Falling into Exposure (5 page)

“Well, aren’t you just a little firecracker.” He laughs darkly.

I try to wriggle away from him, but he presses the knife deeper into my skin.

“Move one inch and I’ll slit your fucking throat bitch.”

“Get off!” I scream.

I hear scuffling coming from where Gabriel was, but I can’t see him. Tears are streaming down my face as I plead with the man to let him go.

“Shut up, bitch!” the man hisses into my ear. He’s holding me with an iron-clad grip, and a small trickle of blood runs down my neck from where he’s cut me.

Then, from the corner of my eye, I see him.
Gabriel.
Rising up from the ground like something out of a horror movie. His head is bloody and his blue shirt is ripped. His jaw is clenched as he stomps towards me, the other man’s body slumped on the ground behind him.

I squeeze my eyes shut as he rips the man off me, throwing him like a ragdoll to the ground. The man whimpers in pain as Gabriel lunges on top of him, pummeling him relentlessly with his fists. He’s long past unconscious at this point, but Gabriel isn’t stopping.

“Gabriel!” I scream from behind him, but he doesn’t seem to be hearing me. I walk cautiously into his line of sight, yelling again. “Gabriel! Stop, please. You’re going to kill him.”

My voice finally seems to register. He glances up at me, his eyes blazing, and in one swift movement, he pounces. His hands grip my waist, pushing me back against the wall. His eyes burn intensely in the soft glow of the street lamp with an emotion I don’t recognize.

His jaw is still clenched, his chest heaving with angry breaths. I don’t dare move as he leans into me, kissing me roughly. He sucks and bites at my lips until I taste some of my own blood on my tongue. And then he pulls back, giving me a heated stare.

“Mine,” he growls.

I have no idea what’s come over him, but he looks as though he’s in physical pain. He’s panting hard and fast, his eyes searching my face desperately. I can’t be sure if it’s the cut on his head or what almost happened to me.

“Yes, Gabriel.” I stroke his mussed hair away from his face.

“Say it!” he commands.

“I’m yours,” I whimper. “Only yours, Gabriel.”

He closes his eyes and presses his forehead to mine. I inhale the familiar comforting scents of Bergamot and Sandalwood that I’ve come to love. And then he pulls away from me, running his finger along the cut on my neck. As he leans closer, I see the bloody knot on the back of his head.

“Are you ok?” he asks, concern marring his brow.

“Gabriel!” I admonish. “I’m not the one bleeding from the head. We need to get you to a hospital!”

He shakes his head, his eyes still blazing. “No, I’m taking you home.” And before I can protest further, he bends to scoop me up in his arms. As volatile as he is right now I decide not to argue. He carries me all the way back to my apartment, not even bothering to call the cops.

Once we’re inside, he carries me to the bathroom. Without saying a word, he sets me down on the counter and turns on the shower. He undresses me first, inspecting my body with careful precision, cringing at the bruises on my arms. But it’s the blood on my neck that really sets him off.

“Dammit, Victoria, when I tell you to do something, you fucking do it!”

I cross my arms and shoot back an angry glare.

“I’m not a kid, Gabriel. You don’t get to talk to me like that.”

And then, to my surprise, he leans in and closes his arms around me tightly.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers in my ear. “I wanted to fucking kill them. Seeing his hands all over you like that, hurting you, it nearly sent me over the edge.”

I relax into him and my anger disappears. “I’m sorry too, Gabriel. I was so scared for you, I couldn’t think straight.”

I choke up at the memory, and the tears come unbidden down my cheeks as I continue.

“I took you there. It was my idea to walk, and if we hadn’t done that, this never would have happened. I just wanted to protect you.”

He pulls back and cups my face in his hands, wiping away my tears in the process. “It’s my job to protect you, sweetheart. And it’s not your fault, I should have known better than to walk in this neighborhood at night.” He pauses for a moment to search my eyes. “That’s why I don’t fucking like you living here.”

I look down at the floor, ashamed with myself. It doesn’t matter what he says, I put his life in danger tonight. I can’t believe how stupid I was.

“And I hate to break it to you, little one,” he teases, “but you’ve got no street smarts. If you hadn’t tried to attack them, they probably would have just let you go. I could have given them the money and saved us both a whole lot of heartache.”

I look up at him defiantly. “I would never leave you in that kind of situation to fend for yourself, Gabriel. They were hurting you.”

He smiles at my protectiveness and kisses me softly on the nose as he lifts me off the counter.

“C’mon Rocky, I want to wash this night off of you.”

In the shower, I lather my hands and gently clean the cut on Gabriel’s head. I massage his body as I wash him, stopping to kiss his chest and back during the process. When I’m done, he gives me the same treatment, careful not to hurt me. The bruises are much more visible now, and he grunts as he traces soft circles over them.

Once we’re both clean, he dries me off with a towel and carries me into my bedroom. There’s no question about him staying tonight, and I feel happy that I don’t even have to ask.

He pulls me close to him and kisses me without any roughness this time. My skin heats to his touch, the longing between my legs returning. I kiss him everywhere I can reach, the thought of almost losing him a powerful new aphrodisiac.

But he pulls away abruptly, shattering my lust induced haze.

“Victoria, you were just attacked,” he says sternly.

“I’m fine,” I whisper. “I want you… more than anything else in this world, I want you.” I know how desperate and breathy my words sound, but I don’t care.

He stares down into my eyes for a few moments and then leans in to kiss me again. His hands find my breasts, and I arch into him, silently begging for more. To my surprise, he picks me up and places me on top of him, straddling his massive erection. I don’t argue. I reach greedily for his cock, pushing him inside me as I moan with pleasure.

I want to tell him how I feel. The words are right there on the tip of my tongue. But I’m afraid, so I show him what I can’t say. I rock my hips back and forth while I place soft kisses along his chest, worshipping his body.

He thrusts into me slowly, gently. Nothing like the sex we had at the office today. It’s sweet and tender. He takes his time, making sure my needs are met before he finds his own release. And then he rolls me to my side, wrapping his arms around me as we both fall asleep.

Chapter Eight

Victoria

I wake to blazing heat, a thick cloud of smoke all around me. The temperature is overwhelming, and my skin feels as though it’s melting right off my body. I try to sit up, but my head protests and my vision blurs. I put my hand in my hair and feel blood. So much blood. I scream out for someone to rescue me. But there is nobody. I’m alone, more alone than I’ve ever felt, and I realize I have to get myself out. But as I crawl, my lungs fill with acidic smoke. I feel as if I’m suffocating….

“Victoria!”

Screams in the distance.
Are they coming to rescue me?
  I still as the fire rages behind me, engulfing everything I’ve ever known along with it.

“Victoria, wake up dammit!” I kick in protest.
Someone is dragging me back into the fire.

Shaking. My body is shaking. My eyes fly open and I gasp for air. Gabriel is standing above me, angry.
It was just a nightmare.
Just a nightmare...

“What the fuck was that?” he growls.

I shake my head. “Not now, Gabriel. Please.”

Anger flashes through his eyes, and he takes a calming breath before speaking again.

“Victoria, I’m worried about you… I’ve never seen anything like that. Please tell me what that was about. I can’t stand that you’re hiding all these secrets from me.”

I curl my head into my knees and take a breath. He’s right, it isn’t fair to him. But I’ve been doing it for so long, I don’t know how to stop. I don’t know how to pick and choose what to tell him. And I don’t really trust myself not to break down and confess everything like I almost did tonight. But I know that if we continue on like this, he will resent me for it.

“Sit down, please.” I pat the space on the bed next to me.

Gabriel does as I ask, rubbing his hand along my back for reassurance as I steady my breath. “When I was sixteen, I almost died in a house fire. My childhood home burned to the ground, and I barely made it out in time. I have nightmares about it sometimes, and I’m sorry that you had to see it.”

He takes a deep breath, watching me carefully. “Tell me what happened.”

“I don’t exactly know, I was unconscious when the fire started.”

It isn’t really a lie, I was actually unconscious. I still have no idea how Eleanore started the fire.

Gabriel narrows his eyes, not buying my words for a second. “In other words, you mean you know, but you won’t tell me any more.”

He’s clearly frustrated with me, and I hate myself for it. “Gabriel, I’m sorry. There are just some things I can’t tell you. It’s not because I don’t want to, you have to believe that. It’s for your own protection. It’s just not safe for me to tell anybody.”

His jaw tenses, and I close my eyes waiting for him to erupt. I’m sure this is going to be it. He couldn’t possibly want to be with me when I refuse to tell him the truth. But after a moment his hands are on my face again, gently cupping my chin.

“Look at me,” he whispers.

I open my eyes and his face relaxes, along with my own.

“Look, Victoria, I don’t know what happened in your past, but I want to. I can see you aren’t ready to tell me yet, and I don’t like it, but I accept it for now. I just hope that someday soon you’ll realize you can trust me.”

“I do trust you.” My voice cracks as I shake my head. “Please don’t think that I don’t.”

“Shhh, baby.” He pulls me back down onto his chest. “Let’s go to sleep now and only have good dreams okay?”

***

The next morning, Gabriel’s spot on the bed is empty. I roll over and feel a sharp sting of pain on my arm. When I look down, I find the bruises have worsened while I slept. So much for trying to forget the events of last night.

I sit up and swing my feet over the edge of the mattress, standing up like a zombie. I need to find Gabriel.

When I open my bedroom door, I can hear Alanna talking to someone in the kitchen as I shuffle down the hall.

Gabriel is leaning up against the counter, waiting for a pot of coffee to brew. Alanna is sitting at the kitchen table talking his ear off about Nathan. They both turn and look at me as I approach.

“What the hell!” Alanna shoots up and stomps across the kitchen, grabbing me by the arm to inspect my bruise.

“Who did this to you?” she demands.

“Alanna.” I shake her hand off my arm. “I’m fine. It’s Gabriel I was worried about, look at his head. We were attacked last night, walking home from dinner.”

“Oh my God,” she gasps. “Are you serious? What happened?”

I walk towards Gabriel and curl into his arms. He leans down and kisses me, stroking my back as I explain.

“It happened so fast.” I shudder, remembering the thud as Gabriel fell to the ground in front of me. “Two men came up behind us and hit him in the head with something. They were trying to rob us.”

I look up at Gabriel for reassurance, and he pulls me closer. “And then I made it worse,” I mumble.

“What? How?” Alanna asks.

“She was trying to help,” Gabriel interjects. “But one of them turned on Victoria and attacked her.”

“Oh my God, Toto!” Alanna lunges forward and pulls me into a bear hug. “Attacked you how? Did he touch you? I swear to God if someone else hurt you like that again…”

I cringe as Gabriel shoots Alanna a questioning glance. She realizes her mistake immediately and silently begs me for forgiveness.

“What do you mean?” he asks in a low voice. “Again?”

“I’m fine.” I groan in frustration. “Everybody just needs to relax. Nothing happened and I don’t want to talk about it anymore.” 

“I’m sorry,” Alanna whispers.

Gabriel pulls me back to him, enclosing me in his arms. I can tell he’s irritated by another secret, but there isn’t much I can do about that.

“I know you said you’re fine,” he says stiffly. “But you might not feel that way later. I don’t want you being left alone for a while.”

“I can guarantee you she will not be left alone,” Alanna assures him.

“I don’t need to be babysat.” I scold them both.

“Well, it won’t be for long anyway,” Gabriel announces. “I want to take you away for the weekend. We can leave tonight, just as soon as I’ve wrapped up some loose ends at work.”

“What?” I blink in surprise. “But Alanna…”

Alanna holds up her hand. “No, Victoria. Don’t worry about me. I can stay with Nathan. And I think you should go, it would be good to get away for a couple days.” She looks at Gabriel sternly. “As long as you promise to take care of her.”

“Always.” He smiles, kissing me on the temple.

“But where will we go?” I ask nervously.

“I have a place, it’s only a couple hours from here. Nobody knows I have it. It will just be you and me for the weekend.”

I can’t stop the grin from creeping across my face. That sounds blissful.

***

Gabriel leaves a couple hours later after making me promise that I wouldn’t go to work today. He arranges to pick me up at 5:00 pm sharp this evening and tells me to pack light, whatever that means. He has no clue how women work.

Alanna has been following me all over the apartment like a puppy dog, driving me crazy. So I have a long hot shower just to get some peace. When I get out I ask her if she wants to go shopping with me since I want to get a couple things for this weekend.

As we walk down the street, I start to relive last night’s events and my stomach churns.
Maybe Gabriel was right.
I’m glad he was so overprotective this morning, and even more thankful that Alanna is by my side.

“I still can’t get over what happened to you last night, Toto.”

“I know,” I croak. “It was scary. I was so worried about Gabriel… I couldn’t see what was happening to him, and I didn’t know if he was okay or not.”

“God, I can just imagine.”

“I feel guilty,” I whisper.

“Why? Toto, this wasn’t your fault? How could you think that?”

“Because it was my fault,” I insist. “I wouldn’t let him choose the restaurant because I was worried about a photographer spotting him with me. So I chose, and then I told him we could walk. If it wasn’t for me, we would have never been there. And if that wasn’t enough, I acted stupidly under the circumstances, just making the whole situation worse.”

Alanna stops in her tracks, pulling me to a halt.

“No. I won’t let you do this.” She stares at me intently. “This is absolutely not your fault, Victoria. They were just really shitty circumstances that you couldn’t control. You had no way of knowing, and quite frankly it could happen to anyone, anywhere in this city. You acted the best way you knew how in the situation, and I don’t think you were stupid at all. You were trying to protect the man you care about.”

I nod sheepishly, trying to hold back the tears. I’m so sick of crying. I don’t want to cry anymore.

We walk on in silence for a few more moments before Alanna speaks again. “I’m really sorry about my slip up earlier Toto. I didn’t mean to say that in front of Gabriel, I was just so worried I wasn’t thinking straight.”

“It’s okay,” I reassure her. “I just hope he won’t be interrogating me about it later.”

We spend nearly three hours shopping. I end up with two silky camisoles and some new lace panties for the weekend. I buy a small bottle of jasmine massage oil and a new baby blue tie for Gabriel. I liked the color on him, and I hate that his new shirt got ruined.

Alanna insists on treating me to a pedicure, saying it’s very important to have pretty feet on these kinds of trips. We stop for coffee and dessert on the way home, and that manages to kill most of the day. By the time we get back to the apartment, I have just enough time to pack and throw on some warm clothes before Gabriel arrives.

Once we’ve ensured Alanna arrives safely at Nathan’s apartment, courtesy of Paul, Gabriel and I head downstairs. I half expect another driver to be waiting at the curb but am shocked when all I see is a sleek black motorcycle.

“Is this what we’re taking?” I turn to him excitedly. The thought of him riding that has my panties soaking wet already.
The bad boy has returned.

“You’ve got it, baby.” He winks. “You’re gonna’ have to hold on tight.”