Pulling from her, he went to his knees and kissed her hard. She whimpered against him and he allowed his hand to drift over both breasts, down her torso, to her pussy.
She was drenched and he broke the kiss.
“You liked that? You liked me fucking your mouth?”
“Yes.”
“You’re so wet.”
“Hudson…more.”
Positioned behind her, he was still hard enough to enter her. He pressed her and she leaned forward to rest her head on her tied hands. He pumped into her wetness slow and easy until he hardened fully again.
Allowing his thumb to trace the pucker of her ass, he asked, “Has anyone ever fucked you here?”
“No…but I want to know what it’s like.”
He spent a long time preparing her ass with his lubed fingers while he casually stroked into her wet heat. When she was slick and warm, the tightness eased a bit, he scissored them inside her.
Natalia panted into the quiet room.
Hudson pulled from her body and went to wash his hands, returning with a small bowl of soapy water and a washcloth.
“It might hurt.”
“I know.”
“You haven’t come yet.”
“I’m letting it build. I do that when I’m alone.”
Without another word, he climbed back on the bed and positioned his cock at her anal star. Carefully, he pushed forward and listened to the sounds she made until he was buried to the hilt.
Leaning over her back, he whispered at her ear, “Your ass is squeezing my cock like a vice. Are you alright?” She nodded. “Tell me if you need me to slow down or stop.”
He gripped her hips and pulled back, dripping more lube over his exposed shaft. Then he powered forward and she screamed. Instead of stopping, he set up a steady rhythm until she was moaning and pushing back to meet his thrusts.
“Feels so fucking good, Natalia. So fucking good.”
“More.”
With a deep breath, he took her harder and watched the muscles of her ass flex with each thrust. Reaching beneath her, he stroked over her folds. Pinching her clit between his thumb and forefinger, she gasped.
“I’m going to come. Don’t stop.”
Stroking and pinching the little bundle of nerves, she went over the edge with a muffled scream and shoved her body back to take his cock deeper.
There was only a slight hesitation as he gripped her firmly and fucked her harder than he’d ever taken another woman.
In moments, he was filling her with his come as her name echoed through the room.
They stayed like that for a long time. Getting their bodies under control so they could think.
“Hudson?” He kissed her shoulder. “I liked that a lot.”
Now, it was sixteen years later and they’d just experimented with the unknown once again.
“Natalia?”
Her fingers traced his brows but she didn’t speak.
“I liked that a lot.”
She made a sound that was a combination of laughing and crying. Then they were hugging each other tight as he stroked her hair and whispered that it was going to be okay now.
He knew she didn’t believe it yet.
He would convince her.
Chapter Nineteen
The first thought Gabriella had when she opened her eyes was that she’d never hurt in so many places at the same time.
“Gabriella…Gabriella.”
The shock of hearing her mother’s voice beside her an instant before the strongest woman she’d ever known burst into tears scared her to death. She tried to speak, to reassure her, and realized there was something over her face.
Full out panic. She was suffocating…
A nurse leaned over her and whispered, “Miss Hernandez, ssh, there’s a tube down your throat. I’m going to remove it now. It’s going to be okay.”
She worked quickly and efficiently to loosen the tape and pull the plastic out. The gagging and eventual vomiting embarrassed her. The thin fluid went in her hair.
Confused and in pain, tears fell freely.
“The doctor is coming. There, there.” The woman had a soft accent. With gentle hands, she wiped her face and helped her rinse her mouth. “We’ve been keeping a close eye on you today. The doctor said your vitals indicated you might wake up.”
She tried to talk but nothing came out. After a small sip of water that burned all the way down, she tried again. “Day…?”
“You’ve been with us for almost four weeks.” She knew the shock must have been written all over her face. “Don’t worry. You’re very much on the mend. You have quite the fan club.” She winked and started cleaning the bile from her hair.
A warm and calloused hand stroked her head and she turned slightly to see her father. Cabral Hernandez was Superman to his daughters. Anything he put his mind to, he managed to accomplish. He’d instilled a willingness to work hard, every day, to accomplish their goals.
“My Gabriella. How we have worried for you.” He bent to kiss her face all over then reached to pull her mother closer.
Still lovely in her fifties, Tallila Hernandez wiped away her own tears. She was brilliant and people in the business world tended to underestimate her because English was not her first language and she’d been born in a poor village with no running water or electricity.
She turned a firm look on her youngest daughter. “What have I told you about letting anything happen to my little one? Hmm? You are one of my two most precious possessions…you cannot allow even the tiniest scratch. Not the tiniest.”
With their cheeks pressed together, she added in whispered Spanish, “You are never to scare me so badly again. I wouldn’t survive losing one of my girls.”
Izzy worked her way between their parents. “I go to the damn bathroom for five minutes and you finally wake up! Oh my god, Brie! You never do anything halfway.” Tears of relief poured down Isabella’s face. She kissed her then rested her head on Brie’s shoulder and sobbed brokenly.
Brie struggled to speak. “…happened?”
Her older sister pulled back. “You don’t remember?” Brie shook her head. “A car hit you as you were crossing an intersection.” She lifted her hand and kissed the back. “You have broken bones…everywhere. It was the internal injuries that worried your doctors.”
“Walk…?”
“You aren’t paralyzed, Brie. No, honey. They have you on an epidural to hold back the pain so you can heal. They put you into a medicated coma to let your body rest.”
A hundred things flew through her mind but she was unable to capture any of them. She drifted back to sleep and wondered if Hudson knew about her accident.
The days passed like a dream. She often saw and heard people in her room but she had to struggle to stay awake, to focus, and her body demanded rest. Riya and Tawny may have come many times or it might have been one day.
Late one night, she dreamed she heard Hudson’s voice on one side and Natalia’s on the other, whispering that they needed her to get better. They kissed her and stroked her hands, the only places on her body that weren’t casted or bandaged.
Hudson’s voice was deep and she wanted to crawl inside his warmth and stay forever. “You’re strong, Brie. Fight and we’ll be here waiting.” He kissed her neck and added, “I’m so sorry, so very sorry.”
“Come back, Brie.” It was impossible that she felt Natalia’s tears.
She wanted to comfort them, angry that she couldn’t open her eyes. “It’s alright. Alright...”
The next day, she knew it had to be a dream. It was the first day she managed to stay awake for more than a few minutes at a time. She was shocked to learn she’d lost another week of her life.
Her mother held her hand. “Gabriella?”
“Yes, mama?”
“Who is this Hudson Winters?”
She turned her head. “How do you know about Hudson?” Concentrating, she added, “He isn’t the same man.”
“This I
know.” Tallila’s brows raised dramatically. “It would be impossible to not know about him since he is paying for your care despite our insistence that we are perfectly able to do so.”
Brie was unable to hide her complete shock. “Hudson knows I’m here?”
For a long time, her mother said nothing. Then she sat forward on the chair. “Gabriella. You’ve been more out of it than I realized the last few days. Hudson beat the ambulance to the hospital the day you were hurt.”
“What? I don’t understand.”
“Your father and I didn’t either. When we arrived that night, we assumed there would be papers to sign and insurance to present. The hospital informed us that your entire bill was being covered by Hudson Winters.” She shook her head. “We were confused. More so when we realized you work in his building and live in an apartment he owns.”
“Mama, I work at the building where Hudson lives.”
Tallila blinked once. “He owns the building, Brie. It is his corporation that signs your paychecks as well as every other employee there.”
“My…the apartment?”
“He owns that as well. His mother was kind enough to let us in when we went to pick up a few personal things to bring for you. Camille said so many lovely things about you.”
“Camille…is Hudson’s…mother?” The world tilted sharply. Gabriella’s brain said, “Nope. Too much conflicting information.”
Then it shut her off like a light.
It was dark when she startled awake. The jarring movement aggravated the broken vertebrae in her neck, the broken ribs, the fractured pelvis, the broken bones in her wrist and both of her legs. She managed to muffle the whimper of pain.
Her head was pounding against her skull. When the doctor showed her the x-rays, she was reminded of a boiled egg that had been dropped. It was the worst of her injuries. The one that would take a very long time to heal.
She was lucky the driver hadn’t killed her. Lucky she wasn’t paralyzed. Grateful she still had brain function and remembered how to tie her shoes, create a logo, and cook. Gabriella knew she remembered these things because she quizzed herself on them regularly.
As she lay staring at the ceiling, the conversation with her mother resurfaced.
“I don’t understand.” The words sounded too loud in the private room…the room Hudson was paying for. The air immediately cooled hot tears as they slipped into her hair.
“Gabriella.” Izzy’s voice came from the side of the bed but she couldn’t look at her. “Brie, I spoke with Hudson…and Natalia.”
“I don’t care. I don’t want to know.”
“Why?”
“I’m the stupidest person on the planet. How could two men manage to fool me so completely?” She closed her eyes and Izzy moved closer. “I’m tired, Izzy.”
Hands that had comforted her many times over the years smoothed back her hair. “Brie, put things in the right context. Stop for just a moment. You told me how you met Hudson. You said it was a horrible first impression. What are the chances you would have accepted his help?”
“After all this time…”
“I imagine that telling you he was responsible for finding you a place to live and a job when you were at your lowest would have derailed any chance of a relationship…with either of them.”
Brie’s eyes shot open and met her sister’s in a panic.
Isabella smiled. “I don’t care, Brie. You’re a grown woman with a huge heart. You deserve to find happiness wherever you can.” She leaned on the railing. “If he told you after you’d been living there…don’t you think it would have sounded like he expected payment in gratitude? He’s very abrupt, your Hudson.”
Turning her head, she said, “He isn’t my Hudson, Izzy.”
“Maybe, maybe not.” Her sister reached out and turned her face. “Do you know he and Natalia visit you every night?”
“What?” She knew her eyes were huge.
“Every single night. One of the nurses calls to let them know Mom and Dad are gone and they show up twenty minutes later.” Her smile was huge. “That’s how I busted them. I overheard the night nurse telling them our parents had returned to their hotel so I waited.”
“They…visit me?”
“Every night, Brie.”
“I don’t…I don’t remember.”
“You get heavier medication at night. It doesn’t stop them from coming, from talking to you, from kissing your face.”
“I wish I’d known.”
She looked at her watch. “Are you awake? Really awake?” Brie nodded. “Good.” She leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I’m so glad you’re alright. I was out of my mind with worry.”
“I love you.”
“I love you, Brie. You scared years off my life.”
“Off all our lives,” a deep voice said from the door. Brie glanced passed her sister and saw Hudson and Natalia standing in the threshold.
“I’ll see you in the morning.” She kissed her and whispered, “Give them a chance to explain.”
Isabella stood and smoothed her hair, grabbed her bag, and left the room.
Without a clue what to say, Brie stared at the two people she thought about most often when she was coherent. Both of them were wearing jeans, t-shirts, and sneakers. She’d never seen them in outfits that wouldn’t be appropriate at any board meeting. Not in real life.
“You look so young in those clothes.” Her voice was shaky but she couldn’t seem to stop it.
They approached the bed on either side and took her hands. Natalia had tears in her eyes. “You’re awake. For the first time since we’ve been here. Your eyes are so clear, Brie. So pretty.”
She leaned to hug her carefully and then she was crying. “So worried. I’ve never been so worried.”
“It’s alright. Don’t cry, Natalia. I’m going to be fine, the doctors said.” With a slight turn, she kissed the soft skin just below the other woman’s ear.
Natalia leaned back and stared at her, warm fingers traced her face. “There are many things to talk about, Brie. The one thing I want to tell you…while you’re awake…is that I think you are one of the best people I’ve ever known. I made a mistake not telling you before. You could have died and you never would have known how important you are to me.”
Gabriella opened her mouth to speak and Natalia put a finger over her lips. “Not now. After we talk, you can tell me.”
“You think I’ll be angry.”
“I think we’ve made mistakes you might not forgive us for.”
Hudson squeezed her hand and she looked at him. His face was tense. To an outside observer, they’d think he was angry but she’d spent months watching him before he kissed her. She knew his face better than she knew her own.
He was afraid.
“Tell me, Hudson.” She needed to hear all of it from him. “No more lies, no deception.”
He put one palm above her head and leaned over her body. The palm he slid along her face and into her hair was so warm. Her eyes drifted closed for just a moment to absorb the sensation.
“The day I met you, when I learned what had happened to you, I knew you already thought badly of me. I handled everything wrong. I had to get to the bottom of what brought you here but I needed to know you were safe. It was my responsibility.”
“It wasn’t…”
“My name. Your con artist brought you to New York using my name.” He sighed heavily. “I keep the first building I ever purchased because I’ve seen people lose everything with one bad investment. It’s my insurance policy. My apartment there sits empty…just in case.”
Calloused fingertips made tiny circles at her temple. “I didn’t know if you’d stay or run back home to your parents. I didn’t know if you’d take a menial labor job. Knowing you now, I realize you never would have tucked your tail and run away. You would have done any job to stay here.”
She nodded.
“I didn’t want you to know I was helping because I was such a dick at firs
t, I knew you wouldn’t accept it.” Hudson gave her a small smile. “I wouldn’t have, in your position. Then time passed and I didn’t know how to tell you without it seeming like I expected something from you. You earned every dime my company paid you. You pay your rent early every month. You don’t owe me a fucking thing, Brie.”
Her eyes stayed on his for almost a minute and he didn’t look away. “Thank you for helping me. I didn’t want to run home to my parents.”
He gave her a careful smile. “If I hadn’t, you would have taken an apartment you hated, a job you hated, and you still would have made it, Brie. That’s how you are. You’re a fighter and you were hungry for a new life. Nothing would have stopped you from getting it.”
“Thank you for saying that. It means a lot.”
“I messed up bad, Brie.” His voice was so quiet she barely heard him.
“Tell me. Just tell me.”
Hudson cleared his throat and leaned back. Natalia’s hand tightened around hers. “The day I met you, I’d been seeing someone for a while. She lived with me. Her name was Christina and I knew what she was but I ignored it because she served a need and had her place. I never imagined she’d use the resources I gave her to assist in running a long-range con.”
Her eyes shot wide. Hudson’s girlfriend worked with the man who conned her?
“Wait. I threw her out that night and confiscated the stash of fake ID’s I found of the other women she helped rob. I’ve compensated every single one except you.”
“You didn’t tell the police.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“You were embarrassed.” The look on his face confirmed that was part of it. A man like Hudson would be livid that someone close to him managed to fool him for so long. “There’s more. I know there’s more.” He nodded slowly and she knew the rest was worse.
This was what he was afraid to tell her.
“I’ve tracked her movements since the day she left my apartment. I needed to know who her male accomplice was. Then I could determine whether turning them over to the police was my best option…or if I should handle it myself.”
“You know who he is. You know the man who…who tricked me.”
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