30 | Falling

**Third Person POV **

When was the last time Gabriel held a woman before Sienna? He could not remember.
He thought the feeling of comforting her would bring in a wave of nostalgia for himself. The aftercare for any submissive that he had tended to over the years was nothing like that.
Punishing her, holding her and comforting her was a new feeling altogether. It was as if she was defining his life in a new light Gabriel had never known. It did not feel wrong, or sinful or anything akin to wicked. It was pure and sensational.
After Gabriel had closed the door, he lifted Sienna in his arms and settled down on top of the table. Her squirming was instinctive, trying to escape. But as soon as her tender ached, she stopped wriggling.
“No. I want to go back to the dorm,” she whimpered.
“Shh.” He murmured.
He drew her body closer and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. For a fraction of a second, Gabriel felt bad for introducing her to the cane. It was never supposed to be like this. Sienna should have experienced pleasure before pain, slowly letting her taste one after the other. As he always did for other submissives.
But Sienna was not like any of them.
It was not even legal to touch her the way he did, to punish her bare ass and to peruse the glistening folds of her sex. He was further from the truth, but there was no way to explain for him that without making things tangled than they already have.
He slowly shifted her in my arms so he could tilt her head up and look into her eyes. “I have you, Sienna, let it all out,” he assured as any other lover would.
She opened her mouth to say something, but the tears welled anew in her eyes, and her frame shuddered with muffled sobs. It seemed like she had never cried before, never been coaxed or loved or even cherished.
“It hurts…I…God! I am a stupid mess!”
Her barriers fell one after the other, and she cried openly and shook hard.
“Talk to me, Sienna. Talk about anything you want.”
“Why do you care?” She mumbled without sass or malice that made Gabriel chuckle. In fact, he found it cute.
“I like to hear you talk, which you often should.”
Sienna still kept quiet, her eyes cast downward and carefully avoiding his. But he was an exacting man. His arms tightened, flexed and lightly slapped her wounded butt to incite a response.
“Ow!” She exclaimed, scowling at him. In response, Gabriel only smiled at her. “I don’t like…expressing much.”
With one hand still holding her tightly against him, he tapped her forehead between her eyes. “You have a lot of anger pent up here. At some point, you have to talk, Sienna, or you will crumble from inside.”
Little did he know the state of unfortunate affairs of her life that landed her in this school. Since she was a little girl, she has been looking out for herself and not trusting anyone. At least, that’s what her mother taught her.
Then how could she suddenly confide in the priest who would hesitate to cane her ass for punishment?
Everything was wrong. And nothing made sense to her.
So she went back to her usual mode of reluctance and escapism. “That is my problem, not yours.”
But Gabriel was persistent. “Your problems are mine, as long as long you are in this school.”
“And after I leave?” she challenged.
He nodded and smiled warmly. “The choice will be yours. I will be there for you if you want me to.”
Sienna wanted to believe him—wanted to believe that someone would have her back, but her fate was a rich motherfucker. She did not want to count on someone to get her heartbroken.
“Okay. Let’s get you up now.” He pushed her to her feet, wrapped an arm around her as her knees buckled a little. Just to annoy her, to put strength back into her legs—and to see if the punishment was turning not something else—he ran his hand against her ass and gave a gentle squeeze.
Sienna caught her breath, and oh, yes, another gratifying increase of heat.
“Turn around, please.”
“Why?” She shot back instantly.
Gabriel narrowed his eyes, his gaze gleaming with dark retribution. “Because I am saying so, Sienna. I need to see the welts.”
She complied, letting him lift the skirt once again and feeling the touch of his fingers against her ass. The elicit moan slipped past her lips as Gabriel noted raised marks with satisfaction.
Even after years, he did not lose his touch.
“What? Are they up to your standards?” Sienna taunted, looking over her shoulders.
He pinched her ass and slapped one more time before pulling down her skirt and turned her to face him. “Given the way you are giving me the lip, I should have doubled it.”
“Maybe I should give you the head, you know.”
Gabriel fisted his hands and tried his best to leash his cock, which was already straining against his pants. If not for a blow, he was dying to kiss her sassy mouth.
*To take her.*
To plunder her mouth as ferociously as possible, tasting every inch of her. He was not waiting for a tsunami of guilt and a lifetime of penance.
Sienna Emerson was a blessing for him.
And hopefully *a promise for the future*.

****

The next day, she could not see Gabriel at the Mass, which was unusual. After the first morning class, Sienna gathered her bag and strolled down the hallway to reach for the second class before the fifteen minutes of break would get over. And unexpectedly so, she came across her only friend at Mount Carmel.
“Hi…I…” Harper stumbled for words, part ashamed and scared that she could lose a friend due to yesterday’s events.
“Hey! What’s up?” Sienna beamed, completely relaxed.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, why…oh, that!” Recognition filled her expression, and she let out a carefree chuckle that seemed to relax Harper a little. “Yeah, I am fine. I am really sorry, Harper, for dragging you…”
“Are you kidding me? You saved me!”
Sienna scoffed. “Clearly, you need better friends. You saved me.”
Harper bit her lips and slowly shook her head. “I don’t think anyone would ever do that for me,” she confessed. “Thank you, Sienna.”
“Well, I got your back, and you got mine.” She winked, and then her attention landed on the grounds overlooking the arched window of the second floor. “What’s going on there?” she asked Harper curiously.
A group of girls sat in a circle on the ground and giggled loudly and recklessly. It was a rare sight because nobody ever dared to mindlessly waste time during school hours.
“I guess they are just bunking classes.” Harper shrugged.
“Woah! Is that even allowed in Mount Carmel?” Sienna gaped so hard it felt that her eyes would just pop out. “I mean, with that tyrant of a headmaster around, who would even dare?”
“Father Sullivan won’t be returning until tomorrow,” Harper informed. “He has to attend the 15th Annual Seminar for Pastoral Communications in Chicago, and for the time being, Father Lucas is in charge.”
The news kind of dampened her beaming spirits from a few moments ago. If Gabriel had to leave, why didn’t he tell Sienna?
Well, I guess he was not obligated, she thought to herself. After all, it was not like she mattered to him.
“Okay. That’s new information,” she muttered and let out a heaving sigh and a fake smile to mask her unhappiness. “Well, I got to go. See you at lunch break.”
“Bye.”
Lost in thoughts, Sienna walked towards the long staircase leading towards the first floor. She lifted her foot to descend when she felt two hands on her back and experienced a brutal force that shoved her down the staircase.
There was no time to recover, no instincts to act on or to hold on to the railing to steady herself. She just fell.
Her body went limp after she struck the stairs for the first time, the back of her head cracking against the ancient stairs, and the sound echoed so vibrantly in her ears, it would not stop ringing. Her body rolled down viciously, and by the time it had stopped, crippling pain shot through her head and limbs. Her bruised body curled into itself when it hit the floor, completely unaware of the commotion that unfollowed because, by then, Sienna was on the verge of passing out.
And the only word that made past her lips was, “*Gabriel*.”
________________________________
**Thank you, dear readers, for your valuable feedback for my story. How did you find the Third Person POV? Was it easier to read or not?**