Seeing him that way - all hard muscle, barely leashed power, completely dominating - had aroused her to the point where she’d barely been able to keep her hands off of him. In the closed, somewhat limited confines of his classic Jaguar during the drive home, she hadn’t been able to resist touching him - running her hands over his arms, his thigh, leaning over at a stop sign to press a kiss to his cheek. He’d teased her that he was liable to crash his beloved car into the side of a building if she kept it up, but he’d also been breathing heavily, his cheeks darkly flushed, and a very impressive erection had tented his athletic shorts as they arrived home.

Once inside the house, she’d sunk to her knees right there in the foyer, pulling his shorts down past his hips and freeing his magnificent cock. Despite his half-hearted protests that he really ought to shower first, she’d taken him deep into her mouth, sucking him off with a hungry enthusiasm that had him groaning her name and coming hard down her throat.

He’d barely stopped shuddering in release before he stripped her naked and spread her out on the priceless entryway rug, his head disappearing between her thighs. She had been so aroused, so in need, that it had taken the merest flick of his tongue against her clit to catapult her into orgasm.

Ian dropped a kiss on her forehead. “And I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. You know, I honestly believed that finally having you live with me, sleeping by my side every night, that it would somehow lessen my obsession with you. But it’s just the opposite. I want you all the time, think about you constantly, hate being apart from you for only a few hours. You are the only thing in my life that really matters to me, Tessa, the one thing I cherish above everything else.”

“It’s the same for me,” she whispered. “Sometimes I wonder if it’s too much, if we love each other too much. I worry that the way we feel about each other - that it’s not - well, healthy.”

“Never that, my love, never,” he uttered fiercely, taking her mouth in a deep, searing kiss. “What we feel for each other - it’s a rare and precious thing, something that very few people are ever lucky enough to find. So don’t ever feel that it’s too much because in my opinion it can never be enough.”

They held each other quietly for a time, simply content to embrace and enjoy the unspoken bond they always felt with the other. It was Tessa who finally, reluctantly, broke away.

“I’d better go upstairs and start getting ready for dinner,” she told him. “I want to look my absolute best for you tonight, after all.”

He shook his head. “You already look stunning to me, Tessa. I have no idea how you can improve on perfection.”

She rolled her eyes, knowing full well she looked anything but stunning with no makeup, her hair half-escaping its untidy braid, her feet bare, and wearing one of Ian’s old sweatshirts and a loose fitting pair of yoga pants.

“That’s sweet, but you don’t have to say things like that, you know.” She reached up on her toes to whisper in his ear, “You’re already going to get lucky tonight. Maybe several times.”

Ian grinned. “In that case, perhaps I ought to nap for an hour or so while you’re getting ready. I understand that men of my advanced age need to do that sort of thing.”

“Yes, but do other men your age have this sort of incredible body?” she murmured, running her hands up and down his chest. “Or are they able to physically dominate a man ten years younger than they are?”

He captured her hand just before it slid beneath the hem of his loose fitting knit shirt. “Actually, Jesse is only twenty-seven, so he’s a full thirteen years my junior. But I do confess to having had a secret advantage over him, which just might have helped me best the boy.”

“Oh? And what exactly was this so-called secret advantage?”

Ian trailed a series of kisses along the inside of her arm, stopping just shy of her wrist. His eyes twinkled with merriment. “Young Jesse had a great deal of trouble keeping his eyes off of my girl. I admit to having a very sneaky motive when I suggested you wear that particular workout top this morning.”

Tessa gasped, picturing the snug-fitting light blue tank top, the one she’d fretted about wearing because it had displayed a bit too much side-boob. But Ian, who normally preferred that she not expose too much bare skin in public, had surprised her by insisting the top was just fine.

“Ooh, you mean you did that on purpose?” she squeaked. “Knowing full well that I was, um, showing a little too much of the goods?”

He laughed in delight, wrapping his arms around her waist and lifting her easily off the floor. “I happened to remember that Jesse is - well, something of a breast man, based on comments he’s made in the past. And since you have the most fabulous rack in the entire world, I figured you’d provide a bit of a distraction. Just enough to give me a little advantage.”

Tessa pretended to give him a stern look. “That’s cheating, Ian. I thought you liked to win fair and square.”

He gave her a loud, smacking kiss on the lips. “Darling, winning was never my worry. Jesse may be thirteen years younger but trust me - I could kick his arse with one hand tied behind my back. He’s usually very focused on his workouts, a bit too intensely for his own good sometimes. It was rather amusing to see him get distracted so easily.”

“Oh.” His explanation mollified her somewhat, and a wicked smile spread across her face. “Well, if you really want to distract him next time, remind me to wear the teeny tiny shorts that go with the top.”

Ian burst into laughter, murmuring in her ear, “Darling, you’d have the entire gym in an uproar if you wore those shorts. And while I can easily take that young whelp Jesse on, I’m not certain I could say the same for a whole roomful of horny men.”

***

Tessa still wasn’t sure if she should be offended, flattered, amused, or all three at Ian’s mischievous confession. But she couldn’t help the smile that played about her lips as she began to apply her makeup. Truth be told, she hadn’t paid the slightest attention to Jesse, the young, buff trainer Ian had been sparring with, and therefore couldn’t say for certain if he’d actually been sneaking glances at her or not. All of her attention had been focused solely on Ian, as it always was, no matter how many other attractive men might be nearby.