Tempting Nora

by Evanston, A. M.

  All too soon, Gideon pulled away again. She was shocked to discover that his breathing was as ragged as hers and that he was sweaty all over.

  She began, "Just one—"

  Before she could even finish the sentence, Gideon took her again with the ferocity of a wild animal. A deep, victorious growl burst from his throat as his mouth roved over hers. At that moment, he kissed her with his whole body. He wrapped his hands around her back, forcing her against him so hard her hips ached. Some instinct caused her to wrap her legs around him, drawing him closer still. She could feel every inch of him—his hard hips burrowing into hers, his hands digging into her back, his toned chest grinding against her soft one. He pulled away, but she wasn't about to let him go.

  "One more," she whimpered before she could stop herself.

  He laid kisses along her jaw, his rough facial hair brushing against her skin and driving her wild.

  "One more, one more, one more." She was going insane. She had to be.

  After Gideon moaned against her skin, he kissed his way up her jaw to her ear. He sucked the lobe into his mouth, causing a rush of pleasure to flow through her body. A groan burst from her lips before she could stop it. She had a feeling that if they continued, she would be making more desperate noises.

  "Is it always like this?" she asked as he traced her neck with his thumb.

  "No. Never." He sounded as though he was straining to breathe. "This is special. You're special."

  His words made her feel as though an explosion of fireworks had gone off in her heart. The fact he thought she was special made the heat that flowed between them even more all-consuming. She turned her face toward his, longing for more kisses. Frantically his mouth journeyed everywhere—the tip of her nose, her forehead, her chin. As she sucked in air, Gideon melted against her. She grasped the desk for support, but her elbow collided with a jar of pens that she kept by the computer and sent it tumbling to the floor with a crash.

  The perfect moment ended.

  What did we just do? she thought in horror. Gideon had been practically fondling her on the desk. Worse yet, she could still feel the swirling heat of desire in her belly. She looked down at herself, ashamed. She slid off the desk, her shirt sticking to her body because of the sweat, and picked up the pens. When she straightened up again, she was still angry with herself.

  Gideon placed his hands on her shoulders. Reluctantly, she met his gaze.

  "Hey," he said, his voice soft. "You okay?"

  "Yeah," she said, even as anger seeped into her voice. She tried to calm herself down. "I'm just mad at myself. I lost control."

  "You're not the only one who lost control," he said. "I did too."

  "Yeah, but I'm me." She frowned at him.

  "What does that mean?" He raised an eyebrow.

  "I have a lot of self-control," she said.

  "Says the woman who ate half a cake in one sitting." He cracked a grin.

  She punched his shoulder.

  "You know what I mean," she said. "I'm not supposed to want you like this. I can't stop thinking about it."

  "You want me?" Gideon raised an eyebrow.

  Oops.

  "Well…I…ugh…" She definitely needed to make her escape now. "I forgot something in the back room. I think I'd better go get—"

  "Oh no, you don't." Gideon seized her arm and dragged her back before she could escape. "I want to hear you say that you want me again."

  "I'm not going to." This time, she refused to give in.

  "Ah, Nora, come on." He flashed his most charming smile. "I already know you do. You wouldn't have let me touch you like that unless you wanted me."

  "I don't want you," she lied. "I had a lapse of judgment."

  "A lapse of judgment?" He raised an eyebrow. "I believe that's what you said about the kiss last night too."

  The thought of last night made her embarrassment even worse.

  "I happen to have a lot of lapses in judgment." At least, ever since Gideon showed up.

  He placed a hand on the small of her back and drew her closer.

  "Want to have another lapse?" He nuzzled her neck affectionately. "I'd love to hold you again."

  "No." She pushed him away.

  "Spoilsport." He sighed.

  "I am not," she said. "You wanted one kiss and I let you have a lot of them."

  "Excuse me?" He cocked his head. "You let me have a lot of them? I don't recall being the one who said, 'One more.' Heck, toward the end there, you were begging me to continue."

  She was never going to be able to look him in the eye again. Mortified, she tried to stomp off, but he pulled her back into his arms.

  "Don't be embarrassed," he said. "I liked it."

  "Well, I didn't." She frowned.

  "Don't lie." He kissed her ear. "I could tell you were enjoying yourself."

  "Stop kissing me." She pouted, elbowing him.

  "One more," he said, imitating her.

  "I'm going to stab you with a pen." She glared at him.

  He kissed her ear anyway.

  ****

  Nora was trying to get her grocery shopping done. Unfortunately, even that simple task was hard to accomplish because she had the world's most annoyingly shadow trailing behind her.

  "I can't believe you followed me to the grocery store," she said, stopping in front of the lettuce.

  "I'm not following you." He whistled innocently. "I'm doing my grocery shopping."

  "Uh-huh." She stared pointedly at his empty basket.

  "Okay, sue me, I followed you here." He placed a possessive hand on the small of her back. "I was hoping I could convince you to join me for dinner again."

  Even though the thought of going out to eat was tempting, she was still trying to regain some of her pride after her massive mistake at the store.

  "We went out together yesterday." She picked up an orange, even though she didn't want it.

  "Yeah, but yesterday was yesterday." He shrugged, grinning. "I hate eating alone and arguing with you makes me happy."

  "I don't argue," she said.

  He snorted.

  "Okay, maybe I argue a little," she admitted sheepishly.

  "Try a lot," he said. "But that's okay. You make it fun."

  She raised an eyebrow.

  "You do," he insisted.

  Just what she needed—a guy who kept making her mad because he thought it was entertaining.

  "Aren't you tired of me already?" She walked by an array of vegetables, not even bothering to spare a glance at them.

  "I could never be tired of you," he said.

  To her surprise, he sounded like he meant the words. She searched his face, looking for even a shred of sarcasm. To her shock, she found none.

  Her heart stirred again. She couldn't control it, couldn't stop it. The man had somehow climbed under her skin and affected her emotions.

  "Go out with me again." Gideon looked at her in such a way it was near impossible to say no. "I want to spend time with you."

  Her mind and heart did battle. She should say no. Unfortunately, what she truly wanted was to say yes. She liked being with Gideon. In fact, she liked being with him so much the thought of a dinner date made her smile.

  Oh no.

  Her eyes widened as realization struck. She didn't just like being with Gideon—she just plain liked him. The color drained out of her face. Of course she had to like the one guy on earth who had the potential to destroy her. After all, he was the only one who made her lose her self-control. Why, oh why, did her heart have to choose him?

  "Nora?" Gideon looked at her expectantly.

  One second she had complete control of her mouth and the next she said, "Fine. Let's go out to dinner."

  The words had slipped out without her meaning them to. How could she have messed up so badly? She shook her head in terror, half wanting to take back what she said.

  But she didn't.

  "Where do you want to eat?" Gideon asked, grinning triumphantly.

&nbs
p; "Doesn't matter." She shrugged, still horrified about her latest discovery. After all, liking Gideon was the equivalent of trying to hold onto sand in a strong wind. It was only a matter of time before the grains slipped through her fingers.

  "Let's go to your favorite place," he said. "The one with that cheesecake you like so much."

  "Are you sure?" She raised an eyebrow. "We don't have to go there just because I like the restaurant."

  "I live to make you happy." He shrugged.

  Her blood rushed. This can't be happening, she screamed in her mind, her eyebrow twitching. I will stop liking Gideon at this very moment. I. Will. Stop. Liking. Gideon. She paused, waiting to see if her feelings had changed. She looked up into Gideon's caramel eyes and…

  Heaven help her, there were fireworks. Big, explosive fireworks. Her heart fluttered and something rocketed around in her stomach that was far too large to be a butterfly. Telling herself to stop liking Gideon had gotten her nowhere. The intense feelings she had for him still remained. For crying out loud, she'd seen fireworks. Fireworks!

  "Not fireworks." She clapped her hands to her cheeks in horror.

  Several people turned to stare at them.

  "I didn't say anything about fireworks." Gideon waved his hand in front of her face as if checking to see if she was blind. "I said we're going to a restaurant."

  She was having a crisis and Gideon was still prattling on about restaurants?

  "Ugh, yeah." She winced.

  Gideon gave her a strange look as she headed over to the grapes and rolled one between her fingers. She didn't have any intention of buying some, but doing something would distract her from acting stupidly—for example, like screaming her thoughts out loud again.

  "Are you okay?" Gideon asked as he hovered behind her.

  "Why wouldn't I be?" She stared determinedly at the piece of fruit she held.

  "Well, your eyebrow is twitching and you started yelling about fireworks for no reason whatsoever." He eyeballed the fruit in her hand. "On top of that, you're practically fondling that grape."

  "I am not." She frowned at him. "And how can you make even touching a grape sound perverted?"

  "It's a God given talent." He shrugged.

  "I wouldn't call it a talent." More like, an annoying quirk.

  "Ouch." He clapped his hand to his chest.

  She groaned but said nothing. Unfortunately, that was when Gideon wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

  "I think I know why you're acting strange all of the sudden," Gideon said.

  Don't tell me he knows that I…I…like him.

  "What do you mean?" Her palms were slick with sweat.

  "I'm afraid the overwhelming pleasure you received from kissing someone of my skill level melted your brain." Gideon nuzzled her hair.

  Her blood boiled. She liked this guy? Seriously? It didn't even make any sense. He was a braggart if there ever was one.

  "You—you—" She was so frustrated she squished the grape. A stream of juice squirted out and doused his jaw.

  Oops.

  "You did that on purpose, didn't you?" He wiped the juice from his facial hair.

  "Nope." She laughed, not regretting the accidental squirting.

  "You need to be punished." He grabbed her wrist before she could make an escape.

  "Punished?" She tried to flee, but it didn't work. "What are you going to do?"

  Gideon tugged her to his chest and whispered sinisterly in her ear, "PDA."

  "Public display of affection?" She raised an eyebrow.

  "Yeah," he said.

  It took her a moment to realize what he meant. When realization struck, her stomach churned. Oh no, the guy was going to kiss her again.

  "No, not this." She struggled, even as he clapped his hands to her face and held her head steady.

  The way he squished her cheeks wasn't romantic, but people kept staring anyway. He showered her face with kisses, even as she struggled. Despite the situation, every place his lips touched was aflame. She stared up at him, trying to fight away the tingles of pleasure that ran down her spine. Even in a crowded grocery store, his presence was alluring, making her long to draw closer still.

  "Will you think twice about squirting me with a grape again, sweetheart?" He grinned at her.

  "No nicknames," she said.

  He kissed the tip of her nose, making her dizzy.

  "The more you gripe, the more I'll kiss you." A sly grin crossed his face.

  "You dog." She flailed, even as her skin warmed because of his touch.

  "You must be enjoying this." He kissed her lips again and took the time to linger. "You're practically asking for it."

  "Why, I ought to…" She stopped herself from spewing a threat just in time.

  The guy had the audacity to smirk.

  "Any more comments?" he asked.

  "No," she said begrudgingly.

  "Will you squirt me with a grape again, darling?" He was goading her and she knew it.

  "No."

  "Really?" He raised an eyebrow.

  "No."

  "How disappointing." He finally released her. "This was fun."

  "Maybe for you." Flustered, she straightened her shirt.

  When she looked up, she saw that all of the people in the produce section were staring at them. Judging by Gideon's smirk, he'd known it the entire time.

  "Look at all the people watching us," she whispered.

  "I said your punishment was a public display of affection." He shrugged.

  "How humiliating…" She was either going to have to shop at a different store from now on or wear a bag over her head.

  "Why?" Gideon winked. "I'm proud that I'm the one who's kissing you."

  Her irritation deflated like a balloon. Cripes, how could he calm her rage with a single well-timed comment? The guy was sly. Embarrassed, she ducked her head and walked over to the cheese aisle. Naturally, Gideon followed her. She avoided his gaze and examined the mozzarella, trying hard to pretend she wasn't self-conscious. Unfortunately, Gideon realized why she couldn't look at him. The guy knew her too well.

  "You're so cute when you're shy." He smiled at her warmly.

  "I'm not shy," she snapped.

  "You are too." He grinned at her. "It's sweet. Heck, you're sweet."

  "I'm not sweet." She was ornery. Even she knew that.

  As she picked up a block of cheese, Gideon tugged at her basket.

  "Let me carry this for you," he said.

  "I can carry it." She glared at him, still embarrassed about the shower of kisses.

  "I know you can carry it," he said. "I just want to make shopping easier for you."

  Before she could say otherwise, he stole the basket from her. He looked strangely proud for a man carrying a grocery basket in the cheese department.

  "We look like a married couple, don't we?" he said, beaming.

  She snapped to attention as a rush of pleasure surged through her. Good grief, they really did look like a married couple. He carried her basket and kissed her in the produce aisle. Now he was even examining the cheese at her side. Her inner romantic fought with her inner cynic and the cynic was losing. She was happy because people would think they were together.

  No, no, no!

  She did the only thing she could do in that situation—elbowed Gideon in the ribs.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Two hours later, Nora still couldn't handle the maelstrom of emotions within her, even as she sat across from Gideon in her favorite restaurant. Trying to ignore the way her heart fluttered when she so much as gazed into the man's eyes was impossible. At that moment, she realized she couldn't stop herself from liking him. Her heart had stolen the reins from her brain and refused to give them back. She was truly at Gideon's mercy.

  The thought made her want to leap from her seat and run screaming from the restaurant. Still she didn't do that. Even as some part of her longed to run for her life, most of her wanted to stay. With Gideon. I must be going crazy for lett
ing this happen. She groaned and cupped her face.

  "You're more wired than usual." Gideon sounded amused.

  "It hasn't been my day." Every time she'd gone head-to-head with Gideon, she'd lost.

  "Really?" He raised an eyebrow. "I think today has been marvelous."

  "Yeah, yeah." That was because he was the triumphant one.

  Frowning, she stared at her soda. She needed to distract herself from her feelings and direct the conversation in a safe direction. If Gideon brought up kissing one more time, she was ninety-nine percent sure she'd break under the pressure. She strained her mind to come up with a safe topic and found one. She'd had a run-in with Gideon's not-so-savory friend this morning. It was the perfect topic. In fact, she should have brought up the topic earlier. It would be near impossible for Gideon to lead their talk somewhere inappropriate.

  "A friend of yours visited this morning," she said.

  Gideon was taking a drink when she said the words but froze mid-sip. As he placed his glass down, he stared at her with concern, all traces of a smile gone from his perfect face.

  "A friend?" he asked slowly.

  "Yeah." She nodded. "His name's Amon."

  The color drained from Gideon's face.

  "Did he hurt you?" Gideon seized her hand. "Tell me he didn't hurt you."

  "What's wrong?" She was startled by the amount of concern in his eyes. "The guy didn't hurt me at all. Well, except for this."

  She showed him the fingerprint bruises on her skin. To her surprise, Gideon stared at the injury with such sorrow it was as if she was badly wounded.

  "Oh, Nora," he said.

  "For heaven's sake, it's just a few bruises." She shrugged. "The man grabbed me for a second. I don't think it's that big of a deal."