My core tightened in response to the roughness of his voice, the rasp of it warm and luxurious.
“You don’t have to sound so happy about it,” I teased breathlessly, trying to lighten his mood before he got me beneath him.
I loved him wild, and I loved him tender. I’d take him any way I could get him, but it’d been so long … My skin was already tingling and tightening expectantly, craving the greedy reverence of his touch. I feared what would happen if he came at me full force when I was so starved for his body. We might tear each other apart.
“It’s killing me,” he said gruffly. “Being without you. Missing you. I feel like my fucking sanity depends on you, Eva, and you want me to be happy about that?”
My tongue darted out to wet my dry lips and he growled, sending a shiver through me. “Well … I’m happy about it.”
The tension in his posture visibly eased. He must’ve been so worried about how I would react to what he’d done for me. To be honest, I’d been worried. Did my gratitude mean I was more twisted than I realized?
Then I remembered my stepbrother’s hands all over me … his weight pressing me into the mattress … the tearing pain between my legs as he rammed into me over and over …
I trembled with renewed fury. If being glad the fucker was dead made me twisted, so be it.
Gideon took a deep breath. His hand reached up to his chest and rubbed at the area over his heart as if it hurt him.
“I love you,” I told him, my eyes stinging with fresh tears. “I love you so much.”
“Angel.” He reached me with quick strides, dropping his keys on the floor and shoving both hands into my damp hair. He was shaking, and I cried, overwhelmed by the knowledge of how much he needed me.
Tilting my head to the angle he wanted, Gideon took my mouth with searing possession, tasting me with slow, deep licks. His passion and hunger exploded across my senses, and I whimpered, my hands tangling in his sweatshirt. His answering groan vibrated through me, tightening my nipples and sending goose bumps racing across my skin.
I melted into him, my hands pushing the cap from his head so that my fingers could sink into the silky black mane of his hair. I fell into the kiss, swept away by the lush carnality of it. A sob escaped me.
“Don’t,” he breathed, pulling back to cradle my jaw. He looked into my eyes. “It shreds me when you cry.”
“It’s too much.” I trembled.
His beautiful eyes looked as weary as mine. He nodded grimly. “What I did—”
“Not that. How I feel about you.”
He rubbed the tip of his nose against me, his hands sliding reverently along my bare arms—hands with proverbial blood on them, which only made me love his touch all the more.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
His eyes closed. “God, when you left tonight … I didn’t know if you’d come back … if I’d lost you—”
“I need you, too, Gideon.”
“I won’t apologize. I’d do it again.” His grip tightened on me. “The options were restraining orders, increased security, vigilance … for the rest of your life. There was no guarantee you’d be safe unless Nathan was dead.”
“You cut me off. Shut me out. You and me—”
“Forever.” His fingertips pressed against my parted lips. “It’s over, Eva. Don’t argue about something that’s too late to change.”
I brushed his hand away. “Is it over? Can we be together now, or are we still hiding our relationship from the police? Are we even in a relationship?”
Gideon held my gaze, hiding nothing, letting me see his pain and fear. “That’s what I’m here to ask you.”
“If it’s up to me, I’ll never let you go,” I said vehemently. “Never.”
Gideon’s hands slid down my throat to my shoulders, blazing a hot trail across my skin. “I need that to be true,” he said softly. “I was afraid you’d run … that you’d be afraid. Of me.”
“Gideon, no—”
“I would never hurt you.”
I caught the waistband of his sweats and tugged, even though I couldn’t budge him. “I know that.”
And physically, I had no doubts; he’d always been careful with me, always cautious. But emotionally, my love had been used against me with meticulous precision. I was struggling with reconciling the absolute trust I had in Gideon’s awareness of my needs and the wariness that