Fraud

Ivy

“Room service.”

A deep voice drags me kicking and screaming from the blessed oblivion of sleep, a knock at my bedroom door kickstarting my mind into a storm of confusion.

I know damn well I haven’t ordered room service at whatever ungodly early hour of the morning it is. And even if I did, they wouldn’t walk into my suite to deliver it.

Half in a fog as I force myself to consciousness, I roll my body beneath the warmth of my blankets and blink open my eyes.

For the love of everything holy, please fucking tell me I’m dreaming...

Panic sets in instantly, my heart rate climbing from a slow, safe beat to that of a jackhammer attempting to break free of my ribs.

I blink again and shake the hair from my face as I push up onto an elbow. The prayers I’m silently tossing up are left unanswered when the illusion of a nightmare doesn’t fade.

Nooooooooooo...

This is not fucking happening.

“Gabriel?”

He grins, that damn smile his biggest lie. You have to look in his eyes to see the truth, have to peer into the beauty of emerald green to witness the pain and anger that lives beneath.

Maybe I’m the only person who can see it. I highly doubt he’s made the mistake of revealing who he really is to anybody else.

“Good morning, love. Are you happy to see me?”

Yes and no, which is the screwed-up part. Does my body react every time he’s nearby? Hell yes it does. Does my stupid heart pound when I catch sight of him? Also a yes.

But am I also terrified because I know the hell this man is about to rain down?

You bet your ass I am.

I won’t show him that, though. He’s like a wild animal on the hunt, a rabid dog that’s broken his leash and is stalking forward.

Showing him the first sign of fear will only quicken his attack, which is why I need to remain calm to buy myself time.

This can be handled. Just like all the other times I’ve dodged him and run like hell. As soon as I can get in touch with Scott, he’ll arrive in his chariot and whisk me off to safety.

It takes effort to shrug my fear off like Gabriel’s presence is no big deal, and I have to swallow several times to dislodge the knot of terror in my throat to answer him. Somehow, I manage it.

“How did you find me?”

Another grin, the line of it edged with the promise of all the horrible things he wants to do to me. I deserve some of those things. There’s no question about that. But he started this entire mess and should just let it go.

“The cleaning staff at your house hate you as much as I do,” he croons with a silky soft voice that sends shivers down my spine.

Damn it. The only reason I let anybody at my house know where I am is so they can forward me any packages that arrive unexpectedly. Somebody is about to be fired for this. I’m just not sure which one blabbed.

Then again, maybe that’s a bit harsh. They can’t be blamed for believing anything Gabriel tells them.

I push up into a sitting position and tug the sheet to my chest when Gabriel’s gaze drops to my nightgown. I wonder if it was the sudden movement on my part that forces him away from the wall, his steps heavy as he stalks toward me to kneel on the bed.

He grips my chin, and I can feel the tension in his hand, the struggle for control. I’m going to venture to guess Gabriel is seriously pissed about what I’ve done.

I’m not sure why, though. Really, given everything else we’ve done to each other, stripping him down and dumping him wasn’t all that bad. He was very pretty to look at, and I didn’t mind the view. Gabriel has nothing to be embarrassed about in that department.

Hell, if I were him, I’d walk around naked all the time just to show off my superiority to every other man on the planet.

His eyes pin me, a whole storm of hatred behind them.

“Did you really think you could escape?”

I narrow my eyes on his face. Fuck him if he thinks he can intimidate me. There are two players to every game, and I flat out refuse to be dragged into one with his rules only.

Schooling my expression, I speak with the sweetest voice possible. “Why are you here? Didn’t you learn your lesson last time?”

His grin widens, and I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from reacting.

It’s insane, this spark between us. But maybe that’s what hate does. It’s on such a fine line with love that your brain is tripped up and you experience the same desire.

“Actually,” he says, his voice a hiss of warning, “the way I see it, we’ve just gotten started.”

I smile at that. But really, I’m terrified. The years have done nothing to soften him. If anything, his edges are sharper, that cutting stare slicing me apart inside. How nobody else understands this side of him is beyond me.

Everybody believes Gabriel is laid back and sweet. They gravitate to him and whisper all their secrets. They have no idea who he really is beneath all his pretty wrappings, that silver tongue of his disguising the beast.

But I know.

And I’ll never let myself forget.

Gabriel is pure evil when he wants to be, his deceptive halo propped up by his pointy horns.

“You need to leave before I call security.”

He lowers his face and brushes my lips with his, that stupid spark between us bursting into a blaze of fire. I try to extinguish it with all the memories of the way he’s hurt me, but it won’t go out. It just gets hotter.

“You would never do something so common and boring.”

He’s right about that, and I roll my eyes.

“I hope you know I think you’re a bastard. This won’t happen. I’ll leave you behind just like I’ve always done.”

His green eyes sparkle, a flash of challenge behind them.

“Oh, sweetheart, I would expect nothing less of you.”

A tremor runs through my body because together with the hatred that is so clear in his eyes, there’s want. This man could devour me whole and I’m not sure I’d stop him.

“Then why are you here?”

He kisses me without answering, that talented tongue of his slipping into my mouth with the very real promise of the way he’ll eventually destroy me. I’m helpless to fight him off, my mind screaming for me to stop while my body begs for his touch.

This isn’t the first time we’ve kissed. Not the second either. And every time I’ve allowed him this intimacy, I lived to regret it.

Still, it weakens me so much that my thoughts short-circuit, and I melt where I sit, a tiny sound of complaint escaping me when he drags his mouth to my ear.

“I hate to break this to you, Ivy, but payback is a bitch.”

Smiling at that, I turn my head just enough that the corners of our mouths touch.

“I hate to break this to you, Gabriel, but so am I.”

He chuckles at that, his thumb softly brushing the line of my jaw.

“If anybody knows the truth in that, it’s me. I dare you to bring your worst, beautiful. It’ll only make what I’m doing to you more enjoyable.”

He says it like he’s already won, and I pull my face away from him to scoot off the bed.

Unfortunately, that means I’m standing on the other side of the mattress from him in only the thin pink nightgown I wore to bed, his gaze dragging down my body with open appreciation.

“You need to leave. I have plans for today and they don’t include playing with you. I got over this shit in high school. It’s boring.”

“Is it?”

A smile curls his lips as he adjusts his position on the bed to lean against the headboard and stretch out his longs legs.