by Rhonda Lott
“And now Pierce after you again. I wonder why now after so long.”
“I don’t know, but I’m planning on finding out. Right now, I’m more concern with what you think after hearing all this.” He said.
Gabby thought about what he’d confessed. She wasn’t afraid of Elliot, but she did fear the situation. There was the whole Death Bringer thing. To be honest with herself, the thought of him as a murderer played havoc with her conscious. Yeah, he was tricked into it, but by his own admission, he liked it and was good at it. Who the hell thought killing for any reason was a good idea? She had a hard time wrapping her head around that. He must have felt powerless, unable to avenge his friend, but to go into a job where killing people was your main focus no matter the reason felt evil. The callousness of it sent shivers along her limbs.
He sat there waiting for her to say something. His expression one of expectant sorrow. He fully believed she would reject him and why shouldn’t she? Getting involved with him was dangerous. Would her papa approve of this? What would he tell her to do? Gabby bit her bottom lip and turned her face away from Elliot. She couldn’t look into those beautiful dark eyes of his and think clearly.
This man he spoke of wasn’t the man she knew. He walked away from the piles of money he made as a mercenary. He helped Shelly and her child. Now, that’s the man she knew. He cared for the people of this town, his mom, and her. This man was willing to open up his heart to her and trust her with a truth that had to be devastatingly painful for him to reveal. He wanted to correct the mistakes he’d made in the past. In that moment she knew what her papa would say. Judge a man by his heart and deeds daughter. Elliot’s heart and deeds proved that he regretted his past and that he wanted to prove himself a better person. A lesser man would have continued with the killing and became rich from the depravity of his deeds. Elliot didn’t do that. He walked away. He became the man sitting before her.
“I have one question for you Elliot.” Gabby faced him again. “If you could go back and do it all over, would you change any of it?”
Elliot didn’t respond right away. His face gave away nothing. “Yes and no. Yes, because of the lives I took. They haunt me every day. I’ll never know who was an innocent or a criminal. I can’t atone for the pain and suffering I caused families by taking away their loved ones. My soul is forever blackened by what I’ve done. I will have to live with that until the day I die. No, because, my past led me to West Haven and to the most amazing woman I’ve ever met. I can only pray that you don’t judge me too harshly and at the very least remain my friend.”
Gabby felt the truth of his words settle in her heart. Her love for him was well deserved. He was her El with his battered heart and struggling soul. Simply fighting to prove himself worthy. What the hell could she do? He had her heart now and all she could do was join the war for Elliot’s soul. She would not run. She would stand and fight alongside him. He was worth it. They were worth it.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Elliot followed Gabby into his bedroom, his hand still within her delicate hold. The weight of the world was lifted from his shoulders and he could breathe again. Gabby did that. She uplifted his heart and his spirit. She’d listened to everything, all of the awful deeds, the guilt in him, and the pain he’d caused and accepted him.
Without a word she led him to the doorway, glancing back shyly, a sexy grin on that gorgeous face of hers. Elliot found it hard as hell to keep his mouth shut. He didn’t want to say a word and fuck this up. The past three years he’d watched her and wanted her, knowing that it was damn near impossible that a woman so pure of spirit and sweet of heart would ever accept a man as damaged as himself. His angel was not only accepting who he was, but giving herself to him.
His heart tripped double time behind his ribs. Gabriella was sweet and strong, sugar and steel. She held him in the palm of her hand and he didn’t give a shit if that made him a pussy. He’d be that and anything else as long as she stayed and loved him.
“Gabs don’t you want to talk about this more?” There he went with the talking. Why couldn’t he keep his trap shut?
She stepped closer to his bed, tilted her head to the side, allowing the wave of her black hair to swish along her shoulder.
“Yep, we can talk. After.” She enticed.
Elliot let the words settle over him and then with one sweeping motion she was in his arms. His lips sought hers and her delicious honey suckle taste. For some miraculous reason fate saw fit to give her to him and he wasn’t going to waste one second on hesitation. Gabby couldn’t know what she was getting herself into. He would claim her, mind, body and soul. He wouldn’t let his past or an uncertain future come between them.
He pulled back and searched her face one last time. There it was. Longing, desire, and dare he hope, love shining back at him from behind remarkable brown eyes. His body tightened and his dick pulsed to life.
“I’m going to love you like I wanted to the other night. This won’t be a quickie, my sweetheart.” He breathed onto the rapid pulse of her neck, she trembled and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
“Love making then?” Gabby teased, pressing her breast into him and circling her hips.
Everything below his navel coiled and throbbed. Right, no quickie. He reined in his need to push her up against the wall, and fuck her cave man style.
Gabby pulled his sweater up and with his help pushed it over his head. He did the same with her shirt, but couldn’t stop once he got started. Bra, boots, jeans and panties, it all went in a flash. In his mad dash to see her curves up close and personal once again, her clothes hit the floor in seconds. Damn, but it wasn’t his imagination the other night, she was jaw dropping. Full brown breast with pebbled nipples begging him to touch, to taste. Her smooth lines and soft curves were a work of art made by a loving creator, just for him.
Elliot lifted her up for another taste of her lips, then lowered her down on the bed. He ripped his clothes off and came down beside her, his arms gathering her in close. His body was alive with want. The press of her softness against his chest and groin brought out a growl. A fucking growl. If he wanted this to last he had to slow it down. Gabby was stroking her hands down his back, grinding her pelvis up against his cock and all thoughts of waiting rushed out of his head like the groan that crawled out his throat.
Elliot pushed her back on the pillow, his body between her open thighs. He kissed her slowly now, trying to slow them down. She wasn’t having it. Her hands went right to his ass and pulled him down as her hips lifted and she ground her wet heat along his cock.
Pulling back on his knees, Elliot put space between their bodies. With one hand on her belly, he stroked her plump, damp pussy lips. She felt like hot satin, soft and tight around the finger he pushed into her. Gabby moaned deeply arching up.
“Damn that feels good.” Gabby moaned.
Hell yeah it felt good. Elliot pumped her a few more times, then added another finger into her tight passage. She gasped and moved her hips to his manipulations. Her heady aroma filled his nostrils, his mouth watered for the taste of her. Moving between her legs, Elliot stroked his tongue along her crease. Over and over he tasted her, stopping at her clit to tickle it with the tip of his tongue.
“You taste like heaven sweetheart. I might stay here a while.” Her cries filled the room as Elliot lowered his head and worked her even harder.
Gabby rocked into him. Her legs went over his shoulders and her body trembled. “El, that’s so damn good. Don’t stop.” She wailed.
With a smile, he inserted a finger inside her and sucked her clit gently. Her body went rigid and a scream, carnal and guttural, burst from her. Gabby came apart in his arms, but he didn’t let up, he couldn’t. Her sexy sounds went on and on as he plied her through her orgasm. He didn’t give her time to come down from her first orgasm, he intensified his efforts. Clasping her hips, Elliot held her captive as he worked her with his tongue. She gripped the sheets as another climax made her pussy spasm around
his thrusting finger. Elliot let her down to the mattress and started kissing up her damp skin until he reached her plump lips. A kiss that promised he had so much more to give her.
Elliot looked into her eyes, glazed with desire. Her heart beat fast and hard against his chest. Gathering her close, Elliot ran his hands along her damp skin as she caught her breath. His cock pulsed for release as he fought for control. Even though all he wanted to do was sink his dick deep within her tight pussy and never come out. He wasn’t about to satisfy that urge. This night was for Gabby and he had so much more in store for her.
**
Coming down from the heights of ecstasy, Gabby’s body sagged into the mattress. Elliot placed soft kisses along her collarbone and across her chest. His body, hard and heavy lay half on, half off her. His weight was a wickedly craved pleasure. Elliot’s hands smoothed down her sides as he stroked and licked her shoulders, murmuring gruff words of praise and dirty words that spoke of all the things he planned to do to her. The combination of talented fingers, the exciting images his words brought to her mind, and his exploring tongue had her pulse once again pounding. Her body she once thought couldn’t take another iota of stimulation was wiggling under him, craving more.
Elliot pulled away, grabbed a condom from the nightstand and rolled it down his length. Gabby watched in anticipation. The sight of his jutting cock brought a rush of cream to her core. She was cooling off from their first encounter, but watching El pump his hardness had her blood surging once more. As she eyed him a devilish grin pulled at his lips. Oh boy, was her man the living embodiment of sexy male. Dark hair ruffled about his handsome face. The bright glint of arousal in his dark eyes that made her heart pound. His body, darkly tanned and rock hard was beautifully sculpted by the hands of what had to have been a generous and most definitely feminine God.
“Don’t look at me like that Gabs, it makes me want to devour you.” He grunted, roughly pulling her hips forward.
“Too late, you already did that.” She grinned, placing her hands around his neck and pulled up to kiss him. Her tongue happy to taste the warm, minty flavor that was El. It wasn’t enough, though. Elliot said he wanted this to last all night, but she had other plans. He was hers for this moment and by hell if she wasn’t going to enjoy him as much as she could. Gabby broke the kiss with nips and nibbles of his bottom lip, then traveled straight down his wide chest and chiseled abs, the object of her desire rose proud and strong between his legs.
“Damn, condom. I wanted to taste you, return the favor.” She complained.
Elliot chuckled, pulled her back into his embrace, sealed their lips and without warning impaled her on his cock. This works too, she thought as his thickness stretched her. He didn’t waste any time. Elliot moved his hips, plunging in as his hands lifted and lowered her onto him. Gabby caught her breath at the delicious pleasure that shot through her.
Elliot’s lips latched on to a nipple and sucked hard. Heat exploded in her center and her inner walls clamped down hard. Gabby let loose a cry, wrapped her arms around his shoulders and rode his dick with abandon. His body tensed, he hissed with each drag of her pussy down his shaft. Hell yeah, the tables had turned. Gabby grabbed the reins and worked him to her own beat. She bit the thick muscles of his chest and scored his back with her nails.
The climb of excitement had its grips into Gabby. Her body moved in time with the incredible man making love to her. His dark gaze locked onto her face. His jaw set, his face a stark portrait of raw desire. Elliot did the unthinkable. He pushed her off his erection and climbed from the bed. Her startled cry transformed into a groan of pleasure as he stood next to the bed, lifted her legs around his hips and pushed his manhood back into her.
The change of position, left her shoulders on the mattress and tilted her pussy up. Elliot had a death grip on her hips as he pumped with ever increasing power. His hardness filled her to the brink. With each frantic, hard thrust of his cock across her highly sensitive spot, white hot flames of sensation shot through her.
Gabby wanted to make this moment last, but her body betrayed her. Her orgasm blasted over her without warning. The slow buildup of passion didn’t happen. One second it was flying and the next falling, then wham, her world exploded from the inside out. Gabby screamed out as shock waves shook her body like a flag in high wind. She squeezed her eyes tight, light flashed behind her closed lids.
His triumphant shout and strangled growl of her name snapped her eyes open. Elliot’s head was thrown back and his body pulled taut, clamped tightly between her thighs. Their bodies connected, their eyes locked to each other, and their hearts beating in time. Elliot moved them to the center of the bed. He pulled the blanket over their bodies and encircled her with his powerful arms. His chest moved against her spine, causing a faint vibration to hum through her as her senses fought to return to normal. Here safe in his embrace, Gabby prayed that they could remain at peace. Yet, as sleep pulled her under, her mind drifted to what the man whispered to her at the festival. Had she made a mistake trusting Elliot? Was he, in some small way, the soulless one?
CHAPTER NINE
Elliot twisted in the last spark plug and closed the hood of the fire engine red Honda sports car. A smile came to his face as he pictured the sixty something owner and her friends tooling around town in this built for speed beauty.
The morning was exceptionally cold. Snow had fallen during the night and another storm was fast approaching. He paid zero attention to the below freezing temps. Hell no, his world didn’t end and his heart wasn’t blasted to hell and back last night as he fully expected it to. Gabby was still in his life, even after he revealed his past to her. She wasn’t fully on board and he knew she had more questions than answers, but she was willing to give him a chance. What more could he ask for?
Well, he could ask that Night Corp to forget he ever existed, but that wasn’t gonna happen. The CEO, Donovan Pierce, was as evil as he was greedy. The evidence he’d collected on Pierce threatened the CEO’s freedom. Pierce had to know that Elliot wasn’t fucking around, and yet, Brady was here. Shooting up Gabby’s bar and then threatening her on the road. Making it clear that Night Corp wanted what he had and that they were deadly serious. Had they forgotten who he was? Three years wasn’t enough time for them to forget.
Pierce might surround himself with the most deadly men in the world, but the Pierce knew that Elliot would easily take them all out to get to his target. The man was bloated off his wealth, acquired at the end of a gun.
The simple fact that Night Corp sent Brady to West Haven meant that something drastic had changed in the fucked up world of Night Corp. Pierce was greedy, but he wasn’t reckless. He cared about his own ass way too much. West Haven had the attention of the worst syndicate of murderers ever created and if he wasn’t mistaken, things were soon going to get worse.
Elliot stepped out the shop. The main thoroughfare was back to normal. His third time attending the Winter Festival was one to remember. Having Gabby by his side made it one he wouldn’t forget, ever.
It was still early and only a few people rushed down the sidewalk. He didn’t have much work scheduled for today, so he grabbed his jacket and pulled his skull cap down over his head. Elliot thought that he would go see Gabs for a short while. He’d walked her back to her apartment across the street only a few hours ago, but what the hell, he missed her already.
Before his work boot could touch the crunchy layer of snow on the curb, the bakery down the street exploded with a deafening boom and skyrocketing flames. The blast was so intense it shook the ground, causing him to brace his legs just to remain standing. Elliot ducked and brought his arm up to cover his head. Parts of the exploding building shot into the crystal blue winter sky, but was too far away for the shrapnel to reach him. The intense heat from the resulting fire made it hard for him to breath. Elliot shook off his momentary shock and ran towards the flames.
The owner of the bakery was a sweet young woman who always brought her car into
his shop for maintenance. She gave him free pastries and coffee every Monday. Damn, if he couldn’t even remember her name, but he knew she was a kind and generous woman. Elliot pumped his legs faster, praying she wasn’t in yet. His heart was in his shoes, because he knew she opened up at the crack of dawn to have breakfast food and donuts ready for the morning work crews.
The place was engulfed in flames, flames that were quickly spreading to the bookstore next door and making its way quickly to the pharmacy on the opposite side. If that heat got to the oxygen tanks in the pharmacy, the whole of Main Street was in jeopardy of blowing sky high.
A fast moving shadow caught his eye, then the sound of a motorcycle engine revving up rose above the cries of the townsfolk. Brady, grinning like a lunatic, shot out from behind a building, heading out of town.
The fucking asshole. This was his expertise, bombs and explosives. Son of a bitch. Elliot was the cause of this destruction. This was his fault. The cry of the town’s fire engine split the air and Elliot moved forward to see if he could do anything to help.
At that moment the figure of a woman, crawled out the alley beside the bakery, she was covered in soot, her clothes smoking and there were flames on the bottom of her pants. Elliot rushed over. It was the owner of the bakery. She was in such bad shape he didn’t know if his touch would cause her more injury, but they were way too damn close to the burning building. As gently as he could, Elliot picked the woman up. She made a strangled cry of pain. Elliot’s gut twisted. She was alive and she didn’t appear to have many burns on the skin that was visible to him. The paramedic was across the way and the two EMTs met him in the middle of the street with a stretcher.