“I’ll take you to your apartment for a few things, but you’re staying with me tonight,” he insisted, squeezing my hand tightly.
I didn’t argue. I gave him directions and fell back into the leather seat as he drove. Once we pulled up, he helped me out of the car. My entire body ached. “Isn’t this the player’s apartments?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“You’re staying here?”
“It’s where Rhett placed me until I find my own place. I left so quickly for Florida, I didn’t have time,” I explained.
He looked at me funny. “Doesn’t your dad have a penthouse downtown?”
I unlocked the door, quickly grabbed a bag and began shoving a few items inside. “He sold it. It’s not like we spent enough time in New York. Besides, he likes hotels,” I lied.
He seemed satisfied with the answer. We walked out the door, back to his car, and then he began with more questions. “Do you have a car you want me to have maintained while here? The winters are harsh.”
“No. I left mine in Georgia,” I said, which wasn’t exactly a lie. I did leave it in Georgia. I just left out the part where I left it at the car lot where it was sold.
I was relieved to be back at Todd’s and out of the car. His questions were simple, but for me, they were complicated to answer. I hated lying to him, but I'd promised my family I would keep their secret. I hated that they'd made it my secret. It wasn’t my secret.
Todd rushed me past the security guard at the front door and avoided answering any questions from the elevator attendant who looked at us with confusion. Todd’s face was busted up pretty badly, his shirt ripped halfway from his chest, and his knuckles covered with gauze. I didn’t even want to know what I looked like. I was certain it was bad. Real bad. I could feel gravel in my hair, and my clothes were ripped so badly, I had to hold them in place.
“Let’s get you cleaned up,” Todd said softly, guiding me to the back room.
A large bed sat in the center of the room, covered with blue satin sheets and football shaped pillows. “Is this your room?” I asked.
He nodded, moving me toward the large set of white doors. They opened to an oversized, beautifully decorated bathroom with granite walls and floors. “Wow,” I gasped.
Todd slowly undressed me, his eyes staring into mine with so much remorse it made me queasy. “This isn’t your fault,” I assured him.
He frowned. “Yes, it is.”
“You saved me.”
“You wouldn’t have needed to be saved if you weren’t there.”
My clothes fell to the floor. I stepped out of my pants. Where were my panties? Oh God! Tears began to stream down my face as Todd wrapped his arms around me. “It’s okay. I gotcha.”
He reached behind me, turned on the shower and then backed me slowly under the stream of warm water. He was fully clothed inside the shower with me, causing me to laugh. He smiled, lifted my chin with his finger, and leaned in, pressing his lips against mine.
The kiss was so tender, so needed, my legs nearly melted beneath me. His strong arms gripped me, holding me safely in place as his tongue entangled with mine.
My hands clawed at his body, pulling at the shirt that barely hung onto his skin. My fingers worked vigorously to release his jeans, pushing them down to his ankles. He stepped out, pressed against me, letting his cock twitch at my thigh.
“Are you sure?” he asked, hesitation in his voice. “After…?”
I felt safe. Safer than I’d ever felt before.
Pulling his head down to mine, I whispered, “Make me forget.”
“I don’t have a condom.”
I’d never had sex without a condom, even though I’d been on the pill for years. But I wanted him. I trusted him to keep me safe. “It’s okay, I’m on the pill.”
His hands reached around my thighs, lifting me up from the floor and wrapping me around his waist. He turned, pushing my back into the shower wall as the warm water cascaded over my head and down in between our bodies. Within an instant, he was inside of me, his cock pushing me apart, filling me with the same safe feeling his arms had offered.
My eyes closed. Everything that had happened this evening disappeared. It was just me and Todd. It was just our bodies rocking together, my hips rolling into his, his cock pushing deeper and deeper into me. This was all I needed.
Soft kisses caressed my shoulder as he lifted me away from the wall and held me in his arms. He reached to turn the shower off but didn’t release me. He walked to the bed with me wrapped around him like a fanny pack. My back fell softly against the satin sheets, then he placed a football-shaped pillow underneath my head. I was soaking wet, so was he, but it didn’t seem to matter to either of us. Our bodies never unlatched, his cock never left the warmth of my body as he pinned me beneath him.
Waves of pleasure rolled through me as he thrust slowly, taking his time. His eyes locked onto mine, so blue and full of passion that my orgasm couldn’t be held back. I let go, allowing the pulses to take over, exploding to the place only he could take me. He followed, growling through his release as he filled me with his essence.
I leaned up and kissed him softly on the lips. “Thank you,” I whispered.
“For what?” he asked, kissing me back.
“For everything.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Todd
Every muscle in my body ached as I rolled over to Kat. My phone vibrated on the nightstand next to her. I quickly grabbed it and slid from the bed. Rhett, fuck! I didn’t want to talk to him right now.
I rushed out of the bedroom, away from Katrina, and answered the phone. I didn’t even get a greeting out before Rhett’s voice blasted through the phone. “What the fuck happened last night?”
“What do you mean?” I asked, trying to remain calm.
I didn’t see any press, and the cops were quick to agree the matter had no reason to go public. How did he find out?
“I’m sitting here watching a YouTube video of you fighting street thugs,” he growled.
I slammed my hand into my forehead. It was throbbing from the beating it took the night before. “I can explain,” I said as calmly as I could.
Rhett wasn’t interested in my excuses and continued to rattle about how he’d fucked up letting me leave to go to New York. “Rhett, fucking listen to me!” I shouted into the phone to stop his rant.
The silence on the other end of the phone was long enough to allow me to tell him my side of the story. He listened as I explained my brother’s situation, and how Katrina was being attacked. “Why in the fuck did you take her to that part of town?” he barked.
I had asked myself that question over and over. I felt horrible for what happened to her, what almost happened to her. “She insisted. She takes this babysitting thing pretty fucking serious,” I explained.
“I want you both back here tonight, and you at practice first thing in the morning,” he demanded before hanging up the phone.