Mine Until Morning

by Samantha Hunter

  Collins leaned in, his arm on the door. “Kate told me what you did for her tonight. She tried to contact me earlier in the evening, to pick up her medicine for her, but I was in Baltimore dropping off a couple to their wedding and couldn’t get back in time. Thank you, ma’am and sir,” Collins said expressively, obviously very fond of his employer.

  “I would do anything for Kate,” Tessa said truthfully, taking Jonas’s hand. “And thank goodness Jonas could get that door open,” she said. “I could never have done it by myself.”

  “You let me know if you need anything,” Collins said. “I am at your disposal for as long as you need me.”

  Kate was obviously trying to help her and Jonas along a little, Tessa guessed. A compartment opened on the other side, sliding out to reveal a champagne bar, strawberries and pretty, foil-wrapped chocolates.

  “Some privacy, perhaps?” Collins asked with a twinkle in his eye.

  Tessa, still stunned, nodded.

  “Enjoy,” was all Collins said as he closed the door and slid into the driver’s seat, which seemed yards away from where they sat. A solid, and probably soundproof, barrier rose between them. A minute later, the car pulled smoothly away from the hospital.

  The vehicle seemed to cut through the wind and rain like butter, the dark windows lit only now and then by a flash of lightning.

  “I can’t get over this,” she said. “In all the time I’ve known Kate, she never said a word about owning a business.”

  “It sounds like it was her husband’s venture, and maybe Collins runs it now,” Jonas agreed.

  “I’m so relieved. I always worry about her being comfortable, or paying her bills.”

  “People of their generation don’t make an issue out of wealth like some do,” Jonas said. “It’s good to have friends who care about you. Kate obviously values that,” he said.

  “I do, too,” Tessa responded, hoping he knew how much she meant it.

  A buzzer sounded. Tessa pressed the button that lit up on the console.

  “Yes?”

  “I have your addresses, ma’am, but Ms. Masters wondered if you would like a late meal, since you may have missed dinner while getting to her apartment. There’s no hurry.”

  “Now that you mention it, I am hungry,” Tessa said. “And please call me Tessa. But we’re not really dressed for dinner,” she said. They looked like a couple of surgeons coming home from work.

  The idea triggered a fun idea for role play—she would love to play doctor with Jonas, she thought mischievously, but then returned her attention to Collins.

  “If you have any preference, let me know. I’m sure your attire won’t be an issue.”

  An idea sparked immediately, and Tessa put down the divider, climbing forward to whisper something in Collins’s ear. She knew the perfect place.

  Putting the divider back, she eyed the champagne. “Okay then. I guess we’re riding in style,” she said to Jonas as she poured two glasses of champagne and went back to sit by his side, handing him one.

  “I’m so glad it wasn’t my dad who sent this car,” she said honestly.

  “Why?” Jonas asked, and she wasn’t sure if she detected a note of suspicion in his tone.

  “I don’t like owing him anything, or having him monitor my movements. He says he doesn’t, or that he’s just trying to keep me safe, but I know old habits are hard to break.”

  “He’s just looking out for you. Dads are usually protective of their daughters.”

  “Protective is one thing. Dad takes it to a whole other level.”

  “How so?” Jonas asked.

  “When I was young, we were close,” Tessa said, remembering.

  Her father had been the sun, moon and stars back then. He’d taught her to ride a bike, played tea party with her and had sent her first flowers, delivered by a florist on her thirteenth birthday.

  “But he confuses protection with control. I don’t like to be controlled,” she said, remembering less pleasant teenage years when her father had made her life miserable more than once. “As I got older, I realized he wanted me to be who he wanted, not who I am.”

  “Isn’t that typical with teenagers and parents? My brothers and I gave my parents a few tough moments, as well. All teenagers rebel.”

  “It was more than that. I couldn’t have a normal social life, even more so than what happens with other politicians’ kids. He wanted to approve my friends, my activities, my boyfriends. It seemed like I only mattered so far as I was a reflection on him.”

  “I’m sure he didn’t think that,” Jonas said. “Your father has always seemed to genuinely care for you. He’s proud of you.”

  Tessa snorted. “That’s the image he shows to everyone else. He was furious when I dropped out of college.”

  “Seems like most parents would be.”

  “Yeah, probably, but I was only studying law because he wanted me to. I’d gotten into soap-making as a hobby, but I loved it. I was good at it. I was selling soaps online and to classmates out of my dorm room,” she said with a laugh.

  “You couldn’t do both?”

  “I didn’t want to. Maybe if he had let me do something more creative, more…me, I would have stuck it out, but I hated what I was doing, and I knew I wanted to open a shop. He thought that it was frivolous, the shop, the soap-making. He forbade me to do it. He tried to stop me, at first.”

  “How?”

  “He blocked the business loans I applied for, and did anything else he could to thwart me,” she said, remembering how ugly that had gotten.

  A woman who had been buying her products for a while, who also happened to work in credit services, told Tessa why her bank loans weren’t getting approval.

  She’d been furious and felt betrayed by her father in the most hurtful way.

  “He really did that?” Jonas said, sitting up, his blind gaze focused on her as she spoke.

  She knew he only saw the facade her father provided, the solid politician who cared about country and family. The man who put up with a wayward daughter who was selfish and ungrateful. It was what everyone saw.

  James believed his own press, and she figured he really thought he did the things he did for her own good.

  “Yeah, he really did that, and more.”

  “Like?”

  “Well, the worst offense, other than the store, was paying off a guy I was crazy about in college. He was in the music program, wanted to be a guitar player. We were so in love…and suddenly he received a paid scholarship to Juilliard.”

  “That’s a huge break,” Jonas said, frowning.

  “Yeah. One that my father funded, I found out later. He would have had a heart attack if I had married a rock guitarist.”

  “Oh,” Jonas said, frowning deeper. “So what happened with the store?”

  “I proved to him that I can play hardball just as well as he can. I knew a city reporter, a guy who was dating a friend of mine, and I told Dad if he didn’t get his nose out of my business, I would leak the story to the press, about how a city councilman, which was his job then, was using his clout with local banks to block small-business loans. If I went on record, it would have been a nasty political blow,” she said. “And I had the paperwork to prove it.”

  “That sounds…bad.”

  “It was. He backed off and let the loan go through. It didn’t matter. If he hadn’t, I would have just used my trust fund left to me by my grandfather. He couldn’t touch that, but I didn’t want to use it if I didn’t have to.”

  She sighed. “We didn’t speak to or see each other for two years after that. Then my mom got sick, and when we were trying to be there for her, and after she was gone, it brought us together again. He had to admit I was doing well, and things got better. He even came to the shop, and we have lunch now and then. But I’m always wary of him.”

  “I had no idea,” Jonas said quietly.

  “No one does. My exploits, as you know, were fairly well noted in the media. I know I was wrong to
act out like I did back then, but I couldn’t help it. He was smothering. He says it’s all out of love, and I think he believes that sometimes, but it’s hard for him to let me be who I am.”

  “You’re probably more like him than you think,” Jonas said.

  Tessa drew back. “Why would you say that?”

  “I’m sorry. It didn’t come out how I meant it. Just that…you’d have to be a strong personality not to let someone like him, with his own strong presence, completely obliterate you.”

  She took a deep breath, and released it, relieved. “Yeah. I never thought about it that way, but I suppose that’s probably why we came at each other so hard over the years.”

  Jonas was quiet then, his face pensive, and she watched him closely.

  “What are you thinking about?”

  He blinked, as if not realizing he had mentally wandered off.

  “Oh, sorry. I just can’t imagine growing up with all that pressure.”

  “Different families have different dynamics.”

  “Yeah.”

  She noticed he hadn’t taken even one sip of his champagne. “You don’t like your drink?”

  “Not thirsty.”

  “Me, neither,” she agreed, and set the glasses down. She quickly stripped off her scrubs and returned to the seat, straddling his lap. His arm grazed her bare skin, his hand finding its way down her arm to her waist, hip and leg, his pulse slamming in the base of his throat. “You’re naked.”

  “You noticed.”

  She leaned in to kiss him. “I hope Collins takes the long way,” she said, bringing both his hands up to cover her breasts.

  “Where are we going?”

  The way his voice lowered and caught ever so slightly as he massaged her made her happy. She wanted him to be affected by her.

  “It’s a surprise,” she said.

  He didn’t say anything, and seemed to be holding his breath, as if deciding something.

  That internal war again, whatever it was, she knew.

  So she decided for him, leaning forward and kissing him until she had his complete attention. If he still thought she was seducing him for her own purposes, he was right.

  Maybe he had the intentions wrong, but this was definitely selfish. She wanted him, and she knew he wanted her. She was willing to deal with any backlash later to have him now.

  But he seemed to come around to her way of thinking rather easily, taking her into his arms and easing her down to her back. She stretched out on the sumptuous leather, and he followed, covering her with his own body.

  She pushed his shirt up over his head, and he kicked his pants off. Then they were skin to skin, head to toe, and she almost purred when the strong, muscular legs wedged in between her thighs in a very erotic way. He didn’t rush to get inside her, but lay there, covering her, touching her and whispering sweet things she’d never forget.

  Tessa closed her eyes in the bliss of Jonas’s body against her. As they settled into each other, nestled in the soft leather of the seat, Tessa had a sense of rightness she hadn’t ever felt before. She knew she was meant to be with this man. She had the rest of the night to convince him of that.

  JONAS WAS A GONER as soon as he’d realized Tessa was naked.

  Though their discussion had created more questions than answers for him, at the moment he had had five feet seven inches of delectable, delicious woman spread out beneath him.

  He sighed softly against the skin just below her ear.

  “This is nice,” she said breathlessly.

  “Nice is a weak word,” he said lightly, nipping her earlobe, then sucking on it, swirling his tongue around the delicate inner shell. “Awesome. Fantastic. Mind-bending,” he offered, punctuating each word with a kiss, then a bite, then another kiss to soothe the sting.

  Jonas was so hungry for her he didn’t know where to start. His hands explored lower, sliding down the smooth lines of her back to cup her firm ass and pull her up against him. He groaned as his erection rubbed against a soft patch of curls and slick flesh.

  Being so close with Tessa shook him to his core. He took his time, moving his shaft slowly along her sex, driving them both crazy. He was gratified when her nails dug into his back and she pushed up against him, seeking him, a wordless sigh and whole-body tremor releasing yet another wash of heat from her body.

  She made the prettiest sounds, her body cradling his perfectly. Drawing a lush, erect nipple in between his lips, he let the sensations of touch and taste roll over him.

  “I wish I could see you,” he said, rising to find her lips for a kiss. “I’ve only ever touched you in the dark.”

  “You’re right,” she said softly. “I hadn’t realized that. It will come back, Jonas.” She moved against him. “And when it does, I’ll still be here, if you want me to be.”

  Her words made him ache. He was starting to want that more than just about anything, and that was dangerous, he knew. What she’d told him about her father had explained a lot. Jonas had made a hell of a leap based on partial information.

  And he was keeping a secret that would tear her from his arms, he knew.

  “I guess until then touching and tasting every inch of you will have to suffice,” he teased, injecting lightness into his voice, though his heart was heavy.

  “I can live with that,” she said, sliding her hand down his chest to his lower stomach, finally caressing his cock and making him suck in a sharp breath.

  As she left fluttering kisses all over his face, neck and shoulders, he moved to accommodate her as she worked her way lower and took him into her mouth.

  He dived his hands into her hair, enjoying the multitude of sensations her mouth was creating as she licked and sucked, her warm mouth and soft lips nearly driving him over the edge. Pulling her around, he slid his hand between her legs and found her soaked, hot. He slid a finger inside, then two, and loved how her moans made her mouth vibrate around his cock.

  “Condom. Now,” he demanded raggedly.

  The next thing he heard was the ripping of the packet. He held his breath, waiting, hoping…and hissed out a sigh as she deftly covered him, kissing and teasing while she did.

  Jonas eased her back on the seat, sliding his hand down to her ankle and pulling it up to rest against his shoulder.

  “I’ve dreamed of this,” he confessed.

  “Me, too.”

  Turning his mouth to find the soft skin of her inner leg, he moved his fingers down to the crux of her body, seeking the hard, pebbled nub of her clit and stroking in slow, rhythmic motions.

  Tessa’s whole body twisted toward him on the seat as she sought more, writhing under his touch, her gasps and moans increasingly urgent.

  “Jonas, please, I want you inside me when I come,” she panted.

  He pushed her a little more, turned on by her restraint, how she held back even as her body trembled with the effort.

  When Jonas was sure she was as close to the edge as he was, he guided himself into her welcoming body, the very act drawing the breath out of him. She closed around him like a fist as he filled her with one, deep, purposeful thrust that made them both groan in ecstasy.

  He’d never felt anything quite so perfect, he was sure of it. He paused, fighting the impulse to move, soaking up the sensation of her hot, inner muscles pulsing around his cock.

  “Please, Jonas,” she begged, arching up under him.

  He granted her request, withdrawing slowly and then thrusting forward again, his hand caressing her calf as he tried to create the image of what she must look like in his mind’s eye.

  He nipped and kissed the flesh beneath her knee, opening her farther to his thrusts as he moved faster, letting need set the pace. She drove him on with hot, raw descriptions as she joined in, touching herself, telling him what she was feeling, what she wanted him to do to her.

  He wanted to do all of it, over and over again.

  He was sure he’d died and gone to heaven when he felt her hand down between them, her
fingers circling the root of him as he thrust inside her.

  “So. Good. Jonas,” she moaned, alternating touching him and herself.

  Pulling her other leg up over his other shoulder, Jonas pumped into her without restraint, all the pent-up desire, need and anticipation he had for this woman driving him.

  The orgasm was like nothing he had ever experienced. Release created a splash of color behind his eyelids as it shook his body. He kept thrusting, and amazingly, when normally the sensation would start to fade, it was instead followed by a second wave of pleasure that had him gasping as she clenched him tight, her nails scraping his chest as she cried out her own release.

  Finally the urgency eased and he lowered her legs, withdrawing from her body reluctantly and pulling her up against him. Jonas had never been what he would call a snuggly kind of guy, but he needed the contact as if to reassure himself that this was real, that Tessa was really here with him.

  Her skin was damp with perspiration, which intensified the scents of soap and sex. Her body was pliant and he stroked her wherever he could touch.

  “Keep that up,” she said on a sigh, “and we’ll be reaching for the box again soon.”

  “Sounds good to me,” he said.

  He sought her lips for another kiss, the heat actually growing again between them, when a buzzer sounded somewhere close. Collins’s voice followed on the intercom.

  “We’re close to our destination, unless you’d like me to drive around more. If so, hit the intercom button twice.”

  Jonas and Tessa laughed at their driver’s discretion in not asking for a verbal response.

  “He drove all the way from Baltimore already tonight. I think we can get dressed and give the guy a break,” Tessa said, extricating herself from Jonas’s embrace, though slowly.

  “We can,” he agreed, but didn’t let her go before he pulled her in for another heart-stopping, promising kiss.

  The next few moments were filled with the sounds of them righting themselves, dressing and hoping they were presentable before they gave the okay to Collins.

  The car stopped, and a door opened on Tessa’s side. While making love to Tessa, Jonas hadn’t even noticed that the pounding rain on the outside of the car had lightened to a drizzle. The winds had calmed and he heard thunder rolling gently off in the distance.