Freeing Her (18 page)

“
How much more do you
have?” Kolson asked.

“
Nothing. This is it,
sir.”

“
I told you to pack for
several weeks. She may need to stay here that long.”

“
Yes, sir, but this is
everything. I emptied out her closet and dresser. And this is
it.”

“
Everything? In two
bags?”

“
Yes, sir. But there’s
something else you need to know. He was there.”

“
In her
apartment?”

“
Yes, sir. He’d slashed up
some of her clothing and left the place in sort of a mess. Not a
very bad one, but he wanted her to know he’d been
there.”

“
That son of a bitch. And
I can’t stop thinking that I left her there alone last night. Thank
God he didn’t break in while she was sleeping.” Kolson fisted his
hands as the muscles in his cheeks twitched. “Sam, did you see him
hanging around her building?”

“
No, sir. But I didn’t pay
attention.”

“
Sam!”

“
I’m sorry, sir. I guess I
was more focused on getting her things out of there.”

Kolson rubbed his jaw. “Sam, when was your
last day off?”

“
Over six weeks ago, sir.
When you had me start looking out for Dr. M.”

“
Fuck. Why haven’t you
said something?”

“
Because I really like Dr.
M. and I’ve been concerned about her.”

“
Go. Get out of here. Take
the next two weeks.”

“
Oh, no, sir. I can’t do
that.”

“
Yeah, you can. Get your
brother over here to drive Gabriella around. I can do a lot of it
too. Then when she gets situated in a new place, we’ll set up a
schedule for her drivers.”

“
You sure,
sir?”

Kolson’s brows shot up. “Are you doubting my
capability, Sam?”

“
No, sir.”

Kolson snorted. “Good. Get out of here and I
don’t want to see your face for at least two weeks.”

Sam left and Kolson picked up the phone.
“Lydia, can you come in this afternoon? I hate to bother you on
your day off, but something’s come up. Great. Thanks.”

Forty minutes later, Sam’s housekeeper
stepped off the elevator. Lydia was a tiny woman in her fifties,
with gray hair and keen gray eyes to match.

“
Good afternoon, Mr. Hart.
So what can I assist you with today?”

“
Thank you for coming in
on such short notice. I’m going to have a guest for a while.” He
explained the circumstances and asked Lydia to set Gabby up in the
guest room. “Some of her things have been ruined by ... well it’s a
long story. Can you pull those aside so I can show them to
her?”

“
Certainly. I’ll take care
of it right away sir.”

In no time, Lydia had Gabriella’s things
unpacked and settled into the guest room. When she was finished,
she showed Kolson where he could find all the destroyed clothing.
Kolson was enraged at how Danny had shredded Gabby’s clothes.

Lydia’s next stop was the kitchen. She
prepared a spinach lasagna with béchamel sauce. Kolson would only
need to bake it when he and Gabby were ready for dinner. Once she
tossed the salad, she went to find Kolson.

“
Everything’s set, sir.
All the items are put away and there’s dinner in the refrigerator
for you. All you need to do is slide it in the oven for an hour at
three fifty.”

“
Thank you, Lydia. You’re
a dream.”

“
See you on Monday,
sir.”

He walked her to the door and when he was
returning to his office, Gabby exited his room.

“
I’m so sorry. I didn’t
mean to sleep so long.”

“
You were tired.” He
reached out and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “How do you
feel?” He wanted to alleviate any awkwardness between
them.

“
Like I slept a year.” She
laughed.

“
I hope that’s a good
thing. I’m glad you found the clothes I set out for
you.”

“
Yeah, thanks. That’s the
most comfortable bed. It’s like heaven in there.”

“
I’m glad you like it,
Gabriella.” He smirked. She couldn’t tell if he was laughing at her
or being sincere. “In fact, I’d like you to sleep in it with me.
Tonight.”

“
Tonight? But I need to
get home.”

“
No. It’s not safe for you
there anymore. While you were sleeping, I had Sam go to your place
and gather your clothes. There’s something I need to discuss with
you. Come and sit down.”

Once they were seated, he explained what Sam
discovered.

“
You mean he broke in? How
did he get past the doormen?”

“
I don’t know, but it was
a good thing you went running when you did.”

“
Shit. What am I going to
do?” She fidgeted with her shirt, twisting in her hands.

“
You’re not going back
there. I’m in the process of finding you another apartment. In the
meantime, you’ll stay here. It’s safe. Secure. And I’m here. He
won’t know to look for you here so you won’t have to worry about
any safety issues where Danny’s concerned.”

“
But what about my
apartment lease?”

“
Don’t worry about that.
HTS not only deals in transportation. We’ve diversified into real
estate and your building is one of our latest
investments.”

She frowned and asked, “You’re my
landlord?”

“
In a manner of speaking,
yes. I didn’t realize it, though, until after I took you home the
night Danny left the note at the hospital.”

“
I see.” Gabby clasped her
hands together. The last thing she wanted was to be dependent on
someone. That wouldn’t work at all. She felt like she was situated
between a rock and a hard place.

“
Gabriella, it’s all a
huge coincidence.”

“
Yes, it is. But about
staying here. I don’t want to impose.”

“
You won’t be.”

She bunched up her shirt and rubbed it
between her fingers.

“
Besides the obvious,
what’s wrong?”

“
I can’t. Stay here, that
is.”

“
Why not?”

“
Because. I can’t be
dependent on anyone. When my family …” She shook her head and tried
to get rid of those awful memories.

“
You haven’t figured it
out yet, have you? You’ll always be an embarrassment to this family
for what you put us through. You made us look like a bunch of
freaks. To us you’ll always be that pain-in-the-ass kid. All that
money we spent on you for your treatment and then those stupid lies
you told. So go on to your fancy medical school and be one of those
kooky shrinks. You’ll relate well to that. After all, you were
happier in the nuthouse than you were with us. But don’t come back
here begging for money. Besides, I doubt you have what it takes to
make it on your own. I don’t even think you have what it takes to
make it through med school.” Then he laughed at her.

She shuddered as her father’s words replayed
in her head. Jumping to her feet, she ran to the bathroom, gasping
for air. At least splashing cold water on her face gave her the
illusion of feeling better.

“
Gabby, are you
okay?”

Shit! Hell no, I’m not okay! My life’s
falling apart around me because of Danny. It always goes back to
him. He fucking ruined my life! And it never ends!

“
Um, yeah, I’ll be out in
a minute.”

Breathe, Gabby. Slow, deep breaths. You know
how to control this, so do it.

A minute passed, then two, and the calm
slowly seeped back into her. When she opened the door, she waltzed
right into the impenetrable wall of Kolson’s chest.

“
Whoa, there.”

“
Sorry. Didn’t know you’d
be standing right here.”

His warm hands were on her shoulders and she
wanted to rub her cheek on one of them.

“
You okay?”

She gave a shaky laugh. “No. I’m better
now.”

His warm hands left her shoulders but one
sought out her hand and led her back to the sofa. He noted how pale
her face was, but didn’t comment on it. Instead, he decided to
humor her.

“
So, are you gonna tell me
your aversion to staying here with me? Is it my slovenly living
habits, because I really do make the bed every day? Or is it
because I won’t make coffee in the morning? I have one of those
coffee things that you can set up the night before. Or maybe you
don’t like the kind of pillows I have, because I can buy different
ones. What is it, Gabriella? Tell me, and I can fix it.”

She was smiling by now and he figured he had
her.

“
Do you hang up your
bathroom towel?”

“
Never.”

“
Well, then no way can I
stay here.”

“
You didn’t let me
finish.”

“
Finish?”

“
Yes, Gabriella, finish. I
was about to say, I never hang up my bathroom towel, but I’ll do
anything for you, including that.”

All joking aside, his eyes pinned hers. The
air disappeared and it wasn’t because of a panic attack this time.
No, this time she wanted to kiss him. She wanted to put her mouth
on his and suck his lower lip and sink her teeth into it. It was
because he stole the air from the room and she didn’t give a damn.
And it was because he made her forget that she even needed air in
the first place.

Without stopping to think, she leaned toward
him and put her hands on the planes of his face. Her thumbs
outlined his features. Eyebrows first, then the slant of his nose,
next the slight hollows created by his cheekbones. Then they joined
tips on his chin and her lips brushed across his, but soon she
sought her target. Greedily, she took his lower lip, the one that
made her heart beat faster and her breath come quicker, the one she
watched as he spoke when his tongue would dart out and moisten it
every so often, and sucked it into her mouth. She played with it
until he moaned into her and her core dampened. Her teeth scraped
and bit on it and Kolson groaned, louder this time.

Forcing his mouth away from hers, he said,
“You can’t do that to me, my beautiful kea, and expect there to be
no repercussions. I can’t hide the fact that I want you. Have
wanted you. But I also make no promises, either. This time there’ll
be no stopping.”

Gabby forced her doubts to the back burner.
Her front burner was at a hundred thousand BTUs and she didn’t care
for any conscience-prodding intrusions. She wanted Kolson too. He
was a constant source of distraction. She needed him, her body
cried out for him, and she’d lost the will to fight it any
longer.

“
I only ask for one
promise and that’s honesty. Can you give me that?” she
asked.

“
Yeah. I can. But if you
decide to take this leap with me, I must warn you that I have
certain compulsions, if you will.”

“
Compulsions?”

“
Needs, compulsions, call
them what you want. But you asked for honesty and I’m giving it to
you.”

“
I see. So what do these
needs entail?”

“
Right now, I’d like to
blindfold you, bind your wrists in silk, paddle your sweet ass, and
fuck you until your legs are so weak you couldn’t possibly walk,
even if your life depended on it.”

Kolson dragged his index finger from her
chin to the hollow at the base of her neck. Her sex contracted so
powerfully she knew if he touched it, she would come. Because of
her past, she’d always been frightened of bondage, but the way
those heated words spilled from his mouth, she knew she’d be
willing to try it with him.

When his breath fluttered over her ear, her
body twitched in response. “You’re not going to let your conscience
get in the way of our pleasure, are you?”

“
It’s not my conscience,
it’s my past.”

“
Oh, kea, don’t confuse me
with him. I would never hurt you or do anything you didn’t approve
of or want me to do.”

He lifted her hand and took the tip of her
index finger into his mouth, biting it, and then plunged it deep,
sucking hard. As he sucked, his tongue swirled the tip until she
moaned. “This is what I want your mouth to do to me.” All of a
sudden, her mind went blank, except for what he was doing to her
finger. And his actions had a direct path to her sex.

He pulled her finger out and moved his mouth
back to her neck. His tongue traced a scorching trail from her ear
to her pulse point, where he circled it around and around, until
she moaned out his name. Her hands clenched fistfuls of his shirt
to hold herself steady because she was dizzy with need. Gabby’s
body was aflame, responding to every touch, every taste. His clean
and slightly spicy scent flooded her senses as she inhaled the
intoxicating fragrance. She opened her eyes to see him staring at
her, and warmth flowed into her from his hooded gaze. His rich
voice sent shivers racing down her spine when he asked, “So, what’s
it going to be?”

Her nostrils flared as she drank in his
scent and she knew she couldn’t refuse him. She stood on her toes
and ran her tongue across his lips and then kissed him, sucking on
his tongue in an attempt to give him her answer.

Pushing her away, he said, “Sometime in the
very near future, those lips of yours are going to be wrapped
around something other than my tongue because your time is running
out on whether you have a choice here.” Then his mouth crushed hers
as he pulled her against him, letting her feel his erection. She
matched his kiss with everything she had. When they stopped, he
said, “If you fuck as passionately as you kiss, we’re in for a wild
ride.”