“Just let me hold you for a minute, love,” he pleaded. “I need to compose myself so that we don’t have a repeat of what happened earlier. God, I think I was a fifteen year old virgin the last time I went off that quickly. Guess that’s what comes from over two years of abstinence.”
“What?” Tessa raised her head to gaze down at him in bewilderment. “I don’t understand. Two years?”
He smiled up at her and nodded. “I haven’t been with anyone else for all that time. I just – couldn’t. After I first met you and was so instantly obsessed, I naturally attempted to forget about you with other women. But it soon became very apparent that wasn’t going to help. In fact, it made things worse.”
She stared in disbelief. “But – all those women – the photos, the articles – why would you -”
He brushed a damp lock of hair off her forehead. “Because if I couldn’t have you I didn’t want anyone else. I preferred to be celibate rather than settle for something less. And I already explained about the other women – strictly platonic. In fact, most of the women I escorted are involved in one way or another with someone else.”
Overcome by the realization of just how much he was attracted to her, Tessa couldn’t resist pressing a tentative kiss to his lips. It was the first time she had initiated such an action between them, and she dimly hoped that she wasn’t making a fool of herself, betraying her lack of experience.
But then Ian swiftly flipped her onto her back, his powerful thighs straddling her hips as he drew her arms above her head and held them pinned in place.
“Enough, temptress. Now, are you ready to begin round number two? If you intend for me to try to make it an even dozen, we don’t have any time to waste.”
Chapter Eleven
Ian had imagined this particular scenario dozens of times in the past two and a half years – a warm and willing Tessa spread out on his bed, her lush, ripe body bared to his devouring gaze, and her big blue eyes silently pleading with him to take her any way he pleased. But none of those fantasies could come close to the real thing – the gorgeous, nearly-naked beauty who was staring up at him in wide-eyed wonder, her golden hair tumbled over his pillow.
“How beautiful you are,” he murmured, as he dipped his head, his lips brushing her forehead. “How many times I’ve wished for you to be here just like this, and now it’s finally come true.” His mouth moved to her temple, then to her rosy cheek before sliding around the curve of her jaw and back up the other side of her face. She was already moaning in arousal, making those little noises that were so incredibly sexy, that made his cock swell a bit harder each time she made one.
“I told you earlier that I intended to touch and kiss every inch of you, Tessa,” he told her passionately. “Including this.” He dropped a kiss on her nose. “And this.” His mouth briefly sucked the skin just behind her ear. “And most definitely this delicious mouth.”
He took her soft, sweet mouth in a deep, lingering kiss, his tongue tangling with hers until her groans rose to a fever pitch beneath his relentless kisses.
Tessa was gasping when he finally lifted his head, begging him breathlessly, “Please, Ian.”
He laughed softly as his mouth moved to caress the side of her throat, then continued its downward path along her collarbone. “Please what, my sweet?” His hands ran up and down her arms, his fingers toying with the strap of her pale blue bra. “What is it that you need, Tessa?”
Her hips were moving restlessly beneath him, her pelvis starting to lift off the mattress, and he knew she was every bit as aroused as he was. “I need – you,” she panted “In – inside of me. Please.”
“Shh. Such an eager little temptress you are,” he scolded her teasingly. “And when I haven’t even begun to touch and kiss you in all the places I’ve wanted to do for so long. Have some patience, love.”
Tessa’s head was thrashing back and forth on the pillow as she tried to grasp his hips and pull him to her. “I can’t,” she pleaded. “I’m too – I need to - ”
“To come?” he finished for her, his lips moving in a line across the upper curve of her breasts. “I know, darling. You’re very, very responsive, aren’t you? Has it always been this easy for you to climax?”
“N-n-no,” she cried, as he grasped both of her hands in one of his and drew them over her head. “J-just with you.”
“Ah, then, I’ll have to make sure I’m satisfying you often and thoroughly. You’re going to be a greedy lover, I can tell already. Lucky for me, I’m just as hungry for you, Tessa.” He traced one finger around the full globe of each breast, feeling her quiver beneath his touch. “You look gorgeous in this bra, Tessa. It makes these fabulous breasts look even bigger and firmer. And it very much makes me want to touch them and taste them. Let me, darling.”
He released her hands, then deftly unhooked the sexy, lacy bra and drew it away, baring her ripe, round breasts to his hot gaze. His big hands cupped both of the lush mounds, shaping them, pushing them up until they appeared even fuller.
“God,” was all he could manage to croak. Then he bent his head and began to run his tongue over each taut nipple, flicking the erect peak over and over before drawing it in to his mouth.
Tessa’s body bowed off the mattress as she clutched his head to her breast, her hands pulling on his hair. “Ohh, ohh. Yes, more, please. It feels so good.”
His cock had never felt this hard before, hard enough that it was almost painful, but the very best sort of pain. The whimpers and moans she made as he continued to feast on her breasts tested every ounce of self-control he had left, and he had never wanted anything more than to slide deep inside her welcoming, eager body at that very moment.
She cried out in frustration as he finally lifted his head, but then gasped again as his hands slid down the side of her ribcage to grip her hips, his mouth tracing its way down between her breasts until it reached her belly. His tongue rimmed her navel, then he pressed kisses across her body from one hipbone to the other. His hands preceded his mouth as he worked his way down to the tops of her thighs where she still wore the silky, lace-topped stockings.
“These are so fucking sexy,” he rasped, his language turning coarser than normal, for he was too overcome with lust to temper his reaction to her. “I want these long, lovely legs wrapped around my neck while I’m inside of you so that you can feel me buried as deep as I can go.” He ran his hands up and down the outside of her legs. “I’ll buy you a dozen pair of these stockings so you can wear them under your skirts and dresses every day, and only you and I will know you have them on. Except I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands off of you for too long.”
One by one he rolled the stockings off, letting them flutter heedlessly to the floor. Ian pinned her hips to the mattress with his hands, holding her still as his mouth finally reached her cleft. She was wet and glistening, the pouty folds of her labia beckoning him to taste her like she was the juiciest of fruits. With a groan, he delved between her legs and rimmed the opening to her body with his tongue, tasting her there for the first time.
Tessa let out a cry of surprise, her hips thrashing wildly even though he held her firmly in place. “Ian, oh, God, I’ve never – ” she managed to utter in a ragged voice.
He lifted his head, startled at her confession. “Easy, darling, I’ve got you.” Instead of his tongue, he slid two fingers deep inside her soaked slit, amazed at how quickly she became aroused. “Tessa, if you don’t want me to touch you that way, then I won’t. But I’d love to taste you there, to make you come that way. Will you let me try? I promise to stop if you tell me to.”
Her head fell back on the pillow and she closed her eyes. “O-okay,” she whispered. “It’s okay.”
Ian kept his fingers thrusting slowly in and out of her tight passage as he kissed his way back up her inner thighs. “Trust me, love. You’re so damned responsive, so easy to arouse. Let me do this for you now.”
He was exquisitely gentle, his tongue licking at her damp folds with
light flutters. As he felt her begin to relax, he deepened the licks, until he replaced his fingers with his tongue, thrusting it deep inside of her body. His thumb found her clit, manipulating it as he continued to eat her out with expert skill.
“Ian!” She screamed his name as her hips moved in sync with the thrust of his tongue and the stimulation of his thumb, the orgasm causing her whole body to tremble in reaction. And while her core was still convulsing around his mouth, he kept at her, determined that her pleasure continue, licking and stroking and sucking her until she came again.
Tessa was dazed and almost incoherent as he finally slid back up alongside her. If his own body hadn’t been screaming almost violently for release, he might have let her rest for a bit. Instead, he flipped her over onto her belly as his hands and mouth caressed her back body – traveling from the nape of her neck where her golden hair was damp from exertion; down between her leanly muscled shoulder blades and the curve of her back to the base of her spine. He squeezed the firm, high cheeks of her buttocks before running his tongue up and down the backs of her thighs and calves.
And then, Ian reached the very end of his limits, not able to wait even a minute longer to have her again. He eased Tessa onto her hands and knees, her gorgeous ass in the air as he knelt behind her.
She cried out in shock as he entered her from behind. “Oh! Oh, God, Ian! I don’t - ”
“Hush, love. It’s all right.” He pressed a kiss to her nape as he rubbed her hip soothingly. “Am I hurting you this way?”
She shook her head. “No – it feels – so good. You’re just – so deep. I can feel you so deep inside me this way.”
He groaned, banding an arm around her waist as he moved inside of her experimentally. “And it feels amazing, doesn’t it, love? God, Tessa, I need – need to move now, darling. Easy.”
Her little gasps as he slowly, carefully, thrust in and out of her made him even harder, and he couldn’t hold back, picking up the frequency and force of his movements until he was fucking her like an animal. Tessa’s gasps became screams as he pounded into her, and he felt her convulse around his cock just seconds before he came. Ian’s head fell back, his eyes tightly shut as he roared like a jungle beast, spilling himself into her as his body shuddered repeatedly.
They collapsed next to each other on the bed, his arm flung over her body as he struggled to regain some small degree of composure.
“Are you all right?” he was finally able to murmur in her ear. “I wasn’t too rough with you?”
Tessa turned into him, looping her arms around his neck and wrapping one leg about his hips. “You were amazing,” she whispered huskily. “That was amazing. I’ve never, ever felt anything like that before.”
Ian groaned, pulling her even closer against him. “God, you’re good for my ego,” he told her with a low laugh. “I’m just hoping my tired old body can keep up with your hot young one, even for a little while.”
She ran her hands over his shoulders and down his chest, pressing a kiss to the base of his throat. “You are not old. I wish you’d stop saying that. And your body is – beautiful, Ian. I can’t get enough of it.”
Her sweetly spoken words threatened to make him hard again, even though he’d just come so thoroughly he had seen stars. He gave her a soft kiss, then brushed damp strands of her hair off her face.
“I’ve never felt like this either, you know,” he confessed. “Never had such spectacular sex, or come that hard. And I’ve never, ever felt so much like a man before.”
Tessa pulled his head down to hers and kissed him. “I’m not very experienced, you know,” she told him uncertainly. “I’ll tell you about – well, my marriage at some point so you’ll understand what I mean.”
He kissed the tip of her nose. “Only when you’re ready, darling. And I rather like that you’re inexperienced. I’d be very, very happy to teach you a great many things. Wait here, I’ll be right back.”
When he returned from the bathroom with a clean towel, he smiled indulgently to see that she was almost asleep. Tessa made a small sound of protest as he cleaned her up, and then, as he slid into the bed with her, she snuggled up against him and promptly fell asleep.
Ian gave a low chuckle as he covered them both with the duvet, then pulled her close. “Guess we aren’t going to try for that record dozen times after all,” he whispered to her. “Never mind, love. There’s always tomorrow.”
***
Tessa woke reluctantly, semi-conscious as she was of being warmer and more comfortable than she’d ever been in her life. As her eyes opened sleepily, she blinked in disorientation, her sleep-fogged brain taking some time to fully realize where she was. She was definitely not in her own bed, for the mattress cushioning her body was much firmer and plusher than her own, and the pillowcase beneath her cheek smelled crisper and cleaner than her own sheets.
And then she had to stifle a little gasp as she realized exactly where she was – curled up trustingly against Ian’s warm, muscular body, her arm draped over his torso, and her head tucked next to his. Ian – who less than two days ago had been her rather intimidating, completely out of her league boss – and who was now, by some quirk of fate, her lover.
Tessa’s cheeks flushed when she recalled just how intimate they had been – the things he’d said to her, the way he’d touched and kissed her, how thoroughly he’d taken her. As if on cue, she felt an unfamiliar soreness between her legs, the muscles definitely not used to the sort of physical, demanding sex she’d engaged in.
And she was aroused again, simply from lying next to him as he slept. Her breasts felt swollen and heavy, the nipples already peaking, and she knew if she touched her cleft it would be moist and ready, despite her soreness.
Her eyes slowly grew accustomed to the darkness of the room, lit only by the glow of numbers from the digital bedside clock, and from the streetlights that shone in from outside. Tessa still couldn’t quite believe that she was really in Ian’s bed, or that everything that had happened in the past thirty-six or so hours wasn’t actually a dream. She gazed longingly at the handsome face in repose next to hers, his strong, masculine features sexy even as he slept. The lines of his firm mouth were softer now, and she noticed the dark stubble across his cheeks and chin. She was so used to always seeing him clean shaven that it was a surprise to realize how dark his hair really was. Tessa resisted the urge to press a kiss to his cheek, or run a finger over his lips, not wanting to wake him.
And then she belatedly became aware of another urge, and carefully slid out of bed to use the bathroom. Shivering without the heat of the duvet or Ian’s body, she looked around furtively for something to wear and decided on his white dress shirt. The rest of their things were scattered haphazardly around the bedroom, and the sight brought a smile to her lips. She knew from the extreme tidiness of his office that he must be something of a neat freak, and that this disarray of clothing was certainly not the norm for him.
She buttoned up his shirt as she padded into the bathroom, one room she hadn’t seen yet. Tessa was in awe of its size and extravagance – all black granite counters, marble floors and walls, and modern fixtures. The walk-in shower was enormous, more than big enough for two people, as was the sunken tub. She wondered if he would ever take her in either of those places – hopefully both – and then blushed anew as she realized where her train of thought had led her.
‘God, one night with him and you’ve turned into some sort of nymphomaniac!’ she scolded herself.
She took care of her needs swiftly, and then took an extra minute or so to wash off her makeup, making do with the soap she found by the sink. A quick check inside one of the multitude of drawers and cabinets revealed a tube of toothpaste. She squeezed a dab on her finger and gave her teeth a makeshift brushing.
Tessa left the bathroom and walked over to the bank of windows, peering out through the wooden blinds at the dark, stormy night. The grand house was so well insulated that the sounds of wind and rain were barely disce
rnible but from what she could see the storm was quite fierce.
“Is everything all right, love?”
She whirled at the sound of Ian’s sleepy, sexy voice. He had risen onto one elbow, the duvet slipping down to bare his arms and chest, and she couldn’t help running her gaze longingly over his heavily muscled torso. He was so beautiful, so incredibly strong and – well, just so male – that it made her throat close up to look at him.
“Yes, it’s fine. I just needed the bathroom. I’m sorry if I woke you,” she told him, walking back towards the bed.
“You didn’t wake me,” he assured her. He smiled as his gaze flicked over her body. “Nice shirt. It looks much better on you than it does on me.”
Tessa laughed. “I disagree. I hope you don’t mind my borrowing it.”
His eyes twinkled at her mischievously. “Not at all. Though now I’m jealous of the shirt, even more so than your coat, because this is actually touching your bare skin.”
She placed her hand in his as he extended an arm towards her. “I may not give this back. It smells like you, after all.” She turned her face and inhaled deeply of the soft fabric.
Ian smiled. “You like the way I smell?”
Tessa nodded. “Yes, very much. I used to wish I could just bury my face against your chest and inhale your scent.”
His thumb brushed over her knuckles before he drew her hand to his lips. “So you were attracted to me at least a little?” he asked thoughtfully.
“More than a little. I confess to having quite a crush on you for a very long time.”
Even in the dimly lit room she could see how his eyes darkened at her confession. “Is that a fact? Well, it seems as though both of us spent far too much time pining for the other. We’d better start making up for lost time then, hadn’t we?”
Tessa’s breath hitched at the barely restrained passion in his voice, and the way his eyes dropped to her breasts. Her nipples were hard and poking against the fabric of the shirt, and all she could offer in response to his very pointed question was a brief nod.
Splendor (Inevitable #2) Page 18