Splendor(111)
But she did know he liked snickerdoodles, since Mrs. Sargent had left a bakery bag for them after a recent shopping trip. Fortunately, they’d been easy to bake, given her tiny kitchen and limited cooking skills, and Ian had seemed genuinely thrilled when she had presented him with the festively beribboned bag filled with three dozen cookies.
Having skipped lunch, they both ate hungrily of the sumptuous afternoon tea service that Tyson delivered to their room. Tessa couldn’t quite stifle a yawn, however, despite the twin jolts of caffeine and sugar her system had just received.
“Sleepy, are we?” asked Ian in amusement.
She clapped a hand over her mouth. “Sorry. It’s just – well, we didn’t get much sleep last night what with - ”
“I know,” he interrupted. “I hope I wasn’t too – that it wasn’t - ”
“No.” She shook her head firmly. “You were perfect. It was perfect. I needed you just as badly, Ian.”
Tessa had been waiting for him in the library when he’d returned home just after ten o’clock the previous evening. By now she was becoming use to the hungry, almost desperate way he made love to her, the blatant carnality of his kisses and caresses, the all-consuming manner in which he possessed her body. But when he’d strode boldly into the library last night, she’d been left breathless and unable to even think with the fierce, primal way he’d taken her right there, bent over the arm of the leather sofa. He’d tossed off his suit jacket and unzipped his trousers before yanking the hem of her robe up past her waist and literally ripping the fragile silk and lace panties from her body. He’d surged into her with one powerful thrust, wrenching a cry from her throat and leaving her helpless to do anything but willingly submit to his domination of her body. They had both climaxed within minutes, the entire encounter having taken place without either of them uttering a single word. She had been shaken to the core at such a display of raw, undisguised passion on his part, and astonished that her body could so readily respond to his without even the slightest amount of foreplay.
He’d carried her upstairs to his bed then, and this time had made love to her with exquisite thoroughness, prolonging the ecstasy for what had felt like hours. And then he’d woken her again towards dawn, already imbedded deep inside of her, and wrung another shattering orgasm from her exhausted body.
She was grateful she’d taken the day off from work, because she’d been far too drowsy and pleasantly sated to do more than give him a sleepy kiss as he’d left for the office just before eight a.m. She’d slept until ten, a rare luxury for her, and had had to scramble a bit to shower, dress, and eat breakfast before he arrived home.
But Ian still didn’t look convinced at her assurance. “That first time – in the library – I was like a rutting bull, Tessa. No finesse, no control. I was - ”
“Wild.” She swiftly straddled his lap, twining her arms around his neck. “Like a beast. Or a barbarian.” She nipped his earlobe lightly with her teeth before whispering, “And I loved it. I like it when you lose control.”
He growled, shoving his hand up beneath her sweater and roughly groping her breast, making her gasp as his fingers slid inside her bra cup to pinch the nipple. “You make me lose control just by being in the same room,” he rasped. “It’s never been that way for me before, not even close.”
“Good.” She caressed his cheek, which was just beginning to show some dark stubble as the day began to draw to a close. “I like that I’m the only one who can make you do that. And,” she added playfully, “let’s make sure to keep it that way, hmm?”
He gave a short laugh. “Darling, I’ve told you on multiple occasions that you’re far more than I can handle as it is. Why on earth would I notice other women when I have all my heart desires right here?”
The sweet, wildly romantic things he seemed to have a knack for saying made her feel all gooey inside. Still, she couldn’t resist teasing him a bit more. “So you’re telling me you didn’t notice the way that very pretty front desk clerk was checking you out?”
Ian frowned. “Unless you had just mentioned it, I wouldn’t have been able to remember if the clerk had been a man or a woman. That’s how little attention I paid. But since we’re on the subject, I should mention the very interested stares you were receiving from the valet. And the bellhop. Not to mention the doorman. Ah, and I’m forgetting the dozen or so – at least – admiring males who were staring at your very sexy body as we walked through the lobby.”