Freeing Her (8 page)

“
Oh, yeah? Well, for your
information, my
dad
doesn’t give a rat’s ass about me. He thinks I’m nothing but
a pain in the ass. I don’t even speak to him!” And then her fingers
covered the lips he was dying to touch as the pink coloring her
cheeks turned ashen. She’d never breathed a word about her past to
anyone. Ever. Her hands flew to her head as she stood there,
shocked that those secretive words had rushed past her lips, words
she kept tightly locked away from everyone.

She sucked in her breath and darted out of
the room, knowing it was silly to do so, because she had no idea
where she was going. She opened the first set of double doors she
saw. Pushing one wide enough for her to slip through, she stepped
inside and kept moving. She didn’t stop until she reached a huge
window that overlooked the park and stared at the view as her
ridiculous actions replayed themselves in her head.

Damn it, Gabby, what the hell were you
thinking?

“
What exactly did Danny do
to you, Gabriella?”

The words were soft and the fact that he’d
used her full name didn’t register. But the question itself did. It
sounded like he screamed it at her.

“
He didn’t do anything to
me!” she shouted.
Deny. Deny.
Deny.

“
Yes, he did. Your words
contradict your actions.”

She pushed her tangled hair off her face and
that’s when he caught a glimpse of her scars. His hand wrapped
around hers and he pulled it toward him. With his index finger, he
lightly probed the raised lines left behind by the box cutter. She
tried to wrench free from his grasp, but he wouldn’t let her.

“
Oh, Gabriella. Everyone
carries scars. You, of all people, should know that.”

“
Yeah, well, had I been
smart enough to know I needed to run the blade in the direction of
my veins, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

“
Is that what you wanted?
Would you have preferred death?”

“
At one time, yes. But I
don’t feel that way that anymore. Having experienced that gave me
my life’s mission. To make sure no one ever has to go through what
I did and deal with the shit the way I did.”

Kolson furrowed his brow as he stared at
her. “What did that bastard do to you?”

In a low voice fraught with unease, she
said, “Don’t you remember what I told you, Skippy? I’m the great
secret-keeper. I’ll never tell.”

Kolson took a deep breath and clenched his
teeth. Gabby saw the tiny muscle in his jaw twitch.

“
Yeah, you will. One day
I’ll get it out of you.”

“
Oh? How’re you going to
do that?”

He blinked, once, and then said, “Like
this.” The hand that was holding hers tugged her hard and she fell
against him, right into his arms. Before she knew what he’d
planned, his mouth crashed into hers, and he kissed her. Hard.
Without apology. Taking everything he wanted. And he smiled inside
when he felt her respond. Her arms weren’t gentle when they grabbed
him around his neck. She pulled him closer, as if that were even a
possibility.

Gabby sighed against his lips and realized
she had been kissed in the past, but never like this. Kolson kissed
her with ruthless precision, exacting everything he wanted from
her, his tongue merciless against hers as he tantalized and teased
her into a state of sexual need. Without any deliberation, her
hands fingered their way into his thick hair and seized it by the
fistfuls as he continued to caress her mouth with his own. Dizzy
with passion, all thoughts of resistance were gone as Kolson
grabbed a chunk of her hair and tugged her head back. Her lips were
puffy and glistening from his kisses. He took the tip of his tongue
and ran it beneath the curve of her lower lip, ever so slightly, so
she barely felt it. He heard the whistle of her breath as she
inhaled, and he heard it again when he repeated the motion on her
upper lip.

She looked like a picture, posing in his
arms, pink and flushed from his kisses and he had an urge to kiss
her for hours. But he didn’t. He brought her hands from his head
back in front of her and she opened her eyes.

Gabriella was a passionate woman, and Kolson
had just unleashed that passion. There was no telling what would
happen if he really got down to business with her.

He lifted her arm. Turning it so her scars
faced upward, he dropped his head and ran his lips over them,
barely touching them. Gabby’s breath rushed through her teeth in a
hiss, but Kolson didn’t stop. He took her wrist and rested his
stubbled cheek against it momentarily and then let it slide across
his face, before moving to kiss it again. This time, his tongue
peeked out and painted along the lines of each jagged edge, right
before his mouth closed over the group of them and sucked. Gabby
squirmed, not from discomfort or unease, but from sexual tension.
Her skin grew taut as goosebumps erupted along the soft flesh of
her inner arm. Kolson’s lips moved from her scars up her arm to the
crease of her elbow, whispering over her sensitive skin, sending
shivers through her body. By now she was panting. Her hand moved to
his shirt and crumpled a fistful as she moaned beneath the slight
workings of his tongue and lips.

How could he turn her on by licking those
awful scars? They had always repulsed Gabby and made her ashamed of
herself, and here she was feeling more sexually aware than she ever
had in her life.

“
Gabriella, tell me. Are
you wet for me?”

“
Yes,” she
moaned.

“
Has anyone ever kissed
you like this before?”

“
No,” she breathed. The
air rasped through her lungs and she squeezed her thighs together,
trying to ease the ache he’d stirred up.

“
One day you’re going to
tell me all of your secrets.”

His mouth skimmed up to her shoulder and his
tongue left a hot, wet trail as he licked.

“
You’re a very sensuous
woman, Gabriella. Soon, I’m going to unleash that passion. I want
to hear you scream my name when you come on my tongue. Have you
ever come on anyone’s tongue before?”

“
No.”

What she wanted to say was that she’d like
to come on his tongue right now. She refrained because was ashamed
at her response and she didn’t even know this man, yet he was doing
maddening things to her body, wicked things that she wanted more
of.

Then he was back to kissing her mouth,
demanding everything she could give. And she gave. Without
hesitation. He forced his knee between her legs and she rubbed
herself against him, but it wasn’t enough to give her relief. Heat
burned through her as she gave herself into her desire, letting
herself fall into him, but suddenly the kiss ended. She opened her
eyes to see him looking down at her with a shrouded expression.

“
Some secrets aren’t meant
to be kept, Gabriella. Some are meant to be shared. And I intend to
discover all of yours. Not only are you going to tell me, you’re
going to pant and beg for me to do things to you before you shout
them to me. And by the time I’m through, I’ll know all your
secrets. Every. Single. One. And you know something else? You won’t
regret for one minute that you told me. And that’s a
promise.”

Chapter Seven

Kolson escorted
Gabby
down to the waiting car and lectured
her on the way about the dangers of not only running alone but also
of not carrying a phone with her.

“
Stop lecturing me. I’m
not twelve.”

“
Then stop acting like
it.”

“
Who do you think you are?
You don’t own me. And you can’t tell me what to do. I know it
wasn’t the smartest thing to run when it was so dark out, but
…”

“
Wait! Did I just hear you
agree with me?” Kolson asked.

“
You are the most
annoying, irritating man.”

“
And you are the most
stubborn woman who has no concern for her safety.” By this time,
they had reached the car. Kolson opened the door for Gabby and told
Sam to take her home.

“
Good morning, Dr.
Martinelli,” Sam greeted her. “Hope you’re well today.”

“
Thank you, Sam. I am, now
that your bossy boss has relinquished his hold on me. I hope you
are also well.”

“
Yes, ma’am.” He laughed.
“Mr. H. says I’m to wait and then take you to work.”

“
You don’t have to do
that. Besides, I need to stop and buy a phone on the
way.”

“
Yes, ma’am, I do. Mr.
H.’s orders. And that won’t be a problem at all.”

Gabby people watched as Sam drove through
the increasing traffic. Pedestrians were already dressed in suits
and work attire, carrying briefcases as they hustled down the
sidewalks. Most talked on phones as they walked. The avenue was
clogged with a sea of yellow for as far as Gabby could see,
indicating the enormous number of taxis in the city.

Gabby figured Sam would be a good source of
information for her. “So Sam, tell me about Mr. H.”

Sam’s eyes caught hers in the mirror. “What
do you want to know?”

“
What does he
do?”

“
Well, ma’am, he works at
HTS.”

“
And what’s
that?”

“
It’s this car service,
ma’am.”

“
Oh.”

“
You know, Hart
Transportation Service? It’s the biggest car service in New York
City,” Sam said with pride.

“
I see. Have you worked
for Kolson for a long time?”

“
Yes, ma’am. Well, for as
long as he’s had HTS. I worked for his father before
that.”

“
Oh, so you’ve known him a
while?”

“
Yes, ma’am. Here we are,
ma’am.” Gabby didn’t live very far from Kolson.

“
Um, Sam, you can call me
Gabby.”

“
How about if I just call
you Dr. M.?”

Gabby laughed. “I guess that’ll work fine.
I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“
Take your time, Dr. M.
I’m in no hurry.”

Gabby didn’t want to take advantage of
Kolson’s generosity, so she rushed to get ready for work. By the
time she got back to the car, she was huffing. Sam said, “I told
you not to rush, Dr. M.”

“
Yes, but I am running a
bit late.”

“
Well, I’ll have you at
your office in a jiff.” On the way, they made a quick stop at the
cell phone store where she purchased a new phone. It was an
unexpected expense that angered her. She cursed Danny as she exited
the store, especially since he now had her phone number. She
would’ve loved to have changed it, but that was impossible since it
would impact all her patients.

Running late had forced her to reschedule
her first patient and now her day was going to be all scrambled up.
Gabby normally hated disorder, so this further soured her already
unpleasant mood. Danny had tossed a damn monkey wrench into what
were usually smoothly run days, starting with that stupid hangover
the other morning. And it had been downhill ever since.

To make matters worse, upon unlocking her
office door, she found a past due notice for her rent taped to it.
She was behind on all her bills so she was going to have to figure
something out regarding her finances. Last month, her accounts
receivables didn’t come close to covering her rental fees. Mentally
ticking off all her nonessential expenses, she was down to nil. She
had cut out coffee purchases, and the only time she’d spent any
extra money recently was the night she’d gone to that bar—and not
even then as Kolson paid that tab. She didn’t know what else she
could possibly cut. The last time she’d spent money on a haircut
had been months ago, and that was at a cheap walk-in place.

A long low sigh escaped her when she looked
at her desk. It was piled with medical journals, charts and files,
among them one holding the bills that were making her brain hurt.
Disarray did not sit well with her, and she never left her desk
this messy so she hurried to the mountain of clutter and started to
rearrange things. Her life was starting to resemble her
desk—cluttered and chaotic. Ever since Danny reappeared, things
were topsy-turvy. She needed to pull herself together.

The buzzer sounded, indicating her first
patient had arrived. She was surprised because the appointment
wasn’t for another hour.

Poking her head around the corner, she was
getting ready to say, “Hi, Mrs. LaRue.” But it wasn’t Mrs. LaRue.
Gabby was surprised to see a young woman standing there. Huge brown
eyes shadowed by purple half moons stared back at her from a tiny
face. Her eyes were sunken and haunted looking and Gabby thought if
she got any smaller she would poof into thin air.

“
Hi, can I help
you?”

“
M-my name is Juliana and
Case told me about you.”

It was the girl that Case was hoping would
show at the NA meeting.

“
Oh, yes. Hi, Juliana.
Please come in. I’m Gabby. Have a seat.”

Gabby knew the girl was in trouble. She had
all the physical signs: sweating, tremors, rubbing the arms, runny
nose, and agitation.

“
Juliana, is your stomach
hurting?”

“
Yes,” she whimpered. Her
arms hugged her body. “I want to quit. I do.”

“
Can I take you some place
that will help you? They’ll make your withdrawal easier. But if I
do, Juliana, you have to promise me that you’ll follow up with the
treatment. And that you’ll go to Case’s NA group.”