Taming The Lockwood

Sixteen

I flinch, cowering in the corner as soon as the door slams against the wall with a deafening bang. Gabriel appears in the doorway, panting with his hair in a ruffled state, and a thin black t-shirt stretched across his wide chest, replacing the formal suit he had worn just an hour ago. His eyes observe the wrecked scene in front of him before they rest on me and blatantly soften.

He walks over to me in a couple of strides and stops directly in front of me, murmuring, "I'm so sorry. I should've been here." One of his hands reach out to my cup my face and he brushes the stretch of my cheek with his finger reassuringly.

His general steely expression is unconcealed with one of concern and he begins to scan my face and patches of my exposed flesh. "Are you hurt?"

His reaction catches me off guard, exposing me to a whole new side of him. This Gabriel I much preferred. His tone is tender and caring, contrasting to the normal domineering and arrogant imbecile I was used to.

I shake my head and he takes a brief look around my apartment. "Come on. Let's go somewhere safe." An arm wraps around my shoulders hurriedly and sets a warm feeling there as he rushes to help me up and get me out of the apartment.

The rest of the ride is a complete blur. I could vaguely remember seeing Elijah and a few other people who were probably under Gabriel's employment appearing outside my apartment and sharing hushed words with him. Throughout the car drive, his eyes kept flitting to me and then back to the roads, his hands clenching and unclenching the steering wheel. He was extremely conflicted.

"Do you know who it could be?" He breaks the silence, angling the question at me and settling my woes.

I sit dumbly with a blank stare for a couple of seconds, trying to conjure up anyone from my life or my past who could want revenge, but I fail come up with anything. I'd lived a pretty mundane life growing up with my mother. The only thing I could actually remember from my childhood and teenage years were the constant books I would stick my nose in and the awkward phases of wearing braces and learning things about my body.

"No." I reply, turning to gauge his expression. My answer seems to anger him further and his jaw is clenched more tightly than before. He doesn't say anything for the remainder of the ride. Though it's too dark to make anything out from outside, I stare out of the window, pictures of my torn apartment running through my mind. I think of my mother and her warm, comforting smile; the scent of freshly made cookies and those nights of cuddling up on the sofa in front of the telly. Wishing I hadn't let life hit me at full blast.

The hum of the engine slows to a steady rhythm when Gabriel rolls into a winding driveway. The darkness outside means that I can't work out where we were, but I could trust him enough to believe wherever he would take me is somewhere safe.

Just as the engine cuts off, the lights follow suit and we're bathed in blackness. The air seems tense and solemn and Gabriel's rage is emanating off him in waves that could set a volcano off. I reach out for the door, but he leaves the car prior to my exit and ends up beside my door before I can undo my seatbelt. Stepping out of the door, I wrap my arms comfortingly around myself and before I can fathom what's happening, Gabriel's black shirt is pulled over my frame; the homely scent of his sandalwood aura filling my nose.

I begin to protest, going to take off the shirt but he rushes off ahead of me at a pace that he knows I would never be able to match. The sight of his bare flesh and the muscles working on his back sends me into overdrive and I chastise myself internally. When he notices that I haven't moved, he turns to face me and waits in a rather impatient (however patient enough in his terms) manner. His arms are crossed over his chest and his head tilted in a position that's questioning.