Gabriel's Secret: A Vampire's Obsession: Book 1

by Rylai, Stephanie

  She quickly wiped her face of the tears, turning her face away, “Sorry if that was loud,” she mumbled.

  Gabriel slowly moved to her side, “I don’t care about that… Who was that?” he asked her carefully, putting an arm around her back.

  “The disaster of a breakup,” she mumbled, trying her best to blink away the tears.

  “Is he harassing you?”

  “No, no he just keeps calling constantly and tears me down every chance he gets,” she mumbled sarcastically, knowing harassment was exactly what it was.

  “Why don’t you just block his number?” he asked.

  “Because… We broke up because I found out that he was flirting with a ton of girls online and sending them nudes of himself. A couple of girls had even messaged me, saying they had had sex. So I got upset and broke up with him, packed my stuff and moved here. Ever since, he’s held the fact I didn’t give him a thirty-day notice of leaving the apartment over me. He knows if he goes to court about it, I’ll have to go all the way back to Ohio for court. And I can’t afford the travel or the time off work, or else I would have just let him already. So he just uses it as an excuse to make me answer the phone to talk to him. Half the time it’s begging me to go back to him, the other half is telling me I’m a whore and telling me no one would ever want me but him…”

  Gabriel’s frame stiffened, his jaw clenched, anger striking like lightning in his stormy grays. “No one should be talking to you like that,” he said, his voice gruff. “Let me talk to him if he calls again.”

  “No, Gabriel,” Olivia groaned, rubbing her forehead, “That would make things so much worse. I’ll handle it… I’ll just need some time.”

  She could tell he didn’t want to agree but he reluctantly nodded and sighed. Olivia leaned into him, hugging him. Gabriel wrapped his arms around her and kept her close to him.

  CHAPTER TEN

  The rest of their day had gone by rather well, the two staying in Olivia’s room for the majority of the day since no direct sunlight got into her room. He told her all about vampires, and what they could and couldn’t do. They had super human speed, strength, and senses; though he clarified it was more like having the strength of four men, he wasn’t Superman or anything. Nor was he like the Flash when it came to speed, but could run as fast as a cheetah. The way he explained it was that the venom in his blood allowed his body to run at full capacity and then some.

  In the midst of their discussions and time spent between the sheets, seeming unable to keep their hands off each other, Olivia’s phone was constantly ringing. She could tell with each ring, Gabriel grew more and more angry—not at her, but at the man who kept ringing her. Eventually, Olivia turned it off after texting Emily her phone would be off.

  Once the sun set, Gabriel told Olivia that he needed to return to his nest but that he would be back over the next night just after sunset. Olivia really didn’t want him to go, wanting him to just stay with her at least for another night, but she understood. She tried to make the best of her evening, taking a long bath, making herself dinner, and just trying to relax. It didn’t work well, missing Gabriel in his absence. She felt like such a lovesick school girl, missing her boyfriend in just the mere hours he would be gone.

  Was he her boyfriend? It seemed like he was, but they hadn’t really talked about whether or not things were ‘official’. It definitely felt like they were. They had spent every night together for a week and a half, talked about their being something between them, and had sex. She drove herself crazy trying to figure it out. It would certainly be something she would ask him when he came back over. Part of her felt weird for moving on so fast, but things with Gabriel just felt right.

  The next day, Olivia was off work and couldn’t have been more upset about it. She felt like she had absolutely nothing to do without Gabriel being there. She tried to eat away a lot of the day with pointless cleaning and organizing, but there wasn’t much to do since she and Emily did a pretty good job of cleaning up after themselves. Once the late afternoon came, Olivia finally started to get ready. She spent a while picking out what to wear, then finally deciding on a long sleeve, dark purple pouf dress with a black scarf to hide the wound on her neck in case Emily happened along. Olivia decided to wear her hair down, and put light makeup on.

  Once sundown came and darkness came over the city, Olivia felt herself getting antsy, waiting for him to arrive. She chilled the bottle of wine they hadn’t even opened the night before and even made some appetizers for herself. Gabriel had explained that vampires could eat, but it wasn’t enjoyable in the least. She had no idea what they were going to do, but she didn’t care, she was just giddy to see him. It was still hard for her to wrap her head around the idea that he was an actual vampire and it wasn’t some elaborate prank, but the wounds on her neck and shoulder were proof enough for her to know it was real… It was just take some time for it to sink in.

  After about an hour, Olivia started to go a bit stir crazy. Why was he late? He told her he would head her way right after sundown, so shouldn’t he be there by now? Her mind started to torture itself, going back and forth between his nest turning on him and him standing her up because he got what he wanted by feeding from her and sleeping with her. Olivia continuously tried to tell herself he just got caught up, or maybe it was just taking a while to get there. She didn’t know where he stayed, so it could have been outside of town. However, in the back of her mind she was reminded of the fact that this wouldn’t be the first time that he stood her up. But he had promised that he would never do it again. Staying on the couch, she tried her best to stay calm.

  There was a knock on the door and Olivia immediately perked up. She hurried to the island and lit the few candles she had put out for mood lighting, and then walked to the door. She soothed her dress and hair before opening the door with a big smile on her face.

  “Oh, so you are alive,” Kent chuckled in her face, her face falling and sculpting into a look of horror.

  The blonde haired boy continued to chuckle and then stopped suddenly, backhanding her across the face and pushing her inside the apartment, slamming the door behind him as he walked in.

  Olivia stumbled backwards but caught herself, her hand going to her cheek, “What are you doing here?! You live eleven hours away.”

  “Oh so I can’t be concerned about you after you go incognito for an entire day?” he growled.

  Kent then looked around and noticed the candles and wine, and noticed she was dressed up.

  His intense brown eyes jolted to her, “You’re having your little fuckboy over here? Is that why you’ve been ignoring me?” he snarled at her, shoving her again.

  “You’re not my boyfriend, Kent,” Olivia told him, trying to hold her ground with him.

  “What I do is no business of yours. Take me to fucking court if you want! I don’t care anymore! I just want you out of my life! Get out of my apartment.”

  Kent glared at her and then his eyes began to frantically search the room, “Why is that, hm Livie? Is he in here now?” he asked, pushing past her and looking in the living room before heading to her room.

  “No. It’s just me in here, now please leave,” Olivia called to him.

  He wasn’t listening.

  Kent threw her bedroom door open and began to search around the room. Opening her closet doors, he began to shuffle through as if someone was hiding in there, jerking random objects and clothes from it and tossing it to the floor.

  Olivia stood at the door, growing more and more frustrated, and honestly a little afraid of him, “Get out, Kent!” she screamed at him.

  Kent began to flip her bed over instead of just leaning to look under the bed.

  “This is my apartment and my room. You have no right to be here. I’ll call the cops.”

  His eyes darted to her, glaring hard at her. He ran towards her and tackled her into the wall of the small hallway.

  “You’re going to call the cops are you?” he chuckled darkly, his han
ds pinning her to the wall.

  One of Kent’s hands moved from pinning her and grabbed both ends of her scarf and pulled it towards him causing the scarf to tighten around her neck. Olivia could feel the fabric cutting into her neck, it becoming uncomfortable to breathe.

  “Do you forget who you belong to, baby girl? You’re mine,” he growled to her, drawing his face near hers, his lips hovering just above hers. “I think you need to be reminded of that.”

  Kent’s lips were on hers then, kissing her aggressively. He used his body to pin her against the wall, one hand still keeping the scarf tight around her neck as the other one started to drift up her thigh and under her dress. Olivia struggled against him, using both of her hands to try and push him off of her. Of all people to get in a bad relationship with, why did it have to be with a personal trainer?

  Tears began to pour down her face as she continued to try and push him off of her, it growing harder and harder to breathe with sobbing and the fabric tight around her neck. She couldn’t see through her tears, her heart racing. His fingers gripped at the waistband of her panties and began to rip at them when he was suddenly shoved from her. Olivia took in a deep breath of air as the fabric immediately loosened around her neck, coughing a couple of times.

  Blinking rapidly to rid of the tears, she looked to the floor of her bedroom to see Gabriel on top of Kent. He punched Kent in the face repeatedly, each punch making a satisfying thwack sound. After several punches, Olivia could actually hear his cheek bones and teeth breaking. At first, Olivia enjoyed it. Kent had been a nightmare for two months and had just attacked her, he deserved to get his face beaten in. Gabriel stood and dragged Kent to his feet, throwing him into one of the walls of Olivia’s room. When Kent fell to the ground, Gabriel picked him back up and bashed the back of his head repeatedly in the wall. A dangerous and practically murderous energy radiated from Gabriel.

  Suddenly, Olivia recalled the story he had told her about Genevieve and the lord. He hadn’t even known Genevieve when he killed the Duke for her. Kent was an ass, but Olivia didn’t want him to die—especially in her apartment at the hand of her vampire boyfriend. Olivia ran over to Gabriel, placing a hand on his back. At her touch, he stiffened, pausing as he held the other man’s head to the wall.

  Gabriel’s head slowly turned to her, his eyes peering down at her. “I think he’s had enough…” she breathed to him.

  Gabriel snarled a bit, looking back to the man and smacked his head against the wall one more time, letting him fall to the floor. He stood over him long enough to spit down in his face before stepping back and pulling Olivia securely into his arms.

  His face turned to Kent, who was slumped bloody and crying against the wall.

  “Don’t think about calling the cops, kid. I’ll be sure to make sure the cops have a very clear picture of the scene I walked in to and the numerous calls and texts you’ve sent Olivia to harass her. Tell me, do you think they’ll pull in favor of the attempted rapist and stalker, or the boyfriend just protecting his girlfriend?” he questioned him.

  “Try to, and I’ll make sure you don’t make it to the hearing alive,” he spat. “Now get the hell out of here.”

  Kent stared at him with the one good eye he had left, the other already swollen shut. As soon as he barked at him to leave, Kent scrambled to his feet and ran from her room; the slam of the front door sounding in the distance. Olivia buried her face in Gabriel’s chest, letting out a pained sob. His arms were tight around her, his face going into her hair.

  “I’m so sorry, Liv… I should have been here on time… I was held up with the nest, but if I had known—”

  “I didn’t even know,” Olivia sobbed.

  “I opened the door without looking, thinking it was you. He slapped me and shoved me before letting himself in. He started tearing through the apartment, looking for a boy to be with me.”

  “And I should have been here,” he breathed, some animosity in his voice towards himself.

  “I’m so sorry. I swear to you I will never be late again. Are you okay? Did he do anything to you?” he asked, panic coming to his voice as he peeled away from her to get a good look at her.

  “No, you got here before that happened,” Olivia mumbled, her lip quivering. “I can’t believe he would do something like this. He wasn’t always so volatile and mean…”

  “Of course he wasn’t, he had to rope you in,” Gabriel sighed as he looked her over, tilting her chin to get a look at the light bruise starting to form on her cheek.

  “He won’t be bothering you again. If he so much as calls you, I’ll kill him.”

  “Gabriel…” she groaned.

  “I don’t want you to kill anyone for me… But thank you for protecting me. I don’t know what would have happened if you didn’t show up when you did,” she mumbled, leaning back into him.

  He wrapped his arms around her and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. They embraced for a bit, Gabriel wanting to give her time to let her sobs lessen.

  Eventually, he pulled back again and placed his hands on her shoulders, “You go pour yourself a glass of that wine you have chilling for us, and I’m going to clean up in here a bit,” he said, his eyes going to the random items thrown about the room and the overturned bed.

  Olivia wasn’t going to object, she gave a nod and wiped her face before walking out to the kitchen.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Olivia poured herself a big glass of wine, chugging it before pouring another. She just wanted to calm her shaking hands. Why did Kent have to ruin everything? He ruined their relationship, made the breakup messy, harassed her since she left him, and now completely ruined her evening with Gabriel. She finished off the second glass and poured yet another. At least he wouldn’t be back around. With that beaten face and deflated ego, there was no way he would show his face again. So while it had been terrifying, she was glad for it to be finally over.

  Gabriel walked into the kitchen after a few minutes, wrapping an arm around her waist and looking to the bottle of wine which was half empty including the glass in her hand.

  “I see you’ve gotten a head start,” he teased her lightly, kissing her cheek.

  Olivia looked to him, smiling softly, “You called me your girlfriend, to Kent.”

  “Well that’s what you are, right?” Gabriel smiled to her, taking the glass from her hand and stealing a sip of it before handing it back.

  “You never asked me out or anything, so how was I meant to know?” she asked.

  While Olivia was still quite shaken up, she was soothed just by his presence. She felt completely safe in his presence, like no force in the world could get to her. After what had just taken place, she really needed that.

  “How progressive of you,” Gabriel remarked sarcastically.

  “I thought all these modern women were all about being the man and the woman.”

  Olivia hit his chest playfully, “I want to know you want me. I don’t want to lay my heart on the line just to be stomped on.”

  “And what about my heart?” he asked, grabbing her hand and placing it over his heart.

  She could feel the faint heartbeat beneath her hand, her green eyes staying on his silvery hues.

  “Just because it is a couple of thousands of years old means it isn’t as breakable?” he questioned.

  “Well… okay, point taken,” Olivia sighed, not being able to find any reason why he had to be the one to ask her out.

  A slow grin came to his lips and he pulled her into him, setting her wine glass on the table, “Olivia Price, will you be mine?” he asked her, his voice a soft purr.

  She was smiling foolishly, “Yes,” she breathed to him.

  Gabriel leaned his face down, capturing her lips with his. She kissed him back happily, letting her lips move slowly against his. As usual, the kiss ignited a tension between them. Olivia was sure there was something between them, something beyond comprehension. Never in her life had she felt so magnetized to another person lik
e she was to him. He lived in her every thought. And the psychical heat they had between them was undeniable. Sometimes she found herself truly believing she was his reincarnated wife, that fate had finally brought them together.

  Her kiss grew feverish, her body tingling just at his mere kisses. He went slow with her, not wanting to force her into anything she didn’t want to do—but Olivia was sure what she wanted, she wanted him. She pulled him in closer to her, Gabriel’s hands going to rest on the counter behind her. The door opened to the apartment, Gabriel’s head snapping up to see who it was. Emily and Isaac were walking into the apartment with a DVD and bag of snacks in hand.

  “Oh, hey,” Emily smirked, noticing how they were standing and the blush on Olivia’s cheeks.

  “Don’t let us disturb you,” she chuckled, pulling Isaac towards the couch.

  Olivia quickly grabbed Gabriel’s hand and headed towards her room, shutting the door behind them.

  “Are you embarrassed?” Gabriel teased, his hands going to her hip bones.

  “Not of you, but I suppose of being caught making out in the kitchen,” Olivia mumbled.

  “Well,” Gabriel looked around the room, “We’re alone now.”

  Olivia smiled at him, giggling a bit at him before pulling him to the bed and sitting down on the edge with him. Gabriel rested a hand on her leg as she leaned into him and kissed him deeply. He eagerly returned the kiss, his other hand going to the small of her back. She pressed her tongue passed his lips, hearing a quiet groan escape his throat.

  He moved her to lay down on the bed, hovering above her. He unwrapped the scarf from her neck, but his smile faded when he saw the dark bruise which stretched all the way around her neck. Anger flashed through his eyes, but Olivia placed a hand on his face and kissed him again. She didn’t want to keep reliving the events of earlier, she wanted to push past it. And while she wasn’t sure if it was the healthiest way to get over it, Olivia truly did want him.