Bared to You

omakase,
so
every bite was a surprise delight, and the dearth
of patrons made it seem almost as if we had the
whole place to ourselves.
After a moment, he said, “I love watching you
eat.”
I shot him a look. “What’s that supposed to
mean?”
“You eat with gusto. And your little moans of
pleasure make me hard.”
I bumped my shoulder into his. “By your own
admission, you’re always hard.”
“Your fault,” he said, grinning, which made me
grin, too.
Gideon ate with more deliberation than I did
and didn’t bat an eye at the astronomical check.
Before we stepped outside, he slid his jacket
over my shoulders and said, “Let’s go to your gym
tomorrow.”

---

I glanced at him. “Yours is nicer.”
“Of course it is. But I’ll go wherever you like.”
“Someplace without helpful trainers named
Daniel?” I asked sweetly.
He looked at me with an arched brow and a wry
curving of his lips. “Watch yourself, angel. Before I
think of a suitable consequence for mocking my
possessiveness where you’re concerned.”
I noted he didn’t threaten me with a spanking
again. Did he understand that administered pain
with sex was a major trigger for me? It took me
back to a mental place I never wanted to return to.
On the ride back to Gideon’s place, I curled into
him in the back of the Bentley, my legs slung over
one of his thighs and my head on his shoulder. I
thought about the ways Nathan’s abuse still
affected my life—my sex life in particular.
How many of those ghosts could Gideon and I
exorcise together? After that brief glimpse of toys
I’d seen in the hotel room drawer, it was clear he
was more experienced and sexually adventurous
than I was. And the pleasure I’d derived from the
ferocity of his lovemaking on the couch earlier
proved to me that he could do things to me no one
else could.
“I trust you,” I whispered.
His arms tightened around me. With his lips in
my hair, he murmured, “We’re going to be good
for each other, Eva.”
When I fell asleep in his arms later that night, it
was with those words in my head.
“Don’t…No. No, don’t…. Please.”
Gideon’s cries had me jackknifing up in the
bed, my heart thudding violently. I fought for
breath, glancing wild-eyed at the man thrashing

---

next to me.
He snarled like a feral beast, his hands fisted
and his legs kicking restlessly. I moved back,
afraid he’d strike out at me unknowingly in his
dreams.
“Get off of me,” he panted.
“Gideon! Wake up.”
“Get…off…” His hips arched upward with a hiss
of pain. He hovered there, teeth gritted, his back
bowed as if the bed was on fire beneath him.
Then he collapsed, the mattress jolting as he
bounced off of it.
“Gideon.” I reached for the bedside lamp, my
throat burning. I couldn’t reach it, had to throw the
tangled blankets off to get closer. Gideon was
writhing in agony, thrashing so violently he shook
the bed.
The room lit up in a sudden flare of illumination.
I turned toward him…
And found him masturbating with shocking
viciousness.
His right hand gripped his cock with white
knuckled force, pumping brutally fast. His left hand
clenched the fitted sheet. Torment and pain
twisted his beautiful face.
Fearing for his safety, I shoved his shoulder with
both hands. “Gideon, goddamn it. 
Wake up!
”
My scream broke through the nightmare. His
eyes flew open and he jerked upright, his eyes
darting frantically.
“What?” he gasped, his chest heaving. His face
was flushed, his lips and cheeks red with arousal.
“What is it?”
“Jesus.” I shoved my hands through my hair and
slid out of bed, snatching up the black robe I’d
hung over the footboard.