“The yes meant for tonight as well.”
It took all his strength not to lunge at her. But he didn’t. Instead, he beamed and gripped the rail in the elevator until his knuckles turned white.
“I’ll spoil you tonight, kea. Would you like a long bath?”
“You know, I’d really just like to go to sleep. I’m wiped out.”
“As you wish.”
She went to her room and put on her favorite Snoopy pajamas. When she joined him, he raised one brow but didn’t utter a word. He only lifted the sheets so she could climb into bed. Then he pulled her to him and rubbed her back and neck, massaging it in tiny circles, getting the kinks out.
“Mmm, that feels so nice.”
“Glad you like it. Now sleep, kea.”
“I’ve missed you so much, Kolson.”
“I’ve missed you too. Tell me what to do to make it right. I’ll do whatever I can, I swear I will.”
She lifted herself up and looked at him. “Just love me enough to trust me and know that you hold my heart in the palm of your hand. As much as I’d like to think it’s made of steel, it’s not. It’s fragile and can easily be shattered.”
“Oh fuck, Gabriella.” She found herself on top of him faster than she could register and his mouth lightly touched hers. “You’re mine, heart and soul. I love you more than my life. Your heart is safe with me. I know you don’t believe me right now, but it is, and I’ll find a way to prove it to you.” His lips whispered over hers, back and forth as his hands plunged into her hair. “I’ve never been so miserable, so bereft, as I have without you these past few days. I don’t want to move through time like that again. I didn’t know it could be so dismal.”
“Neither did I.” She rested her cheek on his rough stubble and slid the back of her hand across the other side of his face. He trapped her hand and brought it to his lips.
“Jesus, I hate myself for doing this.” The white tape glared at him.
“It was an accident—I didn’t know you would hit it so hard. It was partially my fault for being so stupid. And look at your own hands.” She was referring to the still-healing bruises and raw spots from his bout with the bag.
“That was my stupidity for not using gloves.”
“Lessons learned for both of us.”
“Sleep, beautiful. It’s been a long day for you.”
It didn’t take any more coaxing from him for her to drift off. He fell swiftly to sleep as well, relieved of the insomnia that had robbed his last few nights.
Chapter Twenty-Five
The following Friday at work, Gabby had visitors. At the end of the day, Kolson was supposed to meet her and they were to go out for drinks. At four thirty he left a text and said he would be late. Something had come up at work. She finished with her last patient and went to the reception area where she was met by Case, Sky, and Cara.
“Oh my God!” Case told her Kolson had arranged for a little girl time for Gabby. They would be driven to their favorite place for cocktails, escorted, of course, and then on to dinner.
Cara suggested starting with a martini bar where the working crowd hung in SoHo.
“Just don’t give me any Sugar Tits tonight,” Gabby said as they walked inside. The girls laughed. “That was the worst hangover ever.”
Cara ordered them a round of cosmos and they got an intimate table where they could chat.
“This is so much easier than answering my exploding phone from all the texts like last week,” Gabby said.
“What did you expect?” Sky asked. “After Case told Ryder what happened and how he had to spend the night at your place we were freaking.”
“I know. And I’m glad I have peeps that care so much about me. Thanks guys. It was a crazy week, let me tell you.”
“So ... you and Kolson Hart ... together together. Like strong. And for a while now. What’s he like?” Sky asked.
“Sexy,” Gabby smiled.
“We know that! Tell us the juicy details.”
“He’s good. Really good.”
“Yeah? How so?” Cara asked.
Gabby looked at them and shook her head. “Oh no. You two have been around the block too many times for me to even begin that competition.”
“Tell us this. Does he like any kink?”
Gabby heated up like a small inferno.
“Uh-oh! I think we hit on something here, Sky. Look at those cheeks.”
“Come on, Gabs. Give us a little something.”
“No way! Besides, he’s not kinky.”
“Yes, he is. Maybe just a little. At least give us a clue. Your face wouldn’t be glowing in the dark otherwise.”
Gabby broke out into a sweat.
“Is that perspiration on your upper lip?” Cara asked. The girls chuckled and Cara reached over and dabbed it with a napkin.
“Look, if it makes you feel any better, Ryder and I like a little kink. You can tell us and it will stay right here, I swear. Right, Cara?”
Cara nodded.
“Okay. I’ll tell you once. Then that’s it. He’s amazing. Everything sexy time with him is the very best I can possibly imagine. He fulfills my every fantasy. Knows exactly how to nibble the slut nub and he’s extremely well endowed. In fact, I’d have to say he’s pretty damn magnificent in that department.” Then she leaned in and whispered, “And he’s even pierced down there. How’s that?”
“No shit? Do you love it? Does he make you come?”
“Hell yeah. Multiple times. In each session.”
“Do not ever let that man go. Do you hear me? Never let him go. Well, unless he eats your firstborn. Or all the ice cream in the house. Got it?” Cara advised.
“Yes, ma’am.” They all laughed.
After work revelers crowded the bar and they found it hard to converse over all the noise. Everyone was celebrating the end of the week and the blaring music added to the commotion.
“What do you say we head on over to dinner after this drink?” Gabby asked.
“I’m up for that. I’m getting hungry, too.” Sky said.
All of a sudden, Cara burst out, “Shit, Gabs, here I always thought you had this perfect life and now I find out you’ve been suffering like the rest of us who’ve been fucked in the ass all our lives.” Cara hugged her. “Girl, I’m so sorry.”
“Hey, stop. We all find a way to persevere. But Kolson has helped. He freed me. If it hadn’t been for him, I still would’ve been hiding.”
Cara eyed her curiously. “You’re in love. The supreme one. Like over the top. Right?”
“Yeah. Crazy love.”
“Damn, girl. You went and fell in love with one hell of a dude too. The Kolson Hart.”
Yeah, I sure did. One heck of a dude with some kind of issues. Leave it to me …
After they finished their drink, Gabby recommended an Italian place nearby, so they decided to walk there. Ovaltine would meet them with the car and their bodyguard would walk with them.
When they arrived, there was a thirty-minute wait for a table, so they sat at the bar and sipped wine and partook of delicious, warm bread until the host showed them to their table.
Once seated, their lively chatting resumed as Sky filled them in on her auditions. Midsentence, Gabby glanced up and saw Danny standing at the restaurant’s entrance.
“Oh my God. Oh fuck!
“What’s wrong?” Sky asked, alarmed.
“It’s him.” Gabby’s hand reached for her throat.
Cara grabbed her hand. “Who? Your cousin? Where’s your bodyguard? Where’s Max? Why isn’t he here?”
Head bobbing in search of him, she squeaked, “Shit! I don’t see him. I’m calling him.” Gabby punched his number. “He’s not answering.” Her gut churned and she swallowed, forcing the bile back down her throat. Her heart hammered and her blood roared through her veins. It was so loud she was sure the others could hear it.
“Keep your head down. He won’t do anything in a crowd.” Cara spoke. Then she glanced around, looki
ng for him.
“You don’t know that. He’s fucking crazy! Something’s happened to Ovaltine and Max. They wouldn’t leave me. I’m calling Kolson. Shit. Shit. Shit.” Her knee thumped wildly beneath the table. “Fuck, I gotta get out of here. He’s gonna kill me.”
She called Kolson.
“Kea.”
“He’s here Kolson. Danny. And Max or Ovaltine aren’t answering their phones. I need to get out of here.”
Kolson started cursing. “DO NOT MOVE FROM THERE GABRIELLA. I’M ON THE WAY.”
“Don’t hang up, Kolson. I’m really scared,” Gabby whimpered into the phone.
Sky said, “He’s searching this room. Like he’s looking for someone. Keep your head down. He’s headed this way. What should I do? Call 911?”
“He won’t act in here. There are too many people,” Cara reiterated.
“Kolson, he’s here …” Gabby cried.
“Well, hello, precious. Put the phone down. NOW. I’ve been trying to spend some quality time with you but you keep avoiding me. Now why would that be?”
“What do you want?” Gabby couldn’t control the shaking covering her from head to toe.
“You’re my cousin. Like I said, I want to spend some quality time with you. Now, why don’t you get up and you and I will walk on out of here, peacefully, and leave your little friends to their dinner.”
“I don’t think so, Danny.”
“Listen, you cunt …” He hissed and opened his jacket just enough for Gabby to see his gun.
“You’re gonna do exactly as I say, or your little friend here,” he pointed the gun at Sky, “is going to get a brain full of lead. Do you understand me?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Now get up and walk toward the door.” Then he turned to Cara and Sky and said, “And when we leave, if either of you make any kind of noise, I’ll shoot someone in this restaurant. And if you call the police, her bodyguards are dead. Clear?”
“Yes,” they both said.
“Good. Let’s go, Gabs.”
She got up and headed toward the door. Her mind churned with how she could delay him, to wait for Kolson. But Danny was armed—Kolson wouldn’t be. She didn’t want to risk Kolson getting injured. When they got outside, she tried to stall.
“Where’s my bodyguard? And my driver?”
Danny laughed. “One shot and they dropped like flies.”
“Oh my God! You killed them?”
“You don’t need to worry about them. Come on.”
He grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and clamped down, pushing her along. When he turned down an alley and slammed her against the side of a building, Gabby’s legs weakened; she stumbled. He squeezed her neck even harder, pulling her up. She was so dizzy with fear, Danny’s face moved in and out of focus.
He laughed and her skin prickled. “I can’t wait to get inside you again. To hear you tell me how much you missed my dick.”
She spit in his face. The action took him off guard and he stepped back. One chance … that’s all she had, so she forced her fear aside and took it. She raised her knee and rammed it squarely into his crotch. Then she ran. Back to the restaurant and right into Ovaltine as he was rounding the corner, bleeding from a gunshot wound in his side. She screamed with all her might, which got the attention of bystanders.
Kolson pulled up and jumped out of his car. “Gabriella!”
“He has a gun!” she hollered over and over again.
Kolson spun around and ran inside, practically carrying Gabby.
“Call the police. Now!” he yelled at the first person he saw.
He tried to hand Gabby to Cara, but she wouldn’t let him go. She didn’t say a thing, only trembled, and latched on to him. Cara and Sky ran to Ovaltine as he staggered into the restaurant.
“Kea, you’re safe here. Let me go find him.”
“Noooo! He has a gun. He’ll kill you.”
“No, he won’t. I won’t let him.”
“Noooo, don’t go.”
Her fear stopped him. He couldn’t walk away from her when she needed him.
“I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.” Her fingers dug into the flesh of his back, but he didn’t say a word. He kissed and petted her hair, murmuring softly to calm her.
In minutes, the place was swarming with cops. Cara and Sky had called Case and he showed up as well. Gabby still wouldn’t release her hold on Kolson. The police questioned the three women and Kolson. Max was found in an alley next to the building and both he and Ovaltine were transported to the hospital.
Case took one of the detectives aside and had a long chat with him. They wanted Gabby to come down to the station, but between Kolson and Case, they were able to persuade them to defer it until the morning. Kolson gathered up Gabby and drove her home. She was a mess.
Once there, he poured her a glass of whiskey. He tucked her into bed afterward, and in the morning, they went to the police station. It was then, with Case and the attorney present, that Gabriella gave her formal statement. Charges would be filed against Danny for, felony assault and battery with a deadly weapon, and attempted kidnapping. Because of the witnesses at the restaurant, and the attempted murder of Ovaltine and Max, it looked like Danny would be facing a lengthy prison sentence.
Kolson and Gabby then went to the hospital to check on their friends. Both Ovaltine and Max were in stable condition. Max had been shot in the shoulder and Ovaltine in the side. Sam was with Ovaltine, along with the rest of their family. Gabby couldn’t shake the guilt—this was all her fault. If these men hadn’t been guarding her, none of this would’ve happened.
“You have to stop thinking that way. They were doing their jobs. Our men do this for clients all the time,” Kolson explained. His eyes were warm as honey.
This was different. Danny could’ve killed them and if that had happened, she would’ve felt responsible.
Kolson noticed how she clung to him. It was odd, for she craved her independence. That had always been the one thing she’d emphasized to him. It was why she wouldn’t stay with him as much as he wanted her to. She needed that feeling of freedom. But he guessed now she needed security, so he vowed she would have it.
Throwing his arm around her shoulders, he said, “Let’s go home, shall we?”
Eddie dropped them off. When they got up to the penthouse, Kolson said, “I think it might be best if you took a few days off.”
“But my patients …”
“Won’t benefit a bit from you when you’re this upset.”
She hugged herself.
He pried her hand loose. “Come.” The last time he saw her this upset, a bath in the large tub relaxed her immensely.
When they reached the bathroom, he said, “Take off your clothes while I fill the tub, kea.” He poured in bath oil from a fancy bottle and she disrobed. He held her hand as she stepped into the warm, soothing water.
“Join me?”
He did as she asked, moving behind her. “Lean back on me. Let me and the water take the edge off your worries.”
She draped her thighs over his and felt a rush of bubbles between her legs. “Mmm.” She squirmed against him and his erection blossomed between them.
“I didn’t mean for this to be about sex, but if you’re going to squirm like that, then I won’t be held accountable for my actions.”
“Kolson, sex with you makes me forget my name. Why in the world would I not want to have it now?”
“Lean back, then.” He lifted his knees, causing her legs to spread further. The rush of the bubbly water was hitting her in all the right spots and arousing her even more. He took some body wash and put it on a soft cloth, bringing it to a foamy lather. Running the cloth around her breasts, she arched her back as the nubby cloth rubbed her nipples to a peak. With his other hand, he extended them into shiny pearls, tugging and pinching them until she was writhing against his hand.
“Have you ever had an orgasm from just this, Gabriella?”
“No,” she
moaned.
“I think I may have to give you one some day. You are so responsive when I do this.”
Sliding his hand down to her hips, he moved the cloth in a circular pattern, trailing it over her hipbones and pelvis as she tilted toward him.
“You’re going to have to stop moving, Gabriella. Or I may do something you’re not quite ready for. That sweet ass of yours is torturing my dick.”
She gasped as his words sunk in.
He didn’t mean that, did he?
As if he read her mind, he said, “Yes, I’ll fuck your sweet ass. Now don’t move like that.”
He resumed his motion with the cloth, taking it between her legs. When he reached her core, she let loose a long, loud moan. The nubs on the cloth hit her clitoris with the perfect amount of pressure as he massaged her to an intense climax. Right as she started to come, his hips lifted her up and he slid into her.
Gabby came alive, as Kolson lifted his hips up and down, up and down, while his hands moved her to match his rhythm. The pleasure was unbearable. She leaned forward, holding onto his thighs as he slowly fucked her.
“I wish you could see yourself right now. You’re beautiful, my Gabriella. Your skin is flushed and rosy as it glimmers from the hot water. I could look at your naked body all day long. So damn perfect.”
Gabby looked down to where they were joined and cupped her hand around the weight of his sac. His answering groan pleased her. Then she felt his finger run down her crack until it found that opening, and he pushed against it until the pressure eased.
“Ahhh,” she cried.
He stilled until he felt her impending orgasm subside and then his motion picked up again, but very slowly. He inched in and out of her with a torturous pace. She tried to speed things up but he held her down with one hand on her shoulder. “If you try to move, Gabriella, I’ll stop.”
“Please. Let me come.”
“Patience.”
His movements began again, and Gabby found exquisite pleasure. Her nerve endings tingled as fire burned in her veins.
“Kolson. Please.”
“You’ll come when I think you’re ready.”
“But …”
“Hush.” He leaned forward and took the velvety lobe of her ear and drew it into his mouth, tugging it with his teeth.
The Hart Brothers Series Box Set (Including the bonus book Sabin: A Seven Novel): Freeing Her, Freeing Him, Kestrel, The Fall and Rise of Kade Hart, Sabin: A Seven Novel Page 24
