Devil Takes His Innocent (6 page)

As soon as Gabby heard car
engines start, she led Nikki to the sofa, maintaining contact the whole time.
Once they were both curled up on the long seat, Gabby exhaled. “That, my
friend, is the man I had that date with before my vacation. He calls himself
Devil. He took my virginity that night, and quite possibly my sanity. I have
been unable to think of anyone else since.”

This seemed to draw her friend
out of her panic. The threat had been removed, and a romantic interlude was
something Nikki had no power to keep her nose out of.
“Your
virginity, on your first date?”

“
Yep!”
Gabby replied, shivering.

“
Wow.”

“
You can say that again,” Gabby
said, sighing.

“
And you’re his mate.
How exciting!”

Turning
herself to fully face her best friend, Gabby asked, “
How can you say that?”

“
Maybe we shouldn’t have sent
Judge away. He seems to know the man well,” Nikki pointed out.

“
It’s too late now and I, for one,
am exhausted. Let’s head to bed,” Gabby suggested.

Uncertainty clouded Nikki’s eyes
as she looked around the house. “Um, can I sleep with you tonight?”

Without hesitation, Gabby replied
as she always did when Nikki’s panic attacks resurfaced. “Of course you can,
Nikki. I could do with the company myself.
How about a movie
to fall asleep to?”

Gabby had to laugh at her
friend’s choice of movie. Even in her current state she hadn’t lost her sense
of humor. She had chosen
Twilight,
claiming Gabby had better brush up on
her vampire knowledge if Devil was going to be the star of her dreams and
fantasies. The question for Gabby was
,
did she also
want him to be a part of her life as well?

Chapter
Six

“
Judge, you’re back earlier than
we expected,” Viper said, clapping the mountain lion shifter on the back before
he and Chaos claimed the other two chairs at the table.

“
I found him in my mate’s house,”
Devil replied for him, still unhappy at the man’s familiarity with Gabriella,
or Gabby, as he had discovered she liked being called.

“
So she really is your mate?” Judge
questioned.

“
Yes.”

“
Then why did she only discover
the existence of paranormal creatures through me?”

“
How long have you known her?”
Devil asked.

“
I only met
her
a
couple of weeks ago.”

“
How?”
Devil demanded. His knowledge of
his brother’s womanizing ways had his fists clenching.

“
Oh, my old friend, you know how
this works. You answer my question first and then I’ll reply in kind,” Judge
said. The mountain
lion’s
smirk had Devil wanting to
wipe it off his face. But still he found himself describing his introduction to
Gabby, as well as her father’s involvement in the whole misunderstanding. “That
bastard
pimped
his own daughter out? Please tell me
you have plans for that asshole.”

“
Have no fear, that man is now
wishing he were dead,” Devil promised. “Now it’s your turn.”

Devil watched as Judge took a
large swig of his whiskey before speaking. His actions told Devil that he
wasn’t necessarily going to like what he was about to hear. Judge’s first
comment confirmed his suspicions.

“
Let me explain the backstory, so
you can understand the bruises.”

Slamming his palms down on the
table, Devil pushed himself up and demanded, “What fucking bruises?”

“
Sit back down, Devil, and I’ll
explain,” Judge promised. Knowing the mountain lion well enough to know he
wouldn’t share any further information until Devil had done his bidding, Devil
retook his seat. “I don’t know if you remember me telling you about our
neighbor. About fifty years ago, he met and fell in love with a woman. The
wedding date had been set and invitations sent out. But his fiancée met one of
our pride mates. She was his mate, so she canceled the wedding. She and her
mate thought that if they explained the situation, then the man would
understand and be reasonable. They were wrong. It turned out that he never got
over her and became a nasty and bitter person. Any mountain lion he spotted on
his land was shot. He didn’t care whether they were animal or
shifter,
he just wanted them all dead. A few years ago he
died, leaving his land to his granddaughter, but still our pride never went
near the land for fear that she too would have adopted his negative attitudes
toward our kind.”

Judge went on to share the
details of his meeting with Gabby. Devil admired her actions, caring for the
young boy even after discovering what he was. Her open-mindedness would do her
well within the paranormal world. He felt pride when hearing how she had
checked out Jason before approaching him about Bobby. A moment later all
positive thought vanished, replaced by a menacing growl and a red haze that
clouded his vision when Judge told him how Gabby had become bruised.

“
Calm down, man! Jason was
punished in the worst possible way. His son rejected him because of his
heavy-handedness with Gabby. Those two definitely formed a bond in that short
period they were together. Gabby refused to allow any of us to take Bobby back
to the pride lands until she had been convinced that the boy was going to be
treated the way he deserved.” Judge beamed. “She definitely is a special
woman.”

“
Yes, she is,” Devil concurred,
pushing his chest out in pride. “She has me intrigued.”

“
Then, pray tell, brother, what
the hell are you doing here?” Viper asked.

“
She kicked us both out of the
house.” Devil’s explanation was met with laughter from Viper and Chaos.

“
I think it had something to do
with her friend, don’t you?” Judge suggested.

“
Yeah.
Did you see the look in her
eyes? She was scared.”

Judge
nodded. “
Yes, I saw
it. She seemed fine until you put your hands on Gabby. She had been flirting
with me the whole time I was there tonight, but I could sense that if it got
serious she would’ve pulled away. That girl has suffered at the hands of some
man, and I personally would love to get my hands on him. Nikki is a sweet woman
who deserves better. Gabby’s another one who deserves a good man, Devil. The
question is
,
are you that man?”

“
It matters little. She’s mine,
and I have no intentions of giving her up.”

“
I really need to meet this woman
and her friend,” Viper interjected. “I have never seen you two so taken by
anyone, the way you are about Gabby and her friend. Two of the biggest playboys
I know, and look at the pair of you, you’re not even talking strategies of
getting into their pants. That’s wrong!”

“
And you won’t try it either,
Viper,” Judge warned.

“
Like
I would with my future sister-in-law!”

“
Or
Nikki.
She
deserves better than you,” Judge added.

“
What the hell’s that supposed to
mean?”

“
Nikki needs a man who’s willing
to fight for her and be there for her,” Judge stated. “I don’t know what her
story is, but something bad has happened to her to make her so wary, and she
doesn’t need the likes of you to hurt her further.”

“
Listen to me, Judge. I will see
whomever I want, Nikki included!” Viper retorted angrily.

“
What’s your problem, Viper? Calm
down,” Devil said, trying to diffuse the situation.

His brother was acting out of
character and it worried him. Devil could see that Viper was visibly shaking
with his anger. Never before had he seen him like this, not when it concerned a
woman, except for maybe their adopted baby sister, Jewel.

Shaking his head, Viper seemed to
be forcing himself to calm. “I’m sorry, guys. I don’t know what’s got into me.
Maybe I should head upstairs,” he apologized. “I’m glad you’re back, Judge.”

“
I wonder what that was all
about,” Chaos said as they all watched Viper’s huge form making its way toward
the exit.

Devil
shook his head. “
I
don’t know. It’s not like the things said were new to any of us. And only last
week he was telling me how he had no intention of stopping playing. He wouldn’t
play with one of Jewel’s friends, and I presume the same rule would apply to
any other female in the family, which now applies to Gabby. So why would he be
making such a big deal about Nikki?”

“
I’ve never seen him fight for the
right to see a female before, either. He’s never really needed to. It’s as
though they know him by his true name, Conquest, and just fall at his feet,”
Chaos added. “Weird!”

“
It’s got me beat,” Judge
admitted. “And talking about being beat, I want to make an early start tomorrow,
catch up what I’ve missed over the last two weeks. I need some shut-eye.”

****

Gabby dragged her weary body from
her bed, careful not to wake Nikki. As expected the nightmares had returned, so
neither of them had had much sleep. Gabby could concede that her friend’s
nightmares were only part of the reason her body was denied its required sleep.
Devil had also played a large role in her restless night.

The man who took her virginity
was now claiming to be a vampire and her mate. Was she ready for that? Did she
have much choice in the matter? Deciding that she was too tired to contemplate
any of this at the moment, she went in search of her phone. Several missed
calls glared at her from the screen, many of them from the same number.

Just as she was dialing the
voicemail number, her phone rang. Once again it was the same number. She warily
answered it, “Hello.”

“
Where have you been? I’ve been
trying to get a hold of you for over a week now. I’ve been worried about you.”

If she had the energy, Gabby would
have laughed at the comment. Grant only thought about himself. Other people
only entered into his scope of interest when he needed something from them.
Remaining apprehensive, she played along with his game. She wanted to see where
it led.

“
I’ve been away for the last two
weeks, Grant,” she said. “There was no service where I stayed.”

“
As long as you’re okay,” he
replied in a way that had her almost believing he cared.

Maybe he’d heard what their
father had done. Just maybe, he truly was worried about her. It would have been
nice to think that at least one of her only living family members would be
concerned for her well-being. It was just a little too hard to believe of this
man.

She knew she would regret her
next words to Grant, but still she found herself asking, “Was there something
in particular you wanted?”

“
Well, I was hoping we could catch
up for dinner sometime?
Maybe tonight?”

So he wanted to ask for money in
person,
then
leave her to pay the bill. That wasn’t
going to happen! “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Grant. Whenever you or
Jeffrey
contact
me, it’s always because you want
something from me. So let me put you straight. I have no money, so there’s no
point asking.”

“
Please, Gabby, give me a chance.
I’m not asking for money, I promise. I just want a chance to get to know my
little sister, that’s all,”
came
the confusing reply.

He sounded genuine, but still she
asked, “What’s changed?”

“
I know I haven’t made a good
impression on you so far. Let me make it up to you. You won’t even have to pay the
bill. I’ve got it covered.”

“
Let me think on it, Grant. I’ve
only just got back from holiday and I start back at work tomorrow. I have a lot
to do today,” she replied, unsure whether she was actually going to consider
the invitation at all.

“
Think on it, Gabby,” Grant urged.
She thought she heard a hint of impatience in his voice. “I’ll cancel the
reservations for tonight, but don’t keep me waiting too long.” With that said,
he hung up.

Before she had the chance to fill
her coffee cup, her phone rang again. Not even bothering to look at the number,
she answered it, assuming she knew who it was. “Look, Grant, I told you I would
think about it,” she said impatiently into the phone.

“
Who’s
Grant and what are you thinking
about?”

“
Oh sorry, Judge. I thought you
were my
half brother
.”

“
Is he as
shonky
as your father, Gabby?” the mountain lion asked.
“If so, I
want you to be careful.
Devil told me how you two met.”

“
He told you?” she asked,
tightening her grip on the phone.

“
Devil’s a good guy, Gabby. Don’t
hold the circumstances behind your first meeting against him, or you’ll be
denying both of you an amazing future.” Judge seemed to be pleading.

“
What future, Judge? To him I’m a
call girl, nothing more nothing less,” she pointed out, trying to keep the hurt
from her voice.

“
He knows what you are, Gabby,”
Judge replied defensively. “Since meeting you he has done very little but
think
about you.”

“
Ah,
the poor thing.
Has his conscience been haunted by his treatment of me?” she taunted. Her sleep
deprived brain lacked the energy to censor her words.

“
Gabby, I understand your anger at
the situation. But he has been trying to make amends for his actions since that
night. Many bunches of flowers have been rejected in your absence. And that was
even before he had discovered that you were his mate,” Judge cajoled.
“According to my brother Viper, he has been impossible to work with. His
thoughts and actions all seemed to be centered on finding you, his mate.”

“
Pff
,” she scoffed, ignoring the
excitement running through her veins at the thought of Devil’s attention. “So
he’s worried that his call girl mate was off servicing other men.
Big frigging
woop
!”

“
He knows that you’re a nurse.
He’s pissed off at himself for believing your father’s lies.”