Trusting Gibson (Last Score Book 2)

by K. L. Shandwick

  Instinctively, I clung to his t-shirt in my effort to get closer and buried my face in his neck, inhaling his scent deeply, and my hand slipped under his t-shirt and I began to feel the warmth of his body. His smooth hard muscles strained his satiny warm skin. I can’t describe the feeling I had from that. Gibson clung tightly to me in return and I heard him swallow, repeatedly telling me what we were doing was as emotional for him as it was for me.

  “I got you, darlin’, It’s okay. I got you.” Fat tears rolled down my cheeks as I began to cry.

  “Let it out, Chloe, I’m here. Shh…I’m not going anywhere.” I did, and Gibson rocked me back and forth, kissing the top of my head and whispering that everything was going to be okay. We stayed, just holding each other like that for a long time. Eventually he released me and stood up and I looked up into his serious eyes that were watching me intently, then Gibson cleared his throat again, “I love you, Chloe. You need to try to get well so that I can take you home, darlin’.” I nodded weakly and thought that I needed to get well to be with him as well.

  For weeks I had nothing, just an empty space in my head. Then I remembered and I woke sweating in fear. I wasn’t sure if it was a nightmare or it really happened, but Kace was struggling and I had a cloth over my face with a horrible acidic smell that stole my breath until everything went black.

  Slowly there were snippets of Kace and I remembered he’d taken me to this weird little shack and kept me in semi darkness. Apart from mentally abusing me, he didn’t speak. I sat petrified waiting for the time when he’d force himself on me, or hit me for leaving him and being with Gibson. In my mind I was going to die, believing there was no way I was ever going to be allowed to walk away from him a second time.

  During my time with him, he terrorized me. Calling me names and played his mind-fuck games that had me cowering, fearful of when the first heavy blow was going to come. I was so frightened I stayed mute. Not a word from me to him, so his assault was completely one sided. I don’t know how long it went on for but there was a woman who kept showing up and I could hear the nervousness in Kace’s voice. She was very flirty and as Kace is a good looking guy, she was in pursuit. It worked in my favor, but not for Kace, because if he was planning something for me she never gave him peace to follow through.

  Eloise she said her name was, and she made quite a nuisance of herself, which frustrated the hell out of Kace, but it got so bad, that he got cold feet and with the same speed as I was taken, I was being bundled back into the trunk of his car and driven away.

  My head said he was going to throw me in a lake somewhere or off a bridge into a river. My gut told me I’d live. We drove for twenty minutes, then he killed the engine and my heart stopped and I held my breath as I waited for him to spring the lock and face me.

  When daylight flooded the trunk, strong unkind hands dragged me out and sat me on the ground. I squinted as my eyes adjusted to the light, and all I saw was the lake in front of me. I thought my time had come and my breathing became shallow and fast, as fear pushed my heartbeat up into my mouth. Pulses of shocked electric-like messages shot through my head and body and the panic began to steal my breath altogether. Then—I blacked out. That was my last memory of being with Kace. He didn’t force me, he didn’t hit me—he just mentally wiped the floor with me.

  CHAPTER 25 - CLEAN AIR

  Gibson

  Three weeks later, Chloe asked me to take her home. I had been staying with Chloe at the facility for ten days to learn how to deal with the issues that she may encounter, and I was given some strategies to help her cope. Forty-eight hours later, we had a plan. Johnny told me Len had told him that Simon was getting restless about not working, but I wasn’t interested. He was being selfish and he knew what side his bread was buttered on. We knew he’d never leave the band. He just had to learn some patience. At least we didn’t have Tori to worry about any more. Her meddling ass was kicked to the touch line as soon as the gigs were over.

  After many discussions, Dr. Owen and Chloe’s parents agreed that I could take her somewhere away from Seattle, where it was secluded and we’d have anonymity. Chloe needed to get stronger and we needed to keep her away from the spotlight.

  So we assembled a mental health team to take with us. They worked with Chloe doing a combination of cognitive behavioral work and psychotherapy so that it could start to manage what had happened to her. Everyone was hopeful they would be able to delve into the past with Chloe, because she needed a lot of support to move forward with her life.

  It was Johnny’s idea to take her to my cabin in Breckenridge. The Colorado mountains are beautiful and I had a thing about cabins. Very few people knew I had this one either, because it was in Johnny’s name to keep the press from hounding. The media had the idea I lived in hotel rooms. I keep a permanent one in New York. ‘Strings’ in Breckenridge was my number one retreat and the place I called home.

  When I told Chloe we were flying to Denver, her brow creased with worry. At that point, she was afraid of her own shadow outside the facility. Once I explained my home was there and the acreage, and that I’d had managed to keep the place secret for four years from the media, I saw her visibly relax. Apart from the guys in the band, Johnny, Jerry and Charlotte, no one knew I was connected to the place.

  “Trust me.” When I whispered softly into her ear, I heard her swallow before she leaned back and gave me a solid look. Chloe’s serious stare pierced my soul and for a few moments I held my breath, because she was my life and she held my future in her hands. Eventually she nodded and I sighed heavily and drew her back into a hug. “I got you, darlin’,” I said affectionately, rubbing her back.

  Travelling to the mountains was the one thing that made me really happy before I met Chloe. Summer was awesome with plenty of stuff going on, camp outs, fishing and hunting and I had some awesome mountain bike trails that I challenged myself on. It made a change from running and with the altitude there it was a tough regime, because although the air was cleaner, it was also thinner and my body had to work harder.

  When Chloe saw the cabin her pretty blue eyes went wide and she placed her hand over her heart. “It’s…it’s beautiful Gibson.” Cocking my head to the side, I had to agree. It was a magnificent 11,000 square foot, Douglas fir log home. Part brick on the bottom and elevated log at the top, it stood more than forty feet from the ground to the roof. A large wrap around deck with multiple seating areas faced the five highest peaks in the awesome mountain range that dwarfed everything before them. In the yard were massive round fire pits and a twelve person hot tub faced five highest peaks in the awesome mountain range that dwarfed everything before them.

  If it looked awesome on the outside, the inside was even more impressive. Floor to ceiling windows, forty feet wide by twenty-five high, brought the mountain peaks into the great room. Impressively decorated, but with comfort and relaxation in mind, the oversized suede deep-pile cushioned couches and plush deep piled rugs in rich reds and creams made the room welcoming. The main suite had a sauna in the bathroom, a small den and an office. On the other side of the great room were five bedrooms with bathrooms and a games room. The great room was open plan with a dining room and kitchen which completed the large space.

  So for three months Chloe, her counsellors and I worked on helping her regain some of her strength. The official line for the media was that M3rCy was having a break due to our grueling tour schedule. The press seemed to accept this and backed off for a while. Len and Mick were still okay about taking a break, Simon was less than impressed, but like I said, he’s a pretty selfish guy, much like I was before I met Chloe.

  Every day Chloe did something new to face her demons, and her strength inspired me. Every night we lay on the round patio bed watching the stars in the night sky on the decking, or while sitting close to each other in the hot tub. Sex was a mute subject. Every night I went to bed with my balls and my dick screaming at me in protest because her hot little body was snuggled close to mine, but there was
no way I was pushing her for anything.

  For a highly sexed guy like me, that was pretty tough to handle, so my right hand and the shower became my intimate date on a very regular basis. Len and I talked about it, because I sometimes wondered if she’d ever want to have sex again.

  “Jeez, Gib…best not let the press get the scoop on this, they’ll have you headlining with impotency due to wearing your dick smooth.”

  Len couldn’t imagine going for five days without sex, never mind almost five months. Until it happened to me, it was beyond my comprehension. I had a newfound respect for monks.

  It was frustrating that they never got to the bottom of the tests they did at the hospital when Chloe was brought in. Dr. Owen said that there was no evidence that Chloe had been sexually abused, and there were no physical marks on her when she was found. When he told me that particular piece of information I wanted to fist pump in celebration, but that would have been distasteful to Chloe and highly inappropriate.

  I’m glad I didn’t, because he then went on to say that just because Chloe had no physical signs and no semen, didn’t eliminate the possibility of assault. Kace could have used a condom and she was missing for five days, so if intercourse had taken place early into the kidnap, there may not necessarily have been anything to see. They did a pregnancy test, which was negative. I hadn’t even considered that outcome. Imagine the feelings involved for Chloe if that had been the case.

  Chloe did tell me and her counsellors that Kace never physically touched her apart from moving her around from place to place, but they told me out of earshot of her that she could be blotting that part out in her mind.

  By late September all the guys in the band were getting restless and I wouldn’t let them visit for fear of knocking back the progress we were making. Len set a meeting for mid-October and I agreed to be there because although I was dealing with Chloe, I knew the time was coming when I’d have to go back to work and I still had obligations to them as well.

  Some of Chloe’s counselling included me, and I hadn’t realized the extent to which her ordeal had affected me. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to trust anyone with Chloe, but the counsellors told me that had to be tested at some point.

  Emma and Lois were still on full pay and stayed with us in Breckenridge, and although they wouldn’t let anyone stay at the hospital, I had figured Chloe was secure there and if I couldn’t get to her, Kace certainly couldn’t.

  Kace—that fucker was still flying under the radar and hadn’t shown himself anywhere, but I had learned through Chloe that I was a patient man. I had confidence that he would fuck up sometime and with every passing day, I got nearer to that day.

  Our time in the cabin was very solemn and quiet at first, but with each passing day it got more and more normal. Music filled the space and I was even playing and writing some songs. I tried to get Chloe to play but she was too embarrassed in front of me. I didn’t press her on that, but I’m not giving hope that one day she would. Sometimes when I looked at Chloe I’d see a frown form and that told me she was having intrusive thoughts about Kace, so I was still treading carefully.

  Chloe went from strength to strength. Her sense of humor and quiet sassiness returned. We had fallen into a routine of running or mountain biking along the trail near our cabin. Situated on four hundred acres, the cabin was very private. Eventually the mental health team retreated and Chloe’s sessions were conducted by phone.

  Spending time with her team had helped Chloe talk openly about most things, and because it was just the two of us when they had gone, she began to touch me naturally. At first it was just an affectionate palm on my face, or patting my abs. It wasn’t until she did this that I realized any physical contact was instigated by me. Once she started touching me I began to feel good about my world again, apart from the fact that my dick thought my brain had stopped communicating with it. It sent constant horny messages of its need to penetrate something.

  My frustration began to mount and I tried hard to manage it. We’d just come back from the mountain trail and I’d been checking out her tight little ass as she struggled to place her bike wheel in the upright stand. Instantly hard, I tried to cover it by turning my hips to the side and focusing on my bike while I tried to get my dick and my feelings under control. Suddenly Chloe slid her hand over my sweat soaked back and I twisted my upper body to look at her.

  “Thank you for bringing me here, Gibson. I sleep like a baby, get tons of exercise, and the company…a girl couldn’t ask for more.”

  “No?” I was the one with a one word reply, because what I wanted to say was this isn’t enough for me, I want more. I need more. Watching her smile with her healthy glow and damp hair at her hairline from exertion made me want to climb inside her. Her appearance just screamed sexual connotation to me.

  Chloe’s face flushed and I guess that she had heard the sexual tension in my husky one word answer. I was fighting for control when she bit her lip, so I turned back and secured the bike and we both fell into an awkward silence that continued until we reached the house. Emma was on the deck and as I made my way to the bedroom to shower, Chloe went out to talk to her.

  Later that evening, after we had dinner, our previous tension seemed to have disappeared. I had other things on my mind because I was feeling a little apprehensive. I was due to leave her and fly down to LA to meet the band.

  I took a couple of hours to do some work to meet obligations I had signed up for before Chloe’s incident. There were a few projects I had agreed to fund overseas, and I hadn’t had the chance to complete the deals with the overseas development guys to maximize the contributions. Chloe was doing some therapeutic creative writing and the house was very quiet. Everyone had gone to their own quarters and when I realized the time, I felt guilty that I’d been in my office so long.

  When I opened the office door, it was dark. Someone had turned off the lights in the great room and my heart raced instantly. Where is Chloe? Running along the corridor with the spiral bannister to my left, I headed toward the stairs. When I saw the glow of the fire from the open plan stairs, I looked down into the great room and the sight I saw made my heart stop.

  Chloe was sitting by the fire wrapped in a white sheet. Her hair was tied in a top knot, and the yellow glow of the huge open fire illuminated the soft skin on her shoulders, giving them a golden sheen.

  Working a swallow, I stood for a moment committing the image to memory. She looked incredible. Chloe was making a brave decision, but one that filled me with trepidation. Gibson Barclay– scared to make a move on a girl. But Chloe wasn’t just ‘a girl’, she was my girl and she had been through hell.

  As I began to move down the stairs, one of them creaked. Cringing at the noise, my eyes flicked back in the direction of Chloe, who turned her head slowly to look at me. I couldn’t see her face because the light from the fire was behind her, but I smiled because I wanted to reassure her. I walked toward her and the nearer I got, the more I could make out her face. Stunningly innocent, serious eyes stared back at me, making my smile stretch wider.

  “Hi.” Her voice was so soft, almost a whisper.

  Crouching down beside her, I took her head in my hands and kissed her gently on the lips.

  “Hi.”

  I had kissed Chloe often in the last few weeks, but it wasn’t really done as a sexual overture. Breaking the kiss, I leaned back to see if she was okay, because this time it was different. Chloe smiled sweetly, leaned forward and kissed me again, this time tracing the seam of my lips with her tongue, and my world shifted on its axis.

  That one little stroke of her tongue had my dick stretching my pants to bursting point. I’ll admit I struggled not to throw her to the floor and roll on top of her, but it was Chloe’s next action that surprised me.

  I had to untangle my legs as she pushed me on my back and reached for the buckle of my belt. Unthreading it, she pulled it clear of the belt loops, folded it in half then pulled it together, making a loud snapping noise. I a
lmost creamed my pants, because the noise coincided with the loosening of the sheet that had been tucked in, covering her body. It cascaded around her waist, exposing her beautiful pert tits and upper body.

  The torment of going at her pace was killing me and I felt terrified that I’d lose control with her, because I wasn’t sure that she wasn’t going to lose confidence and stop at any minute. But she reached for my pant zipper and the pressure of her hand undoing the zipper made me squirm against it and groan loudly. “Fuck, Chloe.” My voice was laced with lust as I watched her seducing me.

  “I need to feel you, Gibson.” What does she mean? She’s undoing my belt and my zipper. She wants to feel my dick?

  “Tell me what you want, Chloe.”

  My body was vibrating with anticipation of her holding me in her hands and after all this time, I was worried that I’d cream right then because after five months, the thought of anyone touching me intimately was almost too much. I wanted to devour her.

  “I want my life back. I want you back. I don’t want him to win.”

  Relief filled me and I closed my eyes, swallowing loudly, because that was what wanted for her as well.

  “You got me, darlin’, you’ve always had me. I never left you.”

  “I know. Thank you. But I want…I want…my Gibson, the man. The sexy, crude, cussing, highly sexy rock god seducer back. I don’t need Gibson the carer anymore.”

  “Oh you want the rock god back now, do you? And…what about what I want, darlin’?” I sounded playful, but I was choking at her bravery and the broken words she struggled to get out. She was expressing what she wanted from me, and I knew I had to go at her pace.

  “You can have anything you want, Gibson. I’m ready.”

  I hummed playfully, pretending to think. “Hmm…anything I want? Um, I’m not sure I know what I want. I mean I don’t need a picture of your pussy…I still have that by the way.” Chloe’s jaw hung and I shot her a wry grin that had her giggling.