Owning Beauty (Taking Beauty Trilogy 3)

The look in his eyes was more than hunger. Raw, savage, unleashed lust. The eyes of a beast, the eyes of a man who had only one, burning need. The eyes of a man who would let nothing get in the way of fulfilling that need.

Maybe I should have been more afraid. Maybe another woman would have been.

I reached up to his chest, my fingers sliding over the soft hair, feeling the strength of this beautiful, good, amazing man above me and every ounce of fear melted away.

“I’m all yours,” I whispered, our gaze locked together as he slid into me smoothly, purposefully, roughly. We rocked together, wrapping around each other, our bodies tangled together until we were possessed with one purpose, one need, one fire that could only be extinguished together.

We crashed over the edge of consciousness, the world melting away.

We knew no fear, no pain, nothing but the silky silence and the light from the midnight moon bathing our skin as we held each other as tightly as we could, neither of us willing to let go anytime soon.

Dante

“Maggie…?” I whispered. The cold misty was fog surrounding her face. She turned back, smiling at me over her shoulder, her eyes soft and laughing. She reached out a hand towards me, and I reached back towards her, but she was too far away, I couldn’t reach her. I ran forward and she ran faster.

“Wait, Mag…slow down,” I tried again, reaching out as far as my hand could stretch, her soft red curls sliding through my fingers like satin. She stopped suddenly and turned towards me. I froze. Silently, she raised her hand, caressing my face so lightly I almost couldn’t feel her touch. I leaned my face into her hand, and she pulled away, smiling at me again before she turned away and ran off again.

I followed her, but my legs were so heavy they could barely move, and she ran ahead, disappearing into the mist. My heart filled with sadness, her tiny frame dissolving before my eyes as I tried in vain to move faster.

“Maggie!” I called out, my voice echoing back to me from the emptiness.

My body jerked itself awake, the dream, the feeling of losing Maggie all over again too much to bear, even in sleep. I’d had this dream before. Dozens of times. Hell, fucking hundreds.

I hated it every single time, too. Not once had I ever been able to touch her again, no matter how much I tried. Each time I was cursed with it, I was left paralyzed and alone, my heart broken wide open again, the wound as fresh and bloody as ever as I woke up alone in my bed.

Only this time I shouldn’t be alone.

“Gab?” I called out, looking around the empty room for her.

“Gab!” I yelled again, fear gripping my heart instantly at the silence.

I jumped up out of bed and ran into the living room. The front door was wide open, and Gabby was nowhere to be seen.

“Fuck!” I yelled, running back into the bedroom and throwing on my jeans and grabbing my gun before flying back through the front door. Adrenaline shot through my veins, my heart racing as I tried to imagine every scenario I could be faced with. I’d learned to be mentally prepared for anything, first on the streets of New York, and then again overseas.

As I stepped out into the morning sunlight, my focus was razor-sharp. Nothing looked out of place, my bike was where I’d left it, and everything was quiet. But there was still no sign of Gabby.

If anything happened to her, I’d never forgive myself. Morbid thoughts invaded my brain, and I did my best to push them away. I couldn’t let my mind get clouded with that right now. I needed to stay focused and alert, prepared for anything, and not let my emotions get in the way.

Emotions. For fuck’s sake, I thought, my mind spinning wildly - now I’ve got emotions to deal with. Somewhere along the way, Gabby had gotten under my skin and I’d begun to have feelings for her. Was it just lust? Would I be worrying about someone this way if that’s all it was? I wondered.

“Fuck,” I muttered, as I made my way quietly around the side of the house, my gun drawn. I was halfway to the back of the cabin when I heard a branch snap. I stopped, listening, releasing the safety of my gun, my finger on the trigger, visions racing through my head as I began walking slowly forward again.

Footsteps. I froze again, wishing like hell one of my brothers was here with me. Confrontation was always easier in numbers. I had no idea who I was going to be dealing with. The fucking mafia. One of the Godz. Or worse, a whole fucking gang of the Godz. Or the cops.

Either way, it was probably not going to be good.

And where the fuck was Gabby? I wondered, as I began slowly moving forward again.

I swallowed hard as I reached the edge of the corner. Someone was around the corner, I was sure of it, I could feel it.

And I wasn’t about to let them attack first.

I rounded the corner quickly, my gun drawn, my finger ready to pull the trigger.

“Fuck!” I yelled, pulling my gun up and turning away, quickly throwing the safety back on.

Bear sauntered out of the trees alone, leaves and tiny twigs clinging to his furry paws, his mouth opened in a smile as he trotted towards me. Gabby followed right behind him, smiling like it was the most natural thing in the world and she hadn’t just scared my heart right out of my chest.

Fear and worry swirled inside me, mixing with intense relief and happiness all at the same time, overwhelming me with its quick intensity. Anything could have happened to her. Hell, I could have fucking shot her myself!

Anger welled up inside of me, a toxic cocktail of emotion that I couldn’t suppress.

“Fuck, Gabby!” I yelled, everything inside of me blowing up all at once.

“What?” she replied, her face full of surprise at my anger.

“Don’t just fucking leave like that, goddammit!” I yelled, my voice echoing through the tall trees overhead.

“What the fuck, Dante?” she asked, her eyes flashing with anger. “I was just t

aking a walk. I was letting you sleep and Bear needed to go out.”

“Yeah, well, there’s a lot of assholes out looking for you and they’d be real happy to find you wandering around alone in the woods. Fucking wake me up next time!” I growled.

Pain flashed in her eyes, and she looked at me with sheer disgust.

“Don’t fucking talk to me like that! I’ll do whatever the hell I want!” she replied, brushing past me angrily.

For fuck’s sake, I thought, irritation and frustration washing over me. I grabbed her arm and she turned towards me. That’s when I saw the tears in her eyes.

“Gabby, I’m sorry,” I said, my anger disappearing immediately.

“Nobody said you have to take care of me, Dante!” she said, her words laced with pain. “I certainly didn’t.”

“Maybe not,” I replied, “but here we are. Together.”

“Yeah, well hopefully not for long!” she sneered. “I’m so sorry to be such a fucking burden on you!”

“That’s not what I meant, Gabby!”

“Then what did you mean, Dante? What’s this all about, huh? Why didn’t you just drop me off somewhere when this all began? Why’d you even bring me here?”

“I don’t fucking know. I was trying to protect you.”

“Is that what you do? Protect people?” she asked, her eyes flashing, her words ripping right through me.

“Apparently I do a pretty shitty job of it!” I yelled back.