Tempting Nora

by Evanston, A. M.

  "Chainmail is heavy." She stepped inside. "It would make it harder for you to outrun me if you really made me angry."

  "That's true." He stepped inside as well. "I could go for something lighter like a bulletproof vest, but I'm not sure that has enough coverage."

  Scowling, she pinched his arm again.

  "See what I mean." He rubbed the spot where she'd pinched him. "A bulletproof vest wouldn't have protected me from that."

  "Yeah, yeah." She rolled her eyes.

  As she headed down the hall, Mr. Fleas came barreling at them full speed. Normally the dog was all tail wags and joy, but now he was frothing at the mouth with his ears down. As Mr. Fleas yapped wildly, she seized the dog around the middle before he could bite Gideon's leg. The little canine flailed in mid-air, making her wince.

  "He's acting like a lunatic again," she said.

  "It's normal." Gideon eyeballed the thrashing dog with sad eyes.

  Why did Gideon consider this normal? Maybe some dogs attacked visitors, but Mr. Fleas would suck up to anyone, thieves included.

  Shaking her head, she headed to the hall closet and pulled out the travel kennel. She stuck the dog inside and petted his head, even as he barked. Once Gideon was gone, she would give the canine some quality attention. Maybe he was jealous or something. Still that didn't make much sense. After all, Mr. Fleas didn't mind Robert.

  She stood up.

  "I think I need to take Mr. Fleas to the vet." She watched the kennel vibrate as the dog rocketed around inside.

  "He seems fine to me." Gideon shrugged, appearing unconcerned. "He wouldn't be able to jump around like that if he wasn't healthy."

  She nodded, but she was still worried about the canine's behavior.

  "Do you want to look around now?" She hoped the dog might calm down if Gideon wasn't standing right in front of him.

  "Yeah." Gideon nodded. "I thought I'd start in your bedroom."

  Even the thought of Gideon in her bedroom knocked her worries about Mr. Fleas from her mind.

  "Okay, but I won't go in there with you." If she did, then she might lose control and do something she'd regret. "Do you want coffee? I can make us some while you look around."

  "Are you trying to prolong our time together?" His eyes sparkled.

  Great, now she was self-conscious again.

  "I don't know what you're talking about." She wrinkled her nose. "Do you want coffee or not?"

  "Yeah, I'd love some." He was still smirking at her.

  "And don't you dare do perverted things in my bedroom," she said.

  "Wow, gutter queen strikes again." His grin, if possible, widened.

  "So help me, Gideon, I will hurt you." Her eyebrow twitched.

  "Fine." He must have feared bodily injury because he held up his hands in defeat. "You make coffee and I'll look around."

  As she gnashed her teeth, she headed into the kitchen. Gideon disappeared in her bedroom. She heard a frightened meow and then Chubby rushed into the kitchen as well, his large eyes wide with fear. The cat shook as he cowered in the corner, his head burrowed between his front paws. She bent down and petted the cat's head. The animal met her gaze and meowed.

  "Do you want a treat?" If something would cheer up Chubby, it was food.

  Unfortunately, the cat still didn't look happy. Despite that, she pulled a meat chew out of the cupboard. When she dangled it in front of the feline's mouth, the cat turned his face away and whimpered mournfully. If Chubby wasn't devouring a treat, then something must have been wrong. The cat loved to eat so much she'd once come home and found the animal nestled in the bag of dry food.

  As she made coffee and debated calling the vet first thing in the morning, Gideon left her bedroom and started walking around the living room instead. While she watched him, she stopped wondering about her animals. The way he searched her apartment was odd. He wasn't just looking in places where Amon could easily hide like under her bed or in her closet. No, the guy was searching in drawers as if a person could squash himself into such a little space. It made her wonder whether he was spying on her.

  "What exactly are you looking for?" she asked.

  He met her eyes.

  "I'm looking for signs that Amon has been in your apartment," he said. "A hair, a piece of clothing. I don't know. Something."

  Well, that explained the drawer searching.

  "You don't honestly think he's found a way into my apartment, do you?" She wrung her hands, a little worried herself. "My animals are in here even when I'm not. I don't want anything to happen to them."

  At first he didn't speak. He looked like he was trying to decide what to say.

  "I think your place is safe," he finally said. "But would you mind letting me spend the night just to be sure?"

  "Gideon…" She gave an exasperated sigh.

  "I'd sleep on the couch, gutter que—"

  "Don't say it," she hissed in warning.

  He snorted and headed into the kitchen.

  "I have your best interests at heart," he said, forgoing the awful nickname for once.

  "You checked everywhere he could possibly be," she said. "Why would you need to spend the night?"

  "I still feel uneasy, but if you don't want me to stay, I won't." He placed his hands on her shoulders. "Just promise me that you'll call if something happens. If you get hurt, I don't think I can take it."

  "Nothing is going to happen to me." What was it about Amon that made Gideon so riled up? "How exactly do you know this guy, anyway? Has he done something like this before?"

  Before Gideon could speak, Chubby hissed at him and crawled out of the kitchen.

  "Geez," she said, forgetting all about her questions. "Are you wearing cologne or something?"

  "Cologne?" He studied her face.

  "Well, maybe my animals hate the way you smell." She couldn't believe Chubby had taken off like that.

  Before she even realized what she was doing, she leaned forward and sniffed his chest. She'd done it to Robert before, but, well, Gideon wasn't Robert. Already Gideon's eyes darkened with desire.

  "You haven't looked around the kitchen yet," she said quickly, trying to distract him from his yearning. After all, starting something in the middle of her apartment was a bad idea. Nobody would stop them if she lost control.

  "I'm pretty sure it's safe." His eyes flickered toward her mouth.

  "You haven't checked in the cabinets." She gulped nervously.

  "I'll check them later." A hungry grin covered his face.

  She knew at that moment he was having naughty thoughts.

  "The coffee machine is still on," she said.

  Gideon turned off the coffee machine and then leaned so close she could see flecks of gold in his caramel eyes. A gasp of air escaped her lips as an explosion of heat filled her belly.

  "Any more excuses?" he asked.

  At the sight of his face so near to hers, her brain turned to mush.

  "No." She shook her head, all hope of keeping him at arm's length dissolving.

  "Good."

  His lips slammed down on hers so hard she almost lost her footing. The man wrapped his arms around her back, holding her steady so she didn't fall. Still he devoured her mouth with the ferocity of a wild animal, kissing her with everything he had. As he took her mouth, rapture enveloped her entire body. All she could think as Gideon captured her mouth was, I need this man. I don't know why, but I need him.

  And she didn't need him in just a physical sense. No, she needed him emotionally, mentally, and physically. For the first time, she realized that she had not been whole until Gideon showed up. When she was near him like this, her heart was bursting with emotion and her soul sang. All she could feel was endless bliss as he melted against her, embracing her with every inch of his body.

  When had he become so important to her? They hadn't known each other long, but she was tangled up in him. His antics, while sometimes annoying, brought a smile to her face. He challenged her, amused her, and enlightened he
r. She knew that as long as he remained by her side, she'd never be bored. She would never be lonely either. Oh sure, she would still have sad days—everybody did—but she didn't feel like it was her against the world anymore.

  These thoughts were the driving force that made her want to touch him all over. Even though she didn't know what she was doing, she ran her trembling fingers down his chest. Despite her inexperience, a groan of ecstasy burst from Gideon's mouth. The sound of his impassioned cry made the wild inferno within her grow. She loved his voice, she realized. When he so much as uttered a single word, it reverberated inside of her eardrums, filling her up.

  As a chill ran down her spine, Gideon's mouth left her own. Luckily, the man didn't step away. Instead his lips journeyed across her face, kissing every available inch of skin. The sensations were more intense than ever before because this time it was just her and him. Alone. How could she ever hope to put a stop to this glorious passion? She wanted him. In fact, she wanted him more than she could even say.

  For the first time, she realized her own forbidden desire was the reason she'd pushed Gideon away for so long. She'd known that there would come a time when her self-control would shatter, when she would not be able to handle herself.

  That time was now.

  She dug her fingers into his shirt as unquenchable yearning burst forth from within her.

  "I want you so much," she said.

  "It feels like I've waited forever to hear you say those words." His tongue flitted to the corner of his mouth. "I want you too."

  Before she could say anything else, Gideon scooped her up and carried her to the bedroom. After he placed her on the bed, he laid down on top of her. The feeling of his heavy body pressing against hers only made her desire grow.

  She looked up into his eyes and whispered, "Please."

  She had no idea what she meant when she said please. Please what, exactly?

  Gideon sighed, trembling from how much he wanted her. His hand was still resting on her hip, but he didn't lean down to kiss her. Instead he just studied her face, his expression forlorn.

  "What's wrong?" Well, besides the fact she was doing exactly what she said she'd never do.

  "We have to stop." Gideon stood up. "I know you'll regret this in the morning and I can't hurt you like that. When we finally make love, I want it to bring you happiness, not misery."

  "Gideon." Her eyes widened in alarm.

  He touched her cheek, searching her face.

  "It's ironic, isn't it?" he whispered. "The woman I want more than anything is the one I can't make love to."

  At first, she wasn't sure what to say. She was too shocked. One second they'd been kissing passionately, the next he was pulling away, doing the decent thing. And he did that because he cared about her. Finally, she found her voice.

  "Thank you," she said.

  The man's eyes were pained as he traced her lip with his thumb.

  "Don't ever doubt how much I adore you." He stood up, still shaking from the intensity of his desire. "Walking away right now is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do."

  "Thank you," she said again because she wasn't sure what else to say.

  "I'll see you in the morning." He nodded at her.

  "In the morning?" She was even more confused. "Tomorrow is my day off."

  "I'll stop by your apartment anyway," he said. "Goodbye, Nora."

  She moved to walk him to the door. To her surprise, Gideon held up his hand to stop her.

  "No, I'll walk myself out." He released a shaky sigh. "If you come too close right now, I'm afraid I'll change my mind and jump right back into bed with you."

  As Gideon left the room, she stared after him, gaping.

  Chapter Fourteen

  As Nora frowned at the wall while stroking Mr. Fleas, she realized that she would never look at Gideon the same way again. Even when he'd held her in the park, she'd questioned his motives. At that time, she'd thought he was being kind in order to make her want him. She would never doubt his good intentions again. After all, tonight he'd selflessly walked away, even though she'd felt how much he wanted her.

  And he did that because he cared.

  All he'd said and done tonight showed her that. It wasn't just because he'd stopped himself from sleeping with her. No, he'd also turned down a woman ten times more beautiful than she was and showed more concern for her wellbeing than she could have ever imagined. Gideon was amazing. Truly amazing.

  And he cared about her.

  Her!

  She found herself flailing about, unable to keep still. Finally, she realized she was hyper because she was happy. For the first time in her life, she believed she and Gideon had a future together. Maybe the man she'd thought was a cad would be the one she'd spend the rest of her life with. Thoughts like that were enough to make any woman energetic.

  No, what am I thinking? She flopped onto her stomach, being careful not to roll into Mr. Fleas. I'm not a little kid. I shouldn't be thinking about marrying him just because he's giving me attention. Heck, yesterday she wasn't even sure what she thought of Gideon. She shouldn't be behaving so foolishly.

  After she took a deep breath, she managed to fight away all ridiculous wonderings from her mind. But that didn't mean she couldn't be happy. Oh no, she was going to allow herself this moment, this chance, to smile.

  Too bad her burst of happy energy had to come so late at night. She needed sleep, no matter how excited she was.

  As she sighed, she climbed out of bed. If she couldn't sleep, then maybe a hot shower would help make her tired. It had always helped before. She headed into her bathroom and stripped off her clothes. After she entered the shower stall, she sighed as the water ran all over her. Even in the shower, she couldn't stop thinking about Gideon. In fact, now the situation was even worse because she was now naked and thinking about him.

  She shook her head wildly, clearing her thoughts from her mind. Happiness didn't equal perversion, so this had to stop. She wasn't going to think of the way Gideon's grin was so perfect it made every female in the room stare. She wasn't going to think about the way his golden arms were thick with muscle. She wasn't going to think about the way his hard abdominals felt beneath her fingers.

  Crap. She was thinking about all of those things.

  She groaned and thrust her fingers into her hair.

  "Gideon, you've done something to me," she said. "Now I'm the degenerate and you're the good guy."

  That was something she'd never seen coming.

  ****

  Nora awoke with a start. What on earth is going on? She sat up, blinking sleep from her eyes, and heard her cell phone ringing. She checked her clock and saw that it was three o'clock in the morning. Good grief, no wonder she was tired. She hadn't made it back to bed until one-thirty.

  She reached for her phone, certain that the caller was Gideon. She answered the call.

  "Gideon, you'd better have a good reason to call me at three o'clock in the morning," she said, even though she'd been bubbly because of him only a few hours before.

  "It's not Gideon," said a deep male voice.

  It took her a moment to realize who was calling her. Amon. She wouldn't have been more shocked if a boulder had fallen on her chest.

  "You," she said. "Why are you calling me?"

  And at three o'clock in the morning too.

  "I said I was going to give Gideon one more chance and I did," Amon snapped. "He didn't do his job and it's your fault."

  "Wait, what?" She trembled from head to foot.

  "I'm going to get rid of you," Amon said.

  "What do you mean?" she yelled. "What's going on?"

  Instead of answering, Amon hung up. She stared at her phone, stunned. After she'd threatened Amon with pepper spray and he'd released her, she thought he was a harmless nut. Now she knew that wasn't the case. No, he was a real psycho, the kind that might tear off her fingernails one by one and feed them to his pet snake.

  She finally came to her sens
es and realized she had to call Gideon. Shaking, she dialed his number and pressed her phone to her ear again. To her shock, he picked up on the first ring.

  "What's wrong?" Gideon asked as a way of greeting.

  It was as if he'd been expecting her call.

  "It's Amon," she said. "He says he's going to get rid of me."

  "I'm heading to your apartment right now," he said.

  "Thank you." She fought to keep the quaver out of her voice but failed.

  "Where are you?" he asked.

  "I'm still in bed," she said. "I called you immediately after talking to him."

  "Get out of bed and leave the apartment right now," he said. "Amon isn't the type to dawdle. He'll strike right away."

  "But Chubby and Mr. Fleas—"

  "Go right now," Gideon cried, panicked.

  She leapt out of bed. Despite what Gideon told her, she took the time to seize Chubby and ordered the dog to follow her. When she reached the living room, the atmosphere changed. Mr. Fleas let out a growl that made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end and Chubby buried his claws straight into her shoulder, drawing blood. She still had the phone pressed against her ear, even as she fought to hold onto the squirming cat.

  "What's going on?" Gideon cried. "I hear the dog barking."

  "Something's here," she said.

  "For heaven's sake, leave the apartment," Gideon said. "Don't look around. Just go."

  Even as Mr. Fleas lunged at an invisible presence, she rushed for the door, still clinging onto the cat as blood trickled down her skin. She tried to charge outside, but something was wrong. The door wouldn't budge. No, this is impossible. She let the cat slip from her fingers and yanked at the handle with all her might. It still wouldn't budge. She didn't know how, but she was locked inside of her apartment.

  "Gideon." She couldn't contain a sob.

  "What's happening?" He sounded as desperate as she did.

  "My door won't open," she said.

  "What?" Gideon said.

  "I can't get out," she cried, tears streaming down her cheeks. "It's impossible. I can't be locked in my apartment. My door isn't built that way."

  "I'm almost there. Even if I have to break down the door, I'll save you," Gideon said. "Everything is going to be okay."