Read Gabriel's Light (Doms of Chicago) Online
Authors: Dakota Trace
Clenching his teeth, Gabriel shoved the crop from his chest. “He
should’ve never called them. He could’ve gotten a cab…and then my sister and
George would still be here. We’d have been celebrating little Alex’s fifth
birthday this year, if he’d have called anyone else but Teresina.”
She sighed. “I’m not going to argue with you about this. You
aren’t stupid. There was no way Hark could’ve ever predicted what would
happen…”
“Then don’t. It’s in the past, and I’m not going to ever forgive
Hark.”
Jude interrupted him before he could go off on another tirade.
“I can’t believe you’re acting like this… you didn’t want her at your
place…besides
Caelan
put me in charge of her safety…”
“And I can’t believe you’d do this, knowing how I’d react to
finding out you put another woman’s and child’s lives at risk…”
“Enough!” Olivia shoved between them. “One!” She pointed at
Jude. “This isn’t a pissing contest. He’s not insulting your manhood. It’s
what’s best for Zhenya and Sophia. And two!” She glared at Gabriel. “She’s not
your submissive. You ran as fast and as far away as you could. You have no
reason to be pissed about Jude and
Caelan
deciding
Zhenya and Sophia would be safer with Hark. Quit being an ass.”
Ice washed over him. “So it’s like that? Fine.” He wrenched open
his locker and grabbed his toy bag from inside it. “Don’t let me impose on you
anymore.” Slamming the door, he stalked out of the club. The night definitely
hadn’t ended as he’d hoped.
Or at least
not yet.
Slipping behind the wheel, he pointed his SUV towards Zion. He was
going to bring Zhenya and Sophia home where they belonged. Hark
Akula
wasn’t going to get a chance to sink his hooks into
another innocent woman.
Chapter Fifteen
"Thanks for
the warning, Olivia. I'll be ready." Hark slowly hung up the phone back on
its base next to the kitchen door. His shoulders slumped a bit before he
straightened. Sitting at the table, Zhenya looked up from the newspaper she'd
been pouring over. In her bouncy seat next to the table, Sophia cooed and
kicked her feet.
"Is
everything okay?" She set down the pencil she'd been using to work on the
crossword.
"Your man
is coming." He turned, his face expressionless. Gone was the affectionate
brother figure she'd grown accustomed to in the past month. In his place was
the warrior she'd had dealt with the first day.
Alarm flowed
through her and her heart began to pound. "Sebastene found out we're
here?" Panic consumed her. She had to get out of here. She had to run. She
couldn't let her daughter go to that man. "I…we need to leave."
"This isn't
something you can run from, Zhenya." He moved to the table and squatted
down next to her. "And it isn't Sebastene. Olivia just told me Gabriel
found out you are staying with me. He’s on his way here now, and I'm sure the
hell
gonna
miss you and Miss Sophie when you
leave." He sighed, before rising up. He laid a hand upon her shoulder.
"I enjoyed having a family underfoot for a change. I'd forgotten how nice
it was. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a woman and child in my
home." He moved to the window and gazed out onto the street. "Crap is
going to hit the fan when your Gabriel gets here. I want you to remember the
shit that comes spewing out of his mouth is not going to have a thing to do
with you, okay? Let me deal with him. The issue is between him and me."
Confusion
swamped her. "Why would he be coming here?
He's not my Dom, Hark. He only delivered Sophie because he was on hand
and I begged him not to leave me. Any obligation he had was finished after she
drew her first breath. He shouldn't care one way or another."
A soft laugh
escaped him. "You've never had to deal with a Poulanos before, have
you?" He checked the lock on the window, probably just for something to
do, then shoved his hands inside his pockets. "They broke the mold when it
came to the men who carry the last name Poulanos when it comes to protectiveness.
At times I swear Gabriel got a double dose of it. They take their
responsibilities very seriously. "
She frowned,
scooping up Sophie and joined him at the window. "Be that as it may, I'm
not going with him, Hark. I’m not his responsibility. I'd rather be here with
you. I had the option of staying with him when this first happened. I
refused." Holding her daughter against her shoulder, she gazed outside.
"Too bossy
for you?" Hark asked softly. “I know he’s a Dom through and through.”
She shook her head.
"No, too much in love with another woman. Staying with him wasn’t an
option. "
His confusion
was apparent. "Why should it matter that he’s still mourning Sara? Has he
given you any indication that…”
She looked up at
him. "…that he might see me as more than a woman needing protection?” She
sighed. “We have physical chemistry, that much I’m certain of, but I know
myself. I'd have fallen in love with him, sure as rain. As a Dom he's firm but
still affectionate. I never knew that it could be like that. It's something my
husband couldn’t be. Ossie could be firm but as a traditional Greek man, he
wasn't allowed to show any affection in public with his wife. Common courtesies
most women take for granted were not common place in my marriage." She
rubbed Sophie's back.
"So
Gabriel’s little idiosyncrasies with women were like being in a candy shop
after a lifetime of bread and water, wasn’t it?" Hark brushed his fingers
over Sophie's downy soft cheek. Zhenya smiled and nodded.
"And it
would be too easy to mistake those gestures as affection, so I refused to go
with him. I'd rather stay here."
Hark met her
eyes. "Okay. Take Sophie upstairs. I'll deal with him. He can't make you
leave if you want to stay."
As the squeal of
tires from a Suburban pulled into the drive, Hark gave her one last smile, his
eyes crinkling at the corners. "Go. Let me deal with the Neanderthal.”
She chewed on
her lower lip, as she took in the obvious pleasure Hark seemed to be displaying
at the idea of dealing with Gabriel. “Please don’t fight on my account, Hark.”
He cupped her
cheek. “Don’t worry. I won’t hurt pretty boy too much.”
The pounding of
a fist on the front door followed by Gabriel’s demand to be let in, had her
scurrying up the steps with Sophie. Even as much as she longed to see Gabriel
again, she didn’t trust herself to not fall under his spell once more. There
was no way she could risk being around him.
Just as she
entered the nursery Sophie had been using, she heard Gabriel’s voice in the
foyer.
“Where the hell
are they? I’ve come for my woman and child,
Akula
.”
Her foolish
heart leapt at the possessive tone in Gabriel’s voice, but she reminded
herself, she’d never been Gabriel’s woman, merely a responsibility he’d taken
on out of necessity. Deciding nothing good could come from eavesdropping, she
shut the door as she heard the deep timber of Hark’s voice when he responded.
* *
* *
Gabriel clenched
his fists, wanting nothing more than to deck the smug ass in front of him. It
had been nearly two years since he’d seen Hark, at the lawyers office after his
sister’s and her husband’s funeral to be exact. It still irked the hell out of
him that George and Teresina had left the house they’d worked so hard to make
into a home, to the man who was responsible for them being killed.
He shoved the
thought of them away, because there was nothing he could do to change the past.
No, he had to deal with the present, and that meant focusing instead on the
situation at hand: Zhenya and Sophie. They were coming home with him even if he
had to haul Zhenya over his shoulder and carry Sophie out tucked under one arm.
Crossing his
arms over his chest, looking like a cigar store statue with his long braid
tossed over one shoulder, Hark just stared at him. “No. She doesn’t want to go
with you, Poulanos.”
“She’s not
staying here with you.” Gabriel glared back at the man.
Hark sighed and
dropped his arms. “I’m not going to argue this with you. If she wanted to go,
I’d let her. But she doesn’t, so she’s going to stay.”
Gabriel’s hands
went to his hips. “She also promised to obey when it came to issues concerning
her safety.”
Shifting his
stance, Hark nodded. “Yes, she did. There probably isn’t a safer place for her
at the moment than my home. She never met me before last month. Olivia and Jude
were right to bring me in. With my background in the service and my lack of
obvious ties to
Olivia’s,
I provided
the perfect alternative for little Sophie’s and Zhenya’s protection.”
Frustrated,
Gabriel wanted nothing more than to kick Hark’s ass, but his need to see Zhenya
and Sophie overrode his need to kick Hark
Akula’s
ass
up between his shoulder blades. Not that he was entirely sure that he would be
able to accomplish it. Standing at least seven inches taller than his own five
eleven height, the man not only was taller but outweighed him by at least a
hundred pounds. He still could remember the aches and pains from his last
tangle with Hark. “Screw this, she’s mine to care for. I’ll find her myself.”
He moved towards
the steps assuming the bedrooms would be a logical place to start looking.
“Stop!” Hark
shifted just enough to block the steps. “She doesn’t want to go with you.” He
repeated. “I won’t let you take her just because you’re pissed she’s here under
my protection.”
“Like hell. When
she ends up the same way Teresina did, what will your excuse be then? That you
tried but were overpowered by
Sebastene’s
goons?”
Even as he
looked for a reaction, Gabriel wasn’t surprised when he got none. The cold-
hearted bastard didn’t care about anything or anyone other than himself, as
usual.
“
Sebastene’s
goons won’t get past the front door. Now I’d
like you to leave. She doesn’t want to go with you and I have security measures
to attend to.”
Digging his
heels in, Gabriel glared at him. “Not until I hear it from her mouth myself. I
want to talk to her.” A rapid plan formed in his head. He only needed five
minutes alone with her. Five minutes and she’d be a puddle in his arms. It was
low, but worth it if it got her out of Hark’s home. And the fact his cock was half
hard at the thought? Well that was merely a physical reaction to the adrenalin
rushing through his veins. “I’m not leaving until I talk to her — alone.”
Hark watched him
impassively, obviously weighing his seriousness. Finally he sighed. “I should
just toss your ass out the door right now, but out of respect for your sister I
won’t. Stay here, I’ll see if she wants to talk to you.” Hark ordered before
disappearing up the staircase.
While he was
gone, Gabriel glanced around the living room. Other than a baby swing he
assumed was Sophie’s, nothing had changed since his sister’s death. Her touch
still lingered in the dried flowers over the mantel and throw pillows on the
couch. There were more whittlings flanking either side of the dried flowers.
Hark was obviously still plying his knife to occupy his hands. Gabriel was
tempted to go and see what new masterpieces the man had made, but had to remind
himself this wasn’t a social visit. No matter how much he enjoyed Hark’s work,
he was here to retrieve Zhenya and Sophie, not admire carvings.
“You wanted to
hear it from my own mouth? I’m staying here.” Zhenya’s voice drew his attention
away from the mantel.
He hungrily took
in her appearance. She was wearing a pair of faded jeans and a peasant’s blouse
over it which exposed the tops of her shoulders and the upper swells of her
breasts. His mouth grew dry as he imagined running ice or better yet dripping
hot wax on the smooth skin exposed to his gaze. He instinctively moved to her,
frowning when she stepped back from him. A frown crossed his face. She had no
reason to fear him. He’d never hurt her. He shoved his hands in his pockets to
hopefully look less threatening. “Why?”
“Because I’m
safe here.” She wrapped her arms around her waist, her defensive stance as if
she were expecting him to hit her. He found he didn’t like it one bit.
“I’m not going
to hurt you. Why are you acting like this?” He dragged his hand through his
hair. “It’s not safe for you here. There are things you don’t know about Hark.
Dangerous things.”
A brittle laugh
escaped her. “What? That he was once a part of a relationship with your sister
and her husband? Or that he blames himself for their deaths? We all have
baggage, Gabriel. And you better than most should realize that. I feel safe here
with him.”
He wanted to hit
something, but managed to keep his voice even. “Do I need to call
Caelan
and make it a direct order, Zhenya? You promised to
obey him in regards to your safety.” He reached into his pocket for his cell.
He had no intentions of actually calling his friend, but if it got her to come
with him, it was well worth the bluff.
She shook her
head. “I’m not going with you - even if
Caelan
gives
me a direct order. I’m happy here, Gabriel. Hark is a wonderful man and will
make a wonderful father….”
Anger clouded
his judgment as he covered the scant feet separating them. Jerking her up
against him, he covered her open mouth with his. She was his, not Hark’s…just
like Sophie was his, and he’d be damned if he was
gonna
let the other man take what he wanted. His tongue thrust inside to tangle with
hers as he enveloped her with his body, his arm around her waist lifting her up
and into him, while his other hand was buried in her long hair, keeping her
still for his possession. He groaned as the taste of butterscotch disks and
sweet tea filled him as their dueling tongues mated. Growling deep in his
throat, he wanted to place his mark upon her in a way she’d never forget.
By the time he
lifted his head, her fingers had slipped under his jacket and were clinging
onto his shoulders.
He relished the
prick of her nails through the loose silk shirt he’d paired with his leather
pants in anticipation of playing at Olivia’s. As his chest rose and fell
heavily, he wondered why he’d tried to find what he needed in some nameless
sub’s arms, when what he’d really wanted was right in front of him, her lips
swollen from his mouth. “Mine…” He narrowed his eyes when she opened her mouth
to more than likely protest. “Not Hark’s. This body will belong to me…” he rocked
her up into the cradle of his hips, loving the way her breath caught as she
felt him against her soft belly. “And Sophie is mine too…I brought her into
this world…and I want her.”
“I….no, we’re
not…you’re still in love…” She stumbled back, her face flushed with passion,
but she even as she was trying to reason with him, he came to a shocking
realization. He meant every word of it - he was ready to move on. But before he
could put it into words, a shout came from upstairs.