Entwined with You: A Crossfire Novel (Crossfire Book 3) (25 page)

The strap glided over my cleavage to my other breast. “You’re so beautiful, angel. Perfect. You have no idea what it does to me seeing you like this.”

“Gideon,” I whispered, desperately in love with him. “Tell me.”

His splayed fingertips touched my throat, and then began a slow slide down my torso. “My heart’s beating as fast as yours.”

I arched and shivered beneath his slightly ticklish touch. “Good.”

“I’m so hard it hurts.”

“I’m wet.”

“Show me,” he said roughly. “Spread your legs.” His fingers slid through my cleft. “Yes. You’re slick and hot, angel.”

My sex clenched hungrily, my entire body responding to his touch.

“Ah, Eva. You’ve got the greediest cunt. I’m going to spend the rest of my life keeping it satisfied.”

“You should start now.”

He laughed softly. “Actually, we’re starting with your mouth. I need you to suck me off so I can fuck you straight through until we land.”

“Oh my God,” I moaned. “Please tell me it’s not a ten-hour flight.”

“I might have to spank you for that,” he purred.

“But I’m a good girl!”

The mattress dipped as he climbed onto it. I felt him work his way toward me until he knelt beside my shoulder. “Be a good girl now, Eva. Turn toward me and open your mouth.”

Eager, I obeyed. The silky soft crest of his cock brushed over my lips and I opened wider, absorbing the shock of pleasure I felt at the sound of his tormented groan. His fingers pushed into my hair, his palm cupping the back of my neck. Holding me where he wanted me.

“God,” he gasped. “Your mouth is just as greedy.”

The position I was in, on my back with my hands gripping the pillow, prevented me from taking more than the thick head. I mouthed
him, my tongue flickering over the sensitive hole at the tip, thrilled by the joy of focusing on Gideon. Going down on him wasn’t selfless for me. In fact, it was mostly for me that I loved it so much.

“That’s it,” he encouraged, rocking his hips to fuck my mouth. “Suck my cock just like that … so good, angel. You make me come so hard.”

I breathed him in, feeling my body respond to his scent, instinctively reacting to its mate. With all of my senses saturated with Gideon, I gave myself over to our mutual pleasure.

I dreamed I was falling, and it jerked me awake.

My heart raced from the surprise, and then I realized the plane had dropped suddenly. Turbulence. I was fine. And so was Gideon, who’d fallen asleep beside me. That made me smile. I’d almost passed out when he’d finally given me an orgasm after fucking me so thoroughly I was nearly incoherent with the need to come. It was only fair that he’d be a little wiped out, too.

A quick glance at my watch told me we’d been in the air almost three hours. I guessed we’d napped about twenty minutes, maybe even less than that. I was pretty sure he’d been at me for close to two hours. I could still feel the echo of his thick cock sliding in and out of me, stroking and rubbing all of my sensitive spots.

I slid carefully out of bed, not wanting to wake him, and was super quiet when closing the pocket door that concealed the en suite lavatory.

Outfitted with dark wood and chrome fixtures, the lavatory was both masculine and elegant. The toilet had armrests, which made it look like a throne, and a frosted window allowed sunlight into the space. A walk-in shower had a hand wand showerhead that looked very tempting, but I was still wearing the crimson cuffs. So I took care of business, washed my hands, then spotted hand lotion in one of the drawers.

The fragrance was subtle but wonderful. As I rubbed it on, a wicked
idea entered my mind. Grabbing the tube, I took it back to the bedroom with me.

The sight that greeted me when I reentered made my breath catch.

Gideon sprawled across the queen-size bed, dwarfing it with his beautiful golden body. One arm was tossed over his head, the other draped across his pecs. He had one leg bent and fallen off to the side, while the other stretched out until his foot hung off the end of the mattress. His cock lay heavily across his lower abs, the crown nearly reaching his navel.

God, he was so virile. Stunningly so. And powerful, his entire body a study in physical strength and grace.

And yet I could bring him to his knees. That humbled me.

He woke when I climbed onto the bed, blinking up at me.

“Hey,” he said gruffly. “Come here.”

“I love you,” I told him, lowering into his outstretched arms. His skin felt like warm silk and I snuggled into him.

“Eva.” He took my mouth in a sweet, hungry kiss. “I’m not nearly done with you.”

Taking a deep breath of courage, I set the tube of lotion on his stomach. “I want to be inside you, ace.”

He glanced down, frowning, then stilled. I was close enough to feel his breathing change. “That isn’t our deal,” he said carefully.

“I think we need to revisit and revise. Besides, it’s still Friday, so it’s not quite the weekend yet.”

“Eva—”

“It turns me on just thinking about it,” I whispered, wrapping my legs around his thigh and rubbing against him, letting him feel that I was wet. The coarse hair sliding against my sensitive sex made me moan, as did the sense of being shameless and naughty. “You say stop and I will. Just let me try.”

His teeth ground audibly.

I kissed him. Pressed my body against him. When Gideon was
walking me through something new, he talked me through it. But with him, sometimes talking wasn’t the answer. Sometimes it was best to help him turn his mind off.

“Angel—”

I slid over him, straddling him, setting the lotion aside so he wasn’t thinking about it so much. If I took him someplace new, I didn’t want either of us to overthink it. And if it didn’t feel natural, I wouldn’t do it. What we had together was too precious to spoil.

Running my hands down his chest, I gentled him, let him feel my love for him. How I worshipped him. There was nothing I wouldn’t do for him, except give up.

His arms came around me, one hand pushing into my hair, the other settling at the small of my back, urging me closer. His mouth was open to me, his tongue licking and tasting. I sank into the kiss, angling my head to get at him.

His cock hardened between us, thickening against my belly. He arched his hips upward, increasing the pressure between us, and moaned into my mouth.

I moved across his cheek to his throat, licking the salt from his skin before latching on. I sucked rhythmically, scoring him with my teeth, marking him. With his hand at my nape, he held me close, rough sounds of pleasure vibrating against my lips.

Pulling back, I looked at the bright red hickey I’d left him with. “Mine,” I whispered.

“Yours,” he vowed roughly, his eyes hooded and hot.

“Every inch of you.” I moved lower, finding and teasing the flat disks of his nipples. I licked over the tiny points, then around them, my touch feather light until I suckled him.

Gideon hissed as my cheeks hollowed on a drawing pull, his hands falling away to grip the comforter on either side of his hips.

“Inside and out,” I said softly, as I turned to his other nipple and lavished similar attention on it.

As I made my way down his straining body, I felt his tension grow. When my tongue rimmed his navel, he jerked violently.

“Shh,” I soothed him, rubbing my cheek against his throbbing cock.

He’d washed up after our earlier round, leaving him smelling clean and delectable. His sac hung heavily between his legs, the satiny flesh bared by his meticulous grooming. I loved that he was as smooth as I was. When he was inside me, the connection was complete in every way, the sensations emphasized by touching skin to skin.

With my hands on his inner thighs, I urged him to spread open wider, giving me room to settle comfortably. Then I licked along the seam of his taut sac.

Gideon growled. The untamed, animalistic sound sent a ripple of apprehension through me. Still, I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. I wanted him too much.

Using only my mouth, I worshipped him, sucking softly and caressing him with my tongue. Then I suspended his testicles on the pads of my thumbs, lifting them to access the sensitive skin beneath. His balls drew up, the skin tightening and pulling close to his body. My tongue reached a little lower, an exploratory foray toward my ultimate goal.

“Eva. Stop.” He panted. “I can’t. Don’t.”

My mind raced as I continued to touch him, my hand gripping his cock and stroking it. He was still too much inside his own head, too focused on what was to come instead of what was happening now.

But I knew how to get him to focus on something else.

“Why don’t we do this together, ace?” Shifting, I turned around, straddling him backward.

His hands grabbed my hips before I was fully balanced, yanking my sex down to his waiting mouth. I cried out in surprise as he latched onto my clit, sucking hungrily. Swollen and sensitive from earlier, I could hardly bear the sudden rush of pleasure. He was wild and ravenous, his passion driven by his frustration and fear.

Wrapping my lips around his cock, I gave him back what he was giving to me.

As I sucked hard on the head of his erection, his groan vibrated against my clit and nearly made me come. He held me to him, his fingers digging into my hips with bruising force.

I loved it. He was unraveling, and while he was afraid of what that meant, it thrilled me. He didn’t trust himself with me, but I trusted him. It was a level of trust we’d worked hard for, shed tears and blood for, and I valued it more than anything else in my life.

Fisting his cock, I pumped him, lapping up the surges of pre-cum that spilled from him. I’d just realized he was trembling when he wrenched us to our sides, placing us side by side instead of one on top of the other.

He ate me hard and fast, his tongue pushing into my sex and driving me mad with furious thrusts. I touched the pucker of his anus with the tip of my finger, my mouth sliding feverishly up and down his thickness. He shuddered and the low sound that escaped him sent goose bumps racing across my sweat-misted skin.

My hips were working without volition, grinding my slick sex against his working mouth. I was moaning uncontrollably, my core trembling with tiny shivers of delight. He was fucking me so good with his tongue … driving me insane.

And then his fingertip was mimicking mine, rubbing against my rear entrance. My free hand searched blindly for the lotion.

Gideon pushed the tube into my grip, a much-needed sign of consent.

I’d barely flipped the cap open when his finger pushed inside me. As I arched my back, his cock slipped out of my mouth and I gasped his name, my body absorbing the shock of his unexpected entry. He’d lubed his fingers before passing the tube.

For a moment, I was overwhelmed by him. He was everywhere—around me, inside me, plastered against me. And he wasn’t gentle. His
finger in my rear plunged and retreated, fucking me, his forcefulness still tinged with that hint of anger. I was pushing him where he didn’t want to go and he was punishing me with pleasure that came too quick to manage.

I was gentler with him. Opening my mouth, I sucked his cock. I let the lotion warm on my fingers before I rubbed it against him. And I waited for him to push out for me, to flower open, before I pushed inside with a single finger.

The sound that rattled from him then was like nothing I’d ever heard. It was the cry of a wounded animal, but filled with soul-deep pain. He froze against me, breathing hard against my sex, his finger buried deep, his hard body quivering.

I pulled my mouth off him and crooned, “I’m in you now, baby. You’re doing so good. I’m going to make you feel so good.”

He gasped when I slid a little deeper, my fingertip gliding over his prostate.
“Eva!”

His cock swelled even further, turning red, the thick veins standing out along its length, pre-ejaculate spurting onto his lower belly. He was hard as stone, curving up to a point just past his navel. I’d never seen him so aroused and it made me so hot.

“I’ve got you.” I stroked gently inside him, my tongue licking along his raging hard-on. “I love you so much, Gideon. I love touching you like this … seeing you this way.”

“Ah, Christ.” He shook violently. “Fuck me, angel. Now,” he bit out, as I rubbed him again.
“Hard.”

I swallowed his erection and gave him what he demanded, massaging the spot inside him that made him curse and writhe, his body fighting the bombardment of sensation. His hands left me, his big frame arching away, but I held on with my lips and hands, driving him onward.

“Ah, God,” he sobbed, ripping the comforter in his fists, the tearing
sound reverberating through the enclosed space. “Stop. Eva. No more. Damn it!”

I pressed inside the same moment I sucked hard outside and he came with such force, I choked on the heated flood. He spurted across my lips as I pulled away, over his stomach and my breasts, releasing in a gushing torrent that made it hard to believe he’d already come twice in as many hours. I could feel the contractions against my fingertip, the wrenching pulses that propelled the semen from his cock.

It wasn’t until his body stilled that I pulled away, turning around shakily to pull him into my arms. We were a sweaty, sticky mess and I loved that it didn’t matter.

Gideon buried his damp face between my breasts and cried.

G
IDEON’S CHOSEN LOCATION
was paradise. His pilot took us over the Windward Islands, flying low over the impossibly beautiful blue waters of the tranquil Caribbean into a private airport not far from our ultimate destination, the Crosswinds resort.

We were both still pretty shell-shocked when the plane landed. Gideon had had the orgasm of his life, after all. We had our passports stamped with our hair still wet, our hands linked tightly together. We hardly spoke, either to each other or to anyone else. I think we were both too raw.

We slid into a waiting limousine and Gideon poured himself a stiff drink. His face gave nothing away, his guard up and impenetrable. I shook my head when he held up the crystal decanter in silent query.

He settled on the seat beside me and put his arm around my shoulders.

I snuggled into him, draping my legs over his lap. “Are we okay?”

He pressed a hard kiss to my forehead. “Yes.”

“I love you.”

“I know.” He tossed back his drink and set the empty tumbler in a cup holder.

We didn’t say anything else on the long drive from the airport to the resort. It was dark by the time we arrived, but the open-air lobby was brightly lit. Framed by lush potted plants and decorated in dark woods and colorful ceramic tiles, the front desk welcomed guests with a carefree yet elegant style.

The hotel manager was waiting on the circular front drive as we rolled to a stop. His appearance was immaculate, his smile wide. He was clearly excited to have Gideon in residence and doubly so that Gideon knew his name—Claude.

Claude spoke animatedly, as we followed along behind him with our hands linked firmly together. No one could tell from looking at Gideon how intimate and exposed to each other we’d been only an hour or so before. While my hair had dried in a messy mop, his looked as gorgeous and sexy as ever. His suit was perfectly pressed and beautifully worn, while my dress looked a little limp after the long day. My makeup had washed off in the shower, leaving me pale with the remnants of raccoon eyes.

Yet Gideon’s possessiveness toward me was clear in the way he gripped me, and how he steered me into our suite in front of him with his hand at the small of my back. He made me feel safe and accepted, even though he was in his work persona and I wasn’t at my best, which reflected on him.

I loved him for that.

I just wished he weren’t so quiet. It made me worry. And it totally made me doubt my decision to push him after he’d told me to stop more than once. What the hell did I know about what he needed to get better?

As the manager continued to talk to Gideon, I moved slowly through
the massive living area, with its wide-open terrace and white couches spread across bamboo floors. The master bedroom was equally impressive, with a large bed framed by mosquito netting and another open terrace that led directly to a private swimming pool with an infinity edge that made it look like part of the shimmering ocean just beyond it.

A warm breeze blew in, kissing my face and sifting through my hair. The rising moon cast a trail over the ocean, and the distant sounds of laughter and reggae made me feel isolated in a way that wasn’t quite pleasant.

Nothing was right when Gideon was off.

“Do you like it?” he asked quietly.

I turned to face him and heard the front door shut in the other room. “It’s fantastic.”

He gave a curt nod. “I ordered dinner in. Tilapia and rice, some fresh fruit and cheese.”

“Awesome. I’m starving.”

“There are clothes for you in the closet and drawers. You’ll find bikinis, too, but the pool and beach are private, so you don’t need them unless you want them. If there’s anything missing, just let me know and we’ll get it brought in.”

I stared at him, noting the several feet between us. His eyes glittered in the soft light cast by the dimmed cam lighting and bedside table lamps. He was edgy and distant, and I felt tears building in the back of my throat.

“Gideon …” I held my hand out to him. “Did I make a mistake? Did I break something between us?”

“Angel.” He sighed. He came close enough to catch my hand and lift it to his lips. Up close I could see how his gaze darted away, as if he had a hard time looking at me. A sick feeling settled in my gut. “Crossfire.”

The one word came out so low, I almost thought I’d imagined it. Then he pulled me into his arms and kissed me sweetly.

“Ace.” Pushing onto my tiptoes, I cupped the back of his neck and kissed him back with everything I had.

He pulled away too quickly. “Let’s change for dinner before it gets here. I could stand being in less clothes.”

I stepped back reluctantly, acknowledging that he had to be hot in his suit, but still sensing that something wasn’t right. That feeling worsened when Gideon left the room to change and I realized we wouldn’t be sharing the same bedroom.

I kicked off my shoes in the walk-in closet that was filled with way too many clothes for a weekend trip. Most were white. Gideon liked me in white. I suspected it was because he thought of me as his angel.

Did he still think of me that way now? Or was I the devil? A selfish bitch who made him face demons he’d rather forget?

I changed into a simple cotton slip dress in black, which matched my funereal mood. I felt like something had died between us.

Gideon and I had stumbled many times before, but I’d never felt this level of withdrawal from him. This discomfort and unease.

I’d felt it with other guys, when they were getting ready to tell me they didn’t want to see me anymore.

Dinner arrived and was neatly laid out on the terrace table overlooking the secluded beach. I saw a white tent cabana on the sand and remembered Gideon’s dream of us rolling around on a chaise for two by the water, making love.

My heart hurt.

I gulped two glasses of crisp, fruity white wine and went through the motions of eating, even though I’d lost my appetite. Gideon sat across from me in loose white linen drawstring pants and nothing else,
which just made everything worse. He was so handsome, so goddamned sexy it was impossible not to stare at him. But he was miles away from me. A silent, forceful presence that made me
want
with every fiber of my soul.

The emotional gulf between us was growing. I couldn’t reach across it.

I pushed my plate away once I’d cleared it and realized Gideon had hardly eaten at all. He’d just forked his food around and helped me drain the bottle of wine.

Taking a deep breath, I told him, “I’m sorry. I should’ve … I didn’t …” I swallowed hard. “I’m sorry, baby,” I whispered.

Shoving back from the table with a loud screech of the chair legs across the tile, I hurried away from the patio.

“Eva! Wait.”

My feet hit the warm sand and I ran toward the ocean, pulling my dress off and colliding with water that felt as hot as a bath. It was shallow for several feet, then dropped off suddenly, plunging me in below my head. I bent my knees and sank, grateful to be submerged and hidden as I cried.

The weightlessness soothed my heavy heart. My hair billowed around me and I felt the soft brush of fish as they darted past the invader in their silent, peaceful world.

Being yanked back into reality had me sputtering and flailing.

“Angel.” Gideon growled and took my mouth, kissing me hard and furious as he stalked out of the water and up the beach. He took me to the cabana and dropped me onto the chaise, covering me with his body before I fully caught my breath.

I was still dizzy when he groaned and said, “Marry me.”

But that wasn’t why I said, “Yes.”

G
IDEON
had gone into the water after me with his pants on. The soaked linen clung to my bare legs as he sprawled over me and kissed me as if he were dying of a thirst only I could quench. His hands were in my hair, holding me still. His mouth was frantic, his lips swollen like mine, his tongue greedy and possessive.

I lay beneath him unmoving. Shocked. My startled brain quickly caught up.

He’d been agonizing over popping the question, not because he was leaving me.

“Tomorrow,” he bit out, rubbing his cheek against mine. The first tingle of stubble roughened his jaw, the sensation jolting me into a deeper awareness of where we were and what he wanted.

“I—” My mind stuttered to a halt again.

“The word is
yes
, Eva.” He pushed up and stared down at me fiercely. “Real simple—yes.”

I swallowed hard. “We can’t get married tomorrow.”

“We can,” he said emphatically, “and we will. I need it, Eva. I need the vows, the legality … I’m going crazy without them.”

I felt the world spinning, like I was on one of those fun-house barrel rides that revolve so fast you’re stuck to the wall with centrifugal force when the floor drops away from your feet. “It’s too soon,” I protested.

“You can say that to me after the flight over?” he snapped. “You fucking
own
me, Eva. I’ll be damned if I don’t own you back.”

“I can’t breathe,” I gasped, inexplicably panicked.

Gideon rolled, pulling me on top of him, his arms banding around me. Possessing me. “You want this,” he insisted. “You love me.”

“I do, yes.” I dropped my forehead to his chest. “But you’re rushing into—”

“You think I’d ask you this on the fly? For God’s sake, Eva, you know me better than that. I’ve been planning this for weeks. It’s all I’ve thought about.”

“Gideon … we can’t just run off and elope.”

“The hell we can’t.”

“What about our families? Or friends?”

“We’ll get married again for them. I want that, too.” He brushed the wet hair off my cheek. “I want pictures of us in the newspapers, magazines … everywhere. But that will take months. I can’t wait that long. This is for us. We don’t have to tell anyone, if you don’t want. We can call it an engagement. It can be our secret.”

I stared at him, not knowing what to say. His urgency was both romantic and terrifying.

“I asked your dad,” he went on, shocking me all over again. “He didn’t have any—”

“What? When?”

“When he was in town. I had an opportunity and I took it.”

For some reason, that hurt. “He didn’t tell me.”

“I told him not to. Told him it wasn’t going to happen right away. That I was still working on getting you back. I recorded it, so you can listen to the conversation if you don’t believe me.”

I blinked down at him. “You recorded it?” I repeated.

“I wasn’t leaving anything to chance,” he said unapologetically.

“You told him it wouldn’t be right away. You lied to him.”

His smile was razor sharp. “I didn’t lie. It’s been a few days.”

“Oh my God. You’re crazy.”

“Possibly. If so, you’ve made me this way.” He pressed a hard kiss to my cheek. “I can’t live without you, Eva. I can’t even imagine trying. Just the thought makes me insane.”

“
This
is insane.”

“Why?” He frowned. “You know there’s no one else for either of us. What are you waiting for?”

Arguments rushed through my mind. Every reason we should wait, every possible pitfall seemed crystal clear. But nothing came out of my mouth.

“I’m not giving you any options here,” he said decisively, twisting up
and standing with me cradled in his arms. “We’re doing this, Eva. Enjoy your last remaining hours as a single woman.”

“G
IDEON
,”
I gasped, my head thrashing as the orgasm poured through me.

His sweat dripped onto my chest, his hips tireless as he stroked his magnificent penis into me over and over, rolling and thrusting, shallow then deep.

“That’s it,” he praised hoarsely, “squeeze my dick just like that. You feel so good, angel. You’re going to make me come again.”

I panted for breath, boneless and tired from his unrelenting demands. He’d woken me twice before, taking me with skilled precision, imprinting onto my brain and my body that I belonged to him. That I was his and he could do whatever he wanted to me.

It made me so hot.

“Umm …” He purred, sliding his cock deep. “You’re so creamy with my cum. I love the way you feel when I’ve been at you all night. A lifetime of this, Eva. I’ll never stop.”

I draped my leg over his hip, holding him in me. “Kiss me.”

His wickedly curved mouth brushed over mine.

“Love me,” I demanded, my nails digging into his hips as he flexed inside me.

“I do, angel,” he whispered, his smile widening. “I do.”

W
HEN
I woke, he was gone.

I stretched in a tangle of sheets that smelled of sex and Gideon and breathed in the salt-tinged breeze drifting through the open patio doors.

I lay there for a while, thinking over the night and the day before. Then the weeks before, and the few months since I’d met Gideon. Then beyond that. Back to Brett and others I had dated. Back to a time when
I’d been so certain I would never find a man who loved me for who I was, with all my emotional scars and baggage and neediness.

What else could I say besides yes, now that by some miracle I’d found him?

Rolling out of bed, I felt a flutter of excitement at the thought of finding Gideon and agreeing to marry him without reservation. I loved the idea of eloping with him, of our first vows spoken in private, with no one watching who harbored doubts or dislike or bad wishes. After all we’d both been through, it made perfect sense for our new beginning to be filled with nothing but love and hope and happiness.