Covet (14 page)

She was sleepy from the richer than normal meal and dessert, and headed for bed soon after they arrived home. Peter, who likely wouldn’t be able to fall asleep for hours yet, remained in the living room to study for finals that were coming up next week. Tessa fell into a deep sleep the moment her head hit the pillow, but it wasn’t to be a completely sound slumber.

The dream came to her again that night – the one she’d had a number of times before, but where she could never quite remember all the details upon waking. And she knew that the man who featured prominently in the dream – her mystery lover – was no one that she had ever met before. In fact, his features were never fully revealed in the dream, only his profile, but she just knew somehow that he was handsome – darkly so, for she recalled that his hair was black or a very dark brown and that his skin was lightly tanned. He was strong, incredibly so, his big body hard and muscular, and the way he kissed and touched her left her in little doubt that he was the one in complete control of their lovemaking.

Tessa tossed and turned as tonight’s dream intensified, until the words her fantasy lover spoke seemed so real that she would have sworn upon waking that he had actually murmured them huskily into her ear.

“My beautiful Tessa,” he whispered to her in a low, sexy voice, the sound causing a shiver of arousal to travel up and down her spine. His lips were busily tracing a path along the side of her throat, his teeth nibbling teasingly on her earlobe
.

“
Ohhh.” The moan escaped her throat as his big hand cupped her breast, his thumb teasing the already erect nipple. Her hands clutched his head to her as he drew the same nipple between his lips, sucking it until she was squirming in reaction
.

He lifted his head then, his laugh husky, and she struggled to make out his features. But, as always, his face was in shadows and she could only make out the shape of his head, and glimpse his dark hair. And then, as his hand slid over her belly and between her thighs, she gasped, her hips arching off the bed in reaction
.

“
So wet,” he crooned in approval. “So ready for me. You belong to me, Tessa, body and soul, and one day you and I will be together. Truly together. You’re going to be mine for the rest of our lives
.”

She panted as his long fingers continued to stimulate her over-sensitized flesh. “I’m yours now. Please. Make me yours
.”

“
Tessa. How I long for you. And I will claim you as my own. But the time isn’t quite right, my love. So for now we’ll just have to settle for this, won’t we?
”

He kissed her then, and she knew no one else would ever kiss quite like he did. He controlled her, owned her, and she surrendered to him eagerly, clutching his big, hard body to hers like a starving woman. She closed her eyes in breathless anticipation of his possession, her body quivering in arousal as she opened herself up to him, wanting, needing, desiring
–

She woke with a start, bolting upright to a sitting position, and pressed a hand against her heart to still its frantic beating. It was dark in the room, and for long seconds she was completely disoriented, not knowing where she was as she reached out a hand blindly for her lover.

But the place beside her in the bed was empty, the sheets cool to the touch, and a quick glance to her left revealed that no one had yet slept beside her this night. And then, as the remnants of her erotic dream faded away wistfully, Tessa sighed as she realized that a dream was all it had been. She was in the bedroom of the modest apartment she shared with Peter – the husband who could barely bring himself to touch her and who had certainly never come close to bringing her to this state of arousal.

Rather ashamedly, Tessa cupped her breast, biting down on her bottom lip to stifle a groan as she noticed how full and swollen it was. She gasped softly as the pad of her thumb brushed over her nipple, and she quivered as her womb clenched in response. Closing her eyes in embarrassment, she slid a hand down past her belly to the crotch of her cotton sleep shorts and let out a soft whimper to realize how wet she was. She had yet to comprehend how a mere dream could cause this sort of reaction in her body, and she tried to fight off the urge to touch herself in such an intimate manner.

But then she recalled a snippet or two of her dream, how her fantasy lover had whispered naughtily in her ear, how delicious his caresses had felt on her body, and she couldn’t resist slipping her middle finger inside the tight, damp opening to her body. At the same time she gave the hard little nub of her clitoris a flick, and that was all it took to bring on the orgasm that trembled through her fully aroused body.

And even as she burrowed her head into the pillow afterwards, her cheeks flushed with mortification at her actions, her body continued to quiver in reaction as she fell back asleep, hoping that she would dream once again of her dark, mysterious lover.

Mrs. Carrington’s scowl was never a welcome sight, and Tessa thought that the expression on her boss’s face this afternoon was one of the most fearsome things she’d ever seen. Even after working here at the Gregson Resort for almost a year now, she still quaked in her shoes nearly every time the ultra-intimidating office manager walked past. The fact that she had been offered a full-time job just this past week held mixed blessings – she was overjoyed to have a permanent position with a good salary and excellent benefits, but also more than a little fearful of spending eight hours a day with the petite woman whom most everyone referred to (behind her back, of course) as the Dragon Lady.

“It’s extremely important for you to be here on Thursday,” Mrs. Carrington emphasized. “And I realize that I had approved your request to take the day off some time ago, but that was before Mr. Gregson’s visit had to be re-scheduled. I need you here that day, Tessa, so I’m afraid you’ll need to change whatever it is you have planned for that day.”

Tessa sighed regretfully. “What I have planned for that day is to take final exams. Typically those would be in the morning and I’d still be able to be here in the afternoon as usual. But I’m also required to have a interview and verbal exit exam with the program administrator, and that’s been scheduled for the afternoon. If I don’t attend the interview, then I won’t be able to complete the program and receive my certificate. And Thursday is the only day the interviews are being held so I can’t re-schedule. I’m so sorry, Mrs. C. If it was for any other reason I wouldn’t think twice about changing my plans.”

Mrs. Carrington had a fierce scowl on her small, pinched face. “Yes, I’m quite certain about that, young miss. And you certainly need to fulfill all the requirements of your certificate program. This is simply terrible, terrible timing is all. It’s a pity Mr. Gregson wasn’t able to pay us a visit last month as he’d originally planned. But for a man as important as he is, things do arise that require his attention and it’s certainly not up to us to question him.”

“I’m happy to work overtime or do whatever else is necessary to get things ready for his visit,” assured Tessa, anxious to soothe her very testy boss. “Everything is always in perfect order around here anyway, so I doubt there would be much to do to prepare for his visit. At least in our department.”

Mrs. Carrington worked directly for the hotel manager and supervised the rest of the administrative staff – though it was quite apparent that she was actually the one who called most of the shots, and that even the manager frequently deferred to her. Tessa had initially been surprised at just how much the older woman knew about the hotel operations, and the Gregson Group in general, at least until she’d learned that Mrs. Carrington had worked at corporate headquarters in London for several decades. She and her husband Oliver had only moved to Tucson a little over two years ago, his doctors having decreed the hot, dry desert climate much more beneficial for his chronic asthma and other health related issues.

Mrs. C’s scowl only deepened at Tessa’s well-intended praise. “Well, of course it is, my girl. As if I would allow it to be anything but. And while I appreciate your offer to put in extra hours, I really did want for you to meet Mr. Gregson. He is the Regional Director of all of our hotels in both North and South America, you know, and meeting him could prove helpful one of these days to advancing your career. You’re a bright girl, Tessa, hardworking and dedicated. Just the sort Mr. Gregson admires. And with a company as large as this one, the opportunities for advancement are almost endless. Provided, of course, that you pursue that degree.”

“I know.”

It was far from the first time that Mrs. Carrington had stressed the importance of Tessa getting her college degree, pointing out that the company offered a generous tuition reimbursement program, and that she could take night classes while still working here during the day. Tessa had even done a bit of research, and determined she’d probably be able to get a grant of some sort to help pay for most of the tuition. She knew that Peter would wholeheartedly support the idea, even if it meant tightening their budget even more than usual.

But she couldn’t, just
couldn’t
, admit to Mrs. C. that the real reason she didn’t want to further her education at this point was her fear of failure. Tessa knew that she was no brainiac, and the very thought of having to take another algebra or geometry class filled her with dread. High school had been a struggle for her every single day, and she’d been lucky to have graduated with a modest C+ average. She had zero idea how she would cope with the pressures of university level courses, and precious little faith that she could keep up with the demands.

Mrs. Carrington heaved a sigh of resignation. “However, it doesn’t seem as though you’ll get to meet Mr. Gregson after all this trip. A pity, because he’s quite an impressive man. Trust me, you would never forget meeting someone like him, Tessa. He’s both intimidating and charismatic at the same time. Not to mention the hardest working individual I’ve ever met, especially given his position in the company. Ian is definitely not a man content to rest on his laurels, or delegate what he considers his responsibilities to someone else. He may be one of the owners of the company, but you’d never know it to observe his work ethic.”

Tessa had learned from Mrs. C. that one of the many duties of the Regional Director was to visit each property in his territory at least once every two to three years. Mr. Gregson would spend a full day here touring the resort property, meeting with the management staff, and performing some sort of evaluation. She was amazed that he had so much responsibility, and guessed that he traveled a great deal given that there were several dozen Gregson properties under his direction.

“It must be hard on his family to have him on the road so often,” sympathized Tessa.

Mrs. Carrington shook her head. “Ian is a bachelor, actually. No wife or children. And how
that
state of affairs continues to exist is beyond my comprehension. He’s what one would rather indelicately call ‘quite a catch’.”

Mrs. Carrington had to take an incoming phone call at that moment, and thus end the conversation, but her description of Ian Gregson intrigued Tessa. Mrs. C. was normally not impressed by anyone, rarely if ever issued a compliment, and more often than not could be heard pointing out an individual’s numerous faults. So it surprised Tessa to hear her stiff-lipped, starchy boss sing the praises of their Regional Director quite so firmly, enough that she furtively pulled up the page on the corporate website that contained photos and bios of the executive staff.

Tessa knew that the Gregson Group was a family owned company, and that it had been founded in London over sixty years ago by Leland Gregson. Under the direction of Leland’s two sons – Edward and Richard – the company had grown by leaps and bounds, rapidly expanding from its European locations to North and South America, Australia, and Asia. The company had built dozens of brand new properties, but had also acquired existing ones to bring under the Gregson corporate umbrella. Nearly every hotel and resort owned by the company merited a five star rating from all of the major travel services, and the Gregson name was synonymous with wealth, class, and prestige.

Tessa quickly scrolled down the page of bios, noting that Edward and Richard both appeared to be in their late fifties or early sixties, and bore a great resemblance to each other. The next bio was that of Hugh Gregson, the eldest son of Edward and the Regional Director of the European hotels and resorts. Hugh was a graduate of Cambridge, married to the former Victoria Halstead, and was the father of four young sons.

But it was the next bio – and in particular, the photo – that caught and held Tessa’s attention. With a trembling hand she touched the screen image of the admittedly compelling, arrestingly handsome Ian Gregson, and fully understood why he had made such an impression on the normally impossible to impress Mrs. Carrington.

He was unsmiling in the photo, looking very formal and almost regal in his dark suit, pristine white shirt, and conservatively striped tie. Tessa thought him far more handsome than any movie star could ever hope to be, and even in such a small photo he oozed charisma and power. And as she studied his image more closely, her heartrate picked up a few beats to realize how greatly he resembled the man who visited her in those erotic dreams – her dream lover. She had yet to see her dream man’s features full on, but she thought it uncanny – if not a bit eerie – that the shape of Ian Gregson’s face, the curve of his jaw, the dark thickness of his hair – reminded her so intensely of the one who continued to seduce her so masterfully as she slept.

She squirmed a bit on her desk chair to realize she was growing aroused – her breasts swollen, her nipples beginning to peak, the dampness of her panties – and hastily closed out the webpage she’d been staring at like a love-struck adolescent. She forced herself to get back to work, and resisted the urge to take another glimpse at the striking, unforgettable features of Ian Gregson.