Chapter Six Gideon
Chapter Six
Gideon
She’s exhausted. We’ve been in this ring for an hour, going over self-defense and hand-to-hand moves, and she’s barely standing.
But she won’t complain.
I’m not trying to push her to collapse—I’m trying to get her to tell me that she’s done. But this woman never would complain. For all the times I was frustrated with her, or even scared for her, she never complained.
It seems that hasn’t changed.
“You’re going easy on me,” she says with a scowl and pushes the hair that’s escaped her braid from her face with shaking hands.
For fuck’s sake, Rebel, call it already.
“If I didn’t go easy on you, every bone in your body would be broken by now.”
She rolls her eyes, and it makes my cock twitch.
“Okay, big guy, come on. Come at me, but don’t go easy.”
“We’re done, Lena. You’ve had enough.”
She scowls and props her hands on her hips, but not before I see the relief move through her eyes. “I don’t know why you bothered to put this tape on my knuckles, because I didn’t get to hit you even once.”
“You managed to elbow me in the gut, and that didn’t feel good.”
I barely even noticed it, but I don’t want her to feel totally defeated.
Which is fucking new for me, because when I’m training, I don’t give a rat’s ass about feelings.
But Lena smiles with satisfaction at my words, and I’ll tell her that she ruptured my spleen if it keeps that grin there.
“Good.” She sighs and moves to walk out of the ring. “What are we doing next?”
The door of the gym opens, and Aiden saunters in. His eyes scan the room, looking for me. This kid grew into a monster of almost six foot five, and he’s all muscle. After two years of college, he decided to enter the NHL draft and was picked up by Seattle.
My brother’s old team.
He leaves next week to start the season, and I’m going to miss having him on the ranch.
“Hey,” Aiden says as he saunters our way. “Wills sent me out here to find you. You’re not answering your phone.”
“I’m working,” I reply. “Is everyone okay?”
“Yeah, she just wants you and the princess to come to breakfast.” Aiden grins and winks at Lena, and for the first time in his life, I feel like punching the kid. “No offense or anything. But you’re kind of a princess.”
“Nope, I wasn’t born into politics—my mother was elected into them. There’s a difference. I don’t have a tiara or anything.” She’s not offended at all as she walks over and holds her hand out to Aiden.
I want to pull it back. I don’t want him touching her.
Get a grip, asshole.
“Lena,” she says as he takes her hand and shakes it. Then the little brat kisses her knuckles.
Don’t make me kill you today, buddy.
“Aiden,” he says with a grin. “I’m the favorite around here. Wills raised me, and the rest of the family history requires a spreadsheet and a presentation. Anyway, she’s making something delicious and wants everyone there.”
“And does she always get what she wants?” Lena asks as she pulls the black tape off her knuckles.
“Duh,” Aiden says with a laugh. “Of course she does. Otherwise, Ryker kicks ass. I’ll see you guys over there. She said to be there in an hour.”
“Oh, good, that gives me time to go wash the filth off me,” Lena mutters as Aiden walks out of my gym.
I don’t know why it bothers me that he’s flirting with Lena. He’s closer in age to her than I am. He’s a good kid. He’s one of my favorite people in the world, and I only have three of those.
Nope, still don’t like it.
“Come on, we’ll head back to the house.”
Lena’s chin firms, and she takes a breath before she walks ahead of me. Something isn’t right. My eyes move over her, watching her stilted gait, and then I see the blood on the backs of her heels.
“Stop.”
Immediately doing as she’s told, she glances over her shoulder and raises an eyebrow. “Problem?”
“Fuck yes, there’s a goddamn problem.”
“You never used to swear this much.”
“I’ve always sworn like this, just not at work. What the fuck, Lena? Why didn’t you tell me that you’d torn apart your heels?”
She glances down and then winces. “It’s okay.”
“It’s not okay.”
“Look, if we weren’t about to traipse all over the wilderness, I’d go barefoot. It doesn’t bother me, but I don’t want to step on woodland creatures or slimy things, or whatever. So I’ll deal. I’ve had worse.”
“I want you to listen to every word I’m about to say.
If you tear your skin up like this, you can’t train.
You can’t be reckless here. I know you’re tired.
You should be. You’ve been through hell this week, and now you’re in a strange place.
It makes sense that you’d be adjusting to the altitude and everything else.
But you have to talk to me, Rebel. You can’t just keep injuries and fatigue to yourself, because I can’t read your mind, and I’m responsible for you. ”
“I’ll tell you when I want you to know something, Gideon.”
That’s the wrong fucking answer.
She stumbles away from me, but I take two strides and I’m in front of her, my back to her, and I squat down.
“Hop on.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Get on my back.”
There’s no movement, and I finally look back at her. She’s biting her lip and staring at my ass.
Christ.
“Lena, jump on my back, or I’ll throw you over my shoulder. You’re not walking a mile like that. Fuck, I don’t want you walking ten feet with your heels torn up like that.”
“The house is a mile away?” That caught her attention.
“Just over.”
“You can’t carry me for more than a mile.”
I turn to her. “Yeah, I can. You’re tiny. I’ll carry you around all day if you want.” My leg aches like a bitch, but I won’t have a problem toting this little thing around. “Now get on my fucking back so I can take you home. Wills doesn’t like it when we’re late.”
“So Willow runs a tight ship around here.”
“She’s the only woman on this ranch, and we all adore her. What do you think?”
I turn back around, squat, and wait, and finally, Lena’s hands grip my shoulders, and she bounces onto my back and wraps her arms around me, and I hold on to her thighs.
This was a bad fucking idea.
I should have jogged home and gotten the car.
Because now, the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen is wrapped around me. Her breasts are pressed to my shoulders, her pussy to my low back, and she’s warm. Not to mention, I can smell her oranges, and now I’ll be walking with a goddamn semi all the way back to the house.
Hockey.
Fishing.
Terrorist attacks.
Running into a grizzly.
Getting shot in the knee.
I’m trying to think of anything that’ll take my mind off the sexy woman clinging to me like a sloth on a tree.
“Can I ask you something?” Her lips are inches from my neck, and all my distraction tactics evaporate into thin air.
“Ask.”
“You don’t limp.”
I pause in the middle of the field and look back at her. Her eyes are wide, and then she looks away and rests her forehead on my shoulder, so I keep walking.
“That wasn’t a question.”
“How?” It’s whispered.
I don’t want to talk about this. Not today or any other day. It was the worst night of both of our lives. What we went through together is something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy, or my biological father, and that’s saying something.
“A lot of fucking work” is all I say.
And yeah, the leg aches like a bitch today, but I’ll push through it the way I always do.
She tightens her arms around me, and I pick up the pace because I need to get her off me. I can’t touch her like this. I can’t be this close to her and not want more.
And wanting more is absolutely not an option.
She’s my job. She’s the president’s daughter. She’s completely out of my league and off limits.
Finally, the house comes into view, and once we’re inside, I carry her up to her room and set her on her feet.
My knee fucking aches.
No, I don’t limp, because I make sure I don’t limp. It’s a weakness I’m not willing to show.
“Thanks,” she murmurs. She still won’t look me in the eye as she turns away and toes off the sneakers.
“Throw those away.”
“I will when the new ones get here.”
“Throw them away today. We won’t train again until your new stuff arrives. That’ll give you a few days to heal.”
“I can—”
“For fuck’s sake.” I push my hands through my hair and pace the room. “Just do what you’re told for once in your life.”
Her gaze snaps up to mine, her eyes flashing with indignation. “I’m not your prisoner, your child, or your wife, Gideon.”
Wife. Fuck.
“I don’t have to do every single thing you say.
I’m also not stupid. I’ll be tossing these when the new ones get here.
Trust me, I don’t want to keep them, because they’re trying to kill me and now my DNA is smeared all over the heels.
But I don’t have any other casual shoes here.
Now stop being a bossy ass and get out of here so I can take a shower.
Or don’t and get a show—I don’t really care. ”
She rips her T-shirt over her head, tosses it aside, and stalks to the bathroom, where she doesn’t close the door. She keeps her back to me and pushes her thumbs into the waistband of her yoga pants, and as she starts to wiggle them down her hips, I turn my back to her and stomp out of the bedroom.
I’m going to spank her tight little ass.
I storm into my own bedroom, close the door, and strip down, then get into a cold shower. I’m going to be taking a lot of cold showers while that little rebel is in my house. Because I wanted to wrap that braid around my fist, rip the leggings in two, and fuck her into submission.
And that’s the last thing that I can do.
I never saw Lena like this. Of course, she was a child for the majority of the time I was on her detail.
But she’s not a kid now. Not by a long shot.
I’ve never had issues with keeping my hands to myself.
I’m damn picky when it comes to women and who I fuck.
I used to spend a lot of time with Ryker at hockey games, at after-parties where puck bunnies were plentiful and thought fucking the army Ranger turned Secret Service guy was pretty damn great.
And once in a while, I indulged.