Bared to You

by Sylvia Day

  “That’s nuts, Gideon. Her calling every day. That’s stalking.” Which reminded me of her assertion that he’d been as possessive over her as he was about me. That niggled at me in a terrible way.

  “Where are you going with this?” he asked, in a voice laced with warm amusement.

  “Don’t you get it? You drive women off the deep end because you’re the ultimate. You’re the grand prize. If a woman can’t have you, they know they’re settling for less than the best. So they can’t think about not having you. They just think of crazy ways to try and get you.”

  “Except for the one I want,” he retorted dryly, “who spends a lot of time running in the opposite direction.”

  I stared unabashedly, drinking him in as he stood naked in front of me. “Answer one question for me, Gideon. Why do you want me, when you can have your pick of perfection instead? And I’m not fishing for compliments or reassurances. I’m asking an honest question.”

  He caught me up and moved us into the bedroom. “Eva, if you don’t stop thinking of us as temporary, I’m going to take you over my knee and make damn sure you like it.”

  Setting me down in a chair, he went to rifle through my drawers.

  I watched him pulling out underwear, yoga pants, and a top. “Have you forgotten I sleep in the nude with you?”

  “We’re not staying here.” He faced me. “I don’t trust Cary not to bring more intoxicated jerks home and once we turn in for the night I’ll be drugged on the medication Dr. Petersen prescribed and possibly unable to protect you. So we’re going to my place.”

  I looked down at my twisted hands, thinking about how I might need protection from Gideon, too. “I’ve been down this road with Cary before, Gideon. I can’t just hole up at your place and hope he comes out of it on his own. He needs me to be around more than I have been.”

  “Eva.” Gideon brought me my clothes and crouched in front of me. “I know you need to support Cary. We’ll figure out how tomorrow.”

  I cupped his face. “Thank you.”

  “I need you, too, though,” he said quietly.

  “We need each other.”

  He pushed to his feet. Moving back to the dresser, he pulled open his drawers and grabbed clothes for himself.

  Standing, I began to dress. “Listen…”

  He pulled a pair of low-slung jeans on. “Yes?”

  “I feel tons better now that I know the score, but Corinne is still going to be a problem for me.” I paused with my shirt in my hands. “You wanna nip her hopes in the bud real quick. Stow the guilt, Gideon, and start weaning her off.”

  He sat on the edge of the bed to pull on his socks. “She’s a friend, Eva, and she’s in a rough spot. It’s a cruel time to cut her off.”

  “Think carefully, Gideon. I have exes in my past, too. You’re setting the precedent now for how I’ll handle them. I’m taking my cues from you.”

  He stood with a scowl. “You’re threatening me.”

  “I prefer to see it as coercion. Relationships work both ways. You’re not her only friend. She can find someone more appropriate to lean on in her time of crisis.”

  We grabbed what we needed and walked back into the living room. I saw the mess left behind—an aqua-hued bra beneath an end table and blood spray on my cream sectional —and I wished Cary was still around to smack some sense into.

  “I’m digging into it with him tomorrow,” I bit out, my jaw tight with anger and worry. “Goddamn it, I should’ve decked him when I had the chance. I should’ve knocked him out cold, and then locked him up in his room until he gets his brain working again.”

  Gideon’s hand at the small of my back rubbed soothingly. “It’ll be better to do that tomorrow, when he’s alone and hungover. More effective that way.”

  Angus was waiting for us when we got downstairs. I was about to climb into the back of the limo when Gideon cursed under his breath, stopping me.

  “What?” I asked him.

  “I forgot something.”

  “Let me get my keys.” I reached for the overnight bag Gideon was holding, which had my purse inside.

  “No need. I have a set.” He shot me an unapologetic grin when my brows rose. “I had copies made before I gave them back to you.”

  “Seriously?”

  “If you’d paid attention”—he kissed the top of my head—“you might’ve noticed that you’ve had the key to my place on your key ring since I returned it.”

  I gaped after him as he darted past the doorman and back into the building. I remembered the torment of those four days when I’d thought we’d broken up and the excruciating pain I’d felt when those keys slid out of the envelope and into my palm.

  I’d had the key to being with him all along.

  Shaking my head, I looked around at my adopted city, loving everything about it and feeling grateful for the crazy well of happiness I’d found here.

  Gideon and I still had so much work ahead of us. As much as we loved each other, it was no guarantee that we’d survive our personal wounds. But we communicated, we were honest with each other, and God knew we were both too stubborn to quit without a fight.

  Gideon reappeared just as two large, beautifully groomed poodles walked by with their equally coiffed owner.

  I climbed into the limo. As we pulled away from the curb, Gideon tugged me onto his lap and cuddled me close. “We had a rough night, but we got through it.”

  “Yeah, we did.” Tipping my head back, I offered my mouth for a kiss. He obliged me with one that was slow and sweet—a simple reaffirmation of our precious, complicated, maddening, necessary connection.

  Cupping his nape, I ran my fingers through his silky hair. “I can’t wait to get you back in bed.”

  He gave a sexy little growl and attacked my neck with tickling nips and kisses, banishing our ghosts and their shadows.

  At least for a little while…

  Gideon and Eva’s story continues in the

  powerfully sensual sequel in

  the Crossfire series,

  1. Eva’s move from California to New York brings her closer to her mother. While the move was a good one for both her and Cary’s careers, it could have been avoided. Why do you think she made the choice to start her new life in New York?

  2. Cary is dependent on Eva materially and emotionally, even though she turns to him as a sounding board more often than he turns to her. What needs does Eva meet for Cary?

  3. Initially, it’s the physical attraction that draws Gideon to Eva, but by the time he lures her to his nightclub there’s something deeper involved. What is it about Eva that causes Gideon to pursue her so relentlessly?

  4. Gideon has a difficult time accepting any privacy barriers between him and Eva. Do you think Eva is too soft or too tough on the issue? How would you respond?

  5. Eva values transparency in her relationships, but she allows Gideon to keep his secrets. Why do you think that is? Do you agree or disagree?

  6. Gideon’s life revolves around his work and his philanthropic commitments; Eva’s social life is more personal. How do these differences affect them as a couple?

  7. Gideon and Eva have a very sexual relationship. Considering their pasts, why do you think sex is such an important way for them to communicate?

  Sylvia Day is the national bestselling author of over a dozen novels. Her résumé includes a variety of odd jobs ranging from amusement park employee to Russian linguist/interrogator for U.S. Army Military Intelligence. She’s presently a full-time writer. Sylvia’s work has been called an “exhilarating adventure” by Publishers Weekly and “wickedly entertaining” by Booklist. Her stories have been translated into Russian, Japanese, Portuguese, German, Czech, Italian, and Thai. She’s been honored with the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, the EPPIE award, the National Readers’ Choice Award, the Readers’ Crown, and multiple finalist nominations for Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA® Award of Excellence. She’s now hard at work on DEEPER IN YOU, the sequel
to BARED TO YOU, but would love for you to visit with her on her website.

  Connect with Sylvia

  www.SylviaDay.com

  www.Facebook.com/AuthorSylviaDay

  www.Twitter.com/SylDay

  Books by Sylvia Day

  Paranormal Romance

  Renegade Angels

  A Taste of Seduction

  A Hunger So Wild

  A Touch of Crimson

  Dream Guardians

  Heat of the Night

  Pleasures of the Night

  Historical Romance

  Seven Years to Sin

  Pride and Pleasure

  The Stranger I Married

  Bad Boys Ahoy!

  Georgian

  Don’t Tempt Me

  A Passion for Him

  Passion for the Game

  Ask For It

  Writing as S. J. Day

  Marked

  Eve of Chaos

  Eve of Destruction

  Eve of Darkness

  Writing as Livia Dare

  Sapphire’s World

  In the Flesh

  Anthologies

  Hot in Handcuffs

  Guns and Roses

  Wicked Reads

  Best Erotic Romance

  Steamlust: Steampunk Erotic Romance

  Men Out of Uniform

  The Promise of Love

  Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance 2

  Alluring Tales: Hot Holiday Nights

  Perfect Kisses

  Got a Minute?

  Alluring Tales: Awaken the Fantasy

  Declassified: Dark Kisses

  White Hot Holidays: Vol. 2

  Dreams of the Oasis: Vol. 2

  Sex on Holiday

  NonFiction

  Lustfully Ever After

  Perfectly Plum

  The Write Ingredients

  Digital Titles

  A Caress of Wings

  A Dark Kiss of Rapture

  All Revved Up

  Kiss of the Night

  Misled

  Snaring the Huntress

  Catching Caroline

  Writing as S. J. Day

  Eve of Warfare

  Eve of Sin City

  Table of Contents

  Praise for Sylvia Day

  Books by Sylvia Day

  Copyright

  Bared to You

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Deeper in You

  Book Club/Readers' Group Guide

  About the Author