Chapter 45 Full Throttle
Full Throttle
The low growl of an engine outside cut through their banter.
Penny’s head snapped toward the window, her green eyes going wide. “Oh my God.” She spun around, practically vibrating.
“Your chariot awaits…” Her grin widened. “And it’s even sexier than I expected.”
Arden frowned, amused. “What are you talking about?”
She tugged on her coat, glancing at Penny’s expression, which had turned downright gleeful.
“I knew he was pulling out all the stops tonight,” Penny said. “He’s always thoughtful, but this?”
She gestured toward the window like she was unveiling a work of art “This is on another level.”
Arden shook her head, brushing off the comment, even as her pulse quickened. “It’s dinner, Pen.”
Penny’s arched brow said otherwise.
Her grin? Only deepened.
“Sure, it is. Just dinner with the gorgeous billionaire who clearly worships the ground you walk on.”
Arden rolled her eyes, but the corner of her mouth had betrayed her. “You’re way too invested in this.”
“Of course, I am!” Penny threw up her hands. “If you’re not going to appreciate the sexy-AF boss situation, someone has to pick up the slack.”
Then, mock-serious: “Oh, and if he actually brings you back, I want details.” She paused. Tilted her head. “Actually, scratch that—I want dessert. Something fancy.”
Arden smirked, shaking her head as she opened the door.
Outside, the engine purred again, smooth as velvet, deep as a promise.
The evening air curled around her, cool against her skin, threaded with tension that wasn’t about the weather.
Her breath caught.
The car gleamed under the streetlights, a midnight-black Roadster SV with curves that promised speed and sin. Every inch of it whispered power and indulgence.
But it came second to the man beside it.
Gideon leaned against the driver’s side like he owned the night.
The navy jacket stretched clean across his shoulders, tailored to distraction. His collar was open enough to tempt, to hint that beneath all that control, wildness waited, coiled.
Not careless.
Intentional.
Arden stepped outside. Her heels met the pavement in slow, percussive rhythm. Each step wound the tension tighter. She took her time, gaze drifting from the gleam of the car to the man who made it look like an accessory.
She stopped at the curb, arms folding as her mouth curved.
“Hmm… I’m not sure which is sexier,” she said, voice smooth and sensual. “You… or the car.”
Gideon pushed off the door, that crooked smile in place. He moved toward her with unhurried confidence, every step a dare.
“Tough call,” he murmured, low and rough. “But I think I can tip the scales.”
Before she could reply, his hands were at her waist.
Firm. Certain.
He lifted her onto the hood like she weighed nothing. Her breath caught at the chill of metal beneath her, and the heat of him a moment later, settling between her thighs.
“Gideon—”
“I’m making my case,” he said, mouth brushing hers once, then again. Teasing. Tasting.
And then he kissed her.
No hesitation. No space. Just heat, and certainty, and the kind of control that didn’t ask.
His hands slipped beneath her coat, gliding up her sides, anchoring her like he couldn’t stand the distance. Not rough, but possessive.
She gasped, sharp and soft, gripping the lapels of his jacket like she needed leverage to stay upright. But upright was a lie. He had her, and they both knew it.
The scent of him wrapped around her, that familiar mix of heat and restraint—the whisper of smoke beneath skin.
He kissed her deeper. Hungrier. His mouth opened over hers with slow, dangerous purpose. Not coaxing. Claiming.
His tongue brushed hers, and the rest of the world dropped away.
Her thighs locked tighter around his hips.
Her heels pressed into the curve of the Roadster, grasping for purchase, needing the anchor of steel while the rest of her came undone.
Her hands slid under his coat, fingers finding heat and muscle and tension stretched to the edge.
She opened to him on a sound she couldn’t contain, and he answered with a low growl that curled in her spine.
“Arden,” he said against her mouth—rough, reverent, barely controlled.
Her name landed like a vow.
His thumbs traced the barest edge of skin at her waist, and she arched into him, chasing contact. Wanting more. Needing it.
But not yet.
Not here.
This moment, against the gleaming hood of his very expensive car, with the city mere steps away, wasn’t about taking.
It was about promise.
When her body could echo everything her mouth hadn’t said yet.
He kissed her once more, slower this time. A drag. A vow.
When he pulled back, he didn’t step away.
He just looked at her.
And the look?
It said everything.
And Gideon?
He looked like a man who knew exactly how far she’d let him go.
And exactly how far he planned to take her.
“For the record,” he said, voice low and rough with satisfaction, “you never answered the question.”
Arden blinked, caught in the aftershocks.
“What question?”
He didn’t rush. Just let his gaze wander, slow and unapologetic, before it settled on hers with a weight that made it hard to swallow.
“Which one of us you decided was sexier.”
Her lips parted, then curved.
She didn’t hurry.
Didn’t need to.
With her chin tilted slightly, she murmured, “Still deliberating.”
His chuckle was velvet and smoke. “Take your time.”
She almost did, if only to spite him. But before she could fire back, his hands were at her waist again. Gentler now. No less sure. And when he lifted her from the car, her whole body remembered how it felt to be underneath him.
Her boots hit pavement.
Her balance didn’t.
Then with that maddening confidence she couldn’t stand but kept craving, he swung open the passenger door and gave a half-bow, mock formality thick in the air.
“After you.”
She rolled her eyes, but her mouth betrayed her, forming a smile she tried and failed to kill.
“So chivalrous.”
His brow lifted.
“Only when it gets me what I want.”
She gave him a look, sharp-edged and amused, but her legs carried her into the car anyway. She sank into the seat, his scent wrapping around her like a trap she’d stopped trying to escape. Leather. Spice. Him.
The door shut behind her with a soft click.
A second later, he was there. Close. Composed. Every inch of him unreadable and infuriating and unfairly attractive.
He reached for the ignition, then stilled.
“You forgot something,” he said.
She blinked. “What?”
He didn’t answer.
He just leaned in.
Not fast. Not showy. Just… there with the kind of quiet confidence that made her stomach flip and her pulse stumble.
His arm brushed hers as he reached across her chest. The seatbelt slid against her collarbone, warm from his touch. The buckle clicked into place, but it wasn’t the sound that made her breath hitch.
It was the way he didn’t move.
The way he hovered.
Close enough for her to feel his breath whisper across her jaw.
Close enough for her body to remember every inch he hadn’t touched yet.
Her pulse climbed.
The heat of him soaked through her skin like he belonged there.
His mouth brushed the shell of her ear, voice low enough to leave marks.
“Safety first.”
She didn’t breathe.
Didn’t dare.
And for one breathless second, he didn’t either.
He didn’t pull back. Didn’t look away.
His lips hovered just shy of her neck. His gaze locked on hers, watching her closely, not just for surrender, but for the moment she chose it.
Her voice? Gone.
Her composure? A lost cause.
Still, she didn’t move.
Couldn’t.
Then finally he eased back. Not far. Just enough to shift gears like nothing had happened.
The engine purred to life, low and smooth, a perfect echo of the tension in her blood. As the car rolled forward, city lights sliced through the windshield, gold and silver painting streaks across the dark.
But Arden wasn’t watching the road.
She was stuck on the way a seatbelt had ruined her composure.
On the way he’d used silence like a weapon.
On the ache coiling low in her belly, and the truth she wasn’t ready to admit:
He knew exactly what he was doing.
“So,” she said, voice casual but her pulse anything but. “Where are we going? Or is that classified?”
His mouth twitched. “You’ll see.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Let me guess—somewhere expensive and full of people who never blink?”
“Maybe.” He glanced at her, that insufferable smirk back in full force. “Maybe not.”
“You’re infuriating.”
“I’ve been told.”
His fingers brushed hers on the gearshift,subtle, but not accidental.
“You’ll forgive me.”
She leaned back slowly, pretending her skin wasn’t still tingling from that touch.
They both knew she already had.
?
As they pulled in, floodlights blinked on overhead, cutting sharp paths through the dark. The track unfolded in front of them—smooth and shadowless, its curves catching the light like something alive and waiting.
Somewhere out on the far side, an engine peeled through the silence—deep, rough, the kind of sound that made your pulse jump before your thoughts caught up.
Adrenaline stirred before she could catch it.
Arden blinked. “Is this…?”
Gideon cut the engine. The glint in his eyes said everything.
“You said you liked excitement.”
“I thought you meant something like sushi.”
He didn’t smile, not quite.
“This felt more fitting.”
She stared at him for a moment, caught between disbelief and the kind of thrill that licked at the edges of fear. Her mouth tugged into a grin, slow and sly, a flicker of fire behind it.
“You really don’t hold back, do you?” she said, bone-dry. But her eyes gave her away.
His gaze held hers. “Not when it counts.”
He stepped out and came around to her side. When the door opened, a rush of air swept in—cool against her skin, tinged with the raw bite of fuel and track rubber. The low throb of engines carried across the lot, steady as a heartbeat.
She folded her arms, cocking her head as her eyes tracked the nearest curve. “Okay,” she said slowly. “What exactly are we doing here?”
He didn’t answer right away. Just slipped a hand into his pocket and held out the keys.
“You drive.”
“You’re seriously letting me drive this?”
“Just don’t crash it.”
She took the keys. Their fingers brushed—heat. Intent. A quiet exchange of control.
“Oh, I won’t.”
She slid behind the wheel. The Roadster came alive beneath her, its growl deep and steady, like it was waiting to be unleashed.
She gripped the wheel. Breathed.
And hit the gas.
The car launched forward, tires gripping the track, like it knew the way. Laughter broke from her chest, sharp and unexpected, as speed wrapped around her, reckless and clean.
The Roadster devoured the asphalt, cornering with ease. Each curve pulled tighter, her movements fluid, reactive. Her pulse surged, rising to meet the rhythm of the machine.
Beside her, Gideon said nothing, but she felt his eyes. Watching. Measuring. Tracking her with quiet precision.
“Enjoying the show?” she asked, breathless, glancing at him.
“You’ve got good instincts,” he said, voice calm, but edged with something else.
A smirk tugged at her lips as she eased into another turn, seamless and sharp.
“You sound surprised.”
“Not even a little.” His voice stayed even, his jaw tight. “I’ve watched you work.”
The words hit like impact aimed straight at center. Not flirtation—conviction.
She pushed the car harder. “Careful, Blackwell,” she said, eyes forward. “Keep talking like that and I’ll think you’re impressed.”
“I am.”
Low. Steady. Undeniable.
“But I figured you already knew that.”
Her breath caught, right behind a laugh that never quite made it out.
Another turn.
Another rush of speed.
And for a moment, there was nothing else. Only the Roadster beneath her, the track unraveling in front of her, and Gideon’s gaze, steady and unrelenting, beside her.
Control. Velocity. Heat.
She didn’t need permission to take the wheel.
And she wasn’t giving it back.
As she guided the car into the pit lane, the rush clung to her—pulse still thrumming.
She turned toward him.
He was already watching.
There was a flicker in his eyes, pride, maybe. Or something darker. Hungrier.
Her breath came fast. “You’re far too calm for a man who just handed over the keys to his outrageously priced car.”
Gideon leaned back, lips curving. More dangerous. More intent.
“I like you like this.”
She angled her head, catching her breath. “Like what?”
His answer didn’t waver.
“Lit up. Unapologetic. Alive.”
No performance. No distance. Just truth, bare and searing.
And it landed between like an open flame—unexpected, electric, and undeniable.
This wasn’t about the car.
It was about her.
?
With the car idling in the soft glow of the diner’s lights, Arden eased back into the seat, claiming the space like it was hers.
The cabin carried the echo of motion—saturated in heat, leather, and the trace of him.
He dropped into the seat beside her with quiet ease, all coiled composure.
But his eyes didn’t lie.
They dragged across her slowly. Not lewd. Not polite either.
Her legs crossed, high-waisted denim tightening across her hips, the shimmer of her blouse catching enough light to draw the eye. She didn’t rush the movement. Didn’t need to.
He noticed.
She smiled, slow and unhurried.
“I’ve made my decision.”
His brow lifted, interest flickering like a match.
“About?”
“Which of you wins.”
Gideon leaned back, arm settling on the wheel like he had all night to wait her out.
“And?”
She let the silence stretch, curling between them, until she saw the flicker of anticipation spark behind his eyes.
“I’ve decided…” She leaned in slightly, voice low. “The car is definitely sexier.”
He didn’t flinch. Not at first.
But something shifted.
His gaze dropped to her mouth, then lower.
A slow, predatory sweep.
“Is that so?”
“Mmm.” She bit back a grin, her hand resting lightly on the center console.
His smirk reappeared—cocky and dangerous. “Then let’s raise the stakes.”
“Oh?” Her voice was pure challenge now. “You want a rematch?”
“I want a bet.” His tone dropped as he turned toward her fully, crowding the space without touching her.
“I bet I can change your mind before the night’s over.”
“And if you lose?”
His smile turned wicked.
“I don’t.”
She laughed, breathless, shaking her head as she leaned back.
“You’re impossible.”
“And yet…” His eyes dipped again—mouth, neck, legs. “You’re here.”
Her grin was slow. Satisfied. “Or maybe I like a challenge.”
He leaned in, his breath brushing past her cheek, close enough to feel, but not quite touch.
“Then buckle up.”