by Sasha Gold
I’m pissed, but less so than I was on the flight home, and now that I’m pulling into the garage, I can feel my mood shift. What a fucking relief.
Tessa…
She’s here. I feel her close. A weight lifts. I need to touch her like I need to breathe.
The elevator rises to the penthouse. The doors open. Tessa’s waiting for me in the foyer, looking like a dream. She wears a wispy silk dress that hugs her curves. Heels. Her hair is swept up in a twist, but small, delicate tendrils frame her face.
When she sees me, she shrieks because I haven’t shaved in a week. I’m dressed in black from head to foot and probably have a dangerous look in my eye. She takes a few panicked steps back, but I’m too quick. She can’t escape me. With a primitive snarl, I grab her and wrap her up in my arms.
Lifting her off the floor, I walk her back to the bedroom. She wriggles in my arms. I growl again, nipping her neck.
“Need. To. Fuck you,” I mutter.
She pounds on my shoulder. “I have to tell you something.”
“I’m listening.”
Yeah, barely. I’m about to ravish the woman I’ve missed for a whole damned week, which feels more like a decade. The room is mostly dark, but light from the closet casts enough light for me to cross the room to the bed. I lay her down and immediately she’s scrambling across the bed. I grab her foot and haul her back, which makes her sexy as fuck dress ride up her thighs.
“Roman,” she whispers. “I have to confess something.”
My brain isn’t getting a lot of blood flow right now, but I manage to mentally rewind a few messages Claire gave me. She promised Tessa was safe. Damon was busy with training a team of men heading to Dubai. I circle back to the information regarding Tessa. She was fine, Claire assured me. One of our top guys had kept an eye on her for me, and that’s all I need for now. Anything else can wait.
I run my hands down Tessa’s legs, tug her heels off and toss them over my shoulder. “Confess when you’re naked.”
She gives a soft laugh and swats my hands. Why is she acting like some shy, fragile virgin? I push her dress up and groan at the sight of her lacy panties. I stop for a moment and trace my finger down the panel. Fuck, she’s wet. When she wriggles, trying to get away, I feel a surge of lust rampaging through me like an enraged bull.
“I better confess quickly,” she blurts.
“Yes.”
“You’re not exactly being reasonable.”
“Right,” I manage to say from between gritted teeth. I’m never reasonable when it comes to Tessa. I loop my finger under the panties. “You just noticed?”
She frowns. “What?”
Her confusion makes me slow down.
I look her in the eye. “I’ve never been reasonable when it comes to you.” I give a quick tug and the panties tear as easily as if they were held by a thread.
I try to take in everything at once. Her pretty eyes. Her sexy lips. Her scent. I’ve missed everything about her.
“Roman.” Her voice is a trembling whisper.
“Tessa.”
I stroke my finger along her wet folds. Fuck, this girl could make me lose my mind. Maybe she already has. She gives a small mewl as I tease her clit with my thumb. Her thighs part. She closes her eyes and arches.
Unable to wait any longer, I prowl over her, push her thighs wider and lick her slick folds. I manage, barely, to take it slowly. Her scent wrecks me. Her taste unravels any remaining shred of my sanity. Everything but raw, molten need slips from my mind. Her breath comes in desperate pants. She threads her fingers through my hair. When she writhes beneath me, I pin her to the bed with my forearm.
My cock leaks with precum. My balls ache. But I can’t stop.
Her cries grow louder. She’s begging me. I’ve missed this. Never leaving her again. And then she screams my name and it’s like finding the promised land. Normally, I’d linger and make her give me another screaming orgasm, but not tonight.
I rip her dress from her body and suck her tits as she tries to tell me something about her ring and her friend. I grunt a few responses. Tessa’s nipples are very sensitive. She responds almost immediately. One minute she’s talking, or trying to talk and a moment later, she’s whimpering my name again.
“One day, I’m going to make you come when I tease your tits.”
“Roman,” Tessa breathes. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Her words knock me for a loop. I look down at her and see the fear in her eyes. Who made Tessa afraid?
“Did I scare you?” I ask.
She licks her lips and blinks like she’s trying to hold back tears.
I cup her jaw. “I frightened you.”
Shaking her head slowly, she sets her hand on mine. “I pawned the ring.”
It takes me a moment to understand her words. “The ring? The one I gave you?”
“Yes. Chelsea was in trouble. She was hurt. I gave her the money to get away from Brendon’s family.”
I stroke her cheek with my thumb. As much as my lust burned a moment before, now I’m just thinking about the look in my girl’s eyes.
“I felt awful that I’d given away the ring you gave me. I thought you’d be… angry.”
She’s afraid that I’m going to lose my shit over this? A ring? The only thing that pisses me off is that she needed me, and I was gone. “S’all right, Tessa. I’ll buy you ten more.”
A tear rolls from her eye and down her temple. She’s crying. It kills me that she’s crying. I lower to kiss her there and trace my tongue over the wet trail the tear left behind. I brush my lips over her ear, kissing the shell. “Rings, vases, it’s just stuff. I can always go out and get you more stuff. But there’s only one of you, Tessa. Nothing else matters. It’s you I love.”
She nods but somehow my words make more tears pool in her eyes.
“I missed you,” I whisper as I drop kisses across her face.
“I missed you too. I made you dinner, your favorite dish.”
I kiss her mouth with a deep, hard indecent kiss, one that’s meant to change the topic completely. She moans and wraps her arms around my shoulders. She’s already given me one orgasm because I practically pounced on her the moment I walked in. Now I want to show her how much I need her and never want to be apart from her again, not even for a night.
“You’re my favorite dish,” I tell her as I strip down. “So many ways I love to have you.”
She gasps as I set her on her hands and knees and settle behind her. “This is new. I haven’t had you this way, have I, Tessa?”
I stroke the head of my cock against her sensitive core. A shudder rolls up her spine. She draws a long breath that ends with a soft cry.
“Look how gorgeous you are.” I run my hands across her heart-shaped ass and along the length of her back. “Next time I fuck you from behind, I want the room filled with burning candles, so I can see how beautiful you are.”
Her hair has fallen loose. I wrap a swathe of her hair around my hand and give her a slight tug to pull her head back. She draws a sharp breath.
“Easy,” I tell her. “I’m not going to go rough. Not tonight.” I tease her pussy with the head of my cock, which aches with the need to be inside her. I want to grab her lush hips and bury myself balls-deep into her sweet, wet heat, but I’m trying my damnedest to slow things down a little. There’s a beast inside me, snarling and tearing at his restraints, seething to be unleashed.
“Please, Roman,” she begs. “I want you.”
Jesus.
“I want you inside me,” she says, her voice a breathy whisper.
And that’s it. My control snaps. Gripping her hair in one hand, and her hip with the other, I sink into her. Not in one single thrust. She’s so tight, I can’t impale her on my cock all at once. I groan with each thrust, reveling in the way her pussy grips my cock. She arches her back, offering herself to me. She has no idea how much she shreds my self-control.
By the time I’m buried deeply inside her
, a sheen of sweat covers my chest. I’m sucking air between clenched jaws. She’s writhing in my grasp, taking every inch of my cock. I let go of her hair and grip her hips. She makes a small sound of surprise when I dig my fingers into her soft skin.
I lean over, covering her, pressing my chest against her back as I reach around with one hand. She shivers beneath me. I bite her shoulder, cup her breast and drive into her mercilessly.
“Fuck, I can’t be away from you, Tessa,” I grind out.
She whimpers beneath me. I skim my fingers down her chest, across her torso to her pussy and stroke her. Her clit is a fat little pearl. She gasps as I brush my fingers across. She twists and battles for breath, but I won’t stop. I strum my fingers across her arousal. She arches in my arms and lets out a desperate plea just before she breaks apart in my arms.
“So fucking gorgeous,” I hiss. “You own me.”
I hold her as she spasms and loses control. It’s all I can do to hold it together until her pleasure soars and I follow her over. A shout tears from my chest. My cock thickens as I give her everything I have. Both of us fall to the bed, me on top of her, and I immediately roll with her in my arms, keeping her pinned to my chest.
A few moments pass, maybe more. “Baby,” I mutter.
“Mmm, yes. Roman.”
“I need to be close to you, always.”
“Yes.” She’s drowsy. “If you stayed away from me again, I don’t think I’d be safe.”
I wrap my arms around her and kiss the back of her head. “You wouldn’t be safe. Not at all.”
Chapter Seventeen
Tessa
A few days after Roman returns from South America, Claire comes to the penthouse. Her visit is a little awkward, because I’d just sent Roman a sexy text inviting him home for lunch. I wasn’t exactly dressed for company, but managed to salvage my dignity, hastily donning a pair of slacks and a silk blouse. I’m wearing a wicked negligee underneath, but it’s not totally obvious, fortunately.
Claire sets her purse down on the counter along with a tray of coffees from the shop down the street. She eyes me with clear suspicion but doesn’t comment on my flustered appearance. I’m still busted, and Roman’s going to be arriving any minute. He’ll be surprised to see Claire’s car in the garage. At least I hope he will be. What if she let the valet park her car?
“I brought you a cappuccino,” she says, slipping out of her coat.
“How great is that?” I offer, sounding totally insincere. Claire arches a brow, her lips tilt upwards as she tries to suppress a smile. Yeah. Busted.
She brought two coffees, which means she’s staying a while. I manage a quick text to Roman to warn him that the coast is not clear.
“I thought we’d chat a little,” she says.
Now she’s the one trying to sound innocent. We’ve chatted every day for the last couple of weeks, either in person or on the phone. She hasn’t wasted any time with the wedding preparations. We’ve visited the venue twice, eating lunch there both times, and picked out the dinner menu. Yesterday afternoon we tried cake samples and tested a few bottles of champagne.
This wedding is going to be small, just a few dozen people, but Roman wanted everything to be perfect. I think he feels a little badly for rushing the wedding. Every night before we drift off to sleep, he tells me the same thing. I wish we were married yesterday.
He has a definite sweet and tender side. I take the coffee Claire brought me just as the elevator opens. Roman’s expression isn’t showing off his sweet and tender side right now. More like gruff and irritable.
“Claire,” he growls. “You’re not at work?”
She snaps the lid from her coffee, blows the steaming liquid and takes a slow, leisurely sip. She sets it on the counter and gives him a bland look. “Neither is my boss. Seems like he’s been leaving for lunch a few times a week, and not bothering to return to work.”
Roman’s gaze shifts to meet mine. He gives me a bemused look, daring me to say something in response to Claire’s comment. I’m glad she’s not looking at me, because my face feels hot and flushed. I’m sure I look totally guilty right now. I turn away and make myself look busy, tidying up the coffee tray and utensils.
Claire walks over to the window, taking her coffee with her. “The wedding is five days away. I don’t think Tessa should live with her groom right up until the day of the wedding, do you?”
Roman takes off his coat and tosses it over a chair. Next, he loosens his tie, a scowl coming over his features. “What are you suggesting?”
Claire turns to face him. “You two can’t see each other the day of the wedding, obviously. It would be bad luck, right?”
“Fine, I’ll stay in a hotel the night before. Or with Damon or you.” He shrugs. “Whatever, I don’t really care.”
“You can’t stay with me. You’ll hurt Louis’s feelings. You know how sensitive he is.”
“Fine. Damon then. Or I’ll get a room.”
I drink my coffee, watching this all play out. Despite being very different, Damon, Claire and Roman are very close. Still, they argue and debate endlessly. Sports scores. Politics. Food. Everything is up for discussion. The arguments can get pretty heated too, and I’m wondering how this is going to end. I can see where Claire is going with this. Roman won’t be happy.
“You don’t need to get a room,” Claire says. “Tessa can just stay with me.”
She had me over the other day for lunch and introduced me to her cats and dog. Maybe she was testing me to see if I treated them well. I haven’t been around dogs too much, but I loved all her little menagerie. Good thing too. I suppose I passed the test.
Roman stalks around the living room, giving his sister a dark look. “Fine. I’ll drop her off on Friday.”
Claire shakes her head. “We still have a lot to do. It would be best if I took her today.”
He doesn’t respond for a long moment. The air feels heavy with tension. He turns to give me a questioning look. “Did you know about this?”
I laugh softly. “Not a thing.”
“I thought I’d take her with me now.” Claire sets her coffee aside and folds her arms across her chest.
“Now?” Roman asks, his voice a little too loud, the words echoing across the marble foyer. His expression darkens. “Now?”
“Yes, now. Is that okay with you, Tessa?” she asks.
Both of them stare at me, waiting for a reply. Up until now, neither of them seemed to think I was part of the conversation. Now that I am, I wish they’d keep ignoring me.
This isn’t going to earn me any points with Roman, but I forge ahead anyway. “Claire’s been doing a lot for the wedding, including driving me to appointments. It might be easier if I stayed at her place.”
“I could drive you around.” He frowns. “Or get you a car. Whatever you like.”
Claire scoffs. “Oh, don’t be such a grouch, Roman. I’m just taking her for a few days. This time next week, you’ll be a happily married couple and you don’t have to be apart ever again.”
He grimaces.
“Would you let me live with a guy before I got married?” she asks.
When he’s unable to respond right away, Claire knows she’s won. He rubs the back of his neck and lets out a groan. With that simple question, Claire doesn’t need to press the issue further. I don’t want to be away from Roman, but I’ll admit Claire does have a good point.
Roman follows me back to the bedroom and helps me gather my things. He grumbles and growls while he wanders around the room.
“A few minutes ago, I thought I was coming home to take my girl to bed. Now I’m helping her pack. I just got back from not seeing you for a week.”
“I know.” I zip up my bag. “I don’t want to go, but it’s better this way.”
He walks us down to Claire’s car, carrying my bag. After he puts the bag in the trunk, he holds me in his arms. We stand together, wrapped in each other until Claire clears her throat.
“Okay, ki
ds. Enough with the sad faces. The next time you see each other will be the day you exchange vows.”
Chapter Eighteen
Roman
Claire thinks she’s so smart. She knew she had me when she asked if I’d stand by and let her live with her boyfriend before she got married. Well, no. Obviously. And not because I’m some sort of prude, but because Claire has never had a whole lot of common sense. I’ve always looked out for her when it comes to guys. She’s bright, very bright, but a little ditzy.
Which is why I wouldn’t let her date Ryker Cannon, owner of Cannon Security. She didn’t see that he wanted her just to get back at me. Good thing I found out before things got out of hand. But that’s also part of her reasoning behind taking Tessa from me. She’s rubbing that little issue in my face, because she can.
And she’s the only person who can hold that over me. She knew that, so on that note, she’s smart, or shrewd, I should say. But she’s still a little dingy too. How do I know? Because twice in the last three days, she’s called an Uber and not noticed that the driver was her own brother. See?
I’ll admit, I took a little extra care in my disguise. Damon helped, because the only thing he likes more than giving me shit is dishing it out to Claire. This afternoon, he helped with teeth and contacts. The gap-tooth was his idea. He wanted me to wear a prosthetic hump on my back too but told him to fuck right off.
I drive along the quiet streets. It’s almost midnight. A few snowflakes twirl in the night sky, settling on the windshield. Every so often I have to run the windshield wipers to clear the snow. Tessa and Claire and one of Claire’s friends sit in the backseat. The friend, Suzette, is also a hairdresser, and they’re going over Claire’s dossier wedding information. My sister has taken the whole wedding deal and run with it just like I knew she would.
Claire and Suzette debate Tessa’s earrings. I can hear the pages flip back and forth. My sister’s a teensy bit buzzed and not paying attention. This gives me the perfect opportunity to give Tessa a long smoldering gaze.