Gemma's Mate

by Kate Rudolph

  Even with his shifter eyesight, it was difficult to see. Strobe lights flickered, but it was otherwise dark. Dancers danced in the midst of smoke machines, cordoned off by two separate bars. Though Gemma seemed to slice through the crowd with no mind for the people she moved, Mac knew she was completely aware of her surroundings.

  But something was different. He’d never seen her hold herself like this. His assessment was confirmed when a partier stepped into her path and she knocked him aside. That man got right back up and started to swing, but his “Oi!” Died in his throat when Gemma leveled her gaze at him.

  Damn. From the look in the man’s eyes, she was ready and willing to break bones.

  They made it to the VIP section behind the dancefloor. Stairs led up to a curtained private area. The main entrance was guarded by a hulking man that might have been a shifter, but Mac knew he wasn’t a werewolf. A bear, perhaps? He had the bulk for it.

  Gemma looked past him to where a group of men and women sat. They looked like a bunch of gangsters, and the guard called back to the man at the center in Korean. At that man’s command, the guard let them through. Gemma led Mac up the stairs which were lined with white lights and the curtain closed behind them.

  The music was bearable here. Mac could think and his heart no longer beat in time to whatever techno sound played for the masses.

  Gemma looked at the young man sitting on a stool opposite the boss. He seemed to be more decoration than anyone important. “Move.” She commanded. He nearly fell off the seat and scampered back to sit on the armrest of the leather couch next to one of the women who wore a white business suit. She laid a proprietary hand on his leg but kept her eyes on Gemma.

  “I need eyes,” Gemma said.

  “No hello?” The man at the center of the crowd asked. His black hair fell down behind his back except for the bit of fringe flicked to one side. He was wearing eyeliner, and Mac could understand why Gemma had decided against his own makeup. This man in front of him danced on the razor’s edge between handsome and pretty and the aura of danger around him only added to the allure. “Little Gem lost her sparkle?” If his looks weren’t enough, Mac would have bet a hundred quid the man had attended Oxford.

  “You’ve always been a poet, Lee.”

  Lee smiled and his eyes flicked up to Mac before looking back at Gemma. Mac hadn’t been so quickly dismissed in years. “Who’s your friend?”

  Mac watched Gemma’s shoulders roll back and her head tilt to the side. He wished he could see her face. More than that, he wished that she’d given him a little explanation about who they were meeting and why.

  “Am I the type of woman who has friends?”

  “I’m wounded, my love.” As if to prove it, Lee put a hand to his heart. His own minions smiled. “But I don’t for one second believe that you need muscle.”

  “Every woman likes a little muscle.” She looked back at Mac and he saw fire in her eyes. If they weren’t in front of some very dangerous people, he would have wanted to back her against the wall and show her exactly how much muscle he had. She turned back to Lee. “Or a lot.”

  “So that is how it is.” The man next to him placed a hand around Lee’s shoulders and Mac sensed a little jealousy. That gesture was proprietary as hell. But Lee let it stand.

  “You couldn’t handle me.”

  Lee patted the man’s hand twice before the man removed it from Lee’s leg. “Then let us retire and talk business. The children will keep him entertained.”

  “He won’t repeat a word.”

  “No?”

  “Do you think that I would allow that?” Silence hung between them for a moment before Lee relaxed back in his chair.

  “Eyes on what?”

  Gemma pulled a small photo out of one of her pockets and handed it over to Lee. “A fox coming into town in the next few days. I want her unhar—well, alive and not liable to die from her injuries anytime soon.”

  Lee set the photo on the table in front of him. “Why?”

  “High-value recovery. Not my place to ask questions.”

  He threw his head back and laughed, the sound startling similar laughs from his cohort. “Since when?”

  “Call me when your people see her. My number is on the back of the picture.”

  “I haven’t agreed, Gem.”

  Gemma shrugged and stood. “You aren’t the only game in town.”

  That decided him. “The usual price?”

  The question hung for half a second longer than it should have and Mac saw Gemma’s shoulders tense. But she turned to Lee as if nothing was wrong. “If you deliver her to me. Cash if I must collect her myself.”

  Lee nodded. “Fair.”

  She turned around and their eyes met. Mac didn’t know if he saw pain in her eyes or some other undefinable emotion.

  Before he could turn to follow her, Lee spoke once more. "In the spirit of friendship, my love, you may want to blend in for the next few minutes. It seems some of your old friends have come to call. Third floor. Go in any of the rooms and they'll be expecting a show."

  Gemma nodded at Lee and grabbed Mac’s hand. She didn’t take him the way they came, instead exiting the VIP area through a nondescript back staircase. She led him up three flights of stairs and down a hall with black walls splattered with paint illuminated by black lights.

  He hoped it was paint.

  A couple was pressed into the corner of the hallway, the woman’s bare legs around the man’s waist. From the sounds she was making, Mac thought that they were more than snogging.

  He was distracted from the couple by loud steps clanging up the metal stairs. Gemma didn’t bother to glance back, instead grabbing his arm and pulling him forward. Mac had a hundred questions for her but knew it wasn’t the time.

  Except for one thing. “Is fighting our way out an option?”

  “Only as a last resort.”

  She turned them down a side hall, one with doors on either side. Each of the three doors on the left had a red light above the handle. The ones on the right had no markings.

  “Closets,” Gemma nodded to the right. “Stages,” to the left. Mac didn’t know what that meant, but they didn’t have time to discuss it.

  There was no obvious exit from this hall. Were they supposed to hide in a closet until their pursuers left them alone? Mac wasn’t above it, but he knew they needed to act quickly. They only had seconds before they were discovered.

  Gemma stopped before the last door. She turned around and looked at him. “Nigel doesn’t know that Rafe sent the two of us here. Even if those are his wolves, they might let us go without an issue, but I would rather not chance it. We might be safe over there,” she nodded towards the closets. “Or, we are guaranteed safety in here,” she nodded towards the stage. “But there is a price. It may be...uncomfortable.”

  Still completely out of his element, Mac shrugged. “I trust you.”

  Chapter Five

  Gemma almost chose the closet. Even if Nigel’s wolves found them and wanted trouble, they’d be able to fight their way out. It would be bloody, though Gemma doubted that she or Mac would even be scratched. But Nigel would know they were in the city and it would make their job a lot harder.

  She pushed open the door to the stage and led Mac inside. The door closed and locked behind him.

  While it was called a stage, it looked more like a private suite. Light from the club filtered in through frosted glass, illuminating a sumptuous bed covered in a dark duvet. There was a bench at the foot of the bed and plenty of space between it and the glass. Plenty of space to perform.

  Mac looked around while she pressed herself up against the door trying to hear if the wolves were out in the hallway. From the heavy tread of boots, she thought they were.

  She pulled her mobile out of her pocket and dialed Lee’s number. He answered on the first ring. “Do you still protect your performers?” she demanded.

  He barked out a laugh. “The game hasn’t changed, love.”
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br />   She hung up without a goodbye and turned to Mac. “These rooms are part of the draw to this particular club,” Gemma explained. “Lee lets his more amorous guests play out their desires for the entertainment of all. And, since passions are often roused, those performers are given safe passage out of the territory.”

  “We’re giving a sex show to your perverted ex-boyfriend?” To Mac’s credit, he barely sounded incredulous.

  “Lee isn’t my ex. He’s an information broker. Full name James Lee, I’m sure you’ve information on him somewhere in your records.” She wouldn’t examine why her first response was to deny a romantic entanglement. “And we’re not having sex right now. We’re simply making it look that way.”

  Mac smiled, “Seems a more pleasant alternative to being beaten.” He held out a hand. “Can they see us down there? Or just our silhouettes?”

  “Silhouettes only.” She stepped towards him and grabbed his hand. Together they walked to the foot of the bed. It looked like Mac didn’t need any instruction on how to best stage the scene.

  He pushed her up against the window and stopped his lips a centimeter from her own. “So this is what they want to see?” His hands were on her back, one trailing down to cup her ass.

  It took far more effort than it should have for Gemma to stop herself from leaning forward and making the kiss real. Because with his body pressed so close to hers she could barely think about work. This was the very definition of mixing business and pleasure.

  Their display attracted the attention of the spotlight and light bathed the room, illuminating them from behind. But even knowing all of that attention was on them, Gemma could barely hear the music. She was entirely caught up in Mac.

  “I would kiss you,” he promised, “But that is a dance only between us. I don’t want drunken children watching.”

  “Don’t sweet talk me, Mac.” She meant it to come out harsh, not breathless. “And don’t kiss me if you don’t mean it.”

  He smiled and brushed his lips over hers. He was already pulling back by the time she realized what he’d done. “No sweet talk. And you have my word that I will never lie to you again.”

  That vow ricocheted through her and Gemma fisted her hands in his hair, she loved that it was a little longer now than it once had been. Though if she had her way, he’d grow it even longer. She wanted to pull him forward, to make this real. But they couldn’t do that here, not now.

  Not yet.

  “Tell me what you would do if it were only the two of us.” Even knowing the challenge was unwise, she couldn’t stop herself from issuing it.

  Heat flared in his eyes and he sucked in a deep breath, breathing in her scent. Tasting her arousal in the air. “I’m afraid that the first round would be fast. Hard. Desperate.” He tried to turn her around, but Gemma resisted. “I’m trying to show you.”

  Gemma smiled, still resisting. “We’re still in character. And the woman who led you in here doesn’t let a man fuck her like that in front of anyone else.”

  “Is that woman in here with me now?”

  “As far as anyone out there knows.” But that was out there. They didn’t know the truth of the two of them. Gemma didn’t even know what that truth was anymore.

  Mac pushed her back towards the bench at the foot of the bed, but he stiffened when the lights shifted. “Are they going to keep doing that?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  He took a moment and then shrugged and knelt before her. That was a beautiful sight, his dark hair between her knees. He shifted her legs wider, hitching one over his shoulder. “When we’re alone,” he said, rubbing his cheek against her knee. “I’m going to kiss your legs from bottom to top. Slowly. And by the time I put my tongue on you, you’ll be so turned on that you’ll come from one lick.”

  Gemma’s fingers curled into the soft leather of the bench, leaving indents in the fabric. She was wet, ready to let him do whatever he wanted. If only they had a little privacy.

  His fingers traced up the insides of her thigh and Gemma bit back a moan. Mac circled his fingers right over the pressure point and it was too much for Gemma to hold back the sound any longer.

  He kept whispering to her, making dirty promises in the dark that Gemma hoped with all her heart he kept.

  “Pretend you’re coming,” he commanded.

  A little more talking and she wouldn’t need to pretend anything. But Gemma kicked out her leg and clutched him close, letting her body shiver and shake with exaggerated desire.

  Mac rolled his eyes up at her and smiled. “Faker.”

  Gemma laughed, “I do what I must.”

  Mac stood, his fingers trailing up her sides until he stepped back and grasped her hand. Gemma followed but yelped when he picked her up and slammed her back against the frosted glass window. Instinctively she wrapped her legs around him, feeling the hard length of his cock through his trousers.

  “I haven’t finished.”

  Gemma held on tight and dug her head into the crook of his neck, breathing his scent in. If he could make her feel like this with her clothes on, she was desperate to know how they would feel naked.

  The man had learned a lot in eight years.

  Suddenly, the room went dark, the only light now flickering in from the dance floor below. Mac put her down and they stepped away from the glass. “Were we not entertaining enough?”

  Gemma shook her head. “Just enough, I think. We’ll wait for the sign from Lee. Two flashing red lights means it’s safe to leave.”

  Once the light flashed, they made their way back to the flat. Mac was trying his hardest not to concentrate on the swell of Gemma’s ass in her tight jeans or to think about the sounds she made while they played for the crowd. Unfortunately, it was like trying to ignore an itch. The more he tried, the harder he became.

  He followed Gemma up the stairs and locked the door behind them. She flipped on the lights in the kitchen and turned around to face him.

  She was going to tell him it had all been an act, that nothing would ever happen between them. He’d earn her trust, her love, eventually, but he knew that he needed to respect whatever she said next.

  “I don’t want to be angry about the past anymore, Colin.” And he knew she was serious when she used his name.

  “I’m glad to hear that.” He was still braced for the rejection and nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt her hand on his chest. When had she crossed the room?

  “There’s no more work that we can do until tomorrow. So why don’t we tuck in for the night?” She played with the button on his shirt, twirling it between two fingers. “My bed is more than big enough for both of us.”

  It took Mac a moment to process what she meant. Even with her fingers caressing his shirt, he almost couldn’t believe what she was saying. Taking his hesitation for rejection, she began to pull her hand back, but Mac snatched it in his own before she could pull away completely.

  He wanted her more than he’d ever wanted anything. But they couldn’t move forward until they took a step back. “I want you, Gemma. But not only for tonight. And I’ve been a damned fool to let us wallow like we have.”

  She pulled her hand away and Mac gave no resistance. But she didn’t step back. “What are you asking from me?” For the first time on their trip, she sounded almost lost, confused. As if she couldn’t contemplate whatever this was between them lasting.

  “If you just want a fuck, find someone else.” It tore Mac up to say it. The barbarous wolf inside of him would rather tie her to his bed and convince her to have him. But that would never work. Not with her. And she was the only one that mattered.

  Desire flared in her brown eyes. “It’s not just a fuck, Colin. It never has been between us.”

  She took his hand and led him to her room, closing the door behind them. She didn’t bother to turn on the light, but their eyes were good enough to see everything. Mac would have loved for her to strip down for him under the bright sunlight, but that was for later.

&n
bsp; Now he needed to taste her.

  She reached for her shirt to pull it over her head when Mac said, “Wait. Let me.” He needed to control this, to take things at his speed. If he didn’t cage the beast within, he would have her bent over and be sunk in balls deep in seconds. He was hard for her, ready, but he didn’t want to waste this night.

  He grabbed the hem of her black top and pulled it over her head, slowly exposing her beautiful brown skin to his hungry eyes. He reached both arms around and undid the clasp of her bra, pulling it forward and leaving her naked from the waist up.

  Mac took a moment to admire her. Gemma’s breasts were full, more than he could cup in his hands, and so, so soft. He leaned forward, taking one of her nipples into his mouth and rolling the peak around his tongue until it stiffened.

  Gemma cupped a hand to his head and moaned, “I thought you said the first time would be fast.”

  Mac smiled around her and pulled back, “I don’t think you’d like it if I came after two minutes inside of you.”

  “You sound like you haven’t had any in ages.” She angled her head down and kissed him, their lips dancing together.

  “No,” Mac said on a breath. “Not in about two years. Maybe more.”

  She stilled. “Were you merely biding your time before I became willing?” Her words would have sounded harsher if she hadn’t half-panted them.

  But Mac didn’t want any more misunderstandings between them. “How could I want anyone else when I know how good it is with you?”

  He didn’t give her time to respond. Instead, he reached down and undid the buckle of her trousers and pushed them down to expose the rest of her to the room. He pushed her back gently until she sat on the edge of the bed.

  “You’re a bit overdressed,” she complained.

  Mac pulled off his shirt and through it somewhere across the room. “Better?”

  “Almost.” But she didn’t insist on anything more.

  Mac knelt before her and nudged her legs apart. Gemma didn’t resist, letting him expose her to his desperate male gaze. This felt nothing like their show for those perverts in the club. Now, alone with this beautiful, curvy goddess, Mac felt the intimacy of the act.