A Dominant Fallen (A Dominant Series Book 2) (24 page)

“I had planned on staying here another day, but we have to head back into the city tomorrow.”

“Does this have to do with the phone call?”

“Yes,” he replies softly.

“But, you won’t tell me what it’s about.”

“No.”

“Well, then I will just have to trust that you know what’s best. But, will you ever tell me what’s going on?”

“Yes. When I feel it’s the right time, I will tell you everything.” I roll my eyes and sigh as I lay my head on his chest. “Thank you for not fighting me.”

“I don’t really have a choice, do I?”

“No, I suppose not. I just don’t see any point in you worrying over nothing.”

“I know, but I just want to help.”

“I know you do,” he whispers, lifting my face to his, “because you’re a good girl…I’m so in love with you, Gabrielle.” He gently kisses my lips and places my head back on his chest. “I want to stay like this forever.”

“I don’t know about that. My feet would kill me.”

I feel him smirk down at me. “No, not dancing…Happy.”

“Are you happy, Hunt?”

“Yes, I am, terribly so. Are you, Hyde?”

“Yes, I am, completely.”

He plants his hand on the side of my face and holds it against his chest so I feel his heartbeat. “That’s all I could ever ask for.”

We dance long into the night, holding each other closely.

Breaking Without Entering

W
e make it back into San Fran by noon the next day. When we arrive back at The Artemis, Maya and Chase are gone, but Banks is waiting for Hunt in the main room with a thick manila folder in his hand and a dour look on his face.

“This arrived this morning,” he says, handing the massive file over. “It should have everything you need.”

“Thank you, Banks. I’ll look it over and get back to you.”

“Very good, sir. I will wait for further instructions.”

“Excellent work.”

“Thank you, sir.” He nods his head at Hunt then turns it on me. “I hope you enjoyed your trip, Gabrielle.”

“Yes, thank you, Liam,” I reply, smiling up at him.

“That will be all, Banks.” Hunt gives him a reprimanding look. “Thank you.”

“Yes, sir,” he says, tips his head and takes his leave.

I turn to Hunt with an annoyed look on my face. “That wasn’t very nice. He was only trying to be courteous.”

“I’m still not comfortable with you two being on a first name basis.”

“That’s ridiculous, Hunt, and you know it.”

“I’m going to take our bags upstairs then I have to get ready.”

“For what?”

“There are matters that need my attention…I’ll be back later this afternoon. Banks will be downstairs if you need him.”

He kisses me on the head before snatching our bags and heading upstairs to ready. I follow not far behind. We make a stop at his study to put the folder away, and he locks the door when we leave. I find this odd. He closes the door, sure, but never locks it.

We make it to the room and head into the closet where he sets down the luggage then goes into the bathroom for a quick shower. I undress and slip into my white silk robe, tying it up as I head back into the bedroom. I walk past the bathroom door and spot him rinsing down his hard, tan body.
Wow. Mine.

He steps out and dries off, paying extra nice attention to his package. He glances up at me leaning on the doorframe and smirks when he spots me ogling him. He tosses the towel on the hook and strides out of the bathroom, back into the bedroom. I follow him and, suddenly, I notice something I hadn’t when we first entered, new black and whites adorn the wall, replacing the ones he’d taken down. They’re of me, of us, from my photo shoot.

There’s a massive portrait of me on the bed kneeling and blindfolded, with my restrained hands resting in my lap. A collage of smaller photos decorate the wall about it, each of me in different submissive poses or close-ups of various body parts, the crook of my neck, the curve of my hip, the mound of my bare rear.

But, there is one that catches my eye and keeps it. I’m in silhouette against the glass wall as light streams in from the city, my legs spread and my arms reaching high above me so I look like a large X. I’m ‘gazing’ over my shoulder at the camera, at Hunt with the silky blindfold over my eyes, finding him in my sightless state, as if guided by a sixth sense. It was the moment just before he took me wildly against the cool glass of the window.

“Damian,” I whisper in awe, catching his attention.

“Do you like them?” he asks with a shake in his voice, as every artist seems to have when their work is up for judgment.

I spin around to him standing next to the bed and shoot him a huge grin. “Oh, Damian, you know I think they’re wonderful, truly exceptional. You have a gift, slick…Well, besides your gift of fuck.”

He laughs hard and walks over to me. “I’m so glad you like them, angel.”

“I do. They’ll be nice to have when we’re old and gray.”

“That’s a lovely thought.”

“Will you still love me when my breasts droop to my socks?”

He chuckles. “Yes, you know I will. Will you still love me when my balls hang to my knees?”

I giggle hard, snorting. “Yes, I will.”

He pulls me into him, and we smirk admiringly at one another. He leans in and plants a kiss on my temple. “I wish we could stay like this, but I really do need to leave soon. I better get ready.”

I let out a disappointed sigh, kiss him on the chest, and then release him, taking a step back. “I’ll let you get to it.”

“Thank you, angel,” he says, turning and walking into the closet, allowing me an opportunity to get another good look at that bangin’ body and firm ass.

Fuck me.

He comes back out a few moments later, dressed in black slacks, a dark blue dress shirt, and no tie. It seems a bit casual for business.

“What are these matters that need attending? Do they have to do with the folder?”

“No,” he answers simply, walking over to me and kissing me chastely. “Remember, Banks is downstairs. If you need him to come up, you can press one on any of the touchscreens and he will be up here before you know it.”

“Why isn’t he driving you?”

“I don’t want you left alone, and Maya probably won’t be back until around dinner time. If you feel lonely or unsafe, call Jules or Sloan. Understood?”

“Yeah,” I mumble.

“Yeah?” he repeats, with a strict tone, and when I glance up, he has a straight look on his face. I know this stare. It’s chilling.

“Yes, Mr. Hunt.”

“Good girl,” he commends, caressing my cheek. He turns and walks out, calling back to me, “I won’t be too long.”

I
spend the next few hours, unpacking, showering, and aimlessly wandering the huge home, ending at Hunt’s study door. I place my hand on the knob and attempt to open it, but it’s locked tight. I wonder what he’s hiding in there. I go back to roaming, but the nagging feeling gnawing at me won’t let my mind think about anything else. I want to know what he’s hiding from me.

I go into our bathroom, grabbing two bobby pins from a drawer and straightening them out. I head back for his office, break-in tools in hand. I learned to jimmy locks from Chase because I would always forget my keys and lock myself out. I have become less forgetful, but the trick still comes in handy.

What are you doing? If he knew you were doing this, he would be furious with you…Mind your own business…This shows a complete lack of trust in him. How do you think that will make him feel? How did you like it when he did that to you…? Exactly. It’s not as if he hasn’t done this to me, and I have a right to know if I’m in any kind of danger. So, shut up!

I argue with myself, attempting to weigh out my options, but curiosity wins. I slip the makeshift break-in tools into the slot and begin the process of jiggling and twisting until I hear the sound of the lock releasing, clicking open. I place my hand on the knob once more and turn it, swinging the door wide open.

The room is eerily quiet, almost forbidding. I feel a ping of regret in my stomach, but I push forward, desperate to know the truth. I walk over to his desk and look about it, studying the contents laid out atop it. There’s nothing that would concern me, so I move onto the drawers. I go through them, rummaging the paperwork and avoiding anything that isn’t of importance. I find nothing that would tell me what I want to know.

Then I notice the last drawer at the bottom has a lock on it. I go to open it, but it is sealed shut. I take the pins and get ready to stick them in when I hear a noise. I pause for a moment then call out, “Hello…? Maya…Liam?”

I wait for a reply, but there’s silence. I listen for another noise and when I don’t hear anything, I go back to the task at hand.

“What are you doing?” A deep, angry voice asks, startling me out of my concentration. I shriek and jump up, backing away from the desk. Hunt stands there with a look in his eyes that causes me to tremble with fear.

“I…I…” I can’t get out anything else.

“Gabrielle, what were you doing to my desk? How did you get in here?”

“I…” I’m speechless, terrified out of my mind. He stands there, glaring at me in a way that makes me want to curl up and cower from him. He doesn’t say a word. He watches me this way for an eternity, staring me down.

He starts to walk over to me with heavy, menacing steps, and when he reaches me, grabs the pins out of my hand.

“Sit down,” he orders, pointing at his chair.

I hesitate. “What are you…?”

“Sit. I won’t say it again.”

I jump into the chair and place my hands in my lap, tilting my head down in shame. I hear movement and then, in a surprising twist, a box is placed in my lap. It’s a tad bigger than a shoebox.

I gaze up at him, sitting on the desk right in front of me, intimidating me. “I want you to remember that you asked for this. You want to know, so here.”

I lift the lid of the box and pullout a stack of journals and an envelope. I look at the bottom and notice a shiny trinket. I place the stack on the desk and the box on the floor, picking the jewelry out. It’s a locket. It’s my locket. I haven’t seen this in years, since before college.

I look up at Damian with a bewildered look on my face. He nods his head toward the pile of journals and I pick one up, opening it to a bookmarked page. I skim the contents until I spy my name! I flip to the back of the front cover and find Dante’s name engraved in gold letters. I glance back at the page mentioning me and spot the date, June 16
th
, 2004.

“Hunt, what is this?”

He doesn’t say anything. He picks up the large yellow envelope and tosses a large pile of pictures and articles on the desk. I anxiously sift through them. They’re all of me, from high school onward, with family, friends, Nicholas. Then, I spot some that pilfer the warmth right out of my body, of me sleeping in Damian’s bed. But, this is not at The Artemis, this is his room at the Montgomery’s old house in the city. I’m only fifteen, maybe sixteen years old.

I pick one up of me lying on my back, sound asleep, with one leg bent over the covers. A large male hand is running up the inner part of my thigh, creeping a little too close to…I shiver and a wave of nausea washes over me.

“I found this at his place. Apparently, he’s been stalking you for years. He must’ve come across you while you were staying over one night.”

“Damian, this is…”

“I know. I was going to tell you the other night, but the break-in put that plan on hold. I didn’t think you could handle another blow after that. Then, I decided I would tell you this weekend at my parents’ place.” I glance up at him with a befuddled expression plastered on my face.

“When did you find all this?”

“I went to his apartment, not long after he disappeared, and found this hidden in his closet.”

“You’ve known all this time and didn’t say anything?”

“Yes,” he replies simply, but something shifts in him, and I see the darkness in his eyes. “Now, there’s a little matter of your breaking and entering. Your lack of trust and sneaky behavior is quite the disappointment, Gabrielle.”

“But, you…” He shoots me a glare that causes me to shrink in my chair. My heart is pounding in my chest, and my rosy flesh warms under his penetrating gaze.

“We will discuss this further, later.”

I feel a sense of relief flood over me, but it is short-lived when he orders, “I want you to stand up, walk to the center of the room, and kneel on the floor with your rear resting on the heels of your feet.”

I swallow the lump in my throat. “What are you going to do to me?”

“I’m going to punish you, Gabrielle…Now do as you were told.”

I slowly rise from my chair, with my wide eyes glued to his, and walk over to the center of the room, kneeling as I was commanded. The stress knot in my stomach twists and turns until it burns. My breathing is shallow and quick.