Gunnin' for You (Rolling Thunder series Book 4) (13 page)

Chapter Seventeen

Emma woke up to warm lips pressing against her neck. She smiled as she felt a warm, hard erection poking at her bottom. She wiggled her bottom enough to let Gunnar know she was awake, only to be pushed onto her stomach as his body covered hers from behind.

“When were you going to tell me you moved in?” His voice was sleep groggy, but very, very sexy, whispering in her ear.

“I didn’t move in. I just brought a few things.” Her voice soft and the smile gone from her face she sobered. “It’s all I have now.”

“We’ll get you new clothes. Heck, you can come to the shop and pick out anything you want. You’ll be a biker babe from head to toe.”

Emma giggled then sighed.

“Why didn’t you say anything when we got home?” Gunnar ground into her ass, teasing her with his erection.

Emma smirked. “I came in to take a shower, and as I recall, you joined me and weren’t interested in talking. It would have been hard for me to say anything with your cock in my mouth.”

Good point. He had joined her in the shower with the intent to ask her about her clothes hanging in the closet, but as soon as he saw her naked, he forgot about anything other than sliding into her somewhere. She turned around as he stepped in the shower and dropped to her knees almost instantly and started sucking him off. He was just a man after all. When a gorgeous woman dropped to her knees and put her mouth on his cock, there wasn’t another thought in his head. Sad, but true.

“So, if it had happened after the fire, I would have always worried you moved in because of the fire. Now, I won’t have to worry about it because I know you want to be here with me. That’s true isn’t it, Em? You want to be here with me?”

Emma wiggled her ass against him, as much as she could while pinned to the mattress with his body.

“I told you, I didn’t move in. I just brought a few things for the weekend, and maybe next week too.” She groaned as he rubbed against her.

Gunnar chuckled. “I love the way you think, Em.”

Gunnar slid his hand down between Emma and the mattress, finding her opening and slid his finger inside. Emma heard him let out a breath. “Fuck, baby, you’re so wet for me. That drives me insane.”

“It seems as though you’re ready too. What are you waiting for?”

With a groan, Gunnar raised his hips, slid his hand between Emma and himself, fisted his cock and pumped a couple of times and maneuvered it down between Emma’s legs. He rolled his hips forward and easily slid into her wetness with a groan.

Emma whimpered again and fisted the sheets in her hands. She could feel the power in his thighs as he thrust into her, the corded muscles of his arm against her hip. And his fingers—God his fingers between her legs were driving her mad, combined with his cock sliding deep inside of her—there were no words.

Gunnar started a frenzied pace, both of them sweaty and hot. Emma gasped as she flew over the edge again just as Gunnar thrust one last time. Holding himself inside, she felt his cock jerk and pulse as he spent himself inside her. He fell on top of her, his mouth by her ear, his breaths jerky and shallow.

“Fuck, baby. That…fuck.”

Yeah, that’s how she felt.

Grabbing a cup from the cupboard, Gunnar filled his cup, topped off Emma’s and walked to the table to top off JT’s. He brought the pot back to the coffee maker and grabbed the bacon off the counter while Emma pulled the last of the pancakes from the griddle. They all sat to eat.

“So, what’s up for today?”

Emma sighed. “Well, I need to go by the house. I only brought one load of my clothes over. I have a lot left at Ashley’s, if they aren’t ruined. I want to see what it looks like in the daylight. And depending on what happens there, the rest of my day is free.”

“I’ll go with you to the house. I already called Dad and told him I needed to be with you today. Even though it’s a busy time of year, the college kids can change oil and spark plugs, so they should be okay.”

“Gunnar, you don’t have to take off if you don’t want to. I can deal.”

“I don’t want you to. I want to be there. And, I called Uncle Bryce this morning. He and Angie own apartment complexes. They have a nice, two bedroom that Ashley and Ron can move into until whatever repairs to the house are completed. He won’t hold them to a one-year lease. So, when you speak to Ash, let her know that so she isn’t stressing about that. Luckily, they packed for a whole weekend, and from what you told me, took almost everything Tyler needs with them, so they should be set for a little while. Until insurance comes through and they can shop to replace things.”

“Oh, Gunnar.” Emma shot up and hugged Gunnar. She squeezed him tight as he pulled her onto his lap. Emma had tears swimming in her eyes when she pulled back to look at Gunnar. “Thank you so much for helping Ashley and Ron. Thank you.”

Gunnar reached up and swiped at a tear falling down Emma’s cheek. He kissed her nose and pulled her in tight with his other arm. “Don’t thank me. I’m happy to help. I’m sure they’re feeling helpless being so far away. I know it doesn’t help that Ron’s mother isn’t very loving towards Ashley, so I wanted to be able to relieve some burden. It’s all I can do for them.”

“It’s so much, really…so much. Thank you.”

Emma hugged him again and moved to her spot at the table. Wow.

They cleaned up the dishes after breakfast and went to Ron and Ashley’s to assess the damages. They still were not allowed inside the house; the fire investigators were inside at the moment. The back bedrooms seemed to be intact from the outside, but the fireman they spoke to said the items inside would probably be smoke damaged. So, Emma was going to need to replenish her clothing. They waited around hoping to hear what the investigators found out.

“Do you think your Uncle Bryce has the unit ready for them to come back in the next day or two?”

“He said he had a couple of units available, so I would imagine they’re ready. I’ll call him and check on it.”

Gunnar walked a few steps away to call Bryce and find out about the apartment. Emma turned and looked at the house, waiting for the investigators to come out.

“What happened, Em?”

Emma’s eyes grew large and her mouth dropped open. What the heck? She planted her hands on her hips and glared at Greg.

“What the hell are you doing here? I thought I made myself perfectly clear, I have no intention of ever getting back together with you.”

“Em. I’m sorry. If you’ll just talk to me and let me explain, we can work things out.”

“Greg, there is nothing to work out. I have no intention…” Heaving out a breath, “We have nothing together, and I realize now we never did.”

“Em, that’s not true; we were together for three years. We’re good together, really good.”

“No, Greg, we weren’t. You were good going whenever and wherever you wanted to. Cheating, lying, and who knows what else. Your family never liked me, I never liked them. I think that’s a huge sign. Now, go away and leave me alone.”

“You think he’s going to make you happy?”

Greg jerked his head in Gunnar’s direction. Gunnar was watching, still on his phone, leaning against a large tree. Emma looked at him, grinned and nodded, and then turned her head to look at Greg.

“Yes. He makes me very happy. His family is good to me, good to each other. They’ve made me feel very welcome already.”

“I believe the lady told you to get lost, though she’s been so nice about it and clearly, you are so dense that someone needs to be very, very clear about it. So allow me to be perfectly clear. If I see you anywhere near Emma, Ashley, Ron or Tyler, I will make very sure you leave with a permanent reminder of why that was a very bad idea. Understood?”

“Threatening? Nice, I’ll be sure to let the cops know you threatened me with bodily harm.”

Gunnar lifted his hand in the air and crooked his fore and middle fingers in a gesture to call someone forward.

A cop walked up behind Greg. “Hey Gunnar, Emma, how you today?”

“Good. This is Greg. He’s Emma’s ex-boyfriend and he doesn’t seem to know what the words, ‘I never want to see you again’ mean. Do you think you can help him, Uncle Tommy?”

Greg turned to look at Officer Tommy Sheppard. “That so? How is it you don’t understand when a woman tells you she doesn’t want to see you again?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Of course, I understand. I just want her to sit and talk to me and she won’t.”

“Well, there isn’t a law forcing her to sit and talk to you, so if she says no, then no it is. If you continue to bother her, I can assist her in obtaining a restraining order. For that matter, maybe you need to come and sit with me for a few minutes and tell me where you were last night. Let’s go have a conversation, shall we?”

“I’ll have you know I’m an attorney in Chicago, so I won’t be intimidated.”

“No intimidation at all, mister…?”

“Graff.”

“Mr. Graff, we have been questioning anyone that has anything to do with Ashley, Ron, or Emma. Since it’s pretty clear that you have been trying to get her attention and not succeeding, I think it prudent that you and I have a conversation about where you were last night.”

Chapter Eighteen

Greg glared at Tommy for a few beats before turning his glare on Gunnar. When Gunnar put his arm around Emma and pulled her into his body and kissed the top of her head, Greg turned and walked to Tommy’s cruiser to have that conversation.

Gunnar squeezed Emma again. “You good?”

Emma whispered, “Yeah. You don’t think he would have done this, do you?”

Gunnar shrugged. “I don’t know, babe. You know him better than I do. Do
you
think he could have done this?”

Emma looked at the burned out house and closed her eyes. “He’s spoiled and likes to get his way, but I don’t think he would resort to this. It seems too random for him. And, even though he’s a giant asshole, he wouldn’t put a baby in danger like that.”

“Unless he drove by and saw them packing up. We’ll see what Uncle Tommy has to say when he’s finished talking to him.”

A fire investigator walked out of the house, carrying bags of evidence, followed by three assistants. Each of them carried large cases and boxes to a waiting truck. Emma and Gunnar saw the fireman they spoke to last night speaking with the investigator and Gunnar took Emma’s hand and walked toward him, hoping for some news. The fireman looked over and saw them walking toward him and he held up his hand signaling them to wait a moment. He finished his conversation with the investigator while Emma and Gunnar waited for him to come to the edge of the barricade to speak with them.

“Good morning, folks. How are you today?”

“We’re good. Can you tell us anything?”

The fireman looked at both Gunnar and Emma and nodded once. “It
was
arson. The accelerant was in a clear bottle. Doubtful we’ll get any fingerprints with the fire, it burned hot. The living room sustained the majority of the damage; however, the remainder of the house is smoke damaged. The back bedrooms may be able to be cleaned, but the contents are ruined—not just by the fire, but the water as well. My assistants and I took as much evidence as we could gather and will look it over, compare it with any other arson cases in the area and look for any trace evidence. It’ll be some time before you can get in there. And I suspect your insurance adjuster will need to see things as they are, so I wouldn’t do anything until they can see it. Sorry folks, I know this is difficult.”

Emma offered him a small smile and held her hand out to shake his. “Thank you for the information, we appreciate it.”

Gunnar also shook his hand and he and Emma walked back to his truck. “Okay, so why don’t you call Ashley and give her this news, tell her about the apartment and ask if she knows when they’ll be back. Then, I’ll call Bryce and make sure the unit is ready for them.” Gunnar kissed her forehead and pulled his phone out of his pocket. “I’m going to call Dad right now. He and Mom are worried about you.”

Emma sat in Gunnar’s truck, staring at Ashley and Ron’s house with a lump in her throat. She hit Ashley’s number and took a deep breath waiting for her to answer.

“Hey Em, any news?”

“Hey, Ashley. Gunnar and I are at the house right now. The investigators just left and confirmed it was arson. They said the living room is damaged, and anything left in the house is probably lost from the smoke, fire, and water. I’m so sorry, Ash.”

Emma sat twirling her hair around her fingers as she quietly listened to Ashley cry. Her heart was breaking for her sister. After Ashley composed herself, she said to Emma, “I don’t even know where to begin. Where will we live in the meantime?”

“Ash, Gunnar’s Uncle Bryce owns apartment complexes and they have a unit available for you and Ron. It’s a two bedroom and Gunnar says they’re nice units. It’s ready when you get back here.”

Hearing her sister sob on the phone caused Emma’s tears to flow freely. “Oh, gosh, tell Gunnar thank you so much. When I get back, I’ll give him a big hug. I feel relieved. Now, we’ll just need something to sleep on.”

Emma’s head popped up, “Ash, I have all my furniture in storage back in Chicago. I’ll go and get it for you. When do you think you’ll be home?”

“Emma, that’s a long way for you to go. I don’t want to put you out.”

“No. I’m doing it. Besides, it’ll save me from paying for the storage unit. My furniture is newer and nice and it’s sitting in a storage unit not being used. I insist. I’ll have it here when you get back. It makes me feel like I’m helping in some way.”

Gunnar quietly climbed into the truck and sat listening to Emma talk to her sister—so eager to help, no matter the burden to herself. No way in hell was she going back to Chicago on her own. Not with that asshole Greg creeping around.

Emma hung up and rested her head against the back of the seat. Gunnar reached over and placed his hand on the top of her head, massaging it. They sat quietly for a few minutes before Gunnar broke the silence.

“You’re not going to Chicago by yourself. I’ll go with you. We’ll leave early tomorrow morning. We can be in Chicago by eleven if we leave by seven. We can load up the trailer and be home in the evening. Or, better yet, if you want to take off work on Monday, we can spend the night in Chicago, go to dinner, stay in a nice hotel, and come home on Monday. You can show me where you used to hang out.”