Bared to You

Stanton.
I straightened. I hadn’t thought of my
stepfather. He’d see the disaster coming and
keep a lid on it because he knew what the
revelation would do to my mother. Still…“I’ll have
to talk to Gideon about it. He has a right to be
warned.”
Just the thought of that conversation made me
miserable.
Cary knew how my brain worked. “If you think
he’s going to cut and run, I think you’re wrong. He
looks at you like you’re the only person in the
room.”
I poked at my tuna Caesar salad. “He’s got a
few demons of his own. Nightmares. He’s closed
himself off, I think, because of whatever’s eating at
him.”
“But he’s let you in.”
And he’d already shown hints of how
possessive he could be about that connection. I
accepted that because it was a flaw I shared, but
still…
“You’re analyzing this to death, Eva,” Cary said.
“You’re thinking the way he feels about you has to
be a fluke or a mistake. Someone like him
couldn’t really be into you for your big heart and
sharp mind, right?”
“My self-esteem isn’t 
that
bad,” I protested.
He took a sip of his champagne. “Isn’t it? So tell
me something 
you
think he likes about you that

---

doesn’t have to do with sex or codependency.”
I thought about it and came up empty, which
made me scowl.
“Right,” he went on with a nod. “And if Cross is
anywhere near as messed up as we are, he’s
thinking the same thing in reverse, wondering
what a hot babe like you sees in a guy like him.
You’ve got money, so what has he got going for
him besides being a stud who keeps screwing
up?”
Sitting back in my chair, I absorbed everything
he’d said. “Cary, I love you madly.”
He grinned. “Back atcha, sweets. My advice, for
what it’s worth? Couples therapy. It’s always been
my plan to get into it when I find the one I want to
settle down with. And try to have fun with him.
You’ve got to have as many good times as bad or
it all becomes too painful and too much work.”
I reached over and squeezed his hand. “Thank
you.”
“For what?” He shrugged off my gratitude with
an elegant wave of his hand. “It’s easy to pick
apart someone else’s life. You know I couldn’t get
through my rough spots without you.”
“Which you don’t have any of now,” I pointed
out, shifting the focus to him. “You’re about to be
splashed across a Times Square billboard. You
won’t be my secret any longer. Should we
upgrade dinner from pizza to something more
worthy of the occasion? How about we haul out
that case of Cristal Stanton gave us?”
“Now you’re talking.”
“Movies? Anything in particular you want to
watch?”
“Whatever you want. I wouldn’t want to screw
with your big-dumb-blow-’em-up movie genius.”
I grinned, feeling better as I’d known I would
after an hour with Cary. “You’ll let me know if I’m

---

too dense to figure out when you and Trey want to
be alone.”
“Ha! Don’t worry about that. Your tempestuous
love life is making me feel dull and boring. I could
use a hot, sweaty bang with my own stud.”
“You just had a maintenance closet romp a
couple days ago!”
He sighed. “I’d nearly forgotten. How sad is
that?”
“It isn’t when your eyes are laughing.”
I’d just gotten back to my desk when I checked my
smartphone and found a text from Gideon letting
me know he had fifteen minutes to spare at
quarter to three. I nursed a secret rush of
anticipation for the next hour and a half, having
decided to take Cary’s advice and have a little
fun. Gideon and I would have to wade through the
ugliness of my past soon enough, but for now, I
could give us both something to smile about.
I texted him just before I left, letting him know I
was on my way. Considering the time constraints,
we couldn’t waste a minute. Gideon must have felt
the same way, because I found Scott waiting for
me at reception when I reached the Cross
Industries waiting area. He walked me back after
the receptionist buzzed me in.
“How’s your day been?” I asked him.
He smiled. “Great so far. Yours?”
I smiled back. “I’ve had worse.”
Gideon was on the phone when I entered his
office. His tone was clipped and impatient as he
told the person on the other end of the line that
they should be able to manage the job without him
having to oversee it personally.
He held up one finger to me to tell me he’d be

---

another minute. I responded by blowing a big
bubble with the gum I was chewing and popping it
loudly.
His brows shot up, and he hit the buttons to
close the doors and frost the glass wall.
Grinning, I sauntered over to his desk and
hopped onto it, curling my fingers around the lip
and swinging my legs. He popped the next bubble
I blew with a quick jab of his finger. I pouted
prettily.
“Deal with it,” he said with quiet authority to
whoever was on the phone. “It’ll be next week
before I can get out there and waiting will set us
back further. Stop talking. I have something time-
sensitive on my desk and you’re keeping me
away from it. I guarantee that’s not improving my
disposition. Fix what needs fixing and report back
to me tomorrow.”
He returned the phone to its cradle with
suppressed violence. “Eva—”
I held up one hand to cut him off and wrapped
my gum in a Post-it I took from a dispenser on his
desk. “Before you reprimand me, Mr. Cross, I
want to say that when we reached an impasse in
our merger discussions at the hotel yesterday I
shouldn’t have walked out. It didn’t help to resolve
the situation. And I know I didn’t react very well to
the PR issue with the photo. But still…Even
though I’ve been a naughty secretary, I think I
should be given another chance to excel.”
His gaze narrowed as he studied me,
assessing and reevaluating the situation on the fly.
“Did I ask for your opinion on the appropriate
action to take, Miss Tramell?”
I shook my head and looked up at him from
beneath my lashes. I could see the lingering
frustration from his phone call falling away from
him, replaced by his growing interest and arousal.

---

Hopping down from the desk, I sidled closer
and smoothed his immaculate tie with both hands.
“Can’t we work something out? I do possess a
wide variety of useful skills.”
He caught me by the hips. “Which is one of the
many reasons you’re the only woman I’ve ever
considered for the position.”
Warmth flowed through me at his words. Boldly
cupping his cock in my hand, I fondled him through
his slacks. “Maybe I should reapply myself to my
duties? I could demonstrate some of the ways I’m
uniquely qualified to assist you.”
Gideon hardened with delectable swiftness.
“Such initiative, Miss Tramell. But my next meeting
is less than ten minutes away. Also, I’m not
accustomed 
to 
exploring 
job 
enrichment
opportunities in my office.”
I freed the button of his fly and lowered his
zipper. With my lips to his jaw, I whispered, “If you
think there’s anywhere I won’t make you come,
you’ll have to revisit and revise.”
“Eva,” he breathed, his eyes hot and tender. He
cupped my throat, his thumbs brushing over my
jaw. “You’re unraveling me. Do you know that? Are
you doing it on purpose?”
I reached inside his boxer briefs and wrapped
my hands around him, offering up my lips for a
kiss. He obliged me, taking my mouth with a
fierceness that left me breathless.
“I want you,” he growled.
I sank to my knees on the carpeted floor, pulling
his pants down enough to give me the access I
needed.
He exhaled harshly. “Eva, what are you—”
My lips flowed over the wide crown. He reached
back for the edge of his desk, his hands curling
around the lip with white-knuckled force. I held him
with both hands and mouthed the plush head,

---

sucking gently. The softness of his skin and his
uniquely appealing scent made me moan. I felt the
vibration ripple through his entire body and heard
a rough sound rumble in his chest.
Gideon touched my cheek. “Lick it.”
Aroused by the command, I fluttered my tongue
across the underside and shivered with delight
when he rewarded me with a hot burst of pre-cum.
Fisting the root of him with one hand, I hollowed
my cheeks and drew rhythmically, hoping for
more.
I wished I had the time to make it last. Drive him
crazy…
He made a sound filled with the sweetest
agony. “God, Eva…your mouth. Keep sucking.
Like that…hard and deep.”
I was so turned on by his pleasure I squirmed.
His hands pushed into my bound hair, pulling and
tugging at the roots. I loved how he started out
with tenderness, then grew rougher as the lust he
felt for me overwhelmed his control.
The soft bite of pain made me hungrier,
greedier. My head bobbed as I pleasured him,
jacking him with one hand while I sucked and
stroked the crest with my mouth. Heavy veins
coursed the length of his cock, and I slid the flat of
my tongue along them, tilting my head to find and
caress each one.
He swelled, growing thicker and longer. My
knees were uncomfortable, but I didn’t care; my
gaze was riveted to Gideon as his head fell back
and he fought for breath.
“Eva, you suck me so good.” He held my head
still and took over. Thrusting his hips. Fucking my
mouth. Stripped to a level of base need where
only the race to orgasm mattered.
The thought made me crazed, the image in my
mind of how we must look: Gideon in all his

---

urbane sophistication, standing at the desk where
he ruled an empire, stroking his big cock in and
out of my greedy mouth.
I gripped his straining thighs in both hands,
frantically working my lips and tongue, desperate
for his climax. His balls were heavy and big, an
audacious display of his powerful virility. I cupped
them, rolling them gently, feeling them tighten and
draw up.
“Ah, 
Eva.
” His voice was a guttural rasp. His
grip tightened in my hair. “You’re making me
come.”
The first spurt of semen was so thick, I
struggled to swallow. Mindless in his pleasure,
Gideon was thrusting against the back of my
throat, his cock throbbing with every wrenching
pulse into my mouth. My eyes watered and my
lungs burned, but still I pumped my fists, milking
him. His entire body shuddered as I took
everything he had. The sounds he made and the
muttered, breathless praise were the most
gratifying I’d ever heard.
I licked him clean, marveling at how he didn’t
fully soften even after an explosive orgasm. He
was still capable of fucking me senseless and
more than willing to, I knew. But there was no time
and I was happy about that. I wanted to do this for
him. For us. For me, really, because I needed to
know I could indulge in a selfless sexual act
without feeling taken advantage of.
“I have to go,” I murmured, standing and
pressing my lips to his. “I hope the rest of your day
is awesome, and your business dinner tonight,
too.”
I started to move away, but he caught my wrist,
his gaze on the clock readout on his desk phone. I
noticed my picture then, sitting in a place of
prominence where he’d see it all day.

---

“Eva…Damn it. Wait.”
I frowned at his tone, which sounded anxious.
Frustrated.
He quickly restored his appearance, tucking
himself back into his boxer briefs and
straightening the tail of his shirt so he could fasten
his pants. There was something sweet in watching
him pull himself back together, restoring the
façade he wore for the world while I knew at least
a little of the man beneath it.
Tugging me close, Gideon pressed his lips to
my brow. His hands moved through my hair to
unclip my tortoise barrette. “I didn’t get you off.”
“No need.” I loved the feel of his hands on my
scalp. “That rocked just the way it was.”
He was overly focused on fixing my hair, his
cheeks flushed from his orgasm. “I know you need
an even exchange,” he argued gruffly. “I can’t let
you leave feeling like I used you.”
A bittersweet tenderness pierced me. He’d
listened. He cared.
I cupped his face in my hands. “You did use me,
with my permission, and it was seriously hot. I
wanted to give you this, Gideon. Remember? I
warned you. I wanted you to have this memory of
me.”
His eyes widened with alarm. “Why the fuck do I
need memories when I have you? Eva, if this is
about the photo—”
“Shut up and enjoy the high.” We didn’t have the
time to get into the photo issue now and I didn’t
want to. It was going to ruin everything. “If we’d
had an hour, I still wouldn’t let you get me off. I’m
not keeping score with you, ace. And honestly,
you’re the first guy I can say that to. Now, I have to
go. You have to go.”
I started away again, but he caught me back.
Scott’s voice came through the speaker.

---

“Excuse me, Mr. Cross. But your three o’clock is
here.”
“It’ s 
okay,
Gideon,” I assured him. “You’re
coming over tonight, right?”
“Nothing could keep me away.”
I shoved up onto my tiptoes and kissed his
cheek. “We’ll talk then.”
After work, I took the stairs down to the ground
floor to feel less guilty about skipping the gym and
seriously regretted it by the time I reached the
lobby. Lack of sleep from the night before had left
me wiped out. I was contemplating taking the
subway rather than walking when I saw Gideon’s
Bentley at the curb. When the driver got out and
greeted me by name, I halted abruptly, surprised.
“Mr. Cross asked that I take you home,” he
said, looking smart in his black suit and chauffeur
hat. He was an older gentleman with graying red
hair, pale blue eyes, and the softest of cultured
accents.
As much as my legs ached, I was grateful for
the offer. “Thank you…? I’m sorry—what was your
name?”
“Angus, Miss Tramell.”
How had I not remembered that? The name
was so cool, it made me smile. “Thank you,
Angus.”
He tipped his hat. “My pleasure.”
I slid through the back door he opened for me
and as I settled into the seat, I caught a glimpse of
the handgun he wore in a shoulder holster
beneath his jacket. It appeared that Angus, like
Clancy, was both bodyguard and driver.
We pulled away from the curb and I asked,
“How long have you been working for Mr. Cross,

---

Angus?”
“Eight years now.”
“Quite a while.”
“I’ve known him longer than that,” he
volunteered, catching my gaze in the rearview
mirror. “I drove him to school when he was a boy.
He hired me away from Mr. Vidal when the time
came.”
Once again, I tried to picture Gideon as a child.
No doubt he’d been beautiful and charismatic
even then.
Had he enjoyed “normal” sexual relationships
when he was a teenager? I couldn’t imagine that
women weren’t throwing themselves at him even
then. And as innately sexual as he was, I imagined
he’d been a horny teen.
Digging in my purse, I pulled out my keys and
leaned forward to set them on the front passenger
seat. “Can you see that Gideon gets those? He’s
supposed to come over after whatever it is he’s
doing tonight and depending on how late that is, I
might not hear him knock.”
“Of course.”
Paul opened the door for me when we arrived
at my apartment and he greeted Angus by name,
reminding me that Gideon owned the building. I
waved to both men, told the front desk Gideon
would be coming over later, and then took myself
upstairs. Cary’s raised brows when he opened
the door to me made me laugh.
“Gideon’s coming over later,” I explained, “but
I’m feeling so hammered right now I may not stay
up long. So I gave him my keys to let himself in.
Did you order already?”
“I did. And I tossed a few bottles of Cristal in the
wine fridge.”
“You’re the best.” I shoved my bag at him.
I showered and called my mom from the phone

---

in my room, wincing at her strident, “I have been
trying to reach you