An endless, twisted maze of dark tunnels. The metallic tinge of blood. Rain. Moonlight. A pulsing warmth in my core. A soft leather seat. A long drive. Pine trees. The smell of water.
Everything is hazy and unreal until my head hits a soft pillow. Then, I remember nothing—at least, not until my eyelids flutter open again.
This type of situation is all too familiar to me by now. Waking up in a new place is not something I did much of growing up, but it’s happened so much lately that it feels like multiple lifetimes have passed.
Still, this time doesn’t feel like the others.
First off, I’m not in some skimpy nightgown. My black outfit from earlier has been replaced by comfy grey sweats.
But that’s not the biggest difference.
No. The biggest difference is that, somehow, I can sense Gabriel’s presence. He’s nearby. And for the first time, that’s not a heart-dropping realization.
Instead, it’s almost comforting.
My protector.
Taking a deep breath, I sit up in my new bed. But that only dislodges the heaviness in my head.
Fuck.
Suddenly, all I can remember are the violent death throes of the man I killed. His bloody eye socket. The sound of his broken nose crunching against the hard floor, over and over again.
The memory makes me shiver… until a different memory replaces it. And the cold feeling becomes far warmer.
Gabriel.
He saved me… from that mansion and from myself. He ripped the blade from my throat. He killed to keep me safe. And then he fucked me with his weapon of choice.
A ragged breath rips down my throat.
I was so scared. So helplessly lost. But he didn’t flinch. Gabriel was so harsh, but that’s what I needed. He fucked some sense back into me. And he did it while teaching me a twisted lesson.
It’s a lesson I can’t quite remember the details of—not right now, not in this drowsy state—but I can still feel it in every fiber of my being. Because, even if I don’t know where I am, even if I’m sore as fuck, one thing slowly becomes clear.
I’m not scared—or, rather, I’m not consumed by fear.
Sure, it’s still there, pulsing gently below everything else. But it’s soft enough that I can ignore it. For now.
But peace never lasts long in this world. Not when I’m around Gabriel.
In the blink of an eye, the sun-drenched bedroom is darkened by howls of pain. They come from outside, leaking through the large rounded window on the far wall.
My fear quickly spikes, before I hear something that calms it once more.
Gabriel’s voice. It may be muffled, but it’s loud and stern and full of a ruthless determination. He’s not the one in pain. He’s the one causing the pain.
I find it strangely comforting.
And oddly arousing.
My toes curl into the soft bear rug at the foot of my bed as I prepare myself to stand up.
I can still feel the warm steel of Gabriel’s gun in my pussy.
Why the hell did that feel so good?
It’s not a question I’m in any state to answer, especially as I force myself onto my feet.
At first, I sway like a thin tree in a strong wind. But it doesn’t take long for me to suck it up.
Maybe I am getting stronger, after all.
… Or maybe I’ve just been through so much that getting out of bed is practically a walk in the park now, no matter how sore I am.
The scent of fresh wood follows me to the large rounded windows at the far end of this big, but cozy bedroom. Before I can see what’s happening outside, though, I catch my reflection in the glass—or more specifically, what’s hanging behind me.
Mounted onto the log walls are half a dozen snarling animal heads. They range from bears and wolves to bison and elk, each bigger and more menacing than the last.
It’s a completely unexpected sight.
Where the hell are we? Another one of Gabriel’s eclectic properties?
For some reason, I can already tell that this place doesn’t belong to him. But I’m not sure why, even as I rip my gaze away from the mounted heads behind me, and focus onto the thick wall of trees bordering this strange property.
This seems like the perfect spot for a man as secretive as Gabriel to hide out. But it’s missing something. The other two places have felt like different sides of the same coin.
Not this place, though.
My dark wolf doesn’t seem like the type to mount trophies of his kills on the wall. As far as I can tell, killing is a necessity to him, not a game.
The only games he seems to play are with me.
Another hair-raising wail seeps through the thick walls, prickling my skin as I snap my attention back to the matter at hand.
Gaze drifting down to the overgrown lawn below, I try to spot the source of the sound. But even as another wail causes a flock of birds to fly off, I don’t notice anything out of the ordinary.
Then, suddenly, I see him.
Anything but ordinary, Gabriel walks around the corner, shirtless, sweaty skin glinting in the sunlight. His broad shoulders sway with every step, and his dark tattoos seem to slither over his muscular body as he reaches for something propped up against the trunk of a tall pine tree.
It takes me a second of squinting to see what it is.
An axe.
My stomach drops. Then, a moment later, the empty space is filled by a soft ball of pressure.
My toes curl again. My skin pimples.
This shouldn’t be so fucking hot.
My little lapse of arousal doesn’t last long, though. Because when Gabriel’s shirtless body disappears around the corner, the begging and the screaming start again.
That’s when a far more disturbing thought crosses my mind. Something that I had purposefully buried deep inside of me, because I knew there was nothing I could do about it.
it’s not that Gabriel is a monster. I know that. Fuck. His beastly side is even starting to turn me on—but he doesn’t play as gently with his enemies as he does with me.
And who are his enemies? Who is he at war with?
My family.
The pressure in my core instantly evaporates as I consider that those screams could very realistically be coming from someone I know; from someone I care about.
Before I can think on it any further, I find myself racing out of the bedroom. Somehow, I find the stairs and start to pound down those too, gripping onto the handrail so that my sore thighs don’t give out on me.
When Gabriel last left me, he was off to see Rian.
What are the chances that meeting didn’t go well?
Fucking hell. Gabriel has done such a number on me that I haven’t even thought of it since that Krol guy wandered into that camouflaged rooftop palace.
Gabriel is strong, but could he really have overpowered Rian on his own? Could he have locked up a lion before he came to save me?
Is Gabriel really wicked enough to torture my own cousin right in front of me?
Doubt keeps me from keeling over as my feet hit the main floor.
Gabriel isn’t that kind of monster. I’m almost certain of it.
Almost.
Maybe the meeting with Gabriel went well. Maybe Gabriel managed to convince Rian and Dad to negotiate. Or maybe, something far worse happened…
I burst out of the front door just in time to see Gabriel swing his ax towards someone tied to the trunk of a great pine tree.
“Stop!” I hear myself scream.
I can’t see who the captive is, but it doesn’t matter.
“… Bianca?”
Gabriel seems surprised that I’m up and on my feet so early. My presence is enough to stop his axe, mid swing.
But that doesn’t stop me from suddenly feeling so light headed that I have to reach out for something to break my fall.
My vision starts to blur and I feel myself tumbling… until my hand falls on a hard, sweaty surface.
Gabriel.
“Don’t hurt him,” I hear myself quietly beg.
“You’re delirious,” Gabriel pointedly notes. “Go back to bed, I’ll deal with you later.”
“No,” I insist, even as I fall into his hard body. “Don’t hurt him.”
“Hurt who?” he questions me.
“The man tied to the tree.”
“Do you know who I have tied to the tree?”
“No,” I gulp.
“Well, then come meet him.”
Taking my arm, Gabriel pulls me alongside of him as we march across the front lawn of this modern two-story cabin. Slowly, I regain focus again, and I see just how deep in the woods we really are.
The sun is high in the sky, almost dead center, and still, the forest that surrounds us is pitch black.
“Here he is,” Gabriel announces.
“Let me go, you bastard!”
Even before I turn to see who’s tied to the trunk, a wave of relief washes over me. I don’t recognize the nasally voice.
It gives me the strength I need to look at the captive head on.
The sight sends a shiver up my spine.
Deep black eyes glare back at me. Blood drips form an open gash in the man’s forehead. His left foot is twisted nearly backwards.
“Who is that?” I hear myself asking, hoping beyond hope that it’s someone who deserves this kind of treatment.
“This is Luis Falcao. A small-time drug dealer from Colombia who thinks he can just waltz onto my turf and do as he pleases.”
“It’s not your turf,” Luis spits, blood dribbling down his lips. “Unless you’ve somehow managed to finesse LA from Ray Byrne…”
“… My dad gave you permission to sell drugs in our territory?” The question comes out before I can stop it.
“I don’t need anyone’s permission, darling,” Luis sneers at me. But that sneer slowly twists into a mangled grin as he realizes what I just accidentally confessed. “I’d heard that the Byrne princess was missing,” he says, looking over at Gabriel. “But who’d have thought that I’d find her all the way out here, in the cold dark woods, at my very own cabin?”
“This is your cabin?” I blurt out again.
But Gabriel isn’t interested in where this conversation is heading, so he ruthlessly cuts it off.
“Enough small talk,” the dark wolf growls. Lifting his axe, he swings it over his shoulder. “It’s time to get to the important stuff.”
“I’m not telling you shit,” Luis stubbornly huffs. “But you can tell me—“
Before he can finish, Gabriel snatches the axe from his shoulder and throws it.
The sharp blade digs into the trunk just above Luis’ head.
The drug dealer lets out a barely restrained yelp.
“I ask the questions,” Gabriel reminds him. Marching forward, he rips the axe from the trunk and then stomps back to my side. “Now, tell me. Who is El Blanco?”
“I’ve never heard that name in my life.”
“I don’t miss twice,” Gabriel warns, his axe grazing the grass as he swings it by his side.
All I can do is watch… and try to hide my growing arousal.
The pressure in my core has reappeared. My toes curl into the soft dirt below my feet.
My family is safe. For now.
And I already don’t like this Luis guy. Drug dealers are scum. Mom and Dad taught me that from day one.
“You don’t have the guts to—”
With another swing of his axe, Gabriel interrupts the mouthy drug dealer.
This time, the blade slashes through Luis’ thigh, sticking into the muscle as a fountain of blood gushes out.
“You motherfucker!” the drug dealer squeals. But he’s not acting so tough anymore. He’s practically wheezing by the time Gabriel tears the blade from his leg.
“You’re lucky I wasn’t aiming for your throat,” Gabriel says. Dropping his bloody axe to the ground, my dark wolf lifts his hands to his face.
That’s when I first notice the bloody bandages wrapped around his forearms. They look dirty and worn out.
When the hell did those get there?
Unspooling the dressing from his right wrist, he motions me forward.
I do as I’m told.
I’m too aroused not to.
“Take this,” Gabriel orders.
“What happened to you?” I ask, mindlessly accepting the dirty bandage.
“Nothing important. Wrap up Luis’ wound for me, will you? We don’t want him bleeding out before I can get my answers.”
“You ain’t getting shit out of me!” Luis barks.
“We’ll see about that.”
Stepping aside, Gabriel slaps my ass, urging me forward. But my nerves tense as I stare down the bloody drug dealer. He’s in rough shape.
“Come on, doll. Fix me up,” Luis taunts.
“If you talk to her again, I’ll tear your cock off,” Gabriel quietly threatens. “Go on, myszko.”
“Yes, sir,” I gulp.
Stepping forward, I crouch down and size up the wound. It’s deep, and the mangled muscle surrounding the gash spasms uncontrollably.
“There’s no need to be gentle,” Gabriel reminds me.
His intention quickly becomes clear. He’s trying to show me how to handle the pain of others—specifically, the pain of those who would dare disobey us.
No remorse. No tenderness.
No matter how gory his wound is, my job isn’t to make Luis feel better. It’s to help keep him alive until he can give us answers.
With that in mind, I begin to wrap the bandage around the throbbing lesion.
I don’t get far before Luis curses out in pain. His body shakes against his restraints… and then I feel him spit on the top of my head.
Before I can even look up, I hear the crack of Gabriel’s fist colliding with the fucker’s jaw.
A half dozen bloody teeth tumble into the grass at my feet.
“Finish it,” Gabriel growls over top of me.
Reluctantly, I comply.
Luis has the common sense to remain unconscious until I’m done. Only then does he grumble back awake.
Before he can say another word, though, Gabriel pushes me back and steps in front of Luis, lifting his axe so that it’s right up in the drug dealer’s shattered face.
“My shirt is over on the front steps,” Gabriel tells me. “Go grab it and wash yourself off. Then return.”
Again, I quietly do as I’m told, unsure of how to express just how much this is turning me on.
The scent of Gabriel’s discarded shirt doesn’t do much to calm me down. His earthy musk is a hundred times stronger.
Still, I somehow manage to pull myself away from it after cleaning off the top of my head.
“El Blanco is just a myth,” I hear Luis grumble, when I return to Gabriel’s side.
“So you have heard of him?” I hear myself say.
For all of the intensity surrounding us, the comment makes Gabriel chuckle ever so slightly.
“We see right through your lies, scumbag,” he growls, quickly returning to his frightful self. “Tell me what you know about El Blanco, or I start cutting off limbs.”
Gabriel already has his axe cocked when Luis finally breaks.
“There isn’t much to know,” he insists, the first hints of sincerity coming over his coarse voice. “Years ago, he supposedly ran cocaine from Colombia to America. He was the in-between.”
“What was his real name?”
“I only ever heard him referred to as El Blanco. He wasn’t Colombian, but he moved enough coke to get the nickname. He moved so much of the white stuff that they named him after it. White. Blanco. Get the it?”
“Where was he from?”
“I don’t know. I swear. Why the fuck do you even want to know about this fucker? He’s been out of the game for years.”
“When did you last hear about him?”
“Last I heard, he was one of the unlucky fuckers killed in a government raid on a Colombian compound. Those army assholes massacred everyone and took the coke for themselves.”
“If it’s been so long since you last heard of him, then why risk your health by not telling me all of this right away?”
“Because you’re not supposed to break under interrogation.”
“But you just did,” Gabriel points out. His voice is filled with a simmering fury, like he’s holding it back, but just can’t wait to unleash it all.
“El Blanco is dead,” Luis huffs. “If that’s all you get out of me, then I’ll be safe.”
“Safe from who?”
“None of your business.”
Leaning forward, Gabriel presses the blade of his axe against Luis’ throat.
My sore thighs clench. My nipples are already hard.
“It is my business,” Gabriel sneers. “But don’t worry, you already told my friend enough… or did you think Tytus was your friend?”
The drug dealer’s shock is clear.
“I… I… What the fuck are you talking about?”
“You two did a little drinking last night, didn’t you? Tytus told you he worked with Dragomir Raclaw, and you knew that name well enough to think you could use drunk old Tytus to put in a good word for you. You had already partnered with the Reca disciples, and you’d heard from them that they were working with Drago. So, why couldn’t you… right?”
“I… I didn’t say any of that.”
“Oh, you did. And Tytus recorded it all. I gave it a listen on my way here. You know, after Tytus shared this address with me. But before he slipped out, letting me in so I could beat the shit out of your drunk ass and tie you up for some questioning of my own.”
“He… He didn’t fool me. I didn’t reveal anything important,” Luis tries to insist, even as the dreadful realization twists his bloody face.
But even I understand what’s happening.
“I don’t believe you,” Gabriel says. Dropping his axe, he reaches under his beltline and pulls out a familiar looking gun. “I think I know everything that you know. Which means there’s no point in keeping you alive, is there?”
“You fucking fool!” Luis wildly screeches, struggling against his restraints. “I know more than you could ever dare to imagine.”
Gabriel only rolls his eyes at that claim.
“Come here, myszko,” my dark wolf orders.
Not a word escapes my lips as I become his shadow. Together, we take ten steps away from the tree. Luis screams after us, but we don’t pay him any mind.
“Take this.” Handing me his gun, Gabriel grabs my shoulder and positions me so that I’m squared up perfectly with the pleading drug dealer.
The warmth of the metal immediately brings back the filthy memories of what we did in that dark tunnel.
“Is this…” I star to ask, before the words catch in my throat.
I know it’s the gun he fucked me with. I can still smell myself on it. Still, I want to hear him say it—if only to stall what comes next.
Because I also know what Gabriel is about to ask of me.
“It is. Now, use it.”
Luis’s continued cries fall on deaf ears as I look down at the sleek black weapon. Just the sight alone makes my pussy wet.
But not even that can untangle the knots forming in my gut.
“I… I don’t know if I can.”
“I’ll help you,” Gabriel whispers. Leaning down, he rests his chin on my shoulder and lifts my wrists until the barrel is aimed at Luis.
“You fucking bitch!” the drug dealer squeals. “Don’t you dare!”
“This is the world we live in, Bianca,” Gabriel tells me, his voice remaining low and calm, even if I still sense the fury simmering beneath it all. But that’s not all I feel. His throbbing bulge presses into the small of my back. His hot breath washes against my ear. “This is how to conquer the darkness. This is your gun now. Just like this is your cock.”
Brushing his lips against my earlobe, Gabriel gently thrusts his searing bulge into my ass.
A warm shiver nearly makes me drop the gun. But my dark wolf holds me tight.
“What else is mine?” I hear myself rasp.
The pressure in my core is starting to tremble.
“What else do you want?”
“What do you mean?” I quiver, the intensity of the moment getting to me.
“What do you want out of life?”
What I want out of life is so different than what I want right now. What I right now is for Gabriel to take this gun from my hand. I want him to walk up to Luis and shoot him right between the eyes. I want him to spit on the fucker. Then I want him to pry my jaw open and spit in my mouth. I want him to bend me over right here, outside, and fuck me until I bleed again. Then I want him to lick up my blood and feed it to me.
But what do I want out of life?
“… To be my own woman,” I mumble, shocked at the depravity of my own thoughts.
“It’s too late for that. You’re mine. But I can also be yours, as long as you’re strong enough to handle me. Prove yourself. You want to rule one day, right? You’ve already killed once. But to conquer empires, you must kill hundreds. Thousands. It starts here. Now. Destroy our enemies. All of them.”
“Not all of them,” I hear myself whisper. “You’re at war with my family.”
“Yes,” Gabriel quietly agrees. “But I might be able to negotiate with them.”
“Why would you do that? What happened to destroying your enemies?”
“You happened.”
My eyelids flutter as Gabriel plants the softest kiss against the back of my ear.
“Shoot him, myszko.”
I want to pull the trigger so badly. I want to end this. I want Gabriel to fuck me. Then I want him to hold me afterwards and tell me that all of this will work out. That I can see my family again… and build something with him. Something brutal. Something ruthless. But also something pure and tender.
Something that’s ours.
But Luis has started to sob. My finger twitches over the trigger. No matter how badly I want to end this, I can’t bring myself to shoot.
“I can’t. He’s defenseless…”
“Do you want me to untie him? Give him a gun?
“No.”
“This man worships the fuckers who killed my parents,” Gabriel growls. “Well, my father. Do it for me, Bianca. Avenge my family.”
But the talk of family has only made me weaker. What would my own parents think of me now? For as much as I’ve always dreamed of becoming a dark and ruthless queen, the reality of just how depraved I can truly be is terrifying.
Killing Luis like this just doesn’t feel right.
“No,” I rasp, devastated by my own lack of courage.
For a moment, Gabriel doesn’t react. Hell, he doesn’t even breathe. Neither do I.
Then, I feel a change in him.
Pushing himself off me, he tears the gun from my hands.
“Very well,” he says, his voice disturbingly quiet.
Before I can even process what’s happening, he’s marched up to Luis and pointed the barrel of his gun between the drug dealer’s eyes. The same barrel he fucked me with.
“No! Please! I have money! I can give you—”
The gunshot is sharp and stinging. At my back, I hear a flock of birds ruffle from a tree.
Ahead, Luis’ neck snaps down. Blood pours from the hole in his forehead.
Gabriel tosses the gun to the ground. Then, he turns around to me.
“You failed, myszko,” he says, his voice deeper than ever. “You need to be punished.”
