Lovell, Cooper - Tessa's Highlander (Siren Publishing Classic) (14 page)

Her eyes were wide and glazed with desire. Her mouth formed a perfect O as he settled into his new position and thrust into her with new fervor. Expressions of exquisite ecstasy flashed across her face and she bit her lower lip until he feared she might pierce it. Each time his hips pushed forward, slapping against her, a gasp of air escaped her mouth.

“Oh, Gavan, I’m going to explode. I think I might fly apart.”

Her tight muscles fisted his cock as her eyes rolled slightly back into her head. He could feel her orgasm nearly upon her, and he pumped faster, mentally releasing the hold he had placed on himself and allowed his own orgasm to take him. His hips moved furiously, his balls tightened to his body, and his dick began to jump and throb.

His orgasm started in his balls then shot down the backs of his thighs and up his abdomen, into his chest. He felt her body shudder as her hands grasped at his arms, digging into his flesh as though she sought an anchor. The muscles of her vagina milked him, pulling the cum from his cock, and he shot jets of hot liquid into her. His hips continued to thrust until his orgasm subsided completely. He slid Tessa’s legs down so that he lay between them, his cock still buried in her, and kissed her once, firmly, in an expression of his final claiming of her and she submitted to him fully.

He pulled himself from her body carefully and moved to her side to pull her into his chest. She placed her palm over his heart and purred. They lay together, limbs entangled, basking in the glow of their lovemaking.

Finally, Tessa took a deep breath and said, “Gavan?” Her index finger drew lazy circles around his nipples and traced downward to tickle around his belly button.

“Hmmm?”

She stopped moving her hand. “What happened today? I mean, where’d you go? And why did you come back in such a state?”

He figured he’d have to explain his behavior at some point.

A low rumbling sound emanated from his chest before he replied.

“
Seein
’ you in your costume for the shoot kind o’ shocked me. They turned you
intae
a tight
lil
’ package of raw sex.”

She pinched his nipple lightly and said, “Yeah. I got the idea you liked the costume.”

Gavan thought for a minute then said, “Oh, I liked it. I liked it too much. And I knew I wasn’t going to be the only one
likin
’ you in it. Then I overheard one o’ the assistants
talkin
’ tae one o’ the models about the concept and where it came from. Believe me, lass, two men
talkin
’ about it when they thought nobody was
listenin
’ gave me a glimpse of what every man who buys that goddamned magazine is
goin
’ tae feel when he looks at you.

“I can’t deny it. I’m a jealous man.”

Tessa had pulled her head from his chest and was watching his face as he spoke.

“I’m no’
judgin
’ you for the subject matter o’ your book—I never would.”

He let out a great sigh before continuing.

“Someone hurt me. It was a long time ago, but I decided then that no woman would do that tae me
agin
’. I’ve no’ been involved with any woman since. Until now. I think I fell in love with you the minute you opened your door and dropped your coffee on my foot.”

His fingers twirled the tendrils of her hair and he smiled.

 
“Thing is, I know with all these men panting after you, men who would seriously pursue you, it will only be a matter of time before you find somebody else who kin make you happier. And I’ll be devastated.”

Tessa started to speak, but he shushed her. “But I know now, that’s no’ right, I have no choice really, I need tae have whatever part of you that you can give tae me, tae hell with the consequences.”

She sat up, rage filling her eyes, and kicked at him with her little feet, getting a good shot into his side.

“What the hell, woman?” he barked at her as he rubbed his ribs.

She yelled back, “I’m just trying to wake you up, you big fucking ass. You think you have it all figured out, don’t you? I can’t believe that after the time we’ve spent together, that after
tonight
, when I literally splayed myself out for you, completely vulnerable to anything you might choose to do to me, putting more trust in you than I’ve ever put in anyone, you can honestly think that another man could come along and make me happier. You make me happy. Happier than I’ve ever been. Happier than I ever thought I could be.”

Pausing for a moment, gathering either her thoughts or patience, he didn’t know which, she lowered her gaze before looking back at him.

“God, Gavan, I just don’t know how to make you understand. You make me feel feelings I never even knew existed, let alone experienced. I’ve had two boyfriends in my life. Both were in college and both were so dismally disappointing that I just figured that the whole relationship thing wasn’t for me. To me, relationships seemed like more trouble than they’re worth. Because of that, I haven’t been with a man since then until you. I had absolutely no interest. I always figured I had better things to do. But, as soon as I saw you in my doorway,
before
I dropped my coffee on you, I knew that I had been wrong for so long.”

He looked at her, sitting on her knees next to him on the bed stark naked with her hands on her hips. Her chin was up defiantly and the familiar storm that swirled in those eyes was a full-blown monsoon.

Gavan traced his finger along her thigh and asked warily, “So what now, lass?”

She threw her arms up, making her full breasts jiggle. “
Arrggh
! What now? I’ll tell you what now. I love you too, that’s what now. I love you and that won’t change. Not now, not ever, so I guess you’ll just have to figure out how to deal with it.”

She started to leave the bed, muttering under her breath. The phrases “stupid man” and “too big of an idiot to see what’s right in front of him” made it to Gavan’s ears. He hooked his hand behind her neck, pulled her to him, and kissed her. The kiss was urgent and possessive. When he released her she pulled away, gasping for air.

He smiled as he slid off the bed holding up his index finger requesting a moment from her and walked to his jeans piled on the floor near the chair. Turning back, he carried a smallish, rectangular box, colored in telltale, pale robin’s-egg blue with a white satin ribbon tied in a bow.

Tessa bounced a little and clapped her hands together. “
Ooo
! What’s that?”

Gavan slid back onto the bed next to her and handed her the box. “This is where I went today, lass.”

* * * *

Tessa took the box from him and opened it. Inside was a heavy, gold
rolo
-link bracelet. Near the clasp, there was a flat, heart-shaped charm with an engraving on it. With trembling hands, she removed the bracelet from the box and tilted the tag to catch the light from fireplace so she could see the engraving. In elegant, Old English style font was a single letter
G
. She looked at it, nibbling her lower lip in concentration, a slight grimace on her face.

“Did you engrave this with your initial as a message that I belong to you?”

In a cautious near whisper he answered, “No, lass. That’s my heart.”

Tessa looked back at the bracelet, her heart ready to burst. Had there ever been a sweeter, more romantic gesture? “It’s such a heavy link. I guess you want to make sure that once it’s on, it stays there?”

* * * *

He nodded slowly. “Aye.” He searched her eyes tentatively in anticipation of the gathering storm, now regretting the presumptive nature of his gift. He couldn’t get the words out to tell her that the big, clunky links represented him.

He watched as she toyed with the charm for a few minutes, sliding her finger back and forth across the engraved letter. Then she handed it back to him.
Handed his heart back to him
. She didn’t want it. His breath caught. His heart stopped. He actually felt it crumbling within his chest.

She leaned over, took his face between her dainty hands, and said, “Will you help me put it on?”

His breath escaped in a near choke and he pulled her to him to kiss her. He wrapped the heavy bracelet around her delicate wrist and fastened the clasp. Tessa held her arm out and shook her wrist to admire her gift.

“You know,” she said as she rolled her arm back and forth, “the strong golden links actually remind me of you.”

His arms wrapped around her waist, pulled her to him, and they rolled over together on the bed so that she straddled his waist.

“I’m
starvin
’, lass. How would you feel about a midnight snack?”

She jumped off the bed.

“I’m up for that, let me just grab my nightshirt,” she tossed over her shoulder as she reached for the hated button-down.

In a blink he was at her side. “I forgot. I’ve
somethin
’ else for you.”

He stepped to the pile of clothes on the floor, picked up his shirt, and held it out for her to slip into.

Chapter Eleven

Perched on the counter, bare feet dangling with hair piled on top of her head in a
scrunchie
, Tessa watched Gavan prepare toast and tea for them in black boxer-briefs as she breathed in his scent that clung to her new nightshirt. Oh, yeah, this is definitely a dream, she thought to herself. There wasn’t a male underwear model anywhere that had a thing on this gorgeous creature in her kitchen, slaving over a hot tea kettle and toaster just for her. The mere thought of touching him and the way he just
took
her, not against her will, but because he just knew what he wanted and he went for it, made her squirm around a little as a million butterflies performed a frenetic dance in her stomach. She could feel the blush rising up from her breasts to her cheeks.

He looked at her then. “
Wha
?”

Tessa blinked and quickly covered by saying, “Oh, I really love midnight snacks.” After all they’d shared tonight, it was crazy to be embarrassed, but hey, a girl’s got to keep some gushiness private.

Hungrier than either of them realized, they slurped and smacked their way through two cups of tea each and several slices of toast. After depositing the dishes in the sink, Gavan slid his body between Tessa’s legs and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her to the edge of the counter so that her sex and belly were against his already-erect cock.

“Working in the different rooms here has given me a few ideas that I’d like tae run by you,” he said as he kissed and licked down the side of her neck before sucking her earlobe between his lips, nipping it gently.

“Oh?” It came out more as a gasp than a question.

“Aye. What do you think?”

She tilted her head to the side to give him better access to her neck and rotated her hips to grind herself against his cock, and she felt him shiver a bit.

“Well, I can’t say that I’d be averse to hearing some interesting ideas about my house.”

She stroked her index fingers back and forth across his flat, brown nipples, thrilled by his reaction to her touch. He took her mouth with his and entered her with his tongue. She sucked at it, massaging it with her own. Buttery sweetness from their snack pervaded her mouth. She could feel her insides tighten and was amazed that after the night she’d already had, this beautiful man could bring her so close to the edge again with nothing more than a kiss. A really hot, passionate, deep kiss.

He pulled away from her and looked straight at her. “I think it’d be a lot more fun if I showed you my ideas.”

The intensity in his gaze robbed her of speech.

“’Kay,” was all she could manage to gulp out.

With a hand on either side of her waist he lifted her down from the counter, took her hand in his, and led her to the library. Once in her office, he walked directly to the big chair behind the desk, removed his briefs, and sat down, piquing her curiosity.