Tasting Temptation Read online

  “I think we should have sex.”

  Skylar felt like a deer in headlights and the only thing she could think to say was, “Why?”

  The look he gave her at the question was priceless. It was a mixture of confused, surprised, and amused, as if he anticipated every reaction in the world but the one she gave. If she was being honest, her response surprised her too. If she could have envisioned this moment, she was sure she would have been jumping on his back and dry humping him before he knew what hit him.

  “What do you mean why?” he asked, but without waiting for an answer, he said, “Because you’re beautiful and I want you. Because we’re both adults and you want me too.”

  She couldn’t call him a liar.

  Gideon linked his fingers behind his head, scrubbing it hard as if the frustration was becoming too much. Skylar’s mouth watered in response. Every line of his stomach flexed and hardened at the motion. She couldn’t look away. Something almost animalistic grew inside of her as she stared at his body. He belonged to her, damn it, and she would not give him up. She was the one who drooled over him and fantasized about him at night. Other women might do the same, but she was willing to bet all her worldly possessions that no one wanted him as badly as she did. Maybe he was out of her league and most likely he would ruin her for all other men, but by God, he’d remember her fondly, and then she would take those memories to keep her warm at night after he was gone.

  “Kiss me,” she demanded, and a look of pure astonishment crossed over his features, mirroring her own feelings. She’d sure shocked the shit out of herself too.

  Dropping his arms to his sides, he prowled toward her. He kept his movements slow, as if offering her a chance to back down. She would not.

  “Have you changed your mind?” she taunted and his mouth turned up in one corner in a sardonic smile.

  “I’m just waiting on you to wuss out,” he admitted as he came to stand toe to toe with her. His masculine scent surrounded her and she could almost taste the lust rolling off his body.

  She shook her head. “I’m not backing down. Are you?” He covered her mouth with his own, cutting off her question. He growled as he consumed her. There was no other way that Skylar could describe the sound that escaped him, or the way he devoured her mouth. His tongue brushed hers. His teeth nipped at her bottom lip. He controlled her.

  The contained power she’d witnessed him wield during his fights, he was now using against her, but she did not want him in control. She wanted him wild and mindless. Before she could change her mind, driven by lust, she buried her hand inside the waistband of his shorts. Her knees nearly buckled as her palm connected with his hard shaft. Soft skin over hard steel, he was perfect. Using her free hand, she shoved his shorts down before adding that hand to the mix. Cupping his balls, she discovered another delightful surprise; he was hairless everywhere. A sound escaped her throat that she couldn’t recall ever making before. It was hungry and possessive all at the same time. She wanted to taste him on her tongue. Only then would she be complete.

  With a final brush of tongue on tongue, she pulled away, catching a flash of his lust-filled gaze before dropping to her knees. He hissed between his teeth as she sucked his dick between her lips. The hiss died on a groan as she relaxed and allowed his shaft to slide down her throat. Need and the sting of him holding onto her hair drove her forward as she repeated the motion.

  He tasted of pure male and salt. It was her favorite meal. He rolled his hips while panting for air and a flash of inspiration struck. She moved away long enough to tug her shirt over her head and pull off her bra. Even though her movements felt awkward, she leaned in and took him between her breasts as she stared upward to watch his expression.

  Gideon rested his chin on his chest while he watched Skylar pleasure him. Grinding his back teeth to a pulp, he kept himself in check. He wanted to shoot a load, but it wasn’t going down like that. He wanted that warm, wet pussy squeezing his dick when that happened, but he was drawing on some real willpower. All the shit she was doing was as hot as hell, and her body was every bit as sexy nude as he imagined it would be. When she pulled the titty-fuck out of her arsenal, he knew that it was time to take this shit to the bed.

  Using his strength against her, he easily lifted her from the floor and into his arms. Kicking out of the shorts around his ankles, he strode down the hallway with no idea where he was going. Skylar pointed at an open doorway to his left and he zeroed in on the bed. Bracing one knee on the mattress, he set her down before peeling away the rest of her clothes. He allowed his eyes to roam over her form and her fingers curled into the sheets as if she was physically restraining herself from covering her body from sight.

  Meeting her eyes, he allowed the hunger he felt inside to show. Her labored breathing and hardened nipples gave away how turned on she was, but he wanted to feel her moisture.

  “You are so fucking sexy,” he said, hearing the growl in his words. “Good enough to eat, in fact,” he added as he lifted her knee over his shoulder and covered her mound with his mouth.

  He didn’t wait for approval or try to tease. He dove his tongue inside, mimicking what he would do to her with his cock. She buried her hand in his hair and lifted her hips to meet his mouth. Her instant orgasm caught him off-guard, and he nearly came on the sheets beneath his dick at the feel of her canal pulsing around his tongue.

  Crawling up her body, he snagged her around the waist and rolled until she straddled his hips. Positioning his shaft at her entrance, he slid inside of her. Clamping ahold of his wrists, Skylar pinned them above his head and leaned in to touch her lips to his as she rocked against him. The warm wet heat of her pussy milked him as their tongues fought for supremacy. Moving to his ear, her breath tickled his skin as she took his lobe between her teeth.

  “I love the way you feel inside of me,” she purred against his skin.

  He loved being inside of her, but the pleasure of her surrounding him had robbed him of all speech.

  “I want to feel you explode inside of me. Do it now,” she demanded.

  His body obeyed and arched from the bed as he strained to be closer to her. The pulsations ran the length of his dick and jumped inside of her. Her moans let him know that she’d followed him over that edge as she rode him to completion.

  As Skylar rolled to her side, a deep sense of satisfaction filled her every molecule. Months of waiting and wanting had somehow brought Gideon to her bed. It didn’t matter if it was only for one night. She tried to stamp down the hurt as she told herself that lie. She’d wanted this.

  “Damn,” Gideon said, sounding impressed, and she gave herself a tiny mental pat on the back.

  It didn’t matter, she told herself again. He would remember her and smile.

  A fine sheen of sweat covered his body and she reached out to trace the deep ridges of his abs. Her eyes fell closed for a moment in pleasure. She’d made love to this man. Not many women ever got a chance to touch someone like him. He was alpha and wild. She imagined it was the same rush a person would get if a tiger let you pet it and didn’t eat you afterwards. Yet, he had eaten her, she reminded herself.

  A chuckle slipped past her lips at the thought and Gideon tilted his head at an angle, looking down his nose at her.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “I was having naughty thoughts,” she said with a shrug.

  “Give me five minutes,” he pled, sounding out of breath.

  Swooping in, she ran her tongue over his stomach. It was one of the many things she’d fantasized about and she wasn’t going to lose her chance now that it was presented to her.

  “Fuck it,” he growled, rolling her onto her back. “I don’t need five.”

  ***

  Gideon stared at Skylar’s sleeping form in a mixture of awe and sadness. She blew him away, much more than he had been expecting, and that was not a good thing.

  She was the kind of woman that a man married. That realization came too late to back down or out, but
he’d known it before sleeping with her. He didn’t have any real excuse for taking advantage of her. It was pure desire that caused him to cross that line. He had so many things that he couldn’t tell her. She wouldn’t believe too many of those things, even if he did.

  She had not questioned the lack of injuries on his part after being struck by a moving vehicle. He did not doubt that was due more to having never hit anyone with her car before than anything else. However, it was only a matter of time before she would notice that he was different.

  What would happen after a fight when she saw he didn’t bleed or even have as much as bruise? What would she think when she realized that he didn’t age?

  Panic punched him in the chest at the thought. He needed to get out of there. Sneaking a glance at the clock, the red numbers showed it was five a.m., and he slipped silently from the bed.

  Thankfully, Skylar didn’t stir as he went in search of his clothes and let himself out the front door. He checked the lock before pulling it closed. He didn’t want her safety in question because of him. It was still dark enough that he was able to take flight without any prying eyes. The unfurling of wings was a welcome relief after keeping them hidden all night. The rush of air over his tired muscles reminded him of how they’d gotten that way. Damn, one night with Skylar had left him more worn out than any fight he’d been in since taking up residence in the mortal realm.

  Gideon had purposely chosen his small house on the edge of town for its secluded location. It sat on the fringes of Bayou country and he was able to be himself without fear of being spotted. Landing on the back porch, he let himself inside of the whiteboard house, and the welcome smells of home filled his lungs. It smelled like a mixture of honey and furniture polish. He’d lived most his life, up until two years ago, as a slave, and he relished the freedom that he felt at the knowledge that something was his and his alone. For most people, it was just a tiny house too close to the gators, but to him it represented so much more. It was something most people took for granted.

  However, even the smell of freedom couldn’t drag him from his funk this morning. For the first time in two years, he craved the feeling of being caged by another person. Except, instead of the usual powerful beings that had held him since creation, it was Skylar he wanted to feel owned by.

  Heading for the bathroom, he peeled his clothes off as he went and dropped them wherever they happened to land. He would worry over it later, but right now, he needed to scrub off the grime of road dust and shame. Turning the water all the way to hot, he closed his eyes and dipped his head beneath the stream. As it slid down his body, the memory of Skylar on her knees with his dick between her breasts fired to life in his mind. The picture was so clear in his head that a spike of need shot straight to his groin. Mindlessly, his hand went to his engorged cock. Dipping his chin, he watched with unseeing eyes as he stroked himself. Each upward pull of skin on skin was the feel of her lips parting over him. The tightening of his balls was the moment before he came inside of Skylar as her wet pussy milked him. The sound of water sloshing as he quickened his motion was the sound of her bed creaking in protest. The orgasm that shot from the head of his dick nearly brought him to his knees, and he braced himself against the shower wall as the semen jetted out. The taste of bitterness in the back of his mouth was the moment he’d snuck out and left her behind.

  He was such an ass.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Skylar wasn’t the least bit surprised when she woke up alone. If it wasn’t for the delicious ache of overused muscles and the huge dent in the hood of her car, she would’ve sworn it was all a dream. An unwelcome wave of sadness overwhelmed her, but she did her best to shove it away. It was not as if she hadn’t known that was how it would end, she reminded herself. A deep ache settled into the center of her chest despite her best efforts.

  She would not regret him. Of that, she was sure, so she did what she did every day. She got up and went to work as if the night had never happened. She smiled at her employees. She called an auto body shop about the dent in her car. She paced the length of her tiny office until she thought she would scream. Her desk sat in the center of the room, so she began a pacing pattern. Circle the desk, weave around the two chairs that sat opposite of her, and then make her way back to her chair behind the desk. It worked for two trips around until she caught sight of the phone. Coming to a stop, she stared at her handset until with a rush of horror; she realized they hadn’t even exchanged numbers.

  It was on that cheerful little note that she called Cassidy into her office to tell her that she was taking the rest of the day off. Not only did Cassidy manage her restaurant, Sky Café, she was also Skylar’s best friend. It wasn’t until she was holding Cassidy’s steely gaze that she realized she’d made a tactical error during her attempted escape. She’d forgotten that Cassidy knew her as well as she knew herself.

  “You’re not leaving here until you tell me what’s wrong.”

  As she snatched up her purse, Skylar’s already overwrought nerves reached their limit at Cassidy’s demand. “I am the boss here,” she reminded her. “If I want to take the whole rest of my damn life off, then I will.” As soon as the words left Skylar’s mouth, she regretted them. Cassidy was only trying to be a good friend.

  “I’m sorry,” she sighed, then laughed when she thought of how many times she’d told Gideon she was sorry the night before. Damn it, it was a viscous circle. All roads led back to him and the oh-so-delicious things he’d done to her.

  “You’re blushing,” Cassidy accused.

  “I am not,” she said immediately, but she could feel her blush deepening.

  Cassidy slammed the office door closed and plopped down in the closest chair. Leaning forward, she gave Skylar her full attention.

  “Tell me everything.”

  Cassidy looked so caring and genuine that Skylar broke. Sinking into the chair across from her, she admitted, “I hit Gideon Black with my car last night.”

  “Oh my God! You were in a car accident? Is his car badly damaged? I’ll bet it’s nice too, and now your insurance is going to be sky-high. What am I saying?” she asked, sounding mortified. “Was he hurt? Are you hurt? Oh my God, were you trying to go home because you’re in too much pain to work today, and here I am sitting here grilling you over it? I’m a terrible friend.”

  Cassidy was working herself up into a state. “I didn’t hit his car. I hit him,” Skylar stressed.

  “Oh no!” Cassidy said, jumping to her feet. “Did you kill him? If so, I got some of those big black trash bags and an SUV. We could drive him out there to the Bayou and throw his body in the swamp. The gators would get him before anyone even noticed he was missing.”

  “He’s not dead, but I appreciate that you would do that for me.”

  “Of course,” Cassidy said immediately. “Nobody fucks with my best friend.”

  “Well, there’s no need to worry,” she reassured Cassidy before she got any more crazy ideas in her head. “We were both fine. I took him back to my place and . . .” she trailed off, unsure of what to say.

  “O.M.G!” Cassidy cried. “You had sex with Gideon Black.”

  “Only a few…times,” she admitted with a cringe.

  “Shut the fuck up,” Cassidy said, punching Skylar in the arm in her enthusiasm.

  Cassidy was not a tiny girl. She was built like a linebacker and she punched like one too. Skylar winced as she rubbed the spot on her arm that would be sporting a bruise later on.

  “Well, no wonder you’re ready to hightail it out of here. You should have called in and got a little more while the gettin' was good.”

  “He was gone when I woke up,” Skylar admitted and she hated the words as they left her mouth.

  Cassidy sank back into the chair. “That rat bastard. I have a taser, an SUV, and some of those black trash bags. Just let me take out my weave first because I just paid for this and it’s that real good Asian girl hair. I can’t be letting that get fucked up.”

&nb
sp; Skylar snorted. “I don’t want him dead.”

  Cassidy eyed her closely. “It was that good, huh?”

  “Yes,” Skylar burst out. “It was amazing. It was beyond description. It was huge,” she stressed, causing Cassidy to giggle.

  Falling back into her chair, she covered her face with both hands. “I’m such an idiot,” she grumbled behind them.

  “Naw, girl,” Cassidy reassured her. “An idiot is a woman who turns down the Gideon Black. You did what you had to do. There wasn’t no backing down that. You see, women like us, we take care of our own. We don’t need no man unless we need a man, if you know what I mean?”

  Skylar squared her shoulders at Cassidy’s words. She was right. Women like them didn’t need a man. Yeah, she’d had a good one in her bed, but she didn’t need him. Who knew? Maybe he’d be the one who came back for more.

  “Now go on and get out here. Go get your nails done or something. Just as long as it’s all about you.”

  Following Cassidy’s orders, Skylar looped her purse strap over her shoulder and prepared to take her independence back. She didn’t need a man.