Adored (8 page)

Eventually, after his slow deliberate advance, he was nearly halfway in.  Suddenly forcing his hips forward, he thrust the remainder of his shaft deep within her; Tess caught her breath, wiggled her ass and moaned deeply at this new intrusion. 

He began an almost violent rhythm of thrusts, dragging himself entirely away from her before plunging back in again to the hilt.  Tess was being driven out of her mind by the combination of sensations and it was all he could do to maintain control. She was incredibly hot, hotter than he could have imagined. With each plunge he felt the walls of her eager pussy seek to clutch, to hold, to massage him. Tess was wild with her desire. She wanted to reach up and wrap her arms around his thickly-muscled shoulders, but he wouldn’t allow it.  Instead she had to endure the exciting – on the edge of scary – sensuality of being made love to in a most thoroughly controlled manner, as he teased and tested her, bringing her almost to the point of no return, then backing off the intensity of his thrusts until Tess - and Sean - knew that the next joining of their bodies was going to be it for the both of them.

When he finally allowed her to explode, the ball of orgasmic sensations that had been coiled within her suddenly released, beginning with a series of spasms that quickly built to an uncontrollable crescendo.  She considered for a long moment that she might faint from it.  Her body bucked uncontrollably from the force of her pleasure and it was only with remarkable effort that he was able to remain in complete control of her, pinning her arms beside her body, riding out her every sharp upward thrust to meet it with one of his own, as he growled in the throes of his own violent completion.

He collapsed on her, panting into her ear, slowly moving his hands up to cup and stroke her shoulders, petting her as he tried to bring himself forcibly back down to Earth.  He could quite happily have simply floated off to sleep, but he wasn’t about to do anything so clichéd as that, especially not the first time they’d made love.  It was unthinkable.

Despite his best intentions, though, Tess was quite startled when, within three minutes of their heart-stopping simultaneous eruptions, she heard a loud, long snore right in her ear.  Instead of being insulted, she took it as a compliment and chuckled softly; knowing how hard they had both just come and how hard he worked every day, she wasn’t in the least surprised that orgasms like they’d just shared had induced sleep.  She was frankly surprised that she wasn’t just as conked-out as he was.   Sometimes sex made her sleepy and sometimes it energized her, and this was one of the latter times, apparently. 

Trying her best not to wake him, she slid him a tad to one side, then slithered successfully out from under his other side without waking him, rightfully proud of herself for the accomplishment.

She dressed quickly and efficiently, and carried the rest of her clothes into the living room, where she added them to the pile by the couch that had contained her panties, slip and skirt.  She’d removed her stockings and carefully and stuffed them into a grocery bag she had found under his kitchen counter.

It was then that she realized she was famished, and went poking into his cupboards for something to eat, settling on a big bowl of raisin-bran cereal.  She sank down onto the couch – this time on it rather than over it - and turned on the news to wait for him to wake up.

It was nearly an hour later when she heard him roar, “Tessa!” as he barreled out of the bedroom, trying to simultaneously zip up his pants and shoulder into his shirt.  “Tessa?!”

“I’m right here,” she said, flipping off the TV.

She was amazed by the look of sheer relief that she saw wash over his face.  He stalked directly to her and helped her up from the couch, folded her in his embrace and kissed her warmly.  He was blushing bright red as he leaned a bit back to catch her eyes, saying, “Oh, man, I am so sorry!   That is so not like me -”

“Shush.  It’s perfectly fine.  Must’ve been good sex if it knocked you out so completely,” she grinned.  Sean couldn’t believe she was being that understanding.  He didn’t know if he would have been quite that patient if she had fallen asleep on him like that, without so much as a “by your leave” for what had been one of the most fantastic sexual experiences of his life.

He sank back onto the couch, taking her with him, holding her on his lap.  “I thought you might have gone home.”

“And drive that behemoth you call a truck?  I’d need a pile of phone books just to see over the dash!   No, thank you.  I figured you’d wake up sometime, and then I’d bug you to take me home.”

“Or not,” he smiled mischievously.  “You could stay the night .  .  .”

“Yeah, I had thought of that, too, but I don’t have anything of mine over here – no clothes, no cosmetics .  .  .”

He looked very disappointed, but agreed.  “You’re right.”  He didn’t want to be too presumptive – what was he thinking?  Yes, he did, definitely want to be that presumptive!  “How about I grab some things for work and we stay at your place tonight?  I don’t really want to let you get away from me that easily.  I need you.”

It was the last phrase that got her.  He needed her.  She adored the sound of that.

After that they were inseparable, always spending the night at either his home or hers - usually hers - just because she had more possessions than he did, even though his was the bigger place.

Neither of them had much family left, beyond siblings and their kids that lived elsewhere, so they became each other’s family. 

Pam worked for Tess the following Saturday, and with both shops closed on Sundays, they cobbled together a four-day weekend.  They danced to the live band in the Wolf’s Den, right in the middle of the casino, and lost a frightening amount of money at both the table games and the slots.  But what a time they had!   They retired early every evening, enjoying a suite with a two-person Jacuzzi before ravishing each other in the king-sized bed until they each fell into an exhausted sleep.  It was a great mental-health break; both were rested, relaxed and ready to go back to work Monday morning.

As the weeks passed, they made their own traditions.  Thanksgiving turned into their personal holiday, since both of their businesses were closed on Thanksgiving and the day after.  Christmas time was extremely busy for Tessa; she handmade dozens of beautiful centerpieces that were very popular and sold out every year.  Unfortunately, the extra business demands put a bit of a crimp in their style, but Sean was completely understanding and often came by just to sit with her in the shop after-hours while she did her magic with evergreen boughs, ribbons and candles.

Sean began to keep a weather-eye on her health.  She attacked life flat-out, and he wasn’t about to let her neglect herself because of it.  He encouraged her to hire a couple of new parttime people – one to handle deliveries and one to help Pam.  Tessa thought that was a phenomenal idea, although she knew it was going to cut into her profits.  She found that she could now concentrate more on the creative end of things, while her employees handled the front end as well as making all the deliveries.

It turned out to be her best Christmas ever, business-wise, despite the financial bite of two more employees.  She had thought that it might be the best otherwise, too; Tessa had a bit of a hunch that perhaps Sean might propose on Christmas or Christmas Eve, but it didn’t happen.  They exchanged thoughtful gifts, Tessa giving him a new set of tools she knew he wanted for around the house.  Her gift from him came in several parts.  He gave her a new set of panties and bra in a beautiful peacock blue with lots of peek-a-boo lace, as well as a gift certificate for a new paint job for her car, as well as a mysterious envelope.

“What is this?” she asked when he handed it to her on Christmas morning.

“Open it and see.”

It was a copy of the reservations he’d made for them at Foxwoods.  He had made the reservations for three days – the day before, of, and after Valentine’s Day.

Tessa’s face fell immediately.  “I can’t.”

Sean’s eyebrow rose.  “What do you mean you can’t?”  He wondered if she was just being stubborn, not wanting him to pay for things, something he was trying to discourage.  But she had tears in her eyes when she looked up at him, and it made his gut twist to see it.

“Valentine’s is our biggest holiday.  I won’t be able to do anything for a couple of weeks beforehand, at the least.”

“No problem,” he said.  “I’ll cancel these and reschedule.  We’ll leave the day after.  You’ll need a break by then, anyway.”

He was as good as his word, rearranging everything around her work schedule, supporting her through one of the busiest times of the year for her, holding her hand and keeping a watchful eye on her the entire time, until, finally, it was closing time on February 14.

Tess had been so busy she hadn’t noticed that she hadn’t seen him at all that day.  She was opening early and closing late this last week, to cram in as much business as she could.  She’d kissed him goodbye this morning and hadn’t been able to think of him once all day long.

As she closed the door behind her last customer, she saw him walking towards her.  He looked like everything she wasn’t at that moment – freshly showered, shaved and dressed in a gorgeous three piece-suit, carrying an enormous box of very expensive chocolates – she could tell just by the box.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, my love,” he said as he gave her the box.  He picked her up and twirled her around, oblivious to her protestations that she was too bedraggled and tired and sweaty to be touched.  He tsked at her like he sometimes did while he was punishing her.  “Of course you’re not.”  Sean dropped a loudly smacking kiss on her cheek.  “Ready to go?”

“No, I still have to -”

“No you don’t,” Pam interrupted from behind her, startling Tess.  “I’ll finish closing up.  You go have fun with Sean.  Go on,” she shooed.  “You deserve some time off.  I’ll handle the shop for a couple of days.  You just have a good time.”

With the two of them conspiring against her, Tessa gave in, thoroughly enjoying being whisked away a night early.

Several hours later, exiting the limo, she found herself at Foxwoods.  Sean had arranged everything perfectly, down to packing her clothes.  The next evening, after one of the best steak dinners ever, she found herself on a cloud in the middle of a swanky restaurant, wearing an enormous diamond engagement ring, toasting the man she loved.

Who needed Valentine’s Day, anyway?  She’d take the day after from now on.

Table of Contents

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five