My pulse leaped. "Is that bad?"
"It's wonderful." He cupped my face, his ring cool against my cheek. He kissed me passionately, his lips demanding against mine, his tongue thrusting with wicked skill into my mouth.
I wanted more, but restrained myself, thinking that I'd already gone overboard enough for one day. Plus, he'd been too distracted by my unexpected appearance to frost the glass wall to give us privacy.
"Tell me again what you said in the car," he whispered.
"Hmm...I don't know." I brushed my free hand over his vest. I was afraid to tell him again that I loved him. He'd taken it hard the first time, and I wasn't sure he'd fully taken in what it meant for us. For him. "You're ridiculously handsome, you know. It's a sucker punch every time I see you. Anyway...I don't want to risk scaring you away."
Leaning toward me, he touched his forehead to mine. "You regret what you said, don't you? All the flowers, the ring - "
"Do you really like it?" I asked anxiously, pulling back to study his face and see if he was hedging on the truth. "I don't want you to wear it for me if you hate it."
His fingers traced the shell of my ear. "It's perfect. It's how you see me. I'm proud to wear it."
I loved that he got it. Of course, that's because he got me.
"If you're trying to soften the blow of taking back what you said - " he began, his gaze betraying a surprising anxiety.
I couldn't resist the soft plea in his eyes. "I meant every word, Gideon."
"I'll make you say it again," he threatened in a seductive purr. "You'll scream it by the time I'm done with you."
I grinned and backed away. "Get back to work, fiend."
"I'll give you a lift home at five." He watched me move to the door. "I want your cunt na**d and wet when you come down to the car. If you touch yourself to get there, don't make yourself come or there will be consequences."
Consequences. A little shiver moved through me, but it carried a level of fear I could deal with. I trusted Gideon to know just how far to push me. "Will you be hard and ready?"
A wry smile twisted his lips. "When am I not, with you? Thank you for today, Eva. Every minute of it."
I blew him a kiss and watched his eyes darken. The look on his face stayed with me the rest of the day.
It was six o'clock before I made it back to my apartment in a state of well-fucked dishevelment. I'd known what I was in for when I found Gideon's limousine at the curb after work instead of the Bentley. He'd damn near tackled me as I climbed into the back; then proceeded to demonstrate his phenomenal oral skills before nailing me into the seat with vigorous enthusiasm.
I was grateful that I kept in shape. Otherwise, Gideon's insatiable sexual appetite combined with his seemingly endless stamina might've exhausted me by now. Not that I was complaining. Just an observation.
Clancy was already waiting for me in the lobby of my apartment building when I came rushing in. If he noted my hideously wrinkled dress, flushed cheeks, and messy hair, he didn't point it out. I changed swiftly upstairs and we took off for Parker's studio. I hoped the orientation would start out easy because my legs were still a bit jellied from two toe-curling orgasms.
By the time we arrived at the converted warehouse in Brooklyn, I was excited and ready to learn. About a dozen students were engaged in various exercises with Parker overseeing and offering encouragement from the edge of the mats. When he saw me, he came over and directed me to a far corner of the sparring area where we could work one-on-one.
"So...how's it going?" I asked, to break my own tension.
He smiled, showing off a very interesting and arresting face. "Nervous?"
"A little."
"We're going to work on your physical strength and stamina, as well as your awareness. I'm also going to start training you not to freeze or hesitate in unexpected confrontations."
Before we began, I thought I had pretty good physical strength and stamina, but I learned both could be better. We started out with a brief introduction to the equipment and layout of the space, and then moved on to an explanation of both fighting and neutral/passive stances. We warmed up with basic bodyweight calisthenics; then progressed to "tagging," where we tried to tag each other's shoulders and knees while standing face-to-face and blocking countermoves.
Parker was amazing at tagging, of course, but I started to get the hang of it. The majority of the time, however, was spent covering groundwork and I really sunk my teeth into that. I knew very well what it was like to be down and at a disadvantage.
If Parker noted my underlying vehemence, he didn't comment on it.
When Gideon showed up at my apartment later that evening, he found me soaking my aching body in my bathtub. Although I could tell he was fresh from a shower after his own workout with his personal trainer, he stripped and slid into the bath behind me, cradling me with his arms and legs. I whimpered as he rocked me.
"That good, huh?" he teased, catching my earlobe in his teeth.
"Who knew rolling around for an hour with a hot guy could be so exhausting?" Cary had been right about Krav Maga causing bruises; I could see a few shadows blooming beneath my skin already and we hadn't even gotten to the hard stuff yet.
"I might be jealous," Gideon murmured, squeezing my br**sts, "if I didn't know Smith was married with children."
I snorted at yet another tidbit of knowledge he shouldn't know. "Do you also know his shoe and hat sizes?"
"Not yet." He laughed at my exasperated growl and I couldn't hold back a smile at hearing the rare sound.
One day soon we were going to have to talk about his obsession with information gathering, but today wasn't the day to get into it. We'd been at odds too much lately and Cary's warning about making sure we had as much fun as not was ever-present in my mind.
Playing with the ring on Gideon's finger, I told him about the conversation I'd had with my dad on Saturday and how his fellow cops had been ribbing him over the gossip about me dating the Gideon Cross.
He sighed. "I'm sorry."
Turning, I faced him. "It's not your fault you're news. You can't help being insanely attractive."
"One of these days," he said dryly, "I'll figure out whether my face is a curse or not."
"Well, if my opinion counts for anything, I'm rather fond of it."
Gideon's lips twitched and he touched my cheek. "Your opinion is the only one that means anything. And your dad's. I want him to like me, Eva, not think I'm exposing his daughter to invasions of her privacy."
"You'll win him over. He just wants me to be safe and happy."
He visibly relaxed and pulled me closer. "Do I make you happy?"
"Yes." I rested my cheek over his heart. "I love being with you. When we're not together, I wish we were."
"You said you didn't want to fight anymore," he murmured in my hair. "It's been bugging me. Are you getting tired of me f**king up all the time?"
"You do not f**k up all the time. And I've screwed up, too. Relationships are hard, Gideon. Most of them don't have kick-ass sex like we do. I put us in the lucky column."
"It's wonderful." He cupped my face, his ring cool against my cheek. He kissed me passionately, his lips demanding against mine, his tongue thrusting with wicked skill into my mouth.
I wanted more, but restrained myself, thinking that I'd already gone overboard enough for one day. Plus, he'd been too distracted by my unexpected appearance to frost the glass wall to give us privacy.
"Tell me again what you said in the car," he whispered.
"Hmm...I don't know." I brushed my free hand over his vest. I was afraid to tell him again that I loved him. He'd taken it hard the first time, and I wasn't sure he'd fully taken in what it meant for us. For him. "You're ridiculously handsome, you know. It's a sucker punch every time I see you. Anyway...I don't want to risk scaring you away."
Leaning toward me, he touched his forehead to mine. "You regret what you said, don't you? All the flowers, the ring - "
"Do you really like it?" I asked anxiously, pulling back to study his face and see if he was hedging on the truth. "I don't want you to wear it for me if you hate it."
His fingers traced the shell of my ear. "It's perfect. It's how you see me. I'm proud to wear it."
I loved that he got it. Of course, that's because he got me.
"If you're trying to soften the blow of taking back what you said - " he began, his gaze betraying a surprising anxiety.
I couldn't resist the soft plea in his eyes. "I meant every word, Gideon."
"I'll make you say it again," he threatened in a seductive purr. "You'll scream it by the time I'm done with you."
I grinned and backed away. "Get back to work, fiend."
"I'll give you a lift home at five." He watched me move to the door. "I want your cunt na**d and wet when you come down to the car. If you touch yourself to get there, don't make yourself come or there will be consequences."
Consequences. A little shiver moved through me, but it carried a level of fear I could deal with. I trusted Gideon to know just how far to push me. "Will you be hard and ready?"
A wry smile twisted his lips. "When am I not, with you? Thank you for today, Eva. Every minute of it."
I blew him a kiss and watched his eyes darken. The look on his face stayed with me the rest of the day.
It was six o'clock before I made it back to my apartment in a state of well-fucked dishevelment. I'd known what I was in for when I found Gideon's limousine at the curb after work instead of the Bentley. He'd damn near tackled me as I climbed into the back; then proceeded to demonstrate his phenomenal oral skills before nailing me into the seat with vigorous enthusiasm.
I was grateful that I kept in shape. Otherwise, Gideon's insatiable sexual appetite combined with his seemingly endless stamina might've exhausted me by now. Not that I was complaining. Just an observation.
Clancy was already waiting for me in the lobby of my apartment building when I came rushing in. If he noted my hideously wrinkled dress, flushed cheeks, and messy hair, he didn't point it out. I changed swiftly upstairs and we took off for Parker's studio. I hoped the orientation would start out easy because my legs were still a bit jellied from two toe-curling orgasms.
By the time we arrived at the converted warehouse in Brooklyn, I was excited and ready to learn. About a dozen students were engaged in various exercises with Parker overseeing and offering encouragement from the edge of the mats. When he saw me, he came over and directed me to a far corner of the sparring area where we could work one-on-one.
"So...how's it going?" I asked, to break my own tension.
He smiled, showing off a very interesting and arresting face. "Nervous?"
"A little."
"We're going to work on your physical strength and stamina, as well as your awareness. I'm also going to start training you not to freeze or hesitate in unexpected confrontations."
Before we began, I thought I had pretty good physical strength and stamina, but I learned both could be better. We started out with a brief introduction to the equipment and layout of the space, and then moved on to an explanation of both fighting and neutral/passive stances. We warmed up with basic bodyweight calisthenics; then progressed to "tagging," where we tried to tag each other's shoulders and knees while standing face-to-face and blocking countermoves.
Parker was amazing at tagging, of course, but I started to get the hang of it. The majority of the time, however, was spent covering groundwork and I really sunk my teeth into that. I knew very well what it was like to be down and at a disadvantage.
If Parker noted my underlying vehemence, he didn't comment on it.
When Gideon showed up at my apartment later that evening, he found me soaking my aching body in my bathtub. Although I could tell he was fresh from a shower after his own workout with his personal trainer, he stripped and slid into the bath behind me, cradling me with his arms and legs. I whimpered as he rocked me.
"That good, huh?" he teased, catching my earlobe in his teeth.
"Who knew rolling around for an hour with a hot guy could be so exhausting?" Cary had been right about Krav Maga causing bruises; I could see a few shadows blooming beneath my skin already and we hadn't even gotten to the hard stuff yet.
"I might be jealous," Gideon murmured, squeezing my br**sts, "if I didn't know Smith was married with children."
I snorted at yet another tidbit of knowledge he shouldn't know. "Do you also know his shoe and hat sizes?"
"Not yet." He laughed at my exasperated growl and I couldn't hold back a smile at hearing the rare sound.
One day soon we were going to have to talk about his obsession with information gathering, but today wasn't the day to get into it. We'd been at odds too much lately and Cary's warning about making sure we had as much fun as not was ever-present in my mind.
Playing with the ring on Gideon's finger, I told him about the conversation I'd had with my dad on Saturday and how his fellow cops had been ribbing him over the gossip about me dating the Gideon Cross.
He sighed. "I'm sorry."
Turning, I faced him. "It's not your fault you're news. You can't help being insanely attractive."
"One of these days," he said dryly, "I'll figure out whether my face is a curse or not."
"Well, if my opinion counts for anything, I'm rather fond of it."
Gideon's lips twitched and he touched my cheek. "Your opinion is the only one that means anything. And your dad's. I want him to like me, Eva, not think I'm exposing his daughter to invasions of her privacy."
"You'll win him over. He just wants me to be safe and happy."
He visibly relaxed and pulled me closer. "Do I make you happy?"
"Yes." I rested my cheek over his heart. "I love being with you. When we're not together, I wish we were."
"You said you didn't want to fight anymore," he murmured in my hair. "It's been bugging me. Are you getting tired of me f**king up all the time?"
"You do not f**k up all the time. And I've screwed up, too. Relationships are hard, Gideon. Most of them don't have kick-ass sex like we do. I put us in the lucky column."
