But it was the next bio – and in particular, the photo – that caught and held Tessa’s attention. With a trembling hand she touched the screen image of the admittedly compelling, arrestingly handsome Ian Gregson, and fully understood why he had made such an impression on the normally impossible to impress Mrs. Carrington.

He was unsmiling in the photo, looking very formal and almost regal in his dark suit, pristine white shirt, and conservatively striped tie. Tessa thought him far more handsome than any movie star could ever hope to be, and even in such a small photo he oozed charisma and power. And as she studied his image more closely, her heartrate picked up a few beats to realize how greatly he resembled the man who visited her in those erotic dreams – her dream lover. She had yet to see her dream man’s features full on, but she thought it uncanny – if not a bit eerie – that the shape of Ian Gregson’s face, the curve of his jaw, the dark thickness of his hair – reminded her so intensely of the one who continued to seduce her so masterfully as she slept.

She squirmed a bit on her desk chair to realize she was growing aroused – her breasts swollen, her nipples beginning to peak, the dampness of her panties – and hastily closed out the webpage she’d been staring at like a love-struck adolescent. She forced herself to get back to work, and resisted the urge to take another glimpse at the striking, unforgettable features of Ian Gregson.

Tessa told herself that it was probably all for the better that she wouldn’t have the opportunity to meet him during his upcoming visit. Knowing how shy and awkward she was around strangers – especially a man as virile and attractive as Mr. Gregson – it was of a certainty that she would only make a fool of herself around him. Rather than admire her as Mrs. Carrington had claimed, Ian Gregson would instead wonder how on earth someone as silly and foolish as Tessa Lockwood had ever been hired to work for his very prestigious company.

It was three nights later when the dream came to her again. But this time she sensed immediately that it would be different from the previous ones – more intimate; more detailed; more erotic.

He stood behind her, the breadth of his hard, muscular chest pressed against her back as his strong arms circled her waist. Tessa’s eyes drifted shut, her head falling back in surrender against his shoulder as warm, firm lips caressed the side of her throat.

“Tessa.”

The way in which he said her name felt like a caress – his voice deep and sensual, causing a shiver to travel up and down her spine with just the single word. His arms tightened around her, pulling her even closer against him, until she could feel the unmistakable ridge of his erection pressing into the cleft between her buttocks.

“Ahh.”

The gasp escaped her lips in a soft, drawn-out breath as one of his hands slid up the side of her ribcage to fondle her breast. She was wearing a blouse of some silky fabric, and the sensation of his thumb rubbing over her nipple caused her to squirm in impatient arousal.

He laughed softly, the sound tickling her ear and making her shiver anew. “You’re such a sensual woman, Tessa,” he murmured, his long fingers plucking her nipple through the fabric of her blouse. “So easy to arouse, to please.”

She panted as he cupped a breast in each hand, his caresses growing bolder, rougher. “Only with you,” she confessed. “I’ve never felt anything like what you make me feel before.”

“Good,” he replied in that deeply sensuous voice, the one she’d always known but that was now spoken in a crisp, cultured British accent. “I want to be the only man who can touch you, kiss you, make love to you. The only one,” he added in a hushed whisper as his hand slid past her belly to cup her sex, “who can claim you for his own.”

“Yes,” she whimpered as he began to inch the fabric of her skirt up past her thighs. “You’re the only one. Just you. No one else – ever.”

“And who am I, Tessa?” he demanded. “Go ahead. Say my name.”

She made a little sound of protest, even as his fingers brushed teasingly against the dampened crotch of her lacy underwear. “I – I don’t know,” she stammered shyly. “I – I can’t say it out loud.”

“Yes, you can,” he urged, his thumb whisking back and forth over the tiny, over-sensitized nub of her clitoris. “Say it, Tessa.”

“Ian,” she gasped, her hips moving in desperate, needy sync with the steady pump of his fingers as they slid in and out of her wet, clenching slit. “You’re Ian.”

He grasped her chin between long fingers, tilting her head back as he kissed her savagely, his tongue sweeping boldly through her mouth. The fingers of his other hand kept up the steady thrusting motion in and out of her tight, greedy body.

And then the most stunning, powerful climax she’d ever known hit hard, causing her to clutch Ian’s arms in order to hold herself upright. Her legs were trembling, and she was half-afraid she would either collapse or faint. But before she could do either, he was picking her up and carrying her determinedly to some unseen bed in a darkened corner of an unknown room.

Her arms and legs felt weightless as he undressed her swiftly, stripping her until she was naked and quivering, feeling his hot gaze upon her as though it was a physical touch. He trailed a finger boldly down her body, lingering in the deep valley between her breasts before tickling her belly and drawing a giggle from her throat.

And then her laughter quickly morphed into a groan as those same long, talented fingers continued their downward path, teasing the soft blonde curls at the apex of her thighs before sliding back inside of her.

“God, you’re so deliciously wet,” he breathed, his mouth at her ear as he bent over her prone body. “I love that I can excite you this way. Are you ready for me, Tessa?”

“Yes,” she whispered, her pelvis lifting off the mattress as he continued to pleasure her with his fingers. “So much. Please – come to me now.”

“Say my name first.”

She gasped as his lips teased the corner of her mouth, lingered on her flushed cheeks, nibbled at her jaw. “Please – Ian.”

He cupped her face between his palms, and even in the dim light of whatever room they were in she could clearly see the gleam in his eyes and the satisfied smile on his handsome face. “One day, Tessa, you’ll belong to me – body and soul. And when the time is right I promise that I’ll come to claim you for my own. Until then, dream of me. Dream of us.”