Another car screeched to a stop somewhere outside. Before her captors could stir, Gemma heard the doors being yanked open, shouts of surprise, and the sickening thud of fists colliding with flesh. The scuffle didn't last long.
A smooth, low voice that Gemma recognized spoke. The side door of the van slid open forcefully.
“Oh God. Perris, call the cops and an ambulance. She might be hurt.” The van shifted under his weight as the voice entered beside her.
“Gemma baby? Are you hurt?” Someone lifted her hood. The white light of the midday sun blinded Gemma as it poured in around a silhouette. Gemma could hear another male voice outside, giving their location in curt, clipped tones, but the shadow spoke gently to her. “It's me baby. It’s ok. I’m here now…”
***
Within minutes they were surrounded by sirens and flashing lights as the police and an ambulance skidded to a stop around the scene. The van had wrapped around a streetlamp after one of its tires was shot out. From the look of the two scruffy men who had abducted her, Perris and Cillian had taken out their own brand of justice before they had decided to call the cops.
One sported a broken nose, from which blood had gushed all down the front of his clothes, and the others face was so swollen that he looked like he'd stuck his head into a hive of angry bees. Perris and Cillian both sported bloody knuckles and looked a bit ruffled, but were otherwise unscathed. Cillian had deigned to let the paramedics look at his hands, but Perris curled his lip into a snarl and none of them had gone near him since.
Gemma was dazed. There was a large lump on the side of her head where she had been struck, and slight abrasions on her wrists and ankles from her restraints. The paramedics said she should be fine, but that they would have to take her to see a doctor in case there was any internal damage. Gemma was glad to be shut into the back of the ambulance when the news vans arrived and photographers poured out, their cameras flashing painfully in her eyes. The last thing she glimpsed before the door shut was Cillian, looking back at her, concern and sorrow etched on his face.
Gemma obediently let a series of nurses and the doctor check her over. She nodded mutely when she was prescribed something for the pain and instructed to apply an ointment and change her bandages, nodding where appropriate. Otherwise, she stared blankly at the opposite wall. She was so detached, in fact, that the doctor had ordered her to stay the night, looking very concerned.
“Just in case,” he said, before letting her lay down.
Shortly afterward, a nurse poked her head in, announced she had a visitor, and bustled off.
“Gemma... baby,” said a gentle dark voice. Cillian was standing in the doorway. He looked much less composed than normal. His hair was ruffled and his tie was askew but a surge of warmth flooded her body. His eyes were cautious and his lips set in a grim line but he regarded her with concern and.. there was something else.
When she didn't speak, he stepped carefully into the room. “I'm sorry I didn't get to you sooner. I’d received a threat asking for money earlier in the morning but I didn’t think it serious. I knew you were safely at my place. But then Tiff called and said you had left. I thought that whoever had sent that threat might try to make a move and I panicked, baby. I didn't know where you had gone or if they had already taken you...”
“Seraph Corp owns half the city. It must not have been too hard to find me.” Gemma's voice cracked from disuse and her statement lost a bit of emphasis. She wished it hadn't.
Cillian froze. She could see the wheels in his head turning, figuring out how much she knew. And then his shoulders sank as he raked a hand through his hair. Gemma clenched her thighs as her desire flared through her.
“You would think so,” he said simply. “It was Rainna who told me you were heading home. She said I owed you an apology… Gemma, I owe you much more than that.”
Gemma scowled. “You're damn right you do. You set me up so I’d owe you. I don’t fucking belong to you!” The words came tumbling out of her mouth before she could think about them. “I should have put it together. I'm, I’m so stupid! Cillian Sera of Seraph Corp, the company that pushed me and the other business owners out. You took everything I had! How dare you pretend to care now. HOW DARE YOU!” She was halfway out of her bed now, her hands balled into fists as she tried to steady herself against the dizziness.
Cillian simply stood there, letting her rage at him. A nerve ticked in his handsome jaw and Gemma hated herself for wanting to smooth it away. She took a deep breath and stepped back, her voice falling flat.
“Howcouldyou, Cillian? I trusted you. I let you... YouknewI would be at the fundraiser, youknewI would try to take the necklace. And youknew I wouldn't ever speak to you if I had known who you truly were. Well I do see you now Cillian. You're worse than a criminal,” Gemma seethed. “You're worse, because you do terrible things and no one ever gets to punish you.” Gemma was shaking, and the heart monitor was beeping frantically in the background.
“Gemma, please let me explain.” His eyes were filled with pain and it pinched at her heart to let him go. Everything in her screaming to let him hold her.
“No. Get. Out.”
“Gemma--”
“Get out, get out, get out!” Gemma shouted, trying not to hear whatever Cillian had to say.
“Gemma, I’ve been in love you since...” Cillian said, trying to cut across her. He looked desperate. His blue eyes were wide, and there was a tightness in his face that made him look like he was about to shatter. But Gemma didn't care.
“Get out Cillian! You ruined me!” She screamed against a fresh torrent of tears until a harassed-looking nurse came and shoved Cillian from the room.
She had heard him. She had heard the way his voice broke. She had heard the sadness there. And she wished she hadn't.
Chapter 5: Until the Last Petal Falls
Gemma laid in her bed, staring up at the ceiling blankly as a blanket of exhaustion rolled over her. Exhaustion and disgust at how low she’d gone. Cillian had called her phone several times, leaving several messages over the last few days. She had not answered or listened to any of them. She didn't want to hear anything he had to say. Gemma felt as though her heart and her mind were at war, and if she had to hear his voice, she was going to fall apart.
There was a soft knock on the door.
“Gem?” Rainna poked her head in. “There's a delivery for you. Ci— Um. He sent your stuff back,” she said, heaving Gemma's suitcase into the room.
“Thanks,” Gemma said, her voice cracking with weariness. It had become normal for her over the past few days to speak very little, or not at all. Rainna slinked back out of the room with the demeanor of someone walking on eggshells and Gemma quietly cursed herself. It wasn't Rainna's fault that Gemma felt like a mess, but she was clearly bearing the brunt of it.
Gemma got up and went to unpack her suitcase for lack of anything better to do. When she had been abducted, the suitcase was left behind, but Cillian must have picked it up when he had come looking for her. She unzipped it and flipped the top open.
All of her things had been neatly repacked, and a letter was laid on top. The paper was heavy and cream colored with a satiny feel to it.
Gemma,
I have retrieved your things and packed the rest of your belongings. I am sorry for the way things happened and I hope you are feeling better.
You were right when you said that I knew you would never speak to me under normal circumstances. I didn't know you when we bought up that block but I saw you speak at the committee hearing. Yes, I was there and I never wanted anyone so badly in my life. I couldn't possibly have known how beautiful and brilliant and wonderful you truly are. For that, I was a fool. The things my company has done often seem horrible from the outside, but know that I never meant to hurt you.
I’ve kept an eye on you so when I devised the plan to get you to speak to me, I thought it was the only way. I thought that if you got to know me, then I could tell you the truth and it wouldn'
t matter any more. It wouldn’t matter what I had done to you because you’d see me and forgive me and stay. Again, I was a fool.
But I fell in love with you, Gemma baby, and I hoped that deep down you might love me too.
And, for the third time, I am a fool.
I have had the necklace I gave you repaired and packed it with the rest of your things. The pendant alone is worth quite a lot of money, should you want to use it to get your business started again. Whether or not you decide to keep it, know that I shall love you until the last petal falls.
-Ever yours. Cillian Sera.
Gemma looked down into her suitcase and, sure enough, where the letter had been was a velvet box. Her lips quivered as she flipped it open.
***
Randolph the doorman looked up as Gemma strode across the lobby. His normally stony face was in a state of shock. His eyebrows had risen so high that they were in danger of disappearing into his hairline.
“Gemma Cross to see Cillian Sera,” she said without stopping at the desk, instead making for the private elevator at the other end of the lobby.
The poor man called out a welcome, fumbling with his keys as he raced out from behind the desk. Gemma was at the elevator before he could reach her. She'd never seen him so rattled. Randolph's hands shook as he found the right key and jammed it into the panel. He looked up at Gemma and opened his mouth to speak, but something about the look on her face spooked him.
“Erm. H-Have a nice day, Miss Cross,” he mumbled and returned to the front desk.
The door slid smoothly open, and Gemma stepped inside, holding herself up imperiously until they closed again. When she was safely alone, Gemma exhaled and sagged a bit. She picked nervously at a piece of invisible lint on her shirt and smoothed her hair several times. The ride up always took forever.
Taking a steadying breath, she thought about the conversation she'd had with Rainna earlier that day...
“So. Do you think he's telling the truth?”
“I don't know, Rain. He looked like he was telling the truth at the hospital.”
“Okay. If heis telling the truth, do you want to be involved with someone like that?”
Gemma bit her lip and thought hard. If it hadn't been for the circumstances, they could have easily gotten along. But there was no erasing what had been done. How he had destroyed her life.
“Rainna.” Gemma sighed, still quite torn. “Being with Cillian was like… I don’t know how to explain it… It’s what I needed. He's sexy and complex and kind and generous. He's the kind of man you dream about and never have!”
“Gem. Is that enough? After everything he's done, is that enough?”
Rainna had given her a long, hard look, and Gemma realized that she didn't know. She had to see him one last time. She dreaded confronting him and dragging out all of that bad blood, but she knew it must be done. Gemma couldn't shake the feeling that if she didn't see him tonight, she'd break in half with the grief of it all.
***
The elevator came to a smooth stop and the doors slid open. Gemma crossed the vast entryway looking hard at everything there. The expensive marble floors, the exotic imported wood paneling. All of it looked somehow diminished. It was not quite as impressive any more. Whether that was because she had stayed here for so long, or simply because she knew how they had been acquired, Gemma didn't have time to dwell on it. She didn't bother knocking at the door. Cillian had packed her house key in her suitcase. It had annoyed her at first but the past few days it had given her comfort, the knowing that she was still welcome.He wants me.
The blazing light of sunset poured into the living room casting long black shadows across the floor. Standing there, staring out over the city, was Cillian. The orange sun encircled him, turning him into a hard-lined shadow. His broad shoulders were tense and Gemma imagined he hadn't moved from that spot in hours.
“Cillian,” Gemma said, slowly crossing the living room.
The man turned with a start, his eyes widening when they fell on her.
“Gem-!”
Gemma slapped him hard across the face. And then threw her arms around his neck, choking on a sob as she kissed him. Immediately he slipped his strong arms around her slim waist gently, tentatively, as if he was afraid that she would disappear.
He pulled away and crashed his lips over hers in a searing kiss, bowing her back so he could taste the deepest part of her. They kissed for a long time before Gemma finally put her hand on his chest and pulled away. He tried to speak but she brought a finger to his full lips.
“Cillian,” she said, nervously. “You can’t buy my love. ”
Cillian seemed to shrink at her words. His shoulders fell and the light went out of his eyes.
“Gemma. I know I can't say it enough, but I'm sorry. It was never my intention to hurt you. I love you, but if you don't feel the same way--”
“You took a lot from me,” she said again, cutting across him. “It will take more than one trinket to bring it all back.”
Cillian blinked, his mouth forming the beginnings of a question.
“I love you, Cillian Sera, with all your faults. No matter how misguided you were, I know you really love me, too. It’s not the jewels I want anymore. It’s your honor, your devotion, your respect -you.”
Suddenly Gemma was swept into his arms roughly as Cillian picked her up and stilled her mouth with a crushing kiss, spinning on the spot. When they parted, he seemed to be reborn. His dark blue eyes shone with a glittering light and his mouth parted into a seldom-seen smile. He still had not set her down when his smile turned sly. Tightening her knees around his waist, Gemma gave him a curious look.
“What are you thinking?”
“No one has ever slapped me—it still stings quite a bit. I have the urge to punish you.” Cillian brushed his lips over the nape of her neck as he spoke, sending little chills over her skin.
“Oh, really,” Gemma purred. Cillian hoisted her over his shoulder and gave her a firm slap on her ass.
“Really,” he said, his voice dropping to that low and dangerous tone he'd used before. They were moving now, but not toward her room on the west side of the suite. Bracing her hands on his muscled back, Gemma could only just crane her neck around to get a glimpse of where they were going as she bounced along. Cillian crossed to the perpetually locked door of the east wing and pushed it open. Gemma briefly saw a hallway very similar to the one that led to her room before Cillian pushed open another door and strode into it.
Gemma yelped as she was tossed unceremoniously onto a massive bed. When she sat up, she found herself on the edge of a huge four-poster bed. The room she was in was even larger than her own, though similarly appointed. The thick curtains were drawn, and the lights were turned low, but Gemma could make out something gleaming on the bedposts. Gemma thought for a moment that they were very odd decorative metal coils, but then something clicked into place. They were rings—rows of metal rings gilded the dark bedposts, ready and waiting should one need to tie up something into any conceivable position. Like a coiled snake, a length of dark red cord was looped around each post.
Cillian was watching Gemma, his eyes bright in the dark accessing her reaction. When he crossed to her, he leaned down and brushed her hair aside, gently biting at the soft flesh of her neck. She swooned at his masculine scent.
“I'm going to make you mine,” he growled against her skin.
Gemma shivered at his words, feeling all of the uncertainty melt out of her. She was ready.
Cillian continued to kiss up her neck, working his way slowly along her jaw until Gemma couldn't wait. She twisted around to catch his mouth, her lips grazing his softly. Cillian teased her, staying just out of reach, never quite letting her have what she wanted.
Gemma whimpered, and the corner of his mouth turned up in a grin.
“I see you still have no patience,” he said, a dark whisper.
Gemma twisted her fingers into his dark hair and kissed him passionately, only
to have him pin her to the bed by her wrists.
“Bad girls don't get kisses,” Cillian said. Reaching above her head, he took one of the cords dangling from the bedposts and tied her wrists intricately. After testing the knot, he gathered up all the slack, securing it so that Gemma could only bring her hands down as far as her face. Reaching down, he picked her up and turned her onto her stomach.
When Gemma tried to wriggle away, she got a hard swat on her ass. Even through her jeans, she could feel the burning print of his hand on her skin. The prickly sensation was soon joined by both of his hands grabbing her hips roughly, and Cillian grinding himself against her.
Gemma didn't even try to hold back her loud moan.
“Good girl,” Cillian said, and Gemma beamed as she felt a rush of heat flood between her legs. She slid her thighs over one another, feeling the silken wetness of her sex.
The words came out of her mouth before she'd even thought about them.
“Cillian please,” she breathed, her voice thick with lust. “Fuck me like I belong to you.”
This earned her an appreciative squeeze of her ass.
“Oh, I intend to.”
As Cillian grabbed two handfuls of her ass, groping and squeezing as he pleased, Gemma grew more and more excited. The idea of allowing him to take his pleasure from her made her skin tingle, and some small part of her craved the “punishment” he dealt out.
Cillian took his hands off of Gemma. She craned her head around as best she could, but she could not see what he was doing.
“Are you going to be good for me?” he asked sharply.
Gemma shot back, “Are you going to make me?”
This earned her another hard swat. When the initial sting faded away, she was left with a tingling pleasure.
BWWM: OFF LIMITS: An Interracial Alpha Billionaire Romance (Urban African American Contemporary Series) Page 274