Gabriel's Mate (26 page)

She pushed against him, freeing herself from his embrace. “He wrote it in her blood.
‘It’s your fault, Maya
.
’
”

Gabriel shivered at the thought of Maya seeing her friend’s dead body, her blood.

“I should have warned Barbara,” she continued blaming herself. “I knew Paulette was dead when I spoke to Barbara.”

He took her chin and made her look at him. “You spoke to her. What did she tell you?”

“I didn’t get a chance to ask her about him. She was called to a Code Blue. I should have never let her go. I should have insisted.”

“It’s not your fault. He killed her because she knew what he looked like. It’s my fault. We should have brought your friends in immediately. I should have known it wasn’t safe for them.” Gabriel cursed himself for his bad planning. Two lives could have been saved if he’d only thought things through. But when it came to Maya, he never thought things through properly. He was too distracted when it came to her.

“She’s still in her house. He hung her on a hook on her bedroom door, like she was a slab of beef. And I didn’t even have the guts to take her down and give her some dignity. I just ran.”

Gabriel stroked softly over her hair and pulled her back into his arms. She buried her head in his chest, her tears soaking his shirt. “I’ll send someone to Paulette’s house.”

Without releasing Maya, he pulled out his cell and speed dialed Yvette’s number. She answered immediately.

“Yvette, I need you to take care of something for me. I want you and Ricky to go to Paulette’s house. She’s Maya’s other friend. She’s dead too.”

“Oh, fuck,” was Yvette’s response.

“Yeah, I know. Comb the place for any evidence. Ricky has the address—he was supposed to find her and find out what she knew about Maya’s stalker. I guess it’s too late for that now.”

“I’m on it.”

He terminated the call. Then he turned back to Maya and gave her a long look. “Maya, I know what happened to your friends is painful for you, and I wish I could give you some time to grieve, but we don’t have that time. To keep you safe, I have to be sure that you trust me one hundred percent, and I know you don’t right now.”

She pushed away from him. “I can’t do this, Gabriel. I can’t think of myself when I know that my friends are dead because of me.”

“You have to stop saying that. It’s what he wants you to believe. He wants to break your spirit, and I won’t allow that. Do you hear me?” He cupped her shoulders and shook her gently. “We will avenge your friends. He will pay for their deaths. I promise you that.”

 “I don’t want to talk right now. Not to you.”

“Then don’t. Just listen to me. What you saw in my bedroom wasn’t what you thought it was.”

Maya tried to pull away from his grip, but he held firm. She would have to listen to him. He needed her trust to keep her safe. And he was prepared to gain that trust even if it meant laying himself bare.

“The woman you saw wasn’t giving me a blowjob. There was nothing sexual about it. She’s a healer.” He paused to give her time to process what he’d said.

Her defiant look finally turned to reluctant curiosity. “What kind of healer?”

“She’s a witch, and I have a problem nobody has been able to solve. But she thinks she can.”

Maya’s gaze dropped to his jeans. “What kind of problem?”

Gabriel cleared his throat. There was really no easy way to say this. How should he phrase it? “It’s a physical thing.” He knew that didn’t explain it, so he tried again. “It has to do with my …” He broke off again. This wasn’t easy at all. How had he ever thought he could come clean and tell her what ailed him when he was scared shitless that she’d leave him if she found out?

“Gabriel. If it’s something physical, you can tell me. I’m a urologist; I deal with men’s reproductive organs all the time.”

Gabriel cringed, but still couldn’t open his mouth.

Maya put her hand on the front of his jeans and jerked at the button. “Well, if you can’t tell me about it, then I’ll have to examine you.”

That jolted him. He imprisoned her hand with his, preventing her from opening his pants. “I don’t want you to see it.”

She pulled her hand out of his and stepped back. “Okay, Gabriel. Here’s the deal: if you can’t tell me what the problem is, I’m just going to have to believe my first assumption is right, and that you cheated on me. In any case, I’ll remain hopping mad at you, and as soon as all this is over, I’ll be out of your life. Is that what you want?”

“No!” The word came out so fast and furious, he surprised himself. He wouldn’t allow her to leave him. He needed her. She was his mate. And besides, had she already forgotten that all she drank was his blood? She would starve without him.

“Fine.” With shaking hands, he opened the button of his jeans. “It’s tormented me. Caused women to recoil from me my whole life. I’ve had this even before I became a vampire. Nothing I’ve tried to get rid of it has worked.”

Gabriel searched her eyes before he continued, “Maya, I want you to know no matter what happens or what you might think of me when you see this, I love you. I had hoped the witch would be able to do something about this, so you wouldn’t have to see it.”

So you wouldn’t leave me like the others.

Slowly, he lowered the zipper and pushed his pants down. As always when in Maya’s presence, his cock was hard, and it tented his boxers. The mass above it felt swollen too. Closing his eyes, he pulled down his underwear and showed himself to her in all his vulnerability.

***

Maya sucked in a gulp of air. For a moment she felt as if time stood still. Gabriel stood in front of her, his naked groin exposed to her. She knew immediately what it had cost him to do this. Without a doubt, he felt horrified right now. She looked back at his face and noticed that his eyes were still closed.

“I’m going to touch you,” she announced calmly. “I won’t hurt you.”

She dropped down to her knees. When she looked at what lay before her eyes, she knew he’d spoken the truth. The witch had been there to help him with his problem. She now also understood why he hadn’t wanted to have sex with her. Even though he could have quite … impressively.

Her gaze fell onto his cock. Proud and erect, it curved slightly upwards, eight inches of hard maleness, perfect and flawless. Its head was almost purple; just further evidence that it was pumped full with blood. Maya reached out and slid her hand along the underside, caressing the velvety skin.

A hiss left Gabriel’s lips.

“I won’t hurt you,” she whispered.

“That’s not what I’m worried about right now. Haven’t you seen enough? Can I get dressed now?”

Maya let a smile curve her lips. “Shh. I’m just examining you, and if you stop me, I will have to shut you up. And I’ll let you imagine how I’m going to accomplish that.” She gave his cock a firm squeeze, making a fist around his hard length. She was sure he could figure out her meaning.

Now that she knew how to control him, she moved her gaze to the area about one inch above the root of his cock. “Don’t move.” She let go of his cock.

The mass of flesh attached to his pelvis just at the edge of his thick thatch of black pubic hair looked red and angry. At first sight, it looked like an oversized mole – a five-inch-long one. Maya estimated the diameter of it to be about one-and-a-half inches. Those-one-and-a-half inches were attached to Gabriel’s lower belly, just the way his cock was.

No wonder he was afraid of rejection: she’d had patients who’d worried about a lot less than what he was dealing with. She’d treated a man who’d had a peanut-size wart on his penis—and the thought of a woman looking at him naked had shaken him so much, he’d started suffering from erectile dysfunction. It had taken him months and the professional help of a psychiatrist to find his confidence again. She could only imagine how this deformity affected Gabriel. Her heart was aching for him.

“I’m going to touch it.”

“Maya, please. You don’t have to do that. It’s—”

But Maya’s fingers were already connecting with the fleshy mass. Then she flinched. Had it moved on its own? “I said don’t move.”

“I didn’t.”

She stared back at the protrusion and ran her fingers along it. The skin appeared wrinkled with folds upon folds, but it also felt smooth and soft. In fact, the texture was similar to that of his cock, except his cock was still fully erect and therefore not wrinkled.

“Does it ever change shape?” she asked him and looked up.

Gabriel’s eyes were open, watching her during her examination. “No. Only, it’s …”

She waited, but he looked away. “It’s what?”

“It’s grown in the last week. It’s getting bigger. Even now it looks bigger than two nights ago.” Their gazes collided.

“Are you sure?”

He nodded.

“Do you know what’s causing it to grow? Have you done anything different in the last week? Anything?”

He shook his head. “No. There’s nothing different in my life. I wake up, I feed, I work, I sleep. That’s all.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, everything is as always, except that you’re here, and you’re feeding from me.”

Maya swallowed. Now that he’d reminded her, she felt her hunger push to the forefront again. “Do you think the change could have something to do with me drinking your blood?”

She sensed him shrug, but didn’t take her eyes off his groin. Something about the growth felt odd. But she couldn’t put her finger on it.

“I’m not sure, but the first time I noticed that it had grown was after you fed from me the first time. You remember, in the study?”

Of course she remembered. How could she forget the way he’d kissed her and pressed himself against her? “Did you also have an erection at the same time?”

She looked up at him and saw a shy smile play around his mouth. “Maya, I have a hard-on whenever I’m around you.”

She tried not to feel too happy about his statement, but couldn’t avoid it. What woman didn’t want to have that kind of effect on the man she wanted? “Maybe it has something to do with you being aroused.”

“No. When I was with other women, it never happened.” He stared at her as if he’d said something wrong. “Long before I met you. I haven’t been with anybody in a long time. And I wouldn’t look at anybody else but you,” he scrambled to add.

She pressed her palm onto his chest and stopped him. “Gabriel, we all have a past. You haven’t been with anyone since you and I … since we …” Now she was the one who couldn’t say the words.

“Made love?” he helped and placed his palm over her hand.

Maya locked eyes with him. “Yes. I know that now. That there was nothing going on with the witch. I’m sorry I couldn’t trust you before.” She rose. “Now you can get dressed. Unless …” She paused. “…you don’t want to.”

She needed to affirm life, to forget the things she’d seen tonight. Life was so short, and sometimes the only thing one could do was grab onto what was right in front. Take what was there while it was there. What would happen in a few hours, a few days? She realized that nothing should ever be postponed, because there might never be another chance.   

Gabriel looked at her and touched her cheek with his palm. “As much as I would love for both of us to get naked right now, it wouldn’t be right. You’re kind not to have run away screaming, but no woman wants to be fucked by me, not while I have this.”

Maya clamped her hand onto the back of his neck and pulled him closer until their lips were only a fraction of an inch from each other. “You listen to me now, Gabriel. I will decide who fucks me, and I won’t let your misplaced sense of shame get in the way of that. Whatever this is, we’ll deal with it.”

“You don’t understand. It can’t be removed. I’ve tried surgery. It grows back.”

She brushed her lips against his and felt his erection poke her stomach. “Do you want me?”

“Of course I want you.”

“Then we’ll figure it out. If you want to wait, that’s fine, but watch your back, because one day you’ll find yourself in a prone position and I’ll be right there taking what I want. I figure as a vampire I’m strong enough to rip your clothes off and ride you until you come. And frankly, I won’t care if you sprouted a tail as long as you have a hard-on to impale me with.”

Her last words were just a whisper against his lips. She felt his breath rush out of him before he took her mouth and kissed her. A moment later, she found herself without ground under her feet, suspended in Gabriel’s strong arms, pressed flush against his still half-naked body. She could only hope that nobody would enter the living room or they would get an eyeful of Gabriel’s naked backside.

Maya slid her hands down toward said backside. When she dug her fingers into his firm flesh, he moaned into her mouth and intensified his kiss. She’d never seen him this passionate, not even when he’d satisfied her after she’d been in heat. It was almost as if some restraint in him had burst and he was finally allowing himself to do what he wanted.

She tore her mouth away from his to breathe. “I want you now. I don’t want to wait.”

His eyes were dark, staring back at her with disbelief. “Maya, please don’t toy with me.”

She freed herself, but only to open her own pants and pull them down. “I’m not toying with you.” As soon as she’d stepped out of her jeans—and it was fast, given her vampire speed—she pulled him close again. “Fuck me, now.” She knew if she waited any longer she’d burn up. She needed him inside her now, and she didn’t care about anything else.

“Baby,” Gabriel whispered against her lips and shifted them. A moment later, he pressed her against the wall. “Next time, we’ll do it like civilized people. But right now—” His hand went to her panties and with one swift move, he ripped them off her. “—right now, I want you fast and hard.”

***

Gabriel gave her no time to let his words sink in, but pinned her with his body and spread her legs apart.  For a second, he held himself completely still and looked at Maya’s expressive eyes where he saw desire glow back at him. Even after what she’d seen, she still wanted him. She hadn’t rejected him, she hadn’t run, and most of all, she trusted him.

How this was possible, he didn’t know. He recognized her need to forget the pain she felt, but that couldn’t be everything. It couldn’t be the reason she allowed him to take her. No, when he looked into her eyes he saw more than just desire and passion. He saw affection.