by T. L Smith
“We will discuss this later.”
“No, we won’t. This is not up for any sort of discussion.”
“I already have a buyer for it,” he says shocking me even more.
Someone taps on a mic out in the courtyard, and they say our names.
My feet are glued to the ground. “That won’t happen. It won’t happen,” I say shaking my head.
“Everly,” he says my name.
“Don’t you Everly me, you asshole. This isn’t a marriage where you dictate every damn thing. Did you miss that part of the contract where it states we are a team?”
He’s angry now and leans forward so he’s breathing on me. “Don’t you fuck me off, wife. You won’t like the outcome.”
“Fuck you!” I spit at him.
Our names are called again.
We both turn as people begin to look our way. I go to turn away, but his strong hand reaches for me, pulling me to his side as he yanks me through the doors and into the courtyard where everyone’s standing waiting to greet us.
When we reach our table, May gives me a puzzled look, and as I go to speak to her, he pulls me back so I’m glued to his side.
“Welcome, Mr. and Mrs. Reid.”
Everyone claps and neither of us smile. I spot Alec out at one of the tables drinking. He tips his glass to me and I offer him a small smile.
Gunner notices and grips me tighter, so tight it hurts me. “Stay away from him, Everly.”
“Fuck you, Gunner!” He huffs and doesn’t let go. “You’re hurting me, let me fucking go.”
Of course, he doesn’t.
What a wedding day.
21
Your wedding day is meant to be the happiest day of your life, and it started out that way. It was magical until it wasn’t. I made him promises I cannot break, not because I’m afraid of him, but because I don’t break promises. No one in our family does. It’s all about family honor. We abide by our promises like they’re a contract. It’s simply who we are as a family.
We sit there quietly through most of the serving of the food, and May looks at me every now and then, begging me with her eyes to tell her something, anything. But now is not the time. She isn’t his biggest fan, and if I told her he wanted me to quit work with no negotiation, she would for sure dislike him completely. And I need her. She is my someone, my person, the one I go to for almost everything. Just maybe not this. Not yet anyway.
“Why haven’t you smiled?” she asks as a dessert is placed in front of us.
Gunner overhears her and tenses beside me.
“I am smiling.” I force one, but she knows. She isn’t stupid.
“This has just gone so…” She doesn’t continue but I know how she feels. May stands, taps her glass, and Gunner looks at me but I won’t look his way.
Everyone quietens as the toasts start.
“I wanted to thank you all for being here today. Everly is a woman who’s much more than a friend to me, she’s the sister I never had. And I’m happy for her, I truly am, that she has found someone who makes her happy.” Her eyes direct to Gunner. May’s fake-smiling at him. “I hope you will continue to make her happy, from this day until your last, because if you don’t, I just want you to know that I know how to kill someone without evidence.” She winks at him while everyone laughs, but I wonder if what she’s saying is true, or if she means it. “Let’s raise a glass to them. May they live happily in this life as well as the next.” When she leans down and kisses my cheek, she whispers softly so Gunner can’t hear, “I will kill him for you, I want you to know that. Google is a very powerful tool.”
I laugh and kiss her cheek. She nods to Gunner, who when I turn around to look, is watching us with his dark broody eyes while both of his hands lie on the table next to his uneaten food.
Gunner stands and everyone goes silent, then he turns to face me lifting a glass in the air. “The only people I’ve loved in my life died many years ago,” he starts. I turn to see his grandmother at the table wiping a tear from her cheek. I didn’t know she could cry, she seems so self-contained, so rigid in the way she conducts herself. “But thanks to contracts and possibilities, I have found a woman who will be by my side for the rest of my life. Till death do us part. I envy the ground you walk on, the seat you sit on, because when you’re somewhere else my heart goes with you. And you should always be with me, my love, in this life, as well as our next.” He pins me with his stare as he sits.
The music starts to play, and they announce it’s time to do the wedding dance.
“Ev.” May nudges me.
Gunner and I stand at the same time. My hand slides into his as we walk to the dance floor. I feel all eyes on us, and I hold myself to him as he grips me tightly. We start moving, slowly rocking back and forth. His head drops to the crook of my neck and it stays there.
“I do love you, Everly.” His voice sends shivers all over my body.
I don’t reply.
“And I know you love me. This ride of ours will last a lifetime. Don’t be upset, my love. Many more things are to come that will make you mad.” His head lifts and he touches my face.
“Don’t you want me happy?” I ask, confused by his words. The hand on my face strokes ever so slightly. To everyone else it looks like an act of devotion, love, tenderness. How wrong they are.
“I want you to be wherever I am, so we both succeed. I don’t share, and you’re not something I could ever share anyway. You are mine, my dear.”
“And you are mine,” I say back through gritted teeth. “Can I not do what I choose?”
Gunner smirks at my words, his hand dropping back to my waist. “To an extent. You are my world now. And when you’re in my world you will see things, feel things, that may upset you, Everly. I won’t be like your father and shield you, you will see what it’s like.”
“I don’t want you to shield me, Gunner.”
He leans forward then kisses my lips softly. “Good, because I shall do no such thing.” He kisses my lips again. “Now tell me, wife. Tell me you love me.”
“I love you,” I say blindly.
Because I do.
No matter what, I will always love him.
Even when I’m mad at him.
That’s the scary part about loving a mad man.
“Oh dear, aren’t you just a breath of fresh air.” His grandmother grips my hand in hers and they are stone-cold just like her. She lets go when I don’t grip back and sits in her seat. “Tell me, did you wear black because you think this is a funeral?”
I smile at her words. “No. Simply because I can.”
She laughs. “You obviously don’t know Gunner very well if you think you can get away with much.”
“I can do as I please, Miss Reid. Now, if you will excuse me.”
She nods her head, watching me with the same dark eyes that are Gunner’s. Hers, though, are much darker, more sinister if that’s possible.
Walking away, I spot Alec at the bar drinking from a crystal glass, and when I tap his shoulder he turns around and smiles at me.
“You are truly beautiful today, squirt.”
I blush at his words. “Thanks, Alec,” I reply leaning in to hug him.
He hugs me back, but not the same way he normally would, this one is much more reserved. Pulling away, he looks over my shoulder. “Your guard is here,” he says in a tone he’s never used with me before.
I spin around to see Gunner making his way over to us.
“Alec,” Gunner says.
“Gunner.” Alec nods.
“You two were once friends. Have you both forgotten about that?” I ask looking between them. Neither one pays me any attention. “Okay, Alec, would you like to dance with me?”
Alec looks at me, but Gunner pulls me back to him.
“I wouldn’t consider her offer if I was you.”
“You don’t frighten me, Gunner. You might scare everyone else in this room but not me.”
Gunner laughs from behind me, and
I feel the vibration running through my chest. “Don’t be a fool. I let you come today by the grace of Everly. That invitation can easily be revoked.”
Alec’s eyes flick to mine. “I’ll decline your offer tonight, squirt, but remember what I told you,” he says referring to the time he talked about if I need to get away I should call him. “I’ll see you later.”
“You won’t,” Gunner says turning and taking me with him.
“Why are you always so rude to him?”
He totally ignores me, and before we can walk any farther, we’re stopped by the announcement that we have to cut the cake. “Fucking hell, when will this shit be over?”
I throw him a harsh look, one he ignores, and he pulls me to the cake.
People gather around and I put on a fake smile. But inside I’m wanting to tear him to pieces.
“You’re ruining my wedding,” I hiss at him.
“Our wedding, and it wouldn’t be ruined if you listened,” he says back under his breath. If I could cut him with the knife that is handed to me right now for the cake, I would.
It takes another hour before he can finally steal me away. Within that hour, he stayed glued to my side and wouldn’t let me leave.
In the car he’s quiet, too quiet, as we drive back to his place. My dress takes up most of the room in the back seat leaving little room for him, but he doesn’t seem to care. When we arrive, I go to get out, but he stops me. “We’re going away. I’ve packed you a small bag. Change quickly.” He stays seated in the car.
Maybe I should have run off with Alec when I was given the chance.
Going inside, I start to take my dress off. It’s hard because it is almost glued to my body. Sighing, I look around the room for something that can help. I find a pair of scissors, but the last thing I want to do is tear it to shreds. I love it too much to risk damaging it. Trying to wiggle out of it is not proving to be any good. Two sets of hands touch me from behind, and something touches my skin that is cold.
“I told you to wear white,” he says, as I feel him snip at the dress. I pull away.
“Don’t you dare.”
He does.
He hacks into it.
Tears it to shreds and I watch as my beautiful dress is destroyed.
He turns and walks out, not even noticing what I have on underneath. It took two people to get it on and only one to take it off.
Under the dress, I made sure I had perfect lingerie, so when he took my dress off, he would be surprised and turned on. Guess that was all for nothing, now. So, I step out of it and try to not cry as I watch it crumble to the floor as if it was not the prettiest thing I have ever worn and quickly step into a maxi dress before I walk out to where he’s still waiting.
“Are you done now?”
I don’t answer.
The car drives us to a private airport where a jet waits for us.
Once onboard, I take a sleeping pill as soon as I can because I want to be any place but here right now.
Have I just made the biggest mistake of my life?
I’m definitely beginning to think so.
22
My eyes hurt, my hands hurt. I can’t move my body. What’s going on? Why do my hands hurt? I want the pain to stop. I squeeze my eyes tight, my hands clutching the sheets below me, crinkling them so hard I’m sure if I looked my hands would be bright red. I stay where I am, too afraid to open my eyes. Each wiggle of my toes, each movement of my hands is agony. My head swims with ideas, but nothing seems real. Why on earth can’t I move? And, more importantly, why am I afraid to open my eyes? This can’t be real. It has to be a dream, one I’m going to wake from at any minute.
That minute doesn’t come.
Nothing does.
It sounds as if I’m the only person in the room, if it’s even that. But it has to be, considering my hands are still clutching the sheets under me and I know I’m on a bed.
Who’s bed, though? That is the question.
Pushing myself up, I take a deep breath. Men’s cologne. It’s all I can smell, it is all around me, and I know that scent well. And I know who wears it. Who that particular smell belongs to.
That can’t be possible, though.
I count to ten before I risk opening my eyes. I’m telling myself that maybe I simply drank something I shouldn’t have. That this is all a dream, and soon, very soon, I’m going to wake up and think nothing more about this. But as I get to that last number, and I’m still in the same position, I start to freak out. And my eyes fling open.
My breathing’s heavy, my hands are glued to the sheets, I see then that they are red as if they have been tied up to match the sheets which are red, vibrant red. I’m lying on a king-size bed, and when I look down, I think, Fuck! What on earth am I wearing? I have on a black lace see-through bra and G-string.
My heart starts beating out of my chest. My eyes which are welling up with tears look around. And then they spot him, sitting in the corner, a cigarette to his mouth as he watches me smirking.
“I’ve been waiting…” His voice is so deep.
My heart bounces so hard in my chest at his voice, until I see the look in his eyes.
“What…” My words won’t come out. They’re stuck in my throat. What I meant to say is ‘I don’t understand what’s happening. How did I get here?’
“I own you, Everly, and now you’re mine.” My eyes go large at his words. They don’t make any sense. Not at all. What’s going on? He owns me? I go to move, and as I do, I stop quickly.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. I’m not someone you want to fuck around with, Everly. Stay where you are and spread your legs.” I hear him stand, and I chance a look and see him removing his shirt.
My eyes are glued to him in a way that I can’t help. I’m so attracted to him.
“Now, be a good girl and I may reward you. Or don’t, I don’t care.” He shrugs, putting out his cigarette right next to my head and looks down at me with lust in his eyes. “I prefer it when they struggle.” His smile is evil, so mean.
How did I fall in love with this man?
Better yet. Why did I marry him?
“Gunner.”
All he has on is a pair of pants, and they come off pretty damn quickly.
I struggle to sit. My head’s still groggy, so I blink my eyes a few times in an attempt to try and clear them. “Where are we?”
Gunner doesn’t answer, just climbs onto the bed, pushing me back and hovering over me. “You were a bad girl, Everly. So very bad.” His hand traces my face, softly. But with a wave of anger I haven’t witnessed before. “Now you must be punished.”
“Gunner, where are we? What’s going on?”
He kicks my legs to the side. “You are with your husband. That’s all you need to know. Now shut up and be a good girl, and I might let you come.” I feel him press himself against me. He’s bare, and I still have my G-string on. His hand moves to my throat and he applies pressure. Hard.
“Gunner…” I hit at his hand, and his other one comes up and pins mine both above my head. He smiles at me, but it’s sinister just like him.
“The more you struggle, the more I like it.”
I stop. His pressure remains, but he doesn’t apply more.
A single tear leaves my eye, and he leans down while still pinning me with one hand above my head and the other on my neck, then he licks the side of my face. Taking my tear with him, he then comes back to kiss my lips. “You’ve made me so fucking mad. So damn crazy. No one has ever had that power. How do you hold it?” he asks a question I cannot answer. So, I don’t. “I’m going let go of your hands now. If you try to fight me, I will choke you, then I will fuck you till you wake back up. Do you hear me?”
I nod my head very slowly, not being able to move much with his hand wrapped around my throat. His other hand releases my wrists. I keep them where they are, afraid to move. He reaches down and tugs at my G-string and I feel it rip. It hurts between my legs from the pull, but he doesn’t ca
re, he simply smirks.
How did I miss what a devil he is?
I’m waiting to wake up.
Someone tell me this is all a dream.
“You’re wet. Do you know that?”
The look of sheer horror that crosses over my face makes his smile wider.
“Don’t be shy, bunny. You like it when I’m rough.” He leans down to kiss me, and I turn my head to the side, so his lips land on my cheek. I feel him at my entrance as he positions himself between them. “Bunny, look at me.”
I don’t.
I can’t bring myself to.
He pulls my face around hard, so I have to. “Look at me, bunny. I want to see your face when I fuck you.” He slides over the outside of me, his cock pushing on my clit, and I hate myself for the wave of pleasure that elicits. It makes me squirm, and I pinch my lips together to stop the moans of pleasure that want to erupt from my mouth, but he notices, and his sinister smile doesn’t leave his lips.
“You want this, but you will never admit to it. Will you?” He slides again, then bites my nipple through the lace of my bra.
A scream leaves my lips despite me not wanting it to.
“Scream for me, bunny.” He moves to the other breast, and soon I’m trying to clench my legs together, but it’s useless with him between them.
“Gunner…” I groan, wanting him to stop, but also in some ways I don’t.
“It won’t work, bunny, you’re dripping.” He licks my face again. “I know how much you want me. How you’re dying for me to push in, even a little bit.” He presses at my entrance, making my legs open wider for him. “Now that’s a good girl. I told you if you’re good I’ll let you come.” He pushes in. His hand finally removes from my throat as he leans down claiming my lips with the most intense kiss he has ever given me.
It’s rough.
Hard.
Powerful.
All this time he was giving me fractions of himself, and now I’m getting the whole package.
“Fuck you,” I say with each thrust. My hand comes up and slaps him as hard as I can across his face.
