A Dominant Fallen (A Dominant Series Book 2) (18 page)

“I really missed us, too, Hunt. I was lost without you. I don’t think I realized how much I loved you until I didn’t have you anymore. I hadn’t realized how truly lucky I was to have a man who was willing to give up everything for me. I’m sorry I didn’t let you know then.”

“Oh, Gabrielle, you did. I know…”

“No, you don’t…I love you, Damian Nathaniel Hunt. I never want to be without you again, ever.”

He smiles the softest crooked smirk. His eyes are bright and fixed on mine.

“I love you, Gabrielle Sophia Hyde, and I always will.”

We talk late into the night before falling asleep in each other’s arms.

I
awaken with a sharp pain in my heart and panic rising in my throat. I’m depressed. I’m scared. I’m confused. But, it all ceases an instant later when Hunt’s gentle breath blows across my face, reminding me that I’m back at The Artemis with him. He’s lying on his side with an arm flung over my waist, mouth slack, and face peaceful. I watch him for a moment, admiring how beautiful he really is.

I’m thanking the heavens for having him back in my life when his eyes open, awake, alert. It startles me, as if I’ve been caught. A smile creeps across his lips, pleased by my reaction to him, to his presence, to his all-knowing gaze.

“Good morning, Hyde. Did you sleep well?” The cocky grin on his face makes me want to poke him in the gut, but I know I would just end up with a sore finger and perhaps a tender rump.

“Yes, thank you, Hunt. You?” I ask with a tilted brow and a suspicious tone. He laughs uproariously, rolling onto his back with his hand over his youthful face. “Jerk!”

He stops laughing and stares at me, startled for a second, then notices my smile.

“Jerk, am I?” He gets that mischievous gleam in his eye and I gasp. His hands go flying at my sides, and his fingers attack, tickling and gently poking.

“No, stop!” I yelp, squirming and attempting to shove him away. He laughs at my pleas, going in for my neck with his mouth, nibbling and licking. I try to tuck my neck into my shoulders, but it’s useless. “Mercy! Mercy! I give up!”

He ceases, lifting his face up to stare down at me. The satisfied smirk on his face is really endearing and annoying at the same time.

“You just love torturing me, don’t you? You just love watching me beg for mercy.” I tease with a mock angry face.

“You have no idea,” he retorts with his cocky smirk firmly in place.

“Oh, I think I do.”

“You look very beautiful in the morning, your eyes heavy with sleep, and a fresh glow in your skin. You are quite simply the most exquisite thing I’ve ever possessed.”

“You always know just what to say.” I smile up at him, and he comes down on my lips, kissing me until I become drunk on him.

I
t’s my first day back at work since…We’re silently riding the private elevator up to my floor. I’m terrified out of my mind because I know I’ll have to confront Chase today.

“Will you have lunch with me today?”

I want to tell him I can’t, but we’ve been apart for so long, and I’m already dreading leaving him.

“Yes,” I reply, gazing up at him, “I would love to.”

I notice we’re about to hit my floor and pucker my lips, seeking a last kiss. He grabs me and pulls me into him, mashing his mouth onto mine. He takes it with a vengeance and doesn’t stop when the door opens for my office.

Fuck it.

I kiss him back with the same desperation and need, feeding his desire. We break but cling to one another, breathless and wanting. We glance into the front lobby of View, and there, waiting at the elevator is Olivia, stunned and furious. I spot Kat grinning stupidly at me from behind her desk.

I look up at Hunt, unsure of what to do. He just stares her down with a look of contempt that causes me to shiver in his warm embrace, catching his attention.

“Olivia,” he greets her coldly.

The look of rage on her face seems to subside as she remembers her current standing with the Montgomery’s and Hunt.

“Damian,” she replies with a small voice.

“That’s more like it,” he snarls, glaring at her, but quickly changes his tone to nearly a gentle whisper when he looks back at me to say, “Come, angel. I’ll walk you to your office.”

He snatches my hand, yanks me out of the elevator, and heads back into the main office space. I stare at Kat and call out as he pulls me back, “We’ll talk in a bit.”

“Ok, darlin’!” she calls back.

We walk through the office, me skipping to keep up as usual, and zip past Chase’s office. It’s so rapid; I can’t even glance in to see if he’s there. Though, knowing Hunt, he probably fired him already.

We make it to my office in the back, just under Hunt’s, and he escorts me inside, shutting the door behind us. “Will you be alright, Gabrielle? You don’t have to come back to work just yet. I can set you up at The Artemis and you may work from there if it would make you more comfortable.”

“No, it’s a lovely offer, but I miss the interaction with people, and it will keep my mind occupied. Plus, you’re here. I want to be close to you.”

“Let me rephrase that, I can set us up back at The Artemis, and we’ll come back to the office later, when you’re ready.”

“I’m ready now. Besides, do you think we would get any work done if we were together?”

A lopsided smirk crooks the corner of his mouth up. “No, probably not…Good point.”

“Look, if I can’t handle the whole day, I will let you know. Okay?”

“Promise?”

“Yes, I promise.”

“Excellent. I’ll see you at lunch, then?”

“Yes, lunch, you and me.”

He kisses me one more time before exiting and disappearing into the hustling flow of people rushing about the office. I already miss him.

A
n hour later, I’m at my desk going over spreads, when I hear a light rapping at the door. I look up hoping to find Hunt, unable to stay away from me for another moment, but, instead, I find Chase with two coffees and a chocolate croissant in hand.

I stare at him for a moment like a deer in headlights, too stunned to say anything.

“May I come in, Ellie?”

“If you must,” I retort, finally mustering up the nerve to speak. He steps inside and shuts the door behind him.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” I ask with a tone.

“Gabrielle, I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I ever made a move. I’m sorry that I took advantage of your situation. It wasn’t my intention. You must know I would never do anything to purposely hurt you, but I love you, and I couldn’t take not having you for another second…”

“Whoa, hold on. Take a breath and have a seat. Let’s take it one sentence at time. You’re making me dizzy.” I place my hands at my temples and he laughs, taking a seat.

“Oh lord, I missed you, Ellie,” he confesses with a huge, teeth-bearing grin, but it fades when he pleads, “Please say you forgive me. I can take you not loving me back, but I can’t take not having you in my life. You’re my best friend, Ellie girl.”

“Of course I forgive you,” I sigh out, leaning back in my chair. “I don’t want you out of my life, Chase…Besides, you aren’t totally to blame. I kissed you back. I invited it. I led you on…”

I move back in, taking his hands on the desk in mine. “I suppose there will always be a part of me that loves you as more than a friend, but it’s because you were my first real boyfriend, and you were an amazing one at that. However, I’ve come to depend on you as a friend, a brother. We’re soul mates, Chase, just not the lover kind. Can you understand that? Could you truly be okay with that?”

He clenches my hands in his and stares at me with those pleading topaz eyes. “Yes, Ellie, I miss you. I want my best friend back.”

I feel tears burning my eyes, and I jump up, meeting him around the desk for a long, tight embrace.

“Thank you,” I murmur from his chest.

“For what, doll?”

“Thank you for telling Hunt, for being my friend when I needed one most, for protecting me when no one else would. Thank you for being my rock for all these years.”

“I’ll always be your rock, Ellie. I’ll never let you down again…ever.” He holds me tighter and sways us back and forth, rubbing my back until my tears subside.

We split and smile at one another fondly. “I’m so glad we’re friends again. I’ve missed you so much, and there’s so much to tell you.”

“Want to grab a drink after work?” I shoot him a look. “Oh, come on, Ellie. I won’t try anything. I already promised you I wouldn’t.”

I shrug and nod my head. “I think we can grab a drink. Where should we go?”

“What about our regular spot?” He grabs my coffee and my chocolaty treat off the desk, handing them to me. “I could drop you off at home after.”

“Yeah…” I utter, taking them happily. “I don’t live there anymore. I gave it to Maya. I mean, it’s still mine, but I won’t be living there anymore.”

The expression on his face speaks volumes. “Oh.” The disappointment in his voice kills me.

“Chase, I thought we were moving past all this.” I shoot him a do-we-have-to-go-through-this-again look

“Uh, no, it’s not that, doll. If you’re living with him, things will change. We won’t be able to hang out or go places like we used to.”

“Who the hell says?”

“Come on, Ellie. Damian hates me. He will never let you spend time with me, especially, alone.”

“Let me?” I ask, annoyed. “He doesn’t
let
me do anything. I decide what I do and who I see.”

“But, I thought he was your Master or whatever.” He emphasizes ‘whatever’ with a sweeping hand gesture.

I blush; suddenly shy about the details I divulged to him. “Yes, he is, but it isn’t like that. I’m not his slave.”

“But, you believe he’ll be okay with it?” he asks with genuinely concerned expression. He’s never cared about Hunt’s opinion before.

“Well, he won’t be thrilled, but he’ll get over it.”

“So, drinks, then?” he inquires with a face-splitting grin and his amber eyes lit with joy.

“Yeah, sounds great. I’ll meet you up at your office after work.”

“Oh, so, he didn’t tell you.”

“Tell me what?” I ask with a searching look.

“He promoted me. I took over your work while you were gone…My office is right next to yours.”

“He promoted you?” I hear the astonishment in my voice.

“Yeah, when I came back after the funeral, there was a note informing me of my new position, etc.,” he explains.

“Wow…I mean, wow.” I don’t know what to say. I’m speechless.

“Yeah, well, I better get back to it.” He gestures his thumb at the door behind him. “I’ll come to your office at five.”

“Alright, see you then.” I wave him off.

A
t eleven-fifty, I finish-up my morning projects and gather my things. I’m walking out of my office when I receive a text from Hunt.

To:
Elle

From:
Hunt

EMERGENCY MEETING. WILL CALL AFTER.

Received:

Mon. May 12, 2014 11:54AM

Emergency meeting? Whenever he uses emergency, I know it’s not good. The question is with whom is this emergency meeting? Olivia? No, I don’t think he would blow me off for her. Vanessa? With her sudden appearance in his life, I wouldn’t be surprised. Marlena? She has yet to make her presence known to me.

I find myself becoming aggravated with all of his secretive behavior and shady phone calls. I’m tired of being kept in the dark. I can’t take it anymore. I won’t.

I leave my things at my desk and march toward the front lobby where I find Banks waiting for me.

“What are you doing here?” I ask with a slight attitude then catch myself. “I’m sorry, Liam. I’m just on edge…What can I do for you?”

“Mr. Hunt asked me to bring lunch to you and Mr. Cahill.”

“How did he…? Never mind. I don’t want to know. I won’t need it, but I’m sure Chase would really appreciate it. I believe you know where his office is located.”

I don’t wait for him to respond. I walk past him and into the elevator as someone gets off. It takes only a few seconds to make it up to his office. I walk into the main lobby and the receptionist isn’t at her post. I take the opportunity to sneak in and past the countless rows of desks until I arrive at his private reception area where his personal assistant, Rebecca, is banging away at her computer. She looks up from her work, a confused look springing onto her face and her mouth flopping open.

“Miss Hyde? Is Mr. Hunt expecting you?”

“No,” I reply as I stride toward his door. “I hope this doesn’t get you in trouble.”

I open it up and step through, ready to rip him a new one. I stomp inside, but I’m halted in my tracks by the devastatingly handsome man with Hunt, lounging in his sitting area. This is not what I was expecting.