“You had better not.”
“I told you that I won’t.” Another low growl. “We have agreed to work on a relationship. To see where this goes. I understand that we will need to…talk about it but we also need to be able to move beyond it. I understand why you were deceptive and I hope that I can trust you now.” He paused. “I’m pretty sure I can and that is what is most important.”
Jenna stared at Gideon. His eyes were still dark and so intense. Every muscle in his body bulged. His neck muscles were corded. Even his jaw was clenched. He radiated fierceness. At first, she smiled, then, she began to laugh.
His frame softened and a quizzical expression took residence on his face. “What is it?” Even the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.
“I can’t believe it.” It was like a weight lifted off of her shoulders. “I’m not afraid…Gideon, I’m not afraid of you.”
He frowned. “I should hope not. I thought we had established that I would never hurt you.”
“I do know that. Logically at least” She was still smiling, couldn’t help herself. “The problem was that I couldn’t seem to get my body to understand that before, but it looks like I’m getting there. This is a breakthrough. I hated being scared of you. Hated it,” she said the last with venom. “I had no control over it even though I knew you would never hurt me.”
By now he was smiling. Too damned handsome for his own good. His eyes lightened up quite considerably, she could see the gold flecks buried deep inside them. Then he turned serious. “We’ll get there…I know we will.”
Jenna closed the distance between them. It happened quickly considering Gideon moved towards her too. His lips closed over hers and his hands bracketed her waist. Jenna clasped his shoulders, feeling his thick muscles beneath the soft leather.
She moaned as he deepened the kiss. Gideon growled softly as she pushed herself more firmly against him. He threaded his hand into her hair, angling her so that he could devour her mouth.
“I’ve missed your kisses,” he whispered against her lips.
She didn’t mean for it to happen, but suddenly she couldn’t help but to think of the other women that he had been with since they had last been together. How many others had he kissed? Held? Done much more with?
He must’ve picked up on her unease, because he pulled away slightly. Jenna opened her lids, seeing a deep V between his eyes. “What’s wrong?” Gideon licked his lips.
“I’m sorry,” she stammered. “It’s nothing.”
Gideon held onto her. “You tensed up.” His nostrils flared. “I can scent your pain. Speak to me. Why are you upset?”
Jenna swallowed thickly, feeling her cheeks heat. “You and those enhanced senses. Enough to drive me crazy.”
He placed both hands on her hips. “Speak to me, Jen.”
She looked away for a few seconds. “It’s just…I I had a chat with Lazarus…I know how vampires are…your vampire ways as Lazarus put it.” She sucked in a deep breath, not sure how to continue.
Gideon raised his brows, he squeezed her hips just a little tighter to let her know that he wasn’t going to drop this. “What vampire ways?”
She huffed out a breath. “It’s just that, you’ve been with a lot of women since we were last together.”
His jaw ticked and his grip tightened almost to the point of pain. His eyes darkened and his lips turned white as he pursed them together. He didn’t deny her statement. It was in that moment that she realized she had been hoping for just that.
Jenna pulled her lip between her teeth and bit down. “I know we weren’t together. I had hurt you badly. It’s still difficult for me. I really shouldn’t be jealous, but I can’t help myself.” She tried to pull away from him but he held onto her. “The thought of you with all those women hurts me.”
“What did Lazarus tell you?”
“It wasn’t only Lazarus, we were briefed during a training session that vampires have high sex drives, that you have sex often. I did already know this but I never gave it much thought before. We were briefed that you sleep with a lot of different partners, sometimes even with multiple partners in a day or even at the same time. I can’t help but to think of how many women you have been with since we were together. I know it’s wrong of me.”
“What did he tell you?” A low growl.
“He just said that vampires have sex often…really often. That it’s normal and nothing to be ashamed of.” Jealousy burned in her gut. She hated the thought of him with others even though logic told her that she shouldn’t feel this way.