A smile danced across Tessa’s tingling lips.
Chapter Nine
Overhearing a conversation while the first set photos were being taken, Gavan learned the details behind the photographer’s concept.
“Oh, yeah,” said the assistant to whomever as he guided one of the models around the sets. “The magazine did their annual poll a few months ago, and this little writer got the most overwhelming response they ever had. Not only did almost every response to that particular poll question name her as the ‘Favorite Celebrity Fantasy,’ but they also included their fantasies—some actual short stories that were fan-fiction writings based on her books with her as the heroine. There were sketches and artwork, too. I heard a few of them were really sick. Most of them said they read her books over and over, always picturing her as the vulnerable heroine who is physically and sexually ravaged and ultimately controlled by various evildoers and paranormal entities until she’s rescued by the good-hearted vampire, werewolf, what have you, so that together they take out the bad guys.
“In the next issue, there was an article by some shrink who analyzed some of the fantasies that had been sent in and basically said that she’s a major fantasy because she’s got this dark side with the horror and all. Then you add in the kinky, mind-bending sex that just oozes from her books, and, well, the guys don’t really have to have much imagination to start putting her into all kinds of situations that they’ve never dreamed up before. The fact that she’s a complete knockout helps, too. And, she’s so small that it’s easy for even wimpy guys to feel like they can protect her. So, the magazine decided to capitalize on the whole thing and organized this shoot that depicts three scenes from her books.
“This one is from her first book—she’s in a cemetery because the ancient vampire, who can get energy through both blood and sex and has been living on her sex for weeks, has called to her and now she’s standing there waiting for him. The outfit, though, doesn’t go with the book. The outfit is to put out the whole ‘High Priestess of Horror’ vibe, that’s what some fan site started calling her after her first book came out.”
The model took a long look at Tessa and said, “Cool. What are the other two sets?”
“Well, the next set will be one from her second book where she is taken prisoner by a werewolf, and the scene is where she comes to terms with the fact that she’s in love with and has completely submitted to a wolf.”
The model looked at the assistant. “So, the chick in the book gets it on with a wolf?”
The assistant grinned. “Yeah, basically. At first he’s always a man, but eventually he can’t hold the beast back anymore and he partially turns while they’re in the middle of fucking and the chick loves it.”
The model licked his lips. “Dayumn. And that cute little thing comes up with this? Man, I gotta start reading. So, what’s with all the beef?”
The assistant chuckled. “The one you guys are all here for is the best one. It’s from the third book. I don’t know what the whole book is about, but I know the scene has her being held captive in a dungeon waiting for a ceremony that will induct her into some kind of coven that will give her the amazing magical powers she needs to defeat the demon. In order for the ceremony to work, she has to have been completely depleted of all sexual energy and desires to eliminate distraction. It costs the elders who run the ceremony all kinds of energy, so to make sure they don’t go through all that for nothing, they chain her up and have something like twenty guys do her until she’s nearly out of her mind. And they don’t just go one at a time in the book.”
The model shook his head. “You’re shitting me, man. There’s no way that chick writes that stuff.”
The assistant nodded. “She does. I’m tellin’ ya. Makes ya wonder what kind of kinky stuff she’s into, doesn’t it?”
And there it was.
His very nightmare summed up in one neat little rhetorical question. Gavan’s anger and insecurity coursed through him so strongly he thought he would explode. How could he stand knowing that men everywhere were probably jacking off thinking about his Tessa? That this photo shoot was promoting it and encouraging it? There’s no way he could stay here and watch twenty male models have their way with her, even if it wasn’t real. Just posing and pretending would be too much. He wouldn’t be able to handle the image it created. He paced along the side of the house like an animal in a cage trying to figure out what to do. He couldn’t stay here and see this, couldn’t stay with her and be constantly consumed by this doubt and fear. There would be a plentiful supply of men vying for her attention. How would he survive when one of those men caught her eye? When one of them said the perfect words, had the handsome face and the exciting life? Hell, it could be one of these pretty boys waiting for their time in front of the camera with her. A little flirting during the shoot and she’d forget he even existed.
Yesterday, he’d succumbed because he had to have her, wanted to capture her heart, wanted to believe he could have happiness with her. But today, after holding her in his arms through the night, knowing how far gone he already was, everything was spiraling. Hell, he already loved her and he knew it. He just couldn’t do it. He had to get out now before he was completely destroyed.
* * * *
While the crew broke down the sets, Tessa showered all the makeup off her face and the goo out of her hair. By the time she exited her bedroom, feeling more like herself, only Marlena remained.
“Where’d everybody go? People cleared out of here fast, huh?” Tessa asked as she slid onto a counter stool next to her publicist.
Marlena poured two glasses of wine and handed one to Tessa.
“Everybody’s exhausted, sweetie. It was a long day. A good one, though. The managing editor stopped by while you were on the third set and looked at the digital roughs for the first two. He thinks this issue is going to break all their records.”
Tessa rolled her eyes and leaned her elbows on the counter, too tired to hold herself upright any longer. “Hey, wait! Did the costume designer leave? I still have my outfit upstairs.”
Marlena swallowed her sip of wine. “She’s gone. She said they’d send a messenger over to our office to pick it up. No rush. Just bring it next time you come in.” With a waggle of her eyebrows, Marlena inquired, “Now, tell me about that gorgeous man you showed up with today. And don’t you dare hold out on me. I could have your Girl Club card revoked if you didn’t let me live vicariously through you with the likes of that one.”
Tessa blushed from her head to her toes. A huge part of her wanted to blurt out every delicious detail to Marlena. She wanted everyone to know how deliriously happy she was. But modesty and the desire to keep what was happening between Gavan and her special stopped her.
Instead, she quietly said, “He’s more than a little amazing, Marlena.”
Marlena sniffed. “Honey, I’d be willing to bet lots of money that the word ‘little’ doesn’t apply to any part of that man.”
Tessa blushed again and Marlena reached over to grasp her hand. “Oh sweetie, look at you! You’re in love! And to think, it was just a few weeks ago you were telling me that you didn’t see the big deal about love, relationships, and, I still can’t believe this, sex.”
Tessa gave Marlena’s fingers a squeeze realizing her friend had nailed it. She was in love. “I know. I guess I just didn’t know what I was missing back then.”
They chatted through another glass of wine each, and after giving Tessa’s cheek a quick peck, Marlena wished her goodnight and left.
* * * *
Settling on the couch with a plate of cookies and a glass of milk, she turned on the TV and reflected on the events of the day. She was pooped but had to admit to herself the shoot was great fun. She had gotten very nervous when the concepts were described to her, beginning with her costume and leading to being told that one of the shoots was to be based on the werewolf love scene in her second book as the animal trainer walked by with a real wolf. Upon seeing the animal,
she’d been afraid they actually wanted her to act out the love scene with the wolf. The shoot came to a halt when she learned the plan was for her to sit regally on a chair in a misty forest with the wolf by her side resting his head in her lap while she stroked his fur. Upon realizing her mistake, she was reduced to a fit of hysterical laughter that she couldn’t stop for about thirty minutes.
Throughout the day everyone had been nice to her, encouraged her when she did something that looked good for the camera, and the criticisms were constructive and not too hard to deal with. Marlena was true to her word and stood by for every shot, watching like a mother bear protecting her cub to ensure nothing got distasteful.
Dunking a chocolate chip cookie into the milk, she wondered where Gavan had gone. She figured he’d gotten bored and gone home. Neither of them had gotten much sleep the night before, so he was probably exhausted. Besides, standing around watching the photo shoot can’t have been very exciting for him. The thought of their previous night together came back to her and she smiled, feeling huge butterflies take flight in her stomach. It was then she realized how disappointed she was he wasn’t there with her. There was still a sweet soreness in her thighs from grasping Gavan’s strong torso between them. Thinking of it now made her breasts tingle and she felt herself grow wet. She never thought a man could make her feel like Gavan did, so easily, over and over again. It was like his sole focus had been to satisfy her. His satisfaction depended completely upon hers. She realized that she missed him horribly.
Even though it was actually still quite early in the evening, Tessa decided to give in to her exhaustion and make it an early night to get some much needed sleep. She was closing the dishwasher when the doorbell rang. Assuming Marlena had forgotten something, she opened the door.
It wasn’t Marlena.
He filled the doorway, in form-fitting faded jeans and black boots. A well-worn leather jacket hung open over a blue-and-white pin-striped shirt. The first few buttons were left open so Tessa could see his strong, tanned chest.
“Gavan!” Tessa squealed and threw herself into his arms, but he stopped her and held her at arm’s length.
Standing before her in the doorway he had an odd, unsettled look on his face. His usually warm amber eyes held a cold glint. She wondered for a moment if he’d been out with Jaime and had a few too many beers, but she didn’t smell alcohol on him.
A muscle in his clenched jaw twitched.
“Gavan?” She was confused, didn’t understand his behavior. “What’s going on? Is something wrong? Are you okay?”
He didn’t look at or answer her, but released his firm grip and moved past her into the house. Tessa closed and locked the door and turned in time to see him climbing the stairs to her room. She didn’t know how to feel. He was acting oddly and she felt that something was horribly wrong. She followed him up the stairs and walked to her bedroom door which he’d closed behind him. Pushing the door open slowly, she saw him standing in the dim light with his back to her, holding her High Priestess costume in his hand.
“Gavan?” She stood very still.
Seconds passed and she heard him breathe in deeply before he said, “Come here, Tessa.”
His tone wasn’t harsh, but it was definitely firm. Commanding. She forced her feet to take the steps necessary to reach him on the other side of the room.
When she was close enough, she reached out to touch him, but before she could, he thrust the costume at her and said in the same commanding tone, “Put this on. The whole thing, doona forget the boots.” He stalked out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Wow. Talk about confusing. Was he serious? He sounded serious. But why all the mystery? What happened to make him behave this way? She stood there wondering what she should do. Slowly, she realized that he was hurting for some reason. That was what she’d seen in his face when he stood at her front door. Had she done something to hurt him? She couldn’t think of anything, but even if she had done something unintentionally, she wanted to make it right. She hated seeing him like this.
When she had the whole costume back on, no small feat without a team to help her, she did a little teasing to get the “big hair” thing happening again and put the tiara on. She lined her eyes with brown kohl pencil and used the spongy end to smudge it a bit to get the smoky effect that Jackie had given her for the shoot. A little pale pink gloss completed the look.
She assessed herself in the mirror. “Hmm, not exactly like the professionals, but close enough.”
She stepped back into the bedroom, slid her feet into the boots, and zipped them up to her midthigh. Uh-oh, she thought, I don’t have the cape and gloves. Oh, well. Most of the outfit would have to do.
Now fully dressed as the High Priestess of Horror for the second time that day, she stood in the center of her room feeling a little silly, not sure what to do. Was she supposed to wait here for him or go downstairs? She opted to wait in her room and perched herself daintily on the edge of her bed, her back very straight.
She wasn’t facing the clock, so she didn’t know exactly how much time had passed before her bedroom door opened and Gavan stepped in closing it behind him. He stayed just inside, not moving into the room any further. She didn’t turn to him. She felt somehow that she wasn’t supposed to. Instead, she stood up, silently, staring straight ahead, providing him with a view of her left profile.
Gavan spoke, a gruff edge to his voice. “Verra nice, lass. Turn around, verra slowly, an’ stop whenever I tell you.”
She was still confused but did as he said, turning slowly. When her arms rose up to cross over her chest he said, “No. Keep your arms at your sides. Do only as I say. Nothing more, Tessa.”
She dropped her arms back down to her sides. His voice was softer now, but there was a quality to it that compelled her to do as he bid. She didn’t know where he was going with this, but shivers that weren’t particularly unpleasant began to course down her spine.
“Stop.”
She complied, facing the opposite direction, giving him a view of her right side. She wanted to look at him to see what he was doing, but for some reason she didn’t dare disobey him.
“Turn again.” And she did. As she turned around, facing him now, he said, “Stop.”
She looked straight ahead, not daring to meet his gaze, but could see that he had removed his shirt and his broad chest was bare. He stepped toward her, and she began to quiver. Her pussy clenched and she could feel her wetness trickling down the inside of her left thigh. Her chest heaved deeply, nearly spilling her full breasts out of the top of the velvet garment she wore. When he was right in front of her, close enough for Tessa to breathe in his scent, he reached out and gently twirled a tendril of her hair with his index finger before lifting it to stroke across his lips. After several minutes of intense observation, he lowered his head and moved his lips as close to hers as they could possibly be without touching her. His warm breath tickled her lips. She could smell cinnamon and the woodsy scent that was his alone. Tessa struggled to keep herself from moving and pressing her lips to his, holding perfectly still, awaiting her next command. Such nearness without actually touching him was killing her and thrilling her at the same time. After another indeterminate amount of time, Gavan straightened and took several steps backward.
He stopped and said, “Turn.”
When she was facing the windows, so that her back was to him, he said, “Stop.”
She waited but didn’t hear him stir. This was beginning to drive her mad. She ached for his touch, was ready to beg for it. He had been so tender last night and this morning. But now he was hard and unyielding. Oddly, she didn’t completely dislike it. In fact, judging by the ache in her breasts and the slippery cream running down the insides of both thighs, she was enjoying this immensely. Finally, she heard his footsteps in the soft carpet approaching her. Her skin tingled when she felt him gently move her hair to one side. He held it back, placed his mouth right next to her ear, and said nothing. He just hovere
d there, his warm breath showering her ear, heightening her senses. Then suddenly he was gone and her hair fell back onto her shoulder. Tessa stood there waiting to see what he would do next.
She heard him right behind her and nearly moaned when he licked and kissed one ass cheek then the other. His hands moved in a slow, kneading caress.
“So pretty,” he said as he stroked his hand across her left cheek.
Tessa bit her lower lip in an effort to keep her body still. His refusal to touch her up to this point had her nearly frantic with need, and the sensation of his warm, rough palms was sheer ecstasy.
Smack!
Tessa jumped and yipped, “Ow! That stung!”
She tried to reach back and rub the spot on her ass where his hand had made contact but he grabbed her wrist and gave her a firm, “No.”
Her arm relaxed and he let go of her wrist and moved his hand to the tingly spot on her flesh to gently soothe it with his palm and kisses.
Smack!
This time on the other side. She managed to hold still other than a small lurch and not force him to grab her wrist again. In an instant his hand was on the new spot, soothing the sting out of it. Part of her was infuriated that he dared to spank her bottom, but that part of her was quickly replaced by the raw excitement coursing through her. Her breathing was ragged and her body was humming like a tuning fork.
He released her and she heard him walk away, again putting distance between them. She was bereft.
From across the room he said, “Tessa, turn around and walk tae me.”
She turned to find him sprawled in the armchair across from her, completely naked. His long legs spread out before him as if on display for her. She moved to him until she stood between his legs, but not quite as far as the edge of the chair.
“Stop,” he said.
She continued to stare straight ahead, still assuming that she wasn’t supposed to look at him, although he hadn’t actually said that. She stood like a statue, and he finally spoke.
Lovell, Cooper - Tessa's Highlander (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 8
