Covet (31 page)

With Tessa, however, he sensed that maintaining any semblance of control would be an impossible undertaking. He would turn into a wild creature, desperate to possess her, and he feared that once he’d had her it would never be enough. She would become his obsession, the one thing he would covet beyond anything else, and he would never consent to let her go.

But she wasn’t his, he realized grimly, and so long as she was married to the boy seated beside her he had no chance of claiming her for his own. How Colin would laugh uncontrollably were he to learn about Ian’s fixation for a girl so much younger than he was – and a married one at that. He would tell Ian that it was a case of fate biting him in the arse – payback in a way for Ian being so picky about the women he dated. Ian, in fact, could hear his irritating but extremely perceptive brother now.

“Serves you right, old man,” Colin would drawl in that lazy voice of his. “Here you are – good looking, rich, successful – and you could have most any woman you wanted. So what happens, hmm? You wind up falling for the one woman you can’t have. Rather poetic, don’t you think?
”

And for the first time in his life, Ian felt powerless – helpless, even – as he realized that this was a situation he had no way of controlling. No matter how much money or power he might have at his disposal, the one thing he longed for the most was destined to remain firmly out of his reach.

Tessa’s eyes were wide with shock as she watched Kevin, Gina, and Shelby down yet another round of shots. She’d lost count some time ago of how much all of them – including their dates – had had to drink this evening. Alicia, too, had been drinking quite heavily, though she’d declared taking shots to be on the uncouth side and had stuck to whatever type of martini she preferred.

“Thank God tomorrow isn’t a work day,” Peter whispered to her. “Because I’ve got a feeling you and Marisol would be the only ones to show up. The rest of them are going to have one hell of a hangover.”

Marisol and her husband had politely declined the invitation to go out clubbing with the others tonight since they didn’t have a babysitter. As for Tessa, she’d been torn between accepting the invitation to go out and have fun like most people her age did all the time, and making some excuse to avoid socializing with her co-workers. She had already turned down a few such invitations, but this time Peter had been the one to urge her to accept. And since he was even more introverted than she was, she’d been more than a little startled at his suggestion.

But, really, she thought now as she sipped the glass of white wine she’d been nursing for the last half hour, it shouldn’t have been such a surprise when Peter had pushed her to go out with the others tonight. For weeks – months, now – he’d been encouraging her to make friends, take up a hobby or a class of some sort, most anything to help fill the lonely hours when he was out of the country working. And he had been especially persistent on the subject since returning from his most recent trip, when he’d walked inside the apartment in the middle of a Saturday afternoon to find her curled up on their bed, the covers pulled up over her head. She hadn’t been ill, per se, but rather suffering from a bout of depression. She had returned home from work the previous evening, and hadn’t left the bed since.

Peter hadn’t been able to hide his alarm at finding her in such a state, and had gone out of his way to cheer her up – insisting they go out for a late lunch and then a walk. And even though he’d been jet-lagged and clearly worn out, he’d stayed up to watch a movie and make ice cream sundaes with her. She’d felt instantly better just from being around him, knowing that she wasn’t alone any longer. Or at least until the next time he had to leave on a multi-week trip, and she would once again have to fight off the melancholy that plagued her.

When she had rather off-handedly mentioned the invitation to go out with her co-workers on Saturday, his agreement to join them had been the very last thing she could have expected. Peter detested the whole bar-hopping, club scene, and he was the only one of the group this evening to abstain from alcohol. Kevin had teased him about ordering a soda at the first club they had visited, until Peter had rather bluntly mentioned that both of his parents had been chronic alcoholics and he had no desire to follow in their ill-fated footsteps. That had shut Kevin – and all of the others – up for awhile, but Tessa hadn’t missed the way Gina and Alicia had giggled together and she knew they’d been making fun of Peter.

As the evening had worn on the rest of the group had become progressively drunker and rowdier, and Tessa and Peter more uncomfortable. She had also fretted silently about how much money this was costing them – the cover charges, drinks, the cab they had taken here. There were now at their fourth stop of the evening, and she was more than ready to call it a night and head home after this.

“We should go,” she whispered to Peter. “I’m kind of tired. Not used to drinking so much, you know?”

Peter grinned at her knowingly. “You barely touched any of the drinks you ordered, Tess. But we can leave whenever you want to.”

They made their excuses soon after that, and compromised between taking a taxi or a bus by using Uber. During the drive back to their apartment, Peter was quick to caution her about going out again with any of her co-workers.

“I know I’ve been pushing you to go out more and make new friends,” he acknowledged, “but from what I saw tonight none of those people would be good friends for you. And it’s not just the drinking and crazy partying. I – well, frankly, Tess I don’t trust any of them. All four of them seem like the sort who’d give you a hug while figuring out a good spot to stick a knife in your back.”

She sighed. “I know,” she agreed sadly. “I’ve pretty much known from the start that Gina and Alicia can’t be trusted for even a minute, but after I went out to lunch with Shelby a couple of weeks ago I had hopes of being friends with her. But that was before I overheard Kevin giving her hell for telling the other girls something he’d sworn her to secrecy on. So unfortunately I can’t trust her, either. As for Kevin, well - “

“No.” Peter shook his head firmly. “He would definitely not be a good influence on you, Tess. I know you can take care of yourself, and that you’re not the sort to make stupid decisions, but your buddy Kevin there would do his very best to try and corrupt you. And you can’t trust him, either. When you and Shelby went to the ladies room at that last place, I overheard him talking about you with Gina and Alicia. So my advice to you would be watch what you tell any of them, okay? Keep your private life just that – private. Otherwise those gossipy bitches will make sure everyone in the office knows all your secrets.”

Tessa nodded. “Agreed. And no more of these nights out with them, either. Even if you’re with me. I think we can both agree that this wasn’t a very fun evening for us.”

“No, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be having fun, Tess. You’re only twenty-two years old, way too young to stay home every night. Most girls your age are still in college, going to parties, dating a bunch of different guys. And you could still have that life. I’d help you apply to schools, get financial aid, settle into student housing. You could get a degree, get a better job so that you don’t have to be someone’s secretary all your life. And,” he added more soberly, “you could finally have a normal relationship, instead of being tied to someone as messed up as I’m always going to be.”

She squeezed his hand tightly, fighting off the sense of panic that she always felt whenever Peter talked about a future without him in it. “I don’t care about that,” she protested. “I’ve told you that over and over again. Please, Peter. Let’s not talk about it again tonight, okay?”

Peter hesitated, and she knew that as far as he was concerned the matter was far from closed. But instead of pressing the matter further, he did as she asked.

Tessa knew, however, that it would only be a matter of time before Peter broached the subject again. And that one of these times he would stop listening to all of the reasons they should stay together and go his separate way. She only hoped that before that day came she would find the strength she’d need to be on her own again.

“Should I pick you up at the usual time tomorrow morning, Mr. Gregson? Or will you be going into the office a bit later?”

Ian gave a tired sigh and shook his head at his chauffeur’s question. “I’m afraid not, Simon. I need to be at my desk bright and early for a conference call so it will be the usual pick up time.”

The tall, silver-haired Welshman, who had worked as Ian’s personal chauffeur – and unofficial bodyguard – since he’d moved to San Francisco, gave a brief nod of acknowledgment. “Very good, Mr. Gregson. I’ll see you here then. At least it’s already Friday tomorrow, sir. Hopefully you can rest up over the weekend.”

Ian smiled wearily. “One can hope, mate. Thank you for picking me up so late tonight, though I should have arranged for a taxi once I knew the flight was going to be delayed.”

Simon shook his head. “It’s never a problem, sir, and no need to thank me. Just doing my job, Mr. Gregson. Have a good night’s sleep.”

“You, too, mate. See you in the morning.”

Ian disengaged the house alarm using an app on his smartphone before unlocking the front double doors. Both the exterior and interior lights of his Georgian style, red brick home were on a timer, largely for security purposes since he traveled so frequently. He left his suitcase and laptop bag in the spacious entryway for the moment as he made his way through the big house to the kitchen. He turned on the lights before grabbing a bottle of water from the cavernous Sub Zero refrigerator and drinking half of it down thirstily. He wasn’t the least bit hungry, given the lateness of the hour, and the fact that he’d eaten an expertly prepared meal during the flight home from Washington D.C. on the corporate jet.

One of the perks he enjoyed as the Regional Director was having a private plane at his disposal for the frequent business trips he made. Not having to wait in long security lines, or deal with checking baggage saved him precious hours. But unfortunately, private planes were still subject to all manner of weather related delays, just as commercial flights were, and the trip home from the East Coast had been delayed by nearly three hours.

He’d dozed a bit on the flight but was still exhausted by this time of the night, and he didn’t waste any more time before stripping down to his dark gray briefs and pulling back the covers of his custom made king sized bed. As he did so, however, he couldn’t help running a hand over one of the pillows, envisioning long, silky blonde curls spread out over the soft cotton sheets. He was bone tired, but not so completely exhausted that he couldn’t picture a naked, willing, and responsive Tessa waiting in the bed for him.

“I’ve missed you so much,” she whispered, holding out her long, slender arms. “I hate being apart from you for even one night
.”

“
Darling.” He slid into bed beside her, pulling her lush, long-limbed body flush against his. “Not half as much as I hate being away from you. I think about you constantly, you know. No matter where I might be. Now, no more talking, hmm? You and I have a great deal of lost time to make up
.”

“
Mmm.” Her lips opened up eagerly to his devouring kiss, their arms and legs tangling together as they struggled to get even closer together
.

His hands roved over her warm, naked flesh demandingly – cupping her opulent breasts, squeezing the firm cheeks of her ass, before his fingers slipped between her legs to where she was already wet and ready
.

“
So sweet,” he murmured against her ear as he teased the tiny nub of her clit. “And always so eager. You
did
miss me, didn’t you, love?
”

Tessa gasped as his fingers slid deep inside her body, hooking over her pubic bone as he pressed against a particularly sensitive spot. “So much,” she breathed unsteadily. “Every minute of every day. Please, Ian. Don’t make me wait any longer
.”

He swiftly peeled his briefs off, freeing his hugely swollen cock. There were already thick beads of pre-cum oozing out of the tip, and he shuddered as Tessa reached out a finger to swipe the fluid away and bring it to her lips
.

“
Umm. Delicious,” she purred, licking her fingertips seductively. “In fact, it’s so delicious I need another taste
.”

Ian cursed softly as she took his throbbing cock between her soft, smooth hands and began to pump him with long, slow strokes
.

“
Ah, fuck,” he rasped as she knelt before him, bringing his penis to her lips and then taking as much of his long, thick length into her mouth as she could handle. He shoved his hands into her tumbled blonde curls, holding her head still as he fucked her hot, eager mouth with hard, fast thrusts. “Tessa – God, what you do to me, love. How much you make me feel. You’re going to make me come if you don’t stop, darling. You’re
- “