Bared to You

in private
,” he muttered. “I’ll
need to be with you whenever you go to the gym.”
“I won’t complain, since I’m very much enjoying
the view at the moment.” Plus, I was perversely
excited by his possessiveness after the hurt he’d
inflicted with his withdrawal Saturday night. Two
very different extremes—the first of many, I was
sure.

---

“Let’s get this over with.” He grabbed my hand
and led me away from the locker rooms,
snatching two logo’d towels off a stack as we
passed them. “I need to fuck you.”
“I need to be fucked.”
“Jesus, Eva.” His grip on my hand tightened to
the point that it hurt. “Where to? Free weights?
Machines? Treadmills?”
“Treadmills. I want to run a bit.”
He led me in that direction. I watched the way
women followed him with their gazes, then their
feet. They wanted to be in whatever section of the
gym he was, and I couldn’t blame them. I was
dying to see him in action, too.
When we reached the seemingly endless rows
of treadmills and bikes, we found that there
weren’t two treadmills free adjacent to each other.
Gideon walked up to a man who had two open
on either side of him. “I’d be in your debt if you’d
move over one.”
The guy looked at me and grinned. “Yeah,
sure.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
Gideon took over the man’s treadmill and
motioned me to the one beside it. Before he
programmed his workout, I leaned over to him.
“Don’t burn off too much energy,” I whispered. “I
want you missionary-style the first time. I’ve been
having this fantasy of you on top, banging the hell
out of me.”
His gaze burned into me. “Eva, you have no
idea.”
Nearly giddy with anticipation and a lovely
surge of feminine power, I got on my treadmill and
started at a brisk walk. While I warmed up, I set
my iPod shuffle to random and when “Sexy Back”
by Justin Timberlake came on I hit my stride and
went full-out. Running was both a mental and

---

physical exercise for me. Sometimes I wished just
running fast could get me away from whatever
was troubling me.
After twenty minutes I slowed, then stopped,
finally risking a glance at Gideon who was running
with the fluidity of a well-oiled machine. He was
watching CNN on the overhead screens, but he
flashed a grin at me as I wiped the sweat off my
face. I swigged from my water bottle as I moved to
the machines, picking one that give me a clear
view of him.
He went a full thirty on the treadmill; then he
moved to free weights, always keeping me in his
line of sight. As he worked out, quickly and
efficiently, I couldn’t help thinking how virile he
was. It helped that I knew exactly what was in his
shorts, but regardless, he was a man who worked
behind a desk, yet kept his body in combat
shape.
When I grabbed a fitness ball to do some
crunches, one of the trainers came up to me. As
one would expect in a top-of-the-line gym, he was
handsome and very nicely built.
“Hi,” he greeted me, with a movie star smile that
showcased perfect white teeth. He had dark
brown hair and eyes of nearly the same color.
“First-timer, right? I haven’t seen you in here
before.”
“Yes, first time.”
“I’m Daniel.” He extended his hand, and I gave
him my name. “Are you finding everything you
need, Eva?”
“So far so good, thanks.”
“What flavor smoothie did you go for?”
I frowned. “Excuse me?”
“Your free orientation smoothie.” He crossed
his arms and his thick biceps strained the narrow
cuffs of his uniform polo shirt. “You didn’t get one

---

from the bar downstairs when you signed up?
You’re supposed to.”
“Ah, well.” I shrugged sheepishly, thinking it was
a nice touch all the same. “I didn’t have the usual
orientation.”
“Did you get the tour? If not, let me take you
around.” He touched my elbow lightly and
gestured toward the stairs. “You also get a free
hour of personal training. We could do that tonight
or make an appointment for later in the week. And
I’d be happy to take you down to the health bar
and scratch that off the list, too.”
“Oh, I can’t really.” My nose wrinkled. “I’m not a
member.”
“Ah.” He winked. “You’re here on a temp pass?
That’s fine. You can’t be expected to make up
your mind if you don’t get the full experience. I can
assure you, though, that CrossTrainer is the best
gym in Manhattan.”
Gideon appeared at Daniel’s shoulder. “The full
experience is included,” he said, coming around
and behind me to slide his arms around my waist,
“when you’re the owner’s girlfriend.”
The word “girlfriend” reverberated through me,
sending a crazy rush of adrenaline through my
system. It was still sinking in that we had that level
of commitment, but that didn’t stop me from
thinking the designation had a nice ring to it.
“Mr. Cross.” Daniel straightened and took a
step back; then extended his hand. “It’s an honor
to meet you.”
“Daniel has me sold on the place,” I said to
Gideon, as they shook hands.
“I thought I’d done that.” His hair was wet with
sweat and he smelled divine. I’d never known a
sweaty man could smell so damn good.
His hands stroked down my arms and I felt his
lips on the crown of my head. “Let’s go. See you

---

later, Daniel.”
I waved good-bye as we walked away. “Thanks,
Daniel.”
“Anytime.”
“I bet,” Gideon muttered. “He couldn’t keep his
eyes off your tits.”
“They’re very nice tits.”
He made a low growling noise. I hid my
amusement.
He smacked my butt hard enough to send me
forward a step and leave behind a hot sting even
through my pants. “That damned Band-Aid you
call a shirt doesn’t leave much to the imagination.
Don’t take long in the shower. You’re just going to
get sweaty again.”
“Wait.” I caught his arm before he passed the
women’s locker room on the way toward the
men’s. “Would it gross you out if I told you I didn’t
want you to shower? If I said I want to find
someplace really close by where I could jump you
while you’re still dripping sweat?”
Gideon’s jaw tightened and his gaze darkened
dangerously. “I’m beginning to fear for your safety,
Eva. Grab your stuff. There’s a hotel around the
corner.”
Neither of us changed and we were outside in
five minutes. Gideon walked briskly and I hurried
to keep up. When he stopped abruptly, turned,
and dipped me back in a lavish heated kiss on
the crowded sidewalk, I was too stunned to do
more than hold on. It was a soul-wrenching
melding of our mouths, full of passion and sweet
spontaneity that made my heart ache. Applause
broke out around us.
When he straightened me again, I was
breathless and dizzy. “What was that?” I gasped.
“A prelude.” He resumed our dash to the
nearest hotel, one I didn’t catch the name of as he

---

pulled me past the doorman and crossed straight
to the elevator. It was clear to me that the property
was one of Gideon’s even before a manager
greeted him by name just before the elevator
doors closed.
Gideon dropped his duffel on the car floor and
busied himself with figuring out how to extricate
me from my sports top. I was slapping his hands
away when the doors opened and he scooped up
his bag. There was no one waiting on our floor
and no one in the hallway. He pulled a master key
out of somewhere and a moment later we were in
a room.
I pounced, pushing my hands up beneath his
shirt to feel his damp skin and the hardness of the
muscles beneath it. “Get naked. Like 
now
.”
He laughed as he toed off his sneakers and
yanked his tank over his head.
Oh my God…seeing him in the flesh—all of him,
as his shorts hit the floor—was synapse frying.
There wasn’t an ounce of excess flesh on him
anywhere, just hard slabs of honed muscle. He
had washboard abs and that super sexy V of
muscle on his pelvis that Cary called the Loin of
Apollo. Gideon didn’t wax his chest like Cary did,
but he groomed with the same care he showed to
the rest of his body. He was pure primal male, the
embodiment of everything I coveted, fantasized
about, and wished for.
“I’ve died and gone to heaven,” I said, staring
unabashedly.
“You’re still dressed.” He attacked my clothes,
whipping my loosened top off before I took a full
breath. My pants were wrestled down and I kicked
my shoes off in such a hurry that I lost my balance
and fell on the bed. I barely caught my breath
before he was on me.

---

We rolled across the mattress in a tangle.
Everywhere he touched me left trails of fire
behind. The clean, hardworking scent of his skin
was an aphrodisiac and intoxicant at once,
spurring my desire for him until I felt like I was
about to lose my mind.
“You’re so beautiful, Eva.” He plumped one
breast in his hand before taking my nipple into his
mouth.
I cried out at the scorching heat and the lash of
his tongue, my core tightening with every soft
suck. My hands were greedy as they slid over his
sweat-damp skin, stroking and kneading,
searching for the spots that made him growl and
moan. I scissored my legs with his and tried to roll
him, but he was too heavy and too strong.
He lifted his head and smiled down at me. “It’s
my turn this time.”
What I felt for him in that moment, seeing that
smile and the heat in his eyes, was so intense it
was painful. Too fast, I thought. I was falling too
fast. “Gideon—”
He kissed me deeply, licking into my mouth in
that way of his. I thought he could really make me
come with just a kiss, if we stayed at it long
enough. Everything about him turned me on, from
the way he looked and felt beneath my hands to
the way he watched me and touched me. His
greed and the silent demands he made on my
body, the forcefulness with which he pleasured me
and took his pleasure in return, drove me wild.
I ran my hands through the wet silk of his hair.
The crisp hairs on his chest teased my tightened
nipples and the feel of his rock-hard body against
mine was enough to make me wet and needy.
“I love your body,” he whispered, his lips moving
across my cheek to my throat. His hand caressed
the length of my torso from breasts to hip. “I can’t

---

get enough of it.”
“You haven’t had very much of it yet,” I teased.
“I don’t think I’ll ever have enough.” Nibbling and
licking across my shoulder, he slid down and
caught my other nipple between his teeth. He
tugged and the tiny dart of pain had my back
arching on a soft cry. He soothed the sting with a
soft suck; then kissed his way downward. “I’ve
never wanted anything this badly.”
“Then do me!”
“Not yet,” he murmured, moving lower, rimming
my navel with the tip of his tongue. “You’re not
ready yet.”
“What? Ah, God…I can’t get any readier.” I
tugged on his hair, trying to pull him up.
Gideon caught my wrists and pinned them to
the mattress. “You have a tight little cunt, Eva. I’ll
bruise you if I don’t get you soft and relaxed.”
A violent shiver of arousal moved through me. It
turned me on when he talked so bluntly about sex.
Then he slid lower and I tensed. “No, Gideon. I
need to shower for that.”
He buried his face in my cleft and I struggled
against his hold, flushed with sudden shame. He
nipped at my inner thigh with his teeth. “Stop it.”
“Don’t. Please. You don’t have to do that.”
His glare stilled my frantic movements. “Do you
think I feel differently about your body than you do
mine?” he asked harshly. “I want you, Eva.”
I licked my dry lips, so crazily turned on by his
animal need that I couldn’t form a single word. He
growled softly and dove for the slick flesh between
my legs. His tongue pushed into me, licking and