Dare Me to Want You, page 11
“Honesty, Lucy.”
She didn’t want to be honest. She wanted to shove her head in the sand. They crossed the road and kept going down the block. She tried to pinpoint exactly what the problem was. Easy enough—I’m jealous of the thought of Gideon spending time with other women. Not just spending time, though. Having long meetings, likely alone, on the other side of the country. “It’s not that I think you’d do that after you told me we were exclusive.”
“The fear is there all the same.” He set his free hand over hers and squeezed. “That’s not something you just get over.”
Maybe she would have. If she’d put half the effort into dating that she’d put into her career, she’d have worked through what was apparently a hair trigger. Or maybe it wouldn’t have mattered. There was no way to tell, and it was a moot point. “We have to fix this.”
“What?”
“This is another issue. I can’t very well marry someone if the thought of them being alone in a room with a woman is going to send me into a jealous spiral. They’re all businessmen, and so that sort of thing will pop up. There’s no avoiding it.” She latched on to the idea, turning it over in her mind. “We can start at the lingerie shop.”
Gideon pulled them out of the path of foot traffic and guided her to the brick wall of a nearby storefront. He let go and took her by the shoulders. “Lucy, stop.”
“Don’t take that tone with me. I’m not being crazy.”
“Everything about this situation is crazy. No, don’t get your back up. It is and you know it, and I’m here willingly, taking part in it.” He looked like he wanted to shake some sense into her. “You’re asking me to... What? Flirt with someone in front of you? More?”
More?
Her entire body clenched as if trying to reject the very idea of Gideon doing more with someone else. I am out of control. “If that’s what it takes.”
A muscle jumped in his jaw. “No.”
“Excuse me?”
He shook his head. “Absolutely not. You pick one of these assholes and he flirts with another woman in front of you—or at all—and you get out, Lucy. You hear me? That is not normal, and no man who respects his partner would put them in that situation where they have to wonder if something more is going on. I would never so much as look at another woman if I was with you—in your presence or not.”
“But—”
“But nothing. There are a lot of gray areas in relationships. This isn’t one of them. Short of there being extenuating circumstances that are agreed upon by both parties, there is a clear line and no one should be crossing it.”
She stared. This was supposed to be all in theory—a test run of sorts—but Gideon spoke like it was a personal attack on him. Because it is. She didn’t know what to do, so she slipped her arms around his waist and pulled him in for a hug. “I’m sorry.”
He cursed, but he wrapped his arms around her. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”
“I’m blurring the lines.” She wasn’t even sure where the lines were at this point. Having sex was one thing, though they hadn’t even done that right because she was too busy enjoying herself to pay attention to whatever he tried to teach her. On what was supposed to be her second date, she was more excited about pushing Gideon’s buttons than she was about meeting her actual date.
And now she was getting jealous.
He pulled her tighter against him. “We’ll talk about it tonight.” He stepped back and reclaimed her hand. “Come on.”
Lucy didn’t know whether to look forward to the conversation or to dread it. When she’d initially brought it up, she’d deluded herself with the falsity that she had everything under control. Twenty minutes into this day and she’d proved herself wrong half a dozen times. Gideon was probably going to sit her down and explain how out of line she’d been lately.
Let it go. You can obsess about every word and touch and meaning once he’s left tonight.
Strangely enough, that made her feel better. Or maybe it was his fingers laced through hers as they walked down the street. Two blocks later, he pulled her to a stop in front of a boutique lingerie shop. “Yes?”
She took in the window display, a perfect blend of tasteful and risqué. The mannequins reclined on a lounging sofa, both wearing jewel-toned bustiers, ruffled boy-short panties, with garters and thigh-highs. One had on a lace shrug that looked like something out of an old black-and-white movie. “Yes.”
She couldn’t wait to get into that dressing room with Gideon.
One minute Gideon was leading Lucy into the lingerie boutique, the next, a whirlwind of a saleswoman had stationed him in one of the private change areas and led Lucy away. He blinked at the opening leading into the rest of the store but didn’t move from his assigned spot. That was smoothly done.
Content to leave Lucy at the mercy of the woman, he surveyed the changing area. It was a clever design, each of the three doorways leading to a small sitting area and an individual change room. The whole setup created the feeling of an intimate environment for shopping for the most intimate of clothing. He approved.
Gideon hadn’t decided whether now was the time to play on Lucy’s fantasy of change room sex. He’d intended it initially, but their conversation on the walk over had put things up in the air. He’d already pressed her hard just by staying last night. Her showing signs of jealousy was a sign that she felt more than just sexual attraction, but it obviously set her off balance and made her uncomfortable.
He sat back and scrubbed a hand over his face. The truth was, he didn’t know how to play this. He’d made his career on being able to read people and find good fits, but he was fumbling around in the dark when it came to Lucy. He felt like he was back in high school, trying to express interest without hanging himself out to dry and becoming the laughingstock of the school.
Except the stakes were a whole hell of a lot higher now.
The saleswoman had hustled Lucy into the change room so fast, he hadn’t seen more than a flash of bright colors attached to hangers before the door shut. The saleswoman—a little Goth woman who stood five feet tall, if that—emerged a few seconds later. She had purple streaks in her black hair and a lip ring. She winked at him and raised her voice. “You let me know if you need any different sizes or want to try something else. There’s a button in there that will ding me, but otherwise, I’ll leave you to it.”
“Thank you.” Lucy’s voice was muffled.
The saleswoman stopped next to him. “Special lady you have there.”
“Yes.” She wasn’t telling him anything he didn’t know. She lingered for a second, something obviously on her mind, but he didn’t have the patience to deal with it when he could hear the slide of cloth against skin in the dressing room. “Thank you.”
“Let me know if you need anything. We have coffee and water.” She waited half a beat and then was gone, striding out the door and into the main boutique.
Gideon drummed his fingers on his knee and waited.
Then waited some more.
Five minutes later his frayed patience gave out. He rose and stalked to the dressing room door. “Lucy.”
“Yes?” She sounded small and unsure.
“Do you need assistance?”
“No.”
He stared at the door, willing her to open it. She didn’t. Gideon sighed. “Is there a problem?”
“No. Yes. I don’t know. I just feel absolutely ridiculous.”
He considered and discarded several responses to that. None of them was worth the breath it would take to give them voice. “Open the door.”
“It’s fine, Gideon. This was a silly idea. Just give me a minute to change back into my clothes and we can find something else to do today.”
“Open the door,” he repeated.
Her bare feet padded over the tiled floor and he held his breath as they approached the door. And then it was open and a vision from every one of his fantasies stood in front of him. Lucy wore nude-colored thigh-highs, held up by an emerald garter belt. Its decorative lace almost hid the fact that her panties barely hid anything at all. And the bustier was a work of art, offering her breasts with peekaboo lace that showcased her nipples apparently by accident. The whole thing was a goddamn tease and he loved it. “You look ravishing.”
She put her hands on her hips, at her sides, and then finally crossed them over her chest. “Ravishing is a strong word.”
“It fits.” He stepped into the dressing room and shut the door behind him, unable to take his eyes off her. “If you don’t like it, divine, exquisite and breathtaking are also accurate.”
Her eyebrows inched up. “Do you have a thesaurus tucked into your back pocket?”
“Don’t need one.” He stopped in front of her and uncrossed her arms so he could see her. As with all things Lucy, both she and the lingerie were even better up close. Gideon stroked his hands down her sides and ran his thumb over the garter belt. What he found had him going to his knees in front of her. “Your panties are on top.”
“Well, yes.” A blush spread over her pale cheeks and down her chest. “I’d already decided to buy it based on the color, so I wanted the full effect.”
There was only one reason to wear panties over the garter belt; they could be removed while leaving the rest of the lingerie on.
Gideon hooked the side of the thong with his thumbs and looked up her body to her face. “Yes?”
“Yes.” The word was barely more than a stirring of the air between them.
He slid her panties down her legs, taking his time. “I’m buying this for you. Don’t argue. This isn’t a disagreement that you’ll win.”
“This getup is incredibly expensive.” As he crouched, she lifted first one foot and then the other so he could remove the thong completely.
“Worth every penny.” The garter belt framed her pussy to perfection, an offering he couldn’t have resisted if he’d tried—and Gideon wasn’t interested in trying. He guided one of her legs over his shoulder, a position that left her completely at his mercy. “Just a taste.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
AT THE FIRST stroke of Gideon’s tongue, Lucy forgot all the reasons this was a questionable idea. She didn’t care. The only thing that mattered was his tongue lazily circling her clit. As if he had all the time in the world and they weren’t in a public place.
A public place where every moan and sound could be heard by someone on the other side of the dressing room door.
She shivered, heat cascading through her body at the thought of someone listening. Someone knowing what they were doing. Someone thinking Gideon was so turned on by the lingerie that he couldn’t wait for the time it’d take them to get home.
He’d had to have her right then and there.
His dark gaze met hers as he licked her again. “What are you thinking?”
She was thinking she wanted more. To be dirty. To break the rules.
Lucy reached down and tugged on his shoulders. Without saying another word, Gideon rose and let her guide him to sit on the bench that ran along the wall in the changing room. He watched her through hooded eyes as she undid the front of his jeans and climbed onto his lap. After a quick detour to her purse for a condom, she rolled it onto his length. He opened his mouth but Lucy pressed a single finger to his lips.
His eyes flashed in understanding and his lazy grin made her pussy clench. Lucy guided him inside her and sealed them together. She leaned forward until her lips brushed his ear. “Someone could hear.”
“Yes.” The word was barely more than a whisper. He reached up and pulled her bustier down to bare her breasts. “Hope you locked the door. She knocks on it and it’ll swing right open. Give the woman the sight of a lifetime.”
Her nipples tightened at the image his low words painted. It didn’t matter that she knew for a fact the door was locked. It could be unlocked. Lucy held on to Gideon’s shoulders and started to move. Each time she lifted almost all the way off his cock, her breasts brushed against his mouth and he kissed first one and then the other.
Thrust. Kiss. Thrust.
“Look at how beautiful you are.” He gripped her chin and turned her face to the full-length mirror.
What a picture they made. Him fully clothed except for his cock disappearing and reappearing between her legs. Her mostly naked and riding him, her pale skin flushed with desire. Lucy couldn’t take her gaze away from where one of his big hands held her hip while the other maintained its grip on her chin, to the look on his face as he stared at her in the mirror. She licked her lips. “We are beautiful.”
He guided her back to face him. “Fuck me. Come on my cock. But be quiet or Agnes will hear.”
The words unleashed the orgasm that had been building from the moment he’d slipped off her panties. Lucy buried her face in his neck and tried to muffle her cry as she came. Gideon looped an arm around her waist and lifted her to reverse their positions, sitting her on the bench with him kneeling between her thighs, his cock still buried inside her.
He held her thighs wide and proceeded to fuck her. She had to cling to the edge of the bench to keep from smacking against the wall with the strength of his thrusts. Through it all, his dark eyes swallowed her up, so full of things she couldn’t put a name to. An expression almost like pain flickered over his face as he came with a muffled curse, hips still thrusting as if he never wanted to stop.
Lucy slumped back onto the bench and blinked at the reflection of herself. Gideon crouched in front of her, his dark eyes wild. He started to reach for her and stopped. “Your place. Now.”
“We could...” She trailed off. My place. Despite the outstanding and filthy sex, she wanted more. She wanted skin on skin and Gideon’s taste in her mouth. She wanted it all.
She nodded. “My place.” She lifted her shaking hands to finish undoing her bustier, but Gideon beat her there. He undid the tiny clasps carefully, the delicate lace looking strange against his massive hands. He slid it off her arms and folded it neatly on the bench next to her before giving the garter belt and stockings the same treatment. The panties finished off the pile.
He ran his hands up her legs. Lucy held her breath and arched her back a little. His pupils dilated, which was a reward in and of itself, but Gideon stood. “Get dressed.” Then he was gone, snatching the lingerie off the bench and striding out the door, careful to not let it open too much.
She stared after him for a long moment before she dredged up the ambition to move. It was just as well he’d shown a little restraint or she had a feeling they wouldn’t have left this dressing room for several hours. She wasn’t sure if she was disappointed that he’d walked out or excited for what was to come.
Excited. Definitely excited.
She dressed quickly and paused to check her appearance in the mirror. Flushed cheeks, slightly wild eyes, skin a little too glowy. It was a good look, but there was no mistaking that she and Gideon had been up to no good behind the closed door. It was becoming a habit of theirs, though Lucy couldn’t say she was sad about it. She liked the thrill of knowing there were people within hearing distance.
She liked that she was experiencing it with Gideon even more.
Lucy stopped short.
There it was. The thing she’d been doing her best not to think too hard about since their first time—since before their first time, if she was being honest. There’d always been an attraction simmering between her and Gideon, even when she’d been with Jeff. She’d gone out of her way to ensure she’d never given him any sign of it, because she’d been in a relationship.
Because she cared about Gideon as a friend, and if something had happened between them, she’d lose him.
There was no Jeff standing between them now, and her feelings for Gideon were significantly more complicated. There was lust, definitely. Her body craved his like she’d never craved anything—anyone—before.
But there were...feelings.
She gave herself a shake. It didn’t matter if there were feelings or not. She’d set out the terms and Gideon had agreed to them. Changing the rules without notice meant she really would lose him and she hadn’t come all this way to falter now. She’d missed him terribly these last couple of years, and the thought of going back to her life without him in it felt like she had a gaping hole in her chest.
Gideon wasn’t the keeping kind. A lot had changed, but she couldn’t afford to believe that had. He’d settle down someday, with the right woman, but he wasn’t there yet. Even if he tried to give them a shot for her sake, it would self-destruct sooner rather than later.
No matter which way she looked at the situation, the end result was the same—if she changed the rules now, she would lose him. If she saw her original plan through to the end, she retained the chance to keep Gideon in her life.
Lucy would fight for that, even if it meant hurting herself to do so.
She took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. I can do this. Lucy opened the change room door and marched out. Gideon stood by the entrance to the boutique and she headed his way, very carefully not looking for Agnes. They might be the only people in the shop, but they’d been in that room far too long to be doing anything but exactly what they’d been doing. Focus, Lucy. She licked her lips as she stopped next to Gideon. “My place?”
“I changed my mind.”
She braced herself. “Oh?”
“That meal might have been sweet, but it won’t sustain us for what I have in mind for later.” He gave her a wolfish grin that had her warming even as she tried not to read into his words too much.
It won’t sustain us.
He didn’t mean anything by it—of that, Lucy was sure—but it served as yet another reminder that this was temporary and any effort to make it permanent would backfire spectacularly. She put on her best smile. “What’s the plan, then?”
Gideon’s grin dropped away and he studied her for a long moment, seeming to see through her façade. Finally he nodded, almost to himself. “Lunch. Then we’ll head back to your place to finish what we started.”
