Naughty by Nature (20 page)

He laughed as he
took her elbow and led her toward the house.  “No, only the masters of videos
we’ve produced over the last six years.  To me, they’re more precious than
gold.”

When Wolf took her
inside the house and led her to the living room she gasped in delight.  He’d
prepared a candlelight dinner for two and there was even romantic music playing
softly in the background.  Whoa.  This man was going all out.  

They sat down to a
sumptuous meal but Tessa ate very little.  Wolf Spencer commanded all of her
attention.  Was that what being apart for a week did to you?  She could not
keep her eyes off him.  He was dressed even more casually than she, in jeans
and a white T-shirt that hugged his upper body and showed off the cuts of his
muscled torso.  Oh, how she wanted to drag him away from the table, rip that
shirt from his body and run her tongue over his broad chest then circle his
nipple, then nip and nibble until he moaned in response.

He must have read
her mind because as she stared across the table at him he got up and walked
over to her then pulled her up and into his arms.  “You’ve been a bad girl,” he
growled, “shunning me all week.”

“I didn’t shun
you,” she whispered, her heart pounding as he crushed her against him.  “I…just
needed time.”

“You got a whole
week.”  His grip tightened.  “Now it’s time for you to pay for making me
suffer.”

Instead of pulling
back, Tessa lifted her lips to receive his kiss.  She’d been waiting for this
all week.

And she was not
disappointed.  When their lips met a jolt of electricity shot through her and
good heavens, she even heard bells ringing.  Ding-dong, ding-dong.  It sounded
so real.

Suddenly Wolf
broke the kiss, pulling away, and as she tried to lean into him again he
gripped her arms, stilling her.  “The doorbell,” he said, with more than a hint
of annoyance in his voice.  “Someone’s at the door.”

Tessa blinked. 
The door?  The bell.  That was the bell she’d heard.

With a grunt, Wolf
turned and left the dining room and Tessa sank down into the nearest chair, her
legs suddenly feeling like jelly.  She almost laughed at herself.  Did she want
Wolf so badly she couldn’t even stand straight?

She was still
smiling when she heard what sounded like a woman’s voice.  And it didn’t sound
at all happy.  The voice rose in pitch and as it went higher the tone grew
angrier.  She heard Wolf’s voice, too, and it was low and grim.  What the heck
was going on?

She wasn’t proud
of eavesdropping but something was very wrong.  She had to know what was going
on.

Tessa got up and went
to peek into the hallway.  She could hear the voices more clearly now but she
couldn’t see a thing.  Stealthily, she glided down the hallway toward the front
door, remaining in the shadows as she went.

What she saw made
her gasp and pull back.  She shouldn’t have been surprised.  She should have
expected this.  But, regardless, the shock of seeing Vanessa, Wolf’s ex, almost
made her turn tail and run.

The woman was
standing in the foyer, just a few inches shorter than Wolf, and she looked
ready for a fight.  In skintight jeans, high heeled boots and an expensive-looking
leather jacket, her arms folded across her chest, she faced Wolf boldly.  Tessa
could see that this woman was used to wielding power.

“I called the
house, you didn’t answer.  I called your cell phone, you didn’t answer.  I even
called your office.  That’s how I found out you’d been there.  They told me you
ran in for a minute then headed back home.”  Hazel eyes flashed as she glared
at him.  “That’s when I decided to come here.  So don’t you ask me why I’m
showing up at your house uninvited.  I had no choice.  You refused to speak to
me on the phone.”

“It doesn’t
matter,” Wolf said, his voice harsh.  “We have nothing to say to each other. 
This was over a long time ago, Vanessa, so let’s not stir up dead coals.”

“No, it’s not
over.”  She shook her head vehemently.  “It’s not over for me.  Don’t you see? 
I’m here because I still love you.  And you still love me, too.”

Wolf narrowed his
gaze but he said nothing.

“You still love
me, Wolf.”  She said the words again and this time she released her arms and
took a step forward.  “You never moved on because… you were waiting for me to
come back.  I’m here now, Wolf.  There’s no need to pretend.  Let’s just start
over.”  She reached out to touch his arm but he flinched away.

“I have moved on-”

“No, you haven’t. 
You may not even realize it but you do want me.”  Vanessa’s voice was earnest
now.  “That’s why you stayed single all this time.”

“That’s where
you’re wrong, Vanessa.  I have a wonderful woman in my life.”  To Tessa’s
horror he turned and stared right at her.  "Tessa,"  he said, holding
out his hands to her, “can you come here, please?”

Oh, no.  What the
heck was Wolf doing?  Why was he dragging her into his fight?  But he’d seen
her and now Vanessa was staring at her, too.  She couldn’t very well stay
there, lurking in the shadows.

Reluctantly, she
took a step forward then another, pushing herself to walk into the light to
take Wolf’s hand.

“Thanks, honey,”
he said, and drew her into his arms. 

Vanessa’s jaw
dropped and she stared at Tessa.  “Who the hell is this?” she demanded, her
eyes snapping.  If eyes could snap heads off, Tessa’s would be rolling by now.

“This,” Wolf
answered as he held Tessa close and stroked her arm, “is the woman in my life. 
She’s the woman I love with all my heart.”

Tessa almost
gagged.  The woman he loved?  With all his heart?  This was the first time he'd
ever declared love for her, and he wasn't even speaking to her.  He was telling
this to another woman.

“Her?  You want
her over me?”  The way Vanessa said it, anyone would think she was talking
about a worm.  She looked Tessa up and down with disdain.  “I don’t know her. 
She probably doesn’t even have good family connections.”

“Great point,”
Wolf countered smoothly.  “And since neither Tessa nor I have the social
connections you do, we’re perfect for each other.  Now I suggest you run along
and get cracking on another round of your hunt for the perfect mate.  You’re
not going to find him here.” 

If looks could kill…

Vanessa didn’t
even bother to spare Tessa another glance.  She glared at Wolf then turned and
stormed out the front door, leaving them standing staring after her.

Tessa didn’t know
which of the two shocks had jarred her more – the sudden appearance of Vanessa
or Wolf’s declaration that he loved her.  Did he really, or had he just said
that to get rid of his ex-lover?

Even after Vanessa
was gone they were still standing there with the front door wide open, in each
other’s arms.  Tessa leaned back and looked up into Wolf’s face.  “You have
some explaining to do.”

He gave her a
smile that made her heart flip over in her chest.  He bent his head and gave
her a peck on the forehead.

Then he whispered,
“With pleasure, my love.”  

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Wolf could not
believe it.  His lips had just declared his love for Tessa even before his mind
had wrapped itself around the thought.

He’d felt Tessa’s
shock when she jerked in his arms as he said the words.  The funny thing was,
he’d been just as shocked when the words spilled out of his mouth.

And then he’d
felt…relief.  And satisfaction.  He’d been shocked but he hadn’t been sorry. 
Because he knew he’d spoken the truth.

He reached out and
closed the door then took Tessa’s hand.  “Let’s talk,” he said, and led her
into the living room.

“What was that you
just said?” she blurted, even before her bottom touched the sofa as he pulled
her down to sit beside him.  “Was that just to get rid of Vanessa?”

“No,” he said, “I
meant every word.”  He took her small hand in both of his.  “I guess you
realize by now that I’m not the romantic type.  I’m not very expressive about
these things but I hope you believe me when I say I love you.”  He gave her
hand a little squeeze.  “I would not lie to you about something like this.”

“But…but you never
told me this before.”  She was gazing at him, still looking dazed.  “I could
guess that you liked me but…love?”

“Yes,” he said and
pulled her into his arms again, “love.  I love you, Tessa Tyndale.”

For a moment she
went still and then, slowly, she slipped her arms around his waist and rested
her cheek on his chest.  He noticed that she didn’t say she loved him, too, but
she was probably still in shock after what had just happened.  She needed time,
and she needed reassurance.

And there was one
way he knew was guaranteed to reassure a woman that she was loved.  He leaned
over, slipped one arm behind her shoulder and the other underneath her leg and
lifted her in his arms.  Then he stood and began to walk out of the living
room.

“What are you
doing?” she gasped, as she clung to his shoulders.

“Hush,” he said
softly into her ear.  “Nothing that you wouldn’t want me to do.  You can tell
me to stop at any time.”

She relaxed
against him then, as light as a feather in his arms, and he walked with her up
the stairs and to his bedroom at the end of the hallway and, just as he’d
pictured it so many times before, he laid her down in the middle of his
king-sized bed, right where she belonged.

Gently, he kissed
her on the forehead, then on both cheeks, then on the chin.  What he could not
express in words he would express in action, and he wanted her to know that he
loved and respected her in every way.

He kissed the top
of her right ear then the lobe and she shifted, turning her face to give him
the left side.  He kissed her left ear and its lobe then planted soft kisses
along the column of her neck.  She moaned softly, and whispered to him, begging
him not to stop.  Obedient to her command, he did not.

He slid his lips
down to the curve of her breasts and there he settled, teasing her with butterfly
kisses that made her writhe and moan.

She slipped her
hands between them and with trembling fingers she began to lift the end of his
T-shirt, exposing his body to her heated gaze.

He pulled the
T-shirt up and over his head then threw it on the floor.  Let her look her
fill.  He planned to do the same and more.

Fingers moving
quickly, he divested her of her pretty little sweater, leaving her in the long
spring gown that molded the curves of her body, making him lick his lips in
hungry anticipation.  He’d tasted her cheeks, her neck, the tops of her
breasts. Now he wanted more.

He reached down
and gathered the soft, white fabric in his hand then slowly slid it up her leg,
revealing inch after inch of her smooth, creamy skin.  Sliding down her body,
he followed the path of the fabric, planting kisses on her ankle then her knee
then up the soft curves of her thigh.

He chuckled when
she wriggled her body in response.  In an impatient move she reached down and
pulled the dress up and over her head, leaving her body open to his gaze.

Slowly, he trailed
his fingers up her body, past the black lace of her bikini and over the silky
skin of her belly, making a shiver run through her.  He could feel her every
response under his hand.  When those hands moved up and over a laced-covered
breast she sighed and arched her back, pressing the mound against his palm. 

He decided to
tease her some more, circling her nipples through the lace of her bra, watching
it pucker into a taut bud that made his mouth water.

Tessa gasped and
reached up to thread her fingers through his hair.  As she pulled his head down
she used her other hand to release the catch at the front of the bra, letting
her breasts fall free.  So beautiful.  He needed no urging from her.  He took a
pink rose bud between his lips and nibbled and teased until she was panting
hard.  He did the same to the other bud until Tessa writhed beneath him.

“Please, Wolf,”
she breathed, her eyes closed tight as she reached for him, “make love to me. 
I want you so bad.”

“Hush, my sweet,”
he whispered as he released her nipple.  “I’ll give you release.  Just relax.”

He gave each of
her breasts one last kiss then he moved up to capture her lips and his hand
slid down and over the lace covered spot between her legs.  And as he plundered
her mouth, his lips and tongue telling of his desire, he stroked her sweet
spot, and teased until she gasped into his mouth.

He released her
lips for a second.  “It’s time to come, little one, come for me now.”  And then
he was kissing her again, deeply, and as she clung to his lips, he stroked her
faster.  And the deeper his kiss, the faster he stroked until she stiffened in
his arms and dug her fingernails into the skin of his back, and still he did
not stop.  When she screamed her ecstasy into his mouth he felt like he was
riding the wave with her, his fingers on her nub, feeling it throb as her body
flung her over the edge.