I Thought I Knew You: Prelude Series - Part Four

by Meg Buchanan

  Luke bounced down the steps as usual even though he carried the bulky amp. He moved it to the other hip and grabbed a cord that had been slipping then went through the door into the store room and put the amp on the floor.

  Tessa piled the leads on top. Isaac, Cole, Noah and Adam had finished tidying and looked ready to head back to the flat.

  Now Luke had his hands empty she went over to him and slid her arms around his waist. Cole had his hand on the light switch, his other arm around Keira, ready to leave.

  “Are you two coming?”

  “Yeah.” Luke put his arm around her waist.

  “Are you in my car or do you have yours here?” he asked her.

  “I’ll come with you. I got a ride with Cole and Keira.”

  They wandered out into the half light of the carpark, got in the cars then headed for the flat, Tessa in the passenger seat of Luke’s car, Isaac in the back.

  Tessa swivelled around, so she could see him. “Jess didn’t come with you this weekend?”

  Isaac shook his head and watched the streetlights flash past. “No, she’s working tomorrow. Her boss seems to find something that needs reported on every weekend now.”

  “Tell him you need your wife in the weekends more than he does,” she suggested.

  “I’ll try that.” He turned and gave her a wry grin. He was as tall and slender as Luke, and as good looking in a grey-eyed, brown-haired way. “I think Jess is sick of sleeping in the lounge of your flat, and likes our bed better, even if I’m not in it. It’s her I might have trouble convincing.”

  Tessa laughed and changed the subject. “What does Steve think of your promotion?”

  “Promotion?” Isaac sounded puzzled.

  “Luke said his dad wants you to run the joinery part of this contract.”

  Isaac snorted. “I don’t think he likes the idea. I seem to be getting all the shit jobs at the moment.”

  “Do you want to do it?”

  She got a shrug from the back seat. “It’s work.”

  She turned back and smiled at Luke. Isaac had always been quiet, but tonight getting him talk was plain hard work. She guessed everyone had been working all week. It wasn’t really until Saturday they all revved up and started to have fun.

  Luke pulled up on the curb outside the bungalow near the river where she’d lived with Noah and Adam, and a succession of other flatmates, for nearly four years. It looked lonely all locked up and dark.

  Inside, Tessa headed for the kitchen. Grilled cheese on toast then bed was the routine on Friday nights now. She’d been to the supermarket and made sure they had enough bread and cheese. A really nice way to end the week. Just her, her flatmates, their girlfriends, her fiancé, sometimes Jess would be here too, and Isaac and Cole.

  Tonight, Luke and Keira helped her in the kitchen. The high Luke had been on at the pub had gone. Funny how the higher he got performing, the more of a let-down he had afterwards.

  “How did the exam go?” he asked Tessa as he pulled the last few pieces of toast out of the oven. Last weekend she’d been talking about some outfits she was making and had to model for the mid-year assessment. She’d used the way she looked and her love of clothes to break into the career she wanted and to pay for her degree.

  “Good.” Tessa piled the food onto a plate ready to take it out to the lounge.

  Keira, as tall and slim as Tess but all dark eyes and hair, wiped down the bench and then picked up her phone. She got a fair bit of modelling work too from what Tessa said, and he could see why.

  “Tessa is being modest Luke. Look at this.” She slid through a few photos then handed him her phone. A picture of Tessa on the runway. She looked fabulous in a plain black dress and flat shoes. The dress had a single red stripe running from neckline to knee. He’d never seen her in anything so restrained, but she strode along in the photo like she owned it.

  Tessa glanced at the picture as she walked past. “That was what I came up with for workwear.”

  Keira took the phone back and slid to the next picture. She handed it to Luke. “Look at this one.”

  Again, Tessa in a plain dress. This time a dark silvery thing that shimmered and covered her from neck to toe. Just cut away at the shoulders.

  “Beautiful,” he said as he wandered behind the two girls into the lounge.

  Tessa glanced back at the photo. “Evening wear.”

  He slid through the rest. All the clothes Tessa had designed were classy. Didn’t expect that. “What happened to the weird stuff you used to do?” he asked as he settled on the couch.

  “Don’t you like the new designs?” Tessa offered the toast around then put the plate on the coffee table and sat down on the couch between him and Isaac.

  “It just doesn’t look like the stuff you do.”

  “I decided to try something different.

  Kiera took the phone off him. “They’re good, aren’t they Luke?” She joined Cole on the floor. “Tessa, are you going to tell Luke what the lecturer said?”

  She shrugged again but stayed quiet.

  Keira leaned back against Cole. “He said it was one of the best collections he’d seen done by anyone on our course. He said it was elegant and cohesive and showed a mature grasp of the basics of great design, and Miss Butler could expect to have a very successful career if she continues to design clothes of this quality.”

  “Really?” Luke glanced at Tessa, and she nodded. He didn’t realise she was doing that well in her course. She’d always just been Tess, fun, outgoing and maybe a bit of an airhead.

  He turned back to Keira. Cole had his arm around her shoulders. Bloody Cole didn’t even have to talk when he was with a girl. They just seemed to be happy to be with him.

  He didn’t know how Cole managed to move from one girl to the next without causing any resentment. Tessa gets a new flatmate. By the end of the week, Cole’s sleeping with her. It had been happening for three years now.

  He reached his hand out for the phone. “Give me another look at those photos.” Maybe he should get unengaged and try living the way Cole did.

  He studied the photos again as they all munched through the toast and talked about the week.

  The clothes in the pictures still looked elegant and restrained. Nothing like he thought Tessa would design. Maybe he didn’t know her as well as he thought he did. Maybe she wasn’t all about sex and having a good time.

  She had her head on his shoulder and her arm wrapped around his waist. Her fingers feathered against the bare skin under his T-shirt.

  But sex and having a good time wasn’t a bad idea. He kissed the top of her head. “Have you got anything to drink here?” he asked. With the late getaway, he’d forgotten to pick anything up.

  She nodded, then slowly uncurled like a cat and stood. She grabbed his hand and pulled him up too. “I’m way ahead of you. Follow me.”

  Chapter Three

  He followed her into the kitchen and she opened the freezer door. A bottle of tequila snuggled there with two tiny glasses.

  He grabbed the bottle and balanced the two glasses on the cap. “Got the lemon and salt?” Tessa nodded. He could always rely on her. “You bring the rest.”

  She shut the freezer and opened the fridge door. “Are we going back to the lounge?” She sat the salt pot on top of the lemons and picked up the bowl.

  “No, they can make their own fun. We’ll combine my two favourite things.” He linked his fingers with hers and led her to her bedroom.

  “Tequila and sex?” she asked.

  “No, you naked and a bed.”

  Tessa laughed and followed him. She unlocked her bedroom door and let him in. He and Isaac had spent the whole of last weekend fitting locksets to all the bedroom doors. Now they could have privacy. Should have done it years ago.

  He bounced onto the bed and sat leaning against the pillows.

  Tessa stood in the doorway holding the bowl of lemons. “Take your boots off. You’ll get dirt on my duvet.” She was gorgeous. He di
d tend to forget that during the week.

  “Nah, I’m not taking anything off.” He put the glasses on the bedside table, unscrewed the top off the tequila bottle, poured two shots, then patted the table. “Lemons and salt here.”

  Tessa did as she was told then went to pick up one of the glasses.

  “No.” He folded his arms. “I’ve got the bed. Now I need you naked.” He knew she liked the whole ‘taken over by passion, pushed up against the wall and fumbling through clothes’ type of sex. Or she liked him undressing her slowly, with all the kissing and touching that went with it.

  But tonight, he had other plans. “Strip for me,” he said. He watched as she hesitated and bit her lip. He could hear the music and the others talking, but it seemed remote.

  Tessa was really out there about sex and didn’t seem to have too many inhibitions. She’d stripped for him before.

  “Go on, if you’re good enough, I’ll let you have a drink,” he offered.

  “Good enough?” she asked, like this was a challenge.

  He crossed his boots. “Points out of ten. Make all my fantasies come true.”

  “There’re people out there.” She waved at the other side of the door.

  “Have you locked the door?”

  She nodded.

  “So, no problem.”

  “It’s my flat. I should be the hostess.”

  “Adam, Noah and Kiera live here too. They can look after themselves.” He leaned over, picked up the salt pot, sprinkled a bit on his fist, licked it, slugged the tiny glass of tequila, then bit into a piece of lemon. “Anyway, when’s that ever stopped us?”

  He picked up the other glass of tequila and did the salt thing then slugged the second glass down too.

  Tessa stood hands on hips. “Are you going to get pissed without me?”

  “I will if you take too long.” He nodded at the dress. “Take it off.” He refilled both glasses.

  Tessa’s fingers went tentatively to the hem.

  “Pretend you’re on the runway.”

  “We don’t strip on the runway.”

  “No but the way you walk when you’re on the runway is sexy. Be sexy for me.” He moved up the bed a bit to make himself more comfortable.

  “Only if you do it for me afterwards.”

  He thought about that. It wasn’t what he’d planned. But he had to get his clothes off sometime. He could do that if that’s what she wanted.

  “Okay. If you’re good enough.”

  “A challenge, Mr Reilly?” She ran her fingers through her hair then grinned.

  “Definitely, Miss Butler.” He picked up the two glasses of tequila. “And as more incentive, I’ll let you have a shot for each item you take off.”

  “I’m not wearing very much.” She held onto the back of the chair by her desk and lifted one foot.

  “Then make each thing count.” She nodded then carefully arched back and took off her shoe and flicked it away nonchalantly. It landed with a clunk on the floor. “Well done. Now the other one.

  The other shoe went. He leaned forward and offered her the two glasses. “Your reward.”

  “Shoes come in pairs. One will do.” She took the little glass, did the thing with the salt, downed the smoky tequila, swapped the glass for lemon.

  She reached behind her and unzipped the dress. The top fell forward uncovering her breasts.

  He saluted the breasts with the full glass. “I like those.” Small but perfectly shaped.

  “I’ve noticed,” she said. Wiggling, she pushed the dress over her hips then down her legs and let it drop to the floor.

  She stepped out of it and stood there just in a thong. She would have chosen that underwear especially for him.

  “Magnificent.” He handed her the glass. She slugged the tequila. He ran his hand up the inside of her thigh. She ignored it, put the glass down with a bang, went for the lemon, then ran her fingers through her hair.

  She stood there, just back from the bed facing him, hands on hips, feet apart. She looked spectacular. The blonde hair, curling around her shoulders and caressing her breasts. The long slim body, and tiny waist.

  “What now?” she asked.

  He nodded at the black triangle with the tiny pink bows. It was a good game he’d thought up.

  “The thong now?” she asked.

  He could feel the tequila warming him up inside.

  He waved the empty shot glass at her. “Slow and sexy,” he instructed.

  She shook her head at him. “You’re enjoying this too much.”

  “Yep.” Tessa could always be trusted to go along with anything. She eased her hands under the sides and started to shimmy them down, revealing the bare skin she kept waxed.

  “Slowly,” he said. She did as he asked.

  The thong with the little bows joined the rest of her clothes on the floor.

  “Is this what you wanted?” She stood there naked and magnificent beside the bed, not self-conscious. He nodded. A shout of laughter came from the lounge, but they both ignored it.

  “My drink, then your turn.” She reached for the tequila bottle and slugged from it. Then blinked like it made her eyes water.

  Maybe they had played this game for long enough.

  He took the bottle off her, leaned over, and poured two more shots. No, too much fun watching her. Let’s see how far she’d go.

  “Have you still got that vibrator? They’d played with it during sex when she first bought it, but not the way he wanted her to now.

  “Somewhere.”

  “If you want another drink, you’ll find it.”

  “Boy, am I going have fun when it’s my turn to give the orders.” A finger went to her lips like she was thinking about where she’d put it.

  Then she turned and searched in the top drawer of her dresser. Bending more than she needed too. The view was still magnificent.

  She found the vibrator and looked over at him, holding the slim pink thing, like a shiny bullet. Strange shape. Before he saw this one he’d thought they were all penis-shaped.

  When she showed it to him after she’d bought it, she’d said. “Meet Bob.

  “Why Bob?”

  “Battery operated boyfriend,” she’d laughed. “I have to do something during the week.”

  Now she waggled the vibrator at him grinning. “This what you want?”

  He nodded. “Come over here,” he said. She was fun.

  But Tessa shook her head. “No, it’s my turn to tell you what to do.” She stayed by the dresser.

  “Not yet. Bring it over here.” He glanced at the bed.

  She moved nearer.

  “Here.” He patted the duvet beside his knees.

  She knelt where he patted. “Closer.”

  She moved up the bed a bit, then lost balance and grabbed his shoulders. Giggling she pushed on them and moved one knee over his thighs. “Now give me another drink.” She went to hand him the vibrator.

  “No.” he ignored Bob and picked up the two shots. “Turn him on.”

  She twisted the end and the thing purred.

  “Now what?”

  “Use it.”

  “Not you?”

  He shook his head. “I want to see you do it.” He guided the hand holding the vibrator up her body to her lips. “Lick him.” He’d seen that somewhere. It was a start. The tip of her tongue slid out and touched the pink end.

  Then slowly she moved it down her chin, her neck, her breasts, her stomach. She watched him watching her as she did it. She hesitated as it ran over the bare skin at the top of her legs.

  “Lower,” he said. Then Bob purred between her legs, and she leaned back a little, her eyes closed now, like she’d forgotten about him. He didn’t think she had it inside her, but she was into whatever she was doing, like he didn’t even need to be here.

  He wasn’t sure he liked being forgotten by the girl he was in bed with. They weren’t even in bed yet really. “Come closer.”

  Her eyes opened again. She mov
ed her hand a little, but the imposter still purred as she leaned in to him.

  He took first one nipple in his mouth and sucked, then the other. He sprinkled salt on both nipples, licked, had a tequila, then another slice of lemon. Now she knew he was here. “Keep Bob going until you come. I still want to watch you.”

  “When did you decide to get masterful?” she asked and kneeled up over him again. Bob purred until her breathing changed. She grabbed onto Luke’s shoulder, and he heard a soft moan. Then she shuddered and collapsed against him. He could feel her breasts against his chest and her heart hammering.

  Now all he wanted to do was to fuck her. He gently moved her to the side and went to slide off the bed. “I’ll get out of these clothes,” he said.

  She rolled over on the duvet, magnificently naked.

  “No, only when I tell you, and, when you do, make it slow and sexy.” She rolled over a little further and picked up the half empty tequila bottle. “And you only get another drink if you put on a good show.”

  “Tit for tat?”

  “Yep.” She curled up around the tequila bottle, her cheek resting on her palm. “I’ll let you take your boots and socks off first then you can stand in front of the wardrobe mirror, so I get a really good view front and back, and you have to do exactly what I say.”

  Next morning, he lay in bed thinking about this new thing his dad was planning. He didn’t want it. The last thing he wanted to do was run a multimillion dollar contract. It was too much responsibility, and besides, he wasn’t interested.

  Tessa lay quietly beside him. He could tell she wasn’t asleep from her breathing. Tequila always seemed like a good idea until morning arrived. She probably felt dusty too. But last night had been bloody good fun.

  Tessa turned over, so she was facing him, her long slim body naked against his. She always slept naked. She’d once told him she wasn’t paying for sheets with a high thread count and not enjoying them.