Bared to You: A Crossfire Novel Read online

“You did good, Paul,” I said. “Pampering a woman never goes out of style.”

  A black town car pul ed up with Clancy at the wheel.

  Paul opened the rear door for us and we climbed in, squealing when we found a box of Knipschildt’s Chocopologie on the seat. Waving at Paul, we settled back and dug in, taking tiny nibbles of the truffles that were worth savoring slowly.

  Clancy drove us straight to Perrini’s, where the relaxation began from the moment one walked in the door. Crossing the entrance threshold was like taking a vacation on the far side of the world. Every arched doorway was framed by lushly vibrant striped silks, while jeweled pil ows decorated elegant chaises and oversized armchairs.

  Birds chirped from suspended gilded cages and potted plants fil ed every corner with lush fronds. Smal decorative fountains added the sounds of running water, while stringed instrumental music was piped into the room via cleverly hidden speakers. The air was redolent with a mix of exotic spices and fragrances, making me feel like I’d stepped into Arabian Nights.

  It was this-close to being too much, but it didn’t cross the line. Instead, Perrini’s was exotic and luxurious, an indulgent treat for those who could afford it. Like my mother, who’d just finished a milk-and-honey bath when we arrived.

  I studied the menu of treatments available, deciding to skip my usual “warrior woman” in favor of the

  “passionate pampering.” I’d been waxed the week before, but the rest of the treatment—“designed to make you sexual y irresistible”—sounded like exactly what I needed.

  I’d final y managed to get my mind back into the safe zone of work when Cary spoke up from the pedicure chair beside mine.

  “Mrs. Stanton, have you met Gideon Cross?” I gaped at him. He knew damn wel my mom went nuts over any news about my romantic—and not-so-romantic, as the case may be—relationships.

  My mother, who sat in the chair on the other side of me, leaned forward with her usual girlish excitement over a rich, handsome man. “Of course. He’s one of the wealthiest men in the world. Number twenty-five or so on Forbes’s list, if I’m remembering correctly. A very driven young man, obviously, and a generous benefactor to many of the children’s charities I champion. Extremely eligible, of course, but I don’t believe he’s gay, Cary. He’s got a reputation as a ladies’ man.”

  “My loss.” Cary grinned and ignored my violent headshaking. “But it’d be a hopeless crush anyway, since he’s digging on Eva.”

  “Eva! I can’t believe you didn’t say anything. How could you not tel me something like that?” I looked at my mom, whose scrubbed face appeared young, unlined, and very much like mine. I was very clearly my mother’s daughter, right down to my surname. The one concession she’d made to my father had been to name me after his mother.

  “There’s nothing to tel ,” I insisted. “We’re just…

  friends.”

  “We can do better than that,” Monica said, with a look of calculation that struck fear in my heart. “I don’t know how it escaped me that you work in the same building he does. I’m certain he was smitten the moment he saw you. Although he’s known to prefer brunettes…Hmm…Anyway. He’s also known for his excel ent taste. Clearly the latter won out with you.”

  “It’s not like that. Please don’t start meddling. You’l embarrass me.”

  “Nonsense. If anyone knows what to do with men, it’s me.”

  I cringed, my shoulders creeping up to my ears. By the time my massage appointment came around, I was in desperate need of one. I stretched out on the table and closed my eyes, preparing to take a catnap to get through the long night ahead.

  I loved dressing up and looking pretty as much as the next girl, but charity functions were a lot of work.

  Making smal talk was exhausting, smiling nonstop was a pain, and conversations about businesses and

  people I didn’t know were boring. If it wasn’t for Cary benefitting from the exposure, I’d put up a bigger fight about going.

  I sighed. Who was I fooling? I’d end up going anyway. My mom and Stanton supported abused children’s charities because they were significant to me. Going to the occasional stuffy event was a smal price to pay for the return.

  Taking a deep breath, I consciously relaxed. I made a mental note to cal my dad when I got home and thought about how to send a thank-you note to Gideon for the hangover cure. I supposed I could e-mail him using the contact info on his business card, but that lacked class. Besides, I didn’t know who read his inbox.

  I’d just cal him when I got home. Why not? He’d asked—no, told—me to; he’d written the demand on his business card. And I’d get to hear his luscious voice again.

  The door opened and the masseuse came in.

  “Hel o, Eva. You ready?”

  Not quite. But I was getting there.

  After many lovely hours at the spa, my mom and Cary dropped me off at the apartment; then they headed out to hunt for new cuff links for Stanton. I used the time alone to cal Gideon. Even with the much-needed privacy, I punched most of his phone number into the keypad a half-dozen times before I final y put the cal through.

  He answered on the first ring. “Eva.”

  Startled that he’d known who was cal ing, my mind scrambled for a moment. How did he have my name and number in his contact list? “Uh…hi, Gideon.”

  “I’m a block away. Let the front desk know I’m coming.”

  “What?” I felt like I’d missed part of the conversation.

  “Coming where?”

  “To your place. I’m rounding the corner now. Cal the desk, Eva.”

  He hung up and I stared at the phone, trying to absorb the fact that Gideon was moments away from being with me again. Somewhat dazed, I went to the intercom and talked to the front desk, letting them know I was expecting him and while I was talking, he walked into the lobby. A few moments after that, he was at my door.

  It was then that I remembered I was dressed in only a thigh-length silk robe, and my face and hair were styled for the dinner. What kind of impression would he get from my appearance?

  I tightened the belt of my robe before I let him in. It wasn’t like I’d invited him over for a seduction or anything.

  Gideon stood in the hal way for a long moment, his gaze raking me from my head down to my French manicured toes. I was equal y stunned by his appearance. The way he looked in worn jeans and a Tshirt made me want to undress him with my teeth.

  “Worth the trip to find you like this, Eva.” He stepped inside and locked the door behind him. “How are you feeling?”

  “Good. Thanks to you. Thank you.” My stomach quivered because he was here, with me, which made me feel almost…giddy. “That can’t be why you came over.”

  “I’m here because it took you too long to cal me.”

  “I didn’t realize I had a deadline.”

  “I have to ask you something time-sensitive, but more than that, I wanted to know if you were feeling al right after last night.” His eyes were dark as they swept over me, his breathtaking face framed by that luxurious curtain of inky hair. “God. You look beautiful, Eva. I can’t remember ever wanting anything this much.” With just those few simple words I became hot and needy. Way too vulnerable. “What’s so urgent?”

  “Go with me to the advocacy center dinner tonight.” I pul ed back, surprised and excited by the request.

  “You’re going?”

  “So are you. I checked, knowing your mother would be there. Let’s go together.”

  My hand went to my throat, my mind torn between the weirdness of how much he knew about me and concern over what he was asking me to do. “That’s not what I meant when I said we should spend time together.”

  “Why not?” The simple question was laced with chal enge. “What’s the problem with going together to an event we’d already planned on attending separately?”

  “It’s not very discreet. It’s a high-profile event.”

  “So?” Gideon stepped closer and fingered
a curl of my hair.

  There was a dangerous purr to his voice that sent a shiver through me. I could feel the warmth of his big, hard body and smel the richly masculine scent of his skin. I was fal ing under his spel , deeper with every minute that passed.

  “People wil make assumptions, my mother in particular. She’s already scenting your bachelor blood in the water.”

  Lowering his head, Gideon pressed his lips into the crook of my neck. “I don’t care what people think. We know what we’re doing. And I’l deal with your mother.”

  “If you think you can,” I said breathlessly, “you don’t know her very wel .”

  “I’l pick you up at seven.” His tongue traced the wildly throbbing vein in my throat and I melted into him, my body going lax as he pul ed me close.

  Stil , I managed to say, “I haven’t said yes.”

  “But you won’t say no.” He caught my earlobe between his teeth. “I won’t let you.”

  I opened my mouth to protest and he sealed his lips over mine, shutting me up with a lush wet kiss. His tongue did that slow, savoring licking that made me long to feel him doing the same between my legs. My hands went to his hair, sliding through it, tugging. When he wrapped his arms around me, I arched, curving into his hands.

  Just as he had in his office, he had me on my back on the couch before I realized he was moving me, his mouth swal owing my surprised gasp. The robe gave way to his dexterous fingers; then he was cupping my breasts, kneading them with soft, rhythmic squeezes.

  “Gideon—”

  “Shh.” He sucked on my lower lip, his fingers rol ing and tugging my tender nipples. “It was driving me crazy knowing you were naked beneath your robe.”

  “You came over without—Oh! Oh, God…”

  His mouth surrounded the tip of my breast, the wash of heat bringing a mist of perspiration to my skin.

  My gaze darted frantical y to the clock on the cable box. “Gideon, no.”

  His head lifted and he looked at me with stormy blue eyes. “It’s insane, I know. I don’t—I can’t explain it, Eva, but I have to make you come. I’ve been thinking about it constantly for days now.”

  One of his hands pushed between my legs. They fel open shamelessly, my body so aroused I was flushed and almost feverish. His other hand continued to plump my breasts, making them heavy and unbearably sensitive.

  “You’re wet for me,” he murmured, his gaze sliding down my body to where he was parting me with his fingers. “You’re beautiful here, too. Plush and pink. So soft. You didn’t wax today, did you?”

  I shook my head.

  “Thank God. I don’t think I would’ve made it ten minutes without touching you, let alone ten hours.” He slid one finger careful y into me.

  My eyes closed against the unbearable vulnerability of being spread out naked and fingered by a man whose familiarity with the rules of Brazilian waxing betrayed an intimate knowledge of women. A man who was stil ful y clothed and kneeling on the floor beside me.

  “You’re so snug.” Gideon pul ed out and thrust gently back into me. My back bowed as I clenched eagerly around him. “And so greedy. How long has it been since the last time you were fucked?”

  I swal owed hard. “I’ve been busy. My thesis, job-hunting, moving…”

  “A while, then.” He pul ed out and pushed back into me with two fingers. I couldn’t hold back a moan of delight. The man had talented hands, confident and skil ed, and he took what he wanted with them.

  “Are you on birth control, Eva?”

  “Yes.” My hands gripped the edges of the cushions.

  “Of course.”

  “I’l prove I’m clean and you’l do the same, then you’re going to let me come in you.”

  “Jesus, Gideon.” I was panting for him, my hips circling shamelessly onto his thrusting fingers. I felt like I’d spontaneously combust if he didn’t get me off.

  I’d never been so turned on in my life. I was near mindless with the need for an orgasm. If Cary walked in right then and found me writhing in our living room while Gideon finger-fucked me, I didn’t think I’d care.

  Gideon was breathing hard, too. His face was flushed with lust. For me. When I’d done nothing more than respond helplessly to him.

  His hand at my breast moved to my cheek and brushed over it. “You’re blushing. I’ve scandalized you.”

  “Yes.”

  His smile was both wicked and delighted, and it made my chest tight. “I want to feel my cum in you when I fuck you with my fingers. I want you to feel my cum in you, so you think about how I looked and the sounds I made when I pumped it into you. And while you’re thinking about that, you’re going to look forward to me doing it again and again.”

  My sex rippled around his stroking fingers, the rawness of his words pushing me to the brink of orgasm.

  “I’m going to tel you al the ways I want you to please me, Eva, and you’re going to do it al …take it al , and we’re going to have explosive, primal, no-holds-barred sex. You know that, don’t you? You can feel how it’l be between us.”

  “Yes,” I breathed, clutching my breasts to ease the deep ache of my hardened nipples. “Please, Gideon.”

  “Shh…I’ve got you.” The pad of his thumb rubbed my clitoris in gentle circles. “Look into my eyes when you come for me.”

  Everything tightened in my core, the tension building as he massaged my clit and pushed his fingers in and out in a steady, unhurried rhythm.

  “Give it up to me, Eva,” he ordered. “Now.” I climaxed with a thready cry, my grip white-knuckled on the sides of the cushions as my hips pumped onto his hand, my mind far beyond shame or shyness. My gaze was locked to his, unable to look away, riveted by the fierce masculine triumph that flared in his eyes. In that moment he owned me. I’d do anything he wanted.

  And he knew it.

  Searing pleasure pulsed through me. Through the roaring of blood in my ears, I thought I heard him speak hoarsely, but I lost the words when he hooked one of my legs over the back of the couch and covered my cleft with his mouth.

  “No—” I pushed at his head with my hands. “I can’t.” I was too swol en, too sensitive. But when his tongue touched my clit, fluttering over it, the hunger built again.

  More intense than the first time. He rimmed my trembling slit, teasing me, taunting me with the promise of another orgasm when I knew I couldn’t have one again so quickly.

  Then his tongue speared into me and I bit my lip to bite back a scream. I came a second time, my body quaking

  violently,

  tender

  muscles

  tightening

  desperately around his decadent licking. His growl vibrated through me. I didn’t have the strength to push him away when he returned to my clit and sucked softly…tirelessly…until I climaxed again, gasping his name.

  I was boneless as he straightened my leg and stil breathless when he pressed kisses up my bel y to my breasts. He licked each of my nipples, and then hauled me up with his arms banded around my back. I hung lax and pliable in his grip while he took my mouth with suppressed violence, bruising my lips and betraying how close to the edge he was.

  He closed my robe; then stood, staring down at me.

  “Gideon…?”

  “Seven o’clock, Eva.” He reached down and touched my ankle, his fingertips caressing the diamond anklet I’d put on in preparation for the evening. “And keep this on. I want to fuck you while you’re wearing nothing else.”

  “Hey, Dad. I caught you.” I adjusted my grip on the phone receiver and pul ed up a stool at the breakfast bar. I missed my father. For the last four years we’d lived close enough to see each other at least once a week. Now his home in Oceanside was the entire country away. “How are you?”

  He lowered the volume on the television. “Better, now that you’ve cal ed. How was your first week at work?”

  I went over my days from Monday through Friday, skipping over al the Gideon parts. “I real y like my boss, Mar
k,” I finished. “And the vibe of the agency is very energetic and kind of quirky. I’m happy going to work every day, and I’m bummed when it’s time to go home.”

  “I hope it stays that way. But you need to make sure you have some downtime, too. Go out, be young, have fun. But not too much fun.”

  “Yeah, I had a little too much last night. Cary and I went clubbing, and I woke up with a mean hangover.”

  “Shit, don’t tel me that.” He groaned. “Some nights I wake up in a cold sweat thinking about you in New York. I get through it by tel ing myself you’re too smart to take chances, thanks to two parents who’ve dril ed safety rules into your DNA.”

  “Which is true,” I said, laughing. “That reminds me…

  I’m going to start Krav Maga training.”

  “Real y?” There was a thoughtful pause. “One of the guys on the force is big on it. Maybe I’l check it out and we can compare notes when I come out to visit you.”

  “You’re coming to New York?” I couldn’t hide my excitement. “Oh, Dad, I’d love it if you would. As much as I miss SoCal, Manhattan is real y awesome. I think you’l like it.”

  “I’d like anyplace in the world as long as you’re there.” He waited a beat, then asked, “How’s your mom?”

  “Wel …she’s Mom. Beautiful, charming, and obsessive-compulsive.”

  My chest hurt and I rubbed at it. I thought my dad might stil love my mom. He’d never married. That was one of the reasons I never told him about what happened to me. As a cop, he would’ve insisted on pressing charges and the scandal would have destroyed my mother. I also worried that he’d lose respect for her or even blame her, and it hadn’t been her fault. As soon as she’d found out what her stepson was doing to me, she’d left a husband she was happy with and filed for divorce.

  I kept talking, waving at Cary as he came rushing in with a little blue Tiffany & Co. bag. “We had a spa day today. It was a fun way to cap off the week.” I could hear the smile in his voice when he said, “I’m glad you two are managing to spend time together.

  What are your plans for the rest of the weekend?” I hedged on the subject of the charity event, knowing the whole red carpet business and astronomical y-priced dinner seats would just highlight the gap between my parents’ lives. “Cary and I are going out to eat, and then I plan on staying in tomorrow. Sleeping in late, hanging out in my pajamas al day, maybe some movies and food delivery of some sort. A little vegetating before a new work week kicks off.”