And she did. Tessa undulated her body, desperate for the desire to never end. She had been numb for so long, and no one besides Jordan had ever made her feel desired. He took away every thought in her head and replaced it with the desperate need to be with him.
Frustrated that he seemed content to use just his tongue and hands on her body and not going any further, Tessa coaxed him onto his back. Straddling him, she ran her hands up his defined, muscular arms, caressed his broad shoulders, and lingered on his hard chest. She cherished his labored breathing and slid her body down over his, shivering at the skin-to-skin contact as she continued trailing her hands all over his body.
Most of their unions had been in the dark with her following his lead. Tessa’s body screamed at her to do more, but she was intent on relishing her exploration. When her lips skimmed over Jordan’s hip bones, he sucked in a breath. He was waiting and anticipating where she would go next.
Tessa didn’t disappoint. Her mouth craved to reacquaint itself with Jordan’s cock. Slowly savoring each and every ridge, taste, and texture, she slid her mouth up and down. Tessa was so engrossed that she missed Jordan’s stuttered breathing and struggle to hold still. Eventually his long, belabored groan reached her and he pulled her up, flipping her onto her back.
“Fuck, Tessa, I can’t take it anymore. I need you.”
Jordan plunged into her, and they both shuddered and stilled as they processed the flames that ignited as soon as they were joined. She closed her eyes when he started moving, but he stopped and growled, “Look at me, Tessa.”
She peeled them open, and Jordan began to move again. “This is me owning your body. Say my name.”
Tessa looked down at where they were joined and back up at him, murmuring, “Jordan.”
His eyes flooded with desire, and he grabbed her thigh and moved faster. Her body surged with sensations, and her core tightened.
“Jordan,” she beseeched, not quite sure what she needed.
He seemed to understand as he moved her so she was lying on her side and put one of her legs on his shoulder. Tessa braced her hands against the headboard and gasped at the new angle.
She locked eyes with Jordan, relishing the desire in his eyes, and then screamed out her release.
“Fuck, Tessa, sooo fucking good.”
His movements above her slowed until he eventually collapsed behind her. Her back was to his front. Tessa closed her eyes and cherished this make-believe moment of feeling cherished and loved.
“The meal was amazing, Tessa.”
Her heart clenched, and silent tears rolled down her face. It was the first actual words he’d spoken to her when nobody was around them in weeks. Tessa didn’t move and let her exhausted body and mind carry her back into slumber.
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Chapter 34
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The next few weeks were almost the same, but with a little improvement. Tessa and Jordan still didn’t talk to each other, but the angry tension had dissipated. The uneasiness was usually present, but at least she didn’t feel like she pissed off Jordan just by being in the same room.
She had brought home a Christmas tree, and Jordis had helped pick out decorations. They’d waited until Jordan was back from a road trip and then decorated it all together. This had given Tessa a lot of time to observe father and daughter together.
Jordan let Jordis boss him around when they were trimming the tree. He listened to her demands of where every ornament should go. Jordis eagerly got on Jordan’s shoulders to put the angel on top of the tree. Watching them was when she finally got the idea of what to give him for Christmas.
What did you get the man who had everything? When she had asked Jordan what he wanted, he’d said, “You don’t have to get me anything.”
She did want to get him something, but she wasn’t able to think of anything until that moment. Tessa would put together a photo album of Jordis from birth to the present. It would be a way to show him all the things he’d missed.
It was Christmas Eve, and they were at their house opening presents with Eric and Christina. As she watched Jordan open the gifts from his parents, hers suddenly didn’t seem like such a good idea.
So far they had given him personalized luggage with a phone charger and built-in Wi-Fi capabilities, as well as a Rolex watch. Her stomach churned, and when he opened their last gift, she thought she was going to throw up. He’d gotten two Superbowl tickets.
Jordan got up and gave his mom a hug, lifting her up off the ground. “Mom, I love it!” Then he walked over and gave his dad a man hug. “Dad, are you going with me?”
Eric pounded Jordan on the back. “I was hoping you’d ask.”
Tessa’s hands sweated, and she pressed them down on her bobbing knee. Maybe she could grab her gift and sneak out of the room. Was it worse to have nothing for him or what she now knew to be a stupid and cheap gift?
He sat back down on the couch, where Jordis was immersed in playing with her new Nintendo Switch. When Jordan reached for the present, Tessa desperately tried to stop the inevitable.
“Jordan, you don’t have to open mine.”
He gave her a puzzled look. “Why wouldn’t I open it?”
Then he grinned and changed course. “Open your gift first.”
She looked down at what appeared to be a clothes box by her feet. She hastily grabbed and unwrapped it. Maybe this would distract him from opening the album.
The first thing she saw was a key fob. Confused, she looked up at Jordan. He nodded toward the box.
“Keep going.”
Tessa lifted the tissue paper and couldn’t believe what she saw. It was a picture of a white BMW sedan with a red ribbon on the hood sitting in the garage.
Stunned, she choked out, “You got me a car?”
Tessa looked at an animated Jordan. “You need a car of your own to drive Jordis around, and this one has great safety ratings and . . .”
The rest of his spiel about the car fell on deaf ears. He had gotten her a new car. True, it was so she had something to drive Jordis around in, but still, it was a car. And she’d gotten him a photo album. Tessa felt so stupid. Realizing he had stopped talking and was looking at her, Tessa swallowed the lump in her throat. With as much cheer as she could muster, she said,
“Let’s go look at it.”
When Jordan got up from the couch, her entire body was weak with relief. He’d forgotten about his present from her until her mother-in-law spoke up and sweetly reminded him, “Shouldn’t you open Tessa’s gift first, Jordan?”
Christina’s reminder put the nail in her coffin. It was like she always knew the exact thing to say to make Tessa’s life a living hell.
“You’re right, Mom.” He picked it up, sitting back down and peeling off the paper.
Jordan looked at the cover, which had a crying newborn Jordis on it, and his eyebrows drew together. Slowly he opened the book and stopped on a page that showed Jordis taking her first steps.
Tessa couldn’t stand the sudden quiet in the room. Everyone’s stares alternated between Jordan and her. Embarrassment screamed through her, and she sat back against the couch and folded her arms.
At last Jordan looked up, but she couldn’t figure out the look in his eyes. “Thank you, Tessa.”
Much to her relief, Jordis chose that moment to break in. “Open mine, Daddy!”
“Okay. Sit with me while I open it.”
Jordan made a show of opening the paper extra carefully. It wasn’t long before a squirming Jordis lost her patience.
“It’s a basketball, Daddy! I knew you would like one. Open it faster!”
Everyone laughed but Christina. She muttered like she was in shock, “A basketball?”
Tessa wished she could disappear into the couch. Since it was from Jordis, she’d thought she could decide what to get her dad.
Jordan finished unwrapping it with Jordis’s help. “See, just like the one you use in your games!”
; Jordis proudly held it up, and Jordan’s laughter gradually faded.
“What’s written on it?”
He pulled the ball into his hands and spun it around. His puzzlement gradually turned into an awed look that he turned her way. “Did you do this?”
“What is it, son?” Eric asked.
Jordan looked at his dad, and Tessa let go of the breath she’d been holding. “All of the players from my rookie team signed it.”
Everyone looked at her, causing Tessa to squirm. “I didn’t do much. Management gave me their emails, so I sent out requests to have them sign it. It just sat in the owner’s office until I had all the signatures.”
“Let’s go play, Daddy!”
Tessa was relieved when everyone’s focus turned to Jordis. What would she do without her daughter?
She still felt like she was being watched, but she ignored the tug to look and pretended to be absorbed in the picture of her new car.
“Not with this ball, munchkin. We can play, but with another one.”
“We play this one.”
Jordan slung Jordis up into his arms. “I like the pink ball better.”
That put a crease between Jordis’s eyes. She was smart and knew she was being distracted, but she loved her pink ball as well and was torn.
“First pink ball, then this ball.”
“Okay, deal.”
“Yeah!”
Jordis was always happy when she got her way. Eric followed them out of the room as they headed toward the outdoor court.
The strained silence between Tessa and Christina that followed their absence spurred her into motion. She started picking up the wrapping paper but froze when the expected barb came her way.
“Really, Tessa, a photo album?” Christina didn’t even wrap it up in a faux nice tone.
Tessa resumed her cleanup. It didn’t matter what she said or didn’t say. Christina was going to say what she wanted.
“You’re lucky I raised my son to have some manners. He got you a brand-new car, Tessa. And you?” Christina took a belabored breath and continued with her tirade. “You went to some online photography site and got him a picture album that cost twenty dollars. At least Jordan had the grace to say thank-you and mean it. You couldn’t even say thank-you!”
Tessa paused, straightening up the pile of crunched-up wrapping paper in her arms and thinking back. With a sinking heart, she realized Christina was right. Jordan had gotten her a car. A brand-new, probably crazy-expensive vehicle, and she hadn’t even said thank-you or gone to see it yet.
Christina snorted. “I can’t imagine how Jordis is going to turn out, seeing as you don’t even possess basic social skills and manners. I think it’s time for me to have more influence in that girl’s life.”
Her declaration caused Tessa to whip her head around. Dropping the garbage in her hands, her feet carried her to within a couple feet of Christina. With as much menace as she could muster, she told her precisely what was going to happen.
“You are only allowed to see my daughter when someone else is present, Christina, and it is only because I think she should know her grandparents, even her cold-hearted, manipulative one. If I ever get even an inkling of you being anything other than a doting grandma, we will disappear so fast it will make your head spin. You wanted me to abort the granddaughter you pretend to care so much about. You will never have a say in how I raise her.”
Her body trembled with rage as she stood toe-to-toe with Christina and dared her to say one word. For the first time in her life, her hands were curled into fists as she tried to talk herself out of using them.
The gloves were off. The repeated barbs and put-downs Tessa had endured for months were something she had chosen to ignore while she tried to be the bigger person. But this woman would not threaten her with Jordis. The red haze she saw was overshadowed by the pounding of the blood coursing through her so fast that she could hear her heart beating in her head.
A trickle of surprise ran across Christina’s face before it was gone, and she laughed derisively.
“You still don’t get it, do you? I have all the power. Jordan will always side with me because you took a check from me to abort his baby. Then you signed a contract agreeing not to extort us for more money.”
Tessa didn’t back down. “You and I both know I never signed that paper, Christina. You may have a relationship with your son built on lies, but I won’t let you compromise my relationship with Jordis.”
Shaking her head in disappointment, she tsk-tsked. “The paper may be fake, but there is no way you can ever prove it. In the meantime, it will eat away at Jordan until there is nothing left of your marriage. He will get custody of Jordis and cut you out, and then I will be there to raise her as a proper Davis.”
The anger bubbling in her like a caldron stopped cold as prickles of panic took its place. Holy shit, once again she’d underestimated Christina Davis.
“Christina.”
Eric’s stern voice whipped over both of them. They took a step away from each other and turned toward him. Christina’s triumphant face smoothed out, and she was once again the picture of a perfect wife. “Hi, honey. We were just picking up.”
His jaw locked, and his eyes were cold. “Don’t.”
Tessa watched, frozen. The smile slowly fell from Christina’s face as she stared wide-eyed at her husband.
She didn’t know what to do or say. For the first time, Tessa saw the Eric Davis that she’d heard was known for being a cold-hearted, calculating CEO. His presence grew tenfold as he stared Christina down. What had he heard? What would he tell Jordan?
She also saw a different Christina, one who was flustered and unsure. Her smile was shaky and her voice hesitant. “Eric? What’s wrong?”
Tessa didn’t want to draw his attention, so she continued to stand as still as possible. She had no idea what was going through Eric’s mind, but she knew that Christina was a master manipulator. There was no doubt she could talk her way out of what he’d heard, and Tessa would be collateral damage.
After the most uncomfortable, tension-filled silence, Eric walked over to Christina. If Tessa hadn’t been so close, she wouldn’t have heard his quietly ominous words to her.
“If you don’t understand the depth of the wrong that I just heard, then we have problems.”
Christina raised a shaky hand to Eric’s chest, but before it could land he warned, “Don’t touch me.”
There was another tense silence as he glared down at her, and she searched his face. In the same flat, ominous tone he commanded, “Get your purse, and get in the car. Do not talk to Jordan or Jordis.”
“But,” Christina softly inserted, only to stop with a look from Eric.
Unbelievably, she listened to him. Christina walked to the entryway where her purse was and then went out the front door. The silence after she left wore on her nerves, and Tessa could feel Eric demanding her attention.
Reluctantly, she turned to him. Tessa’s body lost some of its tension when she saw Eric’s posture had relaxed.
“Why didn’t you tell Jordan you never signed the papers?” It wasn’t an aggressive question, but it still needed an answer.
“I did,” she softly told him. When Eric waited for more, Tessa swallowed. “He didn’t believe me.”
She prayed that he didn’t ask the questions swirling in his intelligent eyes. Tessa resented Jordan for blackmailing her into marriage, but she wasn’t ready to tell his father about it.
With a steady stare, he said thoughtfully, “I see.”
Tessa knew his speculations were probably right. Tonight she had learned that father and son were more alike than she’d thought.
“I’ll take care of it,” Eric said brusquely.
He turned and walked out, leaving her with wildly vacillating emotions. She wasn’t sure how long she stood there in shock. It didn’t seem like a long time before she heard Jordan and Jordis’s muffled voices in the kitchen.
Tessa pushed her feet in
their direction and then leaned against a wall to observe them. Jordan was always so patient, and it was obvious he enjoyed spending time with Jordis. He went out of his way to make her happy, but not to the point of spoiling her.
“Daddy, I need cookie.” The way Jordis said it, it was like she needed a glass of water to survive in the desert.
Jordan’s lips twitched as he pretended to give some serious thought to her demand. “No. You had that delicious apple pie. The cookies are for Santa.”
Jordis was quick with her comeback. “Santa get one cookie.”
“Yes,” Jordan agreed. Jordis started nodding enthusiastically, thinking she’d won. Then he continued, “Santa gets one, and the reindeer get some.”
Jordis’s eyebrows furrowed, and her face took a downward turn. With a lip that couldn’t possibly stick out any farther, she gave in reluctantly. “Fine.”
Jordan picked her up and rubbed his five o’clock shadow on her jawline. When he turned and spotted Tessa, his glance went behind her. She tensed, waiting for the question.
“Where are my parents?”
Conscious that Jordis was listening, she simply said, “They left.”
“They not say bye?”
Tessa turned her attention to Jordis, ignoring Jordan’s questioning probe. “They wanted to go home and put out cookies for Santa.”
Jordis’s face lit up at the reminder that it would be Christmas morning soon, and Tessa took advantage. “Time for you to get ready for bed.”
She knew the questions swirling in Jordan’s eyes would be asked as soon as Jordis was down for the night. When she reached to get her, he didn’t relinquish his hold.
“I got her. You did a lot tonight. Give us a half an hour for a bath and then we can read Twas The Night Before Christmas to her together.”
“Okay,” Tessa said, stunned. It was the first time Jordan had acknowledged in any way what she did around the house and seemed to appreciate it.
She watched them leave and sank down onto the sofa. Tessa needed the time to figure out what she was going to say.
Jordan's Justice: A New Adult Sport Romance (Tessa and Jordan Book 2) Page 17