Bound to the Fallen (Prophecy #2) (54 page)

Gavin

I was a damn coward. An immortal creature with powers unmatched by any other creation, a creature that not even death could touch, and a mortal woman was my weakness. I was certain if there was ever something that could bring death to an angel, it must be contained within a woman.

I stood there fully prepared to tell her everything and I couldn’t make myself follow through with it. I felt as though I was deteriorating, falling to pieces. The moment I saw a way around it, I took it, allowing her to believe that a taboo sexual preference was all I’d been hiding from her. I had no control anymore. Every emotion was erupting inside of me like a volcanic explosion; regret, fear, hate, sadness, all from the need to keep her love — and then the anger which had swelled within me with such vengeance it swallowed every other feeling whole.

I
laid perfectly still in my bed, my hands folded over my chest as I stared up at the ceiling.

“Gavin?” Brooke turned her head toward me. “You asleep?”

I laid there silently for a moment. “No,” I growled. The anger I was feeling toward myself made me lash out at her.

She fell completely silent and I heard her head slide across the sheets as she turned her face back to the other side of the bed.

We lay in the pitch black silence for several minutes before she spoke again. “I want that with you,” she whispered. “I’ll do whatever you want. Let me have that piece of you too, Gavin, please.”

Her pleas
did nothing but fan the flame of anger that was seething inside my chest. Closing my eyes, I inhaled to keep from yelling at her. She’d no idea the thoughts that were haunting my mind.

“This is not up for discussion. Let it go!” I said.

The sheets pulled off of me as she crawled next to me, positioning her body against mine. Reaching over, she delicately stroked my arm. “But —”

Her plea
was interrupted as I reached over my chest, firmly grabbing her arm and pushing it off of me. “I said it’s not up for discussion, do you understand me? Go to sleep, Brooke,” my deep voice boomed from the ceilings.

She quickly rolled back over and faced the opposite direction. I heard her sniff and knew she was crying from my harsh reaction.

I knew she couldn’t handle this.

My initial reaction was to console her, apologize for my tone, promise I’d never push her touch away from me again; but I denied that
response and chose to lie there silently, ignoring the fact that I’d hurt her feelings. It was more difficult than I’d expected to lay there listening to her cry, feeling the sheets move each time she’d reach to wipe a tear away, but I wanted her to realize the reality of what she was trying to get herself into. I knew she’d been exposed to the glamorized image of what she thought my secret was, to the only side of it mortals knew of. She didn’t understand
why I
was involved with it. She had no idea how cold I really was.

I waited until her breath became even and it was evident that she was asleep to place my arm around her. I held her; the warmth of her body satisfied a dormant part of my soul.

Whispering into her ear, I told her, “I love you more than anything in this world, Brooke.”

Her
head moved slightly, but she didn’t wake. I leaned my head against the arm I’d propped myself up with and watched her sleeping. The blue light cast from the nearly full moon shone in through the windows and covered her in the most perfect way. I stared at her, studying her face, watching her chest rise and fall as she slept. Tracing my finger very lightly across her supple lips, I drank her in with my eyes as she laid there completely unaware that I was watching her.

“Oh,” I removed my finger from her lips, running my hand along her chest and down her soft arm. I spoke to her lovingly, “What have you done to me, woman, what
have
you done?” I paused and felt my shoulders fall in a defeated manner. “I fear you’ve bound me to you, haven’t you?”

Gavin

September 13, 2014

I’d never experienced the amount of stress I had over the past week. I found myself questioning my desires. I found myself wondering if I could honestly control myself. I was beginning to see this dark fire rise inside of Brooke, and it woke a primitive need inside me. At moments I found myself wanting to escape, but I was bound to her by something so strong my immortal soul couldn’t even comprehend it.

My phone beeped, snapping me o
ut of my tormented thoughts. Picking it up, I opened a text message from Brooke.

Brooke: I love you!

I sat there and stared at those words that I’d once thought would never be able to affect me. The view of her message was obstructed when an email alert popped up on my screen. I opened it and began to read.

To: Gavin S. Hunter

From: Severed
Moon

Subject: What would you do to protect her?

______________________________________________________

Dearest Gavin,

I’ve heard that your precious little princess has you absolutely enamored. Who would have thought?

So, tell me Sir, is it difficult for you? Do you enjoy hiding who you really are from her? You’re not the only one in that relationship keeping secrets. You better stay on your toes, or she just may very well get snatched up by someone else like you. Several of them eyed her at Raven’s club. That’s right. She’s been to that little club you like to frequent. I’m sure she would enjoy knowing that sometimes when you’re on call you go by and have you a little something extra.

You know, I’ve really been thinking about outing you, telling her that before her you did things with me. Can you imagine how mad she would be at us, especially at you, because after all you’re the one that’s
earned
her trust.

You’re on service this weekend if I recall correctly. Maybe I’ll drop your name tomorrow night. I was thinking of bringing her with me to Raven’s. I wonder what kind of reaction that would get if she heard someone ask me if I knew why you’d stopped coming.

I think we need to talk, don’t you?

I own both of you right now!

Love,

The one who could destroy everything you care about

~ Ashley

I flung my phone down onto my desk and buried my face in my hands. Leaning back in my chair, I stared at the dropdown ceiling of my office.

I couldn’t hurt Brooke. I couldn’t allow Ashley to hurt her, and I knew it was only a matter of time before Ashley told her things that would absolutely destroy her. I just wanted to protect Brooke.

I picked my pen up and rolled it between my hands as I contemplated what would hurt her less in the end. I knew the truth would ruin her, crush all trust she’d given me; at least if I walked away she could still believe she could trust someone. Disappear. I should just disappear. I could vanish without a trace — after all, I was used to it.

September 14, 2014

She walked over to me, her lips pulled up into a seductive and extremely pleased smile.

“Sit,” I said.

She sat down on the chair and gazed up at me. The need and want behind her eyes was intense, her desire to be dominated evident in her posturing.

P
acing in front of her, I tried to control the rage that was building inside of me. I glanced at her and her eyes pierced through me.

I took the handcuffs and closed them slowly around her wrist
while I glared down at her. Her dark hair was cascading over her shoulders and I wanted nothing more than to rip it from her scalp. The unsettling feeling of regret, of how wrong I was threatened to consume me, and I swallowed hard, trying to force it back down inside of me.

I knelt down
, bringing my face level with hers. Grabbing her chin, I lowered it as I peered into her eyes. My voice became deep and stern. “My hard rules are that you don’t touch any part of me with your mouth,
do not
touch me with your mouth. Is that clear?”

I waited on her to respond. She stared at me through a haze of disappointment.

“This is what you wanted, what you demanded, is it not?” I asked.

Her breath hitched slightly, “Yes, Sir.”

Reaching around, I grabbed a fistful of her hair with my fingers and pulled hard. I had no other choice but to do this, I was no longer in control.

I released her hair and caressed the side of her face. M
y fingertips picked up the faint feel of her quickening pulse as I ran my hand down the smooth, fair skin of her neck. I slowly lowered myself down onto one knee between her legs and watched as her chest rose and fell with each anticipatory breath she drew in. Through the dark I locked my eyes onto her stare and brought my face to hers while my hand wandered down to her shoulder. My lips found their way toward her mouth, but stopped before they touched her lips. I kept them close enough so that they tempted her, sweeping against hers as I spoke.

"This is what you wanted — isn't it?" I asked again in a lowered voice. My hand traced up her neck and I grabbed onto the hair at the base of her head
again, tugging playfully on it.

She inhaled a shallow breath. "It is.
" Her speech halted momentarily. "I want you."

I laughed softly and cast my eyes down towards her lips, and then quickly back up to her darkened eyes.
“Is this why you’ve followed me? My being done with you so quickly… you couldn’t stand that, could you?”

Her lip quivered as she fought back tears. “I know you loved me. The way you made me feel. There’s no way you couldn’t have. You just didn’t realize it.”

“I see,” I said. The amount of restraint I maintained to not kill her at that very moment was unreal. I’d brought her here to punish her, and she hadn’t the slightest idea. “So, if you believed I loved you, why did you befriend Brooke?”

A short laugh fell from her lips. “I had to get her away from you. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”

“Ah.” I inched closer to her. “And now?”

She leaned her face in to mine and whispered, “Well, now with that worthless bitch out of the picture. I want to be all yours.”

Wrath overcame me at her words. I knew better, but I no longer cared. I could feel the fury building in my chest, the flames of revenge splintering through my veins. The darkness within me seethed with uncontrollable vengeance; my nostrils flared as I tried to calm myself.

My tongue darted out and wet my lips.
"You've tried to take something from me—" I paused and narrowed my gaze at her. I saw fear etch across her face. "You've made a terrible mistake about what I am, woman," I said, growling at her.

I twisted Ashely’s hair between my fingers and jerked her head back. The warmth of her skin met my tongue as I pressed it against her neck. I felt the tension in her body relax as her initial sense of fear from
my strict demeanor dissipated.

I grabbed her breast with my hand, palming it as my tongue traveled up her jaw and across to her soft lips. The tip of my tongue grazed
over her bottom lip and she let out a heavy sigh of want. My teeth bit down on its suppleness. When she felt my lips lay against hers, her body melted.

"Remember, you asked for this," I whispered, and I placed my mouth fully on hers.

I could feel her body surrender to me as I held her tightly against me, drawing in a long breath. The warmth of her soul quickly invaded me. My mouth darted over to her neck and my jaw tightened over her flesh. My teeth tore into her, ripping the tendons as the pierced into her. The taste of her blood was unsatisfying as it squirted into my mouth, but I had no choice, and I continued to swallow it back. Letting out a growl, I felt her go limp. Her head fell weightlessly to the side and I reached behind her to release the handcuff that had kept her restrained. Ashley fell into my arms and I swept one arm underneath her knees, lifting her up into my arms. Had I only known months ago when Raven brought Ashley to me to be trained as a submissive what trouble she would have been, but that meant nothing now. I turned to carry her body to the couch and was shocked to find a silhouette outlined by the diminishing glow from the candles looming in the doorway. My movements froze and I released a heavy sigh of regret as my eyes wandered back down to the half-naked woman whose body lay so still in my arms. The warmth of her skin was quickly cooling and my mind raced trying to decide exactly how to handle this situation.

Brooke had let herself in with the key I’d given her and there she stood in the middle of the darkness, staring at me. Her eyes flooded with tears, and even in the shadows I could see the look of absolute hurt that had cast across her face.

At that moment I knew Brooke would ultimately be my demise, but I loved her in ways unfathomable to the human mind. I had lied to her, manipulated her, and longed to possess her — how could I ever begin to explain myself to her? How could I protect her now?