by Kendall Ryan
Drawing her body close, I aligned my cock between her legs, and ever so slowly buried myself in her tight heat, causing her to gasp and tremble. She felt so good, so right, so perfect, and I’d missed this—so fucking much. Despite my desire to go slow, I started fucking her with rough, quick thrusts, grasping her hips for support as I tugged her body down onto mine. Again. And again.
Her breathing quickened, her moans more frequent, and just as I brought her to the brink of climax, I stopped. I pulled out and began entering her very slowly, one tantalizing inch at a time.
As Emma squirmed beneath me, trying to pull me fully inside her, I dipped my head close to hers to whisper all the dirty things she would give me—and soon.
Chapter Sixteen
Emma
This was heaven.
Gavin’s firm body on mine, the weight of him balanced precariously over me.
His hips thrusting powerfully as he rocked into me.
Pleasure skyrocketing through my veins.
He’d surprised me tonight by asking about taking me there. Of course, I wanted to please him, wanted to show him that I was stronger than my past. I wasn’t going to let a few bad experiences tarnish the fun I knew we could have.
But he’d respected my decision and didn’t push it any further. His understanding and quiet acceptance made me feel all soft and squishy inside.
As Gavin continued thrusting into me, driving us both deeper into pleasure, I was struck with an idea. Just because I wasn’t willing to try that didn’t mean I wasn’t game for something else. If he wanted something different tonight, that was something I could give him. If only he’d ease back on his strict control and let me.
“Gavin?” I groaned.
Rather than respond, he reached out and pinched my nipple, sending a wave of pleasure and pain so sharp through me that I nearly came right then and there.
“I want to be on top,” I whispered, trying a more direct approach.
Without another word, he pulled back and sat in the center of the bed. He looked so sexy with his muscled chest and abs, and his legs spread apart so I could see every inch of his powerful muscled thighs.
“You want to ride this cock? Show me,” he demanded.
I didn’t need to be told twice.
Hardly breathing, I climbed into his lap, straddled him, and gripped him with one hand as I led him to the space between my thighs. Slowly, I rolled his throbbing head over my tight bundle of nerves, groaning at the insistent push and pull of pleasure and tension his heat created. But still, it wasn’t enough.
Wanting to make this good for him, I swirled him around the outside of my opening, watching his eyes as I moved slowly, slowly.
“Jesus,” he grunted.
And then I lowered myself, inch by glorious inch, as deep as I could take him.
Bracing my hands on his shoulders, I anchored myself against him as I tested moving up then down, first teasing his head and then dropping lower until he was finally buried to the hilt.
A deep groan of satisfaction rumbled in his chest. “You’re so tight against me,” he ground out.
“Too tight?” I asked, suddenly unsure if he was experiencing pleasure or actual pain.
“Never. You’re utterly fucking perfect.”
It was slow and torturous for both of us, the rising need and then the instant of relief before it was torn away again, but it was driving me to the edge.
I threw my head back as I arched again, pushing my breasts toward his waiting mouth, and he licked each swell before finding my nipple and sucking hard and deep.
Finally, I couldn’t hold back any longer. I rocked harder, faster, needing to feel him deep and thick inside me. Needing to feel the way his cock twitched as he spiraled closer and closer to the brink with me.
This was everything, and when he finally groaned my name, I knew I had his permission.
With a low cry, I broke apart as the tightly coiled tension inside me spread into ecstasy. He gripped my hips and plunged deeper into me as my body clenched and shuddered around him.
He was coming with me , I knew it, but I was so wrapped up in my own waves of pleasure that I could hardly think. Distantly, I heard him cry my name. And when I finally managed to meet his gaze again, I saw what I was feeling reflected back at me.
He might not know it yet, might not be ready to admit it, but he loved me. Gavin Kingsley loved me, and nothing could stop us now.
After we made love, Gavin held me quietly in his strong arms until I drifted off to that space that was one stop short of sleep. Being here with him in his bed, our naked limbs intertwined beneath the sheets, I couldn’t help but think about how far he’d come since the beginning—when he practically kicked me out immediately after sex.
I was so thankful for all the changes in him, so thankful that he was mine and I was his.
It gave me comfort to provide what he needed. Did it mean I was merely a vessel for his pleasure, that I lost my spirit and sense of self? No, quite the opposite. Being his was a powerful thing—and it wasn’t for the faint of heart.
He stroked my hair, gazing down at me. “Good girl. You made me very happy tonight.”
His praise was everything. It was hard earned, and I couldn’t help but take a second and enjoy this tender moment.
He was changing. We were changing. I should have felt tentative and slightly fearful. Change was often scary. Instead, this was exhilarating. This growth in him was everything I’d ever dreamed about.
Gathering my courage, I opened my mouth to speak the words to him I’d held in for the last several weeks.
“What is it?” Gavin asked, smirking at me. It must have been obvious I had something on my mind.
“I know we haven’t fully defined this,” I said, starting slowly.
“Yes, we have. You’re my person, remember?”
I nodded. “That’s true.” Nerves rolled through my belly, but I pressed on. “But for me, it’s more. I have these big, mushy feelings for you. I’m crazy about you.”
“I feel the same way, pet. You’re everything to me.”
“I love you, Gavin,” I blurted. “And I just wanted to tell you. You don’t have to say it back just because I said it, but I wanted you to know how I felt. I couldn’t hold it in any longer.”
His lips parted, and for a moment, he didn’t say anything. “Oh, pet. My brave girl.” He stroked my hair, then patted my cheek. “Thank you for telling me.”
But he didn’t return the sentiment. In fact, he didn’t say anything else for several long moments while the deafening silence in the room settled around us until my skin felt itchy and tight.
“Come here. Let me hold you,” he breathed against my hair, and I took a deep breath and let him fold me into his arms.
I hated his stony silence, hated the question mark lingering between us, but I couldn’t bring myself to regret telling him. I did love him. So much it hurt.
A short time later, I woke alone in bed. Gavin’s side of the bed was cool, and missing his body heat, the need to go hunt for him was a necessity. I knew I wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep without his firm, muscled body next to mine.
Dressed in Gavin’s discarded button-down shirt, I made my way from the bedroom in search of him. The soft glow of lamplight drew me to his office. I leaned against the doorway, my shirt unbuttoned, hoping I could tempt him back to bed.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
When his weary eyes lifted to meet mine, I didn’t like the stress I saw there, the worry. Unsure what was on his mind, I crossed the room and knelt at his feet. My king.
He reached for my cheek and offered me a sad smile. “Everything’s fine,” he assured me.
I didn’t believe him. “Tell me, Gavin. Please. You can trust me.” I leaned into his touch as my stomach tensed, hoping that my declaration earlier hadn’t freaked him out. Please, God, don’t let it be that.
He petted my hair. “I know I can. But honestly, it’s nothing I want you to
worry over. We’re just under a bit of pressure to hire a replacement for Sonja.”
While that was probably true, I doubted that was what had pushed him out of bed in the middle of the night.
“Can I help? Get your mind off things, I mean?”
He didn’t respond, just tilted his head as he watched me. I placed my hand over the bulge in his black boxer briefs, stroking him softly until I coaxed his manhood awake.
Gavin turned his chair from the desk to face me, tugging his boxers down just enough to free himself, but didn’t say a word.
I soothed him the only way I knew he’d allow. Afterward, he laced our fingers together and led me back to bed.
Chapter Seventeen
Gavin
I pulled the copy of the subpoena from my briefcase and slid it across the desk to my stern-faced lawyer. So far, he was the only person I’d managed to bring myself to tell. Not my brothers.
Not even Emma.
He perched a pair of thick-framed glasses on the edge of his nose and his eyes zoomed back and forth, reading the words I now knew by heart.
“I don’t understand. It’s been two years,” I muttered under my breath.
He held up a finger as he finished reading the last page, and sat the papers down before folding his hands on his desk. “Mr. Kingsley, I’m going to be blunt. This is a cash grab, and frankly, I’m not surprised. Your company has been in the papers for a couple of weeks now, and the value of it has been printed in every newspaper in North America.”
“So? Anyone with a Forbes magazine or an Internet browser could’ve learned that.”
His salt-and-pepper mustache twitched, and he let out a long, slow sigh. “Yes, and once they did, they decided to come after you.”
I glanced at the document between us. “Their daughter died years ago.”
He shook his head. “Exactly. It’s likely they had no idea how much you were worth back then. And you and I both know that number has increased tenfold in the interim.”
“But the statute of limitations—”
“Is six years in civil cases like this. If Ashley’s family can prove, as they assert, that you were the cause of leading their daughter down a path to drugs and debauchery, they can still find you liable.”
“That’s so wrong.” I’d spent every day since her death blaming myself. And now, just when I was finally ready to move on with my life, to let love in and forgive myself? This happened.
“It is, and they’ll never win.” He spread his hands wide. “But they don’t need to. All they have to do is sit down with the press and add to your troubles. This story getting out, with the finger pointed at you as the cause, would be the death blow for your business. They expect you to settle. Pay to make the problem go away.”
“Those bastards.”
I’d only met her parents once—her mom was a gold-digging drunk, and her father was a heartless businessman. That had been my impression at the time, and now it seemed I was correct. They’d fostered her as a teen, adopting her officially right before her eighteenth birthday. I knew Ashley didn’t love them. And somehow, I knew they didn’t love her. They saw her as some project, a charity case they could flaunt to their socialite inner circle and then pat themselves on the back.
With every word, my temper was rising. I could hardly believe it when I’d first gotten the documents with the news that Ashley’s family was suing me for her wrongful death. It made no sense.
I wasn’t her drug dealer. I wasn’t her doctor.
I was her boyfriend.
And as far as I could tell, I’d been the only person she’d had in the world.
No one but me had cared that Ashley was suffering, that she needed help. I was the one who stood by her, who paid for her treatment. And in the end, I was the one who paid for her funeral.
Even then, on that rainy, terrible day, they did what they’d always done when she was alive—nothing. They simply stood by her graveside, watching as she was lowered into the plot they hadn’t paid for, both of them dry-eyed.
“You have a choice to make, Mr. Kingsley. You can try to fight this, or you can settle and get it over with. But I would advise you to consider how it will affect your business and your livelihood if you go to court. The bad press would almost certainly be the final nail in your coffin.”
I swallowed the rage threatening to choke me. He wasn’t saying anything I hadn’t already considered in the days since this letter had come. Still, to hear it out loud . . .
“So, you think I should settle?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I think you should do what’s best for you and your company. If I were you, I would settle. But again, I’m not you.”
“Thank you. I’ll think it over and will give you a call.”
The lawyer nodded, and I shook his hand before heading back onto the city streets and gulping down a deep breath of air.
Slowly, I reached for my cell phone and turned it to silent, needing a break from the world around me, a chance to clear my head. Because, truth be told, I knew he was right. If I let this case go to trial, it could ruin me. Could ruin everyone and everything.
Quinn. Cooper. Our employees. And the fragile new start I’d forged with Emma.
God, she’d said she loved me. Her words spoken with such conviction had gutted me, had sliced right through my heart. And while I hadn’t returned her words, the possibility of it had been weighing on my mind.
I headed back to my apartment, changed clothes, and went to the nearest park. With the wind on my face and the sun in my eyes, it was easier to breathe, to think. To ignore the steady heartbeat of fury at the people who had denied Ashley and now were trying to ruin me, all for trying my damnedest to save a girl who hadn’t wanted to be saved.
Closing my eyes for a second, I relished the cool wind on my skin as I reached the cobblestone path and broke into an easy run.
What kind of man would I be to settle, though? What would it say to the world if I gave Ashley’s parents all that money, effectively admitting that I was in the wrong? I would look like a murderer, at worst, and an abuser at best.
I couldn’t allow it. My lawyer wanted me to focus on not ruining the company, but having someone at the helm who’d practically admitted to murder would surely ruin the company if the press got wind of it.
Which meant I was going to fight.
And at the end of it all?
I was going to win.
I had to, or it might cost me everything. Including my sweet, precious Emma, and there was no way I was giving up the best thing in my life without a fight. Somehow, I knew—she’d never hurt me, never cheat, never disappoint. Never let me go. I just knew. Or, at least, I prayed it to be true. I wasn’t a religious man, but in that moment, I wanted to be.
I was in love with my sexy little librarian, and though it scared the ever-loving fuck out of me, I was determined to find a way to make this all work.
Ever since the words had left her lips, I could see it whenever she looked at me, whenever she touched me. At first, I’d wanted to pull back, but then I realized that what I felt for her was more than just lust too. The more time I spent with her, the more I felt like she was becoming a part of me. Like she was half of something inside me that was only complete when she was near.
I’d never felt that way, not even with Ashley. But even as good as it felt on the one hand, on the other it was like a looming darkness, hovering over me as I waited for it to come to a tragic end.
Just like everything in my life always seemed to.
Chapter Eighteen
Emma
I was having the sexiest dream about Gavin. One that was just getting to the good part when my phone chirped and I reached for the bedside table, not bothering to open my eyes as I fumbled for the phone.
It was daylight, but only just barely. Either way, it was too early for this, especially on the weekend. Gavin turned beside me and mumbled something I couldn’t understand as I thumbed the glass screen and glanced at my me
ssages.
“Crap,” I muttered, flopping back onto the bed with a groan as the last of my sexy dream evaporated in the harsh light of day.
“What? What’s wrong?” Gavin sat up in bed and eyed me, his brows pinched with concern. He’d had so much on his plate lately, and the last few days it had really seem to hit him. He looked exhausted. And it hardly seemed like the right time to dump this on him, but damn it, it wasn’t going to go away, either.
“Nothing, nothing. Go back to sleep,” I said, but my stomach clenched as I tried to think of how to broach the subject.
“Talk to me. Is it work stuff?”
I sighed, tucking the sheets around me as I sat up alongside him, fluffing my pillow behind me. “You remember how I told you my mom came into the city for a day trip after the . . . after the accident?”
Gavin nodded.
“Well, now she’s claiming that she had such a good time on her visit that she already wants to see me again. And this time, she’s bringing my dad.” I rolled my eyes.
“So?” He shrugged. “That’s not so bad, right? You told me you get along well with your parents.”
“I do, it’s just . . .” I blew out another long sigh and squeezed my eyes closed.
“There’s something else,” Gavin said.
I nodded, forcing myself to meet his gaze. “They want to meet you.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Oh.”
I studied his face, and while he seemed slightly taken aback, he hadn’t gotten up to run in the other direction. Yet.
I’d talked to my mother only once since she’d visited my place and had flipped out over my bruised ribs. I had to set her straight so she knew Gavin wasn’t responsible for the marks on my body. I told her everything—that we’d called the police, that Gavin had hired a private investigator and insisted on hiring me a driver so I wouldn’t take the bus anymore. When I was done, she’d softened, saying she was happy about that. But we hadn’t really talked more about my relationship with him, or about the man himself. And I had a feeling today she was going to grill us both.
