Page 53 of Cross My Heart
“Now is not a good time, Valerie,” my father growls. “If people saw us…”
He leans closer, and their voices drop, too quiet for me to hear anymore—but I don’t need to. Clearly, they’re having some kind of affair.
What the fuck is he playing at?
I back away, disgusted, before either of them can see me. Not that my father would think he needs to explain anything. I have no idea what he and my mother get up to, these days. This would be just another topic to avoid, but we’ve got ten years of practice.
My God, the things the St. Clair family doesn’t discuss could fill an ocean—or keep a therapist flying first class for life.
That tense weight returns, pressing down on my collarbone. Making it hard to breathe.
Fuck it.
I find Tessa waiting where I left her, grab her hand, and pull her after me, steaming away from the party and into the dark of the gardens.
“Slow down!” she protests, laughing. “Where are we going? Saint?”
“You’ll see,” I tell her, frustration driving me on. I need an escape, a distraction from all this bullshit, and God, if Tessa isn’t the perfect release. “I’ve been going crazy all night. Do you know what you’ve been doing to me, in that outfit?” I look at her, hungry.
“But… I’m not showing any skin,” Tessa says, confused, following after me.
“Exactly,” I growl. “I can’t see a damn inch of your body, so I’ve been remembering it instead. But my imagination isn’t good enough. I need to see you. All of you.”
Fuck, I could lay her down right here in the damp grass and make her scream loud enough for the whole party to hear, but I know she won’t relax and unleash that incredible passion unless it’s just the two of us.
I keep my grip tightly on her hand, finally spotting my destination up ahead. A maze, carved into the hedgerows, and lit with flickering torches. When we were younger, Max and my buddies used to sneak in and get high, so nobody could find us.
Now, I want the privacy for a very different reason.
“This way.” I lead her into the first, dim passageway. Tessa laughs in delight, looking around.
“They have a maze? An actual maze, in their grounds? You better know the way through this,” she adds teasingly. “I have a terrible sense of direction, we’ll never make it out.”
“And that would be a bad thing?” I ask. My frustration is easing with every moment alone with her, but I still need more distance from the insufferable party.
“Not at first,” Tessa agrees, flashing me a smile in the moonlight. “But sooner or later, it would be time for breakfast. And you don’t want to see me when I’m hangry.”
“You have a big appetite?” I ask, with a small smirk.
“For all kinds of things…” Tessa grins, playful, and my lust burns hotter than ever. Just when I think I have a handle on this woman, she shows I haven’t even scratched the surface.
“I’ll remember that,” I say, finally pulling her around the last bend, to the center of the maze.
“Oh..” Tessa lets out a breath of surprise. It’s a small, round opening in the middle of the greenery, with a fountain lit up, and crumbling angelic statues dotted around. “This is lovely.”
And worth the few extra minutes of my precious self-control.
But now, alone, I can’t wait any longer. And judging from the flush in Tessa’s cheeks and the heat in her eyes, she doesn’t want me to.
I drop the blanket and bottle to the ground and yank her into my arms. “Take it off,” I order her, hungrily kissing the curve of her neck, tasting her skin. I run my hands over the prim, voluminous silk, gripping her hips beneath it. “Strip for me, right now.”
Tessa’s breath hitches, but she steps back, fixing me with a sultry smile. “Here, Professor?” she asks, looking up at me from below her lashes. “But what if someone sees us…?”
“Then they’ll be the luckiest bastard around.” I reach for the hem of her boxy top. “Off.”
“Yes,sir.”
She lifts the hem, and shimmies it over her head, revealing lush breasts encased in black silk, her nipples already tight and straining against the lace.