Natural Born Killer
1141 Words
Gabriel's POV
The sun was too bright. It felt like a spotlight on a stage I never asked to stand on.
I woke up with my heart already racing, the phantom weight of Derek’s arm still heavy across my waist even though he was already gone from the bed. The sheets were cold where he had been, but my skin still felt branded. I felt… used. Shaken. Like a piece of fruit that had been squeezed too hard.
"Gabriel! Hurry up!" my mum called from the hallway, her voice high and tight. "Miller wants us at the stables in ten minutes. Don't you dare be late."
I scrambled out of bed, my legs feeling like jelly. I didn't belong in a place that smelled like expensive leather and horse manure.
By the time I got to the stables, I was already sweating. The horses were massive, monsters made of muscle and twitching skin. One of them, a black stallion that looked like it was carved from shadows, let out a loud snort as I walked by, and I jumped nearly a foot in the air.
"Pathetic," a voice drawled.
I looked up. Derek was already mounted on a white mare, looking like he had been born in the saddle. He was wearing tight riding breeches and tall boots, his thighs looking thick and powerful as he gripped the horse's sides.
Mr. Miller was standing nearby with my mother. He looked at me, his eyes taking in my trembling hands and my oversized glasses that kept sliding down my nose. His lip curled just a fraction.
"Give him the chestnut, Derek," Miller said, his voice a low rumble of disappointment. "Let’s see if he has anything in him besides books."
It was a disaster. I couldn't even get my foot in the stirrup. The horse kept shifting, and I kept stumbling, my face turning a hot, shameful red. I could feel my mom’s eyes burning into the side of my head, I knew she was screaming at me in her mind to just be a man for once.
"A man needs to know how to control a beast, Gabriel," Miller said, sighing as he turned away.
"Brains are fine for the office, but out here, you need iron. Derek, show him what a Miller looks like."
Derek didn't need to be told twice. He kicked his horse into a gallop, flying across the field with a grace that made my stomach do a sick flip. He was fast. He was aggressive. He looked like he owned the very air he was breathing. I just stood there, holding a lead rope, feeling like a speck of dust.
"Enough with the animals," Miller said after Derek dismounted, barely even out of breath. "Let's see if the Gabriel can at least aim."
We moved to the private shooting range behind the stables. The smell hit me first, sulfur and burnt metal.
Crack! The first shot made me shriek, my hands flying to my ears.
Derek laughed, a jagged, cruel sound. He picked up a handgun, standing with his feet apart, his broad shoulders relaxed.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
Three glass bottles on a distant fence shattered into a thousand glittering pieces. He didn't even blink.
"Your turn, Gabriel," Miller said. He picked up a heavy, cold pistol and held it out to me. "Don't embarrass the family. It's just a bottle."
I took the gun. It was so heavy my wrist immediately dipped. The metal was freezing, biting into my palm. I stared at the bottle on the fence, but it was just a blur. My vision was swimming with tears I refused to let fall. I felt so small. So out of place. This was a world of predators, and I was just…..you know Gabriel the weak.
"I... I c...c..can't," I whispered, my voice breaking.
"Hold it up!" Miller barked. "Stop shaking like a girl and aim!"
I tried. I really did. But the gun was wobbling so much the barrel was drawing circles in the air. I could hear my mom’s frantic breathing behind me. I could feel the disgust radiating off Mr Miller. I knew it, those smiles he had given me were all fake. He was no different than my mum. I wanted to die. I wanted to melt into the dirt and disappear.
Then, the heat arrived.
A wall of searing, familiar warmth pressed against my back. I didn't even have to look to know it was him. Derek stepped directly behind me, his chest a solid, vibrating weight against my spine. His large, calloused hands moved over mine, wrapping around my fingers and forcing the gun upward.
The smell of him, mint, leather, and that intoxicating male musk swirled around me, making my head spin. He was so close I could feel the steady thud of his heart against my shoulder blades.
"Relax, little brother," Derek whispered in my ear, his breath a hot, terrifying caress. "I have got you."
His hands were steady as rock, swallowing my small, shaking ones. He adjusted my grip, his thumbs rubbing over my knuckles in a way that felt way too intimate for the public eye. My body, that traitorous thing, started to melt against him.
I felt dirty. I felt sinful. My mother was standing right there, and here I was, leaning into the man who had forced me to my knees just fourteen hours ago.
"Look at the target, Gabe," Derek hissed, his voice dropping to a low vibration that seemed to settle in my bones.
"Ignore them. Just look at the bottle. Imagine it's my heart. Imagine you are finally going to put me out of my misery."
I gasped, my finger trembling on the trigger. He guided my hand, lining up the shot with a clinical precision that made my blood run cold. I was trapped between the cold metal of the gun and the burning heat of his body.
"On three," Derek whispered. His grip tightened, his chest heaving against my back. He wasn't helping me. He was claiming me. In front of everyone, he was showing them that I belonged to him and they didn't even have a clue.
"One."
I closed my eyes for a split second, praying for a God that Derek didn't believe in to save me.
"Two."
I felt his finger move over mine, pressing down on the trigger.
"Three."
BANG.
The recoil slammed through my arms, but Derek’s body absorbed the shock, holding me upright. Through the cloud of sulfur smoke, I saw the bottle explode.
I was shaking, gasping for air, but Derek didn't let go. He kept his hands over mine, the gun still smoking, and leaned in until his lips brushed my ear one last time.
"Good boy," he breathed. "See? You are a natural born killer after all."
- Writer
