dropped onto the couch, still clinging to the pillow. “Okay.”
There wasn’t a convenient playbook for how to go about this, but they did need to have a conversation before it went any further. “I will give you...lessons. On two conditions.”
“Agreed.”
He shot her a look. “Hear the conditions first and then decide if you’re good with them. First—you communicate with me. You like something? Tell me. You aren’t into it? You need to speak up. You fake anything and we call the whole thing off. I can’t help you if you aren’t honest with both yourself and me.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Fine. I’m an adult. I can talk about sex.”
He didn’t comment on the fact she seemed to be trying to convince herself. The confidence and ice queen bit she’d played in the office was nowhere to be seen now, which made him wonder who was the real Lucy—the cold and professional lawyer or the unsure woman sitting in front of him now.
Gideon leaned forward. “Second condition is that you’re not with anyone else for the duration.”
“Why?” She held up a hand. “I have no intention of being with anyone else, but I’m curious.”
“It’s respect.” Liar. It’s jealousy. He smothered the snide little voice and kept his tone even. “We’re exclusive—both of us—until the expiration date.”
“Exclusive.” She said the word as if tasting it. “When’s the expiration date?”
Never. Fuck, he was already in over his head and sinking fast and he hadn’t even touched her. “When you decide on a candidate for a husband, we end it.”
Lucy nodded. “That seems reasonable. Should we start now?” She reached for her shirt.
“Holy fuck, slow down.” He made an effort to lower his voice and held out a hand. “You want lessons? We start with the basics. Come here.”
She reluctantly let go of the pillow and rose to cross over to his chair. Lucy eyed his hand, but ultimately placed hers in it. Gideon drew her down slowly, giving her plenty of time to see where things were going. She obliged him by climbing into his lap, though she held herself so stiffly she felt downright brittle.
He kept hold of her hand and set his other on her hip. It would have been innocent if not for the fact that she was straddling him and his cock had not gotten the memo about moving slow.
She shifted, her eyes going wide. “Ah...”
“Are you uncomfortable?” He spoke before she could think too hard.
“No...” She bit her lip. “Right. Honesty. Okay, yes, this feels weird. Awkward. I don’t know where to put my hands and I can feel you, and it’s making me nervous.”
She was right. It was awkward as fuck. But Gideon wasn’t going to throw her off the deep end on the first night, no matter how surreal this whole thing was. She trusted him to take care of her and he’d do whatever it took to be worthy of that trust. Do whatever it took to keep her from changing her mind. He kept his voice low so as not to startle her. “I’m going to kiss you now.”
“Okay.” She licked her lips and carefully tilted forward.
Gideon moved his hand from her hip to cup her jaw, guiding her down as he leaned up to brush his mouth against hers. She smelled of citrus and he had to fight to keep a growl internal. Nice and easy. He nipped her bottom lip and then soothed it with his tongue. She placed her hands on his biceps and relaxed against him, bit by bit. Gideon took it slow. He kissed her, keeping it light, until she shifted restlessly against him.
Then, and only then, did he slip his tongue into her mouth.
His first taste of Lucy went straight to his head. He used his hand on her jaw to angle her to allow him deeper and stroked his tongue against hers. Slow and steady was the name of the game.
Lucy whimpered and went soft against him. Her body melded to his, her breasts dragging against his chest with each inhalation. She shifted her grip and tentatively sifted her fingers through his hair. As if she wasn’t sure of her welcome.
He wanted her sure.
Gideon shifted back to lean against the chair. The move settled her tighter against him as her knees sank into the cushion on either side of his hips. She gasped into his mouth and he ate the sound. He kissed her like he’d wanted to since that first night, when he’d heard her infectious laugh across a crowded bar. She tasted just as sunny as she smelled, as addicting as a summer’s day in the midst of winter.
He couldn’t get enough.
LUCY’S AWKWARDNESS WENT up in smoke the second Gideon kissed her. She’d expected... Well, she wasn’t sure what she’d expected. For him to take her into the bedroom and strip them down and just go for it. Preferably with the lights turned off to hide her mortification.
He stroked his hands up the sides of her face and tangled his fingers in her hair. The move pulled her out of their kiss, but Gideon didn’t let the distance stand. He dragged his mouth down the line of her neck, raising goose bumps in his wake.
A deep, hidden ember inside her burst into flame.
She was doing this. She was straddling Gideon Novak with his mouth on her skin and his hands on her body. Something she’d never even allowed herself to think about until she’d come up with this plan.
“You’re thinking too hard.”
“I can’t believe this is happening.”
He set his teeth against her collarbone. “If you change your mind—”
“I won’t.” She’d never dared fantasize about him—she hadn’t let herself cross that line, even in her mind—but she wasn’t missing this opportunity for the world. Warmth flared with each breath, the heat centered at her core, where she could feel his cock lining up right where she wanted it.
I want it.
The realization startled her, though it shouldn’t have. Gideon was sex personified and having all his considerable attention focused solely on her was a heady feeling. She wanted... More. All of it. Everything he could give her. She moaned. “More.”
Gideon took her mouth. There was no other way to put it. He claimed her, establishing dominance with a stroke of his tongue, engulfing her entire world in that single contact. He tasted like peppermint—a shocking sensation against her tongue. Unexpected.
Just like the man himself.
It wasn’t enough. There were too many clothes between them. She could feel his broad shoulders flexing, could test the definition of his muscles as she slid her hands down his chest, but his button-up shirt barred her from the skin-to-skin contact she craved.
Her breasts felt too tight, her nipples pebbling until they almost hurt. At least her yoga pants didn’t offer much in the way of a barrier as she rocked her hips against him. His slacks did little
