HAPPY NEW YEAR Gladiators and Olitzers, it's good to have you here still interested in the outcome of this story. It's become a sort of two for one as you know. The sins of the mother comes back to haunt her and creates a side story and plot of its own. I usually mull over a chapter for weeks if not months filling in details and/or removing others. This chapter came into my head and stayed there. So I delved into it for a couple of days and here it is. Keep reading those of you that are invested in the story. I certainly appreciate the fact that you are. I also appreciate the feedback. A simple reminder to the haters now on Chapter 44. This author writes the story not you. If you can do it better write your own story!

Happy reading!

Chapter 44

Shit! Tessa had just upped the ante. She'd put all of her cards on the table and was betting that he couldn't resist her. She was right. Dammit! He wanted to run to her, sweep her up off of her feet, and lay her down on that bed. He wanted to love her in every way imaginable and then some. He wouldn't stop until they both had enough.

Years ago, when he had introduced Tessa to the pleasures of the flesh, she was shy and hesitant. He had to push her into a zone before she would totally let go. As their affair progressed from days, to weeks, to months, she had finally let herself go and had embraced the fact that sex was part of loving someone. Accepting and then giving back aspects of love was what made sex great. She became a temptress and a tiger in his arms.

Then the golden boy had returned home and claimed Tessa for himself. Again, he had no one to blame but himself for that fiasco. He had done nothing to stop it on their wedding day and he allowed it to go on for thirty years. Once in all those years she had come back to him. Finally, he had totally possessed her. What he always craved for so long was finally his. That one-night stand where Tessa had given him everything and more, had done it for him. He'd thought that night that he would never love that way again. He'd been right.

That night had been all consuming. His possession of her had healed all of his heartache. That night she didn't belong to another man. That night she had been his. And unknown to him until three days ago, he had fathered a child with her. That night was even more special than he had known. This beautiful vivacious woman standing in front of him was the mother of his only child and he loved her more because of it. Right now, more than anything he wanted to go to her and bury himself inside of her! It was what he wanted but he was going to try not to. He was going to have to tell Tess his plan and of the promise he had made to both of them.

It was a breakable promise. He would break it for Tessa if she still insisted upon. Without a doubt he was going to marry her. When they returned to the island, she would be his wife. Any one that didn't understand that would be walking on perilous ground.

His temptress was waiting. She had a siren's smile on her face. She knew his weaknesses. She intended to flood his senses with her and dare him not to take her!

"Tess, my own dear heart. I knew my sweet siren was there inside of you and would show herself sooner or later. I can't say I'm not glad to see her. You're as beautiful and tempting as I remember. How I have longed to see you like this again. You are a vision, still. Black was always your color."

"I wasn't sure you were seeing me. Tonight, I wanted to make sure that you did. We are back together. You know that I love you. I've never stopped. You spoke the same words to me just last night. Then you held me in your arms and went to sleep, again. I want to be your lover. I know you do as well. I'm staring at living proof of that right now. You've asked me to be patient. Honestly, I tried. Almost a quarter of a century is a long wait! Tell me, why are you still portraying a monk, Jimmy? We both know you aren't one!"

"My dear, Tessa. You're going to force me to tell you the reason that I desire this period of celibacy, aren't you? You won't let us be platonic for a few weeks, will you? You intend to tear every shred of my resistances down. You want me to break my promise."

"What promise? What are you talking about?"

"I have said that I failed you Tessa and I meant it. I want you to be honest with yourself and me as I take you back into the past. Please answer as honestly as you can. On your wedding day you walked into that church as if you descended the gallows. You weren't a happy bride. During the ceremony you looked panicked and ready to bolt. When the minister asked a particular question, you inhaled into your lungs and you didn't breathe until he continued on.

The ceremony concluded and you were perplexed and looked lost. You were looking back at me just before you walked down the aisle with Tommy. As a new bride most classified your actions as marriage jitters. I knew better! You stopped before descending those last few steps because you were waiting for something weren't you? You waited for me to stop the farce. I saw you! Don't deny it Tessa. You thought I would stop the marriage, didn't you? You thought that I would never turn you over to another man. Tell me the truth!"

Tessa's heart lurched. She didn't want to go there. It was over and done. She had survived the hell hole on Overton Place. What did it matter who was the culprit in sending her there? She had deprived the man standing before her the right to have been a father to his own flesh and blood! On the other hand, he had let her marry another man knowing that there wasn't possibly a portion of her body that his semen hadn't erupted on!

"James, that's over and done with. I've divorced Thomas and I've moved on. I really don't want to discuss this right now. It's water under that particular bridge. Either you want me tonight or you don't. I don't see why we have to dredge up the past and play silly games."

"There aren't any games being played Tessa. I simply want you to see the truth. Talk to me. I told you that we will move forward and we will. You wish to take all the blame for us Tessa and where we ended up. I won't let you! I keep telling you that I failed you and I did. I could never erase all that happened to you after you married Thomas Pope. I know that. I can only hope and pray that as you have forgiven me for the part that I played in it. Eventually I hope I can forgive myself.

I should've married you before I laid with you Tessa on any level. My actions were dishonorable. They were callous. I had the ability to end your association with Thomas Pope before it began. I should've spoken up and told Thomas the truth the moment he sat foot back in the Caymans. I did not. Then in a church before God, I further dishonored you by not stepping forward. I sent you into a marriage where you were dishonored and abused. In my confusion I shifted the blame to you Tessa. I placed my cowardice at your feet and for years built up a hatred for you. I wouldn't look at you or say your name. How callous was that?

When Thomas came to me and said that you were pregnant, I died inside. Up until that point I thought that there was hope for us. When he asked me to become godfather to the child, I was ready to refuse but something stopped me. You see, Tommy should've been mine. I reasoned that at least I would have that, a piece of you. As I began to love Tommy, my loss of you hurt less. I hated you less as I thought of you lying with your husband.

The night you came to me I thought to turn you away. How dare you come to me after six years of nothing? Then I saw the marks on you and I lost it. Thankfully you pulled me back to reality. You were another man's wife. Yet you offered yourself to me to spare his life. I truly would've killed him for what he did to you. All those years you suffered at his hand but you stayed there, why Tessa?"

"We've been over this Jimmy. I stayed because I had nowhere else to go. I let the man abuse me and my children because I was alone and afraid. You've made me see that I was an abused woman. Why must we continually delve back into the past? It's hurtful. The memories hurt me and it's shameful. It hurts me to think of what I did and it hurts even more to acknowledge what you didn't do."

"What didn't I do Tessa? Talk to me!"

Tessa had hung her head in despair. She had accepted her role in her failed marriage but had she ever accepted Jimmy's. If she saw him as the villain of this piece, how could she love him so? How could her body crave his so? She could never hate Jimmy but she clearly had some ambiguous feelings about his actions all those years ago.

She looked up at Jimmy. She knew how much she loved him now at this moment but she also realized at this moment she would like to smack him hard across his face! All of the old humiliation and hurt surfaced within her. Tears flowed from her eyes. She didn't try to bank them. She looked up at Jimmy and began speaking.

"You sent me to him on a silver platter. I was yours and you let me go with him with not so much as a whimper. Yes, I went through the process, the dress, the rehearsals, the bridal shower; all of it because I thought at some point you would put a stop to it! You professed to love me. You made my body hum for you and you alone. Why then was I standing at the altar with your best friend? I couldn't process it! I was so confused. I didn't want that marriage to Thomas Pope. Why was it happening? The marriage was more than a conundrum. It was fake from beginning to end but I had entered into it.

You know I was no shrinking violet! I had a brain! I had a voice! Yet I played a damsel in distress and when no one came to save me, I settled in. I was a woman grown! I choose my fate to be in that loveless marriage. If you weren't going to save me; I should've saved my damn self! I deserved what I got!"

"No, you didn't Tessa. This is what I must get you to see. You didn't deserve what happened to you. You deserved more from me. I will say it again I failed you. All that you went through was because of me. You believe I'm the better person here but I'm not. I had blamed you all these years for our fate. Honestly my distaste for you knew no bounds. As the years passed I realized that I was fooling myself. I was never going to be over you. And then three days ago you told me I had a daughter. You forgave me for my sins against you and said that you still loved me. Your acts of your generosity opened my eyes.

You can forgive me all day long but I first must forgive myself Tessa. I alone must atone for my sin. I must make things right between us. You should've been my wife years ago. I claimed you were my queen, I should've treated you as one. I wanted to marry you, Tessa. With all my heart I did then and I still do. As you've said, I sent you to Thomas Pope on a silver platter when it was my duty to love and honor you. For my failure to honor you then, I have pledged to honor you now. I've made a promise to myself and to you that I won't receive pleasure from sexual congress with you until I've made you my wife.

Before God, I made this vow. I want us to become man and wife before we are together again. Denying myself the pleasures of your body until you are my true wife is my chosen penance. I'm hoping you can understand why I deem it necessary. Can you understand Tess?"

He had pulled her into his arms and he now wiped at her tears with his finger-tips. He also traced the path of those tears with sweet gentle kisses. Their eyes met and held.

"I can lay you down on that bed and give you the sexual release you desire. I want to, understand that! I want to so much. Perhaps I might be able to keep my vow but then I might not! After all I'm just a man, Tessa. A man that loves you still and may not be able to resist you. I would give you what you want. I want to please you and make you happy. Please don't cry."

"I hate to cry. It's a sign of weakness. So, you would give me pleasure but no pleasure for yourself, not until you make an honest woman out of me? It's a little far-fetched for the world we live in today but I do understand what you are saying. The things that you have made me see tonight are very valid. They are eye-opening. At some point, the two of us will give each other pleasure. I want nothing less for us as a couple but apparently it won't be tonight.

I'm sure you could lay me on that bed and make me come long and hard but I would want to give back to you. You taught me that. Love is reciprocal. That was what I wanted tonight, not a one-sided sexcapade. We will wait. Do you anticipate a long wait, Jimmy?

"It won't be long Tessa. We have to talk to Olivia this weekend and I predict all will go well. She is our daughter. She will take it all in and see the big picture. Once we can plainly see that our daughter is well and good, we will leave for the western USA. We will talk to Tommy and then I shall take you to Las Vegas, Nevada. We will be married there and begin the journey we should have started more than thirty years ago."

"So, we are to marry in Sin City. I like the sound of that. In essence our wait could be as little as three weeks or less, right?"

"That's certainly what I'm hoping. I can't wait to be with you again."

"Neither can I. I also have one more thing I'd like to discuss before we go to bed."

"Okay, what is it?"

"We're a team from this night forward. No more secrets, no more promises to self. We consult each other with our plans before going forward with them, right?"

"Right. I promise you Tessa, this celibacy vow is a one-time deal. Now, may I make a request?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"I need your help in keeping my vow, Tessa. Could you sleep in something less revealing and definitely less sexy? I'm hard as can be right now! I can't sleep beside you in that yard of silk fabric and not proceed in sin. I think you know that. You're entirely naked under that garment, aren't you?"

"I am. I fully intended to seduce you. I haven't forgotten how." She walked from him toward the bedroom. He followed her. Dammit, her butt was so round and perfect! She still had the best legs in the Caymans.

"I can see that."

"I'll save this for our wedding night then. I'll put on a drab cotton granny gown. Will that curb your ardor and put less strain on your zipper?"

"I doubt that, Tessa Adderley. I'm practically dying to fuck you."

Thomas Pope was awakening in his quaint little hotel room on the outskirts of Boston. It was costing him two-hundred dollars a night plus tax and resort fee for this room, a fucking fortune! He had checked in on Saturday. He anticipated being in town for as long as Tessa was here. He was hoping to convince her to leave this place by no later than Wednesday. Today was Monday. He was going to see what was happening at Olivia's today and most likely present himself at her door on Tuesday evening once he knew her exact schedule. He knew that she was starting her rotation on evenings and nights. More than likely Tessa would be alone there at Olivia's once she left for the hospital.

He would convince her that he was a changed man. He would promise not to punish her and he wouldn't if she followed the rules. His schedule had lessened so the need to relieve stress was less. He had found another room. Of course, it wasn't free as Bellehaven had been. Nor did it have the amenities of Jimmy's resort but it was passable. He got his nuts cracked just the same. Sex with his wife was an "only if" no one else was available. Even she knew that. Only as a last resort would he touch her. He doubted he had touched her sexually more than four or five times all of last year. Tessa was bad lay. There was no other word for it. He would try not to touch her sexually at all. Mostly he banged her when she made him mad. Angry sex turned him on. They would come to an understanding and she would come back home.

He was apparently going to have to reach out to his children as part of this deal. He would allow Tessa to think he was trying to make amends. Truth was he was a true nationalist. And he believed in separation of races. As long as either one of them were in relationships outside of the norm, he was done with them. Of course, Tessa didn't need to know that. Just Tommy and Olivia did. To them he had made himself plain. They understood him and apparently had moved on. They were both out of his will and so was their progeny!

He knew that Tessa had bought a house and two cars. He wanted the house sold. Maybe he would let her keep one of the cars if she started showing him proper respect. She was going to have to offer him something in this deal to take her back! And unless he got seventy-five percent of that divorce money back all bets were off anyway. That was his money and he wanted it back!

He called down for some breakfast. After he ate, he would make plans. He only rented the car until Thursday night. He'd have this shit and Tessa under control by then.

Olivia was sleeping soundly. Her clock was set for eleven. Her mother was coming over between noon and one. They were going to have a brunch and get caught up a little before she headed out to the hospital. They would have a couple of full days later in the week. For now, she was dead to the world. For about thirty minutes this morning before he had left for the airport Fitz had literally nailed her to the bed. They had said no sex before he left this morning but there was a change of plans.

Earlier this morning she had awakened in the spooning position. Fitz was snuggled behind her with one hand massaging her breast, the other gently rubbing her own slickness across her clit, his thick hardness rubbing against her buttocks. His teeth were tugging at her earlobe as he was whispering in her ear how much he needed her. All of it lit an immediate fire in Olivia. She attempted to turn in his arms. He wouldn't let her.

"Stay where you are Sweet Baby. Let me love you this way. Lift this leg for me." She did and she felt him slide one, then two fingers inside her. He knew exactly where to go. His long fingers reaching a place of unfettered delight. She locked in on his fingers seeking, panting, and then it hit her, the impending pleasure of orgasm. She called his name as the intensity overwhelmed her. A couple of quick moves and he was inside of her and met with aftershocks of her release were squeezing him welcoming him in.

"Girl, you feel so damned good. I wished I could stay here all day but I can't. Can you come for me again, Livvy? Take what you want. Backup on it. That's it, Sweet Baby."

Olivia backed up where she wanted it and she rode him to another excellent orgasm. Again, her powerful convulsions were making him pant. His movements were sure and deep. All the way in and almost all the way out, swift and piston-like. Extraordinary. Designed to thrill.

"Fitz, you feel so good. Don't let me come without you this time. Stay deep and come with me! Please, I want, I need..."

"I know what you want. I know what you need. Stay with me, Livvy. I'm about to turn us. Trust me, we will come together soon. We mustn't lose our connection."

He turned them slowly until she lay flat on her stomach. Still connected, he straddled her while moving ever so gently in and out of her. Once he was stationary behind her, he began a circle eight, slowly adjusting them to the new position. He hissed and she panted aloud. Then he pulled back and completely imbedded himself inside of her. Olivia cried out as a powerful orgasm struck her. It was glorious to him, the feel of her convulsing around him. He literally began nailing her to the bed with his thrusts.

The "L" Embrace as the maneuver is called is a form of doggie style but much more satisfying. He could facilitate extremely deep penetration while angled in a position designed to provide unprecedented friction. In the interim he provided a direct hit on her G-spot and a sweet clitoral massage on the upstroke. The friction was incredible. Fitz was in a zone as he pleasured them both. The mind-blowing sensations were quickly bringing them both to the end of their journey. Olivia's body had barely absorbed her last orgasm and she was fast approaching yet another.

Fitz was almost there as well. His sac had tightened and sensation after sensation overwhelmed him. He had been praising her just before his mind-blowing orgasm struck. His last words had become incoherent. His final thrusts frenzied as he cried out Olivia's name and collapsed on top of her. Her body shuttered and she screamed his name as his powerful body pushed her into her final climax. Her walls clung and convulsed around him milking him dry.

Finally, as he returned back to earth, he turned them once again onto their sides. Fitz had returned to a degree sensibility but his body was still reacting from his explosive release. He gently moved within her; his body still semi-erect. He whispered words of praise and love in her ear.

"You felt so good Livvy. You were extraordinary. Damn girl, you leave me weak. I swear I could stay inside you all day, all night. I love you, Olivia."

As much as she hated to break the connection, she did. She wanted to look into his eyes after such a glorious experience. Even now she purred thinking about it. That last one was a new level orgasm.

"I love you more, my sweet, sweet man. Oh my god, Fitz. That was incredible. Isn't that a record for me four in a row?"

"Could be, my little mathematician. But I bet even your four couldn't compare to the one you just provided for me. You make extraordinary love to me Olivia. I'm sorry that it must end but I've got to get out of here and to the airport. I can't be late for court and I have to stop by the office."

"Okay, we shower and get you to the airport then."

"No, our little interlude has made the schedule tight. I need to leave right now. I've already received a reminder from Security. I'm going to grab my bag and head out. I can shower on the plane. And you deserve your beauty rest. You don't want your mother to arrive here and you're dead on your feet. She'll sense what we've been up to."

"Fitz, everyone knows what we've been up to. We can't get enough of each other. Is it truly going to be like this forever with us?"

"I pray it does Livvy because I swear, I can't get enough of you! Let me get some warm towels. Then you go back to sleep. I'm sorry for being so needy. I woke up and all I could think about was being inside of you. I know you're tired. That was quite a workout."

Fitz returned with the towel fresh from the warmer he had sent her during the early months of their affair. Olivia loved the way he was so solicitous of her. A damp almost steaming hot towel to soothe her deliciously battered nether regions and wipe away his semen had become a loving ritual for the two of them once a round had ended.

"I love you, Livvy. I'll call you on my first break. You're scheduled for a seven-to-seven rotation, right? Best of luck on your first day as a bonafide doctor. Be careful. You know there's a team outside as well. as inside the hospital, right?"

"I know Fitz. All of that money you're spending because of me…"

"We've closed this topic, Olivia. I protect what's mine!"

"And I am yours, body and soul. Go! Text me when you arrive and call me later. Bye, I love you."

He said I love you more, and he was gone. Olivia placed towel between her legs and closed her eyes in memory. She got up and rushed to her bedroom window hoping to see him enter the car. She made it. She watched until the car pulled away! Every time they parted it was such sweet sorrow. How in the hell was she to do this for the next five and more years? Watching him ride away tilted her happiness a bit. He would be back Friday, Olivia. Focus on that.

She yawned and stretched. Serial orgasms depleted a lot of energy! They'd gone to bed shortly after Mother and Uncle Jim had left. Which meant that they had only slept for about two hours if that, before Fitz had awakened in need of her. That thirty minutes of lovemaking had been rigorous and divinely perfect. They exerted a lot of energy during their sexual romps. Fitz was a pro and could perform for hours when she was down for in. Suddenly she could barely keep her eyes open. She realized that she was bone tired. It would be noonish before you knew it. She set her timer and planned to sleep for the next six hours. She had to be functioning well on her first night as a doctor. She lay down and grabbed Fitz' pillow and hugged it to her. His scent calmed her. She closed her eyes and promptly went to sleep.

James Lockheed, Olivia Pope's biological father, on the other hand couldn't sleep. He and Tessa had yet another productive conversation. She had been intent on seduction and she could've succeeded if she had pushed him any at all. God, he wanted to bury himself so deeply inside of her that neither one of them would know where the other began.

Last night Tessa had been standing beside this very bed daring him to get into it with her and exorcise years of sexual yearning from his soul. He was tempted to forget his good intentions and take what she was offering and what he desired more than anything. He'd only made that promise days ago. He could've taken it all back. Tessa wasn't going to hold back sex for marriage this time any more than she did thirty years ago. She had wanted him then and she wanted him now.

However, the woman was going to allow him to assuage his guilt and test his control over his body in this situation. He was insisting that he pay a price for his failure to do the right thing by Tessa. He had figuratively taken her innocence and pawned her off on another man. It was callous and cruel. Because of his actions Tessa was thrown into the clutches of Thomas Pope to become a victim of his mind games and abject cruelty.

He was going to marry Tessa. With what time he had left on this earth, he would lay the world at her feet. He would give her the love and devotion she deserved as his wife and the mother of his children. He had a daughter! How lucky was he to have fathered a child with her and to have the son he had always wanted in her other biological child? He had thirty years to make up for. She had suffered mightily at Thomas' hands.

He had found it hard to swallow the type of man his best friend had become. Once he had loved Thomas Pope as a brother. His own theory was that his love for his childhood friend had clouded his judgment. When and he and Tessa eventually hashed out their relationship in therapy he would delve into the dynamics of his friendship with Thomas Pope. In his opinion, it had cost him a life time of happiness.

He'd been given a second chance and no way in Hell would he squander it. Some would say he's going about this ass-backwards. Therapy should come first before a commitment of marriage. Bullshit, not in this lifetime would he lose Tessa again. He tightened his hold on the woman in his arms. She believed in them too. She was willing to take this American holiday with him. She was going to marry him knowing that they needed therapy. Tessa was a brave woman. She was also graceful, beautiful, and intelligent. She used to love to smile. He intended to see that she smiled more!

For hours now he had watched her lay in his arms sleeping peacefully. As she had done on the two nights before when she had awakened during the night. She had reached for his hand reassuring herself that she wasn't alone. Half asleep she would ask in some form if he were there.

In some aspects she was still wary. He understood that he had disappointed her once in the very worst way. He would prove to her that she would never know such disappointment again. He believed that they were on the correct path once again. When Tessa awakened at nine that morning he had just finally drifted off. She opened her eyes and there he was. James Lockheed was indeed in her bed. For three nights they had slept platonically in each other's arms.

Her plans for seduction were abandoned after she had learned from Jimmy why he was avoiding intimacy. She had listened to the reasons for his present actions. To be blunt, he should have married her all those years ago. He had taken the liberties of a husband without the bond of marriage and then abandoned her at the altar with another man. After a very frank discussion with him she realized that trying to establish a sexual connection with him first might not have been the best approach to cementing their relationship. Every time they dug deep into their relationship, they discovered a new aspect of it. It was complicated but after their latest enlightening discussion she was more confident that they were working things out and headed in the right direction even without a sexual bond established.

Jimmy wanted them to be married before they once again embarked on a sexual journey. In his heart he had made a promise to himself and her not to touch her before he did! When he told her the real reason, he hadn't made any sexual moves toward her, it had brought back so many memories good and bad. She wasn't the only one responsible for their fate. They both were responsible. She could see clearly that she blamed Jimmy at some point but then transferred all the blame to herself. It was an eye-opening moment, but Jimmy made her see the truth. His stepping forward and admitting to the things he had done wrong in their relationship had been admirable. She could tell that it lifted weight from his shoulders.

It also released a burden that she carried on her on hers for years. She hadn't made the bed she lay in for the last thirty years ago alone. Instead of being angry and upset at the revelation it was freeing. It lifted so much bad karma from her heart. Waiting a few weeks to work on certain issues seemed to be legitimate steps in the right direction. If Jimmy could wait for sexual intimacy, so could she! It was a giant step for her to veer from her own plan. The new Tessa Adderley didn't ordinarily wait for things to come to her. She took things into her own hands and took what she wanted.

Waiting with Jimmy while he worked on healing himself for deeds from their past was something she could live with. It didn't violate promises that she had made to herself. She wanted her life back and she was going to have it! Her nightly prayers were that the next step of revealing the truth to her children wouldn't derail where she and Jimmy hoped to go.

Her secret wasn't going to be a secret anymore. This weekend she would tell her daughter about her true parentage. Olivia's true father would be at her side. Maybe it wouldn't be as hard as she thought to open her mouth and tell Olivia the truth. The hard part would be if Olivia turned from her. That would crush her. She was so close to realizing her dream. She wanted James Lockheed back in her life and he was there, beside her in her bed. He would stand beside her this weekend and help her relay the truth to their daughter. She had two parents that loved her.

Tessa opened her eyes after coming out of a peaceful night's sleep, musing about the week ahead, and the upcoming weeks after that. There was a smile on her face and it had every right to be there. James Lockheed stared back at her.

"Good morning, Jimmy. I had another great night of rest. I haven't slept so well in years. I can only imagine what my morning will feel like once we are husband and wife. We will get to partake of sexual congress to our heart's content and then lie abed all morning if we choose. How was your rest last night?"

She knew she was being feisty and testy but she wasn't the one that made the promise. She was going to honor it but she saw absolutely no reason not to make her husband-to-be squirm a little. Waking up in his arms and her legs thrown across his it was obvious that the state of his drawers was the same as when they had gone to bed last night. His night erection was now his morning erection.

Jimmy knew deviltry when he saw it. His siren and his muse had agreed to wait for marriage before they resumed a sexual relationship. In the meantime, she intended to let him know what he was missing. That so-called granny gown was almost up to her waist and she was without a doubt naked as a baby sparrow underneath it!

"Good morning, Tessa. As you probably know I barely closed my eyes last night. I have a lot of things on my mind right now. Most of them you and I have discussed over the last few days. I'm fine though considering that I'm a man with a perpetual case of blue balls!"

"What pray tell is a perpetual case of "blue balls?"