Chapter 4

Four Months Ago

"Get your hands off me!" Gabrielle"s fear cuts me to the quick. I"ve never seen anything like this. Ink, from the Wings of Diablo club, regaled us all with how he was put into a clear box and forced to fight other prisoners, but what Gabrielle and I have just been forced into doesn"t seem like something used to watch us fight. Like I ever would fight her anyway.

The guards move to the four corners of the room, and Shade stands right in the center where Gabrielle and I are. He crosses his arms over his chest as if he"s waiting for a petulant child to finish their temper tantrum. I take a step in his direction, more than ready to wipe that ridiculous look off his face. The second I do, red dots erupt onto my chest as well as Gabrielle"s. If I try to take him out, there"s no guarantee they won"t kill Gabrielle too. I"m stuck.

"What the hell do you want? Why do you have us in here?" I growl and step back until I can feel Gabi right behind me, using my body the best I know how to protect her.

"I"m glad to see you"re finally ready to act like a grown man instead of fighting like a wild beast." Shade smirks before taking a step backward and gesturing with his hands that I should look around. "What you see here is the reason the both of you are still alive. I could have simply sent you to the island with the rest of your biker gang, but it"s come to my attention that you two were the reason one of my holding houses was raided by the police. I lost a lot of good women and workers when they took them all away. You can"t make up for that, but at least you can make me back some of the money. As you see here, I have a very unique clientele. They want to be thrilled, aroused." His smirk gets wider at the last statement. "And you two are going to help me do that."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

My eyes scan my surroundings once again. Not only do I see people looking down on us, but there are cameras with steady red lights pointing in our direction as well. Whatever they want us to do involves us being recorded.

"Don"t play coy with me now. You know what we want you to do." He slowly lets his eyes settle on Gabrielle. Her dark eyes grow wider as she waits for the order I dread is coming.

"Strip."

"Oh, God... please! No!" She whimpers, and once again I"m flush with anger. I don"t give a damn about the guns pointed in my direction or who the hell is looking at us right now; there"s no way I"m going to rape her. I can"t, not Gabrielle. Not her. One of the guards finds his way behind me and strikes me hard with the butt of his gun. My vision pinpoints, and I crumble to the ground, dizzy and disoriented. When I look back up, Shade has his hands around Gabrielle"s neck and a pistol placed against her temple.

"What is it that you don"t understand? You"re going to do what I want one way or another. Either with her, or I can just kill her and find another woman to take her place. What"s your choice, Bishop?" Shade snarls and squeezes Gabrielle"s neck a little harder, causing her to squeak out her cries.

"Let her go. I can"t do this. Just kill me. I don"t care what you do to me, just let her go." The words coming out of my mouth sound more like I"m begging than ordering. I"m not too proud to beg for her life.

"That"s not your decision. I"m giving you the only choice you have. Either you take her exactly how we want you to take her, or I"ll put a bullet in her brain and you"ll do what we want with someone else. Be quick with your decision, I"m not a patient man." He shoves Gabrielle in my direction, and I catch her before she can fall flat on the ground.

After taking a few breaths, she looks up at me, tears still cascading down her face.

"You have to do it, Bishop. It"s okay." She nods, trying to ease my mind and the growing guilt inside of me.

Of course, I"d fantasized about the first time Gabrielle and I would be intimate with each other. After the day I spent with her while we got the captives taken care of near her home, we"d discovered that she and I have quite a few things in common. It was at the very start of our budding relationship that Shade and his men took us as their prisoners.

There"s not been one fantasy I"ve ever had about Gabrielle that included me raping her. I want to make her feel good, not fear me.

"No. I can"t. I can"t." I shake my head hard, not wanting anything Gabrielle says to me to sink in. She doesn"t deserve this. She doesn"t belong here.

"If you don"t, they"ll kill me, or worse, they"ll kill you and I"ll be forced to do this with someone else. I trust you, Bishop," her voice softens and she places a shaking hand on mine. "I"d rather it was you than one of them. Please."

"There has to be another way. Something else we can do." I rack my brain trying to think of something. A way for me to get one of the weapons without putting her life in danger. There"s nothing.

A sharp tap on the glass captures my attention, and I see one of the so-called clients staring at us with aggravation clear on his face.

"Time"s up. Let"s go." Shade reaches over and pulls Gabrielle from where she is in front of me, shoving her further into the middle of the room.

"Strip." He orders her again. This time, even with her face still wet from the tears, she does what she"s asked.

I turn my head, not wanting to look at her while she does this, hoping to give her even a little bit of privacy. Not that it matters, all of this will be recorded, I"m sure.

"You too, Bishop. I don"t have all day." Shade snaps his fingers in my direction.

What I wouldn"t give to be able to rip those fingers off and shove them down his throat. I"ve never hated someone as much as I hate him.

How the hell am I supposed to do this? How can I abuse this woman who"s done nothing but try to help me and the people I care about?

My body shakes with unspent anger, but I start to take the little clothes I have on off.

Finally, when both of us are naked, the guards leave the room, and Shade locks the door so Gabrielle and I can"t get out.

There"s no bed, just a small pad on the ground, barely enough for an animal to sleep on.

This isn"t where I"d ever thought would be the first time I"d have sex with Gabrielle, but right now it"s clear I don"t have much of a choice.

Gabrielle"s eyes slide upward and she sweeps the area with her gaze, her lips trembling as she continues to cry harder.

"No, don"t look at them. Look at me," I say softly, slowly making my way over to where Gabrielle is standing. Her body shakes harder than a leaf in a windstorm. I have to make her comfortable. If this is all I can offer her right now, at least let me get this right.

Her eyes drop down to mine, and I lock gazes with her.

"Bishop," she whispers and reaches out for me.

My calloused hands are too rough for her feather-soft skin. She tenses slightly as I run my hand from her fingertips up to her forearm before I make a better effort to soften my touch.

"I"m right here with you, Gabrielle. It"s just you and me right now, no one else but you and I." I slide my other hand along the same path as the first but on the opposite arm until my hands find their way up to her neck, where I cradle her head, tilting it slightly so she can continue looking at me.

"Do you know what I"d do for you, Gabrielle? Do you know how precious you are to me?" I lean forward and kiss the side of her mouth, relaxing a bit when I hear her sigh softly against my cheek. "I don"t deserve to be in the same room as a woman like you. You amaze me all the time. Absolutely perfect." I kiss the other side of her mouth before moving my mouth over to take her lips fully with mine.

"Let me take care of you. Stay here with me." I whisper between kisses, and her hands tighten on my arms. In a quick move, I reach down and lift her feet from the ground, bringing her into a bridal carry quickly before I gently place her down on the dirty mat that is supposed to be used as a place for us to get down to business. I"m glad she hasn"t looked away from me. I can hear the people behind the walls getting a little more raucous and impatient. Unfortunately, that"s not my biggest problem right now.

I"m so focused on getting Gabrielle through this that I haven"t begun to think about how I"m going to get through this myself. I want her, but not like this, and my body knows it. I"m as limp as an overcooked noodle.

Slowly, without dragging away too much attention, I move my hand from where I have it behind her neck and grab hold of my shaft, pumping a few times, trying to force myself to get ready for something I don"t want to do. I feel nothing but roiling disgust.

"It"s okay, Bishop. I want you. Just you," Gabrielle whispers as if she knows I"m going to have a problem, one that might just get us both killed.

She lifts up and kisses me again; this time it"s deeper than the few I"ve laid on her. Even with all the people watching and the guns pointed in our direction, I lose myself in her kiss. She moans against my lips, and that"s enough to get me going. I"m only at half mast, but I"m hard enough to get the job done.

Still, I take a few more moments to ready Gabrielle. Foreplay is something I usually enjoy; watching a woman squirm and come to pieces under me is a skill I"ve honed over the years. I just never had to use what I know under such horrible circumstances.

Slowly, I swipe my fingers between her cleft, and her back bows slightly at my touch. She"s not wet yet, but I"m sure I can get her there. Focusing my efforts on kissing and suckling her lips and neck, I slowly massage that tight nub between her thighs. Her breathing is faster, and her eyes flutter closed as she gives herself over to what I"m doing for her.

We"re so in tune with one another I almost forget where I am. Almost.

"Fuck her already!" Someone screams out from behind the glass, which causes loud laughter to filter into the room.

Gabrielle sucks in a breath and looks in the direction of the man who screamed. I turn my head and hiss in his direction. I could break his skull like a fucking egg for distracting her. I can"t focus on that right now.

I turn my gaze back on her, grasp her face with just my fingertips of my free hand and recenter her gaze on me. "It"s just me, Gabi." I whisper again, but the damage has already been done. Her body is shaking again and a fresh wave of tears have begun to fall down her face. One by one I kiss them away all the while not stopping my fingers between her legs.

I keep going, not caring that my forearm is cramping up from the constant movement of my fingers. I can"t take away all the bad in this situation but I can give her something good.

"Stay with me, Gabrielle," I whisper again as her grip on my arms tightens. Her breathing quickens as I dip the very tip of my finger inside her tight folds. She sucks in one final breath, and with her lips still pressed together tightly, she moans just loud enough for me to hear.

"Perfect," I mutter again. She"s saving her pleasure for me. These bastards may be paying to see us fuck, but she"s saving herself just for me. If I wasn"t ready before, just knowing this gets me reared and ready to go. Quickly positioning myself between her legs, I move my hand, using my forearms to block the sides of her head almost like blinders before I line myself up and slide into her.

I have to bite down on the inside of my cheek to keep from moaning out in ecstasy. She"s so tight and warm around me.

I pull back and thrust in once. Her body"s still getting used to mine so I"m not able to seat myself fully. There are jeers and random expletives coming at us from all around, but I ignore everything besides Gabrielle, and from the way she"s looking at me, she"s doing the same.

Slowly, I thrust in and out of her until I"m completely engulfed by her heat.

It feels so good, and I see so much trust in her eyes that it almost breaks me down.

Soon, the gentle thrusts turn into something more animalistic. The need to erase some of the hurt I know we"re going to feel later, the need to forget what"s being done to us, jumps to the forefront of my mind.

Before long, I"m pounding into Gabrielle. Her body shaking, this time in pleasure. The orgasms flow freely from her as I work her over.

While we are in each other"s arms, it almost feels as if nothing can touch us. How I wish I could stay here forever. The growing noise and my body let me know that I won"t get my wish.

A deep tingle starts at the base of my back and slingshots to the front. My cock grows harder still, and I feel the build-up of my release in the very depths of my soul. Gabrielle scratches hard down my back as she comes once again, and the slight pain is enough to tip me over the edge. I clamp my jaw together, and with only a few grunts, I come hard and deep inside of her.

The second it"s over, the fog we"re both in begins to recede, and the noise of the pleased crowd around us filters back in.

My heart cracks bit by bit as I listen to the horrible things they call Gabrielle and the way they praise me for giving them what they want.

I hate myself for this.

Hate that we"ve been put into this position in the first place.

Pulling myself out of her, I let my head fall down, ashamed of what I"ve done, only to feel Gabrielle reach up, encircling her arms around my neck. We bury our faces into each other"s necks and cry hard. The release is short-lived because before we have a chance to catch our breath, Shade and his guards are back in the room, ripping us apart.

The transaction is done. I"ve taken away a small piece of Gabrielle"s dignity and lost a large chunk of my hope in the process.

The worst part of it all is knowing that this is only the beginning. They"ll come back for us again. This carnal craving won"t be sated with just one performance; I"m going to have to hurt Gabrielle again. Even though I know she"ll forgives me, I"m not sure I"m ever going to be able to forgive myself.