Bending his head, he pressed his lips to my forehead. “You’re all I want, Eva. There’s no one else. There will never be anyone else.”
“Gideon.” He understood, as I hadn’t, that the night had fallen apart because of my jealousy and the deep-seated need I had to make him feel it for himself.
He kissed me softly, reverently, erasing every memory of anyone else’s lips on mine.
*
“Angel.” Gideon’s voice was a warm rasp in my ear. “Wake up.”
I moaned, squeezing my eyes shut tighter and burying my face deeper in his neck. “Leave me alone, you sex fiend.”
His silent laughter shook me. He pressed a hard kiss to my forehead and wiggled out from under me. “We’re here.”
Cracking one eye open, I watched him put his shirt back on. He’d never gotten out of his jeans. I realized the sun was out. I sat up and looked out the windows, gasping when I saw the ocean. We’d stopped for gas once but I hadn’t been able to get my bearings or figure out where we were. Gideon had declined to tell me when I asked, saying only that it was a surprise.
“Where are we?” I breathed, thrilled by the sight of the sun climbing over the water. It had to be solidly into morning. Maybe even midmorning.
“North Carolina. Lift your arms.”
I obeyed automatically, and he slid my tank top over my head. “I need my bra,” I muttered, when I could see him again.
“No one’s here to see you but me and we’re going straight into the bathtub.”
I looked again at the weathered shingle-covered building we’d parked beside. It was at least three stories, with wraparound decks and balconies on the front and sides, and a quaint single-door entrance off the back. It stood on stilts at the shoreline, so close to the water that I knew the tide must come up right beneath it. “How long have we been driving?”
“Almost ten hours.” Gideon slid my skirt up my legs and I stood, allowing him to twist it straight and pull up the zipper. “Let’s go.”
He got out first, then held his hand out for me. The bracing, salty breeze hit my face, waking me. The rhythmic surge of the ocean grounded me to the moment and where we were. Angus was nowhere to be seen, which was a relief, since I was very aware of my lack of underwear. “Angus drove all night?”
“We switched drivers when we stopped for gas.”
I looked at Gideon and my pulse stuttered at the tender, haunted way he was looking at me. A shadow of a bruise marred his jaw and I reached up to touch it, my chest aching when he nuzzled into my palm.
“Are you hurt anywhere else?” I asked, feeling so emotionally raw after the long night we’d had.
He caught my wrist and pulled my hand down to press flat over his heart. “Here.”
My love . . . It had been hard on him, too. “I’m so sorry.”
“So am I.” He kissed my fingertips, then linked our hands and led me up to the house.
The door was unlocked and he walked right in. A wire mesh basket sat on a console just inside the door, holding a bottle of wine and two glasses tied with ribbon. As Gideon turned the deadbolt with a firm click, I plucked the Welcome envelope out and opened it. A key fell into my palm.
“We won’t be needing that.” He took the key from me and set it on the console. “For the next two days, we’re going to be hermits together.”
A hum of pleasure warmed me from the inside, followed by more than a little awe that a man like Gideon Cross could enjoy my company so much he didn’t need anyone else.
“Come on,” he said, tugging me toward the stairs. “We’ll break into that wine later.”
“Yeah. Coffee first.”