Her answer seemed to please him tremendously, as well as relieve any doubts he might have still been harboring. “Well, every princess deserves a prince, darling. And I’m going to work very hard to make sure you’re every bit as pampered and cherished as a queen.”
She let him coax her into sharing dessert, even though she was already full from the superb meal. He fed her bites of warm chocolate lava cake and salted caramel ice cream while they both sipped coffee - an espresso for him, a foamy cappuccino for her. She didn’t drink coffee very often, but was already beginning to feel a little drowsy from all the champagne and rich food, and decided the extra caffeine would be a wise idea. There was no way she was going to fall asleep before they had the opportunity to play out her fantasy.
“Are we going back to our room now?” she asked hopefully as he finished signing the guest check.
“Impatient, are we?” he asked in amusement.
“Yes,” she replied in a breathless voice. “The - ah - anticipation is getting to be more than I can bear.”
He slid his hand to the back of her head and brought her mouth to his for a soft kiss. “Good. I want you wild with need, so aroused that you’ll come at the lightest touch.”
Tessa groaned. “I’m already there.”
“Are you wet?”
“God, yes,” she whispered. “So much that I think I might leave a spot on this chair.”
Ian closed his eyes, muttering something beneath his breath, before standing abruptly and pushing his chair back. “Let’s go,” he said roughly, stepping around the table to pull her chair out. “Otherwise, I’m going to kiss you right here in front of all these people, and it will take an awful lot to make me stop.”
She was certain he would take her back to the suite after that, but gave a little sigh of frustration when they stopped at the piano bar in the lobby instead. He noticed the little huff she made as they sat at one of the tables and smiled at her.
“Remember what I told you earlier, love? The anticipation builds the pleasure,” he reminded her gently. “Don’t pout, Tessa, it won’t sway my decision. Trust me, darling, this will all be worth it in just a very short while. Meanwhile, relax and enjoy the music for a bit, hmm?”
He ordered them each a brandy, the Camus label she knew he preferred. She still found the taste of the fine liqueur a little bitter for her liking, but nonetheless sipped her drink daintily. Ian held her hand loosely in his as they listened in companionable silence to the vocalist and her accompanying pianist. Several couples in the bar were already dancing in the small space in front of the piano as Ian pulled her to her feet and out onto the dance floor.
He held her close, one arm banded about her waist, the other hand clasping hers where it rested on his shoulder. He danced as smoothly and effortlessly as he seemed to do almost everything, and it was the easiest thing in the world for her to follow his lead.
“I wanted to dance with you so badly at the Christmas party,” he murmured close to her ear. “Especially when I saw you there all alone. But of course, I couldn’t, not without revealing my feelings to everyone else there that night.”
“Including your date, of course,” she replied teasingly.
He gave her waist a little squeeze. “Behave. I’ve already explained to you about Rebecca. And
you
were the woman I wanted that night, not her. When you told me as you were getting ready to leave about your divorce - you have no idea what I felt to learn the news. I couldn’t go back to the party for a while, needed some private time to fully absorb the reality that you were finally going to be free.”
She nestled the top of her head beneath his chin as they kept dancing to the next song. “You were so kind to me that night, getting me a taxi and paying for it. But I just figured you were only looking out for one of your employees.”
“No.” He rubbed his cheek against her head. “I wanted to be the one to take you home that night, to take you home with
me.
Instead, I sat in the bar of the hotel and began to plot exactly how I was going to seduce you. It was all going to start with you filling in for Andrew during his vacation. I think I gave the old boy quite a shock on that Monday when I shared the news.”
She laughed. “That must have been something to see. Andrew doesn’t shock easily. I always wondered, you know, why I was never asked to substitute for him before then. I just assumed you didn’t think I was capable.”
“Not even remotely close to the truth,” he assured her swiftly. “The real truth is that I didn’t trust myself having you in such close proximity. I’m not sure I could have remembered you were a married woman - or given a damn - after awhile. And you are far more than just capable of doing the job, Tessa. You did a brilliant job filling in for Andrew, far better than any of the others ever did.”
She was ridiculously pleased at his praise. “That means a lot. And I’m very glad to know it wasn’t my ineptitude that made you reluctant to have me fill in. Speaking of Andrew, there’s something else I’ve always meant to ask you about him.”
Ian grinned playfully. “He’s not gay, even though he may act like an uptight bastard most of the time.”
She gave him a little swat on the arm. “That’s not what I was going to ask you. And I’ve met his girlfriend so I already knew he wasn’t gay. Isobel is - well, very different from our Andrew. The saying about opposites attracting could have been invented with the two of them in mind. No, what I was going to ask you concerns, well, Jason, I’m afraid. And why Andrew always seemed to be around when…”
“When that prick was trying to harass you,” finished Ian. “Why do you think that happened, Tessa?”
She shrugged. “I always assumed it was because you didn’t want another sexual harassment lawsuit on your hands.”
“Wrong. Oh, not that the possibility wasn’t a valid concern. But my primary motivation was to make damned sure that son of a bitch kept his filthy hands off of you. And it worked for the most part, until that day in the office gym.”
Her cheeks grew warm when she recalled that very unpleasant encounter. “You sent him away because of me, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” he replied, without the slightest hesitation. “I would have gladly shipped him to the Arctic Circle if I could have, anywhere to keep him away from you.” His hand squeezed hers a little tighter. “I’ll never allow him to harass you again, Tessa. Not Jason nor any other man. What’s mine I protect. And you are mine, aren’t you, love?”
In response, she touched his cheek and pressed her lips to his softly. He groaned beneath her kiss, and she quickly forgot there were other people in the room. All she was aware of was the warmth and hardness of his body pressed against hers, of the gentle caress of his lips on hers, and of the stirring lyrics the vocalist was crooning. The song was Alicia Keys’s
If I Ain’t Got You
, and the beautiful words about not wanting or needing anything else if she couldn’t have the man who held her against him so tenderly made tears shimmer in her eyes. She turned her face into his chest, her heart so filled with emotion that she feared it might burst.
“Come, darling,” he whispered to her. “I think the anticipation has finally reached the boiling point.”
They were silent as they made their way back to the suite, his hand at the small of her back their only physical contact. Once inside the suite he led her directly to the master bedroom, where in their absence the thick duvet had been turned down and a soft bedside lamp left on.
“Let me,” he urged, his hands on the zipper of her dress.
She didn’t resist as he carefully eased the delicate lace fabric off her shoulders and down past her hips. As she would have stepped out of her shoes, he gripped her by the ankle firmly.
“Not yet,” he instructed. “I want to see you first. I’ve been trying to picture how you’d look in this very fetching ensemble all night long.”
Tessa forced herself to keep her eyes open as Ian’s heated gaze roamed over her body. But it was nearly impossible to stop her pulse from racing or her legs to keep from shaking when she saw the raw, almost feral desire stamped on his face. His hands clamped tightly around her waist as he gazed down at the decadent display of her breasts as they very nearly overflowed the bustier.
“You look…” he swallowed with some difficulty, his voice cracking a little. “You look like a naughty Valentine, all cream lace and red satin.” He slid his hands up beneath her breasts, squeezing them through the wired bodice. “Like an extremely desirable, very fuckable Valentine. And if I hadn’t already committed to fulfilling your fantasy this evening, you can be damned sure we’d be satisfying about a dozen of mine instead.”
She gasped as his thumbs brushed over her nipples. “There’s - there’s always tomorrow night,” she replied in a thin, high voice.
Ian smiled dangerously. “I like the way you think, darling. Maybe you’ll consent to wearing this particular outfit for me again, hmm?”
“Yes, yes,” she breathed. “I’ll do anything for you, Ian. Anything at all.”
He grasped her chin roughly and kissed her, a savage, open-mouthed kiss that left her struggling for air. “This probably isn’t a good time to tell me something like that,” he hissed. “Not when you look like every forbidden fantasy I’ve ever had about you come to life. So let’s get on with this before I forget I’m a gentleman and go back on my word.”
Ian dropped to his knees, holding her steady as she stepped out of the shoes. His fingers trailed up either side of her silk-stockinged legs, until they reached the frilly garters attached to the tops. He unhooked each side before carefully easing the delicate hosiery off her legs. He hooked his thumbs in the side of her panties, but before he peeled them off her body, he nuzzled his nose into her damp cleft.
“I can smell how aroused you are,” he groaned, his hands squeezing her buttocks before removing her drenched underwear. “Small wonder, given how wet these are. Ah, but if you wear this for me again tomorrow, we’ll have to buy new panties, won’t we?” He stood and moved behind her where he slowly began to unhook the bustier. “Or perhaps we’ll just buy a whole new set like this one. Black this time, I think. As you know, I like you in black lace.”
The wired undergarment fell away, leaving her nude and so aroused she feared she would come at even the slightest touch of his hands on her body. But instead of touching her as she longed for, he merely led her over to the bed and indicated she should lay down.
“You know what comes next, Tessa,” he told her in a deep, seductive voice. “After all, it’s your dream we’re bringing to life tonight, isn’t it? Show me what you want, love.”
She watched through half-lidded eyes as he carefully removed his suit jacket without ever taking his eyes off of her prone body. Just as she remembered from her months-old erotic dream, her arms and legs began to move in opposite directions into a spread-eagle position. As she continued to watch him, he walked over to the dresser and opened the top drawer to remove something. When he approached the bed, she saw he was carrying several long strips of red satin fabric.
With almost maddening slowness, he bound each of her wrists and ankles to the bed, making sure the satin strips were securely fastened.
“Not too tight?” he asked her as he stood.
She gave an experimental tug before shaking her head. “No, they’re okay.”
“Good. We want this to be pleasurable for you, but never painful. Let me look at you like this. Ah, what a delectable picture you are, Tessa - naked, spread, and bound for my pleasure. You are what every man craves, what they dream of. Only you are so much more beautiful than any dream could possibly be.”
She closed her eyes, her lower body already starting to bow off the bed, so desperately aroused and needy for his touch that her skin felt like it was on fire. “Please,” she whispered weakly.”
“Yes, love. I intend on pleasing you very well. Look at me now and tell me, Tessa - is this how it was in your dream? Except, of course, that you’re lying on a very comfortable bed instead of a cold, hard table.”
She gazed up at him, almost recoiling from the naked passion in his eyes. “Yes,” she murmured. “Everything’s the same except for your shirt. You need - undo two more buttons, I think. Then, yes, it’s just like in my dream.”
He complied, his shirt gapping open now to reveal more of his beautifully muscled chest. She longed to touch him, to run her hands over every inch of his hard, sculpted body, but the bonds she’d asked him for prevented her from doing so.
And then Ian was beside her, sitting on the bed as he bent his head and kissed her softly. His mouth took hers again and again in a series of long, leisurely kisses. She groaned beneath the pressure of his warm, firm lips, and the feel of his tongue sweeping thoroughly through her mouth over and over. He grasped her jaw between his long fingers, holding her head still as his kisses grew deeper and more demanding, and she felt dizzy from the continued force of his attentions.
Tessa was gasping for breath as his lips finally began to move down the side of her throat, caressing the tender flesh beneath her ear. She gave a little squeal of surprise as he sucked hard on that spot, marking her, only to soothe the sharpness of the love bite a moment later with his tongue.
Ian took his time with her, seeming to be in no rush whatsoever, and it was both torment and exquisite pleasure for her simultaneously. He lingered over her breasts, lavishing attention on them until she was moaning loudly and moving her pelvis restlessly beneath him. His tongue laved each nipple with maddening slowness before he closed his lips around the areola and sucked hard. His hand cupped the other swollen globe, his fingers plucking at the nipple and coaxing it into an even harder peak. She could feel each lick, each tug, each squeeze of her flesh all the way down to her womb, and she wondered wildly if he could possibly make her come solely by stimulating her nipples.
By the time he finally lifted his head from her breasts, she was so fully aroused - every nerve ending in her body so highly stimulated - that it only took the tiniest flick of his thumb on her clit for her to climax wildly. She felt the satin bonds pull tight as her body bucked up in reaction, and she sobbed his name as the tremors continued to rock her from head to toe.