Nicolai moved behind her on his knees and hauled her tortured back against his chest. Rough fingers curled into her hair and urged her head back. He leaned over, his heavy breath heating the slick skin of her shoulder, and met her eyes in the mirror.
“Mine,” he hissed in her ear. His tongue swept, hot and wet, across her racing pulse as rapacious hands seized her body, clawing at her, claiming her.
She marveled at her reflection. A wild creature trapped in her lover’s embrace. Mussed hair. Flushed skin. Sated eyes. Parted lips. It was the reflection of the woman she had become.
The woman I was born to be.
“Master, lover, submissive, muse,” she muttered as every truth came into crisp focus.
She was Nicolai’s Beauty. He was her lover. Her creator. Her Master. Her body and soul fused through his arduous passion. Her spirit made indomitable through his love. Locked in his arms, she was finally free.
“Vous me faites si belle. Je t'aime, Maître.”
“I love you too,” he whispered against her nape. Then his lips curved into a wry smile. “But you just might be the end of me, Beauty mine.”
She couldn’t contain her laughter. “That’s the plan.”
He flipped her onto her back and pounced. Those smiling lips took hers.
There was nothing more to be said.
*****
Darion hung up the phone.
A heavy weight pressed on his conscience. He hated keeping secrets from Nicolai and Julianne deserved to know the truth. For a moment, he was tempted to dial Nicolai back and tell him everything, but he didn’t. Their ignorance left his options open if all did not go well at the Grand Ball. As much as he hoped he wouldn’t need those options, he feared that he would.
The last secret had to stay buried for now.
21
Indomitable
“Girl, you look hotter than blue blazes.”
Hannah touched Julianne’s shoulder, then yanked her fingers away as if she’d been burned.
Julianne wasn’t the best with American slang, but, hey y’all. She did look hot. Sheer ivory gossamer flowed over every inch of her body, yet left nothing to the imagination. A beaded rope twisted around her ribs beneath her breasts, crisscrossed over her torso and hung down over her front. It was the only part of the dress that wasn’t see-through and the tiny beaded thong underneath revealed more than it hid.
She liked sexy clothes, but a completely transparent gown was a stretch. Then again, she’d come a long way from the girl she’d been and this dress seemed to express that, maybe even shout it. She pictured herself modeling it for Nicolai and a knowing grin slipped across her face.
My shibari artist will love it.
“I’ll take it,” she said to the saleswoman helping them.
“A bargain at 5,000€,” Hannah declared, laughing.
The giggling friends left the boutique, carrying bags stuffed full of decadence, and headed for a salon where every inch would be polished and plucked. Julianne never bonded with a girlfriend as she had with Hannah. They were the same. Time with her was easy and unburdened. If Hannah wasn’t in love with George, she would introduce her to Jerard.
Maybe that would get Nicolai to lighten up about my best friend.
As they walked along the sidewalk, Hannah chimed in her Southern drawl, “You know, girlfriend, you owe me deets for helping you put together that sinful wardrobe.”
“Deets?”
“Details, silly. I want to know every detail about Nicolai’s reaction.” Hannah smiled with evil glee, the look a stark contrast to her childlike face. “Even better, you could video it for me.”
“Don’t you mean Nicolai and Jacques?” Julianne added coyly.
“No way. You’re going to the Bacchanal with both of them? How’d ya ever swing that?”
“It was simple. I told Nicolai what I wanted and he offered it to me.”
Well, it wasn’t actually that simple, but she didn’t have to tell Hannah that.
“Y’all are so selfish,” Hannah teased. “And soooo lucky. I want to hear everything and don’t even think about not telling me. Nicolai and Jacques. Good gracious. I hope you’re ready for that.” She clapped her hands and jumped up and down like a little girl.
“Oh, I’m ready, Hannah, more than ready. This weekend can’t get here fast enough.”
She must have blushed because Hannah added, “But seriously, Julianne, we could go back and buy the pink dress if you would be more comfortable in it. It was still pretty sexy.”
It was boring and she rejected it before she even put it on.
“Do you honestly think that after what I’ve been doing with Nicolai, I’m going to be embarrassed?” she asked, embarrassed that Hannah thought she would be.
Hannah turned to look at her. “And exactly what have you been doing with Nicolai, you naughty girl?” she cooed. “Has our sexy artist finally stopped babying you?”
Part of Julianne wanted to be angry, but Hannah didn’t mean offense. She was direct. Julianne could use a bit of that herself and her recent odyssey with Nicolai had certainly shown that he’d indeed been babying her.
When Nicolai said he was a dangerous man, in ways she didn’t understand, he wasn’t kidding. All of her fantasizing didn’t begin to match his decadence. She ached in all the right places and this was the first time in days that she wore clothes. Just thinking about the dirty things he did with her sent a shiver racing through her body.
“Oh. My. God. He has stopped babying you. Is it awesome? Is it fun? Do you love it?”
“It’s beyond words, Hannah. Nicolai is beyond words.” Julianne could hear the heat in her own voice.
Hannah smiled knowingly. “Ooohhh, you lucky girl. Still, it’s one thing to be all va-va-va-voom in private,” she said, wiggling her hips. “It’s quite another to do it in a room full of Doms.”
Hannah stopped abruptly as if she’d walked into an invisible pole. Then turned without a word and started running in the opposite direction.
“Where are you going?” Julianne called, chasing after her.
“Back to the boutique. I need a sexier dress. Like yours. Good Lord, what was I thinking? A room full of Doms!”
“Va-va-va-voom.” Julianne laughed out loud as she ran.
*****
Warm skin. Salt air. Coconut oil. Rustling palms.
Every sensation translated into the vibrant colors of summer. Bright blues. Orange reds. Sunny yellows. Even with closed eyes, the color exploded around her. It was so inspiring, Julianne almost couldn’t relax.
Almost.
She settled against the soft cushion on her chaise with a contented purr. She would paint those colors when she got home. For now, there were more urgent things to do.
Like sunbathing.
Le Belle Fleur was a paradise. A virtual palace of white marble set atop a picturesque hillside overlooking the Mediterranean. The villa was spectacular by itself, but its true beauty came from the tiers of layered gardens and terraces that surrounded it. Every vantage point offered a perfect vista for worshipping the sea. She knew Darion had impeccable taste, but the magical world he created here was beyond imagination. The fortune he obviously poured into his Monaco residence didn’t hurt either.
A man’s voice, as smooth and seductive as the ocean breeze, drifted into her ears. “And what do we have here?”
She rose up, lifting a hand block the glare, but the light blinded her to the speaker’s face. What she could see was a wild mane of glittering waves that floated on the air and fell over broad shoulders silhouetted by sunshine. She hadn’t expected company and couldn’t roll over without giving the blond stranger a nice peek at her bare breasts.
The man shifted his body out of the direct sun and…
Wow. Just wow.
A single look told her that he was part of the Order. Somewhere in their rulebook they must have required every male member to be museum-quality gorgeous. They were all gorgeous, but this golden Adonis topp
ed the list.
Tall, tan and pure male, those shimmering waves did nothing to detract from his potent masculinity. He had a high forehead, a square jaw and a wide mouth that curved up with a devilish grin to flash perfect white teeth. An effortless linen shirt hung open over the hard lines of his long torso. The chunky turquoise cross dangling around his neck looked out of place between those sinfully chiseled pecs. Faded jeans hugged him in all the right places and tapered down over well-worn cowboy boots.
She generally didn’t go for the cowboy type, but despite the long hair and casual clothes, this man bristled with intelligence and power and she definitely went for that.
“Je m’appelle Julianne. Mademoiselle Julianne Giroux,” she said as she checked him out.
“My, oh my. Nicolai’s Beauty. Come here, darlin’, and give us a kiss hello.”
A Southern accent similar to Hannah’s told her that this new friend was an American.
He peered at her through pale blue lenses that shielded his eyes, but did nothing to hide the playful sex in his gaze.
“Um, I’m not sure that I...” she waffled, not knowing how to respond to his obvious invitation.
They were alone at the far end of a lower terrace next to the horizon pool. Nicolai went for a ride on his motorcycle and left her with Darion who was working above them in his study. Jacques had yet to make an appearance.
“Don’t be shy, darlin’. I want to see all of you. She’s as pretty as they said. Isn’t she, boys?”
Only then did she notice the two gargantuans flanking the man speaking to her. One was fair, like the speaker, the other dark, but they were definitely not boys. They were a perfect contrasting pair of tattoos and muscle.
Darion’s voice echoing from the upper terrace rescued her. “For God’s sake, Sabin, you impolite philistine. Get up here and allow the girl some modesty.”
That deep, demanding voice made her jump, but seemed to have no effect on Sabin. He chuckled coolly without taking his eyes off her and called up, “Good to see you too, Darion, ya big joy kill.”
Everyone spoke to Darion with deference, but not Sabin. He seemed to delight in his irreverence, poking fun without a trace of intimidation. That cockiness was very sexy, but not at all surprising given who he was.
Can’t be a leader of the Order without a huge ego. And apparently not one, but two, bodyguards. Although, the third Lord of the Order looks lethal enough all by his lonesome.
As Sabin turned, he whispered in a silken drawl, “We’ll see ya inside, Ms. Julianne Giroux, but I still expect a proper kiss hello.”
She enjoyed the view of his tight ass in those jeans as he sauntered up the pathway. She quickly got up and retied the strings to her bikini top. The tiny swath of blazing red fabric barely covered her body, but it did hide the essentials. She slipped into her gold Jimmy Choos, fluffed her loose hair with her fingers and headed for the stairs. This was going to be fun. She knew she looked good and really wasn’t all that modest.
At the top, she found a very grim looking group. The four men were huddled together under the portico talking in hushed voices. They didn’t hear her approach. Months spent in bare feet assured that her heels would never clack again, even on marble stairs. Nicolai’s punishment had been a particularly effective torture for the shoe maniac she was. But he’s more than made up for it, she thought glancing down at his latest gift on her feet.
She stepped onto the veranda and listened. Darion was speaking to Sabin and his hulking companions in a serious voice and she only caught the end of his sentence.
“...concerned for her safety. He will expect Nicolai’s vigilance, but not yours. I appreciate your help keeping an eye on her while I focus on Xavier.”
Sabin’s posture was more serious than Darion’s voice. “Of course, Darion. My boys were trained by Uncle Sam’s finest. Nothing will slip past them. Not even that shifty bastard.”
Are they talking about me and Xavier? She knew Nicolai was anxious about her first meeting with him. Whenever she asked about the man, all Nicolai would say was, “Xavier is very powerful and that makes him very dangerous.” As if that explained anything.
When she suggested that Lianne’s Xavier seemed loving and protective, Nicolai snapped, “You understand nothing about men like Xavier Talbot. When you meet him, you are not to speak to him unless I explicitly allow it and only in my presence. Do you understand?”
Not really, but she understood Nicolai. He wasn’t planning to allow it. What he didn’t understand was that she would speak to Xavier. With or without his consent. She wasn’t a little girl anymore and he couldn’t treat her like one.
Xavier Talbot could do the one thing no one else could. He could introduce her to the real Lianne, the mother she longed to understand, even more since reading her journal. These men would side with Nicolai if she asked them about Xavier, so she wouldn’t bother. She would wait for her opportunity and talk to Xavier directly.
She didn’t think she’d made a sound, but Sabin pivoted on his boots and strolled toward her with a deceptively easy smile. He ate up the distance between them with a few long strides and towered over her, even in the stilettos.
She instinctively backed up and almost toppled down the steps. Fingers, long enough to encircle her entire waist, tugged her against his hard body before she fell.
“Sweet Jesus, you are just gorgeous, little lady.”
She looked to Darion.
So did Sabin.
The two mammoths watched with blank expressions.
When Darion nodded, Sabin grinned, all grace and lazy Southern charm, “Green light,” and laid his lips over her mouth.
The man was rugged and strong, but still seductively smooth. Soft hair tickled her upturned face, the warm metal of his belt buckle pressed against her belly and a velvet tongue slipped into her mouth. If sunshine had a taste, this was it. Her body instantly responded to the refined wildness in him and melted with the heat of his kiss.
“Now that’s more like it,” he said, pressing his forehead against hers and flashing a megawatt smile.
When a man like Sabin smiles at you, you smile back. Even if you’re in the arms of a stranger, while three other men watch you, in a barely-there bikini, high above the Mediterranean Sea and your boyfriend is nowhere to be seen. She forgot all about the foreboding conversation and kissed him again.
“I leave her alone for one hour and look what happens,” Nicolai said as he strolled onto the terrace and set his helmet on a table.
“Your loss,” Sabin mumbled without breaking contact with her lips.
Darion laughed, “Don’t even suggest that seeing her like that doesn’t flip your switch.”
“You know it does.” Nicolai moved in to peck her cheek. “Having fun, I see,” he whispered.
Her cheeks burned.
“That’s just adorable,” Sabin said, running a finger over her blushing face.
Now everyone laughed. Even the tattoos.
Sabin reached out to shake Nicolai’s hand and the two men exchanged a few pleasant words, acting as if it was completely normal to find your lover in the arms of another man.
“Pardon me. Lunch is served.”
The group moved as one toward the portico. But not Julianne. She started shaking. If she took a step, she would fall down.
Nicolai turned and extended his hand. He didn’t look angry, but she couldn’t hold back the babbling. “Sabin insisted. Darion said, well, he nodded, and I, I...”
“Stop.” He looked her straight in the eye. “You wanted to kiss Sabin. True?”
She wanted to deny it, but that would be a lie. “Yes, but...”
“No buts. I left you with Darion. Sabin knows the rules.” Nicolai smiled a patient smile. “There’s a reason we all belong to the Order, Beauty. That kind of shit happens all the time because we like it.”
He leaned in to kiss her and this time it wasn’t a peck. He kissed her until her bones melted, her nails dug into his scalp and her body underst
ood that she could kiss one thousand men and she would always belong to no one but Nicolai.
His voice dropped with his kiss. “But never without permission, my love.”
As he suckled her nape, knuckles trailed along the flat of her stomach and skimmed her mound. She knew what was coming, but the doors to the terrace stood wide open. Her hands pressed to Nicolai’s chest in a vain attempt to hold him off.
Nicolai chuckled under his breath, “These are mine alone. When I want. How I want. Where I want.”
There was no point fighting Nicolai and who would want to anyway? Her palms flattened over his pecs, slid up his neck and curled into his hair. He swallowed her cries of pleasure as he fingered her to orgasm through that itsy-bitsy red swimsuit. Right there, in the middle of Darion’s terrace, with the midday sun beating down on them and the sound of male voices echoing close by.
When he pulled back, those decadent fingers lifted her chin. “Believe me, Beauty mine. I understand exactly how you feel about me. Seeing you with Sabin only makes me more excited about our night.” He let his lips roam her face and whispered, “Although, I doubt Jacques will stop with your lips.”
Her wolf loved dark games and the one they planned for tonight promised to be the most sublime yet. It was the culmination of every naughty thing they’d done so far and the anticipation made her ache. She wanted it so badly.
Nicolai obviously felt her excitement. His hands pressed more firmly against her sun-warmed skin, not just touching, rather taking her body against his. She ground against his arousal.
“That’s it, Beauty mine. Let your imagination go. Yearn for it. Think about everything I’ve described and yearn for it. I promise. You will not be disappointed.”
He released her, turning without another word, and walked into the villa. She practically crawled behind him.
Dealing with a few overprotective men was definitely worth it. Life in the Order was fun.
Fun. Fun. Fun.
Julianne slipped away to change out of her wet swimsuit before rejoining the others for the afternoon meal. When she entered the dining room, the men stood. She was wearing a white sundress that Hannah helped her pick out. It was more sun than dress.
Masterpiece (The Masters of The Order Book 1) Page 30
