Read Online Tessa's Escape to Athena's Ground by Brianna Salera - Free Book Online Page A

“You worked for it. Was it worth it?”
    Tessa smiled. “Is the Pope Catholic?”
    The two floated in the cool water for a few minutes and then made their way back to the blanket. On the walk back, Jason wrapped his arm around her and rested his hand on her backside. When she didn’t object, he slid part of his hand under her bikini bottom and gently stroked the smooth skin of her left cheek until they reached the blanket.
    “How about a cold drink?” Jason said, lifting a bottle of water in one hand and a Diet Coke in the other.
    Tessa asked for the soda. Jason twisted the cap off with a flourish and handed her the bottle.
    “Such a gentleman,” Tessa said. “And a gentle man.”
    Jason actually blushed.
    They sipped a cold drink and Jason talked about Sydney. “I’ve been to the States once,” he said. “L.A. But I suppose that’s a lot different from New York.”
    “Yes. Did you like L.A.?”
    “Very much. I’d like to visit more of America someday. There’s a lot to learn by traveling.”
    Tessa thought about what she’d learned over the past six hours, and grinned. “Yeah. I had to come all the way to Australia to…”
    “Come.”
    They both laughed.
    “If I can be serious for a minute,” Jason said, “I want to talk about what happened out there in the ocean. I think we just demonstrated there is nothing wrong with your body. It knows how to respond to the right stimulus. The trick is to get the right stimulus and stick with it while your body opens up to it. That’s another way of saying…?”
    “Ask for what you need.”
    Jason lifted his bottled water as if toasting Tessa.
    “Tonight, we will have our last session, you and I.”
    Tessa frowned. She was really beginning to trust Jason.
    “No frowning allowed!” he said playfully. “It will be a great session, still focusing on asking for what you need. It will be more intimate, so I want to prepare you for that.”
    “Intimate as in...?”
    “Carmen’s therapeutic plan has several goals. We achieved the first one, out there in the beautiful Pacific.”
    Tessa blushed, but smiled too.
    “But I understand there is an issue you need some closure on.” Jason looked into Tessa’s eyes and dropped his voice to almost a whisper. “You told Carmen what your husband died doing, with another woman. You seemed to feel it was, in part, your fault because you never allowed him to do that to you.”
    Tessa’s blush deepened, and she lost her smile.
    “I’m sure Carmen tried to get you to let yourself off the hook there. Because you didn’t give it didn’t excuse his getting it elsewhere. That was a mega breach of trust.”
    Tessa nodded. She knew that, in her head. Her heart, on the other hand, wasn’t so sure.
    “I understand that you’ve been working hard these past few months, and that you’ve realized you aren’t satisfied with the narrow sexual definition you’ve lived with all your adult life.”
    “I used to think that practically anything other than simple missionary position was either twisted, gross or beyond my ability to do. I don’t think that anymore. But I don’t know which things are right for me, and which aren’t.”
    “That’s what you’ve come to Australia to discover.” Jason stroked her arm gently with the finger that, minutes ago, had given Tessa the most sexual pleasure she’d ever experienced. “Tonight I will press you to try two things. I will always respect your right to decline, but I’m going to put some pressure on you, based on what you said you wanted in therapy.”
    “That was back in the safety of Carmen’s office,” Tessa said. Though her voice was light, she wasn’t entirely joking.
    “But you’ll be in the safety of Jason’s arms,” he said, lightly, but also not joking. “Don’t forget that.”
    “What two things? Or is it better if I don’t know?”
    Jason scooted closer to Tessa and gently stroked the inside of her thigh. “I’m going to show you how pleasurable it is