“He hasn’t returned.” She shrugged, dropping her eyes to her bowl. “Maybe I disgusted him. Maybe I was supposed to refuse when Jesse came in?”
When Missy didn’t answer, Tess risked a quick look.
The other woman watched her sympathetically, warmly.
“Cole is different from other men,” she said as Tess watched her worriedly. “How different, is up to you to discover. But I’ve known him all his life, and I know Cole doesn’t play games. If he invited Jesse, then he wanted it too. He wouldn’t try to trap you, Tess, or hurt you. You have to trust him that far.”
“I’m scared,” Tess admitted, her eyes going back to the melting ice cream. “I don’t know how to handle what I feel and what I want.”
“Do any of us?” Missy’s chuckle was self-mocking. “It takes meeting the man who can give us what we need, who knows, because it’s what they need. I know, Tess, because that’s what your father and I have. A relationship that fulfills what both of us need.”
“Mother never loved him.” Tess knew that, had known it for a long time.
“Your mother has to love herself first.” Missy shrugged. “Now finish your ice cream. I’m sure Cole will be back before the party tomorrow, and he’ll show you then how much he’s missed you. I know he didn’t want to leave and he hated going before talking to you first, but in this case, he assured me it was necessary.”
What, Tess wondered, could have been so important that he couldn’t even see her before leaving?
* * * * *
Tess waited, and she waited. All through the next day, while she was dressing for the party, and halfway through the boisterous, noisy affair she waited, and held onto the hope that he would be back that night. She gave up at nine. She set aside her glass of champagne, put away her hope and walked regally from the noisy ballroom and up the narrow steps that led to the Turret Room. She would pack and leave in the morning. She wasn’t certain where she would go, but she was certain she couldn’t risk staying here, or begging him to forgive her for something she didn’t know if she would change.
The sexual dominance of the act had thrilled her. The utter thick, hot pleasure in Cole’s voice had only spurred her on. She didn’t know if it was something she would ever want again, but she knew experiencing it would be a memory she would always hold onto.
She kept her head down as she entered the room, going straight for the suitcase stored in the large walk-in closet just inside the room. She placed it on the luggage rack, opened it and re-entered the closet to collect the few things she had brought with her.
As she folded the articles of clothing, the tears began to fall. They were hot, blistering with pain, and shook her body as she tried to console herself that at least she had tried. For one time in her life, a very brief time, she was free.
She wiped at the tears, her breath hitching as she moved to the stone dresser and collect the clothing there, then she went to her bed and picked up her robe. The last article Cole had given her. It was then she saw the small, black velvet jewelers box. She stopped, clutching the silk robe to her chest
It was a ring. The diamond glittered with shards of blue and orange, intensifying the gold of the thick, simple band. Her hands shook, her body trembled. Her head raised, her eyes going to the shadows of the opened bathroom door.
“Shame on you, Tess,” Cole chided her gently as he walked from the room where he waited. “To think I wouldn’t come back. I’ll have to punish you for that.”
His chest was bare, his jeans rode low on his hips and fitted tightly over the bulge beneath the material.
Tess took a deep, hard breath.
“You didn’t call,” she whispered as she saw the mask of cool determination on his face, the sparkle of warmth in his eyes that was so at odds with his expression. “You didn’t say goodbye.”
“If I had seen you, I wouldn’t have left. And I had to leave or miss the jeweler before he left. You should have known I had a reason.”
Cole’s voice was cool, disapproving. His eyes were patient, wicked and warm. God, she could feel her cunt heating to lava temperature.
“You knew I would worry,” she snapped out, ignoring the hope, the happiness surging inside her.
“Worry, not have so little faith in me.” There was an edge of hurt in his voice now, as though her tears, and the cause for them, pricked at his emotions. “After taking you, did you think I would let you go easily?”
A sob broke in her chest, another tear fell.
“I enjoyed it,” she whispered brokenly. “You shouldn’t love me.”
“Tess,” he whispered her name gently. “Don’t you think I want it too? That I didn’t enjoy your pleasure as well? It was the first time, baby, and it won’t be the last time. I love hearing your cries, feeling your pleasure, knowing you’re dominated, submitting to me, no matter what I want. Tess, I love you more for it, not less.”
“How?” she whispered brokenly, shaking her head. “How could you?”
“Do you want Jesse alone, Tess?” he asked her carefully. “Would you let him touch you, hold you, if I didn’t ask you to do so?”
“No!” she burst out, realizing the idea was abhorrent to her. What she had done with Cole could never have been done without him.