Without thinking, she replied, “Last night. I had a cheeseburger. Along with my Sugar Tits.” Then she remembered what had happened as a result of said drinks and her face burned with embarrassment. She quickly dipped her head, twisting the napkin in her lap.
Kolson didn’t say a word. He cleared her plate and took a seat next to her.
“So tell me what happened.”
Glad for the distraction, she said, “I went running. I figured it was okay since it was around nine. I knew there would be people out and about. So I headed to the park and was making my way around the lake, enjoying the beautiful weather, when I got the text.”
“But that was hours ago. What happened between then and now?”
Kolson watched the way her eyes looked everywhere but at him. He noticed how she grabbed her wrist and repeatedly slid her thumb back and forth over the scars. After watching her for a few seconds, he reached over and took her hand in his, stopping the action.
“You’re safe, Gabriella. He can’t get to you here. Tell me. What happened?”
“I got his text and then I panicked and couldn’t breathe. I’m a fucking psychiatrist and couldn’t control my stupid reaction to him. I allowed him to have that control over me. I went into a total meltdown. A massive panic attack. Some kind woman stopped and helped me. She called 911 and the EMTs came. The goddamn ambulance came.”
By now she was shaking. Kolson couldn’t determine if it was because she was angry or frightened or a combination of both. She looked up at him; Kolson again found himself captivated by her eyes. Almond-shaped and caramel-colored, he thought them to be warm and inviting. But at this moment, they were alive and sparking with flecks of fire.
“Deep breaths, kea.” He held her shoulders and watched the panic seep out of her.
“Why do you call me that?”
“Call you what? Kea?”
“Yeah. You called me that once before.”
“Do you know what a kea is?”
“No.”
Kolson laughed. “It’s one of the most beautiful birds in the world. It’s a member of the parrot family and it’s native to New Zealand. Its coloring is olive green to caramel brown but when it takes flight, the underside of its wings are a fiery orange and the tops are teal blue. They are spectacular. Your eyes remind me of a kea. When I look at them, they’re caramel brown, but I can see hints of olive green. However, when you get upset or angry, like you are right now, flecks of fiery orange and gold pop out. And that is why I call you kea.”
Gabriella’s hand covered her mouth. No one had ever said anything so sweet or romantic to her before, and it settled into a place within her heart she didn’t know existed. Her fingers moved to the bridge of her nose and she pinched it as her eyes burned with unshed tears.
Kolson didn’t say a word. He only wrapped his arm around her tightly and held her against his chest for a moment. When he was satisfied she wasn’t going into another attack, he asked, “Are we good here?”
“Yeah.”
“Can you finish telling me what happened?” He released her so she could talk.
“They got my breathing under control. I couldn’t stop hyperventilating. My heart rate was at one ninety. Blood pressure through the roof. Classic symptoms. They wanted to take me in but I refused. So they released me AMA.”
“AMA?”
“Against medical advice.”
“But you’re okay now?”
“Yeah.”
“Gabriella, what time was that?”
She shook her head. “I’m not sure. Ten maybe.”
“What happened between then and now?”
“I walked.”
“What. The. Fuck! Are you crazy?”
She tried to pull her hand away from him. “You’re hurting me.”
He immediately loosened his grip. Kolson was angry. Not particularly at her but at the fact that she didn’t come directly here. His eyes filled with remorse. “I’m sorry.” He lifted her hand and kissed it. “Why didn’t you come straight here?”
She shrugged. “We … I … after last night, I didn’t think you’d want me to. Honestly, I hadn’t planned on coming here. I only ran into Sam by accident.”
“What do you mean by ‘after last night’?”
“You left me! Alone in my apartment. I didn’t think …”
Kolson blew out his breath. “Because you had too much to drink. I’d never take advantage of you in that state. Gabriella, what exactly did Danny do to you?”
She tried to pull her hand away from him again as she pushed her chair back from the counter and stood. “Nothing.”
His voice softened as he asked, “Do you know how ridiculous that sounds? You get a text from him that sends you into a major panic attack and then you say he didn’t do anything to you?”
“Please, just drop it. It doesn’t matter anyway.” She gave her hand another tug but had no success in freeing herself.
“It does. Look at the effect it has on you. Tell me, Gabriella, does this matter?” He lifted her wrist with the scars on it.
“Not to the people who were supposed to count in my life.”
“Fuck them. Not everyone does what they’re supposed to do. What about to you? You’re the psychiatrist. If you were your own patient, what would you tell yourself?”
He was right and she knew it, yet she didn’t respond.
“You need to talk to someone so it might as well be me. Tell me,” he urged.
She shook her head and he said, “I’ll find out. I have my ways. And you know what they are.”
Gabby shivered at his words. “I won’t give up on you nor will I ever hurt you, Gabriella.”
“Maybe not physically. But that’s not what I fear. It’s the emotional scars that hurt the worst, Kolson. They never go away.”
Kolson eyed her for a long moment. His emotions were conflicted—part of him wanted to carry her into his bedroom, throw her on his bed, and fuck her silly. He lusted after her and there was no use denying it. The urge to dominate her and force out every secret she ever had was compelling him to do just that. But the other part implored him to be gentle with her, to treat her like a fragile goblet, like one that could shatter with the slightest touch. It surprised him because he’d never thought of treating a woman like that before. The darker side of him emerged and he longed to seduce the mystery out of her. For the first time he could remember, he was at great odds with himself. The tension that mounted within him only served to fuel his desires.
Kolson leaned in and touched his mouth briefly to hers. Then he followed an invisible trail that went from Gabby’s ear to her collarbone. When she sighed, he wound his arm around her waist and backed her against the wall. Then he took his time dragging his tongue across her lips, nibbling as he went.
“Are you going to tell me now?” he asked.
“Mmm. No,” she breathed.
He lifted her shirt and pulled it over her head, trapping her arms behind her back. The cool air skimmed across her scorched skin and her flesh tightened as goosebumps flared. Then his mouth went to work on her chest. He tasted her skin, freshly scented from her bath, and moved to one of her breasts, taunting her nipple with his teeth. He blew his warm breath over her and she arched into him, giving him better access to her aching peak as he flicked his tongue across it.
“Now?”
“Uh-huh,” she panted.
“Then I guess this calls for something even more drastic.”
Gabby’s eyes were closed as her head rested against the wall. But when his fingers slid into her shorts and between her silken crease, the alarm bells went off. She struggled against him as she tried to pull away, but he only leaned against her and kissed her again until she moaned.
“Tell me, Gabby,” he demanded against her lips.
She was panting now, from both desire and unease.
“I won’t hurt you. You know that. But I want to know what he did to you. Tell me,” he insisted.
“I can’t.
” Her eyes were closed as lust burst within her. “Please,” she begged.
His mouth moved back to her exposed breast and he began to tease her nipple again. His tongue was relentless as it flicked back and forth. But when his lips encased it and began to suck, Gabby moaned and curved into his luscious mouth.
“Please,” she begged. But now she was pleading for something altogether different.
He let go of her with a pop and moved to her other breast. His fingers began their pursuit between her legs once more, and she shifted her hips, seeking a release she was so hungry for.
Kolson recognized her orgasm was right on the horizon, so he slowed the movement of his fingers down, only to prolong her ecstasy when it came.
“Please, I need …”
“Tell me, Gabriella.”
“Please.”
“I’ll be generous with you if you tell me.”
She opened her eyes. His full lips were shiny from where he’d been torturing her nipples. If only her hands weren’t trapped in her shirt, she’d pull him closer so she could kiss him. His tongue poked out and ran across his lower lip right before he dragged his teeth over it. Then he took her lip into his mouth and sucked on it. Hard. She knew it might be swollen, maybe even bruised, but she didn’t care. That tiny action sent her juices flowing, even more than they already were.
“You liked that, didn’t you?”
She closed her eyes, unwilling to face him.
“Gabriella. Tell me.”
When she didn’t say anything, he resumed the motion of his fingers on her clit. Then he slid one inside of her and she tensed up. Was it wrong that it felt so good? She wasn’t exactly a willing partner, but her body thought otherwise.
“Are you going to fuck me?”
“No. Not now. But I’m going to make you come all over my hand. And you’re going to beg me to do it. Now, tell me what I want to know, Gabriella.”
Why was this so important to him?
His fingers stopped wreaking havoc on her sex, and she whimpered. But his mouth moved to her ear and she felt his warm breath when he whispered to her, “I’m waiting.” Then his teeth sank into the velvety flesh of her lobe and he tugged on it as he sucked.
Gabby never had so many different sensations assailing her at once. She wanted to touch him so badly, her fingers tingling with need. She groaned as his mouth bit her neck.
Kolson looked at the image Gabby made. “Damn, you’re one hot lovely piece of sex, all spread out against the wall. But resistant as steel too. To hell with this.” Dropping to one knee, he jerked her shorts to her ankles and buried his face between her legs. The action took Gabby completely by surprise. Shock and then pure electric heat raced from her core straight through her stomach and down to the arches of her feet. She wanted to pull away, wanted to squeeze her thighs together, but she couldn’t. Her blood roared through her veins and it wasn’t long before she felt her muscles clenching, an orgasm fast approaching. She angled her pelvis toward him but he lifted his head and asked, “What did he do to you, Gabriella?”
“No, don’t stop!”
“Gabriella,” his voice urged her on.
“Please, don’t stop.”
“I’ll lick and suck your pussy for hours, if you tell me what he did to you. Just say the words, Gabriella.”
“I’ll never tell you.”
“Oh, you will.” He rose to his feet, rubbing himself on her body along the way. She looked at him and could see the outline of his erection. He followed her gaze and looked down at himself and then back up at her. “It’s all yours. If you tell me.”
“No,” she whimpered.
He stared at her thoughtfully and placed his hand around her upper arm. He dragged her across the room as she tripped behind him, kicking the shorts out of her way as they went. She tried to break free of his grasp, but her arms were still trapped in the shirt.
“What are you doing?”
He didn’t answer as he moved, dragging her behind him through his bedroom and into his bathroom. He led her straight to the shower and she asked herself what the hell he was doing when he began to strip. When he stood before her naked, her mind spun with the idea that no architect, no engineer could ever have designed something so perfect, with those dips and ridges, planes and symmetry. The saliva pooled in her mouth as she gawked at him. He wasn’t just a pretty face. His body was beautiful. Profoundly.
His pecs and abs were so lovely, her trapped fingers twitched as she imagined how his smooth firm skin would feel beneath their tips. She groaned loudly as she dreamed what it would be like to touch him, where her hands would travel. A glint of silver caught her eye and she realized he had one nipple pierced. Oh, how she wanted to put her lips around it. She wanted to flick her tongue across the ring only to hear him moan. Ink decorated areas of his torso, but her eyes didn’t linger for long. They wandered straight down to what was between his legs, fully erect and pointing toward the ceiling. She wanted to touch it, to stroke it and put her mouth on it.
“Are you going to tell me now?”
She wanted to lick him from head to toe, like a giant Popsicle. A cherry Popsicle, dripping in the summer heat. She wanted to slide him inside of her. And ride him. Hard.
“Gabriella?”
God, he was unbelievable. The only men she’d ever seen naked or half-naked (other than patients when she was in medical school) were Danny and then Mitch, her brief college boyfriend. And they hadn’t looked anything like this.
Kolson thought Gabriella must be in a trance because she wasn’t responding. So he took matters into his own hands. He framed her face with his hands and kissed her, pushing his tongue past her slightly parted lips. She responded feverishly; she rubbed her body against his, and tried to wrap her leg around his.
“Not your call, kea. You’re not in control here. Not until you tell me what he did to you.”
She stopped and looked up at him. She then stepped back, panting.
“Why are you doing this? Why can’t you just drop it? It’s none of your business.”
“I’m making it my business. Now tell me.” Gone was the seductive voice; in its place was the Kolson of the business world. Strong. Steely. Forceful.
Pushing the heavy glass door open, he pressed a series of buttons and the water came on from several different heads. Then he pulled Gabby inside.
“My shirt.”
“Is going to get very wet.”
“But …”
He cut her off with a wet kiss as his body propelled her against the wall. Water tumbled over them like a rain shower and she moaned as she felt his cock against the flesh of her abs. She tried to rub herself against him again, but he stepped away from her. Then he squirted body wash in his hand and began washing her, lingering on her breasts. He pinched and twisted her nipples until her breasts felt heavy with need and she begged him to suck on them. But he ignored her pleas. He continued to wash the rest of her instead.
When his hand reached between her thighs, he stopped. He regarded her for a long moment as he debated his next move. Then he quickly sudsed her sex and she groaned, “Please.”
“You know what I want. The choice is yours, Gabriella.”
After he shampooed her hair, he quickly washed himself, leaving her to gape at him. Then he kissed her again. He slipped his hand down to her core and began that sweet torture, almost making her come but still denying her pleasure. This time he took it even further. When she opened her eyes in frustration, she gasped. Kolson stood before her stroking himself.
“All you have to do is say the words and this can be yours.”
She was paralyzed with want and need. She’d never known such fierce desire like she did at this very moment. But was the risk of allowing herself a few moments of pleasure worth baring her secrets to this man, this stranger? Sometimes, though, weren’t those the best people to reveal your secrets to? Maybe she should tell him, have her fun, and leave, never to see him again.
But she knew that woul
dn’t happen. Because one taste of Kolson Hart was like forbidden fruit. She knew one taste would never be enough.
His hand gripped his cock as he worked himself. Up and down. Up and down. She could see the veins and the plump head as he increased his tempo. The thick muscular bands of his abs stood out, leading to a well-defined V, and Gabby knew exactly why God had put it there. That V pointed one’s eyes straight down to where they should be. And it was a thing of magnificence. She had never seen a man jack off before and she was entranced by it. Sexy couldn’t begin to describe what she was witnessing. It was beyond erotic. It was primal.
And at that moment, more than anything, she wanted him inside her, filling her, deep and hard. Her tongue licked the drops of moisture off her lips as she imagined what his cock would taste and feel like.
When he groaned, she did too. Kolson leaned his forearm against the wall of the shower as he continued to pump himself. His eyes never left her, slick hair sticking to her silken skin, arms locked behind her back.
“One day, instead of my hand, this is going to be your pussy, or your mouth, Gabriella. And you will have told me your little secret. But think, I could have relieved your need by now.” His breath sounded as if he were running. Gabby was panting and she was only watching. When his orgasm hit, he groaned long and deep, and a stream of thick creamy fluid spurted up and around his hand. He massaged it on to his cock as he continued to milk himself. His eyes remained on her, watching as she stood there with water streaming down her glistening body.
When he was finished, he walked up to her, his body barely touching hers, and let the water rinse off his cum as he licked her lips. “To think you could’ve tasted it too.” His hand ran down her body and moved to her sex. “You’re as wet inside as you are out. Too bad, Gabriella, there’ll be no orgasm for you today.”
Reaching behind her, he pushed some buttons and the water ceased to flow. He pulled off the shirt, wrapped her in a large fluffy towel, and dried himself off. Then he picked her up and carried her out of the bathroom. Still wrapped in the towel, he laid her on the bed and spread her legs. His hand ran a trail from her throat to the beginning of her slit.
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 12