A smile played about her features as she slowly tapped out her reply. U can do that again anytime. Carte blanche whenever u like.
But it was his response a moment or two later than brought forth a burst of laughter, one that caused her co-workers to look over at her in surprise. Red-faced, Tessa tried valiantly to shrug it off. “Uh, just a friend of mine trying to cheer me up by sending me a dirty joke. But don’t even ask – I’d be way too embarrassed to share.”
When she was certain they weren’t paying attention to her, she snuck another peek at Ian’s most recent reply and grinned.
Calling the doctor’s office now to schedule that transfusion. Maybe a Viagra prescription 2. U r going to kill me u know.
She couldn’t resist tapping out one final retort. At least we’ll have fun trying.
Chapter Nineteen
Late April
“Nathan and I are really looking forward to seeing the two of you tonight. And we’re so flattered to be celebrating Ian’s fortieth birthday with you. I have to say, honey, that he is the hottest forty year old I’ve ever seen. Whatever he’s doing to stay in shape, tell him to just keep it up.”
At Julia’s comment, Tessa could hear Nathan in the background, sounding very indignant at the way his fiancée was complimenting another man. Julia called out to him, “But you know I love you best, baby. Besides, the birthday boy is only interested in one girl and it’s not me.”
“Sorry.” Julia offered an apology as she resumed their phone conversation. “Some men just get so bent out of shape at the littlest thing, you know? Just because I can admire another man’s goods doesn’t mean I want to sample them.”
“Good,” retorted Tessa teasingly, “because my man isn’t giving out samples to anyone but me.”
Julia laughed. “That’s the attitude, girl. You guard that man like a tigress. Not that you’ll ever have to worry about Ian noticing other women. He’s head over heels about you, it’s very obvious.”
“I’d better let you go,” offered Tessa. “I know how busy things are for you these days with the wedding only two months away. I’m just glad you can make it to dinner tonight.”
“Wouldn’t miss it. You and Ian are two of our very favorite people. Before I go, tell me – what dress did you finally decide on?”
Julia had stopped by the house last weekend and helped Tessa set aside two different dresses. She’d assured her that either one would be equally suitable – and equally stunning – for the very elegant restaurant where they would be celebrating Ian’s birthday.
“The black one,” replied Tessa. “He, um, likes me in black.”
“Yeah, I’ll just bet he does,” teased Julia. “Especially that very sexy set of undies you bought to go with it. That’s the nice thing about buying lingerie – it’s really a present for both of you. Nathan calls it the gift that keeps on giving.”
Tessa couldn’t help giggling in delight before bidding her friend good-by. As she ended the call, she was still laughing, even as Ian strolled leisurely into the kitchen.
He smiled at her inquiringly. “Someone is in a very good mood this afternoon. Any particular reason?”
She set her phone down before flinging herself into his arms. “I’m always in a good mood these days. And especially today, when I have a very special birthday surprise planned for you.”
Ian grinned, his strong arms banding about her waist. “It’s not one of those singing telegrams, is it? Because I do tend to embarrass easily.”
Tessa ran a finger over his lips and shook her head. “That’s definitely not it. This surprise is more – um, private. And I doubt anything can really embarrass you, especially what I have planned.”
He raised a brow. “Well, if it’s anything like the surprise you gave me earlier today, I’m very, very sure that I’m going to like it. A lot.”
She cupped his cheek in her hand. “That wasn’t a planned surprise. I just couldn’t help myself after seeing you at the gym this morning. God, I’m getting hot all over again just thinking about it.”
Today was Saturday, and they had just returned to San Francisco late Thursday night after Tessa’s first official business trip as Ian’s PA. The trip had been a short but hectic one, cramming in visits to hotels in New Orleans, Atlanta, Palm Beach, and Naples, Florida. With such a packed schedule, neither of them had had much free time to fit in a decent workout on the trip, so they’d spent more than two hours at the gym this morning making up for lost time.
After swimming laps – Ian of course had managed nearly twice as many as she could do – and some weight training, he’d strapped on his boxing gloves and sparred a few rounds with one of the trainers. Tessa had watched him in action for the very first time and hadn’t been able to tear her eyes off of him. His sleeveless T-shirt had bared his powerful, beautifully defined shoulders and biceps, and it was evident even to her – who knew next to nothing about boxing – that he was extremely skilled at his chosen sport. He’d made the trainer – a fit, well-built man at least a decade younger that he was – work hard, and Ian had seemed in complete control the entire time.
Seeing him that way – all hard muscle, barely leashed power, completely dominating – had aroused her to the point where she’d barely been able to keep her hands off of him. In the closed, somewhat limited confines of his classic Jaguar during the drive home, she hadn’t been able to resist touching him – running her hands over his arms, his thigh, leaning over at a stop sign to press a kiss to his cheek. He’d teased her that he was liable to crash his beloved car into the side of a building if she kept it up, but he’d also been breathing heavily, his cheeks darkly flushed, and a very impressive erection had tented his athletic shorts as they arrived home.
Once inside the house, she’d sunk to her knees right there in the foyer, pulling his shorts down past his hips and freeing his magnificent cock. Despite his half-hearted protests that he really ought to shower first, she’d taken him deep into her mouth, sucking him off with a hungry enthusiasm that had him groaning her name and coming hard down her throat.
He’d barely stopped shuddering in release before he stripped her naked and spread her out on the priceless entryway rug, his head disappearing between her thighs. She had been so aroused, so in need, that it had taken the merest flick of his tongue against her clit to catapult her into orgasm.
Ian dropped a kiss on her forehead. “And I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. You know, I honestly believed that finally having you live with me, sleeping by my side every night, that it would somehow lessen my obsession with you. But it’s just the opposite. I want you all the time, think about you constantly, hate being apart from you for only a few hours. You are the only thing in my life that really matters to me, Tessa, the one thing I cherish above everything else.”
“It’s the same for me,” she whispered. “Sometimes I wonder if it’s too much, if we love each other too much. I worry that the way we feel – our mutual obsession – that it’s not – well, healthy.”
“Never that, my love, never,” he uttered fiercely, taking her mouth in a deep, searing kiss. “What we feel for each other – it’s a rare and precious thing, something that very few people are ever lucky enough to find. So don’t ever feel that it’s too much because in my opinion it can never be enough.”
They held each other quietly for a long time, simply content to embrace and enjoy the unspoken bond they always felt with the other. It was Tessa who finally, reluctantly, broke away.
“I’d better go upstairs and start getting ready for dinner,” she told him. “I want to look my absolute best for you tonight, after all.”
He shook his head. “You already look stunning to me, Tessa. I have no idea how you can improve on perfection.”
She rolled her eyes, knowing full well she looked anything but stunning with no makeup, her hair half-escaping its untidy braid, her feet bare, and wearing one of Ian’s old sweatshirts and a loose fitting pair of yoga pants.
“T
hat’s sweet, but you don’t have to say things like that, you know.” She reached up on her toes to whisper in his ear, “You’re already going to get lucky tonight. Maybe several times.”
Ian grinned. “In that case, perhaps I ought to nap for an hour or so while you’re getting ready. I understand that men of my advanced age need to so that sort of thing.”
“Yes, but do other men your age have this sort of incredible body?” she murmured, running her hands up and down his chest. “Or are they able to physically dominate a man ten years younger than they are?”
He captured her hand just before it slid beneath the hem of his loose fitting knit shirt. “Actually, Jesse is only twenty-seven, so he’s a full thirteen years my junior. But I do confess to having had a secret advantage over him, which just might have helped me best the boy.”
“Oh? And what exactly was this so-called secret advantage?”
Ian trailed a series of kisses along the inside of her arm, stopping just shy of her wrist. His eyes twinkled with merriment. “Young Jesse had a great deal of trouble keeping his eyes off of my girl. I admit to having a very sneaky motive when I suggested you wear that particular workout top this morning.”
Tessa gasped, picturing the snug-fitting light blue tank top, the one she’d fretted about wearing because it had displayed a bit too much side-boob. But Ian, who normally preferred that she not expose too much bare skin in public, had surprised her by insisting the top was just fine.
“Ooh, you mean you did that on purpose?” she squeaked. “Knowing full well that I was, um, showing a little too much of the goods?”
He laughed in delight, wrapping his arms around her waist and lifting her easily off the floor. “I happened to remember that Jesse is – well, something of a breast man, based on comments he’s made in the past. And since you have the most fabulous rack in the entire world, I figured you’d provide a bit of a distraction. Just enough to give me a little advantage.”
Tessa pretended to give him a stern look. “That’s cheating, Ian. I thought you liked to win fair and square.”
He gave her a loud, smacking kiss on the lips. “Darling, winning was never my worry. Jesse may be thirteen years younger but trust me – I could kick his arse with one hand tied behind my back. He’s usually just – well, very focused on his workouts, a bit too intense for his own good sometimes. It was rather amusing to see him get distracted so easily.”
“Oh.” His explanation mollified her somewhat, and a wicked smile spread across her face. “Well, if you really want to distract him next time, remind me to wear the teeny tiny shorts that go with the top.”
Ian burst into laughter, murmuring in her ear, “Darling, you’d have the entire gym in an uproar if you wore those shorts. And while I can easily take that young whelp Jesse on, I’m not certain I could say the same for a whole roomful of horny men.”
***
Tessa still wasn’t sure if she should be offended, flattered, amused, or all three at Ian’s mischievous confession. But she couldn’t help the smile that played about her lips as she began to apply her makeup. Truth be told, she hadn’t paid the slightest attention to Jesse, the young, buff trainer Ian had been sparring with, and therefore couldn’t say for certain if he’d actually been sneaking glances at her or not. All of her attention had been focused solely on Ian, as it always was no matter how many other attractive men might be nearby.
He had very quickly become the main focus in her life, the one thing everything else revolved around, especially in the last few weeks when she’d stopped working at her old job.
Predictably, her co-workers had been startled to learn she was resigning, especially so soon after the fire at her apartment building. Equally as expected, they’d been extremely curious about her reasons for leaving and what her future plans were. Tessa had been obliged to be as evasive as possible, merely telling anyone who asked that she just needed a little break and would be going back to school after a time. She knew Kevin in particular was dying to ask her a million more questions, and that everyone must be puzzled about how she could afford to take some time off of work. But she became quite adept at avoiding any detailed questions, and then swiftly changing the subject.
Andrew, the only person besides herself and Ian who knew the real truth, had remained stoically closed-mouthed on the matter, not that any of the team would have dared to actually probe him for gossip. On her last day of work, the whole team – including Andrew – had taken her out to lunch, and she’d had to fight off tears as she bid them all farewell.
Ian hadn’t attended the lunch – though Kevin had rather cheekily invited him – for it would have looked highly suspicious if he had joined them. He had never in the past gone out to lunch with the support staff, whether it was for a birthday or when someone left the firm, and Tessa had agreed this would have been an ill-advised time to start. They had, however, celebrated her last day at the office after hours, in a way that still made her blush when she thought of it.
Tessa had initially feared that she’d be bored without having a daily job to go to, but quickly found that to be very far from the truth. She loved living with Ian and taking care of him in dozens of different ways. Even though he urged her to sleep in, she always rose when he did each morning, making him tea and fixing him breakfast. If he had errands that needed doing, like dropping his suits at the dry cleaners, or picking up more shaving cream at the pharmacy, or buying his favorite scones at the bakery, she did all these things happily. It wasn’t just a matter of feeling useful, that she was earning her keep, so to speak. She simply liked looking after her man, maybe even spoiling him a little as he loved to indulge her.
She cooked dinner for him most nights, even though her culinary skills were still very basic, but she knew he loved the efforts she made to please him. He worked so hard at the office, had so much responsibility, that she could tell he was deeply grateful for the opportunity to just relax at home after a long, stressful day. She would have a cocktail waiting for him when he arrived home, and they would sit out on the terrace or in the library, depending on the weather, and talk about their respective days before they sat down to eat dinner.
She’d had a full two weeks in between quitting her job and then accompanying him on this past week’s trip. To prepare for the trip, there had been countless phone calls and emails from Andrew, with endless lists of the tasks she would be expected to do, names and numbers of contacts she would need, plus half a dozen items he would “appreciate” her assistance with if she could spare the time.
Julia had been a great help when it came time to pack for the trip, helping her select appropriate outfits for each city, for day and night, and the right accessories. And Ian had insisted she spend a day right before they left on the trip at the Neiman Marcus salon – getting her hair cut, having a facial, a mani-pedi, a massage.
He’d smiled at her, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Have whatever girly treatments you’d like, my love. With two exceptions.”
She’d looked at him quizzically as he’d explained. “Don’t let them cut too much of this beautiful hair. I told you before that I like it long. As for the other.” He’d nuzzled her neck as his hand had slipped down past her belly to cup her sex. “No Brazilian waxes. I want this left natural.”
Since the very thought of someone applying hot wax to her private parts was just about the scariest idea she’d ever heard, Tessa had readily agreed.
The trip itself had been amazing, even though they both put in long hours at each of the hotels they visited, their days filled with meetings and reviews. Tessa was thrilled to actually be doing real work – taking notes during meetings, sending faxes and printing reports, making sure the arrangements for lunch and dinner were confirmed. Ian had insisted that she accompany him to each meeting, lunch and dinner, and had made it very clear – albeit in a discreet, professional manner – that she was not only his PA but his companion as well. They stayed in the owner’s suite at each of the properties, ea
ch suite with its own private butler and each one more lavishly appointed than the one before.
And on the five and a half hour flight home from Florida – only her second flight ever, the one out to New Orleans having been her first – Ian had locked them inside the master bedroom and initiated her into what he laughingly termed “the mile high club.”
“It’s my initiation as well,” he’d whispered while unbuttoning her silk blouse, letting it fall from her shoulders. His lips had caressed the high, upper curves of her breasts. “I’ve never even brought a woman on board this plane with me before now, much less considered making love to one. So this is another first for me, too.”
And of course, the very best part of living with him and being with him nearly all the time, was his phenomenal sexual prowess. He was the sort of lover every woman could only dream of – the sort she in her naïve inexperience had never imagined truly existed. One night he might set out to seduce her slowly, taking his time with her, drawing out the anticipation until they were both mindless with need. And then, the very next night, he would take her roughly, demandingly, the sex wild and more than a little dirty. Tessa wasn’t sure what side of him she loved better – the erotic seducer or the dominant lover.
And of course there were many and varied versions of both of his personas. But it never mattered to Tessa what Ian’s particular mood called for from one day to the next – she loved them all, loved being his lover, loved making love with him. He had most definitely awakened her body to the point where she craved him like a physical need akin to breathing. She responded to not just his kisses and caresses, but to the sound of his voice, his scent, his very presence in the same room. During their business meetings or dinners, where they would strive to act like complete professionals and not the passionate lovers they were, their eyes would still meet and it would be impossible for either of them to disguise the flare of awareness that passed between them every single time.
Splendor (Inevitable #2) Page 36