“Uh, Gabriel, can we table this? I love it here, but I can’t see myself living here all year long.” I felt a rumble in his back. Gabriel was laughing.
“Oh, thank God, because the last thing I want to do is hunt or ride ATVs all day.” His laughter was infectious, and I joined in. It hit me then: we were a couple. The fact that it happenedbecause I was part of his case was irrelevant, as was the age gap between us. I could never be with anyone else after him. Gabriel was it for me. I felt like a watcher, observing us from outside myself. This woman who was relaxed and happy, laughing and bathing in the woods, and then I realized it was me. I was the woman in the reflection, and she was me.
When it was time to get out of our bath, Gabriel carried me inside after ensuring everything was turned off. We were once again in darkness, the glow of the embers in the fireplace our only light. My eyes were so heavy that once my head touched the pillow, I was out.
The following day, we had breakfast on the porch, and I finally got a good look at my surroundings. It was incredibly peaceful. Maybe I could spend some time here; the place had potential. Gabriel said he’d done very little to the cabin and only spent time here when he needed to get away but had never brought anyone with him before.
I sipped my coffee and leaned back, smelling the fresh air and taking it all in. If you had told me almost a week ago where I’d be and with whom, I would have scoffed. I was, after all, a twenty-year-old college student and the only child of a state senator and his adoring wife... barf!
Not anymore. Now I was... what was I now?A woman,my mind whispered.A sexaholic?Not true, I argued with myself silently. I want sex, and lots of it, but only with Gabriel. “Penny for your thoughts?” I turned blank eyes toward Gabriel and then blinked a few times.
“Trust me, you don’t want to know.”
Gabriel leaned forward, his masculine presence filling the space, impressive even on a porch. “I want to know everything, Cheryl—every crevice, every line, every thought, every whisper.” His comment made my belly do gymnastics.
“Okay, maybe you can help me. I was just arguing with myself about who I am. Before you, I would have said I was a twenty-year-old college student, the only child of a state senator and his adoring wife. So, what am I now? Your baby whore? Surely, you’ll tire of that, and then what?”
Gabriel’s eyes turned dark, a look changing his expression that would terrify anyone. But I’d learned in our short time together that it was his irritated, angry face. Clearly, he disagreed with my assessment.
“So, you think you’re just a label, defined by what you do and not who you are? Who are you, Cheryl?”
I couldn’t say if it was the raw honesty of his question or his tone, but I felt a dam break in my chest, and all I wanted was to escape the intensity of the moment, and the wave of emotions overcoming me.
I took off for the forest at full speed, running like a rabbit from a wolf. Muscle memory kicked in. I used to run in high school before transforming into a fashion diva. As I ran, I was bombarded by memories I’d safely tucked away, like coming in second at nationals and my father’s disappointment. I changed because of him. Tears streamed down my face as I ran blindly through the trees, branches whipping my arms and legs. I didn’t care as long as I didn’t have to face the truth—him.
Behind me, Gabriel, big bad wolf, thrashed through the forest and was gaining on me. I wove dangerously through the woods, picking up speed when I hit a clearing. Even if I’d seen the cliff, I doubt I could have stopped. I went over, suspended in the air for a long moment; then, terror kicked in as I began to fall.
But the big bad wolf caught up and grabbed my arm. Instead of falling to my death, I swung into the cliff face. Above me, Gabriel’s terror must have mirrored my own.
“Cheryl, swing your other hand over your head, and I will pull you up.” I took a few deep breaths and used whatever strength I had left to swing my other arm. He grabbed it, quickly pulling me up and over the edge of the cliff and onto solid ground.
He lay back, panting. I crawled beside him and threw an arm over him, the only comfort I could offer. We lay there for a long time, minutes, hours, I couldn’t say. Finally, when Gabriel’s shaking stopped, he spoke. “If you ever do that again, I will chain you to my bed, and I am not joking.”
I couldn’t answer, my mind replaying the nightmare that made me run.Who am I?
“Cheryl.” Gabriel sat up and looked at me in the eyes. “Do you understand me? You won’t see the light of day. I will make you my prisoner until I think you can be responsible enough not to be chained to my bed. Do you understand?”
“I need you, Daddy. I need you to take me, please.” He looked down at me, his eyes searching for what? Deceit, or truth, I couldn’t say.
“Not here. It’s not safe, and you’re freezing.” He scooped me up and carried me back to the cabin. I shivered as he undressed me and placed me in the Japanese tub. After stripping off his clothes, he joined me.
“What happened? Why did you run?”
Oh no, not the truth again. My eyes darted, searching for an escape. I didn’t understand the need for such confrontation, but here we were. Finally, Gabriel had enough. He rose, a six-foot-five mountain of disappointed daddy and pulled me to my feet.
He placed one foot on the stairs and draped me over his leg. Desperate for purchase, I clung to Gabriel’s shin, the only thingwithin reach. Then his hand came down, and I loudly protested, still sore from the night before. He wasted no time, launching into lightning-sharp spanks without a warm-up. I couldn’t catch my breath and found myself crying and begging much quicker than the night before. There was nothing sexy or compelling about this spanking.
When I hung limply over his leg, a blubbering mess, Gabriel lifted me off and sat back down in the water, settling me on his lap. “As much as I enjoy spanking that luscious bottom of yours, I don’t think it can take much more. Now tell me the truth, or our next stop is the bed, and you won’t leave it until it’s time to depart.”
“I don’t understand what’s happening to me. Why am I so weak? Why do I feel like two different people? A week ago, I was the person I know, and now, I don’t know who I am anymore. Who I am with you scares me, yet I crave it so badly. What do I do when you leave me? Because you will; it’s inevitable.”
“Baby girl, are your parents still married?”
“Yes, but they’re not the best example.”
He sighed. “Okay, judgment aside, they’re together and, according to my research, have been for twenty-two years. And you know why?”
“Well, it’s certainly not because of love.” I huffed. Gabriel grinned.
