Sex with Aaron had been good. He was attractive and had been the kind of lover that most women would want for their first time. He'd made sure I'd climaxed before him and I'd thoroughly enjoyed myself. Afterwards though, I hadn't really had a desire for a repeat performance. In fact, sex hadn't really been something I'd thought much about. If my parents hadn't made such a big deal about me not doing it, I probably wouldn't have even slept with Aaron.
Now, with Reed's body flush against mine, his desire for me clear, I wanted it. I wanted him. Aaron had appreciated my body and he'd genuinely cared about me, but he hadn't wanted me. Not really. Not at a primal level. Reed did. I saw it on his face and my body responded. I knew it was a bad idea. A terrible idea, actually, but I'd never wanted anything as badly as I wanted him right now.
I was teetering on the edge of decision as we continued to move to the music. It didn't have to be anything more than a hook-up. For all I knew, that's all Reed wanted too. I wasn't looking for a relationship. I couldn't. But sex, no matter how many times people said it didn't, always came with strings attached. Both sides had to know what was expected or feelings would be hurt, accusations made. When I'd gone to Aaron to ask him to be my first, I'd laid it all out for him. What it would mean for us, for our friendship. What it couldn't be. I'd known him and trusted him. I didn't know Reed.
Would it be possible for me to have that same conversation with him? Tell him that all I could offer him was one night? Most men wouldn't have a problem with that, I assumed. Especially an American man in a Parisian club. This wasn't exactly the kind of place someone went to find a soulmate.
There was also the safety factor to consider. I didn't want to even think about it, but I had no way of knowing the kind of man Reed was. I could feel how strong he was, see it in the way he moved. If he wanted to hurt me, he could. I knew a little self-defense, but I'd never really needed to think about it. I'd always had bodyguards to protect me.
I couldn't do it. It would be reckless, irresponsible, dangerous, and a lot of other adjectives I knew my parents would've used.
Even as I opened my mouth to excuse myself before I got caught up in the moment, movement at the corner of my eye caught my attention.
Shit.
They'd found me.
Chapter 5
Reed
I'd fully expected to spend most of my night trying to decide who I wanted to take back to my hotel room, but I'd only been at the club for a few minutes when I saw her. She was beautiful, and not in a stick-figure model kind of way. No, she was all woman. Short, but not petite. Exotic coloring and the sort of confidence that could be spotted across the room. Without hearing her say a word, I could tell this woman was used to holding her own against anyone. Even better, she had a quick wit and the intelligence in her eyes was a welcome difference from most of the women I'd been sleeping with recently.
She wasn't French or American, I realized after she spoke. Her English was flawless, but there was a hint of an accent I couldn't quite place. That was okay though. I only cared what it would sound like when she was moaning my name. When we began to dance, I became more certain that I had to have her. She moved perfectly with me, the kind of instant synchronization that rarely happened and I knew it would transfer to how we'd move together in a far more intimate setting.
I was getting ready to ask her if she wanted to get out of here when she suddenly stiffened. I frowned, following her gaze. Did she have a boyfriend or husband who was going to come after me? Then I saw two absolutely massive men scanning the crowd.
Shit. Who was this girl?
I looked down at her. Myriad emotions ran across her face before she settled on something I recognized quite well: rebellious determination. She grabbed my hand and pulled me after her deeper into the dancing throng. I followed, too surprised by the gesture and how strong she was to argue about it.
We went out the back entrance and found ourselves in an alley that smelled a lot less pleasant than the club had. She made a face, but didn't stop until we stood on the sidewalk behind the club.
“Did you drive here?” she asked. “Rental car?”
I shook my head. “Taxi.”
She looked up and down the street and then up at me. “Do you have a hotel room or are you staying with friends?”
I doubted I was misreading the signals, but I asked just to be sure. “I have a room. Would you like to go back there with me?”
She took a step towards me and wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling my head down even as she pushed herself up on her tiptoes. I slid my arms around her waist as her mouth met mine. Her lips were soft and pliant, molding around mine. As I traced her bottom lip with the tip of my tongue, her mouth opened eagerly and her tongue came out to meet mine. The two twisted together for a moment and then she was stepping back.
“This can only be tonight,” she said. “I need that to be clear.”
I grinned. A woman after my own heart. “Sounds good to me.” I stretched out my arm and waved down a taxi.
“Where are you staying?” she asked suddenly, as if something had just occurred to her.
“Hôtel Maison Souquet.”
A relieved look crossed her face.
“I'm guessing that's not where you are?”
She shook her head. “Hôtel San Régis.”
My eyebrows went up. I'd known she'd had money just by the way she was dressed, but that was definitely one of the swankier hotels in Paris. It was also one that boasted discretion, more out of the way. People who went to clubs like the one Nami and I had just been at usually didn't stay at places like the San Régis.
She'd tensed again and watched me warily. For the first time, I realized that I wasn't sure what I'd gotten myself into. Huge guys like the ones back at the club didn't come looking for random girls. They were security somewhere or, if she was telling the truth about where she was staying, for someone. I smiled to put her at ease, but I kept watching her, trying to figure out if I'd seen her somewhere before. She was too short to be a model and too curvy, but she could've been an actress. Musician. And there was always the rich family option. As we pulled up in front of the hotel, however, I decided it didn't matter. Like she'd said, it wasn't like we were planning on starting a relationship. As long as she wasn't married, I didn't care about who she was.
As I held out my hand to help her from the car, I discreetly checked out her left hand. No ring, no tan line or faint impression. I supposed she could've taken it off or not have worn it long enough to leave any other mark behind, but short of ruining the mood by straight up asking her, it was all I had to go by.
I kept a grip on her hand as we walked through the lobby to the elevators. She didn't seem impressed by the opulence, lending further credence to my theory that she came from money. When we stepped into the elevator, I pushed all of that aside and concentrated on the only thing that mattered.
I backed her against the wall and claimed her mouth again, exploring it thoroughly. She made a little sound in the back of her throat that went straight to my cock. I grasped her wrists in my hands, pinning them against the wall as I ground my hips against her. The sound turned into a moan. Oh, she was going to be fun.
Before the door of my hotel room closed, we were kissing again, pulling at each other's clothes. I could feel the desperation in her touch and it fueled my own desire. By the time we reached the bedroom, we were both naked, our clothes leaving a trail behind us. It wasn't until we fell back on the bed that I finally moved my mouth from hers.
I leaned on my elbow as I began to kiss my way down her body, my free hand exploring her soft skin as well. She cried out as I flicked my tongue across her nipple, then made a louder sound when my fingers began to tease the other one. Her breasts were amazing. Firm, perfectly shaped and just the right size. Her nipples were a dusky rose color and, if her reaction was any indication, extremely sensitive.
I took one between my lips, looking up at her while I did it. Her eyes were closed and an expressio
n of pure bliss had settled on her face. Damn. Either this woman loved sex or her previous lovers hadn't taken care of her nearly as well as they should've. I scraped my teeth across the tip of her nipple and her entire body jerked, her eyes flying open.
I raised my head. I may have liked things a little rough, but I wasn't about to assume that she did too. “Was that okay?”
“Do it again.” Her pupils were wide, the thin ring of color around them dark.
I repeated what I'd done, a little harder this time, and she watched. Air hissed from between her teeth.
“Yes.” She dropped her head back down onto the bed.
I took that as an affirmative and resumed what I'd been doing. She writhed underneath me as I began to suck on her hardening nipple. The sounds that she made were like nothing I'd ever heard before. Half whimpers, half moans and, mixed in were words in a language I didn't know. I couldn't wait to hear what she did when I was buried inside her.
Reluctantly, I left her breast and moved further down her body. If I'd had more time, I would've loved to see if I could get her to come just from that alone, but I didn't know how long she planned to stay. As I settled between her legs, I looked up and saw her watching me again, something on her face that it took me a moment to place. Uncertainty.
“Do you want to stop?” I hoped to hell she said no because my cock was almost painfully hard, but I'd never forced a woman and I never intended to. For a brief moment, I remembered how I'd felt when I'd learned about my former brother-in-law nearly raping Piper and my stomach knotted.
“No.”
Nami's voice brought me out of the past and back to the present.
“Please don't stop.”
I kissed the inside of her thigh. “I won't until you come.”
Desire flared in her eyes and then I turned my attention to what was right in front of me. She was already wet and I felt a surge of pride that I'd turned her on that much just from the little we'd done. When my tongue flicked out to taste her, she gasped. I used my fingers to hold her open, exposing as much of her as possible to my tongue. She cried out, her hands grasping the bedspread as I teased her clit.
I covered every inch of her, exploring this part of her body as thoroughly as I'd done her mouth previously. I felt her starting to tense and rubbed the flat of my tongue across her swollen clit, coaxing her towards the release I knew she had building. Suddenly, it hit her and her body stiffened. She made a muffled sound and I looked up to see her hand in her mouth, as if she couldn't bring herself to let it all go.
I was determined to see her lose control the next time she came. I wanted to hear her scream my name.
As she was coming down, I slid a finger inside her. Her pussy gripped it tight, still quivering from her orgasm. Damn she was tight. I looked up at her, hoping she'd answer my question in the negative.
“Are you a virgin?”
She gave me a smile that was half coy, half shy. “No. But I'm not very...experienced.”
I nodded. I could work with that. I moved my finger slowly, letting her body adjust to the intrusion before adding a second one. She moaned as I stretched her, preparing her. I put my hand on her stomach, just below her bellybutton, holding her against the bed as I crooked my fingers, searching for that special spot inside her. A sound half like a squeal, and half like a wail came out as I found it. I pressed my fingertips against the spot, rubbing it until she came again. She tightened around me until I swore. I kissed her inner thigh, waiting for her to relax again.
As she began to come down, I slid my fingers out and went up onto my knees. I leaned over her, reached into the bedside table and pulled out a condom. By the time I'd opened it and rolled it on, Nami was staring up at me, pure desire written on her face. I put my hands on her knees and started to slowly slide them up her legs.
“There are so many ways I want to take you,” I said as my fingertips teased along her thighs. “So many things I want to do to you.”
Something flitted across her face, some kind of regret and I knew that we didn't have the time. Whatever was going on with this young woman, her decision to leave with me had been impulsive.
I leaned over her, capturing her mouth again as I entered her. I groaned at the sheer heat of her and she responded by sucking my bottom lip into her mouth. Her body trembled beneath mine as I slowly slid into her and it took all of self-control not to bury myself into her with one thrust.
She wrapped her legs around me, pulling me in fast and hard. She cried out as I reached the end of her. Her body tightened and I pressed my face against the side of her neck. Every cell in my body screamed at me to move, to finish it, but I fought it back, wanting to enjoy this as much as possible. We fit together so well and her responsiveness was like nothing I'd experienced before. I couldn't wait to see what she did when I started to move inside her.
When I was sure I could move without embarrassing myself, I pulled back a bit and then surged forward. She cried out, her back arching up.
“Too much?” I asked. I could hear the strain in my voice.
She shook her head. “Please don't stop.” Her accent had thickened.
I didn't hesitate, every nerve thrumming. I began to move, driving into her deep and hard. Her nails dug into my forearms as her body moved against mine.
“Fuck,” I growled. If she wasn't experienced, how the hell did she know how to move like that?
I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her up onto my lap as I rocked back on my knees. I buried my hand in her hair, yanking her head to the side. She raked her nails down my back and I hissed as pinpricks of pain intensified the pleasure I was feeling. I scraped my teeth across her neck.
“No marks,” she gasped.
I nodded and used her hair to bend her back. I freed a hand to grasp her breast, lifting it until my mouth closed around her nipple. I felt her still holding back even as our bodies moved together. I took a hard pull on the sensitive flesh and earned a bit of a whimper. Not good enough. She was close. I could feel it. I was too. I needed her to come, and I wanted her to come hard.
I bit down on her nipple, hard enough to hurt, but not to mark. The sound she made wasn't quite a scream, but it was close and all I needed. As her body shook around mine, I found my release. I held her tight, riding out our pleasure until we were both coming down.
Even as the sensations faded, I knew the awkward moment was coming. The decision of how long to let her stay, of what to say. But right now, it was still just us, just two people enjoying each other's bodies. I ran my hand down her spine. Maybe I could convince her to wait for another go around. I wanted to see her on top of me, those beautiful breasts bouncing...
My post-orgasmic brain was still hazy as it began to run through scenarios, but it cleared almost instantly when I heard someone calling out in the main room.
“Mr. Stirling, I'm so sorry, they just...”
Too many things happened at once.
The manager's voice trailed off as the bedroom door banged open.
Nami pulled away from me, rolling onto the bed and grabbing the bedspread as she went.
I turned towards the door to see two enormous men coming at me.
“Stop!” Nami shouted from behind me. She then rattled something off in what I assumed was her native language.
The men both froze, equally horrified expressions on their faces. Whatever Nami was saying to them, they didn't like it. What I didn't like was the way they were looking at me.
Who the hell was this girl?
Chapter 6
Nami
My hands were shaking so badly that I almost couldn't hold the blanket up high enough to cover my breasts. I hadn't expected Tomas and Kai to find me so fast. I certainly hadn't expected them to come busting in to Reed's hotel room.
Of course, their initial thought had been that he'd kidnapped me and was forcing me to have sex with him. I knew they'd think that from the moment I heard the manager yell from the main room. They'd stopped because I'd told them t
o, then they'd frozen because I'd informed them that I wasn't a virgin anymore.
Reed was looking back and forth between me and the men, completely baffled. I felt bad for him, but now wasn't the moment to explain. With as much authority as I could muster while sitting in a bed naked except for the hotel's bedspread, I quickly informed Tomas and Kai that should they deem it necessary to tell my father or mother about this, I would feel obligated to tell my parents that I had, in fact, actually lost my virginity back at Princeton while they were supposed to have been watching me. I saw the realization on their faces, the knowledge that no matter what they said, they were the ones who'd be screwed if this came out.
“Leave.” I switched back to English for Reed's sake. Neither man moved, their eyes darting towards Reed and then back to me. “He's already seen me naked,” I snapped. “You two don't get to. Out! Now!”
Their faces matching shades of red, they left, Tomas slamming the door behind him.
“Um, Nami?” Reed turned to look at me, his eyes wide. “What the hell was that about?”
“I am sorry, Reed,” I said, climbing out from under the covers. I grabbed for my clothes, unable to look at him. “I wish things could be different. I wish I could spend tonight in this room with you.”
I swallowed hard, myriad emotions choking me. I wished I could tell him all the other things I wanted. To be able to choose my own path, my own life. I couldn't say any of that though.
“I have to go. I have a train to catch in the morning.” I fixed my dress and allowed myself a glance at Reed. He was watching me with those dark eyes, an unreadable expression in them. “I'm sorry.”
I walked out without another look back. Tomas and Eli were waiting just a couple feet away from the door, their faces back in those expressionless masks they always wore. I didn't have to see what they were thinking to know it. They thought less of me for what I'd done. I kept my head up though. I had nothing to be ashamed of. A woman taking charge of her sex life wasn't something bad or wrong, and I wouldn’t let them make me feel bad about it.