Crave (Splendor Book 2) (39 page)

She sighed, twining her arms around his neck, her nipples brushing up against his shirt. “Yes, but only because she would have wanted you for herself. And you’re
my
man, no one else can ever have you. “

Ian grinned, his hands spanning her waist. “Getting possessive, are we? Good, because I feel the same way about you.”

She kissed him softly, almost teasingly, but it was still more than enough to make her groan and want more. “Thank you for last night,” she whispered. “You were so
perfect
. You always know exactly the right things to say and do.”

“It was my pleasure, love,” he replied sincerely.

Tessa caressed his smooth shaven cheek, inhaling deeply of his clean, masculine scent. “Tonight, though, will be for you. I know you held back last night, even though you must have wanted more.”

“Hush.” He placed a finger over her lips. “Darling, what you don’t realize is that I’m deliriously happy to have you any way I can. Whether it’s slow and sweet like it was last night, or hard and dirty, it’s always the most intense feeling in the entire world for me. And, yes, I did hold back, somehow I always feel like a rampaging beast when I’m near you, but that was what last night called for. But it was every bit as wonderful, Tessa, every bit as satisfying.”

She pressed closer against him, her lips caressing the strong column of his throat. “For me, too. But I want to give you what
you
need tonight. I want you to take me however you like. I want,” she told him huskily, staring deep into his eyes, “to surrender.”

“Jesus.” He stared at her open-mouthed, his eyes wide and his skin flushed. “Do you have any idea what those sort of words do to a man? Tessa - my God - you are the greatest treasure any man could ever hope to find in one lifetime.” He touched her cheek almost reverently. “But I’ve told you before. I won’t be your master, nor give you orders. This is and always will be an equal partnership, in every way.”

“I know that,” she murmured. “That doesn’t mean I can’t give you this now and then, can’t give myself over to your control for a night. I know you would never, ever abuse that sort of trust, and that you could never, ever hurt me. I need this, Ian - need to give myself to you freely, without limits, without rules.”

He closed his eyes tightly for long seconds, his hand sliding into her hair and holding her head still. Then he nodded and opened his eyes, and she gasped at the searing passion she saw reflected in their hazel depths. “All right, then. I accept your gift - gladly. And I promise that there will be every bit as much pleasure for you as there will be for me.” His hand slid down over her shoulder to her breast, cupping it before his thumb brushed over her nipple. At her gasp, he abruptly withdrew his hand.

“God, if I start touching you now I won’t be able to stop. Here, better cover up so that I can think straight.”

Tessa took the gray robe he handed her and belted it around her body as she slid out of the bed. “I’ll be looking forward to tonight,” she told him in a breathy little voice.

Ian groaned and pulled her into his arms. “Not half as much as I will, love. I’m thinking I’d better stop at the gym and work off some steam first - box a few rounds, swim a few dozen laps. Otherwise, I fear you’re going to regret giving me carte blanche with your body.”

She laughed, the sound muffled against his chest. “I doubt that very much.”

“I was planning to take you to Harris’ Steakhouse this evening. Is seven o’clock all right with you?” he inquired.

“Yes, perfect. What should I wear?”

He gave her a quick kiss before stepping back, shrugging into his suit jacket. “I’ll leave that up to you, love. My only request is that you wear one of the new sets of lingerie we just bought. The lavender set - you know which one I mean?”

Her cheeks pinkened as she pictured the gorgeous demi-bra of sumptuous satin and lace, and the matching pair of tiny, lacy panties. “Yes, I know.”

He winked at her. “Good. Those, plus stockings, of course, and high heels. The rest I’ll leave up to you. Now, I’d better go before I decide to blow off three separate meetings and start the festivities early. I’ll see you this evening, love.”

Tessa tried hard not to feel lonely and bereft as he left the room, knowing full well he had important matters to attend to at the office. It had been an extra special treat spending all of yesterday with him, but she acknowledged with a bittersweet resignation that every day couldn’t be like that.

She took her time showering and getting ready, fretting a bit over what to wear. Fortunately, she and Julia weren’t going anywhere fancy, just the DMV and then to a shopping mall where she needed to buy some things for work. Since all of her office wardrobe had burned in the fire, she would have to purchase a few pieces to get her by for the next few weeks. Now more than ever, when she was officially living with Ian, they would have to exercise extreme discretion at the office. And that meant keeping the lavish, extensive wardrobe of beautiful designer clothes he’d bought her strictly for after work use. She would need to stick to the same sort of inexpensive clothing she’d always worn to the office so that Alicia, Gina, and the others didn’t get suspicious.

Deciding to go with comfort rather than high fashion, Tessa chose a pair of black cigarette pants, a black and cream striped sweater, and black ballerina flats. The black Prada satchel that Ian had bought for her as a gift in London wasn’t even half full after she put her new wallet, phone, brush, lip gloss, and house key inside. Most of the day to day stuff she carried around with her had been inside her old purse, another casualty of the fire.

Julia arrived promptly at ten, just as Tessa was putting her breakfast dishes into the dishwasher. As usual, the petite designer was dressed to kill in a gray cashmere sweater dress that clung to her curvy body, and a killer pair of black stilettos with a T-strap. Tessa had never seen Julia looking anything less than perfectly put together, and realized the only time she’d ever seen her in something other than a dress or a skirt had been in yoga class.

The very first thing Julia did was to give Tessa a fierce hug. “I’m so sorry, honey,” she told her sorrowfully. “What a horrible, horrible thing for you to have to go through. But you’re lucky you managed to get out of there without any apparent injuries that I can see.”

Tessa nodded. “I’m fine, just a little shook up. Ian practically dragged me to see a doctor yesterday, even though I told him I was fine.”

Julia grinned. “Get used to it, honey. He might be on the reserved side, but your man is definitely used to being in charge. And you couldn’t have picked a better man to take care of you, Tessa. Ian is a real prize, one in a million.”

“I know,” admitted Tessa readily. “He’s the most wonderful man in the whole world, and I still have to pinch myself something like a dozen times a day to really believe he’s mine.”

Julia gave Tessa’s hand a squeeze. “Well, believe it, girl, because you snagged yourself a real winner. And I’m not talking about his money or his position. I mean the man he is inside - how kind he is and how well he treats people. If I hadn’t already been head over heels in love with my Nathan, I’d probably have gone after Ian myself,” she teased. “Then again, I saw the way he looked at you during that very first meeting I attended, and knew right off the bat that no other woman would ever do for him.”

Tessa couldn’t help beaming with delight. “Really? I just never imagined that someone like him would ever notice me.”

“Oh, honey, he noticed you all right. I told you that when we had lunch together the first time but you didn’t believe me. I’m glad everything worked out. Especially,” she added mischievously, “since I got this fabulous pair of Manolo Blahniks as a result.”

Tess smiled. “I can’t believe you made a bet with Nathan about whether Ian was really the new boyfriend I told you about. But I am glad you won the bet.”

Julia gave her a conspiratorial wink. “I tend to win most of the bets I make with Nathan. Let’s just say it all has to do with the timing. Now, as much as I’m dying to get the grand tour of this awesome house - God, from what I’ve already seen I might just move in here with you - we’d better get going.”

Julia’s silver BMW sedan, which she told Tessa had been a Christmas present from Nathan, was parked right outside. The women spent a busy but pleasurable morning and early afternoon getting Tessa’s new driver’s license, and then hitting the mall for lunch and shopping. Tessa was glad she had Julia, with her innate fashion sense, along for the somewhat abbreviated shopping spree.

“I don’t need much, just a few pieces to get me through the next few weeks until I quit work,” she explained. “And I don’t want to spend very much, especially if they aren’t things I’m going to wear again.”

Julia shook her head. “That’s where you’ve got it wrong. There’s no reason at all you can’t mix low and high end pieces, and keep wearing the stuff you buy today. Look, this blouse here - it’s on sale for thirty five dollars, but it would look fantastic with those pants you have on. And I already know those are Stella McCartney and probably cost around four hundred bucks.”

“For these?” squeaked Tessa in dismay. “Oh, I’m going to have to talk to Ian again. I don’t want him spending that much money. You’re sure? For one pair of pants?”

Julia chuckled. “Uh, huh, pretty sure. And don’t fight it, honey. The man is absolutely crazy about you so let him spoil you rotten. Let’s face it, Tessa - he’s going to do it anyway so you might as well just accept it and count your lucky stars.”

But Tessa couldn’t help fretting over how much money he must have already spent on her, and worrying about what else he planned to buy her. As a result, she adamantly refused to purchase anything besides two skirts, half a dozen assorted blouses and sweaters, two dresses, one pair of plain black pumps, and an inexpensive purse. Everything was either on sale or from a clearance rack, and no amount of coaxing from Julia could convince her to buy even one more thing.

“This will have to do,” insisted Tessa as they walked out of Macy’s, which had fortunately been holding a huge storewide sale. “I don’t want to spend any more of Ian’s money, especially if what you’re telling me is true about these pants.”

“Look,” Julia told her gently, “if it’s any consolation, Nathan told me once what he guessed Ian’s net worth to be, considering the salary he probably pulls in and the percentage of the company he owns.”

She named a figure that nearly sent Tessa into a catatonic shock. She’d known he was wealthy, but not
that
wealthy. It was almost inconceivable that he could be worth anywhere near that much.

“So he can easily afford to buy you whatever you want without it even making a dent in his bank account,” assured Julia. “Most women wouldn’t blink an eye about accepting stuff from him. But I already know - that’s not you.”

“No. But it sounds like I’ll need to get used to that sort of thing,” sighed Tessa. “Especially once I start traveling with him and attending events. I’m just terrified that I’m going to embarrass him.”

“Not possible,” insisted Julia. “You’ve always been so gracious and helpful at our meetings. You’ll handle yourself just fine at whatever party or banquet he takes you to. But you do need to dress the part, honey. Ian’s right about that. If you think those two cats you work with can be vicious bitches, the society snobs you’ll meet will be licking their chops ready to cut you into little pieces. So you’ll have to make sure you look fabulous every single time. Fortunately, you’re young and gorgeous and have a killer bod so the rest is easy.”

Tessa smiled at her gratefully. “You’re so sweet. Would you - I mean, I know you’re super busy with work and wedding plans but, well, I need a little advice about what outfits to wear for certain occasions.”

Julia clapped her hands in glee. “I’d love to help you with that. After you give me the grand tour of the house, we’ll take a peek at your wardrobe. Anything in particular you need an outfit for?”

Tessa felt her cheeks grow warm when she remembered Ian’s instructions for tonight. “Um, well, Ian’s taking me out to dinner tonight to Harris’ Steakhouse. I’ve never been there and don’t know the right thing to wear.”

“I do,” declared Julia. “We had dinner there in January with some clients. I’ll find the perfect dress for you.”

Julia was true to her word. After Tessa showed her around the house - with Julia oohing and ahhing over an antique table or a magnificently framed landscape or a priceless Oriental vase - she led her into the walk-in closet.

Julia clutched the doorway in mock astonishment. “Oh, my God, Tessa. This is - awe inspiring. You have to let me take pictures of this. Nathan and I are still finalizing the designs for my closet in our new home and this will definitely give me some amazing ideas. Oooh, look at those built-in drawers.”

After Julia had snapped a dozen or so photos with her phone, she turned her attention to Tessa’s clothes. With something akin to reverence, she ran her fingertips lightly over several garments, then gave a little purr of pleasure when she spied the racks of neatly arranged shoes and bags.

“Oh, honey, he’s bought you some gorgeous things,” she crooned. “Did the personal shopper you told me about pick all this stuff out?”

Tessa shook her head. “Actually, Ian chose most of it. He’s got wonderful taste, doesn’t he?”

“My God, that’s putting it mildly. Tessa, he’s got a gift. Everything is absolutely perfect for you - the colors, styles, all the accessories. It will be the easiest thing in the world to put outfits together for you.”

For tonight’s dinner, Julia helped her select a sophisticated sheath dress in a luscious shade of violet, pairing it with cream, peep-toe Louboutins. Ian had recently bought her another coat, this one of cream wool with large jeweled buttons that Julia insisted she wear tonight.

And Julia almost squealed with delight when Tessa showed her the drawers filled with exquisite, couture lingerie. Tessa carefully withdrew the gorgeous lavender bra and panty set Ian had instructed her to wear.

“He picked all these out for you, too?” inquired Julia.