A Mate for Gideon (9 page)

Jenna
nodded. “We’re not. I don’t know why but I’m actually not afraid of you. Should
I be?”

“No,”
Gideon growled, causing goosebumps to rise. “I would never hurt you.” His eyes dropped
down to her lap. “Maybe I could ease you once you have finished eating.”

“Ease
me?” She could feel herself frown.

“I’m
not referring to sex even though I would very much like to rut you.” His
eyelids became hooded. His voice was a low growl that did strange things to
her.

Then
the penny dropped and she felt her eyes widen and her mouth drop open. “Ease me
as in go down on me?” She felt her cheeks heat and shook her head. Her clit
throbbed at the thought of him between her legs. She felt wet seep from her.
“You are seriously forward aren’t you? No thanks. I’m not afraid of you, but…”
She let the sentence hang. As much as he turned her on, he was still a total
stranger and a vampire to boot. Jenna needed to get the hell out of there and
fast before she did something stupid.

He
frowned. “You said yourself that you are attracted to me. I can scent your
arousal yet you will not allow me to ease you? If go down means to lick and
suck on your clit then yes, that is what I mean by ease.”

She
shook her head. “No. Definitely not. I’m not the kind of woman that goes around
having sex, even oral sex, with people she doesn’t know.”

He
smiled for a few seconds. “Vampires are different than humans then. For us,
rutting is like any other bodily function such as eating or sleeping. If there
is a mutual attraction, then we act on it.”

She
shook her head. “Humans are different, well mostly. I can’t speak for my entire
species but I like to know someone before hopping into bed with him. I have
this little rule. I don’t have sex with someone until I have been on at least
eight dates with them.” It was stupid since she’d only decided to do the whole
eight date rule thing after her and Rob split a few weeks ago. Things had been
rushed with Rob. They met, had sex by the second date. Were practically living
together within a few weeks and engaged after six months. Too quick. She took a
deep breath. The whole eight date thing was a good idea and she’d stick to it.

Gideon
smiled broadly, flashing those ivory fangs again. “How many dates until I could
ease you? Would I have to date you eight times?”

Jenna
swallowed thickly. “I told you, no sex until the eighth date. It’s not just
about sexual attraction for me...there should be more there. I like to have
something in common with the person I’m with.” She shrugged. “It would be
important that we got along and had fun as well.”

Gideon
nodded. “I understand. It would be important that we were compatible on a
one-to-one level, not just sexually.”

She
nodded. “Yeah. Sounds about right.”

“I
am curious. Let’s just say that you and I were dating, when would I be allowed
to touch you? I’m not talking about my mouth on you but there are other ways to
make a female come.”

A
lump lodged itself in her throat, making it hard to breathe or even to think.
She grabbed a glass of juice and drank it down. Gideon kept his dark eyes
firmly on her the entire time. He was obviously being hypothetical. He didn’t
really want to actually date her. A guy…vampire like him was way out of her
league. “No kissing until the second date.”

“By
kissing, you mean mating of the mouths?” He raised a brow.

“Yes…vampires
kiss don’t they?”

He
nodded, throwing her a quick half smile. “Some of the females enjoy it.”

“But
you don’t like kissing?” she asked. Not sure why it was important to even know.
It wasn’t like they were about to go on a date or anything anyway.

He
shrugged his big shoulders. “I don’t mind kissing I just don’t really see the
point. What is acceptable on the third date?”

“On
the third and fourth dates, I would allow a little touching.”

His
eyes seemed to heat and drop back to her thighs.

“Above
the belt only.” She quickly blurted.

“You
would let me touch your magnificent mammary glands?” His voice had taken on a
gravelly edge again.

She
had to giggle at his use of the words mammary glands. “I might.”

He
licked his lips. “You would. I can be very persuasive.” A deep growl that sent
shivers through her. Good thing they weren’t about to go on any dates because
he was probably right. “I can’t wait to hear of what is permitted on date
five.”

She
felt herself blush and shook her head. “Urm…a little more touching.” She looked
down at the food, unable to keep her eyes on his.

“Date
five.” His gravelly voice came from right next to her. Gideon was on his
haunches. “Would a male be permitted to make you come? To ease you? You would
be surprised what I could do with just my hands.”

I’ll
bet.

Jenna
sucked in a ragged breath. “You’re very forward.” She squirmed a little,
feeling more turned on than ever before. As in ever.

“I
like to think of myself as being honest and open. Sex is something that
vampires talk about freely. Do not be shy, Jenna. Would a male be permitted to
make you come by the fifth date?”

“Maybe…probably
n-not…I don’t know.” This was hypothetical so she forced herself to relax. It
didn’t work. “Maybe…I g-guess. Not with your mouth though.” She was stammering
and stuttering feeling hot and bothered. Which led her to put a hand on her
cheek, sure enough, her skin felt fevered.

“I’ll
take that as a yes.” A rough growl that had her heart hammering. “Eat.” He
growled again. Gideon stood and walked towards the bathroom. “I’m going to
shower.”

She
could feel herself frown. “Why are you going to shower again?”

“I
need to take care of this.” He looked down at his still erect cock.

“Oh…
I see.” Her mouth felt dry. She’d never met anyone more forward in her whole
life. The thought of this very sexy vampire touching himself in the shower
almost made her throw her eight date rule out the window.

He
smiled. “Finish your breakfast. You can shower once you are done and I’ll go
and fetch our clothes. We need to hurry though.” He glanced at the digital
clock on the bedside table.

“Okay.”
How silly of her, he obviously had stuff to do. It made her feel a little put
out. For a second there, she was sure he was genuinely interested in her.
Clearly she had read him wrong. Not all guys would be willing to date a woman
first. Most of them wanted a home run on the first date.

His
eyes narrowed in on her. Dark and intense. Something flared to life inside of
her. It was more than just arousal. Damn but he could be dangerous to her
heart. Good thing he wasn’t interested in her.

“We
need to leave within the next half hour.” His eyes darkened. “I’m taking you
out on a date.”

She
dropped her fork onto the plate with a loud, clang. “A what? Sorry?” She
must’ve heard him wrong or something.

“We
will consider it our second date.” He grinned at her. “If we go out on back to
back dates, we should hit number five in a day or two. I’m looking forward to
feeling you clench around my fingers as you come…hard.”

Fingers.

More
than one.

Inside
her.

She
made a squeaking noise as all the air seemed to leave her lungs, make that the
whole damned room.

“More
than that, I’m looking forward to getting to know you.” On a devastating half
smile that had her insides turning to Jell-O, he turned and headed for the
bathroom.

Shit.

Shit.

She
could hardly think, let alone breathe. There was a big sexy, vampire in the
room next to her and he wanted to date her. Get to know her. She pulled her
bottom lip in between her teeth and bit down. He wanted to do wicked things to
her.

Jenna
should grab her things and get out of there. Messing around with a vampire was
not the cleverest thing to do. Instead, she took another bite of her crispy
bacon. Gideon had said that he liked women with curves and it looked like she
was going to need her energy. She looked down at her wedding ring. It was time.
Jenna pulled it off, after looking around the room, she spotted her bag on the
floor next to the desk. She put her ring into one of the pockets and zipped it
shut.

There
were growling noises which grew into a rough, drawn-out groan coming from the
bathroom. Jenna swallowed hard, her clit throbbed even harder. Thank god it was
her turn next in the shower. If she didn’t do something about this throbbing
ache, she was going to throw all of her rules right out the window.

There
was a light sting on the side of her arm. It brought her right back to reality.
There was another sting, on the same arm followed by the sound of something
landing on the ground next to her. She gasped. Jenna rubbed her arm while
looking down at the sore spot. There was another sting on the side of her
calve, this time she saw a small stone fall on the ground beside her. She
looked around, paying particular attention to the area on her right. There was
movement within the tree line a couple of hundred yards in that direction. Jenna
squinted, even putting a hand over her eyes to block the sun so that she could
see better.

Her
heart started wildly in her chest. It felt like the earth had dropped out from
underneath her. It couldn’t be. Surely she was just imagining him.

Gideon.

He
was waving his arm, gesturing for her to go to him. Jenna began to walk in that
direction. She took deep breaths trying to calm herself down. This was the
moment she had been waiting for. She prayed that he would give her a chance to
explain and could only hope that she would be able to talk about everything
that had happened. That he would actually give her a chance this time. She
would just have to make him listen, force herself to spit it all out.

As
she drew closer, she noticed that he radiated tension. From the stiff line of
his jaw to his dark eyes which regarded her solemnly. He put his hands to his
lips gesturing for her to remain quiet and with a sweep of his hand he
indicated for her to follow him.

Gideon
headed into the forest. Jenna swallowed thickly, trying hard to keep her fear
under control. Gideon would never hurt her. He wasn’t anything like Liam. Even
though she knew these things to be true, her breathing still came quicker and
her mouth turned dry. She squeezed her eyes shut for a few seconds, breathing
deeply through her nose and trying hard to get a handle on her emotions. Then
she carried on after him. For whatever reason, it seemed that he had decided to
give her a chance to explain and she was going to take it with both hands. This
was her opportunity to be brave.

You’ve
got this.

Jenna
lifted her chin and curled her hands into fists, forcing her legs to work
harder. At least it was cool under the thick canopy of trees.

He
chose a direction that was not thick with undergrowth and was much easier to
navigate. She still needed to proceed carefully ensuring that she did not
become ensnared in the thick protruding vines and roots. After ten minutes of
walking, she could feel the light sheen of sweat on her forehead. At least the
walk had calmed her down. She was able to think more rationally now. Even
though her heart rate was up and she was breathing heavily, it was only because
of the exertion.

Gideon
stopped so suddenly, turned so quickly that she collided with him. She sucked
in a deep breath. Her hands came up and flattened on his hard chest. The soft
leather of his vest beneath her fingers.

His
chest heaved, and his eyes locked with hers. His jaw clenched and his mouth
became a thin white line. Then his lip curled back just a little as a low growl
escaped. Jenna reacted instantly, she jumped backwards on a soft shriek, her
back connecting with the thick rough bark of a tree.

His
intense, dark eyes instantly softened. “I’m not going to hurt you. I don’t know
why you keep insisting on being so afraid of me.”

She
swallowed hard. “I’m not.”

His
jaw tensed back up. She could actually hear his teeth grinding together for a
few seconds before he sucked in a deep breath. “We need to agree right now. No
more lies, Jenna
…
”

The
last word he uttered almost brought her to her knees. Soft, pleading, almost
desperate.

She
nodded once. “I am afraid. I’m sorry…you need to know that it’s not you.”

Gideon
folded his arms. “What are you afraid of then?”

Breathing
deeply, she kept her eyes on him. “Are you going to listen to what I have to
say this time?”

He
shook his head. “I want you to go.” His eyes were dark and narrowed.