“You won’t have any with me.” He captured me by my hair and an arm banded around my hips, urging me against him, reminding me—as if I could forget—that he was still inside me. “I’m going to possess you, Eva. It’s only fair since you’ve possessed me.”
“And what about your secrets, Gideon?”
His face smoothed into an emotionless mask, an act so easily accomplished I knew it had become second nature to him. “I started from scratch when I met you. Everything I thought I was, everything I thought I needed…” He shook his head. “We’re figuring out who I am together. You’re the only one who knows me.”
But I didn’t. Not really. I was figuring him out, learning him bit by bit, but he was still a mystery to me in so many ways.
“Eva…If you just tell me what you want—” His throat worked on a swallow. “I can get better at this, if you give me the chance. Just don’t…don’t give up on me.”
Jesus. He could shred me so easily. A few words, a desperate look, and I was cut wide open.
I touched his face, his hair, his shoulders. He was as broken as I was, in a way I didn’t yet know about. “I need something from you, Gideon.”
“Anything. Just tell me what it is.”
“Every day, I need you to tell me something I don’t know about you. Something insightful, no matter how small. I need you to promise me that you will.”
Gideon eyed me warily. “Whatever I want?”
I nodded, unsure of myself and what I hoped to get out of him.
He exhaled harshly. “Okay.”
I kissed him softly, a silent show of thanks.
Nuzzling his nose against mine, he asked, “Let’s go out to dinner. Or do you want to order in?”
“Are you sure we should go out?”
“I want to go on a date with you.”
There was no way I could say no to that, not when I knew what a big step it was for him. A big step for both of us, really, since the last time we’d gone on a date it’d ended in disaster. “Sounds romantic. And irresistible.”
His joyful smile was my reward, as was the shower we took to clean up. I loved the intimacy of washing his body as much as I loved the feel of his palms gliding over me. When I took his hand and put it between my legs, urging two of his fingers inside me, I saw the familiar and very welcome heat in his eyes as he felt the slick essence he’d left behind.
He kissed me and murmured, “Mine.”
Which prompted me to slide both hands over his cock and whisper the same claim back to him.
In the bedroom, I lifted my new blue dress off the bed and hugged it to me. “You picked this out, Gideon?”
“I did, yes. Do you like it?”
“It’s beautiful.” I smiled. “My mother said you had excellent taste…except for your preference for brunettes.”
He glanced at me just before his very fine, very firm naked ass disappeared into his massive walk-in closet. “What brunettes?”
“Ooh, nicely done.”
“Look in the top drawer on the right,” he called out.
Was he trying to distract me from thinking about all the brunettes he’d been photographed with—including Magdalene?
I left the dress on the bed and opened the drawer. Inside were a dozen Carine Gilson lingerie sets, all in my size, in a wide range of colors. There were also garters and silk stockings still in their packages.
I looked up at Gideon as he reappeared with his clothes in hand. “I have a drawer?”
“You have three in the dresser and two in the bathroom.”
“Gideon.” I smiled. “Working up to a drawer usually takes a few months.”
“How would you know?” He laid his clothes on the bed. “You’ve lived with a man other than Cary?”
I shot him a look. “Having a drawer isn’t living with someone.”
“That’s not an answer.” He walked over and brushed me gently aside to grab a pair of boxer briefs.
Sensing his withdrawal and darkening mood, I replied before he moved away. “I haven’t lived with any other men, no.”