'I'll take the top end,' I say dryly. In fact, I'd take any end I could get my hands on, but I need to be able to speak to Harper. Besides, if Gabriel marked that pretty face I'd never forgive him.
'Suits me. Are we tying her up?' Harper is sat on the bed where Mal left her. Her face is vampire-style white, and it looks like all the blood in her body has gone on holiday. That was probably the result of our little fight a moment ago. I'm hoping she managed to look bored and smile through it, but she looks pretty rough now.
'Do we need to? There's two of us, and one ninety-pound weakling of a girl. I think we can probably handle this.' I don't want Harper tied up. If there is any chance of escape, no matter how small, I need her to be ready to take it.
'It's more fun when they're tied up. They scream more.' I think Gabriel is trying his best to impress Mal, and sure enough, the bastard smiles.
'When she starts wriggling we'll tie her up. For now, let's just get on with it.' I hope I sound suitably indifferent to the whole ordeal. I'm trying my best.
'Suit yourself.' Gabriel pats Harper's thigh and gives her a look that suggests she's soon about to be fish food. 'Why don't you get up on your hands and knees for us, sweetheart?' Her sable eyes expand to the point where they nearly blot out her entire irises, and I can feel her fear. She's already had a taste of Gabriel before, and she knows exactly what he's capable of.
'What are you going to do to me?' she whispers, not moving an inch. I want to take her in my arms, right there and then, and promise everything will be okay. I want to tell her that there's no way I'll let anyone hurt her, now or ever again. Of course, I do no such thing. In a few moment's time I'm going back to being the aggressor in our partnership, and I've lost the taste for it. I want to scream out in frustration.
'We're going to fuck you up, you heard the man.' I flick a finger backwards to indicate Mal and then pat the centre of the bed. 'Come on, Wilkinson, let's not keep everyone waiting.' My voice is laden with venom. I am playing my part to the best of my ability, and Harper's acting skills aren't bad, either.
'Get away from me,' she whispers, visibly wincing in horror.
'Don't make me come over there and make you, Wilkinson. If I have to sort you out, there'll be punishments your backside can't cash.' My voice drops down an octave and is the deadly kind of soft that you don't fuck with. Sure enough, Harper drops to her haunches without another word, and looks back at me nervously. She's good. I hate to think how much she's had to endure playing piggy-in-the-middle with her late husband and the asshole behind me.
Gabriel then decides it's his turn to have some fun. Harper's quite high up on the bed, near me, but he readjusts this balance by placing a hand around each of her ankles and yanking her downward, accompanied by a high-pitched yelp and some frantic clawing at the duvet, but she doesn't manage to stop her journey into his clutches.
'Mal, stop this!' she screams, but there's no conviction behind her tone. She knows this will play out exactly the way he wants it to, and she's already resigned to the fact.
While Gabriel pulls her body exactly where he wants it, raising her ass, I get into place in front of her face. Grabbing her hair in my fist I yank her head up until it's level with my cock, letting her get a good look at it. Meanwhile, Gabriel has his fingers between her legs, testing the waters.
'Is she ready?' I ask, unnecessarily. I know she is. I can see it by the way her pupils have dilated and by the rapid but shallow pounding of her pulse. Her excitement is palpable, even if it is coupled with fear.
'She's ready,' he affirms. 'Fuck she is so wet you could get two cocks in here at once. Want to try that, Brando? I've always wanted to try that.' I don't even want to think about trying that. My brain is exploding. One moment I don't want to touch her in front of Mal, and in the next I can't think of anything else. All the current in my body is short circuiting, and if I'm not careful I'm going to blow.
'One thing at a time, hotshot. Let's warm her up.' This is more for me than it is for Harper. I'm losing the plot. Can I do to this to her? Do I have a choice?
Bending over her I murmur, 'How much can you take? You're already pretty messed up, and I'm not sure if I can rein Gabriel in.'
'Don't even think about it,' she grits out just as quietly. 'I can take it.'
This is not what I want to hear. I want to protect her, not throw her to the wolves. What I need to do is speak to Gabriel and try to explain what's happening. If I can do that we can work something out between us.
'I'm going to alternate between fucking her pussy and ass. That about do for a warm-up?'
I don't respond; Gabriel's going to do his own thing anyway. I have to concentrate on my own game. There won't be any soft caresses or lingering kisses like this morning. We'll have to keep this impersonal. I wonder if Mal is going to kill me anyway. He found us in bed together, for fuck's sake. There are two indentations in the pillows, and I know the man isn't stupid. There's a chance he might buy the fact she's with me so I can torment her, but if I'm going to make him believe it, I have to sell it.
Fisting my cock in one hand I begin to pump, under the pretence of priming it. Believe me when I say it doesn't need any help in that department, but I need a couple of seconds before I go on the attack. My mind is blank.
Harper's eyes shoot daggers at me, thankfully spurring me into action. I get the message. I need to be the total jerk I've basically been since I kidnapped her. You wouldn't think it would be too hard, considering all the practice I've had in the last few days, but it is. She's been through too much, and I don't want to hurt her any more than she's been hurt already. If I do, I'm not sure I'll be able to live with myself when this is all over, although that might not be a problem.
My hands circle her throat while I lift her chin with my thumbs. It's time to see if I can supercharge my acting skills.
'Open those lips up nice and wide, Wilkinson.' Squaring my shoulders I do my best to go into bastard mode. She does as she's told without a moment's hesitation, but her eyes are not on me - they're on Mal. She's gauging his reaction carefully. I hope she knows what she's doing. If we hurt her she'll stand no chance against that monster.
'Ready, Brando?' Gabriel already has hold of her ass and is positioning himself for penetration.
'No, Mal, stop this,' Harper screams, but it's already too late, Gabriel is surging forward, pushing Harper's mouth onto my cock in a cocoon of heat that steals my breath away. I don't want to enjoy this, and throwing my head back I resist the urge to roar out loud.
'This is your chance to finally get your own back, Brando,' Gabriel says, with a wicked gleam in his eye. 'Try not to fuck it up. This girl is nothing but trouble, and everyone knows it.' He makes his point clear by hammering into her, over and over until my cock feels as if it's being sucked by a vacuum cleaner.
'Jesus, Gabriel. Slow down. If you're not careful she'll swallow the thing in a minute.' Grabbing a hold of Harper's hair once more I yank, in order to stop the poor girl being impaled on me. Gabriel just grins, but he does relax his pace a little.