Poisonous Kiss: A Dark Mafia Arranged Marriage Romance
Poisonous Kiss: Chapter 22

I’m still shaking as I slam the front door of Gabriel’s townhouse shut behind me and lock it. I sink against the door, my heart racing as a clammy sensation trickles down my spine.

What the fuck just happened.

For the hundredth time, I glance at my phone and think about calling the police. I know I should. Except I also know the reason I’m not.

Calling the police means explaining why I was there in the first place. That means telling them I was following my husband, and there’s no way that doesn’t lead to the cops prying into the nature of our arrangement.

Yes, I’m worried about breaking the terms of my NDA and being forced to repay five million dollars I don’t have. But even more, I’m worried that the police looking into my arranged marriage to Gabriel, and the money, will lead them to replaceing out who my father used to be.

So…no cops.

I figure that any guy who lurches after me with a fucking knife probably isn’t someone whose life I should be too concerned about. Plus, I don’t even know that he’s dead after—what, some beef with another creep prowling the shadows? A gang thing?

Except… That was a lot of blood.

A lot of blood.

I shudder, pulling away from the door and shrugging my jacket off. I check the locks again before heading up to my bedroom and slipping out of the Versace. I groan when I peel off my new lingerie, looking down to replace some light spotting on the lace.

Goddammit, period.

I change into regular underwear, sleep shorts and a tank top, put a pad in place, and head down to the kitchen to make some tea.

I hug myself as I wait for the water to boil, a teabag of something calming and un-caffeinated waiting in the mug.

What the fuck was that back there? I replay the awful gurgling sound and the ensuing silence. The blood⁠—

The lights go out.

I jolt, spasming violently, my lips instantly going dry and my pulse thudding in my ears.

The water in the kettle starts to bubble and boil.

“Gabriel?”

The steam begins to whistle quietly from the kettle on top of the stove. It grows louder and louder, until suddenly, I flinch out of my frozen state and realize it’s howling.

I crank the burner off quickly, and the whistling steam drops first to a whisper, then silence.

I exhale.

Then, suddenly, I hear a door shutting with a heavy click.

Holy fuck.

Naked fear and panic simmer under my skin as my eyes stab vainly into the darkness of the kitchen.

“Gabriel?”

No answer.

“Hello?” I call out, my voice shaking. “Gabriel? I’m⁠—”

A heavy footstep creaks from somewhere down the hall, toward the foyer.

“Hello?!”

Only silence.

Pure terror turns my blood to ice.

“I’m calling the police!” I scream.

No I’m not. I can’t. My phone is upstairs.

Another creaking footstep squeaks from outside the kitchen door. My heart lurches into my throat.

And I run.

A scream rips from my throat as I hear footsteps pounding after me. I bolt out the other door of the kitchen, lurching into the dining room before zigzagging into the living room.

Someone followed me home.

I don’t know if it’s the stocky man with the knife, or if it’s a second monster who made the first one bleed. Whoever it is, I can feel the hostility and the malevolence radiating off him as he chases me through the dark.

Whoever he is, he wants to hurt me.

With a burst of adrenaline, I scramble my way up the stairs, heedless of the stab of pain when my toe slams into the bottom step. I lose my footing halfway up, and I scream as I feel and hear the man charging up the staircase behind me, almost at my heels. I kick out, screeching in terror as I force myself to my feet and keep bolting up the stairs.

A powerful hand grabs my ankle just as I reach the top landing. He twists with a muttered, savage grunt, making me scream again as I crash sideways into the wall. But I kick back, hitting something soft and eliciting a groan from the man’s lips.

I break away. But when I zig left to move to the second staircase up to my room, I can feel his darkness surging close to me in my peripheral vision. A raw scream rips from my throat as I zag right instead, barreling down the hallway toward the second-floor study.

There’s a fireplace in there, with big, heavy fire pokers⁠—

A weight slams into my back, knocking me forward as I crash painfully to the ground. I scream as the man grabs me by the back of my neck, pinning me down as I thrash and squirm in vain.

His other hand suddenly grabs the back of my shorts.

“No!”

I scream as he yanks my shorts and my panties down. Choking, I kick my heel up backward. The man grunts, twisting so that my heel only hits his thigh and not his balls. But it does make him loosen his grip on me enough that I can shove away from him, kicking my toes against the ground as I try to scramble to my feet.

It’s not enough.

I cry out as he grabs my ankle, yanking and twisting me onto my back. A scream tears from my lungs as his weight crashes down on top of me, the darkness of the hallway obscuring everything but the lethal glint in his eyes.

He goes to choke me, but I snarl, winding up and slapping at his face. The man hisses in pain, gritting his teeth and jerking away before he suddenly swings back. I gasp, stunned as his open palm slaps my cheek. He uses the way it momentarily freezes me to grab my tank top and yank it down, tearing the fabric as my breasts spill free.

He yanks my shorts and panties down as I thrash and cry out, kicking and screaming as he jams his hand between my legs.

“I—I’m on my period!” I blurt.

“Do you think I give a fuck, Kitten?”

Everything glitches. The world stutters to a halt as my entire body goes rigid.

What. The. Fucking. Fuck.

“It’s different when I chase you and you’re not expecting it, isn’t it?” Gabriel rasps darkly into my ear.

I’m struggling to process this—to understand all the implications: that he knows it was me at the club. That the man who just broke into this house and chased me through the dark is my husband and my boss, not an actual psychopath.

Except, they might be one and the same.

Even as I’m trying to get my brain to wrap around all of that, I suddenly flinch, shivering when I feel his thick fingers drag up my pussy.

“I—”

I cry out, choking in pleasure as two of his fingers ram into me. He lowers his mouth to my breasts, viciously biting on a nipple as I scream and writhe underneath him. His fingers plunge in and out of me, his thumb rolling and grinding against my clit as I gasp for more.

“You—you knew…”

“Knew what, Kitten,” he growls savagely, thrusting his fingers into me over and over as I cry out. “That you like to be chased? That you like to be used, and punished, and hurt, like a good, eager little cum slut?”

I moan as he sinks a third finger into me, making my eyes roll back as I writhe under his brutal, punishing touch.

Gabriel bites my nipple again, hard, making me shriek and shudder in a blend of pain and ecstasy. His fingers thrust in and out hard and fast, making my thighs shake as the vicious pleasure claws at my core.

He slaps my nipple, then chokes me with a hand around my throat as he starts to finger me even harder and faster.

“Remember your safe word, Kitten. Broken.”

Broken.

Like me, for not just enjoying this, but for craving it.

For needing it.

For loving it.

Gabriel shoves my legs apart as he slides down my body. He slaps at my inner thighs, making me whimper in pleasure and pain before his fingers slip from my pussy. His hand slides wetly up my stomach and up between my breasts, twisting and pinching my nipples before his hand wraps around my throat.

His mouth suddenly drops between my legs, and my eyes go wide.

“Wait—”

“You think I give a fuck if you’re bleeding, Kitten?” he snarls against my skin. “Go ahead…”

I gasp sharply as he bites down on my inner thigh.

“Bleed for me.”

His tongue drags through my slick lips. I spasm, throwing my head back and writhing wildly as he devours me. He groans as he licks me, sucking hard on my clit as he sinks two fingers deep into me.

The hand on my throat squeezes just hard enough to make my vision spot and push the pleasure from his mouth on me into the stratosphere. His fingers splay over my throat, teasing over the delicate veins and my windpipe before sliding wetly down to my breasts. I moan, my hips grinding against his mouth as he brutally twists my nipples.

His hand slides back to my neck. Then higher up my jaw until his fingers shove into my mouth. I whimper, tasting copper and my own arousal.

Gabriel slaps my inner thigh. He sucks hard on my clit as he holds my jaw with his fingers fucking my mouth. And suddenly, I’m exploding for him.

I scream as I start to come, my body twisting and shuddering against the hard floor at my back as he sucks on my pussy. Then he’s sliding right up between my legs, roughly shoving them wide apart with his knees.

My eyes have adjusted to the darkness, and I whimper when I look down and see the blood smeared on my chest and my abdomen. But then I’m shivering when I realize Gabriel is naked from the waist down, the grooves of his v-lines leading right down to where his huge, swollen, thick cock is bobbing heavily an inch above my quivering pussy.

He yanks his shirt over his head, tossing it away before his hand straightaway wraps back around my throat. I moan deeply when his swollen cock head presses against my opening.

At the same instant that he rams his enormous dick into me, his mouth crashes to my lips. And my world turns to fire as he starts to fuck me like an animal.

I cry out, whimpering and clawing at him as his tongue duels with mine. I taste copper and sweetness in his kiss, and when his cock rams into me, I shudder and moan. Gabriel sits up on his knees, lifting my ass, keeping me still impaled on his thickness.

Both of his hands wrap around my neck.

Then he starts to fuck me like I have never been fucked before, not even by him.

He fucks like he wants to fuck me to death. Like he’s punishing me. Like he wants to break me.

My screams of pleasure echo throughout the house, my body bouncing between his chiseled muscles and the hard floor at my back as he fucks me like a rag doll. Gabriel rams into me with brutal, hard strokes, snarling and groaning as his muscles strain and his cock swells even harder and bigger inside of me.

“Tell me, Kitten…” he rasps darkly. His eyes glint and pierce into me as he thrusts hard with his hips, his heavy balls slapping loudly against my ass as he yanks me down onto him using my throat as a handle grip.

“What the fuck were you looking for at Venom?”

I whimper, my breath coming hard and ragged, my pulse liquid fire in my veins. My vision swims and spots, my core clenching over and over as my body spasms.

“Someone to play with?” Gabriel hisses violently. “Someone to fuck you? To make you squeal and beg?”

I flinch, my body jerking in pleasure and my pussy gripping him even tighter as his palm slaps against my cheek.

“I asked you a fucking question, Kitten. Or was it someone to make this messy little pussy come all over his cock…”

I moan, shaking everywhere as something hot and throbbing begins to build and surge inside of me.

“Let’s get one thing very fucking straight,” he growls, thrusting into me over and over, making my entire body shake. “No one touches you but me. No one fucks you but me.”

A whine of pure pleasure erupts from me as he wraps his hand tight around my throat, biting my earlobe and pounding his cock into me.

“Your little pussy, Kitten,” he snarls. “Belongs to me.”

The entire world goes numb. My eyes roll back, and I’m whimpering as his mouth crushes mine. My legs lock around his hips, my fingernails clawing at his back and his shoulders. His hard, fat cock rams into me over and over, fucking me into the goddamn floor as pain and pleasure explode through me.

He pinches my nipples, chokes me, slaps me, spanks me, and fucks me until my whole reality blurs, then shatters.

I scream when I come, my body wrenching and writhing as wave after wave of cleansing bliss thunder through me. I can feel him coming at the same time, our groans mingling as he kisses me viciously. His cock pulses and throbs, his cum hot and thick as it spills into me. Gabriel pulls out of me, stroking as his cock spurts rope after rope of sticky cum over me until it’s covering my breasts, my torso, and my face.

His hand slides into the back of my hair, gripping it in his fist as he slides up my body, his swollen dick heavy and glistening right above my face.

“Suck,” he growls. “Clean me off like a good little whore, Kitten.”

And I do.

Because for him? I am.

My tongue slides up and down his cock, licking his cum and mine from the velvety head until he grunts his approval. I collapse onto the ground when he lets go of me, my body drained, bruised, and broken beyond belief as I lie there gasping for air.

The previous times we’ve done this, we’ve been strangers—or at least, I thought we were strangers. Those times, after the sex, we’ve immediately gone our separate ways.

What just happened was so draining that I’m not even sure I could get up off the floor right now, but I’m half expecting Gabriel just to walk away and leave me shaking, half-delirious, and covered in cum, sweat, and blood on the floor, because when he’s in this “zone”, flexing this dark side of him, that’s exactly what I would expect.

Monsters grab you in the dark and fuck you like a stuffed toy. They don’t get you a tissue and a glass of water afterward.

Which is why I blink in surprise when Gabriel stoops down next to me and slides his arms underneath me.

“You’re a mess, Kitten…”

I gasp quietly as he lifts me up into his arms with a tenderness I’ve never seen in him.

He carries me up to my room on the third floor, then into the ensuite bathroom. Leaving the room dark, with just the lights from the city glowing through the blinds, he sits me down on the closed toilet. I hug my knees up to my chest, wincing from the pain that comes after the pleasure.

I watch in silence as Gabriel starts filling the tub with hot water and sudsy bubbles that smell like lavender.

“Wait here.”

He disappears from the bathroom. Seconds tick by, and my eyes start to close. Then I flinch awake when he steps back into the room. My lower lip retreats between my teeth as he sets a mug of tea down on a little table next to the clawfoot tub.

He turns and hands me a glass of water and two extra-strength ibuprofens.

“Take these,” he orders.

I nod, still biting my lip as it curls up a little at the corners. I raise my eyes to his, shivering as his hazel and golden orbs pierce into me. He watches me swallow the painkillers, then takes the glass away and turns off the faucet.

He picks me up in his powerful arms again and before I know it he’s stepping into tub and settling down into the steaming hot water with me, holding me. I groan as the heat and his arms envelop me.

Slowly, as I drift back to reality, I twist my head. Our eyes lock as the moment that’s been coming for weeks arrives at the point of no return.

“You knew,” I whisper.

For weeks, I’ve been feasting on this delicious little secret inside me. Looking at him at work, or at a campaign thing, I’d feel this spark, knowing that I knew his dirty little secret, getting off on the fact that he was mine.

Except now it’s like someone’s yanked back the curtains and exposed all those dirty little secrets to the naked light of day.

It’s different when I chase you and you’re not expecting it, isn’t it?

Yeah, it fucking is. And I can’t tell if I want to shrink away with embarrassment or laugh.

Gabriel nods, and my pulse skips. “Yes, I knew.”

“When did you⁠—”

“The night you hid behind the curtain at the entrance before following me in.”

My heart drops.

That first time. He knew that first fucking time, when he put me on my knees, reached inside me, wrapped his fist around the darkest, most depraved part of my soul, and never let go.

He’s known all along.

I stare at him in the quiet darkness of the bathroom, steam and the scent of lavender curling around our faces. My throat works painfully, and my breath stutters as he reaches up to cup my jaw.

Turns out, it wasn’t just that he was my dirty little secret.

I was his, too.

“That means…” I blink. “The auditions… You let me win.”

“Maybe I wanted you to win,” he growls, his eyes capturing mine. “Maybe I wanted it to be you.”

His lips sear to mine, kissing me fiercely as I sink against his chest.

Monsters don’t bring you water and painkillers. They don’t run you bubble baths, or kiss you like you’re a precious treasure they’d rather die than lose.

At least, most don’t.

But mine does.