Scandal Never Sleeps (The Perfect Gentlemen 1)

Everly didn’t seem to care. She spread her thighs wide, presenting her gorgeous sex to him without hesitation or inhibition. She opened for him like a flower that had gone far too long without the sun. He licked the pearl of her clitoris. The little jewel poked out of its hood, begging for his attention. He was going to lavish it. She might fight him everywhere else, but here they were of the same mind, had the same needs.

He shoved his fingers high into her pussy and sucked her clit, establishing a rhythm that soon had her wriggling on his hand, desperate for relief. The sight, sound, and scent of her arousal alone fueled his desire, but with every moment, she grew more desperate, nails clawing his scalp, thighs tightening around his head. God, he loved her unabashed enthusiasm for sex, the way she never held anything back.

He felt her clench around him and heard her keening cry. She writhed on the supple leather, her body riding out the orgasm he gave her. Her scent filled the car—and his nostrils—until he ached to tear at her clothes, claw out his zipper, and fill her with every inch he had.

When her storm slowed, the waves softening, she sighed. “How do you do that to me?”

He didn’t answer her because he wasn’t sure what to say. Sex with her was simply better. It had been from the first moment he’d touched her. It had also been different than the countless times with the blur of faces and bodies he’d known before. What he shared with Everly was somehow . . . more.

If another woman had complimented his sexual prowess, he would have grinned and proven himself worthy, but her words made him feel oddly vulnerable. He didn’t want to merely be a good lay to her. He didn’t even want to only be the best sex she’d ever had—not if that was all he meant to her.

Gabe wanted to be her only lover. He wanted to be the man in her heart.

The thought rolled over him, and he sat back in the seat with a stunned sigh. Everything below his waist urged him to open his slacks and shove his cock inside her waiting flesh, but he needed more than pleasure from Everly.

He, who was rarely unsure and never hesitated, sat frozen. What if she didn’t reciprocate?

Even with the doubt and fear tumbling in his head, Gabe couldn’t take his eyes off her. She looked so lovely and wanton with her dress all gathered at her waist. All her gorgeous curves and most intimate parts were on display for him. He loved that about her, too.

Her skin was flushed a rosy pink and her mouth was slightly open as she took a long breath and opened her eyes to look at him. “What’s wrong?”

He shook his head. “Nothing.”

Her flush deepened. “Don’t you want me?”

“I want to know if you want me.” God, that sounded stupid. He should take her. She wouldn’t fight him, but he needed something far beyond her acquiescence and an exchange of flesh. Getting her into bed wasn’t the question; getting into her heart was.

“Of course I want you. I thought that was pretty clear.” She tugged at her skirt, trying to right her clothes. “What’s going on? Is Dax just going to keep driving?”

Shit. He’d lost her. The disappointment was more than crushing. “I’ll tell him to head home.”

Though they wouldn’t really be heading to his home, that word seemed right because, for him, home had become wherever she was. When the hell had that happened?

Gabe dragged air into his lungs and tried to not punch out the windows of the limo. How he was going to get through the rest of the night he had no idea, but he shouldn’t have expected more after the way he’d treated her this morning.

He didn’t even want to think about what he was going to do for the rest of his life.

Staring out at the Manhattan street, he watched Midtown pass by. The lights of nearby Times Square illuminated the early evening. Tourists thronged through the square, gawking at the multitude of flashing signs for everything from Broadway shows to sneakers as locals rushed by and ignored them.

Gabe winced. He was putting off the inevitable, but he wanted to make something clear before he gave Dax a final destination. “Everly, I’m going to do whatever it takes to make you forget what I said this morning. You should know that. I realize this is a horrible time to start a relationship, but I can’t let you go because the timing isn’t right. I screwed up. I should have believed you. I can only promise that I won’t make the same mistake again. You might think I’m a complete pig for being so stubborn about your safety, but I promise I won’t shut you out.”

She gave him a wary glace, clearly not sure she believed him. “Are you still going to lock me up?”

Yes, that had been a reaction to her pushing him—one he regretted. He closed his eyes for a long moment, listening to her rustle back into her dress and wishing he could have a do-over on most of this day.

“Of course not.” He opened his eyes, ready to explain himself, and all the fine words he usually used to charm and coax a woman stuck in his throat when he saw her. “You’re naked.”

She was beautifully, gloriously naked. She hadn’t straightened out her clothes at all. Instead, she’d taken them off and knelt on the floorboard.

A sexy smile curled her lips up. “You’re stating the obvious, Mr. Bond.”

His cock was suddenly jumping with excitement. His heart wasn’t far behind. “Eve . . .”

She moved between his legs, hands gliding up his thighs. “My turn, Gabriel. I think that’s been our problem. I haven’t demanded equality from you. I can’t be this perfect princess you lock away and only take out when you think it’s safe. The world is a big bad place and you need someone you can count on. So do I. The man today told me that when the chips are down, you’ll pick your friends over me.”

He would really like to have a talk with that guy. “It’s not true.”

She held a hand up to stop him. “I think it might be, but I’m not sure what I can do about it so I’m going to choose to live in the moment for now.”

He didn’t want to live in the moment. He realized that as he stared at her. He was a man who constantly lived for the now. After his father passed, he’d been forced to take care of the business, his sister, now Crawford Industries, and a niece or nephew. He’d bucked at the responsibility, but Everly made him want to be better. She made him long for a future.

His playboy days were past and it struck him squarely in the chest that he wouldn’t be that carefree boy again. Maybe it had all been an illusion anyway. Those days of running around the world with his friends were gone. He’d remember them fondly, but meeting Everly had been the catalyst for his true shift from boy to man. Her man.

And she very likely wouldn’t believe a damn word he said.

That made him feel so fucking helpless. He could fire her and try to force her to work for Bond, where he would make sure she was safe. Then two paths would lie ahead of them: She would either hate him for what he’d done or she’d go along with it and, slowly, all the life in Everly would dim, her unique spirit ground down by his need for control.

Gabe didn’t know what to do next, how to find his way out of this corner he’d maneuvered himself

into. He only knew he wanted her so desperately he would take anything she gave him.

“What are you planning to do, beautiful?” He settled back because she wanted control, and he had to give it to her—for now. He would take over again, but after he’d let her have her way for a bit.

His Eve skated her hands on top of his slacks, over his cock, making him writhe and seek more of her touch. “Tempt you.”

“All you have to do to tempt me is exist.”