so loudly that at first I thought I was deliriously imagining his voice softening with tenderness.
"Angel."
His lips brushed over my shoulder blade, his hands releasing my wrists to slide beneath me and cup my full, heavy breasts.
"My stubborn, beautiful angel.
Finally, we get to the truth."
Gideon lifted me up, straightening me.
Exhausted, my head lolled against his shoulder, my tears dripping onto my chest.
I had nothing left to fight with, barely able to whimper when he rolled an aching nipple between his fingertips and reached between my splayed legs.
His hips began to lunge, his cock pumping upward into me as he pinched the lips of my sex around my throbbing clit and rubbed.
I came with a hoarse cry of his name, my entire body convulsing in fierce tremors as the relief exploded through me.
The orgasm lasted forever and Gideon was tireless, extending my pleasure with the perfect thrusts I'd been so frantic for earlier.
When I finally collapsed in his arms, panting and soaked with sweat, he lifted me carefully off him and placed me lengthwise on the bench seat.
Shattered, I covered my face with my hands, incapable of stopping him when he pushed my thighs apart and put his mouth on me.
I was soaked with his semen and he didn't care, tonguing and suckling my clit until I came again.
And again.
My back arched with each orgasm, my breath soughing from my lungs.
I lost track of how many times I climaxed after they began rolling into each other, cresting and waning like the tide.
I tried to curl away from him, but he just straightened and yanked his shirt off, climbing over me with one knee on the seat and the other leg extended to the floor.
He placed his hands on the window above my head, putting his body on display as he'd refused to do before.
I shoved at him.
"No more! I can't take any more."
"I know."
His abs tightened as he slid into me, his eyes on my face as he pushed carefully through swollen tissues.
"I just want to be inside you."
My neck arched as he slid deeper, a low sound escaping me because it felt sooo good.
As worn out and overstimulated as I was, I still craved to possess him and to be possessed by him.
I knew I always would.
Bending his head, he pressed his lips to my forehead.
"You're all I want, Eva.
There's no one else.
There will never be anyone else."
"Gideon."
He understood, as I hadn't, that the night had fallen apart because of my jealousy and the deep- seated need I had to make him feel it for himself.
He kissed me softly, reverently, erasing every memory of anyone else's lips on mine.
* * *
"Angel."
Gideon's voice was a warm rasp in my ear.
"Wake up."
I moaned, squeezing my eyes shut tighter and burying my face deeper in his neck.
"Leave me alone, you sex fiend."
His silent laughter shook me.
He pressed a hard kiss to my forehead and wiggled out from under me.
"We're here."
Cracking one eye open, I watched him put his shirt back on.
He'd never gotten out of his jeans.
I realized the sun was out.
I sat up and looked out the windows, gasping when I saw the ocean.
We'd stopped for gas once but I hadn't been able to get my bearings or figure out where we were.
Gideon had declined to tell me when I asked, saying only that it was a surprise.
"Where are we?" I breathed, thrilled by the sight of the sun climbing over the water.
It had to be solidly into morning.
Maybe even midmorning.
"North Carolina.
Lift your arms."
I obeyed automatically, and he slid my tank top over my head.
"I need my bra," I muttered, when I could see him again.
"No one's here to see you but me and we're going straight into the bathtub."
I looked again at the weathered shingle-covered building we'd parked beside.
It was at least three stories, with wraparound decks and balconies on the front and sides, and a quaint single-door entrance off the back.
It stood on stilts at the shoreline, so close to the water that I knew the tide must come up right beneath it.
"How long have we been driving?" "Almost ten hours."
Gideon slid my skirt up my legs and I stood, allowing him to twist it straight and pull up the zipper.
"Let's go."
He got out first, then held his hand out for me.
The bracing, salty breeze hit my face, waking me.
The rhythmic surge of the ocean grounded me to the moment and where we were.
Angus was nowhere to be seen, which was a relief, since I was very aware of my