To think they’d never have met if it hadn’t been for her father’s greed. Duncan didn’t know whether to send him a gift basket or curse the man. Until she entered his life everything was neat and organised. Now, he didn’t know what to do with his own life.
She truly surprised him in everything she did. Her stunning looks continued to blow him away, and to think that with all that beauty she had still been a virgin. It was an unbelievable combination. The more he thought about her innocence the easier it was for him to accept it. After the shock of last night Duncan had found himself liking the fact Tess had been a virgin. He’d been her first, and if it was left to him he’d be her only lover. He needed to make a more stable position for himself in her life. Duncan needed to make her love him. For her to depend on him.
Ever since his parents’ marriage had fallen apart he’d made sure he was in control of everything.
He glanced over at his beautiful wife as she walked through the gardens and vowed she’d have all the romance she needed to make her love him. She’d never be able to walk away from him. Tess would have a wedding night to remember if it was the last thing he did. All of his good intentions and he’d screwed up last night. Duncan knew what his mistakes had been. He knew how to make them right. Soon, she’d be carrying his heir and the final condition of his father’s will would be complete.
Duncan turned away for a split second at the thought of his father’s will. Was it even worth his time and effort?
Getting revenge had been on his mind for so long it felt part of him. He stared at Tess as she leaned down to run her fingers through the flowers.
Grace came through into his study. Duncan turned and gave her a smile. “She came out of her room.”
The older woman sent him a glare.
“What?”
“You know what.” She put down his coffee with a plate of biscuits. Grace stood giving him her full attention. “That girl has been through enough. I can see it in her eyes. Whatever you’re planning, make sure to keep her out of it.”
“Nothing is going to happen.”
“I know you, Duncan James. You’re up to something. Please, don’t let that girl get hurt any more than she has.” Grace stood pleading with him.
“I’d never hurt Tess. She’s safe with me.”
Grace stared at him a few moments longer before leaving him alone in his office. He glanced out of the window, but Gerald and Tess were nowhere to be seen.
Tess didn’t need to know his plans. She just needed to be part of the solution. Duncan stepped away from the window then went back to his desk.
Duncan picked up the phone and dialled his secretary. He made the necessary arrangements to take his wife on a vacation. He prepared everything with his secretary, so all he’d need to take with him was his laptop and phone. Being in charge of so many companies meant vacations couldn’t be without technology. As long as he had a way of communicating if something went wrong then he’d be fine.
He couldn’t run his business and plan the romance of the century without being present. Duncan hung up when he’d settled the final detail of his arrangements. In no time at all Tess would be all his, and she didn’t need to know how he used her.
Duncan opened the file he’d obtained of his father’s Italian villa. It looked exactly how he remembered from his childhood. His heart ached when he thought of everything he’d lost. He hadn’t been able to say goodbye to his father.
You don’t need that. You need to put your mother in her rightful place. Miranda is the woman who ruined everything.
He shook off his concerns slamming the file closed. Vengeance would be his in a matter of weeks. He smiled to himself, pleased that there was no way that this could fail. He shut his computer down, switched off the power, and went looking for the woman he was about to dedicate all of his time to making fall in love with him.
****
Tess sat at the kitchen counter enjoying a delicious bowl of tomato soup. She’d spent most of the afternoon listening to Gerald discuss his garden. The older man had a passion for flowers and the earth. She loved hearing him talk. He held so much knowledge. Tess listened to Gerald and Grace banter about their youth. Grace handed her some bread to dip in her soup. The tomato and garlic flavour worked really well. She watched the couple smile at each other sharing small touches. The love between them was clearly seen just by looking at them. Tess smiled when they told something funny about their life. They were wonderful people. There must be a side to Duncan she’d never seen because this couple had been with him for some time.
“He went and knocked the man out because he’d said hello to me,” Grace said.
“Why did you hit him?” Tess asked.
“No one says a word to my woman.” Gerald kissed Grace on the head.
They were still so much in love. Time hadn’t changed their feelings for one another.
It made Tess’s heart ache. She’d never have that with Duncan. He wouldn’t allow her to get that close. What she witnessed with the older couple was the same thing she wanted to feel with her own man one day. A love more powerful than anything else. She’d only read it in books, but now she was witnessing it for the first time.
Her time with Duncan would be short. He wasn’t the type of man to settle for one woman for any length of time. She had no plans to marry again. The only way she’d marry would be for love, nothing else.
At that moment Duncan walked in as if her thoughts alone had made him appear.
She saw him stop while processing the scene in front of him as if it was a spreadsheet filled with numbers.
Everything was a plan to him. Something to take charge of and control. Didn’t he ever want to see beyond control?
People were not numbers. Not everything in his life could be organised to fit into a neat little box.
Tess ignored him and dunked more crusty bread into her soup. She closed her eyes enjoying the best tomato soup she’d ever tasted. Tess was taken aback when Duncan took the seat next to her at the counter. There were at least four other seats available to him. He was close to her. She smelt the scent of his cologne.
She breathed deeply, loving the way the smell seemed to consume her. His closeness made her nipples harden and her pussy grow wet. Even after everything that had happened between them she was still turned on by him.
His arm brushed hers as she picked up some more bread to dip into the soup. Her hands shook, but she ignored him. Or ignored him as best as she could with his body in such close proximity.
She noticed him making a circle with his finger against the counter, his large fingers gentle on the surface. Watching his hand reminded her of the way he’d touched her clit the night before, with the gentleness that had threatened to send her over the edge. What would it have felt like if they’d gotten the chance to go further?
The pain of his penetration had wiped all pleasure from the equation. Surely pain wouldn’t happen during every sexual interlude, otherwise women wouldn’t love sex. She knew they did. Some of the women who worked at the library talked about it constantly. Her nipples grew harder as her thoughts went deeper. In her mind she saw him sucking on her body, his tongue lathering down the valley between her breasts, over her tummy to her clit.
She bit her lip squeezing her thighs together as cream leaked out of her cunt.
“Is the soup good?” Tess turned abruptly as his words filled her mind. She pulled out of her fantasy feeling the blush spread up her neck and into her cheeks.
“Y-yes, it tastes really good.” She cleared her throat trying to rid all of her thoughts of his tongue and body from her mind. “It’s the best I’ve ever tasted,” she said. It was then she noticed that Gerald and Grace had left them alone together at the kitchen counter, sipping soup.
Duncan tore off a piece of bread and dipped it into her bowl. He took a bite then moaned. “You’re right. It tastes good.”
“Where have Gerald and Grace gone?” she asked.
“They’ve gone to take a walk in the garden. They think we need to spend more time together. You don’t have to be afraid of me, Tess. I want you as much as you want me.”
“What are you talking about?” She hunched over her bowl hoping not to look at him.
“Your flushed cheeks. Your nipples are rock hard like bullets. I bet your pussy is soaking wet with your cream.”
How did he always know what she was thinking? They’d barely known each other, and he read her like an open book.
“How do you know what I’m thinking?”
“Because I feel it, too.” She dropped her spoon then turned to stare at him.
He took her hand to press against his crotch. “No matter what happened between us. You still affect me.”
She felt his cock pressing hard and thick against his pants. “But you hated me because of my, well, erm—”
“Your virginity?”
Tess nodded unable to say the word. She removed her hand from him, but the heat of him still burned her palm.