Her New Worst Enemy (13 page)

Gideon bent his head to kiss her as the shock waves of her second orgasm took over.
His mouth quivered against hers before he let out a low moan as he reached his own
climax with her.

They lay still afterward, Gideon’s cheek laid against hers, his strong body still
pressed to and inside her, her legs wrapped tightly around his back.

“We could stay like this forever,” she said, without really thinking about the words
she was saying and felt him stiffen above her.

Damn it, what a stupid thing to say to a man who only wanted a fling.

He raised his head to look her in the eye and she managed to smile at him before rocking
suddenly toward the open side of the sofa, catching him by surprise and tipping them
both off on to the thick pile rug.

“Oof,” Gideon said, landing on his back with her now on top of him.

She laughed at his bewildered expression and he laughed back with her, holding her
tight against him so she could feel the wracking heaves of his chest against hers.

He pushed her curls back from where they hung down like curtains on either side of
his head. “You crazy woman,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s a good job I’m not hard.
You might have snapped the old boy off and then where would we be?”

He pulled the condom off and raised an eyebrow.

This made her laugh even harder until her body shook with near hysteria, and she had
to roll off him in order to hold her stomach and wipe the tears away from her eyes.

“Come on,” Gideon said, standing up and chucking her clothes at her, “let’s go have
a bath in my en-suite.”

Ellie’s laughter finally dried up enough for her to pull her clothes back on and follow
him out.

Her body ached from their exertions. A bath would be the perfect thing to do right
now. How did he do that? Know exactly what she needed all the time.

They walked slowly up the sweeping staircase not speaking so as not to alert Penny
and Will to their presence. It was quiet on the landing outside their door as they
crept past it, and Ellie wondered if the couple had made up after their row earlier.
She hoped not.

Following Gideon into his room, she closed the door quietly behind her and looked
around. He’d kept the period features intact in here, including an enormous ornate
fireplace that dominated one side of the room, but the rest of the furniture was in
a modern art-deco-inspired style. To her right a super king-sized bed sprawled, enticing
her with its plump-looking pillows and soft down duvet.

Gideon had already gone into the en-suite and set the water running into the bath.
He poked his head around the door. “Come on in,” he said.

She walked in to find him already naked, waiting for her, the sight of his honed physique
making her hiccough in delight.

“Ladies first,” he said, gesturing toward the deep double-ended tub that was now half
full with water and frothy bubbles.

Pulling her clothes off quickly, she dropped them in a heap before stepping gingerly
into the warm water. Lowering herself down, she groaned as the warmth of it stung
the tenderness between her legs.

“Sore?” he asked with a smirk.

“Yes,” she said, pressing her lips together in fake annoyance. “Mission accomplished.”

“Good,” he said, stepping into the other end of the bath. “I always like to make good
on my promises.”

The water rose around her as he sat down and she leaned her back against the end,
drawing her knees up so they poked out of the bubbles.

“I hope Penny’s okay,” she said, lifting her hair up over the end of the bath so it
trailed down behind her.

Gideon didn’t say anything, just looked at her steadily with his piercing green-eyed
gaze.

She shifted her hips, uncomfortable under his scrutiny.

“So how many of your hot dates have you had in this tub then?” she asked, reaching
for something, anything, to stop her thinking about the pain on Penny’s face when
Will said he was going to bed without her.

“Are you sure you want to go there?” Gideon said, raising an eyebrow.

“Maybe not,” she conceded, bobbing her knees up and down beneath the bubbles.

“If it makes any difference to you, you’re the only person I’ve ever had a bath with,”
he said, an amused twinkle in his eye.

Ellie shrugged, trying to appear unbothered, even though his admission had given her
a little thrill of pleasure. “I’m surprised you haven’t run out of sex acts by now,
considering how many girlfriends you’ve had.” She gave him a sly smile to show him
she wasn’t entirely serious about giving him a hard time over it now. It would be
pretty cheeky of her considering she’d just allowed herself to become one of the number.

“You consider this a sex act, do you?” he asked, giving her a provocative look.

“The two of us, naked in hot, frothy water, just inches apart? Sure, I think I’d categorize
that as sexy.”

“That’s so sweet,” he said, “it almost makes you sound like a prude.” He waggled an
eyebrow. “Which I know for certain you’re not,” he said before she had chance to pick
him up on it.

“I never imagined myself being quite so debauched though.” She gave a sheepish grin.

“What! I can’t believe that’s true.”

“No seriously, I’ve never had so much sex in one day.”

“Really?” he said, clearly surprised by her admission.

“You might think I’m a highly sexed femme fatale, but it’s not generally my style,”
she said with a self-depreciating smile.

“You surprise me. I’d have thought you’d be well versed in the art of seduction.”

His comment made her uncomfortable. She didn’t want him thinking she was generally
uptight about sex, but she didn’t want to appear easy either.

“It’s all right for you men — you’re allowed to sleep around — but we women have our
reputations to consider.”

She jumped as Gideon’s loud laugh reverberated around the bathroom. “All right, Jane
Austen, I think you can probably get off your high horse now.” He splashed her gently
and she frowned and wiped the droplets off her face.

Gideon shook his head at her and frowned. “I don’t think that’s true anymore,” he
said. “If I met someone now I’d expect her to have had a few sexual partners already.
I prefer women to have a bit of experience — it makes for a much better time in bed.”

“Really?” Ellie asked. “I thought men wanted inexperienced virgins so they can help
them discover the joys of their sexuality.” She laid on the sarcasm to make absolutely
sure he knew she was joking.

“Well, there is a certain appeal to that,” he answered with a seductive grin, making
it impossible for her not to smile back. “But seriously, in my experience, when women
turn thirty they start going through a lot of partners as they try to find their future
husband.”

Ellie screwed up her nose in disgust. “Ugh, you make it sound so sleazy.”

“Clinical maybe,” he said, “but you know I’m right.”

Ellie thought back to her own fears about not being able to find someone to have children
with before the health risks were too great and realized she might end up like that
— going through partners at a rate of knots, looking for the perfect father for her
unborn children — and her heart sank.

Gideon must have noticed the flash of panic that traveled through her, making her
body tense, because he put his foot against her knee and pushed it gently until she
looked at him.

“Give yourself a break will you? You’re going to give yourself a heart attack at this
rate.”

Ellie snorted, desperately trying to recover her composure. “I’m worried I’m going
to get too set in my ways to let someone mess with my routines. After six months of
living on my own, I’ve got used to doing exactly as I please. I can do what I want,
when I want and not have to justify anything to anyone.”

“Yeah, well, maybe you should find yourself a yes-man, someone who gets off on being
bossed around. That would solve all your problems in one fell swoop.” He smiled at
her again, but this time she couldn’t find it in herself to smile back. His comment
brought it home to her just how incompatible the two of them were. Gideon would never
stand for her bossiness and need for doing things her way.

“Hey, you’ve gone dark on me again,” he said, concern marring his handsome face.

“I’m okay,” she said, shrugging it off, her gaze dancing around the room as she tried
to fight the growing unease their conversation had given rise to.

The water swished around her as Gideon moved toward her, sliding her forward as he
pulled on her arms. She moved her legs to sit on either side of his body so they could
get closer, facing each other. She looked into his eyes and saw concern and kindness
and understanding there and it almost broke her heart.

“Forget about all that shit right now. Just enjoy being in the moment,” he said, putting
one hand under her chin to draw her forward for a kiss while his other hand ran up
the inside of her leg, sending an immediate current straight between her thighs. She
did as he told her, giving in to the feeling and wiping her mind of everything but
the sweet exhilaration of his body imposing itself on hers.

The next morning in bed, Gideon lay awake with Ellie breathing gently next to him.
He hadn’t meant to let her sleep with him and would have used Penny finding them together
as an excuse, but after their bath they lay down for a second to recover and both
promptly fell asleep.

He watched her face in sleep. Her eyelids flickered gently as she dreamed. She looked
happy. Gone was the worried little frown that had become her trademark expression
these days.

He was glad to have been part of the journey back to herself. That was all he could
be of course, just a stepping stone on her road to recovery. She needed to start re-planning
her future and he couldn’t offer to be part of that.

He hoped they’d always remain friends though. The thought of never seeing or speaking
to her again chipped away at the dark hole he carried around with him, which the rest
of his family had already disappeared in to.

He turned to stare up at the ceiling and shook a stream of memories out of his head.
That was all in the past. He’d promised himself to focus on the future from now on.
Besides, the wide-ranging circle of friends he’d cultivated over the years were his
family now. He knew from experience that putting all his love and trust in a very
small group of people was the fastest way to pain and heartache.

It had been quite an experience getting closer to Ellie. Despite having some crazy
ideas about searching for some perfect relationship that could never exist, she was
really fun company and fantastic in bed. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt
so alive and excited to be with someone.

He turned back to find Ellie had woken up and was staring at him with an intense look
of concentration on her face.

• • •

Ellie had a lovely dream about being in bed with Gideon and woke to find that sometimes
dreams did come true.

She was surprised to find herself there, until the memories of the day before came
flooding back, filling her with a mixture of elation and confusion. She didn’t know
how she was going to untangle the mess of feelings her little adventure with Gideon
had given rise to, so she decided to keep living in the moment and not worry about
it for now.

He’d been staring up at the ceiling deep in thought when she first looked at him,
but now he turned to her, and their gazes locked.

How could he look so bloody good first thing? Even after just waking up his face seemed
to radiate an other-worldly perfectness that people would pay a king’s ransom to emulate.
Something particular about him was catching her attention this morning though, and
it took her a moment to put her finger on what it was.

He raised a quizzical eyebrow. “Why are you staring at me? You’re freaking me out.”

“There’s something different about your eyes. They’ve lost their frown.”

Discomfort flashed across his face. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t look at me like I’m mad. I just mean you seem … happy.”

His brow creased in irritation. “Relaxed. I’m relaxed. Something I haven’t been for
some time.”

“Okay. Relaxed then.” She wondered if she’d stepped over the invisible line that separated
this weekend from the rest of their lives, and a slow sinking feeling pulled at her
insides.

“Fancy getting a bit more relaxed with me?” he asked, a mischievous twinkle appearing
in his eyes and she relaxed again as things righted themselves.

He brought his hand up to her face and drew her head toward his, touching his lips
gently against hers. The softness of the caress sent thrills of longing tripping over
her skin and moisture pooled between her legs, making her instantly slick with need.

“I can think of worse ways to start the day,” she breathed against his lips, returning
his feather-light kisses. She felt him smile against her mouth and her spirits soared.
She loved the fact they understood each other so well.

“Gideon?” she said, drawing back from him.

“Yeah?” His fingers skimmed over her collarbone before dancing lightly between her
breasts.

“Why do you think nothing’s ever happened between us before?”

“I guess your family has always been a factor for me. Gareth would kill me if he knew
what I’m doing with you right now. You’re forbidden fruit.”

“What sort?”

“Hmm?” His fingertips found her belly-button and he dipped them inside one after the
other.

“ … of fruit?”

“Definitely a ripe, juicy pear.” He ran his fingers back up over her breasts, making
her nipples stand up and sending another rush of fiery need straight between her legs.
“And I suspect a bowl of plump, sweet cherries would sum you up to a tee … ” He moved
down her body now, kissing over her stomach, down to the apex of her thighs.

Ellie giggled as his breath warmed her skin, the anticipation making her heady.