“Gabriel!” I scream his name and jump up out of the bed to rush over to him.

Somewhere in the back of my mind it dawns on me that this is my chance to run. Gabriel is injured. There's no way he can chase after me right now. He could very well die, and then I would be free.

I glance at the door, and then I look back at Gabriel and see the resignation in his eyes.

My heart cracks.

He fully expects me to run.

I swallow thickly when I realize I can't do it. Gabriel threw himself in front of me to protect me. He was willing to sacrifice his life for mine.

I bite my lip as I realize I have to follow my heart—no matter how stupid it may be.

I pull the sheet off the bed and press it firmly against where he's bleeding. Gabriel stares at me with those icy blue eyes of his. “Nora,” he whispers, his voice shaking for the first time. “What are you doing?”

“I'm helping you,” I tell him.

He shakes his head. “Why aren't you running? Now's your chance. I can't stop you.”

I look him directly in the eyes as I finally admit, “Because despite everything…I love you.”

Tears pool in his eyes before he swallows several times. It’s humbling seeing a man as powerful as Gabriel struggling to contain himself.

His voice comes out gravelly when he finally speaks. “You're not being very smart right now, kitten,” he warns me. “Once I get you back home, you're never going to get this chance again.”

I swallow thickly before I say softly, “I know that, and I'm not excusing what you've done. I know it's fucked up, but I love you, Gabriel, and I'm sorry I fought it and ran from you.”

Gabriel’s blue eyes blaze hotter than ever. He growls and grabs the back of my neck. He pulls me to him and presses his lips firmly against mine, devouring my mouth with possessive, ravishing licks that leave me trembling.

“I know I'm fucked up, kitten, and I went about it all wrong, but I swear by everything in this world I love you, Nora—as much as a man like me is capable of love.”

My heart swells with joy at his words as I feel them settle in my chest.

“I would never stop chasing you anyway. You know that right? You’re stuck with me forever.”

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