Cillian only laughed, the low, rumbling sound rolling over her skin as he kissed her thigh. Sitting up, he removed his shirt and tossed it on the floor. Craning her neck, Gemma could see his muscles traced in moonlight, and the growing bulge at the front of his pants.
“Cillian,” she said again. “I want you.”
“Feel's good, doesn't it? The wanting.” Cillian reached down and undid his fly slowly. The sound of a zipper never made her more crazy. Then he stood and stepped out of his slacks. Gemma could see that the rest of his body was just as well-muscled and impressive as his chest and arms. She wanted to drag her nails over his toned thighs and tight ass, but she could not get her hands free. His manhood was hard and eagerly at attention, and a little voice in Gemma's head wanted her to beg for it.
Cillian kneeled between her legs again, this time leaning down to lift her shirt over her breasts. Her nipples stiffened in the cool air and Cillian made a sound deep in his throat. He leaned down and took one pert nipple into his mouth, sucking with relish as Gemma arched into him again. As she did so, Gemma could feel his erection brush the inside of her thigh. She wrapped her legs around him, pulling his hips down to hers, rocking back and forth so that his hard cock slid over her throbbing pussy.
Cillian gave another dark laugh and ground down against her, but did not enter her.
“Patience,” he said, taking hold of her hips. He pressed her down into the mattress. All at once, he was sucking and biting at her nipple, and grinding his hard cock against her, making her squirm.
“Cillian, please!”
“Please, what?”
Gemma bit her lip and groaned. When he could see that she wasn't going to ask him for it, Cillian slipped one finger inside of her.
“I seem to recall you like this,” he said with an almost evil smile.
“Mmmmaybe a little,” she said, even though there was a tingling pleasure going up her spine.
Cillian pushed another finger inside of her, burying them up to his knuckles.
“Beg for it, Gemma baby,” he growled.
Even as Gemma shook her head, she began to pant. Cillian drew his thumb roughly around her clit as his fingers slid in and out of her.
“Fuck!”
“Hmmm?
“Fuck me, Cillian,” she finally gasped. Cillian took his fingers from inside of her. Gemma heard the faint sound of a condom wrapper before he positioned the smooth head of his cock at her entrance.
“You forgot to ask nicely,” he said, his blue eyes glinting with mischief as he sweared himself with her juices. Gemma growled in frustration.
“Please, fuck m-me!”
Cillian hadn't waited for her to finish. Even as she spoke, he pushed his thick cock inside of her until she was filled to the brim. He filled her in the most pleasurable way, his cock stretching the limits of her tight pussy.
With a loud growl, he began to rock gently between her thighs. Gemma fell into rhythm with him, their hips coupling together. When he leaned down and bit into her shoulder, Gemma let out a long, “Ohhh!” her voice dark and husky with lust. Gemma continued to pull against the silks, now using them for support as she tried to take in as much of him as she could.
Gasping, she begged Cillian to go harder, to go deeper, and Cillian obliged. She loved the feel of his hard and heavy body pressing her deeper into oblivion. He thrust hard into her, making the bed bounce beneath them. He repeatedly pushed her right to the edge of bliss, only to let her come down again. It was at once relief and torture, sweet sweet agony. She was so close! Only when she was begging him again did he relent.
With a grunt, Cillian draped both of her legs over his arms, spreading her wide and allowing his cock to reach further into her sweet pussy. It made Gemma feel exposed and exhilarated to be fucked like that. As Cillian drove into her deeper, her cries became more urgent, the feeling of spiraling pleasure intensified. With another low growl, Cillian scraped the stubble of his chin over her neck and reached up to take her sensitive ear between his teeth.
The roughness finally sent her over the edge. Gemma cried out Cillian's name into the dark and as he continued to fuck her, waves of pleasure pulsed through her with his thrusting. With a rumbling noise from deep in his chest, Cillian finally gave into pleasure. Gemma could feel his hot seed drive deep into her as her sex spasmed around him with her orgasms.
“Gemma…” He spoke her name in awe as they both descended down. It was only after they’d both recovered that Cillian reached up and undid Gemma's bindings. He threw them down to join their discarded clothes, and then pulled Gemma against him. Held tight against his hard chest, Gemma fell into the soundest sleep she'd had in years as Cillian murmured in her hair.
“So beautiful….”
Chapter 4: The Truth, and Other Unpleasant Things
Gemma sighed with contentment. She had drawn herself a hot, luxurious bubble bath and was currently floating with her head tipped back against the tub. When she awoke this morning, Cillian had already left for work. In his wake was the lingering scent of his cologne and a note left on the bedside table.
Good morning, my beauty. I hope this gift makes up for my absence.
Beneath the note was a box. Opening it, Gemma gasped. Coiled neatly inside was a luminous chain of white gold, adorned every few links with a tiny leaf of metal. Dangling from the short chain was a cameo style pendant bearing a ruby carved into the shape of a rose and backed by onyx of deepest black. Complicated scroll work surrounded the pendant, adding a wholly decadent feel to the piece. It was beautiful and Gemma had run squealing through the house, hoping to show it to someone. Of course, no one was around. Cillian was working and Mrs. Mills had the day off.
Gemma toyed with the bubbles in her bath, scooping them together into big piles, drawing patterns on the surface of the water with them, and trailing them up and down her skin. Her time with Cillian was nothing like she had thought it would be. In fact, she thought she might be falling for him... The idea would have been ludicrous the night she met him, but she had grown quite close to him. He was quiet and guarded, but also kind and generous and passionate. He treated her like a queen, even if she was locked up in his house. Gemma almost didn't want to leave...
When Gemma's skin had started to wrinkle and the water had gone cold, she finally got out of the tub. Drying herself off, she decided to forgo clothes for a while. Instead, she donned her new necklace and admired herself in the mirror. The pendant rested at the base of her throat on its short, choker-length chain. The effect of her naked body graced only by this exquisite piece of jewelry and her own brown hair falling down her back in a sleek waterfall was stunning. Gemma quite liked the way she looked wearing his gift.
Toweling off her dripping body, she decided she liked the house, too. Just being here surrounded by all of these things made her feel more elegant. Like she was the lady of a manor that belonged to some well-respected family. It was, she thought, the dream she had chased before her little business dried up.
Distantly, there was a soft click, like the front door closing. But Cillian would not be home this early... Had Mrs. Mills decided to come in anyway? Did she forget to do something yesterday? No one else ever came up here... Gemma pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, her ears pricked for any sound.
There was a rustling, as of someone moving around the apartment. Gemma reached into the bottom of her half-unpacked suitcase and pulled out a can of mace. She had packed it just in case, but found she never had a reason to use it. Until now. Her entire body was tensed and, she hated to admit it, shaking.
Gemma crept out of the room and down the hall. She followed the noises to the kitchen. Creeping as quietly as possible, she poked her head around the end of the bar to see a head of bottle-blonde hair nosing around the fridge.
“Tiffany?”
The woman jumped, dropping a water pitcher. The pitcher smashed on the floor, destroying the filter and splashing water everywhere.
“Gemma! I thought you had gone ou
t. I yelled when I came in, but you must not have heard me.” Tiffany laughed nervously and started picking up the pieces of the pitcher that had scattered across the tiles.
“I was in the bath... but how did you know I was here?”
“What?”
“How did you know I was staying here? Cillian said he hadn't told anyone.” There was an edge to Gemma's voice that she hadn't intended. Her face was growing hot.
“Oh,” said Tiffany, stiffening. She looked up at Gemma, straightening with the broken plastic pieces in her hand, the wheels behind her eyes turning.
And that's when she saw it. A heart-shaped black diamond on a chain of platinum.
“Cillian gave your necklace back,” Gemma said flatly. “That's good. I guess itwas yours to begin with.”
Tiffany touched the massive diamond reflexively. She paused for a moment and then seemed to make up her mind about something.
“He... He said you wouldn't be needing it any more. He said he was going to give you something else, instead.”
Gemma thought about the rose pendant resting at her throat. Suddenly, the necklace felt more like a collar.What the hell am I doing here?! This is exactly what he wanted isn’t it? To make me beg for it so he could keep me like one of his valuable little trinkets that’s easily replaceable!
Gemma’s heart turned icy. “Well, you can tell him that I don't want him deciding what I do and don't need. This was uh, this was a mistake.” Gemma yanked the necklace from her neck, the clasp breaking with a satisfyingsnap! She stuffed it into Tiffany's hands, her face contorted in disgust.
“Wait, listen!”
Gemma had already turned on her heel and was striding toward her room to gather her things. She couldn't stay in this house another minute. The tears burned the corners of her eyes as a wave of shame threatened to overwhelm her.
“Gemma, listen! Cillian didn't want you wearing astolen necklace, okay? He just wanted it to go away. To clear the air, you know? So there wouldn't be anything to remind him of how you guys met.”
Gemma's eyes filled with hot tears.
“So he's ashamed, is he? Well, fine, he can put the whole thing behind him. I'm not staying here another second!”
Tiffany seemed to panic.
“Don't leave, okay? He’s been trying to make things up to you since last year! He thought this would be a better way. My brother is a good man, I swear! He really does lo--”
“Wait, what?”
Tiffany stopped dead and her face went white as she realized she had said too much.
“What do you mean? I thought I owedhima debt. What did he set me up for?” Gemma blinked away her tears, her face flush with anger now. “Tiffany, tell me now, or so help me!”
“Okay, fine! Look. You and I meeting wasn't… wasn’t an accident. Ci-Cillian’s been keeping up with you. He knew that if I made myself an easy target you’d take the necklace. He wanted me tolet you take it. He didn't think you'd actually talk to him...”
Gemma narrowed her eyes at Tiffany. Things were starting to make sense in a horrible way. She wished she had never come out of the bedroom.
“So you let me steal it so Cillian could keep me here like some kind of fucking animal.”
“No, Gemma, it's not all like that!”
But Gemma was done listening. She had thrown everything she could into her suitcase and forced it shut. She rounded on Tiffany suddenly, fury in her eyes.
“Tell that brother of yours to stop messing with my life. What kind of psycho sets up a complete stranger? Tell him to stay away from me or I swear,” she said coldly. Tiffany yelled after her, but Gemma didn't hear her over the sound of her heart pounding in her ears.
When she made it downstairs, Gemma tore past the startled doorman and out onto the bustling sidewalk. She hailed a cab, climbed in, and pulled her phone from her jeans pocket. She gave the cabby an address she knew by heart, and then flipped through her phone with fumbling fingers.
The phone rang several times before going to voicemail.
“Rain, I need to talk,” Gemma said, forcing herself to sound calm. “I'm on my way right now.”
The rest of the ride was awkward and silent. The cabby checked on her several times in the rear-view mirror, looking like he wanted to ask what was wrong. Thankfully, he didn't speak and Gemma never had to explain herself. She was sure she looked like a mess, but she didn't care.
The cab deposited her in front of the elementary school uptown where Rainna worked. It was a squat brick building that had seen better days, but still managed to be one of the better public schools in the city. Gemma tipped the cabby and dragged her suitcase from the trunk. She wiped her eyes and smoothed back her hair, painfully aware of how she must look. She pretended not to notice the side-long looks she got from the woman at the front desk when she signed in, examining her nails intently instead.
Gemma dragged her bag with her all the way down the hall, staring down at the floor. She went all the way down one hall, turned right, and down three more doors. She had visited Rainna several times at work, sometimes assisting with lessons. Now, she peered into the window in the door and waved. Rainna took one look at her and turned back to her class, gesturing and saying something Gemma could not hear.
Rainna stepped out of the classroom, shutting the door behind her.
“Gem, what's wrong? I saw you had called, but I couldn't check my phone just now.”
Gemma opened her mouth to speak, but instead began sobbing opening. Rainna wrapped her arms around her and stroked her hair. When she had calmed down a bit, Gemma told her the whole story, Rainna nodding and making appropriately sympathetic noises here and there. By the time she was done, Gemma's face was tear-stained and blotchy, but her eyes were quite dry. She didn't think she could cry any more.
“Look Gem, I have to get back to the kids. You go home and get some rest. It's been a tough day. When I get home, I'll make you something to eat and we can have some drinks.”
Gemma nodded mutely, letting Rainna kiss her on the cheek, and the two women said their good-byes.
If nothing else, Gemma felt somewhat relieved. Just telling her story had lifted at least some of the weight from her shoulders, and she felt like she could breath properly again. The school was just a few blocks from the apartment she shared with Rainna, so she decided to walk. It was a nice day outside. The weather was cooling down and the sun was not too bright, and maybe a nice long walk would make her feel better.
Gemma's brain ran in circles. She had let herself get too caught up in Cillian and the need he’d awakened in her. She should have known that no one who could manipulate her the way he had could be any good. And yet there was a hole in her chest and core where he had been. He had been dishonest with her and her head swam with unanswered questions. Why all the deceit? Why hadn’t he just introduced himself like a normal human being?
Do you really think you would have given him a shot, Gemma girl? You’re a fucking mess. No man like that is gonna cozy up to you,a nasty voice reminded her. Her chest ached painfully and the memory of his blue eyes hovering over her in the dark swept across her memory. She sighed heavily as she recalled the way he’d tied her up and made her quiver with need, the sweet loss of control skyrocketing her to heights of bliss she’d never experienced before.
Gemma looked up to get her bearings. A shabby looking van pulled over by the curb, it's brakes squealing, just as a sleek black car turned the corner. The street was otherwise deserted.
The door on the side of the van slid open, and chaos burst around her all at once. Hands shot out of the dark inside the van, yanking at Gemma's limbs. Someone else stuffed a gag in her mouth as she panicked, choking on the gasp of air in her windpipe. There was shouting, the sound of the door slamming shut, and then Gemma felt the van lurch back onto the road.
Gemma tried to scream, but the hand over her mouth clamped down harder, the cloth muffling her voice. She struggled against a strong pair of arms, kicking and thrashing, but they would n
ot let go. Suddenly, pain erupted against the side of her skull.
“Kick me again, bitch, and I'll put a fucking bullet in your head!”
Gemma blinked hard, trying to clear the fog in her brain. Someone tied the cloth around her mouth and then put something over her head. Her world went black as she strained to hear the voices around her. They sounded like the smugglers she’d been known to trade with. It seemed her life of thievery had caught up with her. And they wantedinon whatever she had with Cillian.
“The hell you will! Seraph Corp isn't gonna pay for a corpse. Just tie her up! I haven’t watched her this long to lose out at the finish line. You gonna play nice aren’t you bitch? Gonna get your new boyfriend to pay us too?” Gemma’s chest ached as the thought of them hurting Cillian seared through her mind. No matter how angry she was, she’d protect him.
“She’d be a lot easier to deal with if she's dead,” said the first voice as its owner bound Gemma's wrists and ankles. “They don't have to know until we have the money, Reg.”
The other voice scoffed. It seemed to be coming from the driver's seat.
“You don't think they're gonna ask to see her before they give up the money? You think the rich asshole doesn't know how to make a business deal?”
“Bet he's just some dumb-ass who backs the whole thing with his money,” the other man sneered. “Don't no pretty boy like that know anything about running a real fucking operation ha!”
“Just shut your damn mouth and hold on. I think we got a tail.” The driver's voice had gone quiet, and Gemma could feel the van lurch around a sharp corner. She panted heavily into the bag as she braced herself for an impact.
There was a series of loud bangs, and then more yelling.
“Shit, they're trying to shoot out the tires! Lose 'em cuz!”
Gemma was shoved roughly aside and she thought she felt her captor move away. Moments later, there were more bangs—gunshots, she thought—so close they rang in her ears.
There was another bang, a loud pop, and then a steady stream of curses from the driver. The whole van lurched, skidding to one side, and Gemma was thrown down onto the floor. Next moment, there was a crash as the van collided with something large as it came to sudden halt.
BWWM: OFF LIMITS: An Interracial Alpha Billionaire Romance (Urban African American Contemporary Series) Page 273