Abel (Sabine Valley 1)

Abel never was one to let a blow go unanswered, and my family dealt him several on that bloody night eight years ago.

He looks at me now, and there’s nothing of the man I used to know. Abel always was harder than his brothers, as befitting the heir to the Raider faction, but he was never cold. Now, it feels like the room temperature drops twenty degrees as he walks in.

He looks like his father. More, he feels like his father.

That scares the shit out of me. Bauer Paine was one of the most monstrous people I’ve ever come across, and the one thing Abel never wanted was to become his father. That the events of that night put him on this path…

I can’t afford to feel guilty. I can only deal with the situation at present.

He gives me a long look. “You have two choices, Eli.”

As much as I want to wring his neck, I can’t help drawing on my public persona. It’s a stress response, but it’s served me well throughout my life. People underestimate me constantly. Abel won’t, but that doesn’t matter. Lifelong habits are impossible to break. I laugh. “Let me guess; an easy way and a hard way.”

“You got it.” Abel doesn’t miss a beat, doesn’t blink. “You can be a good boy and go take a shower so you don’t get blood on the sheets, or you can choose the hard way.”

Go take a shower and leave Harlow alone with Abel? Out of the question. “Fuck off.”

Abel arches his dark brows. “Figured you’d say that.” He nods at Harlow. “Bedside table, top drawer.”

For a second, it looks like she’ll argue, but she finally nods and obeys. A few seconds later, she turns around with handcuffs dangling from her finger. “Kinky.”

“You have no idea, sweetheart.” He motions to me. “Cuff him to the chair. Do a good job of it, or I’m going to have to hurt him. Again.”

Harlow thins her lips but doesn’t argue. She moves behind the chair I’m sitting on and slaps the cuff around one wrist. I feel her lacing it through the back of the chair, keeping me in place, and then she cuffs the other wrist. I yank on it. I can’t help myself. The chair is metal. Even if I wasn’t one big ball of pain right now, there’s no way I could break free. “Fuck you, Abel.”

“Don’t put this on me. You chose the hard way.” Abel gives me a vicious grin. “I was trying to be civilized. You’re the one breaking your word and putting everyone you care about in danger. I’m merely the natural consequences in action.” He turns to Harlow. “You good?”

She glares. “Good is not the word I’d choose.”

“Figured as much.” He stalks a slow circle around her, devouring her with his gaze. “You’re a sexy little thing, aren’t you? Bet you can take a beating.”

I tense, and the cuffs rattle against the chair. Harlow looks at me a long moment, and there’s something in her dark eyes that I’ve never seen before. She turns away before I can fully comprehend it, but the image lingers in my mind. Realization washes over me.

Rage.

Not just angry. Not just upset. She’s fucking furious with me.

And Abel knows it.

4

Abel

I let myself enjoy the shock on Eli’s face for several long moments before I turn my attention entirely on Harlow. She’s surprised me several times already. From the information we were able to gather on her, she seems to be a fragile thing in need of protection. Or at least that’s how Eli treats her. He has a guard on her at all times when she’s outside their compound, and she’s never once fought in the amphitheater during Lammas—something unheard of in a ruler or partner of a ruler. All the others have, including Eli.

He keeps her in a glass house, and it was my impression that she liked it. That she needed it.

She’s blown that assumption out of the water. I didn’t expect her to be so practical. I sure as fuck didn’t expect her to push back. I thought she’d faint like the princess in a tower the entire city believes her to be.

She’s pretty enough to be a princess. Strong features, a solid body that isn’t delicate in any way, lips made to wrap around a cock.

All in good time.

She’s wearing a cute little sundress thing, which might make me laugh under other circumstances. It’s completely impractical. She knew she wouldn’t be fighting tonight.

To test her, I reach out and take her shoulder, sliding my thumb beneath the strap of her dress and her skin. She shivers, but she doesn’t flinch away from me. Good. No matter what Eli believes of me, I’m not in the business of forcing sexual partners. Not even tonight.

“I’m taking off your dress now.”