I could hardly sleep last night because of the anxiety I felt. The cop is coming by today. I am scared. They are taking a big risk bringing a cop here and revealing themselves to the police, and I feel like Sebastian’s haven is about to get ruined because of me. They might even think about moving if this doesn’t go their way, and how am I supposed to deal with that?
All that trouble for little old me.
I turn over to face him and slide my hands under my cheek. “You’re going to be there, right? I don’t want to do it alone.” I rub my finger down his arm, and his skin comes alive, pebbling with goose bumps.
“You’ll never have to do anything alone, baby. I’ll be there for as long as you want me.”
“I don’t want to talk to them alone. I don’t trust them. I trust you.”
“Do you want the rest of the guys to be there? You know they will be if you want them to.”
“Really? It wouldn’t be inconvenient?” I sit up and rest my back against the broken headboard that we have yet to replace. I like it. I don’t want him to get rid of it. It holds significance. I am weird like that.
“No, of course it wouldn’t be weird. Talking to cops is intimidating, and we don’t even know if we can trust them. I’ll let them know. They will be there, baby.” My eyes close as his fingers slide against my chin, as light as a feather, then I turn my head to give him a melting kiss that curls my toes.
“He’ll have to take pictures of any evidence, right?” I hate the thought of showing my back. It is ugly, a battlefield of complete wreckage. It is embarrassing because I know if anyone sees it, they will see me as damaged or ugly. Part of me doesn’t even want Sebastian to see. I know I can trust him with my life, but what if he looks at me differently?
“Yeah, most likely, baby. I’ll stay with you every step of the way.”
“You deserve to see first before everyone else. I don’t want to show you. My scars are … atrocious.”
“Gabby, you don’t have to show me anything you don’t want to. I find you beautiful no matter what. If you are covered head to toe, if your beauty fades, I’ll still love you because what makes you, you, isn’t your skin. Don’t get me wrong, I really love your skin, but it isn’t everything.”
“You always know the right things to say.” I swoon. I had no idea Sebastian was such a romantic at heart. Or maybe he is just for me. I like that option more. He saves up all his sweetness to bathe me in it. I enjoy being lathered in the soap of his love. That sounds dirty.
“Just truthful things,” he says, slipping the sheet from around my shoulder.
I decide it is now or never to show him before I have to show a stranger. “Just … don’t be surprised or shocked. Don’t go on a rampage. I know you’ll want to,” I say as I look over the curve of my shoulder as I sit on the edge of the bed.
“I already want to go on a rampage, baby. He kept you from me. That’s all I need to charge into his damn castle and overrule him.”
“There you go again, saying the right things.” I dip my head down and kiss his chest and run my hand down his chest. “It gets me worked up.”
“Well, take your workmanship out on me. I’m ready. Do with me as you please.” He lays starfish on the bed, waiting for me to jump him.
“You’re ridiculous,” I chuckle and stand, keeping the sheet wrapped around me.
He turns to his side and watches me, eyeing me up and down. “You have no idea how good you look in just a sheet. It’s hard for me to not pull you back into this bed with what I know is underneath, waiting for me.”
My cheeks blaze. “Sebastian.”
“What? It’s true.”
It is a silly thought, but I know once I drop the sheet, things could change. He might have seen glimpses of my back over the last few days, or even felt the scars as he rubbed his hands against me, but he has never seen the full view.
“You’re seducing me right now, and you have no idea. Your oblivion to it makes it that much sexier.”
“You’re just saying that because you have to. You’re biased.”
“I am not. I just know what the hell I have standing in front of me. A fucking temptress. Sexy. Fuck, I’m getting worked up just looking at you.”
“You’re trying to get my mind off the scars and what I have to do today.” I kneel on the bed, and he doesn’t hesitate to reach out and rub his palms over my hips. He leans in and presses a kiss to either side.
“Is it working? If not, I’ll gladly dive under these covers and eat my breakfast.”
“Sebastian.” I mean to scald him a bit, but his name comes out too breathy. I like the sound of being his breakfast.
His lunch, dinner, and dessert too.
If he keeps sidetracking me like this, his hunger will be satisfied.
“I’m losing my nerve,” I say on a sharp intake of breath as his hand finds the sensitive skin of my inner thigh, and his thumb grazes so close to the heat between my legs, I think I might burn him.
He lifts the sheet and groans when he sees me, then lowers it. “Okay, I’m sorry. You’re so distracting.” I try to pull away from him, but he tugs me by the hand and stops me. “I love you anyway. No matter, no matter in which way, no matter the marks on your skin. I love you.” He kisses my knuckles and releases me.
I turn around and grab the sheet tucked under my arm. I unravel it with jerky movements, and the sheet falls the ground, pooling around my feet as I expose myself to Sebastian for the first time.
Well, exposing the ugly side of me.
I expect something, a curse, uncontrollable anger, something, but all I hear is silence, and that scares me more. I shuffle my weight on my feet and almost turn around to see what he is doing, but I stop.
Something dark cloaks over me, and it is fear. I am so vulnerable right now, giving a man my back when the last one terrorized it. I start to shake, and I place my palms on the wall to stabilize me. I know what he sees. Long pink scars, some newer, some old and faded, lashing crisscross all over my back.
The bed dips and the heat radiating off him soaks into my back as he stands behind me, another shadow falling over me, but this one is different. It isn’t fear. It us Sebastian, wrapping me in the safety I want so much.
I gasp when his hand falls to the lower curve of my ass and his fingers are timid as he brushes them over one scar. My eyes water as he explores the devastation Kendrick caused. He brings up his other hand and traces a line going down my shoulder blade, tracing the whip mark that stained me.
His touch is light, hesitant, but gentle. Sebastian’s breath comes out in harsh pants with every scar he can find. “What did he do to you?” he chokes on a half sob, his voice gyrating with a hint of anger. He leans down and presses kisses all over my back, and then he falls to his knees, laying his forehead on the curve of my ass, wrapping his arms around me from the back. “What did he do?” he repeats.
“He’d lock me in the dark. I couldn’t see anything. He’d whip me. Over and over until I passed out. Then he’d wake me up by throwing cold water on me and do it all over again.”
Sebastian’s hands are phantoms along my sides as he is gentler than a fallen leaf drifting off a tree. His kisses are next and just as languid. It isn’t the time to get turned on, but with how careful he is touching me, his acceptance of what I look like, I can’t help it. His love is an aphrodisiac, and I want to drown in it.
“Sebastian.” I arch my back when his mouth finds the space between my legs, and he starts to plunge his tongue inside me. I grind against his face, seeking more, wanting it rougher. His hands squeeze my thighs and he licks from the front, circling my clit, before licking all the way to the back, between the crease of my ass cheeks, and up my spine. He stops at the base of my neck and blows cold air against my wet flesh.
“I need you, Gabriella,” he says, swirling that sinful tongue on the side of my neck. He lines up his cock from the back and inches into me, filling and stretching me to the max. He bites my shoulder as we groan at the
same time. “Oh, just like that. You feel so goddamn good.” Sebastian slides out, then back in. His heavy sack slaps against my clit, adding a zing to the pleasure. He presses his hand in the middle of my shoulder blades and shoves me against the wall.
Oh, he didn’t just want me.
He wanted to claim me.
Seeing what Kendrick did must have ignited his protective instincts.
I am moaning, thrusting my ass against him with every stroke he gives.
“You’re mine, Gabby.” He fucks me harder, and the sound of his thighs slapping against my ass bounces off the walls. “You’re fucking mine. I’ll never do what he did to you. I’ll make sure he never touches you again.” He's plastered his front to my back, keeping the brutal, hard pace that has a murderous noise escaping my throat. “Come, Gabriella. Come all over my cock.” His hand snakes between my legs and pinches the button of nerve endings, and I break into pieces, coming harder than I ever have.
My arms can no longer lift me up, and I sag against him as my channel clenches his cock, sucking him deeper inside me. “God, Sebastian, yes! Your cock is so good,” I whimper, grinding down on him to prolong my orgasm.
He falls back onto the bed and lays down. My back is to his front. His feet are on the floor, and he uses the support as leverage to power stroke my pussy. I cry out and he moves faster, harder, slamming himself so hard inside me I feel him hit my cervix.
“You’re mine,” he hisses, planting his cock as far as he can as he comes. He pulls out and shoves himself inside me again until he is wrung out. He drapes me in kisses, and his hands rub over my breasts and down my body. It is like he is desperate to touch every part of me and erase everything Kendrick did to me.
He won’t ever be able to erase it, but Sebastian makes it better with love. He is quickly turning all my darkness into light.
Maybe one day, I won’t be afraid of the dark if he keeps that up.
Chapter Twenty-One
SEBASTIAN
I have no idea what came over me when I saw her scars. First, I was mortified, and it was like I couldn’t get close enough to see all the damage Kendrick left behind. He beat her, relentlessly. I felt this overwhelming urge to claim her. I needed her to know I loved her and that she was mine, regardless of what Kendrick did.
I am going to kill him. I will whip him just like he whipped her. I’ll leave him in the dark and then maybe I’ll waterboard him until he chokes, almost drowning like she did in the ocean.
He is going to die by my hands.
It isn’t a threat. It is a promise, a fact.
“Ready?” She opens the bedroom door and steps out into the hallway. She’s wearing black sweatpants and a simple tank top. Her hair is twisted in a braid, falling over her shoulder, and her cheeks are flushed from the quick round of fucking against the wall.
She is gorgeous.
I suddenly don’t want her to go out there to the living looking freshly ravished. This is my masterpiece to look at.
“The cop is here, Sebastian. We can’t make him wait. Why are you staring at me?”
“Because you’re beautiful, and I can’t stop looking at you, will never stop looking at you, ever. You need to get used to it.” I shut the door behind me and slide my arm over her shoulder, tucking her to my side as we walk down the hall. Her arms are crossed as if she is cold, but I know that isn’t it. She is nervous.
We pass the reading room and I see her trying to get a good look at all the novels. I know she wants to spend days in here reading if she wanted. I’m not sure if I ever want her to work again or leave the house. I’m too afraid that something might happen to her again and she doesn’t need to work. I am rich. I can take care of all her needs, but that isn’t fair of me to do. If she wants to go back out in the real world, then that is her choice. She deserves to have independence, and the last thing I want to do is try to take that away or control her.
When we get to the living room, a guy around our age is on the couch. He isn’t in uniform. He wears denim jeans and a plain faded red t-shirt. His hair is brown, a bit of early graying around the temples, which is unusual for a man his age. His job is a stressful one, though.
When he sees Gabriella, he stands from the couch and smiles. “You must be Gabriella. I’m Officer Howard. I was the arresting officer in Grayson’s case. I’m sure he told you that.”
“Yep, I did,” Grayson says as he points the remote toward the TV and shuts it off.
“If it makes you feel any better, I know he didn’t do what he was accused of. And I also know how important it is to keep my mouth shut about where I am.” Officer Howard glances around at everyone, and he knows if he fucks up, the last thing he’ll have to worry about is his job. He’ll need to worry about his life.
“Okay,” she says quietly, as she sits down on the couch, moving around uncomfortably. Gabriella starts picking at her nails, and I rest my hands over hers and stare at her. I take a deep breath in and she does the same, following the beat of my chest. “Okay,” she repeats and relaxed. “I’m going to be honest; I don’t know what to do.”
“That’s okay. We are here to talk. I have my recorder, but I have it placed in the room so you can’t see it and get uncomfortable. I find people get intimidated when they see it.”
“Yeah, that helps. Thank you,” I say, and Gabby agrees with me by nodding her head.
“Grayson tells me you want to put a restraining order on Kendrick Knight. Is that correct? Possibly charge him with assault, sexual assault, kidnapping, and assault with a deadly weapon?” Grayson reads the list off the top of his head without a pen and paper. He has been doing this for a long time, then. That makes me feel better.
“Yeah.” It is a simple one-worded answer that does the trick, but she doesn’t give any explanations or go into detail about anything yet.
“Okay, that’s good. I know Sebastian Knight, Kendrick’s brother, the man standing next to you, has warrant out for his arrest for kidnapping you. Is that true?”
“No! It’s Kendrick who’s the monster. Sebastian saved me! Kendrick did horrible things to me over the years. Horrible! You must believe me. It isn’t Sebastian.”
Officer Howard places his elbows on his knees as he sits forward. “When did you meet Kendrick?”
“Seven years ago? I think. I was going to break up with him to be with Kendrick because I found him controlling, but then as punishment, he sent Sebastian to prison for a crime he didn’t commit.”
“You didn’t tell me that.” I know Kendrick sent her to me to pass the word along to threaten me, but I didn’t know about her wanting to break up with Kendrick.
“I was afraid you’d hate me, Sebastian. If you knew the real reason you were in there was because of me, you wouldn’t have wanted anything to do with me, friend or otherwise, and I couldn’t lose that.”
“I’d never hate you, baby. Ever.” I tuck her head to my shoulder and run my fingers down her braid, and she gathers herself. She seems to be falling apart with the cop here. Authority figures are intimidating, and he probably reminds her of Kendrick in some way. The officer is just as big as Kendrick, but he is kinder. He isn’t a bully. He is just a guy who wants to do his job and bring justice to the right person.
“I need you to tell me everything,” Officer Howard finally says. “Don’t leave anything out.” The phone on his hip dings, but he doesn’t even look at it. His eyes are focused on Gabriella.
She sits back and rubs her neck. “All the years kind of blur together. Sebastian got me out that relationship for a little bit. I went to Spain. I was free. I was divorced. Sebastian made all that happen.”
“I’m not going to ask details on how he made that happen.” Officer Howard gives me a glare, raising his eyebrows to get his silent point across.
“Probably best,” I return.
“Anyway, Kendrick found me in Spain. He told me to visit Sebastian in prison and said that we couldn’t communicate anymore. He had hit me before I went to see Sebastian.
I had a black eye and busted lip. After that, I couldn’t tell you how I got to the house he is at now. He kept me drugged a lot. Compliant. A lot of the times I was in a room, chained to the wall.” She bends down and rolls up her pant leg, showing the scar where the cuff was. “He’d get angry at me for little things. Things that didn’t make sense. I left my pencils scattered on the desk or I didn’t wear the nightgown he wanted me to. He treated me more like a pet than a human being. He liked to bathe me, feed me, and well, pet me. When I’d ‘talk’ back, that is when he would throw me in the dark room. I couldn’t see anything. He’d whip me there.”
“Whip you?” Officer Howard picks up his phone. “Do you have any proof of that? And can you keep your pant leg up? I just need to document this.” He holds the phone close to her leg and snaps a few shots of her scar. “Did he do anything else?”
“You don’t have enough time to hear all the things he did to me, Officer.” Gabriella stands, and her eyes meet Grayson, Heaven, and then Owen. She reaches for me, and I get up with her, knowing she is about to show her scars.
Officer Howard seems like he doesn’t believe her. He has a skeptical look on his face.
With tremoring hands, she slides off her sweatpants and all the guys turn their heads, even the cop. Next is her tank top and I slide it off her, stealing a kiss to let her know I am there for her. She turns around and gives the cop her back.
“Okay, she’s ready. Make it quick, okay? She doesn’t like to show these,” I say.
“Jesus fucking Christ. He did this?” Officer Howard stands and moves closer to look at all the permanent marks on her back. He doesn’t look at her ass; his eyes are focused on the most important part.
“I’m going to kill him!” Owen roars, grabbing the empty drinking glass on the counter, and he slings it through the air as if it were a baseball. It smashes against the game room doors, shattering on impact before the pieces drop to the floor.
“Get in line.” Fury blazes in Grayson's eyes.
I stand in front of Gabriella and tilt her face up. She is shivering, and her eyes are vacant and expressionless, but it doesn’t take a genius to know she is reliving every lash Kendrick ever gave her.
Cruel Seduction: A Dark Romance (Underground Kings Book 2) Page 16
