He brought his mouth down to her and stroked her with his tongue, the action so shockingly intimate, so thrillingly pleasurable she drew in a staggered breath and whimpered. He continued caressing her, building the pace and the pressure until she lifted off into a dazzling world where thoughts were blocked out and only physical ecstasy remained. Waves and pulses of pleasure rippled and flowed through her lower body, spiralling out from the tightly budded heart of her. She gasped and cried and clutched at the bedcovers to anchor herself but the orgasm wasn’t finished with her. Lucien wasn’t finished with her. He kept caressing her, leading her into another release that was stronger and even more powerful than the first.
He waited until she settled with a huge sigh and he smiled and glided his hand up and down the flank of her thigh. ‘I hope that was as good as it sounded?’
‘Better.’ Audrey touched his face in a state of wonderment. ‘I can’t believe that just happened. I’ve never felt anything like that before when I’ve...’ Her cheeks grew hot and she lowered her gaze.
He pushed up her chin with his finger. ‘Hey. Why are you embarrassed about touching yourself? It’s perfectly natural and sensible because it helps you learn how your body works.’
‘I know, but there’s still a double standard when it comes to sex,’ Audrey said. ‘It’s still hard for women to own and celebrate their sexual desire. To not feel guilty about wanting to give and receive pleasure.’
Lucien circled her left nipple with a lazy finger. ‘Tell me what you want now.’
She cupped his face in her hands. ‘I want you to make love to me. I want you inside me.’
A frown flickered across his brow. ‘What if I hurt you again?’
‘I’m sure it won’t hurt now that I’m more relaxed,’ Audrey said. ‘I want to feel you. I want to give you pleasure as well as receive it.’
He kissed her on the mouth—a deep, lingering kiss that made her desire for him move through her body in a rush of heat. His tongue played with hers, calling it into a dance that was thrillingly erotic. He left her mouth to work his way down her body, pressing tingling kisses to her breasts, her ribcage, her hips and stomach and back again to her mouth.
He applied the condom he’d collected earlier and gently parted her, pausing at her entrance, uncertainty shadowing his eyes. ‘Are you sure you’re ready for this?’
Audrey grabbed at his shoulders. ‘You’ve made me so ready for you.’
Doubt flickered over his features but then he smiled and lowered his mouth back to hers in a mind-drugging kiss. After a moment, he slowly began to enter her, pausing every step of the way until he was sure she was accommodating him without pain. It was uncomfortable at first, not painfully so but just a tightness that eased the more he progressed. Her body wrapped around him and, while it wasn’t as intense as him touching her with his fingers, the sensation eased that hollow, achy feeling. And then when he slowly began to move the sensations increased in intensity and she felt a growing urge, a growing restlessness within her flesh for more contact, more direct friction.
She moved underneath him, searching for the point of contact that would get her over the edge, soft, breathless sounds coming from her throat. Just when she thought she could stand it no longer, he brought his hand down between their bodies and stroked her until she broke free into an orgasm that lifted every hair on her scalp and sent her spinning into a vortex of feeling unlike anything she had felt before.
He waited until the last ripples passed through her before he took his own pleasure. She held him as he thrust and thrust and then he tensed and spilled in a series of pumps that made her own skin lift in a pepper of goosebumps as waves of vicarious pleasure pulsed through her body.
Audrey lay in a blissful stupor, the sensations slowly petering out inside her like the quietening of ocean waves after a storm had blown past. Never had she thought her body capable of such mind-blowing pleasure. It felt reborn, awakened, stimulated into life and she knew nothing would ever be or feel the same.
Lucien raised himself up on one elbow and played with a tendril of her hair. ‘No regrets?’
‘Not one.’ Audrey outlined his mouth with her fingertip. ‘It was amazing. You were amazing and so gentle.’
‘You’re the one who was amazing.’ He brushed her lips with his. ‘And if you weren’t so new to this, I’d suggest a replay but I don’t want to make you sore.’
She was touched by his concern for her but another part of her was disappointed she couldn’t experience another round of his earth-shattering lovemaking right now when her body was already stirring for more of his touch. He gave her one last kiss and rolled away to sit on the edge of the bed to dispose of the condom. She stroked a hand down his back and then traced around each of his vertebrae in slow-moving circles. ‘Do you think that’s why my mother and your father keep going back to each other? Because of sex?’
He turned his head to look at her and gave a shrug. ‘Maybe. But a marriage needs to be based on more than good sex to last the distance.’ He got off the bed and held out a hand to her with a glinting look. ‘Didn’t you mention something about a shower earlier?’
Audrey took his hand and he helped her to her feet and she gave him a coy smile. ‘I had no idea you were so into water conservation.’
He smiled and drew her closer. ‘Right now I’m into you.’
* * *
Even as Lucien led Audrey into the shower his conscience kept pinging at him. He’d thought they were indulging in a bit of itch-relieving sex, only to find out she was a virgin. To say he was shocked was an understatement, especially finding out the way he had. He wanted to be angry with her for not telling him but deep down he understood why she hadn’t. He wouldn’t have made love to her if she’d told him up front. He had never slept with a virgin before. One or two of his lovers had only had sex a couple of times before but no one had ever shared their first time with him. He wasn’t sure how it made him feel. How was it supposed to make him feel? Wasn’t it a little outdated to hold a woman’s virginity up as some sort of male prize to claim? But something about the experience touched him in a way no one had done before. Her confidence that he would take care of her needs made him feel as if she had given him a precious gift.
Not just her virginity but also her trust.
He turned on the water and waited until it was the right temperature before leading her under the spray. He was already hard from being so close to her luscious body. How had he refrained from making love to her before now? Her shyness about her body made him determined to show her how much her curves delighted him. They more than delighted him—they ignited him. Firing up his lust until he was almost mad with it. He always prided himself on his self-control. He wasn’t a man driven by his sexual appetite. He dealt with his primal needs in such a way as never to exploit or hurt a partner and if there wasn’t a partner available he wasn’t averse to relieving himself, or distracting himself with work. But with Audrey standing in the shower with him he could feel the throb and pound of his blood swelling him as he drank in the shape of her breasts and the womanly curve of her hips.
He brought his mouth down to hers and kissed her as the shower sprayed over their faces, adding another level of sensuality. Her hands came up around his neck, her breasts and nipples poking sexily at his chest. He slid his hands down her back to cup her bottom, holding her against the throbbing ache of his flesh. Her hips moved against him in a circular motion that threatened his hold on his self-control. He knew he should be out on the streets of the village searching for his father and Sibella, but here he was in the shower with Audrey and all he wanted was to sink into her tight, wet warmth and experience again the head-spinning rush of release.
But there was her likely tenderness to consider and there was no way he was going to put his needs ahead of hers. This wasn’t like any other relationship he’d had, which was faintly disturbing...but in a nice
way. This wasn’t a simple hook-up or casual short-term relationship. By allowing him to share her first time, Audrey had stepped outside the boundaries he normally set on his relationships.
He was in completely new territory and for the first time in his life, he wasn’t sure how to handle it. Audrey wasn’t a woman he probably would never see again. Even if his father and her mother went through another marriage and yet another divorce, it still left a connection between Lucien and Audrey—a connection not so easily eradicated.
‘Lucien?’ Audrey pulled him out of his reverie by trailing a wet hand down his abdomen and he drew in a breath when her fingers wrapped around his erection. ‘I want to pleasure you the way you did—’
‘You don’t have to feel obliged,’ Lucien said. ‘I want this to be about you, not me.’
Weird how altruistic he was becoming.
‘But I want to.’ She slithered down in front of him and took matters into her own hands, so to speak. ‘Tell me if I’m doing it wrong.’
Lucien couldn’t speak. Couldn’t think. All he could do was feel the tentative sweep and glide of her tongue over the head of his erection, and then the way her mouth opened over him and drew on him softly at first, and then with greater suction. Again and again she drew on him, her mouth wet from the shower and her own warm saliva, and his self-control didn’t stand a chance. He staggered under the force of his orgasm, the pulses of pleasure taking him to a place he had never been before with a partner. Was it the absence of a condom? Was it the more-than-just-a-hook-up nature of their relationship?
Or was it something else?
Something he didn’t want to examine too closely. He didn’t do close relationships. He didn’t believe true love existed except between the title and credit roll of a Hollywood movie. Sure, some relationships survived the distance but most didn’t. The only way he could see himself marrying one day would be to make sure his emotions were not fully engaged.
Audrey came back up to link her arms around his neck, her eyes shining with newfound confidence. ‘How did I do for a beginner?’
Lucien wondered how could she not feel confident. He could still sense the aftershocks running down the backs of his legs. He cupped her face in his hands and pressed a kiss to her mouth. ‘You were perfect.’
Her smile became crooked. ‘No one’s ever called me that before...’
He stroked his thumb over her cheek. ‘Then maybe it’s about time someone did.’ And he brought his mouth back down to hers.
* * *
Audrey couldn’t remember a time when she’d enjoyed a shower more. Pleasuring Lucien had felt so...so right somehow. She had never thought she would want to do something so intimate with a partner, especially if she was pressured into it. But he hadn’t pressured her. He hadn’t expressed any sense of entitlement. He had allowed her the choice and she had made it and relished in it.
But now the shower was over and they were dressed and Lucien was talking about going out to dinner. Even though Audrey was hungry she knew their meal out would not be simply about food or even companionship, let alone romance.
It would be about tracking down Harlan and her mother.
That was Lucien’s mission, not a romantic dinner for two to celebrate their recent lovemaking.
‘Why don’t we order Room Service?’ Audrey said.
Lucien straightened the cuffs of his shirt. ‘What would be the point of that? You know how much my father and your mother love to eat out.’ He frowned in concentration. ‘What was the name of that restaurant they used to like? They used to go there every night because they enjoyed the food so much.’
There was no way Audrey was going to tell him, even though she remembered it well. Her mother had raved about the food and the service and the chef who had asked for their autographs and numerous photos with her and Harlan. ‘I don’t know... I’m hopeless at remembering French names.’
He picked up the hotel room key card and slipped it in his pocket. ‘Come on. We’ll have a wander around and see if we can find it. I’m sure it wasn’t far from here.’
Audrey needed to text her mother to make sure she and Harlan weren’t out. It wasn’t likely, given Harlan was unwell, but what if they had decided to go out? Her mother was a disaster chef not a master chef. ‘Erm...can you give me a second? I just want to fix my hair.’
‘Your hair looks great.’
‘And... I need the bathroom.’ She gave him a winning smile. ‘I’ll be five seconds.’
Audrey dashed into the bathroom and quickly typed a text to her mother. She waited thirty seconds for her to read the text but the message icon showed the text had been delivered but not read. She turned on one of the taps and with the cover of the running water called Sibella, but the message said the phone was either switched off or not in a mobile phone reception area.
Damn. Double damn.
How was she supposed to warn her mother if she didn’t turn on her phone?
There was a knock at the bathroom door. ‘Are you okay in there?’ Lucien said.
Audrey jumped off the closed toilet seat where she’d been sitting and pressed the flush button. She washed her hands because they were clammy with panic at the thought of her and Lucien running into her mother and Harlan. ‘I’m coming.’
She opened the door with a bright smile in place. ‘Sorry.’
Lucien’s gaze searched hers. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘Nothing’s wrong.’
He glided a finger down her cheek where she could feel a fire burning. ‘Are you sure you’re not sore?’
Audrey knew if she said she was there would be no more lovemaking tonight. He was too considerate a man to put his needs ahead of hers. But how else could she stop him from taking her out to dinner? ‘No, I’m not sore at all... I’m just not really very hungry.’ Just then her stomach gave the biggest growl, which sounded like a gurgling drain.
His gaze narrowed slightly. ‘Okay. But if you don’t mind, I’ll go out for a bit and have a look around for an hour or so. If you feel hungry later then just order something to the room.’
Panic was a giant claw tearing at Audrey’s stomach, even worse than the pain of her hunger. She couldn’t let him go out without her. She couldn’t risk it. ‘Erm... I’ve changed my mind. I am a bit hungry...and the fresh air will be nice.’
He held out his hand and she slipped hers into it. ‘Good. For a moment there you had me worried.’
‘Why? Because I turned down a meal?’
He studied her for a long moment, a small frown pulling at his brow. ‘Are you being completely honest with me, Audrey?’
Audrey tried to disguise a swallow but it felt as if she were swallowing a feather pillow. ‘Honest about what?’
His eyes were like searchlights and every pulsing second they held hers she felt her heart trip and flip. ‘You seem a little agitated.’
‘No, I’m not.’ She answered too quickly for it to be convincing.
He took both of her hands in his, holding them loosely but securely. ‘What’s troubling you, sweetheart? Is it being seen out in public with me now that we’ve made love? Is that it? You feel embarrassed?’
It was just the lifeline she needed. ‘What are we going to tell people about us? I mean, I know my mother already led the press to believe something is going on between us, but now that something is going on...well, what is going on? How will we describe it? A fling sounds a bit... I don’t know...a bit tacky...’
Lucien’s mouth firmed as if coming to a decision in his mind. ‘We’ll tell everyone we’re dating exclusively.’
Audrey mentally breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t want to be grouped with all the other women Lucien had had flings with in the past. She didn’t want to be just another name, just another face, just another body to show up in the press on his arm.
She wanted to be special.
&
nbsp; She wanted to be special because he made her feel special. His touch made her feel she was the only woman he wanted to make love to. She couldn’t imagine making love with anyone else now she had made love with him. He knew her body better than she knew it herself. He had drawn from it responses she hadn’t thought she was capable of experiencing. Her body was in love with him even if her mind refused to go there.
Was it pathetic of her to hope his body was a little bit in love with hers too?
The air was cool outside but not as cold as if the mistral wind St Remy was famous for were blowing. Lucien’s arm was around Audrey’s waist as they walked out of the hotel and, while one part of her was thrilled at being in his company, the other part was dreading the prospect of running into his father and her mother. She had checked her phone for any texts back from her mother but her text still appeared unread. She tried to relax because she could feel Lucien’s contemplative gaze on her from time to time.
There were several restaurants along the street their hotel was on and Audrey knew the one he was thinking of—the one her mother and Harlan frequented—was only a couple of streets away. She stopped in front of a quaint restaurant that had a sandwich board on the footpath with a menu of specials written on it. ‘This one looks good.’ She pointed to the sign. ‘Even with my shocking schoolgirl French I can see it has my favourite dessert.’
‘There are more restaurants further along this street. Don’t you want to check them out first before we make a decision?’
‘But I’m now starving and it will take ages to check out all the other restaurants.’
Lucien shook his head as if dealing with a small child whom he couldn’t resist indulging. ‘All right. Here it is.’
He led her inside and with perfect French he asked for a table for two. The waiter asked if they would prefer a table near the window or in a more private corner.
Tycoon's Forbidden Cinderella Page 11
