by Tawny Weber
“Look at you, out here all by your lonesome.”
The ocean washed over the words, the evening air trying to carry them away. But it didn’t take his SEAL training to recognize a female voice.
His mouth almost dropped open when he saw who it was.
“Tessa?”
“Hey there,” she said with a smile that sparkled with more than just a greeting. “It’s so pretty out here. Much nicer than all that stuffy air in there.”
Tessa tilted her head toward the manor, but her eyes didn’t leave his face as she descended the last few steps to join him in the sand. As soon as she did, her feet sank and she grabbed hold of his arm as if she were keeping her balance.
“Mmm, you are in peak condition, aren’t you?” she said as her hand wrapped around his biceps and squeezed. “I don’t think there’s a bigger turn-on than a man with a rock-hard body. And you are quite...hard.”
She let the last word drop off her lips on a sigh, her expression appreciatively seductive.
Gabriel frowned.
What the hell was she doing?
“Is everything okay?” he asked.
Still holding on to him, she bent one slender leg to slide off her shoe, then, the sky-high heel dangling from a strap, she shifted hands to remove the other one.
Gabriel watched the moonlight skim over her bare legs, whimsically wondering if she’d turn into a mermaid if she got too close to the water. Or, more likely, into a siren.
“Everything is just fine,” she said once she’d carefully set her shoes, one upright next to the other, on the bottom step.
This was the first time he’d seen her barefoot. A wave of protectiveness washed over him when he realized how tiny she actually was. Her personality was so big, her sexuality so intense, that it was easy to overlook her size.
Then she smiled, her lips curved and enticing, her eyes glinting with sultry amusement as she speared her fingers into her hair, lifting the dark curls before letting them fall to her shoulders again. Her pleasure at such a simple, yet sensual act sent a shaft of heat straight to Gabriel’s dick.
With any other woman he’d figure this was an invitation.
But Tessa wasn’t any woman.
“So what’s the deal? You were bored in there?” he mused randomly.
“Actually, I’m here to see if you wanted to play,” she said in a sexy tone. She slid her hand over his arm again, the brush of her fingers echoing her words’ husky caress.
“Play?” he repeated, his eyes narrowed.
“Play,” she confirmed with a teasing smile.
Sure she was.
And he was the one being played.
Even if the board was being run by a master he could still see the signs.
And Tessa Monroe was most definitely a master. At games of all kinds. And at running.
He debated calling her out on the move. But the deliberation only lasted a moment before he acknowledged that the risk was high and the payoff low. If he pointed out that he could see the game, she’d probably skip out again. It was probably what she was expecting.
As he stared down into her face, so delicate, yet so vivid, he realized that he was starting to understand her.
Gabriel knew the minute Tessa could pigeonhole him, she’d dismiss him. That was what she did with men. He understood her, since in many ways she was his own mirror image.
Just sexier.
She was also wickedly protective of her friends, appeared to value nothing more than loyalty and had a sweet streak he was sure she’d deny. And since despite her obvious misgivings, she’d agreed to be Livi’s maid of honor, she clearly put her friends’ feelings over her own.
The woman was a study in contrasts and spelled trouble for any man looking for peace and tranquility.
Good thing for him he wanted neither.
“So?” Tessa said, wetting her bottom lip with her tongue and sending a shaft of passion spiking through his system. “What do you say? Want to play?”
He leaned back on his heels, considering her face. It was a study in seduction. The full, pouting lips, the sweep of her lashes. But he could see the calculation in the blue depths of her eyes, there beneath the desire.
And in a flash as powerful as his spiking desire, he realized what she was doing.
She wanted to fan this heat, accelerate it so it blew hot, fast and furious. She figured the faster it blew up, the quicker it blew out, the sooner it’d be over. Then she’d turn on those sexy heels of hers and walk away without a glance.
Without giving him another thought.
Gabriel totally understood her strategy. He even admired it.
But he’d be damned if he was going to make it easy for her.
He didn’t know why.
It was stupid to worry about dragging out this thing between them. It was obviously hot enough to set off fire alarms already. Could it really get any hotter? Any wilder?
And then there was his personal policy to live for the moment. Today was the only day he was guaranteed to have, so today was to be lived to the fullest.
But whatever this was between them, and he had no idea what it might be, Gabriel was damned if it was going to be finished until he was ready.
It might take weeks.
Maybe months.
He might be finished after one orgasm or it could be dozens.
But hey, it didn’t matter if it was on the battlefield, behind covert cover or between the sheets.
He was a man used to giving his all.
And when it was done, she might walk away.
But she’d never forget him.
He’d make damned sure of that.
It was time to put Operation Romance into play.
With that in mind, Gabriel took Tessa’s hand, and in a move he’d never made before but felt completely natural, he lifted it to his lips.
“What are you doing?”
Underneath the surprise, he heard the nerves dancing there, just beneath the surface. And he reveled in them.
He’d thrown her off.
Which was a great first step.
“Doing? I’m seducing you,” he said quietly, taking his time as he slid his hands through the long sweep of her hair, enjoying the silky thickness weighing against his fingers. “Since you’ve finally admitted this attraction we’ve got going on here, I figure it’s time to see how far we can push it. How long we can play it out.”
“Oh, I’ll bet you’re good for at least a few long, hard hours,” she said in a husky tone, her fingers tiptoeing up his chest, leaving hot little trails wherever they touched.
“Oh, yeah, I could keep you panting and wet for hours and hours,” he promised, leaning closer as if to kiss her. At the last second, he shifted so his lips brushed the softest whisper over her silken cheek. “But I was thinking we could do better than that.”
Her breath hitched a little; her eyes blurred with pleasure. Her fingers were kneading his chest, nails digging in gently in a sexy rhythm that promised a superb sense of timing.
For a second, Gabriel wanted to say to hell with dragging this out. It wasn’t ego reminding him that he’d never had a woman who didn’t want more when they were done. The simple truth was that he was damned good at sex.
The problem was, so was Tessa. He was sure of it. And she was a woman with exquisite control. He had no doubt that while she might, if forced, admit as she left his bed that it’d been the best sex of her life, she’d still leave.
He had to hook her good and solid first, so she’d be there until he’d had his fill.
“See, real seduction is an art,” he continued, making it up as he spoke. “There’s a smooth buildup, layers of needs and awareness. There’s discovery, finding out if we have the same turn-ons, exploring
each other’s secret delights.”
Her eyes sharpened to a blue so deep it was almost purple, those full lips parted just a little as if ready for him to dive in. Damn, she was intoxicating.
He was halfway there, his mouth craving the taste of hers, before he yanked himself back.
To hide his slip, he rubbed his thumb over the soft cushion of her bottom lip instead.
“All of that should come first, don’t you think?” he said with his most charming smile.
Watching the play of emotions flash through Tessa’s eyes, excitement melding with fear, worry with passion, he gave himself a mental pat on the back.
Damned if this wasn’t going to beat the hell out of fast and furious.
Figuring he deserved a little reward for outmaneuvering her, Gabriel pulled Tessa closer. Pleasure pounded through him as the delicious curves of her body aligned tightly against his hard planes.
He knew his limits, knew exactly how far he could push this desire before he hit the point of no return.
Now to find out hers.
4
HER BODY WAS on fire.
Hot, molten pleasure radiated out from every point it came into contact with the deliciously hard planes of Romeo’s body. He towered over her, his eyes as dark as the sky above as he stared down at her. His fingers were a whisper as they skimmed over her cheek before sliding into her hair, rubbing a strand between them before tucking it behind her ear.
With a focus that held incredible promise for things to come, he leaned closer.
Tessa’s heart clenched, anticipation coiling tight around desire as she waited to see what he would do. She’d been secretly dreaming about his lips for months. Wondering what they’d feel like. Would he be forceful and take her mouth? Or would he gently seduce?
Their eyes locked on each other’s, Gabriel’s smile flashed for just a second. The closer he came, the more excited she got. At the last second, before he reached her lips, he changed direction. Tessa shivered as his breath whispered over her ear a heartbeat before his lips.
Oh. As his mouth brushed her flesh, anticipation uncoiled, sending that desire shooting through her system.
Holy screaming orgasms.
With one hand pressed to the small of her back and the other curled into her hair and just the sweetest brush of his mouth, Romeo sent her from intrigued and cautious to wet and needy. She sank her fingers into his biceps, delighting in the sensations.
Tessa was a woman exquisitely in tune with her own body, brilliantly aware of the nuances that played out between women and men and fiercely sensitive to the potentially emotional missteps.
Which, she remembered as a knot of panic balled in her belly, at odds with the feeling of throbbing desire, was why she’d determined so many months ago that Romeo was off-limits.
Because he was dangerous on so very many levels.
She gave an involuntary hum as his teeth nipped at her earlobe, the sharp pleasure shooting through her body like a wake-up message to her erogenous zones.
Tessa was also a woman of fierce pride.
She’d come out here to seduce Romeo for a very good reason.
And just because it was a mistake—probably a huge mistake—didn’t mean those reasons weren’t still valid.
She pressed her palms against the rock-solid walls of his chest, her fingers kneading before she skimmed them down to his waist and around to cup his sexy butt. The move pulled his body closer to hers. Since she was barefoot and he was at least six foot tall, the evidence of just how huge he was pressed temptingly against her stomach.
Oh, yeah, baby.
What better way to prove her power than to take on something so huge, so big, so overpowering—Tessa’s thighs trembled as images, mostly naked, flashed through her head.
As if he were reading her mind and had decided to reward her for coming to the very decision he wanted, Gabriel’s mouth slid over her cheek again. Whispering kisses trailed from her ear to the corner of her mouth.
She parted her lips, keeping the invitation subtle. But smart guy that he was, Romeo grabbed the invite and ran with it. Whisper soft, he rubbed his lips over hers. His kiss was as gentle as the breeze dancing around them and just as innocuous. She breathed in his scent, fresh like the ocean beyond, and Tessa’s heart sighed at the sweetness of his kiss. Her mind was a little amused that she’d gotten all worked up and worried over something this, well, nice. But hey, better to overreact than underestimate.
Who said sexual chemistry led to explosions? She laughed in the back of her head. Not minding that this was one of the few times she’d misread sexual potential, she skimmed her hands from his arms to his shoulders, then comfortably linked her fingers behind his neck. Relaxed and ready to enjoy the warmth, she loosened her guard and leaned a little closer.
Later, she’d wonder if Romeo had some sort of triggering device that told him when her defenses had hit their lowest. Because that was when he made his move.
Romeo’s hands shifted from her hair to cup her butt, pulling her tight against his body. His mouth angled, lips widening as he shifted gears from sweet to sexy with the slip of his tongue.
Before she could do more than gasp, he plunged.
His teeth scraped over her bottom lip, his tongue sweeping her mouth, luring hers into his before tangling them together so tight, so close, that her brain didn’t even have time to send up warning signals.
It was too busy exploding.
Right along with her body.
Tessa felt as if she were melting, floating on a sea of sensations.
As Romeo’s mouth moved over hers, her entire being leaned into the kiss.
Amazing.
Deliciously, mind-bogglingly, warning-signal-worthy amazing.
Every single portion of her being was focused on him.
On his mouth as it slid over hers.
On the taste of him coating her tongue, rich and addicting.
On the feel of his hands, rough and demanding on her hips.
On the intensity of his body as it pressed tight against her soft curves.
Mmm, he was delicious.
Her fingers skimmed over the soft cotton of his dress shirt, over the hard breadth of his shoulders, delighting in the powerful muscles there. She scraped her nails down his chest, giving a low purr deep in her throat at his body’s instant reaction. His hips thrust, his hands tightened on her hips and his tongue stabbed deeper into her mouth, demanding even more.
She hummed low in her throat like a satisfied cat, reveling in the pleasure of their passion.
She’d known it’d be like this.
That he’d feel like the answer to her every sexual fantasy.
That he’d know just where to touch, just how to move, to make her ready to beg for more.
Tessa’s head fell back, inviting Gabriel to have more.
His lips skimmed over her flesh, soft as air until he unerringly found the spot there, just beneath her ear, just above her shoulder. He scraped it with his teeth, tongue sliding hot and molten over her flesh.
Tiny tremors rocked through her body, her panties damp with passion as Tessa pressed her thighs together tightly to intensify the feeling.
If he could do this with just a simple brush of his lips, with his hands in neutral and his shaft still zipped away, what would he do when they got naked and crazy?
Her mind boggled at the possibilities.
She shivered with excitement, her body demanding more, begging for fulfillment.
And her stomach—always the harbinger of stress to come—clenched tight enough to be felt over the excitement there.
Tessa usually reveled in her passions and was on intimate terms with her desires.
It wasn’t the passion that scared her.
It was the need.
Edgy, intense and demanding.
She wanted to believe she’d have been able to resist it if she hadn’t been lulled into complacency with that sweet starter of a kiss. But she knew better. The way her body was trembling, dancing on the edge of a fully clothed, erogenous-zone-free orgasm, was a sure sign that she was in big time trouble if she didn’t grab control back.
Fast.
It took everything she had, but Tessa was finally able to pull away from Romeo’s mouth. Stepping back, she almost lost her balance in the sand. Planting her feet, she pretended that was the only place she was teetering and took a deep breath.
Even with the much-needed distance between her and Romeo, she could still feel him.
His hands, hot and enticing on her body.
His lips, wild and demanding on her mouth.
His erection, hard and throbbing against her thigh.
Without thinking, Tessa’s gaze dropped to the front of his slacks, her smile taking a wicked slant at the evidence there. Of his desire for her, yes. But also of how incredibly, deliciously, temptingly huge he was.
And just like that, lust overcame fear and Tessa was ready to put that huge temptation to good use.
“I’d say you’ve got a pretty solid handle on the art of seduction,” she said with a teasing smile, closing the distance between them again.
His eyes were hooded, but she could see the desire in their depths. And something else. Tessa didn’t look too close, telling herself she didn’t want that sort of intimacy. This was all about physical satisfaction. She didn’t want to know what was going on behind his gorgeous face. Feelings, thoughts, emotions—those would just get in her way.
“And you’re pure temptation,” he said quietly, his hands resting on her hips again. Her smile widened as she felt the restraint in them. How long would it take her to break that control of his? She’d bet anything she could snap it before she lost hers. Her smile widening at the private challenge, she prepared to win.
“This is definitely tempting,” she whispered, pressing kisses to his chest. She didn’t even remember unbuttoning his shirt, but she knew his hands had been occupied so it must have been her. “Tempting enough that I definitely want to see more. But I suppose getting naked on the beach isn’t the best idea.”