ACCIDENTALLY MARRIED TO THE BILLIONAIRE SINGLE DAD (Gabrielle and Damon) novel Chapter 23

GABRIELLE’S POV

[CONTENT WARNING: Dark themes, violence, emotional manipulation, and toxic relationship dynamics.]

Damon finally let go when Aiden stopped struggling.

I stumbled back slightly as I watched him check for a pulse.

He stood up and stared down at the body for a long minute, then glanced at the grave. “It’s still not wide enough.”

Before I could even say anything, he jumped back into the hole and continued digging again, as if nothing had happened.

I was sick of his lack of words.

I knelt on the ground and tried to climb down into the grave since I wasn’t tall enough to risk a jump.

But I missed a step and almost slipped.

A startled gasp left my mouth.

Damon caught me instantly and pulled me against him. “Where are you going?”

I wrapped my arms around his neck, my heart still racing from almost falling. “To you. You still seem mad at me.”

He stared down at me for a brief second before setting me back on my feet. “I need to finish this, Gabrielle.”

Then he picked up the shovel and continued digging.

I didn’t let him.

I placed my hand against his back, feeling his muscles move. “I know this was hard for you. But you know it was necessary.”

He continued digging. “I know.”

“So why are you still mad at me?” I asked. “You killed a man who was going to hurt your family. You are acting like you murdered an innocent person.”

“I already told you why I am furious with you,” he responded. “Take a step back. I’m trying to finish this.”

His voice was so cold and detached that it made my eyes sting.

I hesitated to move.

He paused and turned toward me. “Do you want me to bury his body or not? We need to get out of here.”

I stepped closer, trying to blink back the tears threatening to fall. “I don’t care about that. And quite frankly, I’m not sorry that Aiden is dead.”

His expression was blank.

“But I’m sorry I kept it from you,” I continued softly. “I’m sorry I risked my life. I did that because I trusted you would save me. And I’m sorry for using your feelings for me to my advantage.”

He shook his head slowly. “Gabrielle…”

I broke down completely. “I didn’t mean to hurt or use you like they did. I would never intentionally do that to you. I just… wanted you back.”

Damon dropped the shovel with a sharp thud.

Then he slowly closed the distance between us, towering over me. “This is what you want?” he asked quietly. “A monster?”

I swallowed and instinctively took a step back. “You’re not a monster. And even if you are, you’re still everything I want. All parts of you.”

Damon stared at me like he genuinely couldn’t understand how I could stand there and ask for this version of him without fear.

“You would go through all these lengths just to push me back into this?” he asked.

I tilted my head up to look into his eyes. “Yes.”

His expression darkened further, the moonlight doing nothing to soften the violence in his face.

He stood there staring at me for a moment.

Then his hand moved suddenly.

He grabbed my throat and pulled me against him.

I inhaled sharply.

His fingers tightened just enough to make my pulse jump beneath his palm.

“You keep asking for parts of me that ruined my life,” he said. “And you do it so easily knowing what it did to me.”

I held his gaze, my heart beating wildly. “Those parts of you protect us.”

“They destroy people.”

“They destroy people who try to hurt us,” I corrected. “You just can’t see that because of the guilt you carry.”

I could feel how tense he was.

But even like that, his free hand came to my face, wiping the tears away from my cheeks gently.

“You are standing inside a grave while your husband has blood on him, and you are still looking at me like you love me,” he said.

“I do love you.”

His grip tightened slightly. “Everyone was afraid of me. I was called a monster more times than I was called my own name. Why don’t I scare you?”

I didn’t respond immediately.

I pushed my body against his. “The only thing that scares me right now is how much I want you.”

His hand slid from my throat to my jaw, eyes moving between my eyes and my lips.

“I’m furious, Gabrielle. And I feel betrayed by you.”

I wanted to respond but the words died in my throat when his free hand moved to my hair and tugged it back.

I gasped again, not expecting that.

He leaned close enough that I could feel his breath on my face. “I don’t know what to do with you.”

I shivered from anticipation.

But instead of pulling my nipples into his mouth, he slid his hands beneath my ass and lifted me until my core was directly in front of his face.

A shaky breath escaped me as I instinctively grabbed his hair to steady myself.

He pulled my panties aside with his teeth before pressing his mouth against the slick heat between my thighs.

I gripped his hair harder. “Oh my god.”

Damon didn’t tease me as usual.

He went straight to licking and sucking my clit with his tongue the same way he kissed me, rough and fast.

I arched my back, pressing myself against his mouth as another broken sound escaped me. “Damon…”

The intensity of his tongue stole the breath from my lungs.

He kept his mouth on me without slowing down, like he was trying to punish me and worship me at the same time.

My fingers tangled deeper into his hair as pleasure rushed through me too fast to even form a thought.

“Fuck,” I whispered shakily.

The deep, satisfying hums he made and the lewd sound of my wetness sent sparks flying up my spine.

A gasp tore out of me as my legs trembled against his shoulders.

Emotion tightened painfully in my chest.

Because despite the manipulation, the secrets, and the blood drying on his hands, he was still touching me like I was something precious to him.

And that was exactly why I could never stop loving him.

“Damon,” I breathed again, my voice weaker now. “Please…”

His eyes lifted lazily to mine, but they were half-closed, like he was eating me out for his own pleasure.

Just looking at him like that broke me.

I came with a loud cry echoing through the woods.

My body shook with overwhelming pleasure as my climax rolled through me in wave after wave.

I curled my toes and pressed my thighs together around his head. “Damon! Fuck!”

I kept crying out his name until the last tremor passed me.

Slowly, my body came down from its satisfying high, and I tried to move so he could drop me.

His hold tightened around my thighs. “No.”

Then he continued.