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Authors: Charlene Hartnady

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BOOK: A Mate for Gideon
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“I
have a spine.” Lazarus put his hand to his back.

“Good.
Look…” She licked her lips. Her little tongue tracing the full expanse of her
lower lip before tracking back up to the top one.

Motherfuck!
This female was stunning.

“Urm…this
is awkward.” She rubbed the toe of her sneaker into the dirt “I don’t mind that
you spent the night with another woman. I really don’t. I need you to please
guarantee that you’ll choose me though. We get along”—her eyes flashed with
panic—“mostly. We could get along.”

Lazarus
folded his arms, looking down at the female. She scented sweet, and looked even
sweeter. Problem was, she was far too small. There was just no way.

“What?”
She cocked her head. Defiance placed in her eyes. “You look like you’re sizing
me up and finding me lacking.” Her cheeks flushed even darker.

Then
again, maybe? There was only one way to find out. “I have a condition.”

“Name
it.” She smiled. It transformed her face from sexy as all hell to all out beautiful.
Like nothing he had ever seen before.

Damn!

Gideon
snarled, reminding him that the other two males were still there.

“What
the fuck crawled up your ass?” Brant asked Gideon.

“Nothing,”
the male replied. “I’m fine.”

“What’s
your condition?” The female repeated.

“Let’s
just agree upfront that if you can meet my condition, I’ll choose you to go
through to the next round.” He raised his brows.

“That’s
bullshit.” She snorted. “Complete utter bullshit. What if I don’t meet this
condition of yours? Surely I need to have some sort of an idea of what I’m up
against? What if it’s impossible?”

“I’m
sure you’ll do just fine.” He fucking hoped it would be impossible. “You’re a
strong, feisty female, in her prime.”

“What
does that have to do with anything? This is complete bullshit.” She muttered while
shaking her head.

“Fine.”
Brant smiled. “You”—he turned to the human—“get to stay for two days but should
Lazarus decide not to take you through to the next round, then you are out and
forfeit any involvement in the program going forward. Do you agree?”

Alexandra
smiled. “Yes, I do,” she said without hesitation.

Thank
fuck! Excitement coursed through him.

The
punch came out of nowhere. He felt his nose crunch and his bone crack as
Gideon’s knuckles made contact with his face. Fuck, but the male could hit.
Lazarus staggered back, somehow managing to maintain his footing.

“Fuck
you!” Gideon snarled, his face a mask of rage. The male turned and stormed
away.

Lazarus
felt rivulets of blood slide down his face. He refused to feel guilty. The
agreement was, that unless he found a female willing to be with him, that he
would help out with Jenna. Thing was, he had found a female. It was crazy and unexpected
but it was true. Lazarus was taking his chances. He couldn’t wait to discuss
his one, very important, condition with the delectable human. Couldn’t fucking
wait.

****

“What
the hell is wrong with you?” Brant growled from somewhere behind him.

All
Gideon wanted was to keep on walking. He didn’t want to face anyone right now.
Two fucking days and Jenna would be gone.

Not
only gone but in grave danger too.

He
already felt guilty for hitting the male. On the other hand, his fist
connecting with Lazarus’ face had felt really good.

The
female showing up now, was such putrid timing. On the one hand, he actually
felt happy for Lazarus but on the other, he felt like killing him.

Gideon
turned and faced his king. Although he wanted to tell Brant everything, come
completely clean, he couldn’t risk it. If Jenna ended up getting booted from
the program, she would be in grave danger. He couldn’t do that to her. It would
be better to take the safer path.

“I’m
pissed,” Gideon growled. “I’ll admit that I’m also a little jealous. Okay. Make
that a lot fucking jealous. I want a human female.”

Brant
did something totally unexpected and laughed. It took a while for his king to
get himself back under control. “I knew it. Someone has the hots for the human
females. I must say that you have been acting strangely over the last few days
and this explains it.”

His
heart sped up. Maybe, just fucking maybe. “Does this mean that you’re going to
let me into the program? Allow me an opportunity to choose one of the females?”

“Not
a fuck,” Brant snarled without a moment’s hesitation. “This needs to be by the
book, and you chose not to take part in this heat. The good news is, there’s
always the next heat. I can promise you right now that there will be plenty of
human females for you to choose from. I was involved in the selection and you
won’t be disappointed.”

Fuck
it.

Gideon
wasn’t interested in a bunch of human females. None of them would be Jenna. His
heart clenched at the thought of his female. How could he change Brant’s mind
without cluing him in?

“No,”
Gideon said, a little too harshly. He worked hard to get his emotions under
control. It wouldn’t help his case to snarl and growl at his king. Hitting
Lazarus was one thing, any type of aggressive behavior towards his king would
send him straight into the dungeon. “No,” he repeated, his voice low and even
this time. “I’ve seen a female that I’m interested in. One that has fired my
blood. I would like to join now. Please tell me what I have to do to be
admitted into the program during this heat.”

Brant
shook his head. “It’s not going to happen.” His dark eyes narrowed in on
Gideon. “It would be best if you distanced herself from the female in question.
I assure you that there will be many more.”

Gideon
breathed deeply. “Please, my lord. What is it that I could do to make this
happen? Name it.”

Brant
narrowed his eyes further. His jaw clenched for a few moments. “Have you had
any relations with this female? What the fuck have you done, Gideon? First my
elite leader, York, and now you. The two males that I would never have expected
this from. How deep is your involvement with this female?” He growled, it
wasn’t lost on Gideon how his king’s nostrils flared as he spoke.

No
one had reacted to the faint smell of human that clung to him. All had assumed
that it was because of his dealings with the females over recent days.

Jenna’s
words played through his mind about being too fearful of the fallout that their
relationship would cause. Fear of what others would think of him. He dismissed
it outright. It could not be further from the truth. His fear was for Jenna and
not for himself. Gideon shook his head. “I have seen a female that interests me
but that is the end of my involvement.” Guilt rose up in him. Not because he
was lying to his king but because he felt like he was wronging Jenna by not
admitting to their involvement. He ignored the emotion. Jenna’s safety was more
important than anything else right now.

Brant’s
eyes closed for a moment. He huffed out a lungful of air. “Thank fuck.” His
king growled. “Then again, I should’ve known that out of all of the males, you
are the one that I can rely on the most. It is the whole reason why I put you
forward to Zane for our head of security. I’m sorry I doubted you.” His eyes
darkened. “Forget this female. Stay far away from her. You will definitely be
given a place in the next heat. I know that you’re more than capable of winning
a position in the program.” Brant slapped him on the back. “You will only have to
wait a few weeks…it will go by quicker than you think.”

For
blood’s sake. What the hell was he going to do? It would be better if he
discussed this with Jenna before announcing their relationship. He needed to
make sure that she was aware of the consequences and that they were prepared
for the fallout.

Gideon
nodded. “Good advice, my lord.” He grit his teeth.

His
words seemed to ease some of the tension between them. “Good to hear.” Brant
paused before continuing. “I’ve had enough insubordination to last me a fucking
life time. York is walking a fine line. I expect more from you. Is that
understood?”

Gideon
was forced to clear his throat because the words were sticking. “Yes…” He
finally managed to get out. “I do.”

Unfortunately
he understood only too well. It looked like he and Jenna were going to have to
gear up for the fight of their lives. They needed a plan and a backup plan.

 

 

Chapter 10

 

“You
can’t be serious.” Jenna whispered, trying hard to keep her voice down which
was difficult considering the news that Gideon had just delivered. She leaned
against the wall, careful to avoid the cleaning supplies. Jenna really like
Lazarus so she couldn’t help but to feel excited for him. The only problem was,
Lazarus’ unexpected woman had made things a little more difficult for her and
Gideon.

The
overhead light in the closet was dim but it was enough for her to be able to make
out Gideon’s features. His mouth was set in a hard line. He looked really
worried. “Yup, he is taken with the female. That much was clear. I shouldn’t
have hit him though.”

She
couldn’t help but to giggle softly into her hand. “You hit him?”

Gideon
sighed. “Yeah. Pretty much smashed his nose.”

“Again?
He can’t be too happy with you.”

Gideon
shrugged. “He didn’t mind too much, totally understood where I was coming from.
The problem is that we’re out of options. I’m going to speak with Brant in the
morning. Going to tell them about us.” His eyes were dark, the vee between his
eyes deepened.

They
were finally going to come clean about their relationship. Thank God. “I’m
glad. It’s better that everyone knows. I’ve had enough hiding and sneaking
around. I want us to be together for real.” She grabbed his hand.

He
squeezed her fingers. “Me too. I’m a little worried though. There’s a good
chance Brant’s going to kick you out. I might end up in the dungeon. I’m
worried about you, Jenna. With that bastard still out there. I wish you’d allow
me to kill him.” His voice turned all growly.

“I’ll
take my chances. I managed to hide out for weeks and I can do it again.” She
chewed on her bottom lip for a few beats. “They can’t keep you locked up
forever, or can they?”

Gideon
shook his head. “No they won’t. A few days, a week or two tops.”

She
found herself smiling. Hopefully the vampire kings would see it their way and
if not she would find a way to survive until Gideon was set free. It was
amazing what you could do when you put your mind to it. “Good. I’ll give you
the address of the little bed-and-breakfast I was staying in. The only
problem…” Damn why hadn’t she thought of it sooner.

“What
is it?” He gripped both of her hands.

“I
don’t have any cash. At least, not enough. I can get by for three or four
days…tops. I don’t want to have to get a job because it would make it easier
for Liam to track me down.”

Gideon
smiled. “Don’t worry about that. I’ll make a deposit into your account before I
go and see Brant in the morning.” His eyes darkened with worry. “I don’t have
cash either.”

“Don’t
worry, I will be careful. Here…” Jenna dug in her purse, finding a notebook and
pen. She wrote down the address of the bed-and-breakfast, as well as her
banking details and handed the paper to Gideon. “You’ve got my cell number? It’s
a burner phone so Liam won’t be able to track me. I will pay for everything with
cash and will use a false name.” It bugged her that she had to rely on him for
cash. “I will pay you back the money.”

Gideon
frowned. “No need…you are mine now. My money is your money. Let’s just hope
that it doesn’t come to that.”

Hearing
him say that she was his made her heart leap. It made her smile. “Um…okay.” Was
all she managed to say in the end. “You’re really going to tell them?” There
was a small part of her that was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to go through
with it.

His
frown deepened. “I’m really worried about you. I’d feel better if you would let
me kill the son of a bitch. I can leave right now and be back within an hour.
It would make this whole thing a lot easier knowing that you were safe. If
anything were to happen to you…” He cupped her jaw.

“No.
It’s too risky. What if you were caught?” She shook her head. “Promise me.”

Gideon’s
throat worked and a muscle ticked in his jaw. His chest heaved. He ran a hand
through his hair. “Again?”

“Humor
me.” She raised her brows.

“It’s
against my better judgment but I promise not to kill the bastard so long as he
keeps his hands off of you. He touches so much as one hair on your head though
and the deal is off.”

Jenna
nodded, swallowing thickly. “He’s not going to get to me. Hopefully your king
will understand and if not I’ll just lay low until we can be together again.”

“I
hate the thought of leaving…of running. It feels so cowardly.”

“It’s
not. It’s doing whatever it takes to survive…to be together. You do want us to
be together don’t you?” Jenna felt her eyes sting. She could only pray that he
wanted this bad enough.

Gideon
cupped both her cheeks, running a thumb down her jaw. “Of course I do. Don’t
ever doubt that.”

“Good,”
she sighed the word. “We can leave…go far away, no one will ever find us. We’ll
be fine because we’ll have each other.”

Gideon
nodded. “I hope it doesn’t come to that but if it does, then I’m ready.”

He
brushed his lips against hers, quickly deepening the kiss. She fisted his
shirt, pulling him closer. Her whimper was swallowed by his demanding mouth.
All too soon, he pulled away. “You’d better get back. I’m sure that by now,
dessert is being served. You will be missed.”

Jenna
snorted. “Yeah right. The women are trying so desperately to get noticed by one
of the guys and the guys are so busy ogling the women. It’s a circus. I’m
surprised there haven’t been any catfights yet.”

“We
don’t have any cats on the property, at least, not that I’m aware of.” He
frowned, looking utterly adorable.

“By
cat fights, I mean fights between the women. They call them that because they
tend to use teeth and nails. It’s a human saying.”

“I
wouldn’t mind seeing such a fight.” Gideon grinned.

“Let
me guess, you would ideally want the women naked?” Jenna had to roll her eyes.
Men were all the same.

He
frowned again. “Why would I want them naked?…No…I would be interested to see if
human females have any skills and whether the strongest female ended up winning
or a female that was more agile and fast. It would be fun.” Then he looked
worried. “Please don’t think of taking part if any such cat fight were to
happen.”

Jenna
had to laugh. She tried to do it quietly. “Don’t worry, I won’t.”

“Good.”
He growled, his chest rumbled. “I don’t want to see you hurt.” He kissed her.
Soft and sweet. It all but took her breath away. “I would have to kill if that
ever happened.”

A
few minutes later she slipped from the closet, smoothing her dress before
taking a slow walk back to the elaborate dinner table. She couldn’t help but to
think back on those first two days with Gideon.

Two
days.

They
somehow managed to cram all the dates into one weekend, becoming more and more
desperate for one another as time went by.

 She
smiled, pausing to look out a nearby window. A full moon hung in the sky, just
like that night.

They
were both crazy with need by then. Especially considering Jenna had not let him
touch her. Aside from some dry humping and the odd brush of his fingers through
her clothing. Thing was, she was too afraid of letting him lay, so much as, a
finger on her. As it stood, she was barely hanging onto what was left of her
willpower. If he so much as tweaked her nipples or rubbed on her clit, she
would beg him to take her.

Beg.

As
in, all out and on her knees. The image of being on her knees in front of him
made her groan. Inside her own head of course. Of having his thick cock in her
mouth, of sucking on his head. It made her moan even louder. This time out loud
for real.

Oops!

“What
is it?” Gideon’s voice was so deep, so raw. It sent shivers up and down her
spine.

Their
hands were clasped tightly as they walked. Yes, their date was a midnight walk
in the gardens at Gideon’s hotel. Not really much of a date. Especially since
neither of them were very interested in their surroundings. They were walking
quickly. Jenna almost had to jog to keep up with Gideon’s long stride.

“Um…nothing
really…just…” She let the sentence hang.

“Just
what?” He threw her a toothy grin.

“Just
thinking about what I want to do to you when we get back to your room.”

His
breathing became a little labored. “What do you want to do to me?” He almost
sounded angry. His eyes blazed and his jaw was tense.

She
could feel her cheeks heat.

Gideon
squeezed her hand. “Is it dirty?”

Jenna
pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and bit down. She nodded. “Very.”

His
eyes drifted shut and he moaned. “You have to tell me.”

“I…um…”

His
throat worked and his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. His eyes stayed on her.
So
dark, so intense.

“I
was just thinking that I would really like to give you a blowjob.”

Gideon
frowned. His eyebrows practically fused. A deep vee formed between his eyes.

“Maybe
you vampires have a different word for it. I want to ease you”—she paused—“with
my mouth.”

His
eyes almost bugged out of his skull. They began to glow softly under the
moonlight. After swallowing thickly, he shook his head. “We don’t have a word for
that because our females don’t do that to us. Their fangs are too sharp, but
yours.” He growled low, his chest actually vibrated. “Your little, blunt ones
would work just fine.”

Jenna
could feel that her brows were raised. “You’ve never had a blowjob? As in
ever?”

He
shook his head. “Never.” His voice sounded pained.

She
made a humming noise. “You’ve been missing out big time. Human men love it. I
would even go so far as to say that they rate it just as good as sex.”

Gideon
shook his head. “No way. I can see the appeal of having your stunning lips
around my cock, of that sexy as fuck mouth sucking on me, but it would be
nothing compared to your pussy. There is nothing better than coming together or
as close as damn to one another as possible. I want to look into your eyes and
watch you go over the edge. It would be my undoing.”

“Wow!”
She blew out a breath of air. “I don’t think I’ve ever been this turned on.”

“Should
we head back?”

“That
or you could take me here and now.” She smiled, pretending to be joking when
the truth was, she would totally let him if he tried. So what if they were in
the middle of a public garden. So what if the hotel security patrolled
regularly.

Gideon
chuckled. It sounded strained. “I don’t want our first time to be rushed or
interrupted. Our eighth date is going to be an all-nighter.” He paused, his jaw
tightened. “You will most likely need to call in sick tomorrow.”

Jenna
could feel her heart beat faster in her chest, could feel her lungs strain for
air. “I’ve worked after an all-nighter before. I’m sure I’ll manage.”

He
threw her a feral grin. “You won’t be able to fucking walk, Jenna. On second
thought…” He crushed his lips to hers in a scorching kiss.

It
made her chest heave even more. Thankfully he looked just as affected.

“On
second thought…” He repeated. “You will need two days to recover after I’m done
with you.”

She
had to stifle a shriek as he threw her over his shoulder. They were close to
his room. She jostled as he moved quickly. Taking the room card out of his
pocket, he swiped it through the lock, closing the door behind them.

Jenna
expected him to throw her on the bed, but instead he put her carefully down at
the foot of the bed. He sat, making them closer to eye level. His eyes were
soft. Gideon put his hands on her hips and squeezed softly. “Are you sure about
this, Jenna?”

She
nodded, feeling nothing but eager. She was hungry for him…starved. “Yes.”

“There
will be no going back.” His eyes were dark and intense.

“What
do you mean?” She asked, knowing exactly what he was saying. Once they had been
together, they would both be ruined for all others. He was right when he talked
about aligning to one another on a cellular level.

Gideon
smiled. “You’ll be mine, Jenna. Mine,” he growled.

“I’m
nobody’s property.” But even as she said it, she knew that it was true.

He
reached up and stroked her cheek. “I would be yours too, so it would be okay.”

Technically,
she was still married to Rob. It would still be a few weeks before the divorce
came through. She should’ve told him. She could still tell him. Not today.
Maybe tomorrow, but not today.

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