Bared to You

on
him as it was to take them 
off
. It was
like wrapping my own gift.
The world would see the beauty of the
packaging, but only I knew the man inside it and
how precious he was. His intimate smiles and his
deep husky laugh, the gentleness of his touch and
the ferocity of his passion were all reserved for
me.
The Bentley bounced lightly over a pothole in
the road and Gideon tightened his hold. “What’s
the plan after work?”
“I get to start my Krav Maga classes today.” I
couldn’t keep the excitement out of my voice.
“Ah, that’s right.” His lips brushed over my
temple. “You know I’m going to have to watch you
go through drills. Just thinking about it makes me
hard.”
“Didn’t we already establish that 
everything
makes you hard?” I teased, nudging him with my
elbow.
“Everything about 
you
. Which is lucky for us,
since you’re insatiable. Text me when you’re done
and I’ll meet you at your place.”
Digging in my purse, I pulled out my
smartphone to see if it still had a charge and saw
a message from Cary. I opened it and found a
video plus a text; 
Does X know his bro is a
douche? Stay away from CV, baby girl

---

*smooches*
I started the playback but it took me a minute to
figure 
out 
what 
I 
was 
seeing. 
When
comprehension set in, I froze.
“What is it?” Gideon asked with his lips in my
hair. Then he stiffened behind me, which told me
he was looking over my shoulder.
Cary had filmed the video at the Vidal’s garden
party. From the eight-foot-high hedges in the
background, he was in the maze, and from the
leaves framing the screen, he was in hiding. The
star of the show was a couple locked in a
passionate embrace. The woman was beautifully
teary, while the man kissed over her frantic words
and soothed her with gentle strokes of his hands.
They were talking about me and Gideon, talking
about how I was using my body to get my hands
on his millions.
“Don’t worry,” Christopher crooned to a
distraught Magdalene. “You know Gideon gets
bored fast.”
“He’s different with her. I—I think he loves her.”
He kissed her forehead. “She’s not his type.”
The fingers I had linked with Gideon’s
tightened.
As we watched, Magdalene’s demeanor slowly
changed. She began to nuzzle into Christopher’s
touch, her voice softening, her mouth seeking. To
an observer, it was clear he knew her body well—
where to pet and where to rub. When she
responded to his skilled seduction, he lifted her
dress and fucked her. That he was taking
advantage of her was obvious. It was there in the
contemptuously triumphant look on his face as he
screwed her until she was limp.
I didn’t recognize the Christopher on the screen.
His face, his posture, his voice…it was like he
was a different man.

---

I was grateful when my smartphone battery died
and the screen abruptly winked off. Gideon
wrapped his arms around me.
“Yuck,” I whispered, snuggling carefully into him
so I didn’t get makeup on his lapel. “Majorly
creepy. I feel bad for her.”
He exhaled harshly. “That’s Christopher.”
“Asshole. That smug look on his face—Ugh.” I
shuddered.
Pressing his lips to my hair, he murmured, “I
thought Maggie would be safe from him. Our
mothers have known each other for years. I forget
how much he hates me.”
“Why?”
I wondered briefly if the nightmares Gideon had
were related to Christopher, then I put the thought
aside. No way. Gideon was older by several years
and tougher all the way around. He’d kick
Christopher’s ass.
“He thinks I got all the attention when we were
younger,” 
Gideon 
said 
wearily, 
“because
everyone was worried about how I was handling
my father’s suicide. So he wants what’s mine.
Everything he can get his hands on.”
I turned into him, pushing my arms underneath
his jacket to get closer. There was something in
his voice that made me hurt for him. His family
home was a place he said haunted his
nightmares and he was terribly distant from his
family.
He’d never been loved. It was as simple—and
as complicated—as that.
“Gideon?”
“Hmm?”
I pulled back to look at him. Reaching up, I
traced the bold arch of his brow. “I love you.”
A violent shudder moved through him, one hard
enough to shake me, too.

---

“I don’t mean to freak you out,” I reassured him
quickly, averting my face to give him some
privacy. “You don’t have to do anything about it. I
just didn’t want another minute to go by without
you knowing how I feel. You can tuck it away now.”
One of his hands gripped my nape, the other
dug almost painfully into my waist. Gideon held
me there, immobile, locked against him as if I
might blow away. His breathing was ragged, his
heartbeat pounding. He didn’t say another word
the rest of the ride to work, but he didn’t let me go
either.
I planned on telling him again one day in the
future, but as far as first times went, I thought we’d
both done okay.
At ten o’clock sharp, I had two dozen long-
stemmed red roses delivered to Gideon’s office
with the note: