Her New Worst Enemy (11 page)

“Gideon, please, I need you in me,” she said against his lips.

He drew away from her just enough to pull his belt open and release himself from his
jeans and boxers before pressing his body against her again, his hard cock trapped
between them.

He stilled for a moment, raising his head.

“What is it?” she groaned, frustrated at the distraction.

“Nothing, I thought I heard something,” he said, before shoving her jeans and knickers
down to her ankles and moving down the bed to pull them off completely. He picked
up one of her bare feet and kissed her instep, warming the skin with his breath.

Ellie shivered in delight at the ticklish sensation that sent thrills shooting up
her leg straight to her clitoris. He kissed up the inside of her calf, moving up to
the sensitive skin of her inner thigh.

“Jesus, Gideon, just come here and fuck me,” she groaned, staring up at the ceiling,
as her body gave a throb of need.

She heard him laugh as he moved swiftly up her body until he was positioned above
her again. He took a moment to roll on a condom before lowering himself down, the
tip of his erection teasing her clit.

He stilled again and raised his head. “Oh no,” he groaned.

“What? What is it?” Ellie said, frustrated to have lost his full attention again.

There was a ringing sound coming from far away.

“What’s that?” she asked, her heart already sinking as the answer dawned on her. It
was the doorbell. Penny and Will. They were here earlier than she’d expected.

Gideon pressed his forehead against hers. “Saved by the cliché,” he said, rubbing
his nose against hers before drawing away.

Ellie sat up and scrabbled around for her clothes, pulling them on quickly. Her face
flamed at the thought of facing them in this state. She still ached to feel Gideon
inside her.

“You go down first,” he said, his voice rough and strained, “I need a minute.”

“Okay.” She nodded at him and smiled at his pained expression.

Walking out of the bedroom, she was about to close the door on him when he said her
name. She turned to face him. His eyes bored into hers.

“To be continued,” he said, giving her a wicked smile.

Her insides turned over and all she could do was nod back at him in response and flee.

She ran down the stairs, pulling her fingers through her hair, hoping she wouldn’t
give herself away when Penny laid eyes on her. She wouldn’t be surprised if her debauched
behavior was written all over her face.

She needed to pull herself together. Now.

There was another long, loud ring on the doorbell just before she reached the door
and Ellie made herself take three long deep breaths before opening it up to let in
her best friend and her new worst enemy.

• • •

Gideon sat on the edge of Ellie’s bed and stared at the wall. The little minx had
taken him over.

After they’d parted ways to “cool off,” the need to be inside her again had plagued
him to the point of madness. As he’d paced his bedroom he became acutely aware of
the self-imposed deadline for their fling and he decided he was damned if he was going
to waste a precious hour of their time here. Now that he’d given in to his need, he
found he couldn’t get enough of her. He’d never wanted to have so much sex in one
day — the fact that she was out of bounds only seemed to make him want her more.

Ellie’s obvious enjoyment at being allowed to let loose excited him and he loved seeing
her lose control.

He rubbed a hand over his eyes. Thinking about her like this wasn’t helping him get
his dick under control. It was going to be tricky being with her on their own now,
and they each had a mission to accomplish, which would only add to the complication.

He cursed under his breath. If Penny and this Will character had turned up half an
hour later, he wouldn’t be feeling like he was about to explode with pent up sexual
energy.

He got up and checked his reflection in the mirror. His eyes looked brighter than
normal, which he put down to sexual frustration. Running a hand through his hair,
he made for the door.

The chatter of voices floated up from the hallway and he took a moment to watch them
all from his vantage point on the landing.

Will was standing back from the women, his arms pulled across his chest and his head
tipped down as if he found something on the floor fascinating.

From where Gideon stood, he looked to be pretty tall and well-built with dark blond
hair in a buzz cut and a square-jawed, handsome face. He wasn’t anything like Gideon
had expected. Penny was so petite — and if he was being unkind — mousey. The two of
them didn’t seem to fit somehow. Or was that Ellie’s influence getting to him?

He was distracted for a second by Ellie laughing at something her friend said. He
watched her lean forward and hug Penny to her, pulling her face into her riot of curls.
His cock twitched in response to the sight of her rounded ass encased in those tight
jeans.

Jesus, it was going to be hell not being able to touch her.

He knew why she didn’t want Penny to know about their fling and he agreed with her
reasoning. This was going to end soon so there was no point in telling anyone else
about it. His chest tightened at the thought, but he ignored the uncomfortable sensation.
The sooner he got Ellie back into bed the better.

Steeling himself, he walked down the stairs to join the show.

• • •

In her peripheral vision, Ellie saw Gideon walking down the stairs toward them and
steeled herself to deal with his all-consuming presence without giving the game away.

“Hi, beautiful. How are things?” he said to Penny as he drew closer.

She turned to look at him as he came down the last couple of steps and gave him a
broad smile.

He bent down to kiss her and Ellie noticed a tell-tale flush on Penny’s cheeks as
she kissed him back.

“Um, I’m okay. You?”

“Ah, you know … ”

Will — who had only given Ellie a perfunctory smile and handshake when they were introduced
— came up behind Penny now and wrapped an arm protectively around her.

Penny jumped a little at his touch, but tipped her head back and smiled at him before
turning to Gideon. “Gideon, Will. Will, Gideon.”

Both men nodded at each other. “Welcome to my humble home,” Gideon said with a lazy
grin.

“Thanks for inviting us,” Will said in return, his blank expression giving nothing
away. The guy was a nightmare to read.

“Is it just you and Ellie here at the moment?” Penny asked, looking around at the
sweeping staircase and the grand high ceilings.

“Yes. Gareth and Ali are coming for lunch tomorrow and I find myself between unsuitable
girlfriends at the moment.” He glanced over at Ellie and gave her a slow, teasing
grin.

A warm flush of arousal burned in her belly and crept its way through her body. She
flashed him a warning with her eyes and glanced at Penny, who mercifully hadn’t noticed
the exchange.

“Sorry we’re a day late. We, uh, couldn’t get out of our other arrangement.” Penny’s
eyes dipped to the floor as she said this and Ellie wondered why she suddenly looked
so uncomfortable. Was she lying? She knew Penny well enough to recognize that her
body language screamed “awkward” and it worried her.

Will had turned away from them, too and was staring out of one of the floor-length
windows, apparently fascinated by the view of the driveway.

“It must be nice to be so popular, Will,” Ellie said and saw him stiffen in response,
“I hope you’re not going to make us fight for Penny’s attention when you’re married.”
She kept her tone light, but he obviously felt the sting behind her words because
he turned his dark gaze on her and looked at her coldly.

The atmosphere seemed to drop a couple of degrees and everyone stood there like dummies
until Gideon had the wherewithal to break the silence.

“Okay, so, let me show you where you’re sleeping and you can freshen up if you like
before dinner.”

“Thanks, Gideon,” Penny said, giving him a nervous smile.

“I’ll take the bags up,” Will said, his voice rough with tension. “You stay here and
talk to your
friend
.” The emphasis on his last word left Ellie in no doubt that Will was having as much
of an issue with her as she was with him. She guessed Penny must have said something
to him about her accusations of gold-digging, and he was holding a grudge about it.

Well, good. Perhaps if he were already on edge, he’d be more likely to break under
questioning and give Penny an insight into his true intentions.

Will went to grab the bags and followed Gideon up the stairs, answering his question
about the drive over with a curt reply.

When Ellie turned back to Penny, she was disturbed to see a confused frown on her
face.

“You all right, Pen? You seem a bit flustered.”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah. Fine.” Her friend turned to give her a weak smile, pushing her fringe
away from her face.

“You sure?”

“Yes, yes … it’s just Gideon making me feel like a gawky teenager.”

Ellie tried to ignore the strange feeling of possessiveness that twisted in her gut.
“He still has that effect on you?” She gave Penny a quizzical look, unsure whether
her friend was deliberately misleading the conversation so she didn’t have to admit
something about Will.

“Yeah. He’s one of those people, isn’t he? You’re so aware of him in the room you
can practically taste him. You know what I mean?”

“Hmm.” She tried not to think about that and motioned for her friend to follow her
into the sitting room. Plonking herself onto a sofa, she patted the seat next to her.
Penny sat down where she was shown.

“I can’t believe he can still do that to me, after all this time,” she said distractedly,
surveying the grand room.

“Yeah.” Ellie took a deep breath. “Does Will make you feel like that?”

Penny gave a small start at the abrupt change in focus. “Will? Um … yes. Yes, he does.”

Ellie smiled uncertainly at her friend and Penny smiled back, her gaze not quite meeting
Ellie’s.

“You don’t sound very sure, Pen.”

Penny looked directly at her now, her expression cold and wary. “I don’t get it, Ellie.
I don’t see or hear from you for months, you don’t return my calls, and never turn
up to the things I invite you to; then you suddenly appear out of the blue and start
accusing my new fiancé — whom you’ve never bothered to meet — of being a money-grabbing
leech.”

Ellie realized she’d pushed things too far too soon and held her hands up in apology.
“Pen, what can I say? I’m an idiot. I know I’ve been incommunicado. I needed some
time to sort my head out. I’m sorry. I’ve been neglecting you. It’s just the way you
talked about him, it made me wary.”

“Wary? Why?”

“I don’t know, you sounded a bit … strained … ” She petered out, not knowing how to
broach her fears without getting her friend’s back up again.

Penny nodded slowly, still not quite meeting her gaze. “I’m sorry if I was a bit weird.
I felt guilty being so happy when you were going through all that crap after Paul
left. I was afraid you’d think I was rubbing my happiness in your face.”

Guilt made her stomach contract painfully. “God Penny, I’m sorry.” She put a hand
on her friend’s knee, trying to communicate how bad she felt. At the time it hadn’t
occurred to her how much her disappearance from her friend’s life would affect Penny.
She’d only thought about herself and her own misery.

Penny put her hand over Ellie’s where it rested on her knee. “Will … gets me, you
know? I know he seems sort of closed off, but he’s kind and intriguing and smart,
and I’m crazy about him.” Her face became alive with pleasure and Ellie felt a flush
of something akin to shame, but she fought against it. She still didn’t trust the
guy, but she couldn’t let on to Penny in case she said something to him and gave him
the upper hand.

“I’m really sorry, Penny. I never should have said that stuff about Will. You love
him and that’s all that matters.”

Her best friend stared at her suspiciously, unsure whether to believe the apology.

But after a few moments her expression softened and Ellie felt the tension she’d been
storing up since they’d arrived begin to drain away. They’d known each other since
they were five and couldn’t stay upset with each other for long.

“Look, I know it all seems a bit sudden, but he’s really great, Ellie, and he genuinely
cares about me.”

Ellie tried for a convinced smile. “I’m sure he does. You’re right; I haven’t given
him a fair chance. He must be great if you like him.”

“Love him.”

“Love him. Yes.”

“Ellie, you don’t need to worry about me, I can look after myself.”

“Sure you can. Just like I can.”

The two friends smiled at each other.

“It’s great to see you out and about; I’d almost given up on you seeing the light
of day.”

Ellie snorted. “That’s what Gideon said.”

“So are you two getting on okay? You always seem to rub each other up the wrong way
whenever you’re together.”

Her heart picked up its pace at the thought of him. “We’ve done a bit of rubbing,”
she couldn’t resist saying, staring down at her hands, desperately trying to control
the mischievous grin that threatened to break out on her face, “but we’re getting
on fine.”

When she looked back to check that she hadn’t given herself away, Penny was staring
around the room again with a far-away look in her eyes. “It’s great to finally see
his amazing house. Whenever he talked about it he made it sound so intriguing.”

“Yeah, but I don’t think he’s got great memories from when he lived here with his
grandparents,” she said, grateful for the change in subject.

“I’m not surprised. They sounded pretty fierce.”

“Yeah, controlling, too, if his sister’s need to disappear is anything to go by,”
Ellie said, remembering the lack of emotion he’d displayed during their conversation
about Harriet’s abandoning him. The memory made her uneasy.