SevenSensuousDays (3 page)

“See you next Sunday,” she said.

He ran his thumb over the back of her hand, a surprisingly
intimate gesture, the same as his expression, his neutral demeanor falling
away. Didn’t last. Giving her hand one last squeeze, he released her and left
the pool area.

Not certain what had just happened, she watched, hoping
Logan would look back.

He didn’t.

Tessa slumped in her chair. Ronnie had just returned to the
podium and was now introducing Felicity.

The men closest to Tessa voiced their approval of the young
woman’s astonishing beauty. Bids came fast, escalating rapidly. However, none
of them matched what Logan had offered for her.

Focused on the area where she’d last seen him, Tessa kept
her silent vigil, wondering what she’d do if he did return. Give him a
welcoming smile? Cross the area to meet him halfway? Lean into his hard body,
her face pressed against his shoulder as she inhaled deeply of his scent?

She pictured him running his large hands down her back to
her ass, cupping those cheeks to draw her closer. He’d trail kisses from her
temple to her cheek, finally reaching her mouth, savoring its dampness and
heat, her unique flavor. He’d look at her with frank surprise, followed by
wonder, as he had tonight when their eyes first met. He’d command, wanting
everything he could get, and she’d willingly deliver it.

On a wistful sigh, Tessa continued her silent watch even
though she knew he wouldn’t return. Her fingers curled around his business
card. The promise of their time together.

Logan eased his Mercedes to the side of the road outside the
estate’s grand entrance. The area was so secluded he faced little possibility
of any traffic coming by. In the distance, the pool’s torches gently
illuminated the night sky, turning black to midnight blue, still studded with
hundreds of stars. If he lowered his window and turned off his car’s motor, he
might catch a hint of Ronnie’s amplified voice, carried here by the slight
breeze.

He left everything as it was, telling himself to drive away,
return to where he lived, not to think about what had happened a few minutes
ago.

Tonight’s outcome certainly hadn’t been anything he would
have predicted. He’d come to the event simply because he hadn’t wanted to be
alone with his thoughts. Keeping busy was the only way he knew to get through
endless days and even longer nights. If that weren’t incentive enough…and it
was…the cover charge went to a good cause. Like Ronnie, his mother had suffered
through breast cancer.

It was supposed to be a simple night out. Helped by his
drink, Logan had actually begun to relax, reaching the I-don’t-give-a-fuck
zone.

And then, he’d seen Tessa.

He gripped his steering wheel a bit harder, a wave of desire
whipping through him again, tightening his chest, thickening his cock. The same
reaction he’d experienced as he’d met her gaze. A response he hadn’t predicted
and still didn’t fully understand.

Maybe it was because her loveliness and charm were so
different from Nicole. Everyone who’d met his late wife had always thought she
was an actress or a supermodel, she was that seemingly perfect. Of course, they
hadn’t lived with her. They didn’t know the real truth.

Logan’s body tensed at what had happened, what she’d done,
his mind wanting the memories to go away. He studied the night sky above the
pool area, and forced himself to recall Tessa. Chained to that column. Offered
to a bunch of horny men.

His protective nature kicked in now as it had then even
though she’d clearly agreed to participating in the event despite her obvious
embarrassment. When she finally shook it off, her concern had centered on those
odd things on her feet…shoes, sandals, or whatever they were called that she
wouldn’t be wearing while she shopped.

He smiled, remembering her comment and guileless attitude.
She hadn’t behaved like any escort he’d known—in the last year he’d been
acquainted with quite a few. Tessa had offered no fawning compliments to boost
his ego, no blatant suggestions of sex…just an expression of honest attraction
as she regarded him despite the surrounding crowd, almost as if she couldn’t
help herself. He sure as hell hadn’t been able to. Faster than Logan would have
believed possible, warmth snaked through him once more, pushing away a good
deal of the bad. His hands dropped from the wheel. He breathed more deeply.

Tessa reminded him of spring…fresh, ripe, filled with
promise and hope. He hadn’t a better way to describe her. Young, probably early
to mid-twenties, she wore her honey-blonde hair long, the silky waves falling
below her shoulders. A faint rose blush enhanced her creamy skin, making it
even more delicate and enticing, while complementing her green eyes. Her lavish
curves and lush breasts were perfect for a man’s hands. She wasn’t overtly sexy
or exquisite like the other women tonight—like Nicole. Tessa’s features were
closer to pretty, sweet.

Was that why she’d put that reddish junk on her nipples and
cunt, believing that would make her more provocative? Not for him. Only the
tiny jewels dangling beneath her navel had managed that. Logan recalled them
and her unvarnished “okay” in answer to whether she’d spend seven days with him
or not. He grinned at how she’d sounded and looked at that moment. Like a high
school girl eager to attend her prom with the football hero. My god, she’d
seemed so youthful, so fucking artless. When was the last time a woman had made
him smile so easily? When was the last time he’d behaved as recklessly as he
had tonight?

Seven days? What had he been thinking?

Logan lowered his face and swore. He hadn’t been thinking at
all. He’d acted on his feelings, wanting a few days to forget, to hope. To lose
himself in her willing embrace, surrounded by her scent. Something flowery that
bombarded him with sensations, the kind he’d experienced in his twenties,
before Nicole, when everything had seemed possible.

However, it wasn’t, was it? Those youthful feelings were
gone, shattered by the reality of living that was too often filled with
jealousy, arguments, tragedy.

He rubbed the back of his neck and warned himself that Tessa
was an escort, just as all the other women at this evening’s event. He wasn’t
her protector. She wasn’t his salvation. This was about having a good time for
a few days, engaging in constant sex.

Nothing deep. Certainly nothing emotional. He’d been through
that crap. Now all he wanted was to have a good time.

And he would. Bought and paid for. Seven full days to enjoy
his prize, as that young man had said. A woman who looked innocent and behaved
without an obvious agenda, but who also knew her role.

To please him. To offer comfort and release.

And by god, she would.

Wrapped in an ivory satin robe that barely reached her upper
thighs, Tessa lounged on the velvet sofa with Felicity. They were at Indulgenza
Salon & Spa,
the
place for the District’s elite.

Decorated in seafoam green, their waiting room boasted
feathery plants, walls papered in raw silk, candles scented with aloe, and a
fragrance that reminded Tessa of freshly washed linens. A soothing instrumental
of violins and flutes flowed through the sound system.

Felicity sipped her pricey chardonnay. A bead of the wine
slipped over her plump bottom lip. She licked it away and practically purred. “This
is nice.”

This was preparation for tomorrow…Sunday. Less than
twenty-four hours before Tessa began her first day as Logan’s concubine, if one
wanted to continue with the Arabian scenario. Given how they’d met, Tessa had
to admit it seemed fitting. To be his pleasure slave, a woman who would bend to
his sexual will, offering her flesh for whatever purpose he sought.

The possibilities were limitless given that he would take,
use, enjoy her at his Virginia estate. A Google Earth map of the address he’d
provided showed a fifty-acre spread. Secluded. Sumptuous. The mansion—featured
in
Architectural Digest
—offered ten bedrooms, even more baths, a pond
out front, and an expansive lawn to make love on beneath the stars. That is, if
Logan desired that.

Tessa recalled the intensity of his gaze while she’d been
chained to the column, naked and defenseless. She remembered the heat of his
fingers on her hand and belly. His deep baritone and virile features.

A curious mixture of excitement and uncertainty pulsed
through her, the uncertainty nurtured by too many days away from him, too much
time to think. Weakness and tension spread equally through her limbs, making
them sluggish, nearly too heavy for her to move.

Thankfully, she wouldn’t have to for a while. She’d already
gotten various body parts waxed, along with a manicure and pedicure. Her
massage, facial and having her hair trimmed came next. All so she’d be as
perfect as possible. A man’s delight. Feminine, fragrant, willing, and
submissive, if that’s what Logan craved.

What did he prefer? Endlessly, Tessa had considered that
question, coming up with countless scenarios. Stirring sex that touched the soul,
BDSM games, a mixture of the two, her performing a striptease, him remaining
dressed for as long as possible so she’d fully experience her nudity, realizing
how accessible to him she was, just as she’d been the night they met.

Tessa recalled each moment of it, her pulse pounding at the
memories. Her mouth and throat grew parched. She drained her wineglass,
greedily finishing each drop.

One of the spa’s staff, a new girl, paused at the doorway
and offered an indulgent smile. “We’ll be ready for you ladies shortly. Would
you care for more wine?”

Tessa held out her glass, pained at how her hand trembled
from her wayward thoughts. If only she and Logan had hooked up the night of the
auction. She was flying pretty damn high then. Now though…

Felicity finished her yawn and stretched, not unlike a cat,
her body loose, relaxed. To the girl, she said, “I’m good.”

Hell, she was way better than that. Gorgeous and confident.
Her appointment began tonight. The man who’d made the winning bid on her had
opted for two days, with Logan having broken the one-day rule.

Tessa waited for the attendant to leave, then murmured, “Did
your guy say where he was taking you?”

Felicity ran her fingers through her hair and smiled. “I
would presume everywhere he possibly can.”

Uh-huh. “Guess that means you’ll be having your meals in.
Wouldn’t want you thrown out of a restaurant because he, or you, ate the wrong
thing.”

Felicity offered a throaty laugh. “There’s always private
dining rooms, or if he’s feeling frisky, the ladies’ lounge.”

“I give him a few hours before he’s in love with you.” Tessa
tucked her legs beneath her so she could face the young woman. “Just like all
your other clients.”

Felicity waved her hand in dismissal. “That’s lust, not
love.”

“On your end.”

She turned her face to Tessa, her expression serene and
knowing. “I’m not looking for love, kiddo. Been there. Done that.”

Tessa nodded, having heard the story. When Felicity was just
out of high school, she’d fallen hard for a guy, a student at Georgetown whom
she’d met at a local bar. He came from money. She didn’t. It hadn’t seemed to
matter, not when two people were so in love. Even before she’d given birth to
their child, he’d lost interest. There was his schoolwork, future, other women
more attuned to what someone from his position needed. When he took off without
apology or regret, Felicity’s parents insisted she give up her baby for
adoption. Periodically, the adoptive parents sent pictures showing the little
boy’s progress.

Felicity had admitted that she’d first started drifting after
losing her child, trying to forget that pain, insistent on having nothing but a
good time, just like her lost love. She went from one man to the other and a
series of dead end jobs until she’d found out about Ronnie’s agency. A chance
to flaunt her beauty and enjoy her sexuality, while also making great money.
Serious cash she was saving for her little boy to give him when he grew up.
Whether he’d need it or not didn’t matter. At least, she’d offer.

She never claimed to want anything more than being who she
was now…Felicity. Not her birth name, of course. None of the young woman used
their real names with clients.

After another luxurious stretch, Felicity rested her arms on
top of her head. “I hope Vincent’s in a good mood today.”

Vincent was her current hair stylist, talented but
mercurial. “If he’s not,” Tessa said, “I’ll fix whatever he messes up.”

“You’re a doll.”

Tessa smiled. Nearly a year ago, she’d been a hair stylist
here, one of the few women given the opportunity thanks to pure dumb luck.
Despite Tessa’s talent and the headshots of her work that she’d shown the spa’s
owner, he initially hired her as a shampoo girl.

“In an establishment as renowned as this,” he’d lectured, “the
ladies like true professionals to work on their hair, male stylists trained by
the very best.”

Felicity hadn’t been one of those ladies. One day she’d
shown up needing an emergency appointment. None of the truly professional male
stylists were able to fit her in. Tessa offered to do the job herself, for
free. Desperate—and liking what Tessa had done with her own hair—Felicity
agreed. The outcome impressed her to the point that she recommended Tessa to
Ronnie. And then to Alexa, who Tessa eventually learned had once been an escort
until she’d met the guy of her dreams.

With so many of the agency ladies coming into the spa and
demanding Tessa, the owner had no choice except to promote her to hair stylist.
One night when she and Felicity were bar hopping and slightly tipsy, Felicity
confessed that she worked for the agency. During Ronnie’s next appointment,
Tessa had asked the woman about it. One thing led to another and soon she was
no longer working on hair but men’s sexual and emotional needs, including their
loneliness, the longing for closeness too often denied. They knew she didn’t
expect anything from them, especially marriage and kids. Her attention and
acceptance was unconditional, probably the first they’d experienced since their
mothers.

Tessa knew what it was like to lose a parent, to feel alone
in the world and so she offered all that she could. More than once, she
wondered if she should have been a shrink. During her hair stylist days, it
wouldn’t have been a possibility, the expense too prohibitive even with what
she’d made at this spa. Given her current earnings, the future had definitely
opened up, education and career-wise.

As far as men were concerned, nothing had changed. She’d
never dated much. There weren’t a lot of eligible or straight men strolling through
salons. Those at singles bars either looked right through her or simply wanted
sex after buying her a drink and a meal, if they were feeling generous. None of
those encounters had ever worked out nor had her few boyfriends come close to
proclaiming love. She remained unattached, no longer waiting, hoping, or even
wondering if there was anyone out there for her.

Without thinking, she blurted, “Why do you think he chose
me?”

“Logan?”

Who else? “Yeah.”

“He liked how you look.” Felicity sank farther into the sofa
and rested her head against the back cushion. “Trust me, you’re adorable.” She
patted Tessa’s knee. “Why else would he want you for a week?”

“That’s what I can’t figure out. I’ve been thinking about it
for days. He left minutes after the bid. When I look back on it, he couldn’t
get away quickly enough.”

“Maybe he had business to attend to.”

Maybe he’d come to his senses after checking her out and
regretted what he’d done.

“He didn’t flirt,” Tessa explained, “or pull me on his lap,
kiss me senseless, or anything else the other couples were doing.” She frowned,
then shrugged. “Thankfully, he didn’t leer.”

He’d eased her hair off her shoulder. He’d touched her cheek
and stroked the back of her hand even though she was nude, exposed, his. Those
innocent and brief intimacies had been wonderful, but didn’t predict what would
happen during their week. What would he do when they were together and alone?
What might he fail to do? Reflecting on that, Tessa said, “At the auction, he
didn’t even talk much, practically not at all before he left.”

Felicity arched one perfectly shaped eyebrow, but didn’t
bother to lift her lids. “Has Ronnie called to say he’s cancelled the
appointment?”

“Not yet.”

“Then he’s not planning to. Certainly not at this late date.
Relax. You’ll have a great time.”

Physically, yeah, there would be orgasms. Of that, Tessa had
little doubt given her attraction to him as a young, healthy, and decidedly
attractive male. However, even if she had wanted to, they couldn’t screw
twenty-four hours a day for a full week. He was sexy as all hell but not
Superman. “What if he doesn’t want to talk? At all?”

Felicity lifted her shoulders. “Why would you want him to?”

“We can’t fill each and every minute with sex.”

“You’ll be sleeping some of the time.”

“Come on, be serious.”

“Sorry.” She suppressed her smile. “Mention some stuff about
sports, cars, technology. That’ll get him going. All men like to drone on
endlessly about that stuff.”

“I’m aware of that. But it’s not what I meant. What if he
doesn’t want to talk about important things, like what makes him tick, how he
feels, his hopes, his dreams, his worries?”

Felicity rolled her head to the side and looked at Tessa,
her sleepiness gone for the moment. “You’re not expecting him to discuss what he’s
been through, are—”

“No. Of course not. I don’t want to dredge up anything bad.
But I would like to get to know him even if it’s just a little bit. The real
him, not the mask he puts on for the world.”

“Why?”

Tessa stated the obvious, at least to her. “He seems like
such a nice man, the kind I’d like to get to know. And it’ll make our time
together that much better, including the sex…maybe especially the sex.”

Even if Logan was the best lover in the world, he couldn’t
send either of them over the moon time after time if there wasn’t some kind of
connection between them, the beginning of friendship, a spark of interest that
went beyond fucking. It would be like indulging in hot fudge sundaes to the
exclusion of everything else. Sure, they tasted great at first, but eventually
you’d tire of that and would want something substantial.

Substantial was all Tessa had to offer given that she wasn’t
movie star gorgeous.

Doubt and a bit of concern crossed Felicity’s lovely face. “Actually,
that kind of intimacy makes it more complicated, possibly painful in the long
run. You really don’t want that, sweetie. Just accept it for what it is and
have a good time. Exactly as guys have always done and probably always will do.”

“Some guys,” Tessa countered. “Not all. Maybe he wants to
get close. Maybe he doesn’t know how. Most men don’t.”

“Because they’re only looking to have a good time.”

“I don’t believe that. And I’m really hoping it won’t be
that way with Logan. My god, seven days together without actually talking, just
surface stuff and constant sex?”

Felicity chuckled. “Sounds like a male wet dream to me.”

It sounded lonely to Tessa. Worse, it underscored her role.
That she was no more than an escort to him, a stranger without a mind, heart,
soul, or feelings. No different from the treatment she’d received from the
popular kids in school.

She recalled those few agency appointments when her clients
had wanted a warm body, not a real woman. Those evenings were as endless as her
blind dates where absolutely nothing had clicked between Tessa and the guy.
During those encounters, she hadn’t been able to get away quickly enough. Throw
sex into that kind of mix, nothing but mindless, heartless fucking, and it
wouldn’t be pretty or something she could look forward to. “I can’t operate
like that.”

“Sure you can. Fantasize. Everyone else does it all the
time. Remember what I said at the auction? That you’ve been kidnapped and
brought to the sultan’s harem? Go with that.”

“Ladies.” The attendant returned with Tessa’s wine and a fresh
bowl of chocolate-covered strawberries. “Enjoy.”

“Exactly,” Felicity said to Tessa. Biting into one of the
treats, she sent bits of the chocolate glaze flying, then moaned softly at the
taste.

Tessa sipped her wine, troubling over what to do during the
times she and Logan weren’t crawling all over each other, or if the sex started
to get old. Always a possibility when one was only going through the motions,
looking for the next orgasm high. She could use her imagination, as Felicity
suggested, concocting any number of lusty scenarios. But she and Logan would
have to eventually face each other upon awakening or during a meal.