Chapter 13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

DARIO

Waking up with a naked Gemma in my arms fills me with happiness. Every part of me aches after last night, and I'm not talking about the sex. No, the sex was phenomenal. The explosion at the arena was a nightmare. Gemma is safe, which means everything.

"You're awake," she mutters. I grin. "What gave me away?"

She snorts. "The hard dick poking me in the butt is a big clue. I mean, I don't know how you could sleep with that throbbing pain."

Chuckling, I roll her onto her back and hover over her. "You mean my throbbing hot rod?" I push against her hip. "It does hurt." I wiggle my brows. "You want to do something about it?"

Her eyes light up as a lazy hand runs down my chest to wrap around me. "I want to lather you up in the shower."

My cock twitches. "Hmm," I nuzzle between her breasts. "The idea of getting you all soapy turns me on." I stroke each of her nipples and grin. "Shower!" With a wince of pain, I get up from the bed.

Gemma's face splits into a grin as she looks at me, especially my twitching dick, which stands up proudly for her.

"Nice." She licks her lips.

"Get out of bed, woman."

Gemma gives me a dirty laugh and follows me into the bathroom. I get a slap on the ass for my trouble.

The shower comes on and I take Gemma's hand and lead her into the shower. The teasing woman grabs the shower gel and squeezes some into her hands. She covers her firm breasts and moans as she rubs them.

Her eyes sparkle with pleasure as she lowers her hands and grabs my cock. I hiss at the feel of her touch, the pleasure shooting into my balls.

Pinning her against the shower wall, my cock releases pre-cum onto her belly as her hands work me over. "I'm going to come if you keep doing that," I warn. Goosebumps race across my skin.

Without warning, Gemma drops to her knees. The water removes the scented gel and then I feel her hot little mouth wrap around the swollen head of my cock. The suction in her mouth is so strong it makes my legs shake.

Fingernails dig into my ass as she loosens her throat and takes all of me, her nose brushing against my pelvis. I grab the shower wall for support as waves of pleasure wash over me.

Gemma's expert mouth works its magic, bringing me to the edge of ecstasy. "I'm going to come." Shards of pleasure shoot from my balls, along my cock and into her mouth.

Gemma's fingers manipulate my balls and the sensitive area just below them as she sucks and swallows. My eyes cross as she gives me a final suck.

"Fuck me," I hiss, dropping to my butt. Gemma giggles, "Did I do that right?"

I let out a laugh. "Honey, I've lost all feeling in my legs."

Crawling into my lap, Gemma curls up against me. I wrap one hand around her back to hold her close and cradle the back of her head with the other. "As soon as I catch my breath, I'll return the favor."

"No." She shakes her head, one hand cupping my cheek. "This is about you. I want to take care of you. Look after the injuries from last night."

"I think I need to go back to bed after that blow job."

Snorting, Gemma wraps a hand around my dick. "I say all this sweet stuff and you tell me you need a nap."

"Babe, I didn't say anything about a nap. After all that sweet stuff, I want to show you how much your words have affected me." I pull her close and kiss her trembling lips. "How about you help me clean up and then I'll make you breakfast? I'll show you my moves later."

Gemma smiles, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "I can't wait to see what moves you have." With a playful wink, she grabs my hand and pulls me to my feet.

During breakfast Gemma told me about the text conversations during the game. I hated that I hadn't been there with her.

Now everything has been tided away, Gemma sits in the big chair with me while Madden and Bradford shoot the shit on the sofa.

I didn't have to cook breakfast, or should I say burn toast, because Bradford had gone out and gotten breakfast for everyone.

Until I had Gemma in my arms, I don't think I'd ever felt satisfied. I'm not even sure I knew what those words meant before Gemma. Resting my chin on Gemma's head, I feel like I'm in a very good place. Of course, it would be better if she didn't have a crazy person after her.

Dodge suddenly enters the apartment with a tense expression on his face. Two detectives follow him.

Gemma sits up on my lap, but I keep my arms around her. I don't want her to go anywhere.

Unable to decide what's going on with Dodge, I turn to the two strangers.

Their badges come out as both Madden and Bradford move to sit in the breakfast nook.

"Detectives Tyler and West," Tyler says.

I wave them over to the sofa where we go over the events of the night before as they focus on Gemma. She moves closer.

"Gemma, we understand this is difficult for you, but can you think of anyone from your past who might hold a grudge? Even something small that might not have fully registered. An old friend. A boyfriend."

I was about to ask if it hadn't registered with Gemma; how could she remember? The grip on my hand stops me. The way she grabs my hand is sudden and unexpected. Dodge notices and steps forward. Both detectives are sitting on the edge of the chair.

"I don't know if this is anything, but I had a best friend when I was growing up. Theresa Malcolm." Gemma glances in my direction.

I smile in encouragement. "It's okay. You're safe here."

Taking a deep breath, Gemma faces the police. "When we were sixteen, Theresa got pregnant. She told me she'd been raped and begged me to help her get an abortion." She swallows hard.

"I didn't know what to do. At first, I told her to tell the police. She didn't want to. She said she was afraid. Finally, I agreed to help her. That included paying for the procedure. I did it on the condition that she talk to a counselor they had at the clinic. She did, and she went through with it anyway. We didn't talk about it for two years."

Gemma becomes quiet and looks at me with sad eyes.

"Sweetheart," I say softly. "You did nothing wrong. Finish your story."

Nodding, she glances at Dodge and my two friends before continuing, "Theresa got drunk on our eighteenth birthdays. She was a sad drunk that day and accused me of killing her baby.

"I was shocked that she would say such a thing after all the tears and begging she'd done for me to help her back then. She said," Gemma winces, "more like she yelled at me that she hadn't been raped. The sex was consensual. She didn't want the baby at the time and knew that I would only help her in a drastic situation. I was horrified and heartbroken. I never spoke to her again."

Madden hands her a tissue. I nod in thanks as I rub her back. "I didn't think about it before because I told myself a long time ago that it wasn't my fault. She lied to me. It was on her."

"What a bitch!" I hiss.

West asks, "Do you know where Theresa is these days?"

"As far as I know, she still lives with her parents." Gemma gives them the address. "She's shorter than me, so I can't imagine it was her who tried to blow up the car."

"It was a big guy," I add. "A little taller than me, and I'm six-two."

"I honestly don't think it's Theresa, but you asked."

I put a hand on the back of Gemma's neck and feel the tension drain from her, which calms me as well.

"We'll check her out. In the meantime, Wyatt Peters has officially hired Ellison Security to protect you."

"He has?" I ask.

"Yes," Dodge answers.

Gemma looks shocked. I slide my hand into hers and intertwine our fingers. I wonder whether she realizes that Wyatt must know about us being together. He isn't a stupid man. If he's hired Elli‐ son, that means he will be the one to get their daily report. I don't mention anything because Gemma has enough to worry about without her job entering the equation.

After leaving Gemma with my two friends as well as Rosie and Dodge, I sit outside Wyatt's office waiting for him to finish a call. I have my words planned. I also have a backup plan that I hope I don't have to use.

"You can go in now," says Louise, Wyatt's executive assistant.

In Wyatt's office he is alone, which I'm relieved about. I'm still annoyed that Dallas talked to Gemma.

"Sit down, Dario," Wyatt says. "I didn't expect to see you today. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. About the reason I'm here." I pause. Wyatt raises a brow.

What the hell. "I'm in love with Gemma." There, I've said it. I grin. "I love her. If one of us has to go, it will be me."

His eyes go wide before a slow grin spread across his face. "The fraternization policy is there to make players think twice about their actions. My daughter is married to a former player. You know Ethan and Riley. Other players have married staffers: Camden and Theo, to name two. My only concern is to protect the staff from being taken advantage of by more than flirting, to put it bluntly. Young players come here; they have fans and puck bunnies throwing themselves at them. The peace has to be kept, hence the policy." He gives me a sharp look. "Don't repeat that."

I grin. "Repeat what?"

"Now that no one has to go, tell me how Gemma is doing."

"She's scared. More so after last night. I don't like leaving her alone."

"But she's not alone now?"

"Hell, no." I pause. "Madden, Bradford, Rosie, and Dodge are with her. I just want to keep an eye on her. It makes me jumpy when she's away from me."

He nods.

"Also," I flinch but force the words out, "I don't appreciate Dallas talking to Gemma about the fraternization policy. You don't employ him. It was out of line."

He frowns. "I didn't know he talked to her. I'll talk to him about it. It was probably bad timing as well."

"Yeah."

"Okay, you guys are back in New York tomorrow for two nights. Gemma will be there as usual." He gives me a hard look. "You can share her room, but there will be no sex, Dario. These are big games."

I nod and try not to laugh.

"I'm serious. Don't make me shove you back in with Madden, and then I'd have to shove Dodge in with Gemma." He raises a brow.

"Fuck no!" I shoot to my feet. "There will be no sex."

"Good. Anything else?"

"Yeah. Thanks for hiring Ellison Security. It means everything."

Wyatt swallows hard. "I'm the boss, Dario. I value my employees. If some asshole goes after one of them, you can bet I'll do everything I can to protect them."

I offer him my hand. "Thank you."

"Get out of here!"

"Yes, boss." I wave and almost get hit in the face with the door as Dallas appears. I narrow my eyes and walk right past the guy I usually talk to.

As I walk away, I hear Dallas ask, "What's wrong with him?"

Wyatt replies, "You want to tell me why you were talking to Gemma?"

I'm not hanging around. I want to get back to my girl.