“Oh, how beautiful!” she gushed with sincere admiration. “I’ve never seen a ring like that before. You’re engaged?”
Tessa nodded. “Yes. Just since September. We’re getting married next June.”
Blaire winked at her slyly. “And your fiancé doesn’t have a problem with you traveling with a hottie like Mr. Gregson? He must be a real trusting guy.”
Tessa hesitated briefly before replying. “Actually, my fiancé is -”
But before she could complete her sentence, the door to the conference room was all but flung open, and a visibly agitated Ian appeared in the doorway.
“Tessa, could you please join us?” he asked abruptly. “I need you to take notes during my meeting with Martin.”
“Of course,” she replied instantly, then gave Blaire a brief glance. “Please be sure to have those copies ready for the morning. I’ll see you here then.”
She could all but feel Blaire’s icy, narrow-eyed gaze shooting darts at her back as she hurried inside the meeting room, closing the door firmly behind her. Once inside, she could sense the thick, uncomfortable tension that permeated the air, and could almost see angry plumes of smoke escaping from the top of Ian’s head.
At Ian’s urging, she took a seat, her tablet and stylus close at hand. Martin was sitting at the opposite end of the long conference table, and he looked nearly as angry as Ian did. Tessa was more than half-afraid that the two men would indeed come to blows, despite Ian’s repeated assurances to the contrary. Not to mention the fact that Martin would be sadly out of his element in any sort of physical confrontation, given that he was at least a dozen years older than Ian, and more than fifty pounds overweight. Tessa thought briefly that she could probably deck him herself if need be.
Martin glanced at Tessa and his expression turned downright sulky. “I thought this was to be a private chat, Ian,” he said churlishly. “Is it really necessary for your girl here to take notes? You and I are practically family, after all, and I don’t think an outsider should be listening in on such a confidential matter.”
Ian took his seat carefully, leaning back in the chair in a deceptively casual manner. But Tessa could see quite clearly that he was as tightly strung as a bow, and that he was perilously close to losing his temper.
“First of all,” he began in a not so pleasant voice, “Ms. Lockwood is not to be referred to as “my girl”. She is my executive assistant, and a very valuable member of my management team. Understood?”
At Martin’s rather sullen nod, Ian continued in that deadly calm tone that Tessa knew to be extremely deceptive, for it meant that his anger was ready to reach the boiling point.
“Second, Ms. Lockwood also happens to be my fiancée,” Ian announced. “As of next June, she’ll be Mrs. Gregson. Which means, Martin,” he added smugly, “that she will be an official member of the family and, as such, your superior. So I would advise you to treat her with the utmost respect at all times. And, needless to say, I trust her implicitly, so that anything you deem a private matter you can feel free to discuss in her presence. Do I make myself clear?”
Martin was very obviously taken by surprise at this news, and all he could do was stammer a bit before nodding. “Yes,” he muttered. “Quite clear.”
“Good. Because you know how much I hate repeating myself, Martin. Speaking of which, I had much better things to do with my time than fly all the way out here to clean up this mess you’ve made of things. Especially since I’ve already sent three other teams from my staff out to do the same thing. And yet, in spite of all the warnings and reprimands and conditions that have been set down, you still continue to defy my orders and have practically run what was a very fine hotel into the ground. Have you read the most recent reviews on Trip Advisor? I’m ashamed and embarrassed that they were written about one of my hotels. And I’m telling you now, Martin - quite plainly so that there is zero misunderstanding - that I won’t tolerate any of this for even one more day.”
Martin sputtered and stammered his way through a long winded series of explanations and excuses, blaming everyone but himself for his incompetency. By the end of his diatribe, he was red in the face, sweating profusely, and wheezing.
Ian gave him a long, hard look, the revolt evident on his face. “Are you quite finished?” he asked in a weary voice. At Martin’s nod, Ian shut his eyes for a brief moment, as though gathering his thoughts. “Very well, then. I want you to listen carefully, Martin, because what I’m about to tell you is going to have a profound impact on your future. Throughout the day, Tessa and I have been taking notes about all of the issues that need addressing here. Everything from personnel matters to the cleanliness of the rooms to the quality of the food. And nearly every single item on our usual checklist was rated at best average, and at worst unsatisfactory. In all of my years working for this very fine company, I have never seen a hotel so poorly managed. But all of that is going to change, Martin, and change very quickly.”
Ian tossed a multi-paged report across the table where it landed smack in front of Martin. “That’s a list of all the issues that I want resolved. Have one of your staff make enough copies to go around so that each of your managers has one. They’ll need the information to help you put together the action plan I want in my hands before we fly out of here tomorrow morning. You should also have dinner ordered in, since I’m assuming the plan will take you most of the night to draft up.”
Martin stared at Ian in disbelief. “You can’t be serious, Ian. How are we supposed to address all of these issues in just a few hours? And - and Hilary and I were supposed to have dinner with you this evening. You’re just cancelling that? She’ll be so disappointed.”
Ian shrugged, already starting to pack up his laptop case. “Please extend my regrets to your wife. But I’m sure she’ll understand how urgent this meeting with your managers is, especially since your future employment with this company depends on the outcome.”
“What?” Martin’s small, deep-set eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets in shock. “Are - you can’t possibly be threatening me, Ian. After all that our families have meant to each other over the years, how close our grandfathers -”
Ian slammed his fist down on the conference table, hard enough to make it shake violently, and cause Tessa’s head to glance up in alarm from her tablet. But the truly alarming sight was the look of fury on her fiancé’s face.
“Enough,” demanded Ian. “I’m sick to death of you playing that particular card over and over, Martin. Both of our grandfathers are deceased, and as far as I’m concerned there’s very little our families have in common any longer. You’ve taken shameful advantage of your relationship with us over the years, slacked off on the job for far too long. Any other employee would have been dismissed years ago, and the only reason you’re still part of this firm is because of our grandfathers’ friendship. But mark my words, Martin - if I don’t have that action plan in my hands by the morning, and if considerable progress hasn’t been made on improving things around this place within the next ninety days, I won’t hesitate to terminate your employment. I’ll be placing you on an official probationary period starting tomorrow, and you’ll need to seriously toe the line if you want to retain your job. Now, I suggest you get busy making all of the arrangements for your meeting and letting your staff know they’ll be working quite late. I’m sure you’ll excuse Tessa and I as we’ve had a very long, trying day. We’ll see you bright and early tomorrow morning. Tessa - if you’re ready, darling?”
She didn’t hesitate to follow him out of the conference room, more than ready to put this dreadful day behind them and start to unwind. But she had to hustle a bit to keep up with his long-legged strides as he strode out of the administrative offices without a backwards glance, not bothering to bid the staff good evening or thank them as was his norm. Tessa knew he was furious, the anger not so silently seething beneath the surface by now, and she tactfully remained silent as they stepped inside the elevator.
Once at
the penthouse level, Ian grasped her by the elbow, propelling her along in his wake, and she was almost jogging to maintain the pace. When they reached the owner’s suite, the butler was hovering about anxiously, a welcoming smile on his face that quickly froze when he glimpsed the murderous expression on Ian’s face. The visibly nervous young man barely had time to stammer a greeting before Ian rather brusquely walked right past him, opening the door to the suite by himself, and then slamming it in the butler’s shocked face.
Tessa placed a gentle hand on his arm. “Are you all right? I know today was a real - oh!”
Her gasp of surprise was swiftly muffled by the ferocity of Ian’s kiss, his tongue swooping through her mouth with a hunger that spoke of desperation. Tessa was helpless to resist as he pushed her up against the entryway hall, his big body holding hers in place as his hands roamed possessively over her breasts, hips, and buttocks. It took mere seconds for her to become dazed from the insistent pressure of his lips upon hers, and her hands drifted up as if with a will of their own to clasp around his neck.
“I need you,” he rasped in her ear. “Let me.”
“Yes,” she panted. “Whatever you want. I’m yours, Ian.”
Her words seemed to only incite him further, to fuel the fire that was burning through his mind and body. Somewhat clumsily, he unfastened the buttons of her suit jacket, pulling it from her body, and then yanked the delicate silk camisole up over her head. Tessa whimpered as his hand delved inside one fragile bra cup, palming her breast roughly, his fingers pinching the nipple until she was squirming in reaction. He swiftly divested her of the lacy garment, both breasts spilling into his waiting palms. His tongue stabbed at one erect apricot nipple before sucking it into his mouth, his teeth biting into her flesh.
Ian was wild, out of control, more so than she’d ever known him to be, and she gloried in his ferocity, her body responding to his primitive passion almost shamefully. She helped him unfasten her skirt, shoving it to the floor, and then emitted a loud cry of surprise as he ripped away her underwear before plunging two long fingers deep, deep inside of her where she was already wet and needy. He claimed her lips in another of those erotic, open-mouthed kisses, just as his fingers hooked over the front of her pubic bone, coaxing her body to open even wider. As if from a great distance she dimly heard the sound of a zipper being lowered, and in the next moment Ian was lifting her leg to wrap around his hip as he rammed his fully engorged cock inside of her.
The sex was rough, hard, and more than a little filthy. She was practically naked, clad only in her shoes and stockings, while he remained fully clothed. At some point she pushed his suit jacket off his shoulders, then grasped his tie to pull him in close for another of those devouring kisses. Her head fell back limply against the wall as he continued to fuck her with rapid-fire thrusts, and she would have collapsed without the arm he kept banded about her waist. With her eyes tightly shut, she managed somehow to undo his tie and unbutton his shirt, divesting him of both until his powerfully muscled chest was bare against her naked breasts.
She felt the power of the orgasm reverberate through every cell of her body, felt the waves of pleasure spread up from her toes all the way to the top of her head, and this time her legs did give out from under her. But before she could hit the ground, Ian’s strong arms were sweeping her up, holding her against him as he carried her into the master bedroom of the suite.
He deposited her none too gently on the king sized bed, then stepped back to finish undressing. Tessa gazed up at him in a daze, so overcome by the fierceness of what had just happened that she couldn’t summon up a single coherent thought. Her legs were shaking, her belly quivering, and her private parts were tender and almost raw. She had just been fucked to within an inch of her life, and had never, ever been so turned on.
She went into Ian’s arms willingly, their limbs tangling together as he took her lips in a sweet, searching kiss. He didn’t speak, but she could tell from his body language that he regretted his previous roughness, that this time he would show more finesse, more care. And he did exactly that, with each tender caress, each loving kiss, and in the way he took possession of her body with exquisite patience. Their lovemaking this time was the exact opposite of that first fevered encounter, slow and sweet and gentle, and Tessa blinked away tears at how beautiful it all was.
They remained wrapped up together for several minutes afterwards, not speaking, simply content to cuddle and occasionally share a soft kiss. Ian’s fingers combed through her tangled curls, while she idly caressed his bare chest.
“I’m sorry.”
She glanced up at him, frowning when she saw the troubled expression in his eyes. “For what? Giving me two amazing orgasms? Yes, you should be begging my forgiveness for making me feel so good.”
Ian smiled. “Not that. You know what I mean, Tessa. I was angry and frustrated over how this day went, furious at that bastard Martin. And I took it out on you, used you as an outlet for my emotions. We should have gone to the gym first, where I could have taken my frustrations out on a punching bag. Or swam a few dozen laps. Instead, I wound up being far too rough with you, acting like an animal. Can you forgive me?”
She turned her face against his shoulder, her lips pressing against his hot skin. “Nothing to forgive,” she murmured huskily. “Especially since I liked it. A lot. You might have been a wild man, but I know you don’t have it in you to ever really hurt me, Ian. That was - well, some of the most exciting sex we’ve ever had. So please don’t be sorry it happened, because I’m certainly not.”
His chuckle rose up from deep within his chest. “You are becoming more and more of a shameless hussy the longer I know you. But I am sorry for being so rough, darling.”
She placed a finger over his lips. “Don’t be. I’m glad I could be here to offer you comfort, Ian. I always want to be here for you in whatever way you happen to need me. I love you so much, more than I can express at times.”
He captured her wrist, giving her finger a sensuous little lick. “But you tell me all the time how much you care, Tessa,” he corrected her gently. “In all the little ways you take care of me. I’ve never had anyone who loved me the way you do - completely, unselfishly, and joyfully.”
He kissed her again, a kiss that spoke of love and devotion and adoration, a kiss that made her heart ache with the depth of her feelings for him. As their lips broke apart slowly, she curled up trustingly against his side, her head resting against his stomach as his hand stroked her hair.
Ian’s cell phone pinged with an incoming call, and he gave a little sigh of frustration as he glanced at the caller ID.
“It’s Andrew,” he announced resignedly. “I’m sorry, love, but I really do need to speak with him.”
“It’s fine,” she assured him. “I’ll just go take a quick shower and then start looking over the room service menu for our dinner.”
But Ian gave a quick, decisive shake of his head as he answered the call, his big hand pressing against the back of her head to keep it in place. Tessa smiled and merely snuggled closer against him, more than content to remain exactly where she was. It was a rather submissive posture, allowing him to hold her still this way, but she wouldn’t have had it any other way.
She was beginning to drift off to sleep, her mind and body worn out from the stress of the day and the almost savage way Ian had just owned her body. It was the ringing of the suite’s doorbell that roused her, causing her to sit up abruptly. Ian was still immersed in his call to Andrew, and merely gave her a puzzled shrug, no more aware of who was at the door than she was.
“I’ll get it,” she mouthed, pulling on a silky robe as she got to her feet.
Ian frowned as he glanced at her rather scanty attire, but she was already heading out of the bedroom before he could call her back.
Tessa made sure to glance out of the peephole to see who was on the other side, not really wanting to open the door to the butler or another male employee dressed this way. But when she
saw who was waiting none too patiently on the other side, her reaction was a combination of anger, indignation, and a rather perverse need to teach someone a badly needed lesson.
It didn’t take a rocket scientist to guess what purpose Blaire had had in venturing up to the owner’s suite this evening, especially given her appearance. Tessa thought sourly that if the brunette’s office attire had been more suitable for a singles bar, then what she was wearing now was definitely intended for one purpose only - to get very, very lucky. There was absolutely no other reason why Blaire would be waiting at Ian’s door wearing a very short, strapless, red bandage dress that revealed more than it concealed, paired with towering red satin evening sandals. Her makeup was even heavier and more dramatic than it had been earlier today, and she had added a pair of chandelier earrings that reached her bare shoulders. She was holding a clutch bag in one hand, and a thick manila folder in the other.
Tessa glanced around the entryway, a little startled to notice the haphazard way shoes and clothes had been tossed around during her fervent physical encounter with Ian here on this very spot. Her torn, ruined underwear rested near her bare toes, with her bra mere inches away. Had it been anyone but that sly, conniving bitch Blaire on the other side of the door, Tessa would have been hastily gathering up the discarded items and shoving them into the nearest closest. Instead, she deliberately left everything where it was, and then loosened the belt on her silky robe, letting the fabric fall down her shoulder to partially expose a bare breast. She ran a hair through her hair to make it appear even more tousled, and knew that her cheeks were still flushed, her eyes still a bit dazed, from Ian’s passionate lovemaking. Satisfied that she looked very, very well fucked, she slowly opened the door to a visibly startled Blaire.
“Oh.” Blaire glanced around her in confusion. “Tessa - I - I guess I must have the wrong room. I’m sorry. I, um, just assumed that this was Mr. Gregson’s room. I mean, he’s always stayed in the owner’s suite during his previous visits.”
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