The tone and his disappointment was the last straw. Surging to her feet, she grabbed his arm. “Wait just a goddamned minute before you go off the deep end! I did call. I tried you at your office. The girl who answered the phone told me you were in meetings all day, and she’d give you a message as soon as you were available.”
He scowled, his hand pressing the speed dial for what she could only assume was Gabriel’s number. “Alecia never gave me any messages.”
“Then she’s incompetent,” she retorted, dropping her hand. “I called no less than three times between the time I got the call from him this afternoon and the time you left the office. Why the hell else do you think I was downstairs waiting for you the moment you came in?”
Caelan looked thoughtful for a moment, before turning back to the phone. “Gabriel, something has come up with Zhenya. The asshole called her. I need you to come over.” He paused for a second. “Yeah, she said she tried to contact me at work but….no, I don’t know….sure I’ll ask her. See when you get here.”
Tears built in her eyes. “You still called him when I told you I didn’t do anything wrong?”
“Of course I did. I’ll be checking out your story when I go in tomorrow, and you better pray it checks out. Now sit down,” Caelan ordered. “And you better come up with an explanation before he gets here about why you didn’t call him.”
Frustration built up inside her. She couldn’t win for losing. “Go ahead and check. I called you as you requested. No one said I was supposed to call him. I don’t even have his damned phone number unless I call the restaurant. Which I did, when I couldn’t get a hold of you! I thought he might be with you, or even be able to come sit with me until you got home. And believe me when I say I wouldn’t have done it unless it was a last resort type of thing.” She grabbed the baby bag off the floor. “So I called only to be told by the hostess that he wouldn’t be in tonight. I asked for her to call him, but…” Tears seeped past her lids. “Forget it, I don’t know why I’m bothering to explain it to you. You don’t believe me.” She picked up Sophia and moved towards the door, intent on going back upstairs.
“Where the hell are you going?” Caelan moved to block the door.
“Upstairs. If you think I’m going to stay down here and be browbeaten about how I’m such a fool about my own safety, when I did everything I could think of, you’re out of your fucking mind.”
“What the hell is going on here? I can hear you screaming all the way in the back of the house. You don’t ever yell at a Dom,” Nisey voice came from the doorway, her back stiff as she glared at Zhenya.
Shit. She just known Nisey would side with Caelan. “You do, if he’s being an asshole.” She lifted the diaper bag higher up on her shoulder and was just opening the door, when a loud crash came from her apartment along with the squeal of tires. Caelan jerked her back into his part of the house, shoving her and Sophia at Nisey.
“Take her and the baby down to the playroom and barricade yourselves in, Nisey. Don’t unlock the door for anyone but me or Gabriel.” He pressed a quick kiss to her lips, before cupping the slight swell of her belly. “Take care of that baby for me. Because if anything happens to you…”
Nisey smiled up at him. “Go. Nothing is going to happen to us.” Then she grabbed Zhenya’s arm and started dragging her towards the basement. “Come on. Hurry up!”
Chapter Eleven
“No.” Zhenya crossed her arms over her chest, a defiant glare on her face as she stood in the middle of the playroom. It’d been two hours since someone had thrown a brick with a warning through the glass door at the back entrance to her apartment. The police had come and gone, and now all that was left was the cleanup. Across the room on the daybed Nisey was playing with Sophia, while watching the whole sordid affair unfold with a rapt expression. “I’m not going and that’s final. I have a perfectly good apartment upstairs. Throw up some plywood on the door so I can go up there.”
Caelan sighed at Zhenya’s refusal, as Gabriel shifted from where he was leaning against the counter. It was his usual spot and he had more than one fond memory of standing behind the counter in this playroom. In fact, one very memorable time when Nisey had just started her training and Sara began by dropping to her knees while he and Caelan spoke…but as Zhenya dug her heels in, he forced the thought away. This wasn’t the time to be thinking of Sara. He had to focus instead on Zhenya and the present, not the past.
“Damn it, Zhenya, quit being so fucking stubborn.” He straightened and smacked his palm on the counter. “If you think for a moment I want you under foot, think again. But this isn’t about what either of us want. It’s what is best for Sophia. That brick today was just a warning, you heard the cops. They think it was the asshole’s way of telling you, he knows where you live, and he can reach out and snatch Sophia anytime he chooses, but until he’s caught red-handed there’s nothing they can do.”
Her eyes narrowed, her nostrils flared with anger. “Of course not. The police here are just like those in Greece. They blame it on the woman, how she was asking for it or had done something wrong. I did nothing wrong. My husband is dead and his family has no right to Sophia, let alone to threaten me over her! She’s my daughter!”
“I never said she wasn’t, dammit.” Frustrated, Gabriel wanted nothing more than to bend her over the spanking bench in the corner. “But until we can catch him in the act, we have to protect you and Sophia.”
Zhenya hissed, before resuming her earlier pacing. “I can understand I need protection but it doesn’t have to be at your place. I’ll be damned if I’m going where I’m not welcomed. I lived like that once. Never again!” She stopped in front of Caelan. “If you don’t want me around now that you know Nisey is expecting—fine. I understand. The last thing I wanted was to bring trouble to your doorstep. If worse comes to worst, I can always find a hotel or another place to stay.”
Gabriel growled at the thought of her being alone and defenseless in some seedy hotel. She’d end up getting raped or, even worse, dead. The spanking bench was looking more and more tempting.
“No.” Caelan shook his head, voicing Gabriel’s sentiments. “It’s not safe, Zhenya. It’s either you stay with Gabriel, or it’s Jude, Olivia and Micah. A hotel isn’t secure enough. Not to mention your credit card can be traced. Which is probably how Sebastene figured it out to begin with. If you won’t think about yourself, at least think about Sophia.”
Zhenya looked as if Caelan had physically hit her. “That’s low. I left everything I knew to come to this country on a student visa I didn’t even want - to protect my daughter from this very thing happening. And for you to accuse me of not worrying about her safety….” She drew a ragged breath. “I thought you were my friend.”
“I am.” Caelan set his hands on her shoulders. “And I’ve never doubted you love your daughter, Zhenya. You’d give up your life for her, which is commendable - but I want you both safe. Hiding you is the only way I can think of to achieve that.” Caelan pulled her into his arms. “Hell, if I could send Nisey away I would, but Sebastene or whoever he has hired will be watching the house.” He pressed a brotherly kiss to her forehead Gabriel would’ve been jealous of if he hadn’t known Caelan was a taken man.
“However,” Caelan continued, “if we board up the house and all of us leave, we’ll lose every chance we have of catching the guilty parties. The decoy Jude and Jackson are going to provide will be for naught if Nisey and I leave. You want this over, right? Go with Gabriel and let us catch the bastard.”
Her shoulders slumped. “Fine, I’ll go, but not with Gabriel. I’m serious about that. I’ll stay with Olivia and her men instead.”
A possessive anger flowed through Gabriel. “Like hell you will.” He didn’t know why but the idea of Zhenya staying anywhere other than with him made him want to beat his chest like a caveman. Ever since the birth of Sophia, his emotions had been all over the place. Now he was sick and tired of it. He’d gone from waking up this morning horny as he
ll from another erotic dream about Zhenya, to pissed when he’d found out about the call she’d received, and finally to scared shitless when he’d pulled into Caelan’s drive to find the police at his friend’s house. And all in less than twelve hours. It’s all her damned fault. Stubborn little submissive she is.
Zhenya glared at him. “You have no say in this.” Her look dared her him to do anything about it.
Goaded beyond his patience, he pushed away from the counter and met Caelan’s knowing gaze. “Let me handle this, Caelan. Give us a few minutes?” Even to his own ears, he could hear the dark command in it.
“Sure.” Caelan raked his hand through his dark hair. “Maybe you can talk some sense into her. Nisey and I will take Sophia upstairs while you talk.” A grin pulled up one corner of his friend’s mouth. “Feel free to use…whatever.”
“Caelan?” The sudden uncertainty in Zhenya’s voice and the worried look on her face tugged at Gabriel’s heartstrings, but he had to be strong. Zhenya and her daughter’s safety depended on him being an asshole.
“He knows your safeword, Zhenya.” Caelan brushed another kiss over her cheek. “Listen to him. He only wants what’s best for you. Damn, I wish you weren’t so stubborn.” Then he was gone, gathering up Nisey and the baby. Moments later, they were alone in the playroom.
Stepping closer, he had to give Zhenya credit as she held her ground. He narrowed his eyes. “You’re coming home with me.”
“Like hell I am!” She crossed her arms over her chest, her expression defiant as she threw his words back at him.
“Why are you arguing with the same Dom who’s had you screaming in pleasure?” He moved closer until the tips of her breasts were touching his chest. A tall thing, her head came up to his chin. He found he liked it. It was different than Sara’s short stature, but that was a good thing. It reminded him this woman wasn’t Sara. “You know you want to come home with me.” He brushed his lips over her ear. “Olivia’s condo is sooo small…” Lightly tracing the inner whorls of her ear with his tongue, he wet them, then pulled back to let his breath tease over the moist skin. “…with three adults living there…” Wrapping an arm around her waist he pulled her up against him, smiling as she cried out in pleasure. “…and my place has more room…”
“It…doesn’t matter…” She took a shaky breath, before slipping free of his embrace. “I….can’t think when you…”
He slowly stalked her, as she backed away from him. He felt alive and very predatory. And she’s my prey. “Then don’t think.” He closed the distance between them, backing her into the daybed.
“But…” Her protest died in mid-air, as he moved close enough to push her down on the bed. Once she bounced, he covered her body with his, pinning her in place. Her face was flushed and he could read her desire. She wanted him.
And to get me, she’s going to have to stay with me. The devious plan seemed to make sense to his lust-filled mind. He’d take her home, she’d let him protect her and Sophia, and he’d give her so many orgasms she wouldn’t know which end was up, let alone be able to fight him about it. With a muffled groan at the idea, he took her mouth in a kiss that rocked his world. She tasted even sweeter than he remembered, he decided as he thrust his tongue against hers.
“Grab the bars,” he panted as he lifted his mouth enough to talk. Her eyes closed, she mewed and obeyed, making his dick even harder as she curled her fingers around the brass bars decorating three sides of the daybed. Her obedience was going straight to his head. “Leave them there,” he rasped, rocking against her. Guiding of one of her legs over his hip, he hissed as it brought his sex into direct contact with her mound. He couldn’t stop himself from rocking against her.
“Oh, my God!” she whimpered, her knuckles white as she clung to the bed’s rails.
Yanking up on her t-shirt, he reached for the front clasp of the pretty bra she was wearing. As her swollen breasts spilled into his hands, he could barely wait to taste her again. Not only were they a sensitive playground he could tease with clothespins, ice or wax, the added bonus of her sweet milk made him a hungry man. Dipping his head, he latched onto the nearest pink bud, licking the tip in welcome before drawing the whole nub inside his mouth.
“Sir!” Her scream, as she went rigid, had him smiling savagely. If she’d come from something as simple as rubbing against him, and him sucking on a nipple it was going to be a pure pleasure to push her, to see how far he could take her. Releasing her hard nipple with an audible pop, he lifted his head to meet her dazed eyes.
“Come home with me, louloúdi mou. Let me show you what you’re missing. What I can offer you aside from protection…” Instead of the breathy agreement he’d expected, he got a sub who stiffened up and politely asked to be released.
“I don’t think so. We’re not going anywhere until we come to an agreement, Zhenya.” With his desire coursing through him, he didn’t care if he came off sounding like an ass. She was going to come home with him. “Do I need to remind you of what happens when you won’t listen in regards to your safety?”
“There’ll be no need for that, Gabriel.” She drew a shaky breath. “I’ll go to Jude’s or I’ll go it on my own. You’ve done more than enough, and I won’t be any more of an imposition than I already been. Now please get off of me.”
Thrusting against her once, he smiled smugly, loving the way her hips followed his despite in her denial. “And what if I say I want you to impose on me?” He pitched his voice low, and rocked against her again, letting her feel how she was affecting him.
A shiver worked down her frame before a haunted look filled her eyes and she tried to squirm away. Holding her with ease, he groaned at the friction she was creating. Then her patience with him obviously snapped, because he’d never heard such an acidic tone from her before.
“Then I’d say that for a man who just called me by his dead submissive’s pet name, you’ve changed your tune awfully fast.”
Shock washed over him and he froze in place, his hips stopping mid-thrust. How the hell had she figured it out? Unless someone had mentioned, but who? He released her and rolled off her, keeping his back to her as his ardor died a sudden death at the reminder of Sara.
There was a shift behind him, and a quick glance over his shoulder showed her curled up in a ball towards the headboard, with her arms wrapped around her waist in a protective way. “That’s what I thought. Thanks but no thanks, Gabriel. I’ll be damned if I’m going to go back down that path again.”
“Down what path?” he growled, tugging on his ear in frustration. “We’re talking about your safety here, maybe a few kisses along the way. Not a D/s relationship or anything more serious. Neither of us are any position to want more at this time.”
She raked her fingers through her tumbled hair, causing her breasts to lift under the cotton of her t-shirt in a way that was distracting as hell. Just looking at her made his cock throb. He could see the outlines of her nipples, and it only reminded him of the sweetness he’d just tasted.
“Which is exactly the issue, Gabriel. Look at my face, dammit, not my breasts!”
He lifted his gaze to focus on her face. Her eyes were glittering with emotion, and it made him want to press her back down on the bed and fuck her until she couldn’t move.
“You don’t want a new sub, and despite everything, Sir, I’m finding I do want a Master. One who’ll love and take care of both me and Sophia. After your last little lesson, I thought perhaps…” She shook her head. “…it doesn’t matter what I thought. I can’t risk it. You’re a wonderful man, and more than likely an even better Dom, but you’re not free. I conveniently forgot that until I saw you with her in the video of Nisey’s collaring. She must’ve been one helluva woman to inspire such tenderness.”
“She was.” His voice was hoarse as tears stung his eyes, and he knew exactly how Zhenya had found out. He’d remembered comforting Sara and brushing away her tears of happiness. He must’ve called Sara by her pet name.
�
��Which is why I can’t do this, Gabriel. You’re still in love with her and you haven’t let her go yet. I understand. I’ve been there. Even as big an ass as Ossie turned out to be, there were still times I woke in the middle of the night reaching for him. It’s hard to accept they’re no longer here for either of us.” She sank on to the edge of the daybed “You haven’t accepted she’s not coming back yet. But I can’t risk my own happiness again on a man who won’t commit to me a hundred percent. You’ll never be able to give me that until you’ve decided to move on.”
“I never asked you for anything other than to protect you…the petting was just a bonus…” He tried to protest but he knew she was right. The ghost of Sara was still everywhere in his life. Despite his body’s response to Zhenya, and even the intervention on the guys’ part, he still hadn’t let go of Sara’s memory. And by moving Zhenya into my home and doing what I want, well it’s nothing short of giving her false hope. I can’t do that to her.
“True, and it’s my own fault I thought it was more.” She cradled her head in her hands.
He shifted uncomfortably at the pain in her tone, and her defeated posture. Zhenya wasn’t supposed to be like this. She was vibrant, full of life and laughter. Had he done this to her? Turning on the bed, he wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and protect her…even from himself.
“As much as I desire you, asking you to stay with me wouldn’t be fair to you or Sophia. I’m not ready to move on.” He cupped her cheek. “Not that seeing to your pleasure wasn’t one of the hottest things I’ve done in a long time. You will make a very lucky Dom a happy man—just not me.”
She shrugged her shoulders, but avoided his eyes. “Perhaps someday. Maybe after this situation with Sebastene is over.”
He nodded and for the first time in his life as a Dom, he walked away from an upset sub. He couldn’t help her. In fact, his presence was only making it worse.
Gabriel's Light (Doms of Chicago) Page 9
