Chapter Thirteen Gideon
Chapter Thirteen
Gideon
She should have stayed at the goddamn ranch.
Instead, I’ve had her right next to me all day, her orange scent wafting over to me every time she so much as moved. She’s in my hoodie, which is so big on her, it’s laughable, but she won’t let go of it.
And fuck if I don’t like that.
Walking through that store, with my dick pressed against her back and feeling her heat against me, was the kind of torture the army never trained me for.
And they trained me for both physical and psychological warfare.
Which I’m pretty sure I’m in the middle of right now.
My control is hanging on by a fucking thread.
Thank fuck she finally fell asleep. Glancing her way, I make sure she’s still out, and then breathe a sigh of relief.
I need a break from her sweet-as-honey voice and her questions. I wish the smell of her went away when she slept.
That would be a bonus.
But no, I can still smell her oranges, and I want to strip her naked, spread her open, and bury my nose in her. Inhale her and then eat my fill.
I’m going to hell for all this. I’ve been entrusted with her safety, and I’m not even sure I can keep her safe from me.
When I turn off the freeway and onto the ranch road, Lena stirs next to me. Her whimper sounds distressed, and suddenly, she gasps and sits up straight in her seat.
I brake and shove the truck into park and turn to her.
“Look at me.”
Her glassy eyes find mine. She’s breathing hard.
“You’re okay. It was just a dream.”
Rubbing her lips together, she gives a jerky nod and then exhales. “Yeah. Shit. Sorry.”
After watching her for a moment longer, I drive us the rest of the way home, listening in agony as Lena tries to steady her breathing. Something terrified her, and I want to tear it apart.
“What was it about?” I ask her, fisting my hand so I don’t reach out for her.
“The same as always” is all she says, and when I come to a stop at the house, she pushes out, slams the door, marches up the steps to the back door, and waits for me to unlock it.
After I grab the food out of the back seat, I join her and punch in the code, and she pushes through.
“I just need a minute,” she says, and doesn’t bother to go upstairs—she heads right into the half bathroom down here.
Leaving her be, I set the food on the island and go back out to get the supplies for her bedroom door. I leave the lumber where it is until I need it, and once I get back inside, I lift an eyebrow when I see Lena march out of the bathroom, pulling the hoodie over her head.
Her shirt comes off with it, leaving her in a practically see-through black bra, and there on full display is the metal in her tits.
Jesus Christ. Those sexy-as-fuck horizontal barbells will be what brings me to my knees.
When Lena lifts her head and sees me standing before her, those gorgeous eyes widen, but she doesn’t hurry to cover herself.
And I don’t turn away.
I stride toward her slowly, giving her plenty of opportunity to tell me to stop. To move back. To at least scowl at me.
But she does none of that, and my control is officially nowhere to be found.
“This is against every rule I follow.” My voice sounds like gravel, and she swallows hard but doesn’t falter. Her pupils dilate with every step I take, her chin lifting to keep her eyes on mine.
“Fuck the rules,” she whispers, and that’s all I need to hear.
Framing her face in my hands, I sweep my thumbs over her cheeks and lower my mouth to hers, and we both moan, as if we’re starving and this is our first meal in weeks.
She’s so fucking sweet.
Her lips are softer than I imagined, moving gently under my own, and when she parts her lips, inviting my tongue to dance with hers, it feels like every nerve in my body is on fire.
She whimpers against me, and my tongue slides over hers, learning her. Feasting on her. God, I couldn’t stop this kiss if there was a gun to my head.
She’s everything I’ve ever wanted in my fucking life.
Her hands land on my sides, and there’s nothing gentle about them. Fisting my shirt and tugging it out of my pants so she can slide her palm over my skin—nothing has ever felt so fucking good. She groans when her hands find my abs, making me grin against her lips.
That’s all for you, baby.
My fingers push into her soft dark hair, and I wrap the strands around my fingers and make a fist, keeping her exactly where I want her as I lick that bottom lip and she presses her stomach against my already-hard cock.
“God, Rebel. What are you doing to me?”
“Not as much as I want to.” She wiggles my shirt up farther, and I have to break my hold on her so I can shed it and toss it aside, and just those few seconds of taking my hands off her is too much.
Pulling her against me again, I reach behind her and unhook the bra, and she lets it fall down her arms and to the floor, and my eyes make the journey down her glorious torso.
“Fuck.”
“Yeah, fuck.” Her eyes are making their own trip over my chest and abs. I have a lot of ink. A lot of bulk.
We couldn’t be any more different, physically.
I set my hand on her hip, still covered by leggings, and run it up her side and over to one breast, letting my knuckles skim over her nipple and the warm metal there, and she groans, her eyes drifting closed.
“Eyes on me, beautiful.”
Lazily, they blink open, and caught in her stare, I lean close to kiss her nose and down to her lips once more.
“You’re the sweetest thing.” My lips graze hers as I whisper to her, my knuckles still roaming over her skin, along her belly and up her breastbone. “So fucking soft. So damn beautiful.”
“Gideon.”
My name on those wet lips is pure sin.
“I’m right here.”
Her hand finds my belt and works it open, and then she grasps onto my fly and pops the button. Before she can lower the zipper, I take her hand in mine and kiss her palm before I loop both of her arms around my neck.
“Hold on.”
I slide my hands down her ass to the backs of her thighs and easily lift her. She wraps her legs around me and buries her face in my neck as I carry her upstairs.
I could fuck her, hard and fast, on the kitchen counter, or against the wall, or any-fucking-where, but right now I want her in my bed.
I want to spread her out and feast on her.
Savor every glorious inch.
When I reach my bedroom, I do pin her against the wall so I can sink into her again, kissing the fuck out of her.
“Take your pants off,” she says. Her eyes are amethyst, full of sparkle and lust. I can’t get enough of them.
“I will.” I nip at her chin. “But you’re not in charge right now.”
That little gasp makes my cock twitch and my blood heat.
“If I fuck you—”
“You’re fucking me.”
I press my hand over her lips, shutting her up, and although I didn’t think it was possible, her gaze heats even more.
She’s loving this.
“If I fuck this perfect pussy, everything changes, Rebel. Because I won’t be able to not touch you whenever I want.
I can’t go back to ignoring this bone-deep attraction that I feel for you.
So you need to speak up now if this is just a way to get me out of your system and go back to the showerhead, because once I’ve been inside you, you’re mine for as long as you’re on this ranch. ”
She swallows hard, her eyes steady on me as she reaches up and gently tugs my hand away from her mouth, but not before pressing a kiss against my skin.
“Gideon. I would like you to touch me, kiss me, fuck me . . . do pretty much whatever that dirty mind of yours can come up with. I’m here for it. If I don’t like something, I’ll say so.”
I spin with her in my arms and head straight for the bed and lay her right in the middle. After yanking her leggings and panties down her hips and legs, I toss them over my shoulder.
Picking up her left foot, I press a kiss to her heel, then her calf, my eyes feasting on every inch of her. Her dark hair is spread out around her, those eyes watching me, her lips parted.
I’m going to fuck that mouth.
“I didn’t think you wanted me.”
The admission shouldn’t surprise me, but it does. How could she not know how much I want her? How fucking much I crave everything about her?
“I’ve imagined stripping you out of those clothes a thousand times.” I drop my lips to her knee. “I’m supposed to be strong enough to leave you be. To do the right thing and then take you back when everything is over.”
Hurt flashes through her eyes, making my own chest ache.
“But damn it, I can’t resist you. And I’ve done my best to try.” I kiss the inside of her thigh. “I survived in the wilderness for twenty days, on my own, evading the enemy.” A kiss to that crease where leg meets pussy. “I’ve been tortured, had food and water withheld, been waterboarded—”
“I can’t stand that.”
“—and none of that holds a candle to the fucking agony of keeping my hands off you, Rebel.”
“I’m right here.” She cups my cheek and guides me up to her so she can kiss me so sweetly, it takes my breath away. “Don’t keep your hands off me anymore.”
I kiss my way down her jaw, her neck, where I nibble and make her legs scissor in agitation. Then, I pull one nipple into my mouth and gently bite around the barbell.
“Gideon!”
“Does that hurt?” I ask, sweeping my nose back and forth over the wet nub.
“No.”
“Good.” I repeat the motion, tugging her nipple with my teeth. “These are sexy as fuck, Lena.”
“I know.” She arches her back, encouraging me to keep doing what I’m doing.
She’s so fucking responsive.
Once I’ve thoroughly lavished attention on her tits, I leave wet kisses down her torso to her pussy, spreading her legs and taking her in.
“This is the prettiest pussy I’ve ever seen, Rebel.”
Her breath hitches, and she throws her arm over her face, but I reach up and pull it away.
“No hiding from me.”
“So I’m . . .” She swallows hard.
“Talk to me.” My lips press to her hip, and I take a deep breath, enjoying the way she smells. I can smell her arousal in the air, and I’m fucking drunk on it.
“I’m not a virgin.”
My head comes up, and I narrow my eyes at her. “I’m not talking about anyone else fucking you right now, Lena.”
“No, it’s not that.” She licks her lips, and she won’t look at me.
“Hey.” I boost myself back up to her and brush her hair off her cheek before kissing her softly. “What’s wrong?”
“No one’s ever done . . . that.”
I frown, not understanding, and then it dawns on me. “No one has ever eaten you out?”
She bites her lip and shakes her head just once, and I hate seeing the uncertainty on her gorgeous face.
“Do you think that’s a turnoff?”
She blinks in surprise.
“Because it’s not. I like knowing that my mouth is the only one that’s been down there.
That I’m the only one who will know what you taste like when you come all over my tongue.
I’m going to devour you, beautiful, and then I’m going to fuck you so thoroughly, you’ll forget any motherfucker who was here before me. ”
She licks her lips.
“Unless you’re telling me no. In which case, I won’t do that.”
“I’m not saying no,” she replies.
“Thank fuck.” I grin and kiss her hard, then dive back down, spread her wide, and lap at her core, from her ass to her clit, and the sound she makes will haunt my dreams for the rest of my life.
“Holy shit.”
“That’s nothing, baby.”