A SEAL's Pleasure (12 page)

Really...

A vicious buzzing filled her ears.

She wanted to ask if he'd caught any of them. But Tessa—the queen of sexual freedom and no strings—couldn't bring herself to say those words because the image of Romeo with anyone filled her with blinding fury. She'd never been a possessive woman—with the notable exceptions of her shoes and her friendship with Livi—nor did she feel an ounce of jealousy over the myriad of women in Romeo's past. But his present? His future?

Her stomach clenched.

She'd just have to seduce him stupid and make sure he was too sexually spent to get even a hint of a rise for any of those other women. She'd give him the best sex of his life, hook him as if he was an addict and she the only dealer in his world.

Romeo wouldn't know what hit him. Because she'd be damned if anyone else was getting a piece of that man until she'd had her fill.

And given the way she was feeling, she might never be full.

“Would you be interested in a drink to welcome you to Casa Bella, ladies?” the waiter offered, his voice breaking through Tessa's bizarre trip into emotional overload.

With a murmured thanks, Livi accepted an iced sparkling juice. Still reeling at her reaction to imagining Gabriel with someone else, Tessa had to blink a couple of times before she could focus on the tray.

“Tequila?” Tessa asked, eyeing the tall glass of what looked like a melting sunset. At his nod, she grabbed it with unladylike haste. And gave a momentary thanks that Livi had hold of one arm, otherwise she'd probably have grabbed two.

Before she could swallow a sip of the soothing alcohol she felt a tingle. Like the gentle fingers of the sun skimming over her body—barely there but very discernible. A knot tightened in her belly—whether it was nerves or sexual need, she didn't know.

“Oh, there's Gabriel now.”

She didn't need her friend's delighted exclamation to tell her what her body was already screaming out. Livi turned to wave. Since her arm was still linked through Tessa's, Tessa turned, too.

And froze. Which was the only reason her smile didn't fall clean away.

Romeo.

Casual in jeans and a black T-shirt that hugged his broad shoulders and lovingly skimmed those mouthwatering biceps, his grin lit up the room. His eyes were locked on Tessa's, making it impossible for her to look away.

Trapped by that dark gaze, her mind spun in a million directions, even as her body heated, passion engaging instantly. Her nipples poked against the satin of her bra in a desperate greeting, her stomach tight with excitement.

She'd have ignored it all if she could.

But all she could do was wet her lips and stare.

Well, well. There he was, her lust anchor.

Tessa might not know how to tell her best friend that she had backslid into being a complete doormat, or have any idea how to express her frustration over being totally shoved aside. She might not have a clue what to do about her own future or how to keep her career from imploding.

But this feeling she had for Romeo?

The edgy lust that tangled tight with sweet passion's promise?

She knew
exactly
what to do with that.

10

G
ABRIEL
STOPPED
SHORT
just inside the balcony doors, his ears ringing as if he'd had a close call with a cluster bomb. His senses hit full alert, muscles tight and brain racing to assess the possible damage.

As a man who specialized in blowing things up, he'd know danger when he saw it. And the woman standing not twenty feet away was pure danger, for a multitude of reasons.

Not the least of which was that she was so damned gorgeous.

Gabriel's gaze heated as he looked her over. Long black hair streamed like a waterfall over her bare shoulders, almost hiding the tiny red straps of her little red dress. The fabric curved like a temptation over her ample breasts, then tapered along her waist before flaring gently over her hips to flow to her knees. There was nothing provocative about her look—if anything it was simple and sedate compared to Tessa's usual sensual style.

Now his body was rock hard for a very different reason. His ears ringing with the sounds of Tessa's orgasms as they'd echoed through his cell phone. Heat funneled through his system, loosening his muscles even as his fingers flexed in preparation for the delightful exploration of that gorgeous body.

All that in five seconds flat.

It took another five to come to his senses.

Reel it in
, he warned himself, curling his fingers into fists. As much as he wanted Tessa—and, oh, God, he wanted her—he was still struggling to get his head around everything that'd happened over the past few days. Given how things had gone down with Jackrabbit, he knew his judgment was iffy, his reactions edgy.

He was walking a precarious line right now.

If he fell on one side, he'd quite likely grab her up, haul her off and plunge into the glorious depths of a body he'd spent the past few months dreaming about. It'd go too fast for finesse, too wild for appreciation. Hell, the way he was feeling, he wasn't even sure he'd wait for permission.

A plummet down the other side involved emotional declarations, promises and, God help him, possibly even begging.

Neither option was pretty.

A day, he promised himself.

All he needed was another day.

He'd have it all figured out by then. What to do about the charges, how to make up for the damage, where he stood in the fallout. And, of course, which of the emotions flying through his system were real, which were lust mirages and which were spawned from a desperate need to believe that breaking one of his own rules wasn't going to completely jack up his entire life.

By tomorrow night, he'd have a handle on his thoughts, know whether he was acting wisely or reacting emotionally. The former being the goal, the latter would be disastrous.

Sure he had everything settled in his head, he watched Tessa approach, dimly aware of the pretty blonde by her side. The hypnotic sway of Tessa's hips had the skirt fluttering around million-dollar legs, making Gabriel wonder how tight she could wrap those babies around his body. Could she link her feet behind his back to get a good grip? Of course, she was so tiny, she probably didn't weigh as much as his backpack. Even if he had to slide his hands under that sweet ass of hers to support her while he drove into her body, he didn't figure holding her would slow him down any.

Control.

Gabriel shoved his clenched fists into the pockets of his cargo pants. Both to keep from reaching out for her, and to disguise his growing erection. He tried to channel his lust into his fists to squeeze it away, but they were a little too close to said erection to make moving his fingers very smart.

“Gabriel, hey.”

He nodded at Livi's friendly greeting, the trickle of guilt making its way down his spine for being the one here with her instead of Irish, who was stuck cleaning up the mess Gabriel's report had created.

“I thought you were going sailing,” Livi continued, reaching him before Tessa did and giving him a quick hug. “At least that's what I heard the burlesque trio say this morning as they hurried out in bikinis.”

“I changed my mind and went for a hike instead,” he said, not admitting that he'd made that decision when he'd saw them approaching the boat.

His gaze cut to the reason for his disinterest.

Tessa had stopped just a few steps behind Livi. Too far away to touch, but close enough for her scent to wrap around him like a husky whisper on a dark night. Her heavily lashed blue eyes were locked on him, an amused look on her face as if she found it funny that he'd run from a chance to have sex with three women who made their living straddling a long, hard pole.

An offer he wouldn't have been able to refuse if she'd made it, he admitted to himself. As long as she made it tomorrow, after he'd cleared his head.

“Well, well, if it isn't Romeo,” she said in greeting in her usual sexy purr. Her voice, the memory of how she'd used it like a sex toy when they'd talked on the phone, sent a shaft of desire racing through his system.

It wasn't as though he was some sex-crazed teenager, or a horndog sailor hitting shore for the first time in eight months, or a jerk with no sense of tact or style. He could easily control himself.

Tessa slid her tongue over her bottom lip, her eyes doing a slow, thorough inventory of his body with enough heat that he was surprised his clothes didn't burn away.

Okay, so control wouldn't be so easy. But he was a SEAL. He could handle it.

As long as he didn't touch her.

“Hello, angel,” he said, offering a warm smile from a safe distance. “Gorgeous as always, I see. Red suits you.”

Of course, he was pretty sure she could make burlap look sexy.

“Well, it's no bikini,” she demurred with a sweep of those lashes before offering a wicked smile. “Or, you know, a towel.”

Gabriel rocked back on his heels, his smile growing almost as wide as his dick was hard at the reminder of their phone call and her offer to remove his towel with her teeth.

“I was getting ready to show Tessa around the hotel,” Livi said, sounding amused. Maybe. He couldn't tear his eyes off Tessa's face to check. “You know, for all that wedding stuff we've got going on.”

“Right. Wedding stuff,” he repeated absently as his eyes wandered over Tessa's face. She looked the same, he realized with a slight frown. He wasn't sure why that surprised him. Maybe because it felt as if so much had changed between them that there'd be a sign of some sort.

“Mmm, wedding stuff. And maybe some lingerie shopping. I saw the cutest little boutique on our way here,” Tessa said, the wicked edge on her smile making him nervous.

Him.

Nervous.

Holy crap.

Gabriel ran his hand over his buzzed hair, wondering what the hell was going on. Maybe the California air was finally getting to him.

“Oh, Olivia, there you are,” someone called out.

Both women winced, a move Gabriel mentally echoed as he recognized the voice. He'd spent more than his share of time with Pauline in the past day and a half.

“Uh-oh,” Tessa murmured. “I haven't had enough to drink to deal with your mother yet. I'm going to steal Romeo, 'kay? We'll do the wedding stuff later this afternoon.”

“Sure,” Livi said, her face tightening at her mother's approach. “Half the things will probably have changed by then anyway.”

“You want me to stick around?” Tessa offered quietly. “Divide and deflect?”

“No, no.” Her smile easy again, Livi shooed them away. “Go, hurry. Otherwise she'll have you counting place settings or chasing down the right shade of cornflower ribbons.”

What the hell was cornflower? Before he could ask, Tessa tilted her head toward the balcony.

“You don't want to know,” she murmured, crooking her finger to indicate that he should come along.

He followed her out of the lobby, grinning when her steps quickened as Pauline's strident voice asked where they were going. The increased speed did amazing things for her hips, the red fabric of her skirt swaying temptingly, right there in touching distance. His palms itched to cup those hips, to pull her tight against his body and see how that butt fit against his erection. His eyes slid down her shapely legs to the spiked heels, noting they were at least four inches high and would bring her butt in perfect alignment with the hardness of his eager dick.

Before they reached the balcony, she angled right. He followed her up the short flight of stairs, wondering where they were going but enjoying the view too much to ask.

After the second short flight of stairs, she paused in a long, semidarkened hallway that appeared deserted and turned.

Her eyes glinted with a light that Gabriel recognized.

He did a quick recon, noting that there were only three doors in the hallway, that the silence indicated they were completely alone and that his chances for lasting until tomorrow were somewhere this side of slim and none.

Still, he had to try.

“Maybe we shouldn't have left Livi,” he said. “I kinda feel as though I should help as much as I can since Mitch pulled extra duty.”

Especially since he was directly responsible for that extra duty.

“Livi's fine,” Tessa assured him, her voice low as she gave him a long, slow look from head to toe. “If we're there, she'll feel as if she has to be polite and put on a show that her mother isn't a bully who took lessons from Attila the Hun.”

Tessa reached out to skim her fingers over his cheek, her smile calculating. But not in the way he'd seen on other women. She didn't look as if she were trying to figure out what she could get out of him, what he was worth or how well he'd look for show-and-tell. Tessa looked as though she was trying to figure out just exactly what she'd like to do first to drive him crazy on the way to fulfilling his every sexual fantasy.

Gabriel barely resisted the urge to check his brow to see if he was sweating.

“You know her pretty well.” He stopped to clear his throat, then tried again. “Why don't we get a drink and you can fill me in on everything I need to know to navigate the treacherous wedding waters this week.”

“Why don't we talk about that later,” Tessa said, her fingers trailing down his chest now, swirling in teasing little circles. “I think we have a few other things to discuss now.”

Discuss.

Discussion was good.

Some of the tension drained from Gabriel's shoulders. Sure, it pooled in his dick, but he figured that'd recede eventually. Maybe.

“What did you want to discuss?” he asked, ready for anything that'd distract from his hard-on.

“This,” she said, holding up one finger so an old-fashioned iron skeleton key dangled.

“What's this for?”

“My room.”

About damned time
, his body shouted.
Oh, hell no
, his mind yelled right back. But his erection was giving a happy salute behind his zipper, easily drowning them both out.

Gabriel glanced at the door just a reach away. Then he looked at the woman standing in front of him with a look on her face that promised to introduce him to a myriad of decadently sensual pleasures on the other side of that door.

He'd never been more tempted in his life.

Still, he'd made a decision. And given the results of giving way on his last decision, he knew he'd better stick with his resolve.

He'd just have to do so with enough charisma and appeal that she didn't mind waiting. Not an easy task if she was as hot for him as he was for her. But hey, he had an abundance of charm. He'd make it work.

His smile shifted from edgy to easy, his body language set at about the same heat level as a friendly hug.

“Tessa—”

Before he could finish his sentence, or even figure out what he was going to say, her mouth was on his. Her lips were so full, so soft.

Her taste filled his senses, addictively rich with just a hint of sweetness.

Her scent wrapped around him like darkness on a moonless night. Alluring and dangerous.

Just one kiss, he decided.

Lips on lips, nothing more.

Then her tongue swept over his mouth.

Like a flame to a fuse, he went off.

A blast of need more powerful that a C-4 explosion flashed, destroying his resolve, flattening his resistance. Screw his rules. To hell with mistakes. He didn't give a damn anymore.

All he cared about was Tessa.

He thrust his tongue into her mouth, taking control and setting the pace. Fast, hard, intense. Just the way he liked it.

Tessa met his passion with her own, her hands seeming to be everywhere at once. Cupping his biceps, gripping his shoulders, scraping over his pecs and grabbing his ass.

It wasn't until he had her backed up against the wall that he realized that he'd filled his own hands with her lush breasts. And more impressive, that she'd hiked herself up high enough to wrap those silken legs of hers around his waist.

The move brought her core flush against his throbbing dick, his pants and her bunched-up skirt the only things keeping him from heaven.

Heaven with his very own angel.

Groaning, Gabriel shifted to slide his mouth over her cheek, nipping at the delicate curve of her ear before scraping his teeth down her throat.

“Somebody could come at anytime,” he murmured, burying his face in the curve of her neck and breathing in her seductive scent.

Her foot slid higher, her stiletto rasping along the back of his thigh with enough pressure that he could feel the sharp edge through his jeans.

His dick echoed his groan with an aching throb.

“I'm betting that somebody is me,” she purred, her head falling back against the wall to give him better access to her throat and, he was pleased to note, the glory that was her chest. Full and ample, her breasts pressed tightly against her dress, the red fabric cutting into her lush flesh. “And that time could be any moment now if you put those clever hands of yours to work.”