by Jillian Neal
Adeline’s mouth fell open as they made their approach to the swanky entrance of the Ritz Paris.
“Logan I’ve never…” She trembled and shook her head as she stared up at the grand entrance. Logan grimaced. He’d already shared his worries with how Adeline might react to just a few of the things they’d chosen to do to treat the girls. “Logan, I’ve never even stayed in a hotel.” Tears sprang to her eyes.
“Hey, ok.” Logan stopped in the middle of the busy sidewalk and wrapped Adeline up in an all-encompassing embrace. Rainer and Emily tried not to listen but overheard Logan’s soothing words.
“Listen to me, baby. It’s just a room with a bathroom. It’ll just be me and you ok. So, the scariest thing in there will probably be my snoring.” That elicited a small grin and a giggle.
“You don’t snore.” She huffed as terror continued to play in her eyes as she glanced back at the posh hotel. Logan kissed her forehead sweetly, and Rainer watched as the motion soothed Adeline’s soul. Her eyes closed as she reveled in his kiss and in the energy he spun around her. In that moment, Rainer knew that he was in midst of true love, the kind of love that was going to last for the next seventy years or more, if they were incredibly lucky. It was the kind of love that knew no depths and no bounds. The kind he shared with Emily.
“Let’s just go see the room, if you don’t like it I’ll take you somewhere else, ok?” Logan negotiated carefully. With a slight nod, Adeline clung to Logan’s arm as he eased her inside the hotel.
“Wow.” Emily gasped in awe as she took in baroque décor, dripping with ruffles and overstated moldings that hung around enlarged portraits of royalty, all over a century old. Her eyes goggled as they passed a restaurant salon in the hotel filled with silver tea sets and snack trays holding delicate noshes all intricately decorated.
“We're having tea there tomorrow.” Rainer whispered and was thrilled as her mouth fell open in astonishment. They moved towards the mahogany desk, with inlaid gold and Carrera marble, used for checking in. Rainer smiled at the attendant working and told her he'd made reservations. He gave his and Logan’s names for the rooms.
“I don’t know how to have tea.” Rainer heard Adeline’s terror filled whisper.
“Ok,” Logan rubbed her back soothingly. “I’ve never really had formal tea either, but no one’s going to grade us on it, sweetheart. It’ll be the four of us, so if you forget to put your napkin in your lap, or you eat with your fingers, no one’s going to care.” He whispered. He was trying desperately to allay her fears. “Just relax, baby. I want you to have a good time. No one cares who we are or what we do, for once.”
The fact that no one in the vast and overstated hotel lobby had turned a head or batted an eyelash when the four of them walked in did seem to put her at ease.
The bellman appeared and relieved Logan and Rainer of the luggage. He asked if they spoke French. Adeline had taken six years of Latin at the Academy as a Valetudo Predilect, and she’d taken French her last four years. This was substantially more than the two years Rainer, Emily, and Logan had taken to fulfill their foreign language requirements.
“Un peu. Nous parlons anglais.” Adeline offered in a hesitant tone. Logan stared at her in awe as the bellman replied.
“Estes-vous de l’Amerique?”
“Oui,” Adeline sounded slightly more confident.
“Well, I do hope you enjoy Paris, Miss….” The bellman smiled kindly at Adeline.
“Oh… uh… Parker, Adeline Parker.” She blushed slightly.
The bellman exited the elevator on the twelfth floor and gestured for everyone to follow him.
“Well, Mademoiselle Parker, Adeline Parker, here is your suite.” He issued them down several corridors to a back corner of the hotel where two suites were situated across a small hallway from one another.
“Our room.” Logan huffed to the bellman. Rainer chuckled as he tipped the bellman and issued Emily into their suite.
“Wow!” Emily breathed as she spun to take it all in. Rainer quickly took the key the bellman was offering, after he’d placed their luggage in the room.
He informed them in English that there would be live entertainment in the bar that evening and that the pool was on the third floor. He exited and left Rainer and Emily to goggle over the ornate room.
Rainer watched Emily as she walked around. She gently caressed the silk bedding and the irises and lilies that were in vases set around the tables. Rainer chuckled. She couldn't seem to believe where she was.
“Rainer, this is just, wow!” She smiled sheepishly. As Rainer thought the room was really over the top with the large gold bustle that hung over the bed, several candled chandeliers, and with every wall dripping with moldings, inlaid with floral wallpaper, he studied her closely. He took in the columns that stood around the area and against the walls for grandeur alone.
Emily felt out of place. She looked almost afraid to be where they were. He moved to her quickly and wrapped his arms around her.
“I kind of think it's a little much, actually.” He soothed and felt her relax. She smiled up at him and nodded.
“I'm so glad you said that.” The breath she'd been holding hissed from her lungs. “I still can't believe I'm here. I mean everything is just amazing. This is the biggest bed I've ever seen.” She flitted out from under his arms and went to admire the bathroom.
“Wow!” Her voice echoed off of the tiled floor. Rainer chuckled and went to see what had amazed her so thoroughly. The bathroom was very large and everything was tiled. The over sized tub was the approximate size of a small swimming pool and twice as large as the tub they’d played in at the Gansevoort Hotel, when they’d visited New York.
It made Rainer think of several interesting things that could be done in the tub. With a heavy smirk, he asked if she might like a bath later. She giggled and nodded. Her eyes danced with light and love as she bit her lip in intrigue. His heart swelled.
She ran her hands over the two marble sinks and then a lowered countertop with a stool for applying make-up. Suddenly, she stopped and threw her arms around him. She kissed his cheek sweetly.
“Thank you! I cannot believe you did all of this for me.” Rainer let his hands travel down her back and then used her backside to pull her closer as he stared at her adoringly.
“I would do anything for you, Em.” He wanted desperately for her to understand how very much she meant to him and how very much he loved her. She beamed up at him and nodded.
“I know. I can't believe how lucky I am.”
As he leaned his head down, Rainer lifted her chin tenderly with his hand and breathed a hesitant kiss across her lips. He felt her tremble slightly in his arms. He kissed her sweetly and then as hunger began to course through his veins he added to the intensity. He reveled in her desire as it began to spin heatedly around him.
“We don’t have to be at the tower until five.” He continued to run his hands over her body. “So, would you like to go wedding gown shopping now or do you want to explore the city with me today and shop with Adeline tomorrow?” Rainer secretly hoped that she might want to crawl in the gigantic bed and let him have his way with her delicious body. He shut that thought down quickly. He wanted her to do whatever she wanted, and he chastised himself for wanting to keep her holed up in their hotel room when he’d brought her to Paris. Logan and Adeline were sure to come looking for them soon. He continued to amend his thoughts.
With a lusciously naughty grin, Emily sassed: “Well, do we have time to try out the humongous bed before dinner, Mr. Lawson?” After giving her a shuddering growl, Rainer tried to think straight, which was a very difficult task when she was furthering her proposition by taking his hand and pulling him towards the bed.
“Em, if you want to hang out with me this afternoon, then Brooke gave me some great ideas of stuff to do, but Logan and Adeline are going to be banging on that door in a few minutes, baby. Let’s wait.” He forced the words out of his mouth, but she could tell his resolve wa
s weak.
With a hungry glint in her eye, she reached her destination, spun, and pushed him down.
“We should go out and see the city.” He whimpered as she began to unbuckle his belt. With a quick move, she unzipped his trousers and tugged them downward.
“Then I'll be quick.” She murmured seductively as she began to lave him with her tongue. He gasped for breath as the room began to spin. He knew he should stop her. It took him several long minutes to cast around in his mind as he tried to remember why he should make her stop. The feeling of her tongue caressing him, her long soft hair sweeping across him, her mouth around his head was too good. It was just too intoxicating. He couldn't seem to find his resolve.
“Em,” he finally choked and pulled away.
“Let's just wait, ok? Please,” he begged.
“Fine,” she mocked. She had let him guide her mouth off of him, but she'd replaced it with her hands. She traced him gently and then with slightly more force slowly driving him out of his mind. He grasped her hands firmly lest he throw her on the bed and have his way with her.
“Let's just get ready for dinner, and then when we get back we can make full use of this room.”
“Are you turning me down?” She feigned insult. He whimpered and shook his head.
“You understand that I am using every ounce of restraint I have in me not to rip your clothes off and throw you on this bed, right?” He asked only half joking. She giggled.
“Well, all right I guess, but you have to make it up to me tonight, and I'm charging interest, Mr. Lawson.” His eyes flashed as a groan escaped his chest. It thoroughly delighted her.
“I'll look forward to paying it in ample return. Believe me! In fact that's all I'll be able to think about at dinner.” He shook his head at her as she grinned naughtily and waggled her eyebrows at him.
Just as he'd suspected, there was a knock on their door, a few minutes later. He cocked his jaw to the side, while she touched up her make-up in the bathroom.
“See,” he chided. “Wouldn't that have been interesting for your brother to be pounding on the door, while we were making use of the bed.”
Never willing to admit that he'd been right, she smirked.
“It would've been just like being at home.” Rainer doubled over in laughter as he nodded his defeat and went to let Logan and Adeline in to their room.
“Wow, yours is all different!” Adeline took in Rainer and Emily’s suite. Emily emerged from the bathroom beaming.
“Yeah, I think they all are. Come on. I want to see yours.” With that, she grabbed Adeline’s hands and dragged her back to she and Logan’s suite.
“She ok?” Rainer whispered as soon as the girls were out of earshot.
“Kind of.” Logan hemmed hesitantly. “I told you this was going to be tough for her. I mean, she’s never done anything, and this is kind of huge.” Rainer nodded his agreement and tried to think of something to ease Adeline’s deep fears of inadequacy.
“We don’t have to stay here.”
“No,” Logan shook his head. “I want her to get used to staying places like this. I mean, she deserves this and so much more. I just can’t seem to get her to relax and let me take care of her.” He lamented solemnly. Rainer clenched his jaw and refused to say the dozen or so dirty comments that flooded through his brain at that moment. He reminded himself that he and Logan were no longer teenagers, and that Logan had dug deep to confess something like that to Rainer.
“Well, why don’t we take them out? Let them walk around and get a feel for the city. We could show them how to get to the Champs, use the Metro, all of that. Maybe she’ll relax after she knows more about where we are.” Rainer offered. Logan gave Rainer a genuine smile.
“Thanks man I really appreciate that. You’re the best.”
“That is just what Emily was saying last night.” Rainer goaded egotistically. That comment he was unable to keep to himself. Logan laughed and rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, well, what else can she say? She doesn’t have anything to compare you to. She’s just stuck with your tiny junk and substandard performances.” He mocked as he slid the tip of his tongue through his teeth in laughing triumph.
“Can it, man.” Rainer huffed in the customary way they’d always ended sessions of ragging on one another. The girls returned to Rainer and Emily’s suite a moment later.
“So, shall we go explore?” He urged as Logan gave Adeline a hopeful glance. The girls agreed and after unpacking they all headed out into the teaming, cobblestoned streets of Paris.
After indulging in Macaroons from a patisserie that tasted like heaven, they window-shopped and walked the banks of the Seine. Around four, they headed back to the Ritz and got ready to head out to dinner at the Eiffel Tower.
Emily was ecstatic as she pulled on a black skirt, with a low cut, hunter green blouse, and black high-heels. Rainer let a low whistle slide between his teeth as she exited the bathroom.
“You think this is ok?” Emily quizzed nervously. A slight chuckle escaped Rainer’s lips as he took her hand.
“I don’t know. Let me see.” Emily’s case of nerves was worse than he’d originally calculated as she moved to him. She hesitantly glanced down at her outfit.
“You look phenomenal, baby. I just wanted to see how to get it off of you.” He traced his index finger down the zipper of her skirt and up the center of her backside to illustrate his point.
She giggled deliciously as she shook her head at him, but the naughty glint in her eye had him aching as he released her hand and she walked away to pick up her purse. She illustrated how the tight black skirt hugged her gorgeous hips. She checked herself in the mirror on the dresser once more and drew a steadying breath.
“Ok, I think I’m ready.” She seemed to steel herself.
“We’re just having dinner, baby. Not facing a firing squad.” Rainer retied his tie. He didn’t want her nerves about where they were eating to intrude on her evening.
“I know, but it’s here, and in the Eiffel Tower, and….” She bit her lip again. “I don’t know. I’m just a little nervous, I guess.” With a wry grin, Rainer pulled her close.
“I happen to have just the cure for nerves.” He flirted shamelessly.
“Do you?”
“I do.”
“And what might that be, Mr. Lawson?”
He held her eyes with his own, for a long drawn minute. He let the passion and electricity arc heatedly between them just before he devoured her mouth. He let his hands trace over the deep, v-neck line of the silk blouse and then grasped her breasts. He lamented the fact that they were bound in her bra. His mind spun instantly to her mouth on him earlier, to the way it felt for her to lick and suck him, and for her hair to graze his thighs. He halted the kiss before he began to pant and beg her to stay in the hotel room with him and for him to eat his dinner off of her.
“I do feel better.” She teased in a sweet whisper. Rainer couldn’t quite hide his hungry smirk.
“Just wait ‘til we get back here, baby. I plan to make you feel deliriously happy.” While laughing at him outright, she grabbed her wrap and slung her purse over her arm.
“Well, I look forward to that, Mr. Lawson, and I’m so glad that you do actually live up to all of your macho bragging.” They laughed together as they exited the room and waited on Logan and Adeline to arrive in the lobby.
“So, we’re having tea there tomorrow?” Emily was wide-eyed once again as they past by the opulent tea parlor, in the lobby of the Ritz. Rainer smiled as Logan and Adeline joined them a moment later.
“Yep, that’s the deal. You two can shop to your heart’s content everyday we’re here, but at four o’clock you have to hang out with us again.” He teased.
“Yeah, we have these grand delusions that you like us more than you like each other.” Logan quipped.
Everyone laughed as they headed through the teaming lights of Paris by twilight. Rainer had to admit it was beautiful. The architecture and the c
ity itself seemed to hold its secrets over the people dashing about. It was a few blocks from the Ritz to the Eiffel Tower; so, he wrapped his arm protectively over Emily’s shoulders as they all studied the ancient buildings they were passing by.
High In The Tower
As they neared the tower, there were several crowds of people milling about. Rainer led them to the entrance for the private elevator that would take them to the restaurant Will had recommended.
He gave his name to the maître d’ whom, Rainer noted, spoke perfect English. They were lead to a table for four in the back corner. It had a spectacular view of the city, obscured only slightly by the steal frames of the tower itself.
“This is amazing.” Emily whispered as she brushed a tender kiss across Rainer’s jaw. After pulling out her chair for her, Rainer turned and was taken by the views the table afforded them. As this was a decidedly touristy thing to do, the people seated nearby were speaking many varied languages, several of them English.
They began glancing over the menu with Adeline translating for them as they each had questions. A waiter approached carrying a bottle of wine and asked in French if they'd rather he speak English. They all nodded, and he continued smoothly.
“Would you like to try the wine the chef has selected for this evening’s meal?” Rainer raised his eyebrows at Emily to see if she'd like a glass. She nodded. Rainer ordered a bottle for the table and began studying the people seated around him.
As they sipped the wine, they began listening to Emily and Adeline plan what stores they wanted to go to the next day. Rainer continued to glance around. He had the distinct impression that someone was watching him. He didn't see anyone he recognized and didn't meet any curious stares.
Rainer didn’t want anything to ruin this night. There was magic in the air that evening and a luscious fire was just beginning its embered glow in Emily’s eyes. With a shrug, he told himself that he'd been mistaken and began talking with everyone before the waiter returned to take their orders.