Tempting Nora (18 page)

This time, he didn't kiss her forcibly.
Instead of being passionate and rough he was tentative and exploring. He took her mouth gently, suckling at her bottom lip and making a rush of tingles run down her spine. She hadn't known that there was more than one way to kiss somebody, but Gideon just showed her that there was. And she had a feeling that Gideon was a master of all kissing methods. More than anything, she wanted Gideon to show her all of the ways he could kiss her. Heck, she wanted a lot more than that. She wanted him to consume her.

Due to her thoughts
, she realized she was succumbing to the feelings she'd been so afraid of. Before Gideon, saying no to men had been easy. Nobody had made her writhe with desperation or long for kisses the way Gideon did. Already her heart beat so hard she was frightened that it was going to burst out of her chest.

"Heaven help me," she murmured against his lips.

Gideon pulled back, but only an inch. He searched her face, all traces of his superior smirk gone. Instead when she looked into his eyes, she saw the same longing that burned within her. As she gasped for air, she glanced warily at his lips.

She was the one who said
they could share only one kiss. It would be sheer stupidity to beg him for more.
Despite that, she wanted him. Bad. Good grief, she wanted him more than she even wanted chocolate cake. As she found herself caving, a shiver ran down her spine.
It's not like you can go too far in the middle of a store
.
Besides, how dangerous can a few kisses be?
It wasn't like somebody could be addicted to somebody's lips, after all.

Despite her better
judgment, she quivered and said, "One more. Just one more. That's all."

"One more.
" He grunted in agreement.

He captured her lips
again so fiercely it made her mouth ache. As his lips pressed against hers, he picked her up as if she weighed nothing and set her down on top of the service desk. She found herself forcing her lips harder against his, dying for the pressure that made her entire body ache. Something was happening to her, she realized. She wanted to become one with Gideon. She wanted their souls to meld together and their bodies to intertwine. For the first time in her life, she was hot and desperate for a man. It was because of his lips, she decided. Maybe she was wrong about his kisses not being addictive. After Gideon, she wasn't sure she could ever settle for a subpar kiss again. No, his delicious mouth would always haunt her mind, reminding her of what real passion felt like.

All too soon, Gideon
pulled away again. She was shocked to discover that his breathing was as ragged as hers and that he was sweaty all over.

She began, "Just one—"

Before she could even finish the sentence, Gideon took her again with the ferocity of a wild animal. A deep, victorious growl burst from his throat as his mouth roved over hers. At that moment, he kissed her with his whole body. He wrapped his hands around her back, forcing her against him so hard her hips ached. Some instinct caused her to wrap her legs around him, drawing him closer still. She could feel every inch of him—his hard hips burrowing into hers, his hands digging into her back, his toned chest grinding against her soft one. He pulled away, but she wasn't about to let him go.

"One more," she whimpered before she could stop herself.

He laid kisses along her jaw, his rough facial hair brushing against her skin and driving her wild.

"One more, one more, one more." She was going insane. She had to be.

After Gideon moaned against her skin, he kissed his way up her jaw to her ear. He sucked the lobe into his mouth, causing a rush of pleasure to flow through her body. A groan burst from her lips before she could stop it. She had a feeling that if they continued, she would be making more desperate noises.

"Is it always like this?" she
asked as he traced her neck with his thumb.

"No. Never." He sounded as though he was straining to breathe. "This is special.
You're special."

His words made her feel as though an explosion of fireworks had gone off in her hea
rt. The fact he thought she was special made the heat that flowed between them even more all-consuming. She turned her face toward his, longing for more kisses. Frantically his mouth journeyed everywhere—the tip of her nose, her forehead, her chin. As she sucked in air, Gideon melted against her. She grasped the desk for support, but her elbow collided with a jar of pens that she kept by the computer and sent it tumbling to the floor with a crash.

The
perfect moment ended.

What did
we just do?
she thought in horror. Gideon had been practically fondling her on the desk.
Worse yet, she could still feel the swirling heat of desire in her belly. She looked down at herself, ashamed. She slid off the desk, her shirt sticking to her body because of the sweat, and picked up the pens. When she straightened up again, she was still angry with herself.

Gideon
placed his hands on her shoulders. Reluctantly, she met his gaze.

"Hey," he said, his voice soft. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she said, even as anger seeped into her voice. She tried to calm herself down. "I'm just mad at myself. I lost control."

"You're not the only one who los
t control," he said. "I did too."

"Yeah, but I'm me." She frowned at him.

"What does that mean?" He raised an eyebrow.

"
I have a lot of self-control," she said.

"Says the woman who ate
half a cake in one sitting." He cracked a grin.

She punched his shoulder.

"You know what I mean," she said. "I'm not supposed to want you like this. I can't stop thinking about it."

"You want me?" Gideon raised an eyebrow.

Oops.

"Well…I…ugh…" She definitely
needed to make her escape now. "I forgot something in the back room. I think I'd better go get—"

"Oh no, you don't." Gideon seized her arm and dragged her back before she could escape. "I want to hear you say
that you want me again."

"I'm not going to." This time, she refused to give in.

"Ah, Nora, come on." He flashed his most charming smile. "I already know you do. You wouldn't have let me touch you like that unless you wanted me."

"I d
on't want you," she lied. "I had a lapse of judgment."

"A lapse of judgment?" He raised an eyebrow. "I believe
that's what you said about the kiss last night too."

The thought of last night made her embarrassment even worse.

"I happen to have a lot of lapses in judgment." At least, ever since Gideon showed up.

He placed a hand on the small of her back and drew her closer.

"Want to have another lapse?" He nuzzled her neck affectionately. "I'd love to hold you again."

"No." She pushed him away.

"Spoilsport." He sighed.

"I am not," she s
aid. "You wanted one kiss and I let you have a lot of them."

"Excuse me?" He cocked his head. "You
let me
have a lot of them? I don't recall being the one who said, 'One more.' Heck, toward the end there, you were begging me to continue."

She was never going to be able to look him in the eye again. Mortified, she tried to stomp off, but he pulled her back in
to his arms.

"Don't be embarrassed
," he said. "I liked it."

"Well, I didn't."
She frowned.

"Don't lie." He kissed her ear.
"I could tell you were enjoying yourself."

"Stop kissing me
." She pouted, elbowing him.

"One more," he said, imitating her.

"I'm going to stab you with a pen." She glared at him.

He kissed her ear anyway.

****

Nora was trying to get her
grocery shopping done. Unfortunately, even that simple task was hard to accomplish because she had the world's most annoyingly shadow trailing behind her.

"I can't believe you followed me to the grocery store," she said, stopping in front of the lettuce.

"I'm not following you." He whistled innocently. "I'm doing my grocery shopping."

"Uh-huh." She stared pointedly at his empty basket.

"Okay, sue me, I followed you here." He placed a possessive hand on the small of her back. "I was hoping I could convince you to join me for dinner again."

Even
though the thought of going out to eat was tempting, she was still trying to regain some of her pride after her massive mistake at the store.

"We went out together yesterday." She picked up an orange, even though she didn't
want it.

"Yeah, but yesterday was yesterday." He shrugged, grinning. "I hate eating alone and arguing with you makes
me happy."

"I don't argue," she said.

He snorted.

"Okay, maybe I argue a little," she admitted sheepishly.

"Try a lot," he said. "But that's okay. You make it fun."

She raised an eyebrow.

"You do," he insisted.

Just what she needed—a guy who kept making her mad because he thought it was
entertaining.

"Aren't you tired o
f me already?" She walked by an array of vegetables, not even bothering to spare a glance at them.

"I could never be tired of you," he
said.

To her surprise, he sounded like he meant the words. She searched his face, looking for even a shred of sarcasm. To her shock, she
found none.

Her heart
stirred again. She couldn't control it, couldn't stop it. The man had somehow climbed under her skin and affected her emotions.

"
Go out with me again." Gideon looked at her in such a way it was near impossible to say no. "I want to spend time with you."

Her mind and heart did battle. She should say no. Unfortunately, what she truly wanted
was to say yes. She liked being with Gideon. In fact, she liked being with him so much the thought of a dinner date made her smile.

Oh no.

Her eyes widened as realization struck. She didn't just like being
with
Gideon—she just plain liked him. The color drained out of her face. Of course she had to like the one guy on earth who had the potential to destroy her. After all, he was the only one who made her lose her self-control. Why, oh why, did her heart have to choose him?

"Nora?" Gideon looked at her expectantly.

One second she had complete control of her mouth and the next she said, "Fine. Let's go out to dinner."

The words had slipped out without her meaning
them to. How could she have messed up so badly? She shook her head in terror, half wanting to take back what she said.

But she didn't.

"Where do you want to eat?" Gideon asked, grinning triumphantly.

"Doesn't matter."
She shrugged, still horrified about her latest discovery. After all, liking Gideon was the equivalent of trying to hold onto sand in a strong wind. It was only a matter of time before the grains slipped through her fingers.

"
Let's go to your favorite place," he said. "The one with that cheesecake you like so much."

"Are you sure?" She raised an eyebrow. "We don't have to go
there just because I like the restaurant."

"I live to make you happy." He shrugged.

Her blood rushed.
This can't be happening,
she screamed in her mind, her eyebrow twitching.
I will stop liking Gideon at this very moment. I. Will. Stop. Liking. Gideon.
She paused, waiting to see if her feelings had changed. She looked up into Gideon's caramel eyes and…

Heaven help her
, there were fireworks. Big, explosive fireworks. Her heart fluttered and something rocketed around in her stomach that was far too large to be a butterfly. Telling herself to stop liking Gideon had gotten her nowhere. The intense feelings she had for him still remained. For crying out loud, she'd seen fireworks. Fireworks! 

"Not fireworks.
" She clapped her hands to her cheeks in horror.

Several people turned to stare at them.

"I didn't say anything about fireworks." Gideon waved his hand in front of her face as if checking to see if she was blind. "I said we're going to a restaurant."

She was having a crisis and Gideon was still prattling on about restaurants?

"Ugh, yeah." She winced.

Gideon gave her a strange look as she headed over to the grapes and rolled one between her fingers. She didn't have any intention of buying
some, but doing something would distract her from acting stupidly—for example, like screaming her thoughts out loud again.