“Are you going to punish me with pleasure?” he asked quietly. “Because you can. You can bring me to my knees, Eva.”

My forehead dropped to his chest and the air left my lungs in an audible rush. “I wish.”

“Please don’t be so worried. We’l get through this along with everything else.”

“You’re so positive you’re right.” My gaze narrowed.

“You’re trying to prove a point.”

“And you might prove yours.” Gideon licked his lower lip and my sex clenched in silent demand.

There was a bril iant depth of emotion in his eyes.

Whatever else was going on in our relationship, there was no doubt we were seriously twisted up over each other.

And I was about to demonstrate that in the flesh.

Gideon’s neck arched as my mouth moved over his torso. “Oh, Eva.”

“Your world’s about to be rocked, Mr. Cross.” It was. I made sure of it.

Feeling goofy with feminine triumph, I sat at Gideon’s dining table and remembered him as he’d been just a short time ago—damp with sweat and panting, cursing as I took my time savoring his luscious body.

He swal owed a bite of his steak, which had been kept hot courtesy of a warming drawer, and said calmly, “You’re insatiable.”

“Wel , duh. You’re gorgeous, sexy, and very wel -

hung.”

“I’m glad you approve. I’m also extremely wealthy.” I waved one hand carelessly, encompassing the whole of what had to be a fifty-mil ion-dol ar apartment.

“Who cares about that?”

“Wel , I do, actual y.” His mouth curved.

I stabbed my fork into a German fried potato, thinking that Peter Luger food was almost as good as sex. Almost. “I’m interested in your money only if it means you can afford to stop working in favor of lounging around naked as my sex slave.”

“I could afford to financial y, yes. But you’d get bored and dump me, then where would I be?” His look was warmly amused. “Think you proved your point, do you?”

I chewed, and then said, “Should I prove it again?”

“The fact that you’re stil horny enough to want to proves my point.”

“Hmm.” I drank my wine. “Are you projecting?” He shot me a look and casual y chewed another bite of the tenderest steak I’d ever had.

Restless and worried, I took a deep breath and asked, “Would you tel me if our sex life didn’t satisfy you?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Eva.”

What else could have prompted him to bring this up after our four-day breakup? “I’m sure it doesn’t help that I’m not the type you usual y go for. And we haven’t used any of those toys you had in the hotel—”

“Stop talking.”

“Excuse me?”

Gideon set his utensils down. “I’m not going to listen to you shred your self-esteem.”

“What? You’re the only one who gets to do al the talking?”

“You can pick a fight with me, Eva, but it’s stil not going to get you fucked.”

“Who said—” I shut up when he glared. He was right. I stil wanted him. I wanted him on top of me, explosively lustful, completely in control of both my pleasure and his.

Pushing away from the table, he said curtly, “Wait here.”

When he returned a moment later, he set a black leather ring box beside my plate and resumed his seat. The sight of it hit me like a physical blow. Fear struck me first, icy cold. Fol owed swiftly by a longing that was white-hot.

My hands shook in my lap. I clasped my fingers together and realized my whole body was shaking.

Lost, I lifted my gaze to Gideon’s face.

The feel of his fingertips brushing down my cheek soothed much of the vibrating anxiety inside me, leaving behind the terrible yearning.

“It’s not that ring,” he murmured gently. “Not yet.

You’re not ready.”

Something inside me wilted. Then relief flooded me.

It was too soon. Neither of us was ready. But if I’d ever wondered how deeply I had fal en in love with Gideon, now I knew.

I nodded.

“Open it,” he said.

With cautious fingers, I pul ed the box closer and thumbed open the lid. “Oh.”

Nestled inside the black leather and velvet was a ring like no other. Gold rope-like bands were intertwined and decorated with Xs covered in diamonds.

“Bonds,” I murmured, “secured by crosses.” Gideon Cross.

“Not quite. I see the ropes as representative of the many threads of you, not bondage. But yes, the Xs are me holding on to you. By my fingernails, it feels like.” He finished his glass of wine and refil ed both our glasses.

I sat unmoving, stunned, trying to take it al in.

Everything he’d done in the time we’d been apart—the photos, the ring, Dr. Petersen, the replicated bedroom, and whoever had been fol owing me around—told me I’d never been far from his mind, if I’d even left it at al .

“You gave me my keys back,” I whispered, stil remembering the pain.

His hand reached out and covered mine. “There are a lot of reasons why I did that. You left me wearing nothing but a robe, Eva, and without your keys. I can’t stand thinking about what could’ve happened if Cary hadn’t been home to let you in right away.” Lifting his hand to my mouth, I kissed the back; then released him and closed the lid of the ring box. “It’s beautiful, Gideon. Thank you. It means a lot to me.”

“But you won’t wear it.” It wasn’t a question.

“After the conversation we’ve had tonight, it feels like a col ar.”

After a moment, he nodded. “You’re not altogether wrong.”

My brain hurt and my heart ached. Four nights of restless sleeping didn’t help. I couldn’t understand why he felt I was so necessary, even though I felt that way about him. There were thousands of women in New York alone who could replace me in his life, but there was only one Gideon Cross.

“I feel like I’m disappointing you, Gideon. After everything we’ve talked about tonight…I feel like this is the beginning of the end.”

Pushing his chair back, he angled toward me and touched my cheek. “It’s not.”

“When do we see Dr. Petersen?”

“I’l go alone on Tuesdays. After you talk to him and agree to couples counseling, we can go together on Thursdays.”

“Two hours of your week, every week. Not including the travel back and forth. That’s a big commitment.” I reached up and brushed the hair back from his cheek.

“Thank you.”

Gideon caught my hand and kissed the palm. “It’s no sacrifice, Eva.”

He went into his office to work a bit before bed and I

carried the ring box into the master bathroom with me.

I studied it further while I brushed my teeth and hair.

There was a soft hum of need beneath my skin, a persistent level of arousal that shouldn’t have been possible considering the number of orgasms I’d already had over the course of the day. It was an emotional y driven need to connect to Gideon, to reassure myself that we were okay.

Clutching the ring box in my hand, I went to my side of Gideon’s bed and set it on the nightstand. I wanted it where I’d see it first thing in the morning, after a good night’s sleep.

With a sigh, I draped my beautiful new robe over the footboard and crawled into bed. After tossing and turning for a long while, I final y crashed.

I woke sometime in the middle of the night to a racing pulse and quick, shal ow breathing. Disoriented, I lay stil for a moment, gathering my bearings and remembering where I was. I tensed when it sank in, my ears straining to hear if Gideon was having another nightmare. When I discovered him lying quietly beside me, his breathing deep and even, I relaxed with a sigh.

What time had he final y come to bed? After the days we’d spent apart, it worried me that he might have felt a need to be alone.