Tempting Nora (27 page)

"That means bed rules no longer apply," he said.

Now she knew exactly where he was going with this. He was going to kiss her.
She didn't mind in the slightest. Heck, she even owed him one. She'd just tackled the poor man in the middle of a crowded beach. As Gideon's breath tickled her face, she presented him with her lips.

During that moment, she felt like the rest of the world melted away. She cocked her head and shut her eyes as Gideon claimed her
mouth. And that wasn't all he claimed. When he tightened his arms around her, she felt like he was claiming her whole body and her very soul. She groaned as her lips danced with his. His hand, which had been resting on the small of her back, roved everywhere. He explored her hips, her thighs, her stomach, and even the nape of her neck. A shudder of desire rushed through her. One kiss filled her with such relentless longing that she swore she was going insane.

He pulled back and smirked
.

"You're the most amazing, infuriating woman
I've ever met," he said.

Before
she could reply to his words, he scooped her up as if she was a bride and carried her out of the water. When he reached the shore, he lowered her onto the sandy beach and then sat down himself. Still he never stopped touching her. Already his hand ran down the length of her arm, making a typhoon of desire overwhelm her pounding heart. As he searched her face, he picked up her bandaged hand and kissed the back of her knuckle. She noticed for the first time that the bandage was soiled.

"
Did you hurt your hand when you fell?" Gideon asked.

"No, I think my
butt received the brunt of the damage," she said.

Gideon threw
back his head and laughed, a sound that was sure to attract women from miles around. Even she was dazed as she watched his eyes light up. A rush of desire electrocuted her body, causing her to shiver.

"You're cold," Gideon said, mis
understanding why she shivered.

She wasn't cold at all, but when Gideon pulled her close, she didn't complain. Nor did she complain when he tugged her harder against him, enveloping her
with his warm body. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he kissed her again. His fingers journeyed down her side, making her give a tiny laugh. She could feel him smirk against her mouth even as they kissed. If the man had time to tickle her mid-embrace, then she didn't believe he was putting all of his effort into kissing her. She forced his mouth harder against her own, telling him of her desire without using words.
Let's see you tickle me now,
she thought, running her fingers down the length of his spine. She felt him tremble and was astounded she had such an effect on him.

She was so busy being pleased with herself that she
was stunned when Gideon crawled on top of her, his gaze hot and feral. The man pinned her to the warm sand, using his torso as a human blanket. His heavy body pinning her to the earth made her feel vulnerable and yet excited at the same time. She gasped against his lips as he continued to kiss her urgently. All too soon, the man broke free. His fingers curled in her hair as he breathed in her ear, making her yearn for him. It was impossible that she could be soaked through with lake water and yet still be so darn hot at the same time.

"Everybody is staring," she said as he
ran his hands over her hips.

"I don't care." Gideon
grinned naughtily. "Do you?"

"Nope," she said, mi
rroring his mischievous expression.

"It looks like you no longer
worry about public displays of affection." He laid kisses along her shoulder, pushing her t-shirt out of the way so he could kiss bare skin.

"I've becom
e desensitized due to prolonged exposure." She was stunned she'd managed to speak so logically when Gideon was sucking on her neck.

"Hmmm." Gideon kissed the spot right below your earlobe. "I suppose I'll have to find a new way to discipline you when you misbehave
other than threatening you with PDA."

"Dis
cipline me?" She scowled at him.

Though
she tried to sit up, Gideon stopped her with an impassioned kiss. As his tongue expertly traced the corner of her mouth, she laid back down, realizing she wasn't
that
annoyed. At least, not enough to stop.

****

Nora walked beside Gideon while wearing a new pair of jeans and an oversized tank top he'd bought her at a beach store. She wasn't the only one who donned something new. Gideon had traded his damp clothes for shorts and a t-shirt, yet he still managed to look gorgeous even as his shirt bagged around him. It wasn't fair that Gideon could look handsome no matter what he wore.

When Gideon saw her
looking at him, he beamed and squeezed her hand.

"Aren't you glad you decided to stay
for more than an hour?" he asked.

"Yeah." She nodded. "Though it was nice
when you finally took me to the pharmacy to buy me toiletries. I've never been so happy to brush my teeth in my entire life. I could have spent the morning licking the inside of a dumpster and my breath wouldn't have stunk worse."

"I didn't think your breath stunk when I was kissing you." He nudged her playfully.

"Oh." Darn it all, she hated being flustered.

Gideon
laughed at her reaction and glanced down the sidewalk.

"I'm hungry, how about you?" he asked.

"I'm always hungry." She forced her embarrassment from her mind.

"Then how about we get s
ome ice cream?" He pointed to a food stand a few feet away.

"Ice cream sounds great." She licked her lips at the thought.

After the two of them joined the ice cream line, she leaned against Gideon, grinning, only to feel the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. She turned to see a woman staring her down. The woman had a river of golden blonde hair running down her back and her dark brown eyes were so dark that they were almost black. Nora frowned, wondering why the person looked so darn familiar. 

And then she realized
where she'd seen her.

She
was the woman from the bar as well as from the pizza parlor. Both times, Nora hadn't paid much attention to her because Gideon was always attracting female stares. The hair on the back of her neck prickled again. She shouldn't have been this uneasy—she was always being glared at by women as long as Gideon was around—but something about this inhumanely beautiful female made her sick to her stomach.

"Nora." Gideon tugged
on her sleeve.

She
didn't respond. The blonde had yet to look away and Nora found herself being hypnotized by her stare. To her surprise, the woman smiled at her and the evilness of her gaze was enough to make Nora want to run screaming down the street. Was this woman after Gideon? Was that why she was watching her like this?

"Nora, the line is moving." Gideon tugged
on her sleeve yet again.

Reluctantly she
stopped staring at the beautiful blonde, her heart thundering in her chest.
Great. This is just what I need. Now there's a psychotic blonde stalking us as well.
Her nerves were so frayed that she was surprised she was still standing upright.

"What's wrong?" Gideon
glanced at her as he dragged her forward. "You went pale all of the sudden."

"I think there's a woman
following us," she said. "I saw her in the bar when we first met and then at the pizza parlor. Now she's here too."

To this, Gideon said nothing.
He knew she was following us,
Nora thought, noticing his guarded expression.

"Gideon…"
She glared at him.

"Yeah?" He
sighed.

"
I can tell you know her. Who is she?" she said. "Is she someone you've slept with who's obsessed with you or something?"

"Me sleep with
Kali?" Gideon looked disgusted. "No, I can't stand her."

He can't stand
a woman who looks like Athena?

"So who is she?" She wanted to throttle him for
being so secretive. Just when she thought she knew everything about him, he became somebody she didn't recognize.

It was the
ir turn in line and Gideon walked up to the girl at the register.

"What do you want
, Nora?" he asked.

"Gideon!" She didn't care about ice cream right now.

"I'll tell you about Kali," he said out of the corner of his mouth. "Just not when we're surrounding by all of these people."

"Chocolate," she spat out. "Soft serve."

"Okay." Gideon nodded and turned back toward the girl. "Two chocolate ice creams."

As the girl stammered a reply
, Nora sought out the blonde again. Unfortunately, she was gone.
Where did she go?
Nora wondered, searching the crowd. Even on a busy day like this, the woman should stick out like a sore thumb. After all, Kali looked like she'd strutted out of a clothing advertisement. Even the beautiful women she'd seen on the beach couldn't compare.

While she searched for Kali, Gideon
handed her a huge chocolate ice cream. She snatched it from him, shooting him a glare. As he led her over to a bench, she gave the ice cream a defiant lick, barely tasting it.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about
Kali." Gideon stared straight ahead.

"Mmm-hmm." She
scowled at him, waiting for an explanation.

"I wanted to tell you, but this sort of thing isn't easy to say," he said.

"Try me," she said.

"
I can't tell you everything right now," he said. "There are too many people around who might overhear."

She didn't like waiting, but she could see Gideon's point. Between his good looks and their arguing, they were the center of attention.

"Fine." She gave a begrudging nod. "Just tell me all you can about her."

"Well, d
o you remember how after the fire I was trying to tell you something but you stopped me?" he asked.

For a moment she was
silent, searching her memories. She remembered how Gideon had looked pained after telling her he loved her and then said,
"I think I need to say something else. Nora, I'm a…I'm a…"
At the time, his love profession had been the most important thing, so she'd stopped him for the sake of preserving the moment. Now she wished she'd let him finish speaking. She glanced at Gideon, her expression wary, and saw that his ice cream was melting all over his fingers and he hadn't even noticed.

"I remember," she said.

"Well, Kali and I both share the same secret," he said.

"Wow, that's informative." She was tempted to dump her ice cream in his lap.

"I'm sorry." Gideon shot her an apologetic smile. "For now, I'll just say that she works with Amon and it's her job to keep an eye on me."

"What?" She leapt to her feet, her ice cream slipping from her fingers. It splattered
on the pavement, but she didn't care.

Gideon stood up too, dropping his ice cream on the ground right beside hers.

"She can't hurt you," Gideon said. "Not as long as I'm here."

"You never said Amon had people working for him." She couldn't even feel her legs anymore.

"He has a few helpers," Gideon said. "But I promise I can protect you."

"How?" she asked. "You're one man."

"I'm not…" he began, then stopped.

"You're not, what?" She
trembled as she faced him.

His
face hardened.

"I can stop him," he said,
ignoring her most recent question. "I won't let him get to you. And his underlings are no match for me. They know it, which is why they won't come near us as long as I'm around. Don't be scared."

"That's easy for you to say," she s
aid.

She wanted to hide somewhere, but she couldn't.
Instead she gazed at the water, trying to fight down the bile that threatened to burst from her lips.
Is Amon in the mafia or a gang? And what's Gideon's big secret?
She groaned, wondering if Gideon would fail to protect her after all.

"We should call the police," she said.

"The police can't help us." He laid a hand on her shoulder. "They're no match for Amon."

"But you are?" she said.

"Yes." He squeezed her shoulder so hard it ached. "You love me, don't you?"

"Of course I do," she said without hesitation.

"Then trust me," he said.

For a moment she didn't say anything.
She'd already confided in Gideon more than anyone else. On top of that, she'd given him her heart. If she couldn't trust him to protect her, then she couldn't trust anyone.