Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Gideon
Imogene’s laughter echoed around me as I rushed through the lobby, ignoring the whispers and upturned noses of the guests mingling in the luxurious space. Let them look. I didn’t care what they thought about me. All I cared about was being with this woman.
But even as I basked in the melody of her infectious giggles, a voice that sounded suspiciously like Henry’s taunted me from the recesses of my subconscious, reminding me this charade with Imogene would only become harder to maintain as time went on.
He was right.
Hell, that was why I used her accusation that I was Samuel as a reason to walk away.She was already dangerously close to unraveling everything.
I should have known I wouldn’t be able to stay away for long. Not when Imogene had always been the one person to make me feel this way.
When I started down this road, I thought it would be easy to kill. During my years of captivity, I’d taken more lives than I cared to admit.
That was when I didn’t have a choice.
It was either kill or be killed.
I killed to survive.
Now, I killed for revenge.
And each death hit me differently than I thought they would. Each life I took also took something from me.
A piece of my humanity.
After killing Brian McGuire, I needed to feel human again. Like less of the monster I was becoming every day.
Which was why I sought out Imogene tonight. She didn’t need to know I’d been watching her for months now and knew the second she booked that flight to Atlanta.
All she needed to know was I believed it was fate I ended up coming out here for business. And that the only reason I knew she was at that bar was because she conveniently posted a photo to her social media account with the bar’s logo visible behind her.
With every lie I told, I was just digging myself deeper and deeper, but I needed just one more hit of Imogene. One more night of feeling human.
“Hurry up,” I ground out as I jabbed at the door close button on the elevator, ready to throttle anyone who even thought about stepping inside. I was that desperate to lose myself in Imogene.
It had only been a little more than a day since I’d been alone with her, but it seemed like so much longer.
Then again, a lot had happened in that short time. A lot had changed.
I wasn’t going to think about any of that right now, though. Not now that I had Imogene for however long I was able to keep her.
When the doors finally shut and the elevator began its slow ascent, I carefully set her down on her feet and our eyes locked. The small space crackled with electricity, my pulse increasing in time with Imogene’s heaving chest.
As if able to read each other’s minds, I moved toward her at the same time as she lunged for me, our bodies colliding in an erotic dance we were powerless to resist.
“Why did I think I could stay away?” I mused to myself.
“I don’t know,” Imogene panted as I peppered kisses from her mouth and along her jawline. “But it was fucking torture. I started to worry I’d have to actually unpack more of my boxes at my townhouse.”
“Why’s that?” I lifted my eyes toward hers, her skin already red from my rough kisses.
“So I could find my vibrator. You’ve spoiled me with all the orgasms you’ve given me lately.”
“Well, then…” I gripped her hip, my mouth inching closer to hers with every breath. “I’ll do my best to delay your need to unpack for as long as possible. But I must confess…”
“What’s that?”
“I wouldn’t mind using your vibrator on you. In fact, the idea turns me on quite a bit.”
Smirking, she smoothed her hand down my shirt.
Unlike at the restaurant, she didn’t stop when she reached my belt. She continued past it, brushing against my erection as she hoisted herself onto her toes, her lips skimming my neck.
“I can feel that.”
Before I could force her mouth back to mine, the elevator jolted to a stop and the door slid open. With a seductive look, she lowered herself to her heels and turned, her hips swaying as she walked out of the elevator.
I barreled out after her, tugging her down the hallway toward my room. After fumbling for my keycard in my wallet, I held it up to the door. The second I heard it unlock, I flung it open, hauling her into my suite.
The door was barely closed when I crashed my lips against hers again, my hands roaming over her body as I guided her through the living room and into the bedroom. Kicking off her heels, she pushed my jacket down my shoulders, eagerly reaching for the buttons on my shirt.
Suddenly, she tore out of the kiss, bringing her fingers in front of her and examining them with a furrowed brow.
Panic raced through me at the sight of a few droplets of blood staining her skin. It wasn’t much, but it didn’t take much to condemn a man.
“What’s this?” she asked, concern evident in her voice. “Did something happen? Are you hurt?” She scanned my frame, looking for any sign of injury, but she wouldn’t find any.
After all, it wasn’t my blood.
“Must have nicked myself shaving.” I grabbed a tissue off the desk, wiping the blood off her fingers and shoving it into my pocket as I made a mental note to dispose of this suit first thing tomorrow morning.
I’d changed after finishing with Brian. I could only assume, in my desperate need to feel Imogene, I overlooked some blood elsewhere on my body.
What else did I overlook?
“Are you sure?” She raked her gaze over me.
“How else would I have gotten blood on my jacket?” I remarked, the guilt festering in my stomach increasing by the second.
How many lies would I tell this woman? She didn’t deserve this. But I needed her tonight. Needed the one person who always made it hurt less.
“Now where were we?” I pulled her closer, praying she didn’t press the issue further. “I think you were about to take my shirt off.”
She eyed me for another protracted beat before her mouth curved up into a smile, the blood now long forgotten.
At least by her.
“I was,” she admitted in a sultry tone, her fingers trailing down my chest.
“Then what are you waiting for?”
She swiped her tongue along her lips, looking at me with hooded eyes, as if I was a delicious meal she was about to devour. God, I loved the heat in her stare when she got like this. When she was able to let go of the person she thought she needed to be and just be herself. I was so damn grateful she let me see this side of her.
“Just trying to savor the moment,” she cooed, slowly unbuttoning my shirt. “Why rush things when we have all night?” Pushing the fabric down my arms, she ran her hands up my bare torso, her nails lightly raking into my skin.
I growled, wrapping my hand around her hair and forcing her head back, giving me better access to her throat.
“Because you’ve already been driving me crazy all night, Imogene.” I left rough kisses along her fair skin. “Do you have any idea how much I wanted to gouge out the eyes of everyone in that bar who so much as looked your way?”
“No one was looking at me.”
“They were all looking at you.” I cupped her breasts and squeezed her nipples through her dress, eliciting a yelp that turned into a pleasure-filled moan. “Imagining what it would be like to kiss you.” I dipped toward her and covered her mouth with mine, my tongue tangling with hers. “What it would be like to touch you.”
As I skimmed the curve of her frame, she writhed against me, especially when my hand slipped underneath the tiny skirt of her dress.
“What it would be like to fuck you.” I pushed her soaked panties aside and pressed my thumb against her clit.
“Gideon,” she whimpered, her legs shaking as I slipped a finger inside of her.
“This cunt is mine, Imogene.”
“Yes,” she exhaled.
“Say it,” I growled, unsure why I needed to hear these words so much. It wouldn’t change anything. Wouldn’t change the lies I’d told her.
But I needed to know she was still mine, at least for tonight.
“I’m yours, Gideon. All of me.” She clutched my face, forcing my eyes to hers. “You own all of me. My past.” She touched a kiss to my cheek. “My present.” She kissed the other cheek, then pulled back. “And my future.”
I swallowed hard, my chest aching from the raw sincerity in her words. How did I repay her? By deceiving her.Betraying her.
Using her.
Instead of walking away before hurting her even more, I crushed my lips against hers in a desperate attempt to regain some semblance of control over something.
Anything .
I thrust my fingers even harder inside her, propelling her higher and higher with each fevered drive. When I felt her body tense around me, her orgasm imminent, I pulled my fingers from her, spinning her around to face the mirror on the wall opposite us.Her heavy pants filled the room, but she didn’t question me.
Instead, she submitted to me completely, meeting my gaze in the mirror as I slowly lowered the zipper of her dress, sliding it down her frame along with her panties until she stood exposed before me.
She tried to face me, but I kept her locked in place, smoothing my hand along her torso, committing every curve to memory, although I could already draw every inch of her with my eyes closed. The shape of her nipples. The fullness of her lips. Right down to the jagged line of the scar over her heart.
I reverently traced my fingers over it before taking a breast in my hand, my dick throbbing with the need to fuck her. But I needed this more. The buildup. The anticipation. The way her body squirmed in response to my touch. It was incredibly gratifying.
“Gideon, please,” she begged as I rolled a nipple between my fingers.
“What do you need?”
“To feel you.”
I gently rocked my hips against her. “You do feel me.”
“That’s not what I mean.” Her voice dripped with desperation, her body throbbing with need. “It hurts, this ache inside me.”
“Then let me make you feel good.”
I abruptly spun her around, moving her to the edge of the bed and lowering her onto it. My knees hit the floor in front of her, and I spread her legs wide, admiring her glistening pussy. Without wasting another second, I plunged my tongue deep inside her, eliciting a loud moan as she fell back onto the mattress.
“No, Imogene. Watch.”
She snapped her eyes open, propping herself onto her elbows to meet my hungry stare, her desire coating my lips and beard.
“I don’t want you to take your eyes off that mirror. If you do, I won’t let you come. I want you to see what I do when I make you come. Want you to see how goddamn beautiful you are when you let go. Want you to watch me own this cunt.” I dragged a finger along her center, causing her to squirm. “Own you.”
I kept my gaze trained on her as I circled her clit with my tongue. As instructed, she didn’t fall back on the bed. Instead, her eyes remained locked on the mirror as she watched her reaction to my ministrations. Every so often, I noticed her close her eyes, so I retreated, denying her of the orgasm she was desperate for.
That was all it took for her to snap them open and watch herself again.
“Do you see how incredible you look?” I rasped out as I drove my fingers inside her. “How flushed your perfect skin gets when you’re on the cusp of ecstasy?”
“Gideon, please. This is torture.”
“You haven’t seen torture, baby.”
“I need to come so bad. Need you to make me come.”
“Be a good girl and ask nicely.”
“Please, Gideon. Please make me come.”
“Gladly.” I returned my mouth to her, my tongue circling her clit as I hooked my fingers around to hit the spot that set her off.
“Oh, god,” she mewled.
“Don’t look away, Imogene,” I reminded her gruffly. “Watch what I do to you. What only I do to you. Never forget it.”
“Never again.”
“Good.” I dragged my tongue along her clit once more, this time adding my teeth as I sucked it into my mouth.
She detonated around me, her cries of pleasure echoing in the room as she came undone.
And like the good girl she was, she watched the entire thing through the mirror.
Her body was still convulsing when I stood up and flipped her onto her stomach.
“Hands and knees,” I demanded as I toed out of my shoes, swiftly pushing down my pants and boxer briefs.
She eagerly obeyed my command, pulling herself up to her knees and resting on her forearms. When I kneeled behind her and brought my erection up to her, a moan slipped from my throat, the need to lose myself in her a strong compulsion I was too weak to resist.
“Gideon, please,” she begged when I didn’t immediately thrust into her. “I need to feel you. Need to feel whole again.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. Her words alone should have been enough for me to walk away. It was the right thing to do. The honorable thing to do.
But I wasn’t an honorable man.
Not anymore. I stopped being honorable the second Liam Pierce pointed a gun at me and fired.
So instead, I drove inside of her with ruthless abandon, using her to chase away my demons.
Even if it was the last time I ever would.