“Gabriella?” My hand lands on the shoulder of a woman who is the same size as Gabriella with dark hair that flows down her back. When the woman turns around and gives me a scathing look, I take a step back. “I’m sorry. Thought you were someone else.” I back away from her squinty eyes and make my way through the crowd again.
That damn teasing breeze has me going crazy. I’m losing my mind. She has to be here. I spin around, running my hands through my hair, and pull. The crowd of people suffocate me. Where the hell is the smell coming from? Who is the woman wearing the perfume?
Splitting the crowd again, I turn every head that has long dark hair. Blue eyes, green eyes, hazel eyes, gray eyes, no brown eyes stare back at me. It’s useless. She isn’t here. Owen was right. Millions of women in the world wear that perfume. The chances of her being here are slim to none.
When will I realize that I need to give up? That I’ll never see her again?
Never.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see something blowing in the air. When I turn, I see the briefest hint of a lavender dress and the scent of wildflowers hits me again. I walk in the direction of the woman in purple and maneuver my way between vendors and turn right, following the green grass and the succulent smell of wildflower.
The grass crunches under my boot and my hands trail along the rough stucco of the building next to me.
“Like to try a free sample of peppered beef jerky?” a man asks as he holds a paper plate out, a big smile taking over his chubby face.
“Later. I’m looking for someone.” I give him a reassuring smile that I’ll be back. I feel bad for not taking what he offered, but what I’m searching for is more important.
The searched seems pointless. I’m going around and around in circles, passing the same people, hearing the same conversations, and smelling the same fragrance that takes me back to when my life felt more complete than it ever has.
“Fuck!” I rub my eyes with the palm of my hands and a hand lands on my shoulder, turning me around. It’s Owen.
“Anything?” he asks, a gentle expression on his face. He must see how much not finding her is bothering me.
“I thought … I thought maybe for a split second…” I breathe in and shut my eyes, letting the truth settle over me like a wet, heavy blanket. She is gone. Gabriella isn’t here. I need to stop living in a fantasy land and come to the realization that I won’t get to live life with her. “Just forget it, man. Let’s go.”
“I’m sorry, Sebastian.”
It means a lot that he cares enough to apologize. He isn’t the kind to care.
I smell it again, that damn wildflower scent, sending passion and hatred through my veins at the same time. “What the fuck! Get me out of here, Owen.” I feel surrounded by her, drowned and unable to reach her. It’s more torture. I can’t do it anymore. I have to let this go at some point because it’s draining me, killing me fucking slowly.
And then the crowd parts, like the sea in anger, swirling and mad. The woman in the lavender dress appears, her long wavy hair blowing in the breeze, and I smell the dance of wildflowers in the sun after a steady rain.
The breath is knocked out of me.
It is Gabriella.
And she has a collar wrapped around her throat.
Chapter Six
GABRIELLA
It is humiliating, the collar. I have to hold back my emotions with every tug of a leash when he starts walking. I didn’t know this was a part of the deal when we were going out, or I would have wanted to stay at the mansion. I’d rather have the damn bracelet around my ankle than this collar.
Everyone’s eyes are on me, burning me with judgment, and they have no idea how much I wanted them to save me from this wicked man.
“My sweet? Do you want anything from this stand?” He yanks on my collar again, and I take two steps forward, staring down at the wide variety of fruits.
“I would love some grapes, Kendrick.”
“Grapes. They are decadent. A fine treat,” he says, paying for the grapes.
A treat? Does he mean in the sense of they are sweet and tasty or a treat for being good?
Like a damn pet.
If my gut tells me anything, it’s that I am right. Kendrick views me as dog. If I do good on this outing with this damn collar on, I’ll get a fucking treat.
There are times when I was angry at him for hitting me, for screaming at me, for calling me worthless, for feeling me up and touching my breasts when I didn’t want him to, but it doesn’t compare to the rage I feel right now.
Fuck his treat. I hope he chokes on it.
As we walk down the street to enjoy the market, smelling popcorn, cotton candy, and donuts, I am taken back to the time I went to the fair when I was a teenager. I loved the smell of funnel cakes, and I loved hearing the enthusiastic screams of people on the rides. There was one I could never make myself ride, The Zipper. It looked too unstable. There were eight or so carts on it and while it swirled like a conveyer belt, the carts flipped upside down.
No. Thank you.
A tug of my collar brings me out of my dream. Silly little dreams, reminding me of what used to be and what would never be again.
My hairs stand on the back of my neck, but not in a way that makes my warning bells go off; it's something different. I look over my shoulder, glancing around to see who is watching me with such intent. There are the regular people staring back of the collar, but that isn’t what I felt. I felt something else.
Something more.
I can’t put my finger on it.
“What are you looking at? Pay attention, my sweet, or their will be consequences.”
“Yes, Kendrick,” I say obediently.
Kendrick isn’t into BDSM or anything sexual, but he very much enjoys the feeling of owning something. It’s sick and a form of abuse I’ll never get used to. He’ll always find a way to make me feel smaller, just like when he strapped the pink collar on me this morning, attached to a matching leash, and then there are the tags.
The silver heart is labeled, “My Sweet.”
My skin prickles from another wave of heat. Something familiar pulls in my stomach, telling me to look around. Nothing seems out of the ordinary.
“I’m going to try something,” Kendrick says. “I’m going to hand you the leash, but I want you to stay and wait for me. If you don’t, I’ll chase you, and the punishment will be severe; do you understand?”
“Yes, Kendrick.” I hold out my palm, and he lays the leash across it, kisses my forehead, and turns away to go to the next vendor.
I stay put, like the good little bitch I am.
While Kendrick speaks with the vendor, that burning sensation claws all over me again, and this time when I turn my head to the left, just in time to see the crowd part, I see him.
Sebastian.
My hand covers my mouth, and I want nothing more than to take a step in his direction, but my feet are frozen to the ground. I could make a run for it, but then what if Sebastian gets hurt? I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.
Our eyes lock, and I can almost breathe in the way he makes me feel; it feels that good, that liberating, and that is how it is supposed to feel with someone you love. Love is supposed to be strong, wild, and a bit crazy. And that is what Sebastian makes me feel. He makes me feel all sorts of crazy.
His blue eyes are relieved, intense, happy, and furious all at the same time. He speaks to the guy next to him out of the corner of his mouth, and the man’s eyes land on mine, shock evident in his face.
Both take a step forward, but I glance at Kendrick pulling out his wallet, and I hold up my hand to stop them. Oh, I don’t want to stop them. It is the hardest decision I’ve ever made in my life.
Sebastian doesn’t listen. He takes another step, his long legs eating up the distance all too quick. God, he looks so good. His hair is wild, kind of slicked back, but a few pieces fall unruly over his forehead. Those blue eyes sear me, piercing me like a needle to my skin.
The hard edge of his mouth tells me he is determined to get me out of here, damned the consequences.
It isn’t just me who is in danger—it’s him, his friend, the children getting popcorn next to me, the pregnant woman standing behind Kendrick, who has no idea he has a gun hidden under his shirt.
I shake my head at Sebastian and point with my index finger to the reason why I don’t want him coming any further. His eyes follow my finger, and his jaw flexes when he sees why he can’t come any closer. His friend, the guy with an angry expression on his face, nods as Sebastian speaks.
What are they planning?
Are they going to get me out of here? How? It’s too crowded. Kendrick won’t like it. He won’t allow me out of his sight. If this fails, the punishment I’ll receive will be very severe.
So severe, I’m afraid I won’t survive it.
In a blink of an eye, his friend is gone, and in the next blink, so is Sebastian.
I turn around, looking for him, wanting the safety I felt again even if it is just for a second. I want him back. It has been too long since I’ve seen him; maybe he is a figment of my imagination. That makes more sense.
Why would Sebastian be here after so many years? Out of all places?
Kendrick takes a step back and reaches out his hand to grab the leash without looking at me, and something zips by, blowing off four of his fingers, spraying blood all over my dress. He cries in agony, and his good hand grabs his wrist; the only digit he has left is his thumb. Blood pours down his arm, and I can see the bone peeking out from the flesh and muscle.
“My sweet, let’s go. It isn’t safe,” he says, tripping over his own two feet, but instead of listening to him, I rebel.
I unhook the collar from around my neck and toss it at him.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing? Put that back on! I own you. I will always own you, and if you think for one minute you will ever be able to be free of me, you’re dead wrong. I will always find you, my sweet. You are mine until I say otherwise.” He takes a step forward and wraps the leash around my neck, choking me. “And I have something very special planned for you, so you aren’t going anywhere!” he roars.
The crowd around us is hysterical from the chaos surrounding us. A gunshot whistles through the air and pierces Kendrick in the chest, through and through, and punctures my bicep.
I stumble back as Kendrick loses the grip on the leash. Blood pools along the wound and soaks his shirt. I bite my tongue from lashing out and hold my hand to my arm, then I do the only thing I’ve been waiting to do for far too long.
I run.
I’ll never luck back. I don’t care if the fucker dies in the middle of the road, holding grapes. Tears blur my eyes, and my legs pump as I sprint in the direction of the highway. I want Sebastian, but I have no idea where he is. I have a feeling I made him up in my head, and that means I am losing my mind.
My shoes hurt my feet. Blisters are forming from the leather rubbing against my skin as I run uphill, blood flowing between my fingers as I put pressure on the wound. The hill is too much. I haven’t been outside in too long, nor have I worked out. My body is weak.
I am weak.
I get lightheaded and as I begin to fall, someone tackles me, pulling me safe into their arms as they get me out of harm’s way.
For the briefest of moments, I think it’s Kendrick, but then my body warms, and my heart thumps in a way that only happens when Sebastian is around.
“Look at me, baby. Look at me, Gabriella.” His hands cup my face, but I am too afraid to open my eyes because if he really isn’t there, what am I going to do? I can’t live with the despair that he isn’t in front of me, touching me, holding me, talking to me. I’ve missed him so much, and life has been hell for so long.
I don’t think the world has any kindness for me left.
“Come on, baby. Look at me, please, god, please let me look at you,” he urges.
With a deep breath, my eyes flutter open and when I see the ocean depths staring back at me; I know it means I’ve died and gone to heaven. I sob and reach for his face, bloody hand and all, smearing it across his cheek.
“Sebastian? Is it really you?” I pinch his face, rubbing my hands over his cheeks. His rough, coarse beard tickles my palm. “Sebastian!” The tears don’t stop. I don’t think they will ever stop. I am no longer in pain. I am healing. “It’s really you. Oh my god, it’s you.”
“It’s me, baby. It’s me, Gabriella. I never thought I’d see you again. I can’t believe it. I can’t believe you’re here, right under my thumb this entire time.” He lays his forehead against me, and I want him to kiss me, to finally put us out of our misery, but he holds onto me instead.
And he feels good.
Sebastian is like waking up from a nightmare in a coma. He is relief, medicine, and heaven all at once, and I never want to know what it is like to lose myself like that again.
“I smelled you,” he says, burying his nose in my neck and inhaling like he did years before. “I had to look for you. Something told me it was you, and you’re here.”
“You smelled me?”
“Okay, sorry to break up the eternal lovefest, but we really need to get going.” His friend interrupts us and grabs Sebastian by the back of the shirt collar, and Sebastian’s arms are still around me, so I come with him. “Not good, not good. We cannot be seen here when the cops arrive.”
“Did you kill him? Did Kendrick see you?”
“No and no, Sebastian. God, what am I? An amateur?” the man says as we run to a vehicle.
Well, they run. I’m in Sebastian’s arms.
Sebastian opens the back door of the heavy-duty black truck and slides us inside. “Fuck, baby. You’re bleeding,” he says, putting pressure on the wound. “It’s just a graze. You’ll be okay.”
“I can die now and be happy because I know I’m not in the hands of a monster,” I admit, reaching my hand up to touch his face. I can’t help it. I still think I’m dreaming because there is no way this man is real. He looks so different, but I’d know those eyes from anywhere.
Sebastian is real.
His jaw is sharper, more defined, and he seems like a man who hardened to the world, but when he looks at me, every sharp feature of his face relaxes, and nothing but love stares at me. His hand brushes over the bruise on my cheek, and his jaw flexes from clamping his teeth together. He might have thought I missed it, but I saw the tear leaking out of the corner of his eye before he wiped it on his shirt.
He gathers me tighter in his arms and pulls me to his chest. My nose presses against the steady beat of his heart, and I weep with joy. His shoulders slightly shake and I know he’s crying too. I feel the wet tears on my neck. “God, I never thought I’d see you again, Gabby. I thought I had lost you forever. I looked so long. I never gave up. I could never give you up.”
“I thought you had,” I admit, rubbing my wet face against his shirt. “I wanted you to. I convinced myself you were married with kids, settling down and happy.”
“I could never want those things because the only person I ever imagined myself with is you, Gabby. You know that. I could never do anything because of my brother—”
“And he won’t be the last of your worries,” the guy in the driver’s seat says. “I didn’t kill him. I have a feeling he won’t let her go so easily, but he doesn’t know it’s you either. He didn’t see us.”
“He’s right, Sebastian.” I lean back and stare into the eyes I fell in love with so long ago, but I knew my fate belongs to someone else. “You are better off giving me back. He will stop at nothing until he has me again.”
“And I will stop at nothing to make sure he never lays a hand on you again,” Sebastian says, his thumb grazing over the bruise on my neck. I don’t know if it’s from the collar or the earlier chokehold, but it’s sensitive. “I should have found you earlier, and maybe none of this would have happened to you. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t blame yourself. I’m the one
who said to let me go, remember?”
“I wanted to kick your ass for that,” his lips curl into a playful grin. His lashes are wet and stuck together, pointed black spears framing his eyes, and the dark color against the light blue make his eyes pop even more. “I tried like hell to bang down that glass.”
“I know,” my eyes well with the memory. “I heard it.”
“You didn’t turn around,” he points out, inhaling the scent on my neck again. “It killed me.”
“I didn’t want to risk your life.”
“You’re worth it,” he admits.
I shake my head, remembering all the things Kendrick told me over the years. “No, I’m not worth it. No one would be happy with me. I’m useless, and I don’t behave. I deserve the punishment I get.” The words leave me like a song playing on a record player. They are automatic and monotone. Kendrick has gotten what he wanted after all.
He broke me.
A harsh tug of my neck nearly has me falling to the ground.
“Come, pet,” Kendrick’s command brings me out of my dream-like state as I stand in the middle of the crowd, holding my leash like a good girl.
I glance around for Sebastian, blinking, as the real world moves around me, but I’m glued to the spot. I saw him, I know it. I had to have, but now he is gone, along with the hope of being saved from the monster who led me down the street by a leather leash.
If a dream is all I have of Sebastian, it is better than nothing.
Chapter Seven
SEBASTIAN
“Don’t trouble yourself for me, Sebastian. I’m not worth it.”
I hate that she views herself that way. It isn’t true. I know that. I hadn’t stayed faithful to a woman I couldn’t have for the last seven years if she wasn’t worth it. There hasn’t been anyone else. No one compared. Kendrick wears her down, and I had my chance to make her shine again, for her to see that she wasn’t an object, but a person—my person.
Cruel Seduction: A Dark Romance (Underground Kings Book 2) Page 5
