Meanwhile, just across the table, Dinora Saldivar was not so silently fuming, her lushly full mouth fixed in a sulky pout. From the moment Vincent had introduced his beautiful, vivacious wife to Ian, she’d been doing her damnedest to get his attention. But, to his credit, Ian had smoothly and coolly thwarted every single one of her increasingly obvious efforts.

Having anticipated that Dinora would likely offer her cheek up for a kiss upon introductions, Ian had not given her the opportunity and merely extended his hand instead for a brief, impersonal shake. He’d kept his replies to her boldly flirtatious questions as formal and detached as possible, assuming what Tessa had always thought of as his standoffish, if not prim, Regional Director persona.

Except with her, of course. With Tessa he’d been warm and affectionate, and she was both thrilled and deeply touched at his attentions. As his hand moved to her nape, giving her a sensuous little massage, she couldn’t help giving Dinora a rather triumphant little smile.

The beautiful brunette gave her a tight, unpleasant smile in return, but her dark eyes resembled those of a spitting cat’s. There was no denying that Dinora was an extremely sexy, stunningly attractive woman with her masses of gleaming dark brown hair, big dark eyes, and lushly full, red-glossed mouth. She was a few inches shorter than Tessa, with a voluptuous figure showcased by the dark green, wrap-front dress she wore that exposed a considerable amount of cleavage. But Tessa sensed that those full breasts weren’t natural, given their near perfect shape and firmness. Dinora’s gleaming white smile seemed to be the result of very expensive veneers, while Mrs. C. had been right on the money about those rather ridiculously long eyelashes being false.

Undeterred by the sight of Ian’s open affection towards Tessa, Dinora batted those lashes coquettishly at him, and smiled very suggestively.

“You must have to work out every single day to stay in such fantastic shape, Ian,” she told him in a husky voice. “I should get you to give Vincent here some tips. I’ve been telling him for months now that he’s too skinny and should start bulking up.”

Vincent looked a bit embarrassed, as he’d done for most of the evening while tolerating his wife’s bold behavior. “That would be great, Ian, if you could spare the time. Though you’ve admittedly got a good six inches and probably thirty to forty pounds of muscle on me, so I’m not sure any of your fitness strategies would do me much good.”

Ian shrugged and took a sip of his tea before taking Tessa’s hand in his. “My fitness strategy, as you put it, Vincent, is fairly simple - eating a healthy diet, taking vitamins, getting enough sleep, and exercising five to six days a week. After all,” he added with a wink, as he brought Tessa’s hand to his lips, “I’ve got to keep up with Tessa somehow. She, ah, tends to wear me out. Don’t you, love?”

Tessa was well aware that both Vincent and Dinora were gaping at Ian, but she only had eyes for her man. She smiled at him gratefully, caressing his darkly stubbled cheek. “I’m not sure if that’s really possible, but I do admit to trying very, very hard.”

Dinora looked both defeated and subdued, and made no further attempt to flirt with Ian for the rest of the meal. A meal that Ian was evidently very anxious to bring to an end.

“Damn Vincent for asking for more coffee,” Ian muttered in Tessa’s ear. “Doesn’t he realize that you and I have a very important date to keep in front of our dressing room mirror?”

Tessa couldn’t suppress a giggle, a sound that quickly morphed into a gasp as Ian once again slid a hand up her bare thigh. This time, however, he kept on going until his long, elegant fingers reached the very damp crotch of her all but nonexistent underwear. She had to bite down on her bottom lip as he deftly brushed aside the lacy fabric and slid two fingers deep inside of her tight, wet slit. As his thumb rubbed little circles around her clit, she brought her cup to her lips and took several sips of tea in an attempt to muffle the low moan that would have otherwise escaped.

Ian bent his head to hers again, nuzzling the side of her neck as he whispered, “Mmm, I can see you’re very, very anxious to keep that date I mentioned. But since you know how I feel about other men seeing the look you get on your face right after you’ve come, we’ll have to continue this later.”

Her entire body was suffused with heat, and she couldn’t help quivering in arousal as he reluctantly slid his hand out from beneath her dress.

“Not too much later, I hope,” she whispered back urgently.

“Shh,” he urged her in hushed tones. “I promise that it will be very, very soon now, love. And don’t plan on getting much sleep tonight, because the way I’m feeling right now I’m fairly certain I can go all night long.”

***

Tessa’s head fell back helplessly against the mound of pillows that Ian had very carefully arranged behind her. She was half reclining, half sitting up in the enormous bed, another pillow wedged beneath her buttocks. Her legs were splayed open, bent up at the knees. This position allowed her lover to kneel between her thighs as he slid his insatiable cock in and out of her quivering body with slow, deliberate precision.

“Watch.”

At Ian’s hoarsely uttered command, she lifted her head up weakly and obeyed, watching with half-shut eyes as he slid out nearly to the tip before he gradually, inch by delicious inch, worked his thick, hard penis back in until he was fully sheathed. He repeated this action more times than she could keep track of, and she was utterly helpless to do anything but observe the erotic joining of their bodies. Anything, that is, except to whimper with pleasure, especially when he bent his dark head to her breast, sucking a reddened nipple into his mouth.

“Ah, God,” she sobbed, her hips bucking off the pillow as she silently willed him to go faster, to bring her to yet another stunning orgasm. She clutched the pillows for leverage as she begged. “Ian, please. I can’t – I need -”

“I know what you need, Tessa,” he crooned as he slowly began to quicken the tempo of his thrusts. “Don’t forget how well I know this beautiful body - better than you do, love.” He lifted her nearly boneless legs to wrap around his waist, then braced his hands on either side of her hips. He claimed her lips for what felt like the hundredth time that night in a searing, devouring kiss, eating out the inside of her mouth with his ravenous tongue.