Seduce

by Marie Tuhart

  “There was.” Tessa shifted. “I trust you two; I want you to know that. It’s taken me this long to feel secure enough.”

  Sierra frowned. “Tessa, what is it?”

  “I told you both I lived in Washington DC before I moved here and went to work at the library.”

  “Yes, we were both surprised to hear you’d moved so far away from your family,” Crystal chimed in.

  “I needed to put some miles between me and my past. Ruthledge is my mother’s maiden name. I changed my last name when I moved here.” She blew out a breath. “The reason I did that was because of my father.”

  “Oh please, not another crappy father,” Sierra said.

  “No.” Tessa smiled. “My dad isn’t a bad man. He’s made some bad choices. It has to do with his profession.”

  “Ohhh. Let me guess, mob boss,” Crystal said.

  “I’m going with lobbyist,” Sierra said.

  “Close, both of you. My dad is a congressman.” While that wasn’t earth shattering, her father’s political career had shaped who she was today. Something she wasn’t proud of at times. It was time to stop hiding from her friends. Who was she kidding; these women were her family.

  “That doesn’t sound so bad.” Crystal stared at her.

  “Yeah, well, I grew up with a father whose political aspirations drove everything we did as a family.” If they went out, it was always for show. Pictures were taken, her father gave speeches, always the perfect little family.

  “Oh boy, that sounds like my family,” Crystal said.

  “In a way yes. Ten years ago, my father started grooming my brother for politics.”

  “Is your brother older or younger?” Sierra asked.

  “Younger by two years. He’s thirty now.” She hadn’t seen him since she left DC.

  “Your father decided on politics for him?” Crystal asked.

  “Yes, especially when I finished up my bachelor’s degree in library science and told my father I was going after my master’s degree.” That had been a fight. What had surprised Tessa the most was her mother standing up to her father. All Tessa’s life, her mother had been the perfect housewife, never a hair out of place. But that day, she’d taken Tessa’s side and told her husband to shut up and let Tessa do what she wanted.

  Her father had been so surprised he hadn’t even argued when her mother told him they were paying for Tessa’s master’s degree. A smile crept over Tessa’s lips.

  “My mother supported me the entire way. I got my master’s, and my father turned his attention to my brother and started grooming him.”

  “That couldn’t have been easy,” Crystal said.

  Tessa shook her head. “My father was running for Congress while I was getting my bachelor’s degree. I hated the attention we all got. My brother loved it.” She loved her brother, but their personalities were so different. “Allen loved being in the spotlight with our father. I preferred to stay in the background, but I wasn’t allowed.”

  “Why do I have a feeling it’s nothing like what we see on TV?” Sierra said.

  “Not even close. You see the put together stuff. I hated the back room fighting, the constant press intrusion, and the others vying for my father’s attention.” Her stomach twisted. The pressure had been on her to be the perfect daughter. She almost snorted at the thought.

  “Is that why you left?” Crystal asked.

  “Partially.” They deserved to know the whole story. “While I was getting my master’s degree, I went to work at a local library in Baltimore near where we lived. Luckily, it was pretty much back room stuff so people didn’t see me or associate my last name with a local congressman.”

  Sierra shifted and touched the back of Tessa’s hand. “What happened?”

  “I met a man.” At the time, she hadn’t realized how desperate she was for someone to love her for simply being her. “Jack was the sweetest, nicest man.”

  “You fell in love.” Crystal sat forward with a frown on her face.

  “Head over heels. In retrospect, I should have taken things slower. I wasn’t a kid. I was old enough to pay attention.”

  “What happened?” Sierra’s voice was soft.

  “I skipped an important part of the story.” Tessa shook her head. “Sorry about that. Let me back track for a moment. When I started on my bachelor’s degree, I met a group of people. We hung out together, and one night, they invited me to a get-together. It was a munch.”

  “What was it like?” Crystal asked.

  “It was a simple get-together in a banquet room of a restaurant. Everyday normal people.” Tessa held back a laugh. Her reading tastes had always leaned toward the erotic, and meeting people at the munch had been eye-opening. “I talked with people, and my friends made sure I was introduced to everyone. It was fun and informative. At the end of the night, my friends told me about a small house party, if I wanted to go.”

  “And you did?” Crystal sat forward.

  “I did. It was my first foray into the lifestyle.” Tessa smiled. “I was so naive about it all, but I learned. I had really good teachers. As both of you did.”

  They laughed.

  “Anyway, I hung out once a week in the community. I didn’t play a lot, but I learned.”

  “No one hurt you, did they?” Sierra asked.

  Tessa shook her head. “Everyone was into consent. When I was comfortable, my friends helped me find a Dom. He was older, but he understood I was new to the lifestyle, so he led me through things very slowly.”

  “But something happened.” Crystal commented.

  “As my father’s political status continued to grow, it got harder and harder for me not to be noticed by the press, even in Baltimore. My father insisted I be with him and the rest of the family at certain events. Because every event I attended ended up with pictures in the paper, people started treating me differently. It revealed those who were true friends and those who weren’t.”

  “That sucks,” Sierra muttered.

  “It did. Then Jack came into my life.” Tessa shook her head. “Curly chestnut hair, brown puppy dog eyes, always smiling, and working his way up at a brokerage firm.”

  “He sounds ideal,” Crystal said.

  “You’d think. We dated. It was nice. I was falling hard and fast. He was the perfect gentleman. Even when he met the family, he wasn’t fawning over my father or anything. I thought I’d finally met a man who saw me.”

  “I’m almost afraid to ask what happened,” Sierra said.

  “I slowly introduced Jack to kink. He seemed receptive. We went to a party. Jack was uncomfortable, so we didn’t stay long. I could understand that. But in our bedroom, he was more comfortable. Anyhow, we moved in together and were seen more and more with my family. The press started writing articles about us. I wasn’t happy about it, but I was learning to ignore it.”

  Well, ignore it as much as she could. The press could be intrusive at times. “Eight months before I graduated with my master’s degree, Jack asked me to marry him, and I said yes. It was going to take time to get the wedding together, so we planned it for two years out.”

  “You married him?” Crystal asked.

  “I didn’t. It was a couple of days before I was to graduate. I went to Jack’s office since I’d finished work early. I figured we could go out to dinner. Jack was talking with one of his buddies about how he had me wrapped around his finger, and that once we were married, he’d have his foot fully in the door with my father.”

  “Oh hell,” Sierra muttered.

  “I was upset. I went back to the apartment we shared. I paced around wondering what I should do.”

  “And?” Crystal asked.

  “Jack arrived, surprised to see me. I decided to confront him, and I did.”

  “He lied,” Sierra said.

  “No, he was quite honest with me. He told me flat out that, yes, he was using me to get closer to my father. That I was a nice woman but really not his type. I was too mousy, too quiet, and I was si
ck because I wanted a little bit of kink in my life.”

  “Asshole,” Sierra muttered.

  “Big time. His words devastated me. I told him to go to hell and walked out.”

  Tessa never looked back but had encased her heart in ice. Until Damon. “I graduated on Saturday, and that night, my father was throwing a big party. Not for my graduation, mind you, but for politics.” While her mother had shown up for her graduation, her father and brother couldn’t bother. “Jack showed up and wanted me to pretend everything was okay. I didn’t want to make a scene, but when he tried to kiss me for the press, I lost it.” Her face grew hot even now. “Let’s say that was not a good scene to play out in front of the press. My father was apoplectic. At that point, I decided it was time for me to get out of the area, and I came out here.”

  “But why did you take on your mother’s maiden name?” Crystal asked.

  “I wanted to distance myself from my family and my father’s political aspirations. You have to understand, for years I’d met people who only wanted to know me because of my father and my brother as well.”

  “That really sucks,” Sierra said.

  “It did. Here I was able to start fresh.”

  “And we became friends,” Crystal leaned over and hugged Tessa.

  “We did, and I’m so glad.”

  “What about Wicked Sanctuary? How did you become a member?” Sierra asked.

  “It was about six months after I moved here. We had just met. I heard about the club and thought I’d check it out. I joined, thinking I’d dip my toes back into the water.”

  “You said you only went a couple of times,” Crystal said.

  “I did. Not because something was wrong, but because I wasn’t ready to go back into the community. Jack’s words hurt me deeply, and I started to question my wants and needs.”

  “And now?” Sierra asked.

  “Seeing you two embrace the community and the way Max and Jordan were with you two, I decided to try again. And since I was a member, the Valentine’s Day party was perfect, as it was a masquerade. So that’s my sad tale.”

  “It took me a while to figure out it was you, and when I did, I couldn’t believe it,” Sierra said.

  “I told Sierra she was wrong, but then I saw you with Regina, and I knew it was you,” Crystal said.

  “What gave me away?”

  “I knew in my gut,” Sierra said.

  “I want to know why you skipped out before midnight,” Crystal said.

  “You two were watching me, so you know why.” How could she explain, when she really didn’t quite understand it herself? She hadn’t figured out why she’d left. Damon would find out soon enough, especially if she went back to the club. Well, she had left him the note. Why had she left the door open? Did she want to go back to the club? Tessa saw the happiness on her friends’ faces when they were with their men. She wanted that.

  Damon made her feel things she’d never felt before, and he’d barely touched her. She wanted more, so yes. She would go back. It was time to see what the future held.

  * * * *

  Damon sat down on the sofa in Max’s office at Wicked Sanctuary. “Sorry to drag you into the office on a Sunday.”

  “No problem,” Max said, a perplexed look on his face.

  “I want to see the log from last night.”

  “Any reason?” Max stared at him, not looking a bit surprised.

  “You know why. I want to figure out who the woman in the blue mask was.” His dreams had been filled with Tessa, only to have her disappear each time he got close to her.

  “Are you sure you want to find out?”

  Damon sat up. “What are you not telling me?” It wasn’t like Max to hedge like this.

  “Your mystery woman was Tessa.”

  Damon steepled his fingers and stared at Max.

  “I didn’t know she was a member,” Max said as he placed his hands on the desk.

  “My Tess?” He hid a smile. “Tessa who chews me out for saying flirty things to her?”

  “Yep.”

  “How did you figure it out?”

  “Sierra told me.”

  “Yet, last night, none of you told me.” Damon wasn’t sure how he felt about that. “You’re my best friends.”

  “Yeah, well, I was asked not to.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Sorry, but I didn’t want to spend the night alone on the sofa.”

  Damon laughed. “You’re whipped.”

  “I figured at midnight she’d take off her mask and tell you, surprise. I never expected her to leave.”

  Max’s explanation made sense. “I get it.” Damon looked at Max. “She mentioned that last night. We know all the members, so why don’t I remember her?” That still bugged him. While Max bankrolled the club and it was on his property, Jordan and Damon had put in time to help Max, and he’d made them partners. Jordan and Damon were at the club almost every night it was open.

  “I checked this morning. She joined within a few months of us opening. She was only here a few times before she stopped coming—even though she’s paid her dues every year—so it makes sense we wouldn’t have recognized her last night.”

  “Especially since it was a masquerade party, and Tessa is always dressed conservatively.” Damon paced around Max’s office. He suspected her clothing had to do with her job. He’d spied the spicy woman behind the clothing. Now even more so. That also explained his body’s reaction to her. Tessa had him tied up in knots since the first time they met over coffee several months ago when Max and Sierra first got together.

  “Damon, what are you going to do?” Max asked.

  “Go find my woman in blue.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Tessa jumped when the doorbell rang. She wasn’t expecting anyone.

  “I’ll get it,” Crystal said.

  “I’ll get us more wine.” After her confession, they’d eaten some of the junk food and decided to open the wine. Tessa heard low voices but couldn’t make out what they were saying.

  “Ah…Tessa, I need to go,” Crystal said.

  “Me too. Talk to you later,” Sierra called.

  “Hey wait.” Tessa walked out of her kitchen to see Damon standing with his back to the now closed front door, and they were alone. “Damon?”

  “Hello, Tessa, or should I say my lady in blue.”

  Tessa’s cheeks grew warm. “I can explain about that. And what are you doing here?”

  “I’m sure you can.” He pushed away from the door. “I needed to see you.”

  “How did you find out?” Tessa swallowed hard as Damon stalked over to her, much like a wolf would.

  “I knew it last night.”

  “How?” Tessa barely stopped herself from turning tail and running.

  “You’re unique and very hard to forget.” He stopped in front of her. “I have one urgent question.”

  “Only one?” She tilted her head to the side, studying him. Was he angry? He didn’t look like it. More like a tightly controlled wolf ready to pounce. There she went again with the wolf analogy.

  “I said one urgent; it doesn’t mean I don’t have others.” He got into her space. “Are you interested in kink?”

  Tessa almost burst out laughing. “I’m a member of the club.”

  “That doesn’t mean anything. The club is nearly six years old, and you haven’t been back in almost four years. There has to be a reason for that.” He ran his finger over her cheek. “Did someone in the lifestyle hurt you?”

  “No.” She craved his closeness. What would happen if she locked lips with him? He was close enough for her to go on her toes and taste him. What was she thinking?

  “Then why the break in coming to the club?”

  “I needed some space.” She wasn’t ready to reveal her past to Damon. “How did you become involved? I’m guessing Max and Jordan.”

  “Max, Jordan, and I met at a munch.” Damon lowered his head. “I can feel your heat, Tessa. We’ve sparred and had words, but t
his is different. You’re not spitting and hissing. What’s changed?”

  There was an explosive question. How did she explain that something inside her had snapped into place when she walked back into the club and tightened when she saw him? A part of her that had been missing now wasn’t. The part that longed to be wanted for herself and not her political connections.

  “Maybe I realized that you’re not so bad after all.”

  “Oh, I’m bad all right.” His fingers slid over her cheek. “Will you be bad with me?”

  Yes. Her body shouted the word, but she clamped her lips together. She was so tempted, but they knew so little about each other. “You’re skipping a few steps.”

  Damon froze, and his blue eyes grew weary. He nodded and stepped back. “I am.”

  Tessa missed him when he moved. Contrary thing she was. “I’m sorry I didn’t stay last night.”

  “Apology accepted.” He paced to the door and turned. “Know this, Tessa: I want you. More than any other woman. I want you in my life, so consider yourself warned. The gloves are coming off.”

  Before she could say a word, Damon opened the door and walked out.

  * * * *

  Damon stood on the landing to Tessa’s apartment and took a deep breath to control his raging desire. Quiet little Tessa was into kink. And she hadn’t shut him down when he pushed her a bit.

  His body hummed with need. Would he have pursued her if she wasn’t into kink? Probably not. He’d been burned before by women who weren’t into the lifestyle, and he wouldn’t go down that road again.

  He’d left her apartment because if he’d stayed, they’d be in bed right now. And Tessa was right. She deserved careful handling. There was a firecracker beneath her creamy skin, and if he wasn’t careful, he’d get burned. Somehow, he didn’t mind.

  He’d just made it to his truck when his cell phone rang. “Yes.”

  “Hey, Damon. It’s Destiny. I’ve got a family emergency. I won’t be able to work for the next few days.”

  “Don’t worry, Destiny. I’ll take care of it. You take care of what you need to do, and take all the time you need.”

  “Thanks. You’re the best boss. Don’t forget book club Wednesday night. I’ve got the new selection below the counter.” The line went dead.