GIDEON STORMED THROUGH Lucy’s door without knocking. He found her pacing nervously around her living room, practically wringing her hands, and stopped short. “What did he do?”
Her blue eyes went wide. “Excuse me?”
“Mark. Obviously he did something.” He sliced his hand through the air to indicate her current state. “Tell me what it was and I’ll take care of it.” He’d thought Mark was a safe enough bet for the first date, but Gideon shouldn’t have taken it for granted. If he’d stayed, he could’ve stepped in.
Lucy was still blinking at him. She burst out laughing. “Mark was a perfect gentleman.”
“You don’t have to smooth it over. It’s my job to ensure you have solid dates, and if something went wrong, I need to know.” He very pointedly ignored the fact that he almost hoped something had ruined the night. Mark was fucking perfect. If he wasn’t essentially married to his job, he would have found a girl, gotten married and had a couple of kids by now.
She crossed to him and put a hand on his chest. “Gideon, stop. Nothing happened. We had a nice conversation and decided to leave things at that.”
Leave things at that.
Call him crazy, but he hadn’t spent much time dwelling on what would transpire during—and after—the dates. Jealousy reared its ugly head and, even as he fought for control, his words got away from him. “Did he hold your hand?”
She blinked. “I don’t know if I’d call it hand-holding—”
“Help you into your coat?” He took a step closer to her, crowding her and unable to stop. “Kiss you?” The thought of Mark in Gideon’s current position, leaning down to take Lucy’s mouth, made him crazy.
And, damn it, she saw it.
Lucy frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Fucking everything. He kissed her to keep from saying anything else. Lucy responded instantly, her hands sliding up his chest to loop her arms around his neck, her body melting into his. Her instant yielding should have soothed him.
There were far too many “shoulds” when it came to Lucy Baudin.
He grabbed the hem of her dress and yanked it up as he tumbled her back onto the couch. Gideon had the presence of mind to catch himself so she didn’t bear the full brunt of his weight. The break in their kiss gave him the chance to say, “You want this.”
“That wasn’t a question. But yes.” She jerked his shirt out of his pants and went to work on the buttons. “I want to feel you.”
He palmed her pussy. “Then feel me.” He spread her and pushed a single finger into her. Lucy made one of those sexy fucking whimpers that he couldn’t get enough of and yanked his shirt apart, sending the last few buttons flying.
She shoved the shirt down his shoulders. “I need you, Gideon.”
He’d give every single dollar he owned to hear her say those words every single day of his life. It wasn’t his destiny, but he sure as hell planned to coax her to say it as often as he could during their time together. “Tell me. Guide me.”
“I, uh...” Her eyes shut for a split second as he circled her clit with his thumb. When she opened them again, there was new purpose there. “I want you in my mouth.”
He froze. “Lucy—” Fuck me, it’s like she pulled a fantasy right out of my goddamn head. He saw the exact moment her confidence wavered and bit back a curse. He was so determined to give her everything, he was missing signs.
Gideon shifted to sit next to her on the couch. He stopped her from going to the floor with a hand on her shoulder. “Open my pants.”
She didn’t hesitate. Lucy undid the front of his slacks and withdrew his cock. She stroked him once and then sucked him into her mouth. Gideon had expected some sort of cautious exploration, but she went after it like she was desperate for him.
As desperate for him as he was for her. He pulled her hair back so he could see his cock disappear between her deep purple lips. A sight he never thought he’d stand witness to. She opened her eyes and pinned him with a pleased look, and he couldn’t stand it a second longer. Keeping one hand holding her hair back, Gideon pulled her dress higher, baring her ass completely. He squeezed her ass and then ran his hand down until he could push two fingers into her.
Her eyes went wide then slid shut and she sucked him harder, faster.
“You like that? You like me playing with your pretty pussy while you have my cock in your mouth.” It wasn’t enough. He was so goddamn desperate for her that feeling her come on his fingers wouldn’t do a thing to take the edge off. He kept thinking about her wearing that peekaboo dress across the table from Mark and laughing at that fucker’s jokes, and inspiring a lifetime of filthy fantasies. “Give me a taste.”
He grabbed her around the hips and lifted her until her knees rested on the back of the couch on either side of his head. Gideon waited for her to start sucking his cock again before he ran his cheek up her thigh to her pussy. “So beautiful.” He licked her, teasing.
Or at least that was the plan.
She was so fucking drenched and tasted so fucking sweet, he lost his precarious hold on his control and gripped her thighs where they met her hips, raising her to his mouth and spreading her wider in the same move. She moaned around his cock and the sound drove him wilder. He licked and sucked her folds, growling against her hot skin. I’ve got my face buried in her pussy. Me. Not that asshole she went to dinner with.
Lucy reached between his thighs and cupped his balls, slamming him back into the present. She twisted up off his cock enough to say, “You like this?”
“Hell, yes, I do. I like every single thing you do to me.” His world narrowed down to the taste of her on his tongue and the feel of her mouth wrapped around him. Her whimpers and moans drove him on, leaching every bit of rational thought from Gideon’s head. He needed her to orgasm.
Needed to claim her.
* * *
Lucy couldn’t tell which way was up—and not just because Gideon had her in the most impossible and erotic position. She’d barely made it home before him and now he had her upside down on the couch with his face buried between her legs as she sucked his cock. She took him deeper. He made her so damn crazy.
For once, she wanted to return the favor.
She shifted her hold of his balls, squeezing lightly. He made a sound she felt all the way to the back of her throat. Nothing mattered but the next slide of his tongue over her clit and the way his fingers dug into her hips, effortlessly holding her in place.
Her orgasm rolled over her from one breath to the next, and she sucked him with unmatched desperation, needing Gideon with her every step of the way. She could feel him holding back, trying to outlast her just like he had every other time since they’d started. If she didn’t do something drastic right this second, he’d move them somewhere else and she wouldn’t get a chance to finish him like this.
So she played dirty.
Lucy pressed two fingers to his perineum. She’d read in so many books that it was a hot spot for men as well as women, but she’d never had the courage to try.
Gideon’s response made the risk worth it many times over.
His back arched and his balls drew up. He hissed out a breath that made her clit tingle. “Fuck. I can’t hold out.”
She sucked harder, not willing to lift her head to tell him to go for it. She wanted this. She needed this.
He hesitated but she circled her middle finger against him and that was all it took. Gideon cursed long and hard against her skin, his grip spasming as his hips bucked up to meet her mouth. She took him as deep as was comfortable and then took him deeper yet. He growled her name as he came. Lucy drank him down, sucking him until he shuddered and gently lowered her to the couch.
Only then did she raise her head.
The look on Gideon’s face could only be described as shell-shocked. He opened his mouth, closed it and shook his head. “Come here.” Without waiting for a response, he pulled her onto his lap and tucked her against him.
She settled her head onto his shoulder. “That was...”
“Yeah.”
How to put it into words? She might not be the more experienced of the two of them, but she wasn’t stupid. That hadn’t been like the other times. There was no lesson here that Gideon wanted to teach her. He’d come through her door like a jealous boyfriend and then delivered one of the most devastating orgasms of her life and now he was holding her like he...cared.
Of course he cares. He wouldn’t have agreed to this if he didn’t.
Just because he considered her a friend didn’t mean the lines had blurred for him.
She clung to the thought with a stubbornness born of desperation. Lucy had a plan and she knew better by now than to deviate from it. The last time she’d done that, she’d ended up with Jeff, and that entire experience had screwed her up, at least emotionally.
It would have screwed her up professionally, too, if she processed pain in any other way than powering through it out of spite.
Gideon stroked a hand down her back. “Did I hurt you?”
“What? No.” She leaned back to look at him. Not as shell-shocked now and the thread of guilt in his dark eyes made her heart hurt.
That was the other reason she couldn’t allow the lines between them to blur. Gideon might be someone she cared about, and he might make her body sing, but he would never forgive himself for his role in Jeff’s shitty choices.
He’d never be able to look at her without seeing his friend’s ex-fiancée. The one he’d had to take aside to let know she was being cheated on—and everyone knew.
Gideon frowned. “Tell me what put that look on your face.”
“It’s nothing.” The very last thing she wanted to do was to bring Jeff into the room with them. It was hard enough to banish the memory of him without inviting him in. She almost settled back against Gideon, but the moment had passed. Cuddling and soft words wasn’t what this was.
Lucy climbed to her feet on shaking legs. “Give me a few minutes to change.”
“Sure.”
She retreated to her bedroom and threw on a pair of leggings and one of her knitted sweaters. It felt too comfortable, but as he’d been quick to point out before, this wasn’t about seduction. If he wanted her to dress the part, he would request it so he could help her strike the right note. She closed her bedroom door behind her and made her way back into the main room. “I need to go shopping.”
“This instant?”
“Don’t be silly. Of course not.” Her laugh felt forced, mostly because it was. Lucy pulled a newly purchased bottle of wine out of her cabinet and took out two glasses. “Wine?”
“Yeah.”
She poured them, still not looking at him. “The date with Mark was nice enough, but I think it’s best I meet the rest of your list. That said, I’d like to be as prepared as possible, and I think I mentioned before that I have nothing in the way of seduction clothing.”
Gideon snorted. “You are seduction enough, Lucy.”
He didn’t get it. But then, she didn’t expect him to. She turned and offered his glass then took a sip of her own. “This may sound strange, but I dress well.”
“I noticed.”
She ignored that. “Walking out to face a judge or jury—or both—is terrifying. It’s exhilarating, too, but taking that first step is like jumping out of a plane and hoping you remembered your parachute. Or, more accurately maybe, it’s like stepping onto the dueling grounds and hoping like hell you prepared your weapons and they won’t malfunction. I know that sounds dramatic, but it’s what it feels like for me. My clothing is both armor and weapons combined. It allows me to take that first step without fear crippling me. I’m going to need that in the bedroom, as well.”
There. He might laugh in her face, but at least she was being honest.
Gideon didn’t laugh. He studied her with those dark eyes, mulling over what she said and the implications behind it, no doubt. She’d revealed far more of herself in that little tidbit than she had in a long while. Becka knew, of course—she was the one Lucy always dragged along on her shopping trips—but everyone at the office assumed that Lucy was just extremely into fashion and expensive clothing.
Finally he took a drink of his wine. “Do you have free time next weekend?”
Next weekend? It was Thursday. “That’s eight days from now.”
“I’m more than capable of counting, Lucy.” He set the glass down. “Tomorrow, you’ll meet Aaron Livingston at the weekly event Roman puts together. I’ll be out of town most of next week meeting with several potential fits for a client.”
Disappointment soured her stomach but she did her best not to show it. Of course Gideon wasn’t exclusively focused on her predicament. From what she remembered, he usually had multiple clients at any given time and there was no reason to expect to be the exception to the rule.
It also meant almost a full week that she wouldn’t see him.
No lessons for seven days.
Stop it.
She managed a smile. “I’m free next weekend, aside from a lunch date with Becka.”
“We’ll go shopping afterward.”
Which would give her a chance to imbibe enough alcohol to feel a little fearless at the thought of picking lingerie with Gideon. Lucy wasn’t feeling anything resembling fearless at the moment. She swallowed hard. “Okay.”
His gaze sharpened on her face. “Tomorrow, wear something appropriate.”
Just like that, her nerves disappeared. She drew herself up straight. “Excuse me?”
“You know damn well that you were playing with fire with that dress tonight. I don’t know how the fuck Mark kept his hands to himself, but it’s a small miracle. No other man would.”
Meaning he wouldn’t, which he’d more than proved by walking through the door and ravishing her right there in her living room. I did a bit of ravishing myself.
That wasn’t what they were discussing, though, and she didn’t appreciate his attitude. The whole point of this was to market her—for lack of a better word—to these men, and he was acting like she’d been out of line. It wasn’t a dress she would have worn for work, but it was a far cry from indecent. He was acting like she’d shown up in a minidress with all her goods on display. Lucy glared. “I’ll wear whatever I please.”
“Wrong. You’ll wear something that doesn’t project sex.”
“You can’t be serious.” She threw up a hand. “I am more than capable of dressing myself. The lingerie excepting, I don’t need or want your opinion.”
Gideon set the wineglass down and advanced on her, a forbidding expression on his handsome face. A muscle in his jaw jumped and her stomach leaped in response. He stopped mere inches away. “You wear some shit like you wore tonight and you won’t like the results.”
She could barely catch her breath with him so close. “What are you going to do, Gideon? Put me over your knee? I don’t think so.”
“Put you over my knee.” His hands came down on either side of her, bracketing her in. Still, he didn’t touch her. “Yes, Lucy, that’s exactly what I’ll do. And after I’ve spanked your pert little ass red, I’ll bend you over the nearest surface and fuck you, date with another man or no.”