Total pages in book: 166
Estimated words: 156145 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 781(@200wpm)___ 625(@250wpm)___ 520(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 156145 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 781(@200wpm)___ 625(@250wpm)___ 520(@300wpm)
He held her thighs wide and proceeded to fuck her. She had to cling to the edge of the bench to keep from smacking against the wall with the strength of his thrusts. Through it all, his dark eyes swallowed her up, so full of things she couldn’t put a name to. An expression almost like pain flickered over his face as he came with a muffled curse, hips still thrusting as if he never wanted to stop.
Lucy slumped back onto the bench and blinked at the reflection of herself. Gideon crouched in front of her, his dark eyes wild. He started to reach for her and stopped. “Your place. Now.”
“We could...” She trailed off. My place. Despite the outstanding and filthy sex, she wanted more. She wanted skin on skin and Gideon’s taste in her mouth. She wanted it all.
She nodded. “My place.” She lifted her shaking hands to finish undoing her bustier, but Gideon beat her there. He undid the tiny clasps carefully, the delicate lace looking strange against his massive hands. He slid it off her arms and folded it neatly on the bench next to her before giving the garter belt and stockings the same treatment. The panties finished off the pile.
He ran his hands up her legs. Lucy held her breath and arched her back a little. His pupils dilated, which was a reward in and of itself, but Gideon stood. “Get dressed.” Then he was gone, snatching the lingerie off the bench and striding out the door, careful to not let it open too much.
She stared after him for a long moment before she dredged up the ambition to move. It was just as well he’d shown a little restraint or she had a feeling they wouldn’t have left this dressing room for several hours. She wasn’t sure if she was disappointed that he’d walked out or excited for what was to come.
Excited. Definitely excited.
She dressed quickly and paused to check her appearance in the mirror. Flushed cheeks, slightly wild eyes, skin a little too glowy. It was a good look, but there was no mistaking that she and Gideon had been up to no good behind the closed door. It was becoming a habit of theirs, though Lucy couldn’t say she was sad about it. She liked the thrill of knowing there were people within hearing distance.
She liked that she was experiencing it with Gideon even more.
Lucy stopped short.
There it was. The thing she’d been doing her best not to think too hard about since their first time—since before their first time, if she was being honest. There’d always been an attraction simmering between her and Gideon, even when she’d been with Jeff. She’d gone out of her way to ensure she’d never given him any sign of it, because she’d been in a relationship.
Because she cared about Gideon as a friend, and if something had happened between them, she’d lose him.
There was no Jeff standing between them now, and her feelings for Gideon were significantly more complicated. There was lust, definitely. Her body craved his like she’d never craved anything—anyone—before.
But there were...feelings.
She gave herself a shake. It didn’t matter if there were feelings or not. She’d set out the terms and Gideon had agreed to them. Changing the rules without notice meant she really would lose him and she hadn’t come all this way to falter now. She’d missed him terribly these last couple of years, and the thought of going back to her life without him in it felt like she had a gaping hole in her chest.
Gideon wasn’t the keeping kind. A lot had changed, but she couldn’t afford to believe that had. He’d settle down someday, with the right woman, but he wasn’t there yet. Even if he tried to give them a shot for her sake, it would self-destruct sooner rather than later.
No matter which way she looked at the situation, the end result was the same—if she changed the rules now, she would lose him. If she saw her original plan through to the end, she retained the chance to keep Gideon in her life.
Lucy would fight for that, even if it meant hurting herself to do so.
She took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. I can do this. Lucy opened the change room door and marched out. Gideon stood by the entrance to the boutique and she headed his way, very carefully not looking for Agnes. They might be the only people in the shop, but they’d been in that room far too long to be doing anything but exactly what they’d been doing. Focus, Lucy. She licked her lips as she stopped next to Gideon. “My place?”
“I changed my mind.”
She braced herself. “Oh?”
“That meal might have been sweet, but it won’t sustain us for what I have in mind for later.” He gave her a wolfish grin that had her warming even as she tried not to read into his words too much.