by Liz K. Lorde
I bit back the tears that wanted to come forth from my eyes. “Fuck you, fuck everything about you,” I spat right back at him, not backing down. “You ruined me, you ruin everything you touch - how’d you do it?” My bones were practically vibrating with rage. “How!” I lashed out, “you slimy bastard.”
“Do what,” he said.
“You. Know. You know what you…” I shook my head, “you know what you put inside of me.”
We looked at one another for what felt like an eternity - as if we were both fifty yards apart from one another, a raging sea between us. Finally, he said, “I was tired of you thinking you could get cute with me,” he explained, his brows moving upward. “Now, do you know who is in control? Or do I have to make it any more clear. Sit.”
Except I wouldn’t.
Damien’s face darkened, and his eyes narrowed. His hands went straight to my sides, and despite my physical protests, he managed to sit me down in the booth.
Some customer called out, asking if anything was wrong. No, no that voice sounds familiar… Norman.
Norman, one of my regulars, strode over towards us, with that same familiar red cap on his head. He had such a grizzled face, and his beard was scraggy from not shaving for some time - there was this rage in his eyes that both warmed and scared me. “Just what the hell is going on here,” he barked.
Damien turned to face the man, and straightened out his spine in arrogance. “None of your business old timer,” he pointed with his chin towards a neighboring seat. “Why don’t you rest before your heart gives out?”
One of Damien’s goons crowed, “Else we make it give out early, heh.”
My throat felt tight, but I managed to say: “Norman. Please. I’m fine, just—”
I cut myself off, as now the staff were looking our way, and Felicia was coming back with the coffee that I’d previously ordered.
Norman closed what little distance remained between him and Damien. “I know what you are,” he said gruffly, “you’re a gutter punk. Nothing more than that.” It looked like he wanted to punch Damien, or spit on him, or both even.
Damien shoved one hand at Norman’s chest, pushing him back a full step. This caused him to nearly stumble to the ground, and before he could fully recover, Damien said: “This ‘punk’ is going to kick your ass, old man.” Damien reached into his pocket and produced a switchblade, clicking it to life.
My heart jumped into my chest, and I immediately shot up from the booth, “Damien!” I called out, scolding the man and riding the heavy flow of my anger.
This didn’t stop him of course. He didn’t even look back at me. In that moment I felt so powerless, some small and fleeting part of me wished that I were stronger. I’d always thought that gleaming knives were the things of film and story. But the bastard waved it at Norman, taunting him with subtle, aggressive posturing.
Felicia sat the coffee down on a nearby table and dipped her hand into her jeans, “I’m calling the police!” She announced, her voice plainly filled with terror.
Just after the fact, one of Damien’s friends brushed past Norman and went straight for Felicia - she immediately moved to get away, but the man was too quick and he ended up catching her; his small laughter made the anger boil over in me. In that hectic moment, Norman assaulted Damien. Throwing a punch with all of his weight behind it. But Damien was too quick, he dodged the man’s quick strike and casually shoved him to the side.
Not wanting anyone to get hurt because of me, I attacked Damien from behind, before he could make any more moves on Norman. Wailing on him with my fists and trying to wrestle him away from Norman and Felicia.
His elbow found my stomach, and a hard pain shot through me instantly. The air shot right out of me, and breathing became my only concern in life. I cursed out loud and crumpled to my knees, holding at the spot where I was hit.
Damien slashed at Norman, slicing open a big, red streak across the side of his face. Pure, horrific agony, that was the only way to describe the sounds that he made. Felicia still helplessly tried to fight against her attacker, and whimpered at the sight and sound of Norman being hurt.
And to Damien? This was nothing more than some inconsequential game. All of it. The violence, getting me with child… picking myself up from the floor, I hardly even noticed the sound of the front door bell ringing out – barely recognized the sound of some engine roaring outside. I threw all of my weight at Damien, the sound of his laughter sending waves of sickness through my body; when I bumped into him, he grunted something deep from his chest and we both collapsed to the hard floor.
As Alicia came out of her front office, Damien’s unoccupied crony stepped from the scene and went over towards the entrance of the diner – presumably to intercept whoever was coming in.
And then the room lit up with his voice. With Gabriel’s commanding presence. “You make one more fucking move,” he threatened, and there wasn’t a singular doubt in my heart or head that it was a serious one, “you die,”
I spied a look towards Alicia, and she too was reaching for her phone – looking between us all in the sloppy brawl.
Damien shrugged me off of his person, and I remained on the floor, whipping my head over towards Gabriel who was dressed in his biker outfit. He stood there half a god with his tightly fitted and washed-out denim jeans, as well as his black leather jacket. Damien narrowed his eyes, “You,” he said, bringing up his knife and making air stabbing motions at Gabriel, “I remember you. You were that guy scoping us out, at the party.”
The look in Gabriel’s eye frightened me. He was ready to kill anyone that stood between him and me. “Surprised your drug fried brain could remember me, punk. Step. Aside. I won’t say it again.”
Alicia added, “This needs to stop. The cops are on their way right now.”
Gabriel and Damien squared off, staring one another down - and then Damien stepped forward. That step turned into a lightning quick lunge towards Gabriel, the wicked knife going straight for his abdomen. Fingers of dread curled against my breast, and I yelled for Gabriel to watch out.
In one fluid instant, Gabriel sidestepped from the blade’s path, and used Damien’s own energy against him. He grabbed that bastards hand and slipped a leg beneath his foot, making him trip face first into the floor.
Damien hit the ground hard, and within a heartbeat of time, he scrambled up to his knees in a desperate bid to make distance between him and Gabriel.
Gabriel made a long stride towards the man, while Norman distanced himself and the goons immediately went for Gabriel from behind.
Not if I have anything to say about it. I jumped into the fray, blocking the path of Damien’s cronies. I threw my weight against them, and even though it wasn’t much - it was enough to slow them down. Enough to annoy and have them push at me, to try and break away.
Gabriel picked Damien up by his hair, causing the man to scream out in bloody agony.
I called out to Gabriel, trying to signal that the men were coming for him - all he could do was glance towards me. This gave way to an opportunity for Damien.
Acting purely on instinct, Damien slashed at Gabriel’s face with his knife, but only barely managed to knick him; a thin line of red appeared on his supremely focused face. Gabriel winced and his hand shot out to clench Damien’s wrist, rendering the blade useless. “That all you got, coward? Try fighting me like a man; shame you’ll be pissing blood before the cops get here. Was hoping for a little fun.”
Damien grunted and raged against Gabriel’s power, “Fuck you,” he growled just moments before Gabriel disarmed him.
Gabriel threw the knife far and away, and it clattered against the floor somewhere unseen. The two men finally managed to subdue me, tossing me against the booth in which I had been sitting. The table hit my side, and I felt a spike of pain where it made contact. I cursed beneath my breath.
As if he knew what was going to happen, Gabriel twisted on his heel and fended off the two men with one hand for each. He kept th
em at bay for a spell of time, but that was when Damien came and tried to tackle him from behind.
Like a tower of stone, Gabriel would not fall. Instead, it seemed like he fed on the uneven odds of this scrappy battle. His muscles tensed up and the first glistening of sweat appeared on his face; he bared his teeth and growled before ducking down and bull charging the two men, throwing them down to the floor like they were nothing more than his playthings.
Gabriel sank down to the floor and Damien tried to wrap his whole arm around my savior’s neck, in some attempt to strangle him. But the rage was flowing hard and fast, and everyone not engaged in the brawl surely had to be as enraptured in fear as I was. I’d never seen a man that wasn’t high on drugs so pent up with energy and aggression. Gabriel’s fists came barreling down on one of the goons, while the other downed man scrambled to defend his friend.
Crunch after crunch was all that I heard, and when I was finally able to recover, I leapt at Damien in attempt to knock him from Gabriel. “Get off of him!” I yelled, bringing my nails to Damien’s eyes; before I could dig them in, Damien yelped and whipped around, pulling off of Gabriel and bringing us both to the hard diner floor.
In the back of my mind, I registered screams. Screams and a man pleading for his friend’s life, the sound of bones being pummeled - the sight of blood painting the floor. Gabriel was gone, and he was grunting with every strike he made. Within the span of seconds, he moved to the other goon - and his fist found the scumbag’s stomach, putting him down in a flash.
Damien managed to work his way on top of me, and put his hands around my throat. “You’re going to die for this, Madeline,” he hissed with such malice, “you don’t get to betray me, you hear me?” He squeezed harder, and I could feel the life being sapped from my bones; even my vision began to blur and flicker, like someone hand taken a lighter to my eyes and were making me see through fire.
Summoning all of my strength, I brought up my knee in a quickness and struck Damien where the sun never shines. Lucky for him there wasn’t much to hit down there. Even still, he instantly rolled off of me and threw his head back, howling in disgusting levels of pain.
Gabriel rushed over to me, completely ignoring Damien for the moment. “Madeline,” he whispered. “Madeline, are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I whispered back, loving the way that his hand worked its way through my hair. When he looked me over one more time to be sure, he nodded his head and moved over to the knocked downed Damien, who was still groaning in abject misery.
Gabriel gave the bastard a hard kick to his chest, making him squeal all over again. He writhed against the floor, and then Gabriel stabbed his finger at the man’s face. “Next time I see you, you’re a dead man - you hear me boy?” His voice was dark as dusk, I’d never heard it with such cold burning hatred. Within a heartbeat of time, I was back up to my feet; Gabriel and I embraced, if only for a moment, our arms coiling around one another - and his mouth crashing against my lips. It tasted sweet, to feel him once again. Just a kiss was enough to make my bones warm.
Gabriel pulled back, “We need to leave.”
Alicia glared towards us, “I don’t know what this is about, MJ, but you two need to stay here and talk to the police. Besides, you should have someone from EMS take a look at you.”
Gabriel turned his head to face her, “Sorry sister, don’t do cops.” Before he even finished his sentence, he was directing us out the door. Not a moment later, and we were on his bike. He turned the engine and his beast of steel and chrome roared to life, rumbling between my legs – the sound of distant sirens crept through the air. He turned his head to look at me, “Hang on tight, baby.”
Adrenaline instantly slammed into me, as we shot through the road and moved like wingless demons.
26
Gabriel
My side hurt me something fierce, and getting into that brawl probably wasn’t the smartest thing. Could imagine Sister Scalpel with her tiny hands on her hips in my head, judging me for doing that – hell, surprised the wound didn’t open up during all of that. Still, I couldn’t let those creeps anywhere near my Madeline like that, just what the fuck were they doing?
Feeling her wrapped tightly around my core, it did something to me. Being so close to this angel. Even the physical pain seemed to drift away as we sped through the night, the cops long since evaded. Hopefully no unwanted attention is going to come from that. Luke would have my head.
We cruised down the winding roads through the night for what seemed like forever, passing beat-down cars and zipping by families of trees. Finally we came across where I wanted us to hide away, at least, for the moment. It was Whitefeather Way. Parking off the side of the road, I killed the engine and hopped off of my bike, grabbing Madeline’s dainty hand. Fingers of warmth brushed against my chest at having her back and near me again, knowing that she was safe and well.
She gave me that curious, inquisitive look – tinged with frustration, “Where are we?”
I brought a finger up to my lips, “It’s a secret. We need to talk.”
Her nose wrinkled at that, and I led her through the trees and the dirt. A few heartbeats later, and I sat her down on that same log that me and Luke had used so many times before. Following suit, I sat beside her, the darkness cloaking both of us - only the silvery light of the moon permitting us to see what it deemed us worthy of seeing. “Thank you,” she announced, “for helping back there, for saving me. Not that I needed help or anything,” she back tracked, her face turning a bit red.
“I know you can take care of yourself,” I said, smiling. And it’s true. Madeline was a strong willed girl, if anything her initial overcoming of her addiction was a testament to that; the truest test would be in staying sober, but I know that she can do it. So long as she stays away from all of the poison in her life.
“How did you know where I was?”
I shifted uncomfortably on the mossy log, not sure how she would take something like this. “I was concerned for you,” I started, a hand squeezing at my heart, “so I had one of my guys keep tabs on you. You know, make sure that you were safe.”
MJ didn’t say anything for a moment, and she looked away from my face. “I thought I noticed someone following me,” she said. “Where did he go? Why didn’t he help you?”
“Told him at the first sight of danger to call me, and to get the hell out. He’s new and… unique. Couldn’t risk an asset too much.”
“But you’d risk your ass for me?” She asked, her arms folding over one another.
I coiled an arm around her waist and pulled her against my person, taking the side of her face in my hand and bringing her in for a deep, long kiss. I looked longingly into those blue eyes and said, “I’d risk everything for you, baby.”
Her eyes searched mine, and for just a second I swore that her eyes were glinting with water. “It’s too hard to keep away from you, Gabriel,” she whispered.
I stroked at her hair, and felt a burning urge of need in my cock; this animalistic desire to fuck such a beautiful creature, a creature that I wanted to make mine forever. It hurt me more than I ever realized, to be so deeply enchanted. “I want you by my side, Mads. Fuck the space, fuck the questions and the doubts - you make everything feel right in my heart. You’re sleeping with me tonight,” I growled, and then kissed her lips softly; I let out a deep noise from my chest, trying to ignore that urge to fill her pussy in my crotch.
Fuck. There was no way to ignore it, I had to have her - the questions about what just happened, could go down later. And if my stitches burst? Well, more work for Sister Scalpel I suppose. I picked Madelinne up in a sudden rush. She gave out an adorable, giddy squeak, and I walked us over towards a great tree.
“What are you doing?” She laughed.
“Taking what’s mine,” I husked, pressing her against that tree and kissing her with reckless abandon. For every touch of my lips against hers, she replied with that same ferocity, that same need. Her lips were wet and warm a
nd in all honesty, a touch of divinity. Every noise that we made just made my cock all the harder; it twitched every now and again, and the base of my balls tingled with excitement.
Madeline gasped with pleasure, and readjusted herself against my body - her hands feeling all around my neck. “Gabe,” she whispered, her voice thick with lust, “I want you to fuck me right here.”
That was when I attacked her neck, placing sucks and bites wherever I could. She brought out the animal in me, and I wasn’t afraid of it - I was fucking impressed. “I can smell how wet your gorgeous cunt is, baby. Can smell how badly it needs to be fucked.”
“Yes,” she purred, sending a hand down to my crotch and feeling all along the hardness of my shaft, which was pressing firmly against my denim jeans. “Fill me up and slam into me, I want to feel every inch of you.” She raked her nails along the small length of my exposed chest, making superficial cuts.
I groaned out in pain-tipped pleasure, breathing her name. Not a second later, and my shirt was off - along with her pants. I loved every inch of her body, but in that moment, we both knew what we wanted. What we needed. Those dark blue panties were all that remained on her pale, stunning legs.
Every inch of my body was in need of her, and I felt my cock swell at the thought of penetrating her delicate, delectable little pussy. Putting her down for a moment, as we both gave heavy breaths, I picked out a condom from my wallet and pressed it against the head of my cock, rolling it quickly and effectively over my long, hard shaft.
My cock twitched eagerly with anticipation, and I lifted Madeline back up again, listening to the sound of her cute, arousing noises as I did so. When I had her right where I wanted her, had her pressed against the tree, I guided my cock to the entrance of her pussy - her panties long since wet with lust; I pulled them to the side and slipped myself easily inside. Her walls were tight and greedy, not wanting to let go of me; they immediately pulled me in, sending pinpricks of delight through me.