Naughty by Nature (21 page)

When her moans
died down and her trembling began to subside he released her lips, lay down
beside her and gathered her into his arms.  As she melted against him he smiled
and kissed the top of her head.

“Thank you,” she
whispered, her breath tickling his chest.  “That was…awesome.”

“No,” he said
softly.  “Thank you.”

She rested her
hand on his belly and ran her fingers over the fine hairs there.  “For what?”
she asked.  “I was the only one who had fun tonight.”

“You’d be
surprised,” he said as he stroked her hair.  “I probably enjoyed that more than
you did.”

“I doubt it,” she
said with a chuckle.  Then she peered up at him.  “But why didn’t you…you
didn’t want to make love to me?”

“More than
anything.”

“You’re not just
saying that to make me feel good?”  She gave him a look tinged with uncertainty.

He gave a little
snort.  “Look south and you’ll see if I want you or not.”

She did.  And the
huge bulge in the front of his jeans must have convinced her because she lay
back with a satisfied sigh.  Then after two seconds she raised her head again.  “But
then I don’t get it-”

“Shhh.  Don’t
worry about it. Tonight was all about you.”

“Yeah, right,” she
said then sat up in the bed, not looking the least bit embarrassed that he was
ogling her breasts.  “You didn’t have any condoms, did you?”

That caught him
off guard.  “What makes you say that?”

“Just answer the
question, Wolf.”  She was not letting him off the hook.

He gave her a
sheepish grin.  “Okay, you got me.  I didn’t.”

“What?  You invite
me over here, all intent on seducing me and then you didn’t even have
protection?”  She folded her arms across her chest.  “Explain yourself.”

“You’ve been upset
with me all week,” he said as he lay back into the pillows and stared up at
her, “about that photo Vanessa sent me.  I should have burned it the day I got
it but I left it in its envelope and threw it down and then it got buried under
piles of work.  Stupid, I know, but I’d actually forgotten I had it.”

Tessa frowned. 
“So what does that have to do with tonight?”

Wolf shrugged.  “I
just thought that focusing on you and only you would make you see how much you
mean to me.”

“What?” Tessa
scoffed. “So you thought you’d show your love for me by denying me sex?”

“No,” he said and
reached out and took her hand, forcing her to uncross her arms, “I thought I’d
show you how much you mean to me by denying myself sex, not you.  You had an
orgasm, didn’t you?”

“Yes, a really
great one,” she said, and she was blushing as she said the words.

“And I didn’t,” he
said solemnly.  “And that’s for a reason.  Tonight I wanted to show you that
it’s all about you.”

“Aww,” she said,
as her face melted in a smile.  “That’s so sweet.”  She leaned over and kissed
him on the nose.

Then she gave him
a pinch on the shoulder that made him yelp.

“Hey, what was
that for?”

“Next time you
plan to seduce me,” she said, eyes flashing, “make sure you have protection. 
Next time I want it all.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he
said and quickly put up his hand to ward off any more attacks.

“And next time,”
she said as she lay back down and curled into his arms, “I’ll make sure you
have one of the best orgasmic experiences of your life.”

Wolf smiled.  He
was definitely going to hold her to that promise.

He pushed her back
into the pillows and as he leaned over for a kiss, he said, “I look forward to
it.”

******

Could the sun
shine any brighter?  Could the birds sing any sweeter?  Could the kids in her
class behave any better?

Well, yes, they
could but regardless, Tessa was one happy camper.  Wolf was in love with her
and all was right with the world.

She strode into
the classroom, a brilliant smile on her face.  “Good morning, class.  I hope
you’re all ready for today’s test.”

The universal
groan told her they weren’t…as usual.  But still, it did not dampen her
cheerful mood.  Could her students see the sunshine in her face?  Wolf Spencer
was in love with her and there was nothing that could spoil her mood.  And she
was in love with him.

Tessa sucked in
her breath.  She was in love.  She’d actually admitted it to herself.  She, who
had often taken the term ‘in love’ with a grain of salt had finally been bitten
by the bug.

But what did that
mean for her and Wolf?  Where did they go from here?  Slowly, she let out her
breath then, putting on a calm face, began to hand out the question papers. 
She’d think about that later.  Right now she would just bask in the glow of
being loved.

When the bell ran
an hour later Tessa blinked.  She shook her head.  Had the hour passed that
fast?  She’d been so busy daydreaming she hadn’t even paid close attention to
her test takers.  They could have cheated right under her nose and she wouldn’t
even have noticed.  Goodness, she had to get her act together.

As the students
filed out of the classroom they each stopped to place their test papers in a
neat pile at the edge of her desk.  The last one, Manuel, dropped his paper on
top of the pile then paused and glanced down at the paper in front of her. 
Then with a grin he turned and walked out the door, whistling as he went.

Tessa frowned. 
What had he found so funny?  She glanced down at the paper and heat rushed to
her face.  Thank God Manuel had already left.  There on the sheet of paper in
front of her was a huge letter T and an even larger letter W and between them
was a big fat heart.  And there were other hearts scattered at the top and bottom
of the page.  She’d been doodling her love all over the paper.  Oh, Lord.

She shot up out of
the chair and gathered up her papers.  Wolf had taken control of her heart and
now he was dominating her mind, too.  Not good.  She must be suffering from system
overload and she knew exactly how to solve it.

It wasn’t just
that she was in love.  She was in lust, too.  Her body craved him.  It would
give her no peace till she ‘knew’ him in every sense of the word.

Now it was her
turn to make plans for Wolf.  This weekend.  Her house.  Dinner and a movie. 
And there would be one other thing on the menu…hot, mind-blowing sex.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Candles…check.  A
Brian McKnight love song playing in the background…check.  A home cooked meal
and wine…check.  Now all she needed was Wolf.

As soon as the
thought entered her mind she heard the purr of an engine as his car pulled into
her driveway.  Talk about perfect timing.

She dashed back
into her bedroom, patted her hair, dabbed a little perfume on her wrist, then
ran back to the door to meet him.  When she opened she was perfectly calm with
a relaxed smile on her face.  He would never guess that inside her heart was
pounding like a dozen African drums in anticipation of what lay ahead.

When he got to the
door he swept her up into his arms and planted a kiss on her mouth as she
laughed in surprise.  “You look beautiful,” he said, “as always.”

“Why, thank you,
sir,” she said as he released her and she gave a little curtsy, holding the
skirt of her dress wide.  It was a ruby-red dress, perfect for dancing, with a
flared skirt that revealed quite a bit of thigh.  And she had the shoes to
match.  Wickedly high heels, of course.  Even though they weren’t going
anywhere farther than her house tonight Tessa wanted to make a lasting
impression.  And from the look in Wolf’s eyes, she had.

“If you’ll just
follow me,” she said and led the way to the living room where a bottle of white
wine awaited them in a bucket of ice.  The way she ushered him in, anyone would
think he’d just entered a grand mansion and not a little bungalow in
Burlington.

She waved him over
to the sofa then poured the glasses of wine and handed one to him.  Then she
made herself comfortable beside him.

“So, how was your
day?” she asked as she twirled the stem of her glass.

"Er, good. 
It’s a Saturday.  Lazy day.”  He sounded distracted and she knew why.  Wolf was
staring at the length of leg exposed as she shifted on the seat, causing the
red fabric to slide up her thigh.  Excellent.

She leaned over to
place her glass on the coffee table and her skirt slid up even higher.  And his
eyes followed its movement every centimeter of the way.  When Wolf swallowed,
Tessa knew she was getting under his skin.

Wicked girl that
she was, she let him suffer some more when she pretended to brush a piece of
lint off his jacket and leaned toward him, giving him a tempting view of the
tops of her breasts.  From their phone conversation that morning she could
guess he’d planned to be on his best behavior tonight but she intended to wreck
that plan real fast.

When Wolf sucked
in his breath then released it in a sigh Tessa decided to put him out of his
misery.  “Come on,” she said, touching his arm, “let’s take our wine to the
dining room.  I don’t want our dinner to get cold.”

When he got to the
dining room he seemed pleased at all the effort she'd made to make things
perfect.  Just like he’d done, she'd prepared a table lit with beautiful
candles but hers were scented and there was a sumptuous bouquet of white roses
in the middle of the table.  And then there were the sultry sounds of the love
songs coming from her stereo…

The dinner started
out romantic but uneventful…until she moved in for the kill.

They’d had their
meal and drunk their wine when Tessa invited Wolf back into the living room
where they would be more comfortable.  She turned up the music, just a little
bit, then told him to relax on the couch.

She left him
lounging on the sofa then went to the kitchen and got a bowl of freshly washed
grapes.  Forget the movie.  She had other things on her mind.

When she got back
to the living room Wolf cocked an eyebrow at her offering of fruits.  “More
food?  I’m full.”

“Not too full for
this,” she said, then slid her feet out of her high heels.  She scooted onto
the seat beside him and tucked her feet under her.  “Open,” she commanded.

Tilting his head
back, he complied and she popped a fat purple grape into his mouth.  “Mm,” he
said, his voice muffled.  “Sweet.”

“Have another.” 
She slid an even bigger, juicier one between his lips and when he bit into it,
it popped, spraying her cheek with the rich, red juice.

Tessa squealed and
made to wipe it off but he caught her wrist and pulled her toward him and then
he was kissing the drops of juice from her cheek.  He let his lips slide from
her cheek down to her neck and then to her collarbone, making her nipples stand
at attention.  She moaned in delicious agony.

She'd meant to
tease him some more but she could wait no longer.  She put the bowl of fruits
on the table and slid off the sofa.  She held out her hand to Wolf.  “Come. 
Dance with me,” she whispered.

This time he
didn’t look surprised at her request.  In one fluid movement he rose to his
feet and took her hand then he pulled her close and began to rock to the rhythm
with her in his arms.  He closed his eyes and lowered his head so they were
cheek to cheek, and so they danced until Tessa pushed against him, nudging and
prodding as they danced until he was backing up the hallway toward her bedroom.

She pulled his
head down and gave him a slow, sensual kiss even as she pushed him through the
door and into the room.  Then she pushed the door shut behind them.  Now she
had him exactly where she wanted him.

She broke the
kiss.  “Take your shirt off,” she ordered.

“Huh?”

She could see
Wolf’s face in the pale moonlight slanting in through the window and he was
obviously taken aback by her boldness.

“Take your shirt
off,” she repeated, “and come over here.”  She walked past him and went to lie
down on the bed, striking a seductive pose against the pillows.  She gave a
provocative pout and crooked a finger at him.

That was when
things seemed to click for Wolf.  She must have caught him off guard at first
but now he needed no further invitation.  He was unbuttoning his shirt even as
he headed for the bed and by the time he got there he ripped it off and flung
it onto the chair in the corner.

Moonlight
slithered across his body, revealing a muscled chest and washboard abs that
gleamed in the pale light.  In quick time he’d divested himself of footwear and
now all he wore were trousers that emphasized the length and strength of his
legs.  And there was that bulge at the front.

Tessa rose up to
kneel on the bed and then she reached out and pulled Wolf toward her.  She
dared to be bold because tonight she would be in charge.

She gave him her
most sensual smile and then she turned her attention to the flat nipple on his
chest that was perfectly positioned for a kiss. She leaned forward and gave
that nipple a lick…then a kiss…and she chuckled when she heard him groan.  Oh,
sweet torture.  She was going to give him a full helping of it.