Bared to You - Chapter 6

“Hey, Dad. I caught you.” I adjusted my grip on the
phone receiver and pulled up a stool at the
breakfast bar. I missed my father. For the last four
years we’d lived close enough to see each other
at least once a week. Now his home in Oceanside
was the entire country away. “How are you?”
He lowered the volume on the television.
“Better, now that you’ve called. How was your first
week at work?”
I went over my days from Monday through
Friday, skipping over all the Gideon parts. “I really
like my boss, Mark,” I finished. “And the vibe of the
agency is very energetic and kind of quirky. I’m
happy going to work every day, and I’m bummed
when it’s time to go home.”
“I hope it stays that way. But you need to make
sure you have some downtime, too. Go out, be
young, have fun. But not too much fun.”
“Yeah, I had a little too much last night. Cary and
I went clubbing, and I woke up with a mean
hangover.”
“Shit, don’t tell me that.” He groaned. “Some
nights I wake up in a cold sweat thinking about
you in New York. I get through it by telling myself
you’re too smart to take chances, thanks to two
parents who’ve drilled safety rules into your DNA.”
“Which is true,” I said, laughing. “That reminds
me…I’m going to start Krav Maga training.”
“Really?” There was a thoughtful pause. “One of
the guys on the force is big on it. Maybe I’ll check
it out and we can compare notes when I come out
to visit you.”
“You’re coming to New York?” I couldn’t hide my
excitement. “Oh, Dad, I’d love it if you would. As
much as I miss SoCal, Manhattan is really
awesome. I think you’ll like it.”
“I’d like anyplace in the world as long as you’re
there.” He waited a beat, then asked, “How’s your
mom?”
“Well…she’s Mom. Beautiful, charming, and
obsessive-compulsive.”
My chest hurt and I rubbed at it. I thought my
dad might still love my mom. He’d never married.
That was one of the reasons I never told him about
what happened to me. As a cop, he would’ve
insisted on pressing charges and the scandal
would have destroyed my mother. I also worried
that he’d lose respect for her or even blame her,
and it hadn’t been her fault. As soon as she’d
found out what her stepson was doing to me,
she’d left a husband she was happy with and filed
for divorce.
I kept talking, waving at Cary as he came
rushing in with a little blue Tiffany & Co. bag. “We
had a spa day today. It was a fun way to cap off
the week.”
I could hear the smile in his voice when he said,
“I’m glad you two are managing to spend time
together. What are your plans for the rest of the
weekend?”
I hedged on the subject of the charity event,
knowing the whole red carpet business and
astronomically-priced dinner seats would just
highlight the gap between my parents’ lives. “Cary
and I are going out to eat, and then I plan on
staying in tomorrow. Sleeping in late, hanging out
in my pajamas all day, maybe some movies and
food delivery of some sort. A little vegetating
before a new work week kicks off.”
“Sounds like heaven to me. I may copy you
when my next day off rolls around.”
Glancing at the clock, I saw it was creeping
past six. “I have to get ready now. Be careful at
work, okay? I worry about you, too.”
“Will do. Bye, baby.”
The familiar sign-off had me missing him so
much my throat hurt. “Oh, wait! I’m getting a new
cell phone. I’ll text you the number as soon as I
have it.”
“Again? You just got a new one when you
moved.”
“Long, boring story.”
“Hmm…Don’t put it off. They’re good for safety
as well as playing Angry Birds.”
“I’m over that game!” I laughed and warmth
spread through me to hear him laughing, too. “I’ll
call you in a few days. Be good.”
“That’s my line.”
We hung up. I sat for a few moments in the
ensuing silence, feeling like everything was right
in my world, which never lasted long. I brooded on
that for minute; then Cary cranked up Hinder on
his bedroom stereo and that kicked my butt into
gear.
I hurried to my room to get ready for a night with
Gideon.
“Necklace or no necklace?” I asked Cary, when
he came into my bedroom looking seriously
amazing. Dressed in his new Brioni tux, he was
both debonair and dashing, and certain to attract
attention.
“Hmm.” His head tilted to the side as he studied
me. “Hold it up again.”
I lifted the choker of gold coins to my throat. The
dress my mom had sent was fire engine red and
styled for a Grecian goddess. It hung on one
shoulder, cut diagonally across my cleavage, had
ruching to the hip, and then split at my right upper
thigh all the way down my leg. There was no back
to speak of, aside from a slender strip of
rhinestones that connected one side to the other
to keep the front from falling off. Otherwise, the
back was bared to just above the crack of my
buttocks in a racy V-cut.
“Forget the necklace,” he said. “I was leaning
toward gold chandeliers, but now I’m thinking
diamond hoops. The biggest ones you’ve got.”
“What? Really?” I frowned at our reflections in
my cheval mirror, watching as he moved to my
jewelry box and dug through it.
“These.” He brought them to me and I eyed the
two-inch hoops my mother had given me for my
eighteenth birthday. “Trust me, Eva. Try ’em on.”
I did and found he was right. It was a very
different look from the gold choker, less glam and
more edgy sensuality. And the earrings went well
with the diamond anklet on my right leg that I’d
never think of the same way again after Gideon’s
comment. With my hair swept off my face into a
cascade of thick, deliberately messy curls, I had a
just-screwed look that was complemented by
smoky eye shadow and glossy nude lips.
“What would I do without you, Cary Taylor?”
“Baby girl”—he set his hands on my shoulders
and pressed his cheek to mine—“you’ll never find
out.”
“You look awesome, by the way.”
“Don’t I?” He winked and stepped back,
showing off.
In his own way, Cary could give Gideon a run for
his money…er, looks. Cary was more finely
featured, almost pretty compared to Gideon’s
savage beauty, but both were striking men that
made you look twice, and then stare in greedy
delight.
Cary hadn’t been quite so perfect when I met
him. He’d been strung out and gaunt, his emerald
eyes cloudy and lost. But I’d been drawn to him,
going out of my way to sit next to him in group
therapy. He’d finally propositioned me crudely,
having come to believe the only reason people
associated with him was because they wanted to
fuck him. It was when I declined, firmly and
irrevocably, that we finally connected and became
best friends. He was the brother I’d never had.
The intercom buzzed and I jumped, making me
realize how nervous I was. I looked at Cary. “I
forgot to tell the front desk he was coming back.”
“I’ll get him.”
“Are you going to be okay riding over with
Stanton and my mom?”
“Are you kidding? They love me.” His smile
dimmed. “Having second thoughts about going
with Cross?”
I took a deep breath, remembering where I’d
been earlier—on my back in a multi-orgasmic
daze. “Not really, no. It’s just that everything’s
happening so fast and going better than I
expected or realized I wanted…”
“You’re wondering what the catch is.” Reaching
out, he tapped my nose with his fingertip. “He’s
the catch, Eva. And you landed him. Enjoy
yourself.”
“I’m trying.” I was grateful that Cary understood
me and the way my mind worked. It was just so
easy being with him, knowing he could fill in the
blanks when I couldn’t explain something.
“I researched the hell out of him this morning
and printed out the interesting recent stuff. It’s on
your desk, if you decide you want to check it out.”
I remembered him printing something before
we got ready for the spa. Pushing onto my tiptoes,
I kissed his cheek. “You’re the best. I love you.”
“Back atcha, baby girl.” He headed out. “I’ll
head down to the front desk and bring him up.
Take your time. He’s ten minutes early.”
Smiling, I watched him saunter into the hallway.
The door had closed behind him when I moved
into the small sitting room attached to my
bedroom. On the very impractical escritoire my
mother had picked out, I found a folder filled with
articles and printed images. I settled into the chair
and got lost in Gideon Cross’s history.
It was like watching a train wreck to read that he
was the son of Geoffrey Cross, former chairman
of an investment securities firm later found to be a
front for a massive Ponzi scheme. Gideon was
just five years old when his dad committed suicide
with a gunshot to the head rather than face prison
time.
Oh, Gideon. I tried to picture him that young and
imagined a handsome dark-haired boy with
beautiful blue eyes filled with terrible confusion
and sadness. The image broke my heart. How
devastating his father’s suicide—and the
circumstances around it—must have been, for
both him and his mother. The stress and strain at
such a difficult time would’ve been enormous,
especially for a child of that age.
His mother went on to marry Christopher Vidal,
a music executive, and had two more children,
Christopher Vidal Jr. and Ireland Vidal, but it
seemed a larger family and financial security had
come too late to help Gideon stabilize after such a
huge shakeup. He was too closed off not to bear
some painful emotional scars.
With a critical and curious eye, I studied the
women who’d been photographed with Gideon
and thought about his approach to dating,
socializing, and sex. I saw that my mom had been
right—they were all brunettes. The woman who
appeared with him most often bore the hallmarks
of a Hispanic heritage. She was taller than me,
willowy rather than curvy.
“Magdalene Perez,” I murmured, grudgingly
admitting that she was a stunner. Her posture had
the kind of flamboyant confidence that I admired.
“Okay, it’s been long enough,” Cary interrupted
with a soft note of amusement. He filled the
doorway to my sitting room, leaning insolently into
the doorjamb.
“Really?” I’d been so absorbed; I hadn’t realized
how much time had passed.
“I would guess you’re about a minute away from
him coming to find you. He’s barely restraining
himself.”
I shut the folder and stood.
“Interesting reading, isn’t it?”
“Very.” How had Gideon’s father—or more
specifically, his father’s suicide—influenced his
life?
I knew all the answers I wanted were waiting for
me in the next room.
Leaving my bedroom, I took the hallway to the
living room. I paused on the threshold, my gaze
riveted to Gideon’s back as he stood in front of
the windows and looked out at the city. My heart
rate kicked up. His reflection revealed a
contemplative mood. His gaze was unfocused
and his mouth grim. His crossed arms betrayed
an inherent unease, as if he was out of his
element. He looked remote and removed, a man
who was inherently alone.
He sensed my presence or maybe he felt my
yearning. He pivoted; then went very still. I took the
opportunity to drink him in, my gaze sliding all over
him. He looked every inch the powerful magnate.
So sensually handsome my eyes burned just from
looking at him. The rakish fall of black hair around
his face made my fingers flex with the urge to
touch it. And the way he looked at me…my pulse
leaped.
“Eva.” He came toward me, his stride graceful
and strong. He caught up my hand and lifted it to
his mouth. His gaze was intense—intensely hot,
intensely focused.
The feel of his lips against my skin sent goose
bumps racing up my arm and stirred memories of
that sinful mouth on other parts of my body. I was
instantly aroused. “Hi.”
Amusement warmed his eyes. “Hi, yourself. You
look amazing. I can’t wait to show you off.”
I breathed through the delight I felt at the
compliment. “Let’s hope I can do you justice.”
A slight frown knit the space between his
brows. “Do you have everything you need?”
Cary appeared beside me, carrying my black
velvet shawl and opera length gloves. “Here you
go. I tucked your gloss into your clutch.”
“You’re the best, Cary.”
He winked at me—which told me he’d seen the
condoms I had tucked into the small interior
pocket. “I’ll head down with you two.”
Gideon took the shawl from Cary and draped it
over my shoulders. He pulled my hair out from
underneath it and the feel of his hands at my neck
so distracted me, I barely paid attention when
Cary pushed my gloves into my hands.
The elevator ride to the lobby was an exercise
in surviving acute sexual tension. Not that Cary
seemed to notice. He was on my left with both
hands in his pockets, whistling. Gideon, on the
other hand, was a tremendous force on the other
side of me. Although he didn’t move or make a
sound, I could feel the edgy energy radiating from
him. My skin tingled from the magnetic pull
between us, and my breath came short and fast. I
was relieved when the doors opened and freed us
from the enclosed space.
Two women stood waiting to get on. Their jaws
dropped when they saw Gideon and Cary, and
that lightened my mood and made me smile.
“Ladies,” Cary greeted them, with a smile that
really wasn’t fair. I could almost see their brain
cells misfiring.
In contrast, Gideon gave a curt nod and led me
out with a hand at the small of my back, skin to
skin. The contact was electric, sending heat
pouring through me.
I squeezed Cary’s hand. “Save a dance for me.”
“Always. See you in a bit.”
A limousine was waiting at the curb, and the
driver opened the door when Gideon and I
stepped outside. I slid across the bench seat to
the opposite side and adjusted my gown. When
Gideon settled beside me and the door shut, I
became highly conscious of how good he
smelled. I breathed him in, telling myself to relax
and enjoy his company. He took my hand and ran
his fingertips over the palm, the simple touch
sparking a fierce lust. I shrugged off my shawl,
feeling too hot to wear it.
“Eva.” He hit a button and the privacy glass
behind the driver began to slide up. The next
moment I was tugged across his lap and his
mouth was on mine, kissing me fiercely.
I did what I’d wanted to do since I saw him in my
living room: I shoved my hands in his hair and
kissed him back. I loved the way he kissed me, as
if he had to, as if he’d go crazy if he didn’t and
had nearly waited too long. I sucked on his
tongue, having learned how much he liked it,
having learned how much I liked it, how much it
made me want to suck him elsewhere with the
same eagerness.
His hands were sliding over my bare back and I
moaned, feeling the prod of his erection against
my hip. I shifted, moving to straddle him, shoving
the skirt of my gown out of the way and making a
mental note to thank my mom for the dress—
which had such a convenient slit. With my knees
on either side of his hips, I wrapped my arms
around his shoulders and deepened the kiss. I
licked into his mouth, nibbled on his lower lip,
stroked my tongue along his…
Gideon gripped my waist and pushed me away.
He leaned into the seat back, his neck arched to
look up at my face, his chest heaving. “What are
you doing to me?”
I ran my hands down his chest through his dress
shirt, feeling the unforgiving hardness of his
muscles. My fingers traced the ridges of his
abdomen, my mind forming a picture of how he
might look naked. “I’m touching you. Enjoying the
hell out of you. I want you, Gideon.”
He caught my wrists, stilling my movements.
“Later. We’re in the middle of Manhattan.”
“No one can see us.”
“That’s not the point. It’s not the time or place to
start something we can’t finish for hours. I’m losing
my mind already from this afternoon.”
“So let’s make sure we finish it now.”
His grip tightened painfully. “We can’t do that
here.”
“Why not?” Then a surprising thought struck me.
“Haven’t you ever had sex in a limo?”
“No.” His jaw hardened. “Have you?”
Looking away without answering, I saw the
traffic and pedestrians surging around us. We
were only inches away from hundreds of people,
but the dark glass concealed us and made me
feel reckless. I wanted to please him. I wanted to
know I was capable of reaching into Gideon
Cross, and there was nothing to stop me but him.
I rocked my hips against him, stroking myself
with the hard length of his cock. His breath hissed
out between clenched teeth.
“I need you, Gideon,” I said breathlessly,
inhaling his scent, which was richer now that he
was aroused. I thought I might be slightly
intoxicated, just from the enticing smell of his skin.
“You drive me crazy.”
He released my wrists and cupped my face, his
lips pressing hard against mine. I reached for the
fly of his slacks, freeing the two buttons to access
the concealed zipper. He tensed.
“I need this,” I whispered against his lips. “Give
me this.”
He didn’t relax, but he made no further attempts
to stop me either. When he fell heavily into my
palms, he groaned, the sound both pained and
erotic. I squeezed him gently, my touch
deliberately tender as I sized him with my hands.
He was so hard, like stone, and hot. I slid both of
my fists up his length from root to tip, my breath
catching when he quivered beneath me.
Gideon gripped my thighs, his hands sliding
upward beneath the edges of my dress until his
thumbs found the red lace of my thong. “Your cunt
is so sweet,” he murmured into my mouth. “I want
to spread you out and lick you ’til you beg for my
cock.”
“I’ll beg now, if you want.” I stroked him with one
hand and reached for my clutch with the other,
snapping it open to grab a condom.
One of his thumbs slid beneath the edge of my
panties, the pad sliding through the slickness of
my desire. “I’ve barely touched you,” he
whispered, his eyes glittering up at me in the
shadows of the backseat, “and you’re ready for
me.”
“I can’t help it.”
“I don’t want you to help it.” He pushed his
thumb inside me, biting his lower lip when I
clenched helplessly around him. “It wouldn’t be fair
when I can’t stop what you do to me.”
I ripped the foil packet open with my teeth and
held it out to him with the ring of the condom
protruding from the tear. “I’m not good with these.”
His hand curled around mine. “I’m breaking all
my rules with you.”
The seriousness of his low tone sent a burst of
warmth and confidence through me. “Rules are
made to be broken.”
I saw his teeth flash white; then he hit a button
on the panel beside him and said, “Drive until I
say otherwise.”
My cheeks heated. Another car’s headlights
pierced the dark tinted glass and slid over my
face, betraying my embarrassment.
“Why, Eva,” he purred, rolling the condom on
deftly. “You’ve seduced me into having sex in my
limousine, but blush when I tell my driver I don’t
want to be interrupted while you do it to me?”
His sudden playfulness made me desperate to
have him. Setting my hands on his shoulders for
balance, I lifted onto my knees, rising to gain the
height I needed to hover over the crown of
Gideon’s thick cock. His hands fisted at my hips
and I heard a snap as he tore my panties away.
The abrupt sound and the violent action behind it
spurred my desire to a fever pitch.
“Go slow,” he ordered hoarsely, lifting his hips
to push his pants down farther.
His erection brushed between my legs as he
moved and I whimpered, so aching and empty, as
if the orgasms he’d given me earlier had only
deepened my craving rather than appeased it.
He tensed when I wrapped my fingers around
him and positioned him, tucking the wide crest
against the saturated folds of my cleft. The scent
of our lust was heavy and humid in the air, a
seductive mix of need and pheromones that
awakened every cell in my body. My skin was
flushed and tingling, my breasts heavy and tender.
This is what I’d wanted from the moment I first
saw him—to possess him, to climb up his
magnificent body and take him deep inside me.
“God. Eva,” he gasped as I lowered onto him,
his hands flexing restlessly on my thighs.
I closed my eyes, feeling too exposed. I’d
wanted intimacy with him and yet this seemed too
intimate. We were eye-to-eye, only inches apart,
cocooned in a small space with the rest of the
world streaming by around us. I could sense his
agitation, knew he was feeling as off-center as I
was.
“You’re so tight.” His gasped words were
threaded with a hint of delicious agony.
I took more of him, letting him slide deeper. I
sucked in a deep breath, feeling exquisitely
stretched. “You’re so big.”
Pressing his palm flat to my lower belly, he
touched my throbbing clit with the pad of his
thumb and began to massage it in slow, expertly
soft circles. Everything in my core tightened and
clenched, sucking him deeper. Opening my eyes,
I looked at him from under heavy eyelids. He was
so beautiful sprawled beneath me in his elegant
tuxedo, his powerful body straining with the primal
need to mate.
His neck arched, his head pressing hard into
the seatback as if he was struggling against
invisible bonds. “Ah, Christ,” he bit out, his teeth
grinding. “I’m going to come so hard.”
The dark promise excited me. Sweat misted
my skin. I became so wet and hot that I slid
smoothly down the length of his cock until I’d
nearly sheathed him. A breathless cry escaped
me before I’d taken him to the root. He was so
deep I could hardly stand it, forcing me to shift
from side to side, trying to ease the unexpected
bite of discomfort. But my body didn’t seem to
care that he was too big. It was rippling around
him, squeezing, trembling on the verge of orgasm.
Gideon cursed and gripped my hip with his free
hand, urging me to lean backward as his chest
heaved with frantic breaths. The position altered
my descent and I opened, accepting all of him.
Immediately his body temperature rose, his torso
radiating sultry heat through his clothes. Sweat
dotted his upper lip.
Leaning forward, I slid my tongue along the
sculpted curve, collecting the saltiness with a low
murmur of delight. His hips churned impatiently. I
lifted carefully, sliding up a few inches before he
stopped me with that ferocious grasp on my hip.
“Slow,” he warned again, with an authoritative
bite that sent lust pulsing through me.
I lowered, taking him into me again, feeling an
oddly luscious soreness as he pushed just past
my limits. Our eyes locked on each other as the
pleasure spread from the place where we
connected. It struck me then that we were both
fully clothed except for the most private and
intimate parts of our bodies. I found that
excruciatingly carnal, as were the sounds he
made, as if the pleasure was as extreme for him
as it was for me.
Wild for him, I pressed my mouth to his, my
fingers gripping the sweat-damp roots of his hair. I
kissed him as I rocked my hips, riding the
maddening circling of his thumb, feeling the
orgasm building with every slide of his long, thick
penis into my melting core.
I lost my mind somewhere along the way,
primitive instinct taking over until my body was
completely in charge. I could focus on nothing but
the driving urge to fuck, the ferocious need to ride
his cock until the tension burst and set me free of
this grinding hunger.
“It’s so good,” I sobbed, lost to him. “You feel…
Ah, God, it’s too good.”
Using both hands, Gideon commanded my
rhythm, tilting me into an angle that had the big
crown of his cock rubbing a tender, aching spot
inside me. As I tightened and shook, I realized I
was going to come from that, just from the expert
thrust of him inside me. “Gideon.”
He captured me by the nape as the orgasm
exploded through me, starting with the ecstatic
spasms of my core and radiating outward until I
was trembling all over. He watched me fall apart,
holding my gaze when I would’ve closed my eyes.
Possessed by his stare, I moaned and came
harder than I ever had, my body jerking with every
pulse of pleasure.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he growled, pounding his
hips up at me, yanking my hips down to meet his
punishing lunges. He hit the end of me with every
deep thrust, battering into me. I could feel him
growing harder and thicker.
I watched him avidly, needing to see it when he
went over the edge for me. His eyes were wild
with his need, losing their focus as his control
frayed, his gorgeous face ravaged by the brutal
race to climax.
“Eva!” He came with an animal sound of feral
ecstasy, a snarling release that riveted me with its
ferocity. He shook as the orgasm tore into him, his
features softening for an instant with an
unexpected vulnerability.
Cupping his face, I brushed my lips across his,
comforting him as the forceful bursts of his
gasping breaths struck my cheeks.
“Eva.” He wrapped his arms around me and
crushed me to him, pressing his damp face into
the curve of my neck.
I knew just how he felt. Stripped. Laid bare.
We stayed like that for a long time, holding
each other, absorbing the aftershocks. He turned
his head and kissed me softly, the strokes of his
tongue into my mouth soothing my ragged
emotions.
“Wow,” I breathed, shaken.
His mouth twitched. “Yeah.”
I smiled, feeling dazed and high.
Gideon brushed the damp tendrils of hair off my
temples, his fingertips gliding almost reverently
across my face. The way he studied me made my
chest hurt. He looked stunned and…grateful, his
eyes warm and tender. “I don’t want to break this
moment.”
Because I could hear it hanging in the air, I filled
it in. “But…?”
“But I can’t blow off this dinner. I have a speech
to give.”
“Oh.” The moment was effectively broken.
I lifted gingerly off of him, biting my lip at the feel
of him slipping wetly out of me. The friction was
enough to make me want more. He’d barely
softened.
“Damn it,” he said roughly. “I want you again.”
He caught me before I moved away, pulling a
handkerchief out from somewhere and running it
gently between my legs. It was a deeply intimate
act, on par with the sex we’d just had.
When I was dry, I settled on the seat beside him
and dug my lip gloss out of my clutch. I watched
Gideon over the edge of my mirrored compact as
he removed the condom and tied it off. He
wrapped it in a cocktail napkin; then tossed it in a
cleverly hidden trash receptacle. After restoring
his appearance, he told the driver to head to our
destination. Then he settled into the seat and
stared out the window.
With every second that passed, I felt him
withdrawing, the connection between us slipping
further and further away. I found myself shrinking
into the corner of the seat, away from him,
mimicking the distance I felt building between us.
All the warmth I’d felt receded into a marked chill,
cooling me enough that I pulled my shawl around
me again. He didn’t move a muscle as I shifted
beside him and put my compact away, as if he
wasn’t even aware I was there.
Abruptly, Gideon opened the bar and pulled out
a bottle. Without looking at me, he asked,
“Brandy?”
“No, thank you.” My voice was small, but he
didn’t seem to notice. Or maybe he didn’t care.
He poured a drink and tossed it back.
Confused and stung, I pulled on my gloves and
tried to figure out what went wrong.

Categories: Bared to You