24 | Other Things
THEO
I couldn't focus on lunch.
David was talking about something—quarterly projections, maybe—and I was nodding in the right places, but I wasn't hearing a word.
I was watching Tessa.
The way she laughed at something Linda said. The way she tucked her hair behind her ear. The way her lips wrapped around her fork.
Fuck.
Her knee pressed against mine under the table. Deliberate.
I glanced over.
She wasn't looking at me. But the corner of her mouth curved.
She knew exactly what she was doing.
I set down my napkin.
She leaned in, her lips brushing my ear. "Can we go?"
"Yeah," I said. "We can go."
I stood. Kept hold of her hand. "Excuse us."
I didn't wait for a response.
The walk to the cottage felt endless. My hand in hers, the path winding through gardens that were probably beautiful, but I wasn't seeing any of it. I was too busy trying not to drag her.
She was quiet beside me. I glanced over—pink cheeks, quick breathing, teeth worrying her bottom lip.
Fuck, she was beautiful.
We reached the cottage. I fumbled with the key card, my hands not quite steady.
The door opened. She stepped inside, I followed.
The door closed behind us.
Lock clicked.
Then, silence.
She turned to face me.
And something in me stopped.
Not want—I wanted her more than I'd wanted anything in my life. But she was standing there looking at me like that, and all I could think was that I'd been lying to her since the beginning.
That everything we'd built had started with something I'd never admitted out loud.
A lie.
I couldn't start this that way.
"Tessa—" I started. "Before we— There's something I need to tell you."
She crossed to me, put her finger against my lips.
"Whatever it is," she said quietly, "it can wait."
"I don't think—"
"Theo." She looked up at me. "I feel brave enough right now. Sexy." Her hand moved to my chest. "If we stop and talk, I might lose that. And I don't want to lose it."
I hesitated. "Tessa—"
"Whatever you need to tell me—" She kissed me softly. "Tell me later. Okay? Right now, I just want you. I don’t care."
She kissed me again, deeper this time.
"Okay," I said against her mouth, unable to think suddenly. "Later."
"Later," she agreed.
And then there was no more talking.
I cupped her face, kissed her. Not gentle this time. All the restraint from last night—gone.
My hands slid into her hair. Hers fisted in my shirt.
I walked her backward until her legs hit the bed. She gasped.
My hands found the zipper of her sundress and I unzipped it slowly. The dress pooled at her feet.
She stood there in simple cotton underwear and a white bra. Nothing fancy.
The most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.
"Your turn," I said.
Her hands went to my shirt, fumbling with buttons. I helped her, pulled it over my head when the buttons took too long.
Her hands landed on my chest—tentative, exploring. Every touch burning through me.
I guided her down to the bed, lay beside her. Not over her, not caging her in. Not this time. Just kissing, touching, learning.
What made her gasp.
What made her arch into me.
My hand slid up her ribs, over the cotton of her bra. She made a sound.
"Can I?" My fingers found the clasp at her back.
"Yes."
I unhooked it with one hand, slid it off. She tried to cover herself.
I caught her wrists. "Don't."
"Theo—"
"I want to see you."
She let me look.
My throat went dry.
"You're so fucking beautiful."
Her breath hitched.
Her hand moved to my waistband, hesitated.
"Can I?"
"God, yes."
She unbuckled, unzipped. I kicked my pants off. Now just underwear between us.
I kissed her again, deeper, my hand sliding down her stomach. About to hook my fingers into her underwear when I stopped.
"Fuck."
She opened her eyes. "What's wrong?"
"I don't have condoms."
"Fuck."
I lifted my head, looked at her. "Please tell me you're on birth control."
She shook her head. "I went off it. After Charles."
I dropped my forehead to her shoulder. "Fuck."
"I don't want to stop, Theo—"
"We're not stopping, baby." I lifted my head, met her eyes. "We'll just have to find other things to do."
Her breath caught. "What things?"
I kissed down her body. "Let me show you."
I moved lower, kissing her stomach, her hip bone. She tensed.
"You don't have to—"
"I want to." I looked up. "Do you want me to?"
She nodded.
"Say it."
"Yes." Barely audible.
"Good girl."
Her breath shuddered at the words.
I hooked my fingers into her underwear, slid them down slowly, then off completely. She tried to close her legs, a little shy, but I gently pushed them open.
"Let me see you."
She was blushing everywhere—pink spreading down her chest, across her breasts, blooming under her skin.
Perfect.
I kissed her inner thigh. She gasped. Her skin was so soft, so warm. I could feel her pulse racing, feel the tension in her muscles.
Then higher.
The sound she made went straight through me. She was already desperate for this—I could feel it in the way her hips lifted, seeking more.
I took my time, not rushing, hands on her hips to keep her still when she tried to squirm. Learning every response. What made her thighs tremble. Where she was most sensitive.
She was trying to stay quiet, swallowing back little gasps.
I stopped, looked up at her. Her head was thrown back against the pillow, bottom lip caught between her teeth, neck arched, chest rising and falling too fast
"I want to hear you."
"But—"
"No one's around. Let me hear you. Please."
She let go.
And the sounds she made. Gasps that turned into whimpers. My name, broken and breathless, getting louder as I learned exactly what she needed.
Her hands found my hair, gripping hard enough to hurt. Not guiding—just holding on like I was the only thing keeping her grounded.
I could feel her thighs trembling, tightening around my shoulders, her whole body taut as a wire.
Her hips started moving—small, unconscious rolls that got more desperate, chasing something she couldn't quite reach.
I gave it to her. Focused exactly where she needed.
Steady.
Relentless.
Her breathing changed—faster now, shallower, each exhale a broken sound.
"Theo—" A warning, a plea. "I can't—I'm going to—"
"Let go. I've got you."
She tried to hold back—I could feel it in the way her whole body tensed, every muscle locked, fighting it even as her body begged for release.
I didn't let up.
Her back arched clean off the bed, thighs clamping around my head.
And then she shattered.
I felt it in every part of her—the way she pulsed against me, the way her thighs shook, the way her hands twisted in my hair, pulling so hard I saw stars.
My name—loud, desperate, nothing held back.
I worked her through it, drawing it out, making it last as long as I could.
Watching her come apart was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. Her stomach muscles contracting, her breasts heaving, that flush spreading down her whole body.
She tried to push me away and pull me closer at the same time.
"Too much. Theo, it's too much—" And then she started laughing.
I kissed back up her body slowly, tasting the salt on her skin, feeling the way she trembled under my lips.
She was boneless—eyes unfocused, lips parted and swollen. She couldn't seem to look at me.
I cupped her face, made her.
"Look at me."
She did. Eyes glazed, pupils blown so wide I could barely see the color, hair wild across the pillow. Devastated in the best possible way.
"You're so beautiful when you come for me."
She hid her face in my neck.
I held her, let her come back to herself. Her heart was hammering against my chest, her breath coming in little aftershocks against my skin.
"That was—" she whispered. "I've never—not like that—"
After a moment, she shifted. I felt her hand move, felt her press against my hip, feel how hard I still was.
"What about you?" Her voice was muffled against my shoulder.
"I'm fine."
"You're not fine." Her hand moved lower, found me through my underwear.
The touch sent lightning up my spine.
I caught her wrist. "You don't have to—"
"I want to." She pulled back, met my eyes. "Will you teach me?"
My brain short-circuited.
"Teach you?"
"I've never—" She stopped.
Understanding hit me like a truck.
"Are you sure?"
She nodded.
"Okay." My voice came out rough. "Yeah. If you want to."
"I do."
I rolled onto my back. She sat up, hooked her fingers into my underwear, looked at me, then pulled them down and off.
Her eyes went wide, curious.
She reached out—tentative, just her fingertips at first. The first touch nearly undid me.
"Like this?"
"Yeah. You can—" I swallowed hard. "You can hold me. Tighter than you think."
She wrapped her hand around me. I groaned.
"Is that okay?"
"Fuck. Yes."
She experimented—different pressures, stroking slowly, watching my face the whole time.
And then she leaned down, hair falling forward, lips parted. And the feel of her, warm and wet and tentative, her tongue uncertain but eager.
"Fuck, Tessa."
My hand found her hair—just needing to touch her.
She pulled back, lips flushed. "Is this okay?"
"More than okay." I was barely holding on.
She wrapped her hand around the base while her mouth worked the rest, found a rhythm that was going to end me.
She got bolder.
And fuck, the sight of her—on her knees between my legs, hair tangled in my fist, looking up at me with those eyes, asking without words if she was doing it right.
She was doing it so right I couldn't breathe.
"Just like that," I managed. "Don't stop."
She didn't.
I could feel the pressure building, that tightness at the base of my spine spreading through every nerve.
"Tessa—" I tried to warn her. "I'm going to—you should—"
She didn't pull away. Just looked up at me, kept going, took me deeper.
"Fuck—"
I tried to pull her away, give her a choice. She didn't let me. Her hand tightened, her mouth sealed around me.
And I was gone.
The orgasm hit like a fucking freight train. White-hot pleasure that blanked out everything else. I felt myself pulse in her mouth, felt her swallow, felt her keep going until I was gasping, oversensitive, wrecked.
When I could think again, she was pulling back, looking proud of herself. Lips swollen, eyes bright.
I pulled her up, kissed her hard. Tasted myself on her tongue and didn't care.
She made a surprised sound, then melted into me.
"That was—" I couldn't finish the sentence. Couldn't find words.
"Good?" She looked shy again despite everything.
"Perfect. You're perfect."
"I didn't know if I was—"
"You were." I pulled her down to lie on my chest. "You're going to ruin me, you know that?"
She smiled against my skin. "Good."
We lay there. Her head on my chest, my hand tracing patterns on her back.
"Want to go to eat something?" I asked.
She laughed. "Actually—" She bit her lip. "I was thinking maybe we could go for a drive?"
"A drive."
"Yeah. Like—explore the area? I've been wanting to see more of the town."
I studied her face. "You want to go into town."
"If that's okay."
Something about the way she said it—careful, like she was testing—made me curious. But I wasn't going to push.
"Do they have rental cars here?" she asked.
"Probably. Or the hotel has a car service."
"Let's do that then." She sat up, started looking for her clothes.
I watched her dress—sundress back on, hair mussed, lips swollen.
She caught me staring. "What?"
"Nothing." I got up, found my pants. "Let's go."
She smiled.
I had no idea what she was planning.
But I'd follow her anywhere.
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