Soul (9 page)

“Crystal,” Thomas says and stands. He holds out a hand and I shake it before turning on my heel and exiting the room.

Across the hallway I can hear the sound of laughter. I push open the door and find four women, draped over different pieces of furniture in the ugliest polka dot pajamas I’ve ever seen and three out of four of them are drunk as skunks.

“Baby!” Gillian squeals, runs across the room and catapults into my arms. I catch her in a tangle of limbs, my body flying back a few steps. When I’ve caught my balance, I barely take a breath before her lips are all over me. My neck, my face, my lips all kissed in an array of wet presses of her mouth. “You are so fucking hot!” She turns her head around addressing the girls while clutching my neck, her legs firmly wrapped around my waist. “Isn’t he hot?”

“So hot!” says Kathleen.

“Sexy as hell,” Bree says while rubbing her massive belly. She’s popped out considerably over the last week.

“
Muy caliente
,” Maria says, her Spanish side coming out in full force.

Gillian kisses me, and I allow it, needing to connect with her physically after the meeting I just had. She tastes of rich, red wine and if she wasn’t having a great time with her friends, I’d whisk her to our room and take her in a completely visceral way. Gripping her head and tilting it to the side, I take long, slow sips of her sweet mouth. She moans full and deep, and the sound ricochets through my body and settles heavily in my groin, my dick taking notice.

“Hey, get a room. Wait a minute, no, we’re having a chick date. No boys allowed!” Bree harrumphs and sits down in a chair pouting.

“Yeah, no fair. Carson is up in our room watching the game. Go hang out with him!” Kathleen admonishes.

I chuckle against Gillian’s neck. She, on the other hand, does not in fact care what her friends think. Her lips are planted on my neck and she’s licking and nibbling to her heart’s content. “Just a moment ladies,” I say and walk out of the room with her clinging to me like a baby koala bear. Once I get her into the hallway I press her into the nearest wall and show her exactly what she does to me. Her answering moan and tightening of her thighs does not help me in my desire to be the good guy here.

“Baby, if you continue to attack me with your lips and tongue, I’m going to set you down, pull down your pants and go to town on your pussy, right here, against this wall.”

Her eyes go wide and she nods. “Yes please. Do that.” She accentuates her need with a thrust of her hips against mine. The move sends jolts of pleasure splintering from my cock and over the rest of me.

I shake my head and cup her neck, holding her chin up with my thumbs. “We’re going to have all the alone time we want in a couple days remember.”

Her entire face lights up with a smile. “Yes, I remember,” she says loudly as if she’s gotten the question right to a game we’re playing. “We’re going to get marr-” I cover her mouth with my hand.

“Shhh, it’s a secret.” Her eyes go wide and then she licks my hand. I pull it away as if it was burned.

“You’re a bad girl. Do you have any idea what I’m going to do to you tonight when I get you alone?” Her eyes burn with intent and lust.

“Spank me?” Her response blows me away. That is not at all what I’d expect coming from her mouth after her history.

“Would you like me to spank you? Make the cheeks of your heart-shaped ass light up?” She moans and then squeezes her thighs again. “I’ll make them nice and pink, just warm enough that when I fuck your tight little ass, I’ll feel the warmth from your spanking against my skin.”

She groans and closes her eyes. “Would you like that, baby? Me fucking your perfect little hole, after I spank you into a blinding orgasm, then follow it up by stuffing you full of my cock until you come again? Is that what you want?”

Her entire body is squirming against me. With a quick glance in both directions, and my ear to the door where her friends are, I make a decision. I need her, now. Loosening my pants and zipper I pull out my cock. It’s as hard as a hammer and just as ready to pound. I push down Gillian’s pants enough that I can wedge my dick straight into her wet cunt. Her head flies back and smacks against the wall. Shit, I couldn’t hold her and protect her head. She’s going to feel that tomorrow.

“Baby, are you okay?”

“No, fuck me,” she says far too loud.

“Shhh, they’ll hear you.”

I pull back my hips and slam home pressing her harshly into the wall. Her pants are pulled tight above my cock and rub against the skin at every pass into her wet sheath. She starts moaning loud. I cover her mouth with mine and kiss the daylights out of her, stealing her sounds. They’re all for me anyway. It doesn’t take long for me to pound an orgasm out of her. The liquor mixed with her desire made her hair-trigger.

Listening close, I can hear the women on the other side of the door only a few feet away. They are talking about the movie they have playing and seem to be pretty involved with it. Once Gillian comes down from her orgasm I pull out. She whimpers until I set her feet down on the ground push her pajamas and underwear completely down and cover her pussy with my mouth shoving my tongue way up inside. She clasps onto my hair and looks wildly around the hallway. At any moment, anyone could walk down this hallway and yes, it would be embarrassing, but I don’t give a fuck. I’ve got my woman’s sweet pussy all over my face and her sugary nectar from coming around my dick, all over my tongue. There is absolutely nothing like her taste, and the desire I experience from touching her, tasting her, being with her.

After soaking up her cream I stand, turn her around and push her feet wide. “Chase…” she warns. “Someone could come.”

“Someone is going to come,” I growl into her ear before I hammer into her from behind in one long stroke. “Me!” I promise and she moans, then bites her lip bruising the sweet flesh.

This position doesn’t allow me to go as deep as I’d like but being able to see her pert ass and play with her little hole is enough to have me almost ready to shoot my load deep within her. I fuck her hard for a series of strokes, making sure she’s close and then I lick my thumb twist it around her tiny rosette and on a particularly strong thrust, plow my thumb straight into her warm ass. She cries out, not being able to stop herself. At this point I’m too far gone to care. My balls are aching with the need to come, my dick so hard and fat inside her I’m losing my mind, taken to a place of sheer ecstasy with every penetrating thrust. Gillian mewls softly as I fuck both her entrances, wanting her to feel me for the rest of the evening, knowing that I took her good, and would continue to take her whenever and wherever the fuck I want. There is nothing she can do about it either. She is as powerless to the lust raging between us as I am.

“Get there,” I tell her. “Put your hand between your legs and twist that little clit the way I would. Don’t be shy. I want to see you touch yourself. Makes me so hard, baby.”

She does what I ask, bringing one of her hands between her legs, the other holding her up against the wall. When she hits the spot her hips buck wildly. “That’s it, stroke yourself for me. Show me how much you like me fucking you right here, where anyone can come down the hallway can see your naked ass and pussy being taken.” She drops her head and pushes back into my strokes. That makes me insanely hot.

I watch her hand move, in a blur, between her legs, her chest heaving with the movements of her pussy and ass taking me in over and over. Then her body tightens, the telltale sign that she’s about to have one mother of an orgasm. I fuck her faster, pounding into her flesh until she places both hands against the wall only able to take the pounding movements. Her pussy is stretching wide over the fat head of my cock as I plow in and out. With a twist of my pelvis, I hold her hips and slam home. And that’s when we both lose it. Shaking with the effort of our combined release. Her pussy milks my cock with tight compression and releasing motions until I’m essentially milked dry.

She leans her head against the wall, and I kiss her neck, push away her sweaty hair, and lick up the white column. Her body responds with another strong clamp and release before I pull out, tucking my softening cock back into my pants and button up. As I lean down to pick up her panties and pajamas I can see my cum sliding down her leg. The sight sends a flicker of lust back into my dick. I love seeing my mark on her, knowing that a piece of me is inside of her for days. Makes me want to fuck her all over again and fill her full to the brim so that she’ll never be without me.

Pushing my piggish ways aside, I sop up between her legs with the handkerchief I have in my pocket then help her back into her clothes. Once I turn her around, she has that beautiful, fully satisfied look that I strive to put on her face every day.

“I love fucking you,” she says drunkenly.

I rub my nose alongside hers and get close. “I believe it was me who was fucking you,” I grin and snatch up a kiss of her sweet mouth. “But, I agree. I love fucking you, too.”

This time she kisses me softly and then stops abruptly. A whimsical lilting voice singing comes from the doorway. “She’s singing. I have to hear it!” Gillian pushes at my chest and runs into the room where her friends are.

I peak in and Bree is singing an incredibly beautiful rendition of “Wild Horses” a cappella. Kathleen and Maria lock waists with my girl and start to sway along with the song.

Gillian has so quickly become my world. But her friends are a package deal. I look at each woman seeing the undying love for one another. It’s a true sisterhood. The same way I feel about my cousins, Carson, Craig, and Chloe. Cooper, on the other hand, can go to hell.

These women, though, are true friends who love my woman. With time, I’ll get used to sharing her with them. Today will be the first step. I turn away and head back to my office across the way, but this time I leave the door completely open. If she needs me, I’ll be here, but I think she’s fine with her girls.

Time to finish the plans for operation make Gillian my wife and fool a madman.

“
G
illian
, dear heart, please, come in. I can’t express how disturbed I was to hear of your abduction. I’m relieved to see that you’re okay.” Dr. Madison pulls me into his warm embrace. Chase clears his throat behind me and I smile. Possessive doesn’t even begin to describe my man. Dr. Madison pulls back, holding me at arm’s length. “I see we still have the strapping, young lad to ensure your honor.” He looks over my shoulder. “Welcome, Mr. Davis. Do come in.”

“I was planning on it,” he growls before curving me into his side and leading me over to the long couch. I look longingly over at my favorite, fluffy, individual chair, but don’t say anything.

Chase has an issue with how good-looking Dr. McHottie is as well as how much this man knows about me. More than any man, but in a very different way than Chase. I do find it mildly entertaining that Chase is jealous over my shrink. My doctor has never been anything but perfectly professional over the past few years. Never once has he tried to hit on me or make any overtures other than concern for my well-being. It has taken us years to get to a greeting hug. That was actually part of my therapy. Touch. Letting a man touch me, even platonically, used to set my panic-o-meter flaring, but I worked through it with Dr. Madison. To this day, I have him to thank for the fact that I’m even able to have any form of romantic relationship.

Dr. Madison sits in a chair across from the couch. I suspect he does couples’ therapy in this part of his office.

“I imagine you want to talk about what happened to you in the past three weeks? Being kidnapped on your wedding day, Chase’s mother being murdered in front of you, then being held against your will in captivity is a lot for anyone to take on,” he starts and I nod. Chase tightens his hold around my arm, his fingers digging into my shoulder. The doctor notices it. “And for you Chase, this has to be equally hard, losing your mother in that way, your fiancée taken from you. Not knowing where she was for all those days.” He grunts an affirmative sound and looks away, neither of us wanting to bring light to everything that has happened.

The doctor waits patiently for one of us to speak moving his eyes to Chase then to me and back. The room seems to fill with a cloying humidity making the space around my body feel clammy and uncomfortable. Chase’s lips turn into a flat line, and that grip he has on my shoulder seems impossibly tight.

Instead of mentioning anything about the abduction or losing Chase’s mother, I blurt out, “Chase and I are eloping tomorrow!”

The doctor’s eyes widen and Chase chuckles then shakes his head. “Baby…” he says on an exasperated sigh.

I turn and look at him. “Well, we are!”

Chase lets out a breath. “Yes, we are doing that, but not only did we agree this was a secret, I doubt the good doctor is interested in this particular line of conversation.”

That’s when Dr. Madison perks up. “On the contrary. I’m very interested in why the two of you think it’s appropriate to elope after you’ve experienced so much in the past three weeks. One would gather that it is a veiled attempt at controlling your life.”

Chase’s eyes go from warm to icy in a second. “I am very much in control.” His tone is scathing.

“As you are used to feeling, I assume. But nothing you’ve experienced in the last three weeks has been in your control. That must make you feel agitated.” Dr. Madison’s eyes narrow and his head quirks to the side.

I can feel Chase’s body tense, his hands turn into white knuckled fists on the top of his thighs. That’s when I slowly scooch back. He doesn’t notice. The doctor, however, does. I close my eyes. I know for a fact that Chase would never hurt me that way, but when a man has gone through what we’ve went through, you never know what type of things come out, and my natural self-preservation technique is to remove myself from the situation as quietly as possible.

Chase stands up abruptly. “You don’t know how I feel!” his words are angry and sharp as nails, directed at the good doctor.

Dr. Madison leans back against the leather chair and looks up at Chase who stands off to the side of the room looking out the French doors. “You’re right, Mr. Davis. I don’t. Why don’t you tell me how you feel?”

Chase looks over his shoulder and scowls at him, then runs a hand through the layers of his dark hair. I hold my breath, desperately wanting to know how Chase feels about everything. He hasn’t said a word. He’s spent the last two weeks taking care of me, making sure I want for nothing. “Inadequate,” he says on a loaded sigh. It’s as if the entire weight of the universe is on his broad shoulders.

Hearing
that
, my own eyebrows rise along with Dr. Madison’s. “How so?” He asks. You see, I know this game. I’ve played the therapy game for years and this is how it starts. Dr. Madison provokes you into telling him what’s plaguing you. It’s genius really. I’m just glad it’s happening to Chase and not me. Finally, I get to find out how he’s feeling instead of constantly crying into his chest. Maybe if we both get it out, we’ll be able to move forward, let go.

Chase turns around, hands on his hips, his jacket flaring out. He holds a hand out to me. “My future wife was attacked and abducted on our wedding day, from one of
my
resorts, guarded by
my
men.” He points to his chest wearing a disgusted expression. “My wheelchair-bound mother’s throat was slit in front of Gillian before she was taken against her will and held in a fucking ten by ten cell with only a god damned pot to piss in!” He roars, his voice reaching maximum strength. His face is red, the tendons in his neck are bulging, and he continues undeterred. “She was still in her fucking wedding dress, almost five days later, her face and chest beaten black and blue, her ankles and wrists cut deep because of rusty shackles, which were attached to a pulley system above her head. Those same shackles gave her a massive infection. One that could have very well killed her! How the fuck do you think I feel,
Doc
?” Chase’s jaw is locked down so hard I’m worried he’ll break teeth if he keeps going the way he is.

“Jesus Christ,” Dr. Madison whispers his eyes on me. Because I know him so well, I see the concern in his gaze. To anyone else, he would appear calm and in control. “Gillian,”—he presses his hand to his mouth, swallows, then clears his throat—“we’re going to work through all of this. Thank you, Chase. Thank you for being so candid.”

Chase harrumphs and starts to pace. “Now, tell him what’s fucking with you.” His eyes are fierce, leaving no room for pussyfooting around.

“Um, well…” I take in a tortured breath. “I seem to have a bit of an attachment issue,” I offer.

“A bit?” Chase growls.

I nod noncommittally.

“Doctor Madison, if I left the room right now…” His voice trails off, and he starts to walk toward the door. Instantly, the hairs on my neck and arms stand at attention. My heart pounds in my chest so loudly I can hear it like a drum next to my ear. I turn around and sit up on my knees while gripping the back of the couch.

“No,” I whisper just as Chase’s hand touches the handle. “Don’t leave!” I beg, tears rolling down my cheeks. He turns around, closes his eyes and leans against the door.

“See what I mean?” He lifts a hand, and I glance at Dr. Madison.

Dr. Madison brings his hand to his mouth and leans back in his chair. He pulls off his spectacles and looks at me in wonder. “How long has this been going on?”

I don’t answer, just sit back down and look down at my lap, not wanting the eye contact. I’m tired of being the one always under a microscope. I just want to go back to a normal life. One where I can work and visit my friends when I want to without the fear that someone is going to attack me or kill the people I love.

“The first time I noticed this particular fear was when she woke up in the hospital two days after being found,” Chase says coming back from the door to sit next to me. I curl into his side feeling instant relief.

The doctor nods and writes a few things down. “Gillian, what happens to you when you think Chase is going to leave.” I narrow my eyes. “Meaning physically?”

I lick my lips and focus on my fingers, twisting them together. Chase puts an arm around my shoulder, and I can breathe again. “Um, my heart pounds. I get a little nauseous, shaky, my hearing becomes very acute or I lose it completely. Much like my panic attacks.”

“And does that happen when you’re in a room with other people?”

“Depends on if I know where he is.” Dr. Madison’s eyebrows rise into points at his hairline. “Like last night, the girls and I had a movie night at the Davis Estate. As long as I could see Chase’s office, and I knew he was there, I was fine. I could enjoy the time with my friends.” Dr. Madison nods, writes a few things down. “What’s wrong with me?” Chase hears the fear in my voice and instantly works to calm me. Taking my hand, holding me closer, kissing my temple.

The doctor shakes his head. “Nothing. What you’re experiencing is an acute panic disorder that manifests in panic attacks after dealing with a traumatic event..” Both Chase and I look at him with matching expressions of confusion. “Essentially you’re having a fear that Chase will abandon you which in response brings on the attacks.” Dr. Madison clarifies.

“I’ll never abandon you, baby,” Chase promises immediately. He turns my face to his and cups my cheek. I lean into it, appreciating his warmth. “We’re going to get past this together. But I can’t say that I’m un-fond of you needing me close.” His grin is sexy but honest.

“That,”—the doctor’s voice inflection rises to one of concern—“on the other hand, we need to get to the bottom of, Mr. Davis.” Dr. Madison uses his stern no nonsense tone.

Chase’s own voice changes, sounding gruffer. “Excuse me?”

“You have an excessive need for control, are habitually possessive and demanding by nature. It’s not all together a healthy way to deal with a woman who’s been victimized in the past. Though, I know it’s those ways of yours that attract our dear Gillian.” He is not wrong. Not by a long shot. I’ve always sought out men who are confident, strong, self-assured. It’s just a lot of times that comes with the downside of those traits which are controlling and demonstrative and the worst of all…abusive. Chase is a lot of things but never abusive.

“He’d never lay a hand on me, Dr. Madison. Of that I am certain. His mother was a victim of domestic violence and Chase abhors a man taking a hand to a woman.” Chase nods at my response.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” the doctor addresses Chase.

“Thank you. It was a long time ago. I’ve moved on. Right now, my focus is on Gillian and her wellbeing, mentally and physically. We’re leaving tomorrow. I plan to spend the next couple weeks or so allowing us to be free. To have her feel safe in her own skin, as well as make her my wife.” Chase adjusts his jacket and leans forward.

“Is there a reason you’re in a rush to get married, Mr. Davis?”

Chase and I both shake our head. “No,” he says with conviction. “It just feels like it’s something that keeps getting
taken
from us. To tell you the truth, Doc, I wanted to marry her the day after I proposed.” He turns to me. “I’m regretting letting you talk me out of that.” He grins and his eyes twinkle when he smirks at me. “But then we ended up waiting for her wedding dress to be designed, then it was Phillip and the explosion, and then we finally get to the day and she’s abducted. I’ve wanted nothing more than to claim her as my wife since shortly after we met. I’m tired of waiting to make her mine.”

“Do you feel like she’ll be more yours if you are married?” Dr. Madison asks.

“Yes, I do. Legally, she’ll be connected to me, she’ll wear my ring on her finger for the world to see, have access to my fortune, never want for anything, and I’ll have my own family. With her,” he says matter-of-fact—no mincing words for my guy.

“I see. And you agree with this plan, Gillian?” The doctor looks to me.

I’m still stuck on Chase wanting to be a
family
with me. Ever since my mother’s death, my friends have been the only family I have. When I marry Chase, he’ll be my family. Officially, legally, mentally, and physically. “I can’t imagine anything better than Chase and I becoming our own family.” Chase’s smile is so bright it removes all the dark from the conversation and only let’s in light. It warms my heart and my soul.

“Then I agree. You should have what you desire, because it comes from your love for one another, not from the desire to control a situation in your life. So for that, I issue my congratulations.”

“I can’t believe we snuck out in the middle of the day, and no one is the wiser.” Gillian laughs clipping her seatbelt in place. The flight attendant hands me, then Gillian, a glass of sparkling pink champagne. “Ooh, it’s pink!” She shimmies in her seat happily. I knew my girl would appreciate the feminine aspect of this champagne.

Holding her hand in my left I hold up my glass, she does the same. “To our future, baby,” I say and she leans close.

“To becoming a family,” she says breathily, while clinking our glasses together. We take a sip and then I lean forward and capture her lips in mine. She tastes of champagne and strawberries, both of which I had ready to go when we arrived at the airport in Sacramento.