Splendor (Inevitable #2) (24 page)

“Not now,” he bit out. “Christ, you’ll have me coming in your hand in ten seconds if you do that.”

Tessa used her free hand to caress his chest, loving the feel of his hot skin and hard muscles. “But I want to touch you, too,” she pouted. “Just like you did to me earlier.”

He captured her other hand, too, holding both of them immobile by her sides. “I want that, too, darling,” he murmured. “More than you can possibly know. I’ve dreamed of your hands on my body, of you kneeling before me, my cock in your mouth.” He lifted his head off the pillow, high enough to give each of her nipples a brief lick. “But not now, love. I seem to lose all control when I’m near you.”

She began to rock her pelvis back and forth against him, trying to free her hands. “It’s not really fair, you know. Maybe I should have just done what I wanted to you while you were sleeping.”

He chuckled. “And maybe someone is becoming very bold and needs a spanking because she’s such a wicked girl.”

Tessa let out a squeal of surprise as he gave her a quick smack on her right buttock. But any further protest she might have made faded away at his next feverishly murmured words.

“Take me inside you, Tessa. I want you on top this time, riding me. Have you done this before?”

She shook her head. “No. Let me, Ian.” She lifted her hips, reaching eagerly for his erection.

“Easy, love,” he admonished, his hand guiding hers as she positioned the tip of his penis at the slick entrance to her body.

Tessa gasped as he slowly, gradually, fed his cock inside of her an inch at a time, until she was fully impaled. She was unable to move momentarily as she grew used to the feel of being so completely filled.

Ian’s hands grasped her hips, his voice gentle. “All right there, love? Am I too deep?”

“No, no,” she protested, afraid he would withdraw if she said yes. “You feel so good. It’s so good, Ian.”

His hands caressed her thighs, her ass, slid up her ribcage to squeeze her breasts. “Move with me now, Tessa. Here, like this.”

He guided her movements with his hands on her hips, showing her what he wanted until she was riding him in a near frenzy, posturing up and down on his cock frantically.

“Jesus,” he panted, his hips pistoning wildly in an attempt to keep up with her pace. “You’re going to kill me for sure, love. I’m very sadly out of practice as I’ve already told you.” His big hands gripped her hips, forcing her to slow down. But by then both of them were breathing raggedly, a fine sheen of sweat misting their bodies. Tessa’s moans increased in frequency and volume each time he guided her up and down on his cock, lifting her up until only the tip remained inside her, and then lowering her with maddening, exquisite slowness until he was once again fully sheathed.

“God, those sounds you make,” he breathed. “I’ve never heard anything so damned sexy before. I’m more than tempted to see just how loud I can make you moan.”

“Oooh,” she whimpered as he rubbed her clit with the pad of his right thumb, while twisting her nipple with his left fingers. Without his hands guiding her movements, she picked up the pace again, grinding against his hand as she felt the now familiar approach of another orgasm. He was stimulating her in too many places at once, overloading her pleasure centers, until it was all too much to take and she called out his name over and over as she quivered with sensation, still riding him hard.

Tessa barely heard Ian swear softly before he clamped down on her hips again, holding her still as he pumped himself inside of her, finding his release. His hands fell limply to his sides as if in surrender, and she slumped down to lay on his massive chest, her hands tangling in his damp hair.

“If you do manage to kill me,” he whispered hoarsely a few minutes later, “at least I’ll die a very, very happy man.”

***

She yawned sleepily as she woke, stretching her arms and legs in opposite directions, luxuriating in the feel of the plush mattress beneath her and the softness of the bedcovers over her. They felt so good, in fact, that she gave in to the temptation and snuggled deeper into the pillow, fully intending to fall back asleep.

But then a low chuckle made her stir again, as did the warm hand caressing her bare shoulder. “You
are
a little sleepyhead, aren’t you, love?”

Tessa’s eyes flew open to find Ian gazing down at her, his handsome features filled with amusement. She shivered as he ran one long finger over the bridge of her nose down to her lips. His stubble was even darker and heavier this morning, his hair mussed, and she thought how incredibly sexy he looked this way – quite a change from the suave, elegant man who strode through the office with such authority. He looked wilder, rougher, but at the same time softer and more approachable.

“Good morning,” she murmured, as his hand cupped the back of her head.

“Good morning to you, too, love,” he told her just before claiming her lips in a sweet, searching kiss.

“Mmm.” She turned into his arms willingly, rubbing her naked breasts against his chest and loving the indrawn hiss of breath he took at the contact.

“Easy, darling girl.” He gently broke the kiss and eased her head onto his shoulder, keeping her wrapped in his arms. “Otherwise, you’ll have me waking you up a bit more – uh, enthusiastically shall we say.”

Tessa snuggled even closer against him, wrapping her arms around his waist. “I wouldn’t complain about that. In fact, you can wake me that way whenever you like.”

Ian gave her butt a pinch, eliciting a yelp of protest from her. “What a saucy little imp you’ve become rather quickly,” he teased. “What’s happened to the shy young girl who usually blushes when I simply tell her good morning?”

She caressed his steely abs, pressing a kiss to his shoulder. “You turned her into a woman practically overnight,” she confided. “A woman who’s absolutely obsessed with you.”

She gave a cry of surprise as he tumbled her onto the mattress, his big body looming almost intimidatingly over hers. She gulped as she noticed the way his eyes had darkened, and the smoldering look on his face.

“Then we make quite a pair, love, because I’ve been completely obsessed with you – your face, your body, your sweetness – since the first time I saw you,” he said raggedly. “And I’m beginning to fear that my obsession with you is only going to get stronger.” Ian gave her a quick kiss before reluctantly sliding out of bed. “But if we don’t get up and about now, I fear we’ll never leave this bed today. How does a shower sound before I take you out for breakfast?”

Lazily, she buried her face back into the pillow. “Not nearly as good as staying here in this bed with you all day. Why can’t we do that instead?”

He laughed heartily, bending over to nuzzle her neck. “Because I’m an old man, darling, and I need food if I’m going to have enough energy to ravish you again. Now, time to get up, you lazy wench.”

Tessa shook her head in protest, pulling the duvet over her body. “I don’t think I ever want to leave this bed. It’s the most comfortable one I’ve ever slept in.”

“It better be, considering what I paid for it. This is a Hypnos mattress, it was handmade and custom designed. I’m glad it passes Sleeping Beauty’s high standards,” he teased. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “You do like to cuddle, don’t you, love? You were practically on top of me when I woke.”

She felt her cheeks grow warm as she gazed up at him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know I – um, did that.”

“Hush.” He gave her a lingering kiss. “Remember, the word sorry is no longer in your vocabulary. And I wasn’t complaining Tessa. Far from it. I’d love nothing better than to wake up with you snuggled against me every day. I was just marveling at what an affectionate little thing you are.”

Tessa went to him eagerly as he scooped her into his arms and carried her into his opulent bathroom. She was delighted to discover the floors had radiant heating, which helped to keep her nude body warm as Ian turned on the shower taps and gathered up towels.

Once inside the huge granite shower that boasted dual showerheads, Ian wasted no time in pulling her into his arms. He backed her against the wall, his voice rough as he asked, “Is this going to be another first for you?”

She shivered despite the blissful warmth of the shower spray. “Yes.”

“Good.” He nipped her earlobe teasingly. “You might have to make a list for me.”

Tessa groaned as his hands slid down her back to cup her ass. “It might be a long list.”

His lips moved down the side of her throat. “I was hoping you’d say that. And I’d be very happy to add anything you might forget to that list.”

He released her momentarily so that they could each wash their hair. Tessa was surprised to find the same shampoo and conditioner that the stylist at Neiman Marcus had used yesterday, but didn’t question the coincidence.

She had just rinsed out her long hair when Ian came up behind her, his arms wrapping around her waist and his massive erection pressing against the cleft of her buttocks. His soapy hands palmed her breasts, drawing a sigh from her throat, her head falling back onto his shoulder as he tugged at her nipples.

“Let’s make sure you’re clean all over, shall we?” he whispered in her ear, just before his soap-slicked fingers thrust deep inside her moist, swollen sex.

Tessa feared her legs might have given out from under her had he not been holding her up. “Ohhh.” Her breath expelled in a long, low wave as his talented fingers continued to arouse her, his thumb rubbing circles around her clit.

“I love how tight you are,” he crooned, slowly withdrawing his fingers only to replace them with the tip of his fully engorged penis. “How it feels like you can’t possibly take all of me but yet you do anyway. How this sweet, hot pussy sucks me in.”

She whimpered as he eased inside of her one long inch at a time, her breasts being crushed against the slippery granite shower wall, and she felt surrounded by his tall, strong body.

“Ah, oh, God,” she cried as he thrust all the way inside of her.

He wasn’t gentle with her this morning, and she loved this rougher, more primitive side of him. She braced her palms against the wall as he gripped her hips, pounding into her fiercely. Even above the sound of the streaming water she could hear how hard he was breathing, as well as the words he growled in her ear, praising her, encouraging her, urging her on.

“That’s my beautiful girl. Yes, love, ah, you feel so damned good. I could stay buried inside you like this for hours. Come for me now, Tessa, let yourself go. Ah, yes, just like that.”

She emitted a high-pitched wail as she came powerfully, this orgasm stronger than any of the others he’d given her so far. She was barely aware when Ian bit her shoulder as he, too, found his release, slapping his hand against the wall to hold himself up.

He insisted on drying her off, even though she feebly protested she could do it herself. He wrapped her up in the same sort of plush, cream colored bath sheet that he’d draped around his own hips.

“I have something for you, Tessa,” he said, handing her an incredibly soft pearl gray garment. “The tags are still intact so if you don’t like it we can exchange it for something else.”

The robe was gorgeous and fit her perfectly, exquisitely warm against her bare skin. “It’s beautiful, Ian. I love it,” she told him sincerely. “But you’ve already done too much for me.”

“I’ve barely begun to spoil you the way I intend to. I have some other things for you as well. Come have a look.”

As he took her hand, she glanced down and almost fainted when she glimpsed the tag attached to the cuff of the robe. It was La Perla – a label she’d heard Gina and Alicia rave about on numerous occasions – and the price of the robe was $450. That was more than Tessa’s food budget plus the cost of her bus pass for an entire month combined, and she was stunned that he would spend so much on her for one simple item.

“Ian.” She tugged on his hand. “This is way too much money for just a robe. I can’t let you spend this much on me.”

In response he merely took hold of the offending price tag and tore it off. Grinning wickedly, he urged her along.

He showed her the drawers and cabinets in the huge double sink where toiletries, skin care products, and cosmetics had been stored for her, everything still in their wrappers and boxes. Tessa recognized some of the brands, especially the cosmetics that the makeup artist had used on her yesterday, while others were unknown to her. All of them looked expensive and high end.

But the real surprise came when Ian led her into his enormous walk-in closet. She had thought Julia’s closet jaw-dropping but this one easily dwarfed her friend’s several times over. The clothes racks, dark wood drawers, and granite topped counters had obviously been custom built and installed, for the closet was the sort of elaborate set-up that one only saw in design magazines or TV shows about the homes of the rich and famous.

Tessa stared at the rows of carefully hung suits, shirts, trousers, jackets, sweaters and other apparel. Dozens of pairs of shoes were neatly arranged on racks. The built-in drawers undoubtedly held things like socks, T-shirts and underwear. It was a huge space, far more than one person needed, as evidenced by the empty spaces here and there on the clothes racks.

“I didn’t have time to select much, just a few things really,” Ian was telling her as he walked her over to a partially filled clothes rack. “Once Marlene was able to confirm your sizes she packed everything up and had it delivered here to the house. I – I hope you like them, Tessa.”

She was startled at the amount of clothing – far more than a “few things” – that hung from the rack. There were dresses, skirts, trousers, jeans, blouses, sweaters, and jackets. On the shoe rack just below were half a dozen pair of assorted pumps, boots and casual footwear. Tessa didn’t need to look at labels or price tags to know that all of it had been very costly.

She’d never, ever, had such beautiful things before, never even let herself imagine she would ever own things as luxurious as these. For her entire life, her clothes had come from thrift shops, discount stores, and when things had been really bad, donations of used items from a charitable group.