Smiling sheepishly, she looked back at him over her shoulder. “I snooped in here while you were gone.”
“So you went through all the cabinets, made sure I had the proper number of towels and toilet paper rolls?”
Her laugh was soft. “No, I mean I came in here and gawked. I’m sorry I invaded your privacy.”
He walked toward her and nothing else but Tessa existed for him in that moment. “You were sleeping in my bed when I came home. Do you really think I care if you opened every door in my house?”
“I overstepped all the way around.”
“No, you were exactly where I wanted you.”
He reached for the waistband on his shorts to shuck them, but before he could push them down, Tessa was on her knees running her fingers along the scar on the left side of abdomen. “What is this?”
Although the nerves under the slice of skin were shot, his dick twitched at her touch. Just the sight of her in front of him was enough to fill his head with pictures. Dirty, delicious pictures.
Her taking him in her mouth, taking him all in. The feel of her hair as he held her head and… He forced himself to focus on her question instead of the proximity of her mouth to his cock. “Stab wound.”
Her head reared back and she stared up at him, her mouth open in surprise. “What?”
“Micki’s boss wasn’t too happy with having her family get in his way.”
“You could’ve died.”
“Nah.” He chuckled. “He missed all the important stuff.”
“Where else?” Now she was the one to grab for his waistband. “Where else were you hurt?”
Tessa was damn quick when properly motivated. One second, he had clothes on. The next, his shorts were on the floor and his dick was showing her its best snappy salute. But she ignored it, grabbing him by the hips and forcing him to turn.
Her sigh was one of relief, but the feel of her breath on his butt didn’t bring him a bit of relief. She caressed his ass and scratched her fingernails over his skin.
He stepped out of his shorts, almost losing his balance in the process.
Tessa slid a hand between his legs to cup his balls, tight against his body. She pressed a kiss to his backside. “Jonah, I want to—”
“No.” He knew exactly what she was about to say, and if she sucked his dick into her mouth right now, it would be over. He would snap, and she wouldn’t trust him anymore.
Because tonight was about trust as much as it was about making love.
He grabbed her hands and drew her to her feet.
“Then at least let me look and touch.” She shimmied out of her own pajama bottoms and kicked them away. Then she nudged him so they were facing the expansive mirror on one wall. She peeked around him, her curves—unfortunately still covered—plastered to his naked back.
When her hands began a slow drag over his skin, Jonah’s body quivered with the perfection of her touch. They smoothed over his pectorals, stimulating his already hard nipples. Down they went, skimming his abs and the line of hair below his navel. She traced the length of his scar and gripped his hipbones.
Ignoring his rampant hard-on, she caressed his thighs, explored his knees, and spent way the hell too much time checking out his calves and ankles.
On her way back up, the soft fabric of her pajama shirt brushed against his already electrified skin. And when she finally circled his cock with both hands and pumped, he couldn’t control the thrust of his hips.
“I like the way you look, Jonah Steele,” she said softly. “I love the way you feel.”
Something hard lodged in his chest—the pressure of doing all the right things, making all the right moves with Tessa. She was too important for anything less.
“This is your show tonight,” he said. “You’re totally in charge.”
“Then why don’t we check out that crazy tub of yours?”
He forced himself to move away and adjust the water controller back to the waterfall setting.
“I didn’t just look around when I was in here earlier,” she told him.
Hell, he wouldn’t care if she’d dismantled the whole place as long as she stayed. His home—his life—felt right with her in it.
“I took one look at that tub, and I fantasized.”
He wanted to give her every fantasy she could dream up. “About?”
“About you.” She sauntered in his direction, slipping buttons loose on her pajama top with each step. Then she let it fall to the floor. Her naked breasts never failed to steal his breath. She looked like a woman was supposed to, with curves a man could sink into. Could lose himself in.
Could find himself in.
Tessa reached for her panties, but he grabbed her hands and pushed them away. “Mine.”
He eased the fabric down her legs and the scent of her—hot and ready—waved over him. God, he was so needy, so hungry for her, that he could lay her out on this cold floor, push her legs wide, and drive in—
No driving. You’re a passenger on this trip.
No matter what he wanted, her needs were more important. And a woman like Tessa would never want to be possessed the way he wanted to have her. So he pressed a quick kiss to her stomach and took her by the hand to lead her to the tub. He steadied her while she climbed two steps up and back down. With the lights glowing from below the water, an aura seemed to surround her. She glowed with beauty and vitality and feminine strength.
He went back to the vanity and riffled through a drawer for a condom. Covered, he climbed into the tub and lifted Tessa to sit on the side.
“Your body is…I don’t even have words for it,” he told her. “A damn miracle. I want to know exactly how you like to be touched.”
She caught him around the waist with her legs and tried to draw him in. “Then come here and—”
“No. I need you to show me. I need you to touch yourself so I understand. So I can give you what you need.” She’d been touched in such cruel and inhumane ways. He couldn’t change the past, but he could make the future all about her.
She must’ve heard the rawness, the sheer truth of his words. “Where do you want me to touch myself?”
“Anywhere. Everywhere.”
Her hand went to her breast and squeezed. Then she trailed her fingers down the outside. “My skin is sensitive here.”
Jonah mirrored her movements on her other breast, and she shuddered. Her nipples were tight and dark, tempting him to reach out and touch, but he was playing by her rules.
Tessa’s head lolled back as she circled her breast with two fingertips. When she reached the underside, she moaned and her calves moved restlessly under the water.
Jonah’s muscles were taut with the need to push, go further and faster. But not until she did.
She moved her fingers to her nipple. There, her touch wasn’t gentle. She twisted and tugged, and her knees parted.
“Stop,” he demanded. “That has to hurt.”
Her laugh was breathless. “Do you really want a lesson on sexual arousal and the accompanying increase in pain thresholds right now?”
Was that really a thing? He filed the relationship of pain to pleasure away for further research later. His hand was far from steady when he followed her lead and gently rolled her nipple between his fingers.
“Harder,” she demanded.
“I don’t want to—”
“I promise, I’ll tell you if it doesn’t feel good.”
Fuck.
He applied a little more pressure, and her legs opened wide, revealing the glistening tender skin between them.
In. He wanted in.
When she moved her hand between her legs, Jonah’s body went into a vacuum state. No freaking air anywhere.
He wanted to watch her pleasure herself for hours. She rubbed her clitoris, making it stand out stiff and proud. His heartbeat was pounding through his body so hard, he could barely hear the harsh sounds of his own breathing. “God, Tess, I want—”
“Mmm? What do you want
?”
About her. About her. About her. It will always be about her.
“Whatever you want.”
Her fingers still moving nimbly between her legs, she shook her head. “That wasn’t what you were going to say.”
The words and desires and needs whirled inside him, building and building. What was he supposed to say, that he wanted to put his mouth on her and tongue her until she screamed? That he wanted to turn her over and drive into her from behind? That he wanted to shove her up against a wall and fuck her until neither of them could stand upright?
A sly smile crossed her beautiful face. “Well, if you won’t tell me, then I’ll have to do something about this myself.” She pushed off the tub’s edge and waded toward the waterfall. Eyes narrowed, she put her hand under the stream of water and glanced around. She crooked a finger at him. “Looks like I need you after all.”
“You have me.” For anything that brought her pleasure.
“Stand right here and put your hands under my back.” With that, she reclined in a float position and hooked her legs over the edge of the tub. Which positioned her clitoris directly under the water flow.
Oh, fuck. Made perfect sense now.
She moaned her approval at having the water pound down on her. And all he could do was stand here holding her and watch a faucet do all the work. Within seconds, Tessa’s hips were working, doing whatever necessary for the water to flow over the right spot.
When she came, it was on a long, lusty groan that emerged from somewhere deep inside her. After, she went limp in his hold, but Jonah was feeling anything but satisfied and mellow. In fact, the condom he’d put on felt as if it was about to cut off circulation to his dick.
He tugged her back toward the side of the tub. She was as malleable as a rag doll when he settled on a built-in seat and pulled her into his lap so they were chest to breasts.
“That’s the way—uh-huh, uh-huh—I like it,” she sang softly, making him laugh. She melted against him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, spreading her knees to straddle him and pressing her mouth to his.
Her kiss kicked what little control he had to the curb. She was using her tongue aggressively, making it clear she wanted him to follow her lead.
Jaw tight, he grasped her hips and lifted her until his cock was snug against the entrance to her body. “Are you sure?”
She released his mouth and looked—really looked—into his eyes. “I want you, Jonah. I want you inside me.”
His hips surged up and he pushed into her silky heat. Ah, Jesus. It was better than he remembered. She was tight and so fucking hot. Still, he made himself keep control, using short, shallow thrusts.
Her smile was lazy and relaxed. Not exactly the reaction he was looking for. “Tessa!”
“Hmm?”
The last thing he wanted to do was ask if it was good for her. Obviously, he wasn’t rocking her world the way a stupid waterfall could. “I want you to feel good.”
“I do.”
“I want you to lose your mind, it feels so good.”
“You sure?”
Nah, he was just fucking around. “Yes, dammit!”
To his supreme disappointment, she pushed up from his lap, separating their bodies. She held out her hand to him. “You need to understand that I’m not fragile. Come here.”
She led him to the plush rug in front of the full-length mirror. Okay, fine, they could do this again. But she shocked the shit out of him when she dropped down on all fours, and lowered her head. A submissive position no man could misinterpret.
When he didn’t follow, she glanced up at him. “I’m choosing, Jonah. And I choose you.”
A chunk of cement he’d been carrying around in his chest loosened. She trusted him. Really trusted him. And that was a gift he would kill himself before he squandered.
He knelt behind her, ran a hand down her back as if he were touching a religious object. She turned her head to meet his gaze in the mirror, and in that moment, with hot honest need and desire in her eyes, he was lost.
She arched her back and opened for him. And this time, when Jonah slid inside her, her expression wasn’t relaxed. It was full of stunned pleasure.
Her heat surrounded his cock, tightened his belly, and spread up his chest. The feeling traveled to his head and scorched his brain.
With each stroke, he pushed a little harder, went a little deeper. Until Tessa was on her elbows, her cheek against the rug. Their eye contact never broke until her arms splayed out to her sides and her body began to ripple around his.
He drew back, almost out of her body, then thrust forward and held. The orgasm ripped through him, squeezing his balls and stealing his breath, while she continued to come around him.
With the force of it all, Jonah’s body went into pleasure shock. But when Tessa smiled at him, that was when his world exploded and reassembled.
17
Because he hadn’t engaged the electronic blackout shades over his windows last night, the inevitable North Carolina sunshine splashed across Jonah’s bed. But rather than aggravation at being awakened too early, a feeling of contentment filled him.
That sense of satisfaction had everything to do with the woman snuggled against his side. Being with Tessa—really being with her last night—was better than anything he could’ve imagined. She’d understood his needs, his wants, and hadn’t turned away.
Hadn’t been threatened. Or disgusted. Or frightened.
He smoothed his hand over her hair and spiraled a curl around his finger. Although he needed to get up and get to work on tracking down the hacker, he couldn’t resist leaning in for a kiss. She came awake slowly, her muscles engaging, and she slipped an arm around his waist so they could turn fully into one another.
Maybe, if they kept making love the way they had last night, he could be himself with her. Let her see inside him in a way he’d never believed he could. Had never believed she would want.
He worked his thigh between hers and found that her body—though still pliant with sleep—was totally on board with his touch. He was reaching for her breast, his anticipation rising, when his bedroom door slammed against the wall.
“What the fuck, Baby Billionaire? Why are you still in bed?”
He was going to kill them. Slowly. And painfully.
He’d start with Reid. Then he’d let Grif and Britt flip for next in line.
Then he would change the code on his security system and never give it to them again.
Jonah angled his body to shield Tessa and yanked the sheet up to cover the breasts he was just about to get up close and personal with. He looked over his shoulder to find his three brothers crowded inside the room. Reid’s hands were making mallet-sized fists, Britt’s were on his hips, and Grif’s were brushing at lint on his pressed dress shirt. As if lint would have the balls to taint his clothes.
“Get out,” he snapped.
“Nuh-uh,” Reid shot back. “You cut us out once. What the hell were you thinking by not letting us know you put Mrs. Vanderwinkle in traction?
“She’s not in traction, you assbrain.” Like a pin in her hip was any better. Jonah was still sick over it.
“We’re not gonna turn around and leave, pretending something isn’t going on with you.”
Grif gave Jonah a half smile. “I sure as hell can’t carry him out of here. He weighs as much as a silverback.”
That was an exaggeration, a slight one.
Jonah glanced back at Tessa, who was lying there, eyes and mouth open wide. Not surprising since they were both buck-ass naked.
“For once,” Britt said in his calm eldest brother voice, “Reid is right. Our name is on this town, too, and we need you to tell us why you put a senior citizen in the hospital.”
“If you shitheads will give me five minutes, I’ll—”
“Screw that.” Before Jonah could react, Reid stomped over and yanked the comforter off the bed. Then he froze and squeezed his eyes shut. “Oh, hell.” Without looking
, Reid shoved the big wad of fabric toward Jonah. “I’m sorry. We didn’t realize she was…you were…”
Grif’s laughter was loud and clear. “Wait until Brynne hears about this snafu. She’s gonna send you to etiquette classes. Maybe make you do a cotillion.”
Even serious Britt cracked a small smile at that. “Why don’t we head back downstairs and wait for Jonah in the kitchen?”
Reid did an about-face, and they filed out.
Tessa’s hands flew from where they’d been clutching the covers to her face. “Do you think he saw anything?”
God, he was at a loss here. Would knowing that his brother had probably gotten a good eyeful of her beautiful body freak her out? Would she see it as some kind of violation?
“He closed his eyes immediately.”
“Because he got a gander at my ass.”
Wisely, Jonah didn’t mention it was unlikely, based on the fact that she was lying on her back. It was more likely that Reid caught a glimpse of her stellar tits. “He didn’t mean to, and he’s sorry. It’s okay. None of them would ever do anything to hurt you. Reid’s just a big oaf sometimes.”
She pushed at his shoulder and struggled to sit up. “I’m not scared of them, but I didn’t want to be naked the first time I officially met them.”
“It does make handshaking slightly more complicated, doesn’t it?” He was trying like hell not to laugh, now that he knew she wasn’t traumatized.
“It puts me at a disadvantage,” she huffed, and her breasts bounced near his face.
“This isn’t some kind of judgment. They’re my family.” The idiot part of the family, but still.
“It’s a little easier to make a good impression when my hair is fixed and I’m fully dressed.”
Unable to resist the temptation any longer, he leaned forward and kissed her right nipple. “You make a hell of an impression just like this.”
When he drew her into his mouth and scraped his teeth across her delicate skin, she gasped and arched her back. With her skin gleaming in the sunlight, she was the most beautiful woman Jonah had ever seen. Like a goddess that women prayed to emulate and men prayed to serve.
He certainly wouldn’t mind settling between her legs and serving her all day long with his mouth. “Tessa, I want to—”
Stripping Bare (Steele Ridge Book 7) Page 16