by Sweet, Izzy
“I’m Gabriel, by the way,” I add, wondering when she’s going to look at me.
She’s still staring at James even though she had to turn around almost completely to do it. She’s not really staring at him though, it’s more like staring at what he’s doing.
That’s good she isn’t staring at him. I’d hate to have to snap his neck.
Pulling her and the priest along, I look up at the large cross hanging behind the altar, then at the surrounding bodies left by the bullets that tore through them. It’s an odd feeling that all of these men died and I ended up only taking a ghost round through the chest.
“What are we doing?” Meghan asks as I stand us before the altar and shove the priest in front of us.
“Guaranteeing I piss off your old fiancé as much as possible. He’s going to be wanting you back,” I say with a smile.
“By what? Forcing me to marry you?” she squeaks out now that she’s figured out my plan.
Her voice hits a high octave at the end, and I’m pretty sure she’s not gonna be happy about this.
“Force ain’t got nothin to do with it, darlin'. You marry me or you stay our prisoner. You can’t go back to the Russians. We can’t let you go. My side or yours will be using you as a chess piece,” I say and elbow the priest.
“A chess piece?” she growls at me as her nails dig into my hands.
She’s trying to get me to let her go.
Yeah, that won’t happen.
“There’s no fucking way!” James shouts.
All four of us turn to James as he starts cursing loudly.
Oh shit.
Trying to contain my laugh, I watch as James tries to wipe the blood off his face that squirted up from one of the stiffs.
“Oh, dear lord, I’m going to be sick,” the priest murmurs before he turns his head and starts to retch.
“Fucking hell,” Andrew growls as he grabs the priest by the collar.
“He pissed himself earlier…” Meghan says as she looks at everything going on around her.
Shaking her head, she looks up into my eyes. Her eyes are starting to look a little dazed.
Looking down at her small hands enveloped in mine, I can’t believe just how soft they are, how delicate they look compared to my big hands.
“I can’t do this!” she moans loudly.
“If you want to live past sunset, you will,” I respond.
“How the hell did I end up in an even worse situation?” she asks as she tries to tug her hands from mine.
I don’t let go. I’m not going to hurt her, but if she runs now, she’ll get hurt just as quickly from my side or hers.
“My boss will use you as a pawn. An unbelievably beautiful pawn, but a pawn all the same. I keep you by my side, you stay safe.” The words come from my mouth unbidden, but it’s the absolute truth.
I know it deep down.
Meghan stands before me, staring up into my eyes, her eyes full of pain and hurt. She’s in a deadly position right now. Whatever union she was going to enter with Alexei and the Russians wasn’t to her liking, but this one might be even harder for her.
“You’re going to force me to marry you, just like Alexei. You’re no better than him!” she shouts.
“You’re right,” I say with a rising of my shoulders, and she is.
“If you try to touch me, I’ll slit your throat when you sleep,” she snarls.
“I get it,” I say again with another shrug of the shoulders.
And I seriously do get where she’s coming from, but it isn’t going to change her current situation, or mine. She’s going to be fucked no matter what she does. She’s in a completely shitty situation. I feel for her, I truly do. I’ve been there myself, but it ain’t going to stop me. I went to prison for ten long years for the crimes of another, she’s going to marry me because she’s a pawn in a deadly war.
Life fucking hurts and it’s murder.
“I’ll make you a deal. You don’t fight, and I’ll make sure no one touches you without my say so,” I say to her and stare into those deep blue eyes.
She’s beautiful. I know I’ve noticed this already, but it keeps slapping me in the face every time I look at her.
Little things I haven’t discovered keep standing out and grabbing my attention. The way her full lips have this natural pout to them. Her bottom lip sticks out just enough that I want to capture it with a kiss so hard that it bruises. There’s a small smattering of freckles splashed across the bridge of her nose, and I can’t help but wonder where else she has freckles. I’d like to peel off that damn abomination of a dress she’s wearing and search for them.
Long dark eyelashes open and close as she peers up at me. She isn’t showing any fear now. No, she’s got her backbone straight and she’s looking at me with challenge.
Nodding to the priest, I say to Andrew, “Get him started.”
“What the fuck is going on right now?” Simon sneers over the comms. “We don’t have time for this shit.”
“Mayhem and bedlam,” I say with a chuckle into the comms. “Get me a marriage certificate fully approved. List our residential address as Cherry’s address. If it wasn’t these fucks who blew up the house, it wont hurt anything. If it was, it’s a message.”
“Well thought of, Gabriel,” Lucifer says through the comms.
“Dearly beloved,” the priest stumbles through the beginning of the ceremony.
A look to Andrew gets the process moving.
Andrew jabs a gun into the priest’s side.
“Let’s move to the important parts here, Father. We need to be moving,” Andrew says quietly.
“Calls are making their way into emergency services. I’m unable to stop them all. We need to get out now,” Simon says into the comms.
Pushing the priest away from us, I look into Meghan’s eyes and ask, “Do you accept my protection?”
She stares for so long into my eyes that I swear she’s gone mute, but she hasn’t. She’s studying me, reading into those deep, dark recesses inside of me.
“I do,” she finally says and then adds, “Do you accept that I’ll cut your dick off if you ever touch me without my permission?”.
“Oh fuck, that’s fucking awesome!” James crows from nearby.
Staring back into the deep abyss of her eyes, I look to make sure I still see her soul. She’s putting it out for the world right now. She wants to know what type of man I am.
“I do,” I say and pull her small body tightly to mine. Looking at those lips again, I add, “But you’re not skipping out on this kiss.”
Leaning down, I watch as her eyes go wide with shock before I press my lips tightly against hers and keep her there.
She’s going to break before I do, I swear.
Closing my eyes, I slant my mouth slowly over hers. Each time I push deeper for the kiss, she resists, but I can feel her resolve breaking. Before long, she’s got her fingers clutching at my t-shirt as a tiny groan comes from her mouth.
Pulling away from her, I watch as she slowly comes back to herself, her beautiful face flushed with excitement. Those wondrous breasts pushed up so high, heave up and down as she looks at me with lust and rage.
Damn, that’s a sexy fucking look.
Her hand lashes out as fast as lighting across my cheek before she yells, “Asshole!”
Fuck, that turned me on almost as much as the kiss.
Nodding my head, I can’t help but agree. “Yeah, but you married me, so you can’t say much.”
5
Meghan
With my lips still tingling from that kiss, Gabriel tugs me out of the church and leads me up to a black Tahoe parked in the parking lot. Without a word, he pulls open the passenger door, expecting me to get in. When I hesitate, he gives me a little nudge like he expects me to obey him without protest.
Sirens blare in the distance, and I know there’s only a few minutes before the authorities show up.
Feet firmly on the ground, I square my shoulders, d
eciding this is the hill I’ll die on.
“What are you doing?” Gabriel frowns at me and gives me another nudge.
Unfortunately, despite my unwillingness to move, I end up taking a stumbling step back before I catch myself.
The fucker is strong. Strong and big. I thought the height difference between Alexei and me was enormous. With Gabriel it’s downright ridiculous.
“I’m not getting in the car,” I say, squaring my shoulders again to stand my ground.
I have to tip my head back to glare up at him.
“The fuck you’re not,” he growls and reaches down, grabbing me around the waist.
Hefting me up as if I weigh nothing, he begins to stuff me and my enormous fluffy skirt in the car.
“Stop. Put me down! I’m not going with you!” I screech, fighting his hold and pounding my fists against his chest. “Just leave me. I won’t tell them anything, I swear on my mother’s grave. Just let me go!”
Gabriel exhales loudly through his nose as he struggles to get both me and my skirt inside the car while ignoring my fists.
“Gabriel, please!” I plead, my aching fists slowing.
Pounding on him is like pounding on concrete.
“We’re married,” he practically snarls before shoving me into the seat.
I manage to get out, “But not legally!” before he slams the door in my face.
Through the glass I watch him smirk and shake his head at me. Immediately I try the door handle, but no matter how hard I pull and yank on the thing the door won’t open.
Dammit, he must have some kind of child safety lock enabled.
As he begins to walk around the front of the car, I get the bright idea to find the lock and disable it. Launching myself toward the driver’s side of the car, I reach for all the buttons on the armrest only to abruptly come up short.
It takes me a precious second to figure out something is holding me back. Looking over my shoulder, I see that a big chunk of my skirt is stuck in the door.
Dammit!
I’m trapped inside this damn car until he helps me out.
The driver’s side door opens and Gabriel slides his gigantic body into the seat.
I recoil immediately, scooting as far away from him as possible.
Without looking over at me, Gabriel starts the car up and says, “Put your seatbelt on.”
I refuse to at first in stubborn defiance.
Gabriel shrugs his shoulders. “Suit yourself.”
Putting the car into the gear, he hits the gas and we squeal out of the parking spot. Then he takes a very sharp, very unnecessary turn to the left that pushes me into the door.
“Shit,” I mutter under my breath.
When the car finally straightens, I hastily do up my seatbelt.
Eyes sliding toward me, he grins and says, “Good girl.”
“Fuck you,” I sputter back, caught off guard.
Seriously, who does this guy think he is?
His lips twitch and his eyes gleam with amusement at the windshield. “Maybe later… If you promise not to cut my dick off…”
He hits the gas harder.
I could sputter some more, blush, or even wilt into my seat, but I’m starting to get my bearings back. I know I should be afraid of him. I mean, he did burst into my wedding and shoot the place up.
And the thumbs… damn, the thumbs.
But there’s just something about him, something about the way he’s tried to protect me even though I tried to kill him, that makes me feel like I don’t have to worry about him suddenly backhanding me or something.
Flashing him a feral smile that’s all teeth, I say, “Did I say cut off? I meant bite off.”
Gabriel slowly turns his head toward me then his lips stretch into a feral smile that mirrors my own. “I don’t know what kind of pussies you were with before you married me, but I like a little teeth.”
What the fuck?
I open my mouth, knowing I should give some witty, snappy retort, but I’ve got nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Gabriel chuckles and returns his eyes to the road.
Then he decides to add, “For future reference.”
Oh god, I know I shouldn’t be trying to picture in my head exactly what he means by ‘a little teeth’ but that’s exactly what I’m doing. Does he mean he likes a little teeth because he likes to be bitten in the heat of the moment? Or does he like it when a woman scrapes her teeth against him while giving him head?
Fuck, I so shouldn’t be thinking about this right now.
Heat begins to creep down my neck, down my breasts, and I wonder what the hell is wrong with me. I’ve had a terrible day. I was drugged, abused, almost forced into a marriage, almost killed, and then forced into another unwanted marriage…
Yet here I am, trapped in a car with a stranger who’s now my husband, and wondering what it would feel like to have him in my mouth.
Thankfully, the screen on the console starts to ring with an incoming call, pulling me from my perverted and totally inappropriate thoughts.
Gabriel scowls at the lit-up screen and starts jamming all the buttons surrounding it like he doesn’t know what the fuck he’s doing.
I watch him in silent amusement.
Does he not know how to use the phone?
The screen stops ringing, the call most likely going to voicemail, and he growls out, “Hello?”
“Uh… you didn’t answer it,” I point out, then smirk when he gives me a frustrated look.
The screen starts ringing again, and once again Gabriel starts to jam buttons in confusion.
And I feel like we’ve come to a crossroads.
I could spend my time trapped in this car, watching him struggle to answer the phone like some out-of-touch cave man… It would be amusing and would most definitely serve him right after forcing me to marry him.
But maybe it would be better to help him. I could kill two birds with one stone. I could earn a bit of his trust and gather some information in the process.
If I want out of this mess, I need to know what the hell I’m dealing with.
Coming to a decision, I bump his hand out of the way, and say, “Here.”
Then I press the big green accept button on the screen.
Gabriel shakes his head in dismay as my eyes laugh at him.
“What the fuck, Gabriel?” an angry voice comes through the speakers.
“Simon,” Gabriel mutters.
“Did you really marry the Callahan girl?!”
“Yeah,” Gabriel responds. “She’s Whitmore now.”
So that’s my new last name, that’s good to know. Not that I plan on keeping it long.
“Do you have any fucking clue what you’ve done? How much you’ve fucked up?” Simon growls.
I watch Gabriel’s face harden with annoyance. “Yeah, I’ve done exactly what I’ve been sprung to do…”
The man, I assume Simon, launches into an angry tirade about how much Gabriel fucked up. He goes on and on about how Gabriel ruined the whole operation. How I’m a liability. How my family will now have the motivation to retaliate against Lucifer and ‘the Family’.
Gabriel’s eyes flash with menace and his hands tighten around the steering wheel so hard I swear it starts to bend under the pressure.
I feel my own anger reaching the boiling point after listening to Simon’s long-winded rant. I’ve had enough of men talking about me like I’m disposable trash for one day, thank you very much.
Then Simon says, “You should have killed her and saved us all the trouble. Now—”
“You’re on speakerphone, asshole!” I snap at him, and press the disconnect button, cutting off his call.
Gabriel shoots me a look and I immediately realize what I’ve done. “Oh, sorry… I know that was rude, but he was starting to get on my nerves.”
Gabriel shakes his head and a smile starts to light up his face only to die an instant death when the phone starts ringing again.
“Fucker,” he
mutters and begins to reach for the screen.
I bat his hand out of the way. “I got this.”
Gabriel arches a brow at me but otherwise he doesn’t stop me.
Taking his lack of stopping me as permission, I hit the accept button.
“What the fuck, Gabriel? Did you hang up on—”
“New phone, who dis?” I say, and then hit the disconnect button.
There’s a moment of silence, and I start to wonder if I seriously overstepped my bounds and fucked up.
Then Gabriel starts to chuckle. “What the fuck does that mean?”
Smiling in relief, I say, “It’s hard to explain, but it should royally piss him off.”
“Good,” Gabriel says with satisfaction, and I feel myself warming under his grin.
Shit.
I totally shouldn’t like his approval. And I totally shouldn’t be getting myself involved in this crap.
And Gabriel should probably be keeping his eyes on the road, but he keeps staring at me, making me grow warmer and warmer.
If I must be completely honest, I really hate looking at him head-on. Not only is he entirely too good looking for his own good, with his strong, rugged features, and blonde, scruffy beard, but there’s also something about his eyes that suck me in, shutting out the rest of the world.
Perhaps it’s because unlike Alexei’s eyes, his eyes aren’t empty and dead. No, they’re full of barely constrained emotion and passion, even when he’s not provoked.
Suddenly the screen starts to ring again and Gabriel groans, but I’m thankful to be pulled out of another unsettling moment.
“Do you want to answer it?” I ask.
Gabriel snorts. “Fuck no.”
I hold out my hand. “Then give me your phone.”
Gabriel doesn’t even hesitate, foolish man. I watch him lift his ass off his seat and dig around in his pants pocket. Then he pulls out his phone and willingly places it in my hand.
I could do so much fucking damage with this…
But first, I unlock his phone with a swipe. No pin, interesting. Then I immediately disconnect Bluetooth.
The speakers stop ringing.
“How did you do that?” he asks.