A Red Hot Christmas Paris
By
Kindle Edition
Version: 1
ASIN: B01LBH23IM
Copyright © 2016
All Rights Reserved Worldwide
Any unauthorised reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organisations and places or events, are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
I am a British author and write in British English
Image Copyright © 2016
Editing by Karen J & Jasmine Z
Cover Art by Kellie Dennis at www.bookcoverbydesign.co.uk
Book content pictures purchased from Adobe Stock, iStock and Shutterstock
Foreword
A Red Hot Christmas – Paris features fan favourites Lulu and Luc from The Temptress, and Coco and Hunter from All That Glisters.
While this festive, erotic romance novella can be read as a standalone, as it contains scenes towards the end of their stories that weren’t included in their novels, for the best reading experience it’s recommended that you read The Temptress & All That Glisters first.
I will be releasing one novella from the Red Hot Christmas series each December for the foreseeable future. Each one will take place in a different city and feature two pairs of linked characters from previous novels.
www.cjfallowfield.co.uk
31 Days Trilogy Box Set
31 Days of Winter – 31 Days of Summer – 31 Days of Autumn
A Red Hot Christmas
Paris
All That Glisters
Destined (The Austin Series Prequel)
For the Night Series Complete Box Set
Strangers for the Night – Virgin for the Night – Filthy for the Night – Ménage for the Night – Sophisticated for the Night – Biker for the Night – Dominant for the Night – Actor for the Night
The Austin Series Box Set (Books 1-3)
New Leaves, No Strings – Baggage & Buttons – Forever & an Engine
The Austin Series Box Set (Books 4-6)
The Honeymoon Period – Love & Loss – Infinite Love
The Domville Complete Box Set
The Domville 1 – 8
The Temptress
Torn
I also write romantic comedy novels under the pen name Charlotte Fallowfield.
www.charlottefallowfield.co.uk
Until We Collide
Never The Bride
Dedication
The Red Hot Christmas series is dedicated to lovers of all things festive, especially when combined with romance and passion with the alpha male of their dreams.
With each annual novella, I’ll be taking you to some of the most romantic and exciting cities in the world, with a different pairing of my existing fan-favourite couples.
I hope that they add a little extra spice to your Christmas stockings!
CJ x
Table of Contents
A Red Hot Christmas
Foreword
Dedication
Table of Contents
Paris Bound
The Paris Domville
Le Grand Style
The Donovan Position
Joyeux Noël
Coming Soon
Newsletter
Other Titles by C.J. Fallowfield
Charlotte Fallowfield
Paris Bound
Lulu
A Thursday in late December
‘MON DIEU,’ LUC EXCLAIMED with a serious, and incredibly hot, frown as he went to lift my suitcase.
‘What?’ I asked as I paused with my hand on our bedroom door handle. I wondered if I’d ever tire of hearing his sexy French accent. The things it did to my body were heavenly.
‘We are going to Paris for only four days and nights. Just how many clothes have you packed?’ he demanded, releasing the handle and putting his hands on his slim hips. I licked my lower lip as I studied him. My husband was all man. All tall, dark, and handsome Frenchman. He was dressed in a pair of indigo blue jeans, with a light blue shirt rolled at the sleeves, showing off that dusting of dark forearm hair I found so incredibly sexy, and a pair of his custom-made brown leather brogues. I could just stand here and stare at him all day.
‘Hmmmm?’ I murmured, not entirely sure what he’d just asked me, too distracted by the sight of him and the thoughts of what this long weekend away would hold.
‘Lulu, ma belle,’ he chuckled, his glossy dark brown eyes sparkling with amusement as he read the look in my eyes and on my face. ‘We don’t have time for that. David is waiting downstairs for us. We promised Coco and Hunter we would be on the tarmac at seven p.m.’
‘You’d better be right about The Domville’s walls having soundproofing, as you know how vocal I’m going to be when I finally get you into bed.’ I pouted and he laughed, making short work of the few strides towards me to circle my waist and pull me against his hard, muscular, toned-to-perfection body.
‘Who said we have to wait until we make it to The Domville?’ he whispered seductively as he caressed my neck with his lips, forcing an involuntary soft moan to leave mine. ‘I asked for the limo to take us to the airport.’
‘Limo sex? Oh yes.’ I nuzzled into his neck breathing in his intoxicating scent, feeling my core clench at the thought of it.
‘Then the sooner I carry this ridiculously oversized suitcase of yours down, the sooner I can make that happen for you, ma belle,’ he uttered throatily as I held onto his powerful biceps. ‘Come, Mrs. Le Grand, let us get going, for I am as impatient to be inside you as you are to have me there.’
‘I am, you know, impatient, always,’ I breathed into his ear. He chuckled and nipped my earlobe, then let me go and strode over to effortlessly lift up the case that he’d been moaning about only seconds before.
‘As am I. You have five minutes to say goodbye to our children again, Lulu. Don’t make me come back inside and carry you out of the house, ma belle,’ he warned sternly. Only the adoring look on his face belied his tone. I’d hit the jackpot when I met Luc in that club in Paris. Or rather when he’d seen and pursued me, relentlessly. He was the epitome of a dominant alpha male, yet he still had a soft and sensitive side that he only shared with me and our children. I loved that he still called me “ma belle,” French for my beauty. It had been his nickname for me from the moment we first met. I watched his pert and toned backside as he strode out of our bedroom, then nearly swooned as he threw a wink over his shoulder. ‘Five minutes. No more,’ he added. ‘I am not a man who likes to be kept waiting, and it is impolite to force a delay on our friends.’
I grabbed my handbag and hurried after him, down the sweeping mahogany staircase to the first floor, where our children’s bedrooms, as well as our nanny Claire’s and one of the guest rooms, were situated. Luc had purchased the most handsome double-fronted, Georgian country manor house. It was the perfect home for us here, out in the countryside. I didn’t miss living in London at all. While Luc carried on down to the ground floor, I knocked on Tristan’s door and headed inside to find him playing with his Lego on the floor, while Claire sat reading.
‘Mummy, I thought you’d already gone,’ he beamed, scrambling up and throwing himself at me. I lifted him up and hugged him tightly. He was getting so big now, even though he was only seven. I was sure he was going to be as tall as his father.
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‘I just wanted to say goodbye again. I’m going to miss you so much, darling.’ I pressed my cheek against his and warmed inside as he wrapped his arms around my neck and kissed it.
‘I’ll miss you too, Mummy. Promise you’ll be home for Christmas?’
‘Of course I will,’ I laughed. ‘Like I’d miss Christmas with my favourite boy in the whole wide world. We’re only away for four nights, darling.’ I felt him sigh and joined him. “Only four nights” made it sound like it wasn’t a big deal, but it was. I’d never been away from him for that long. Then there was little Lottie, my beautiful seven-month-old daughter. I had separation anxiety already and I hadn’t even left the house, let alone the country.
‘We’ll have so much fun playing, and going on our trip to the zoo to see Max the elephant, that time will fly and they’ll be back before you know it,’ coaxed Claire in a reassuring tone. I smiled gratefully at her over Tristan’s shoulder. She was more than capable of looking after them, I trusted her implicitly. I was sure they’d be fine, it was me I was worried about. But Luc worked so hard, he deserved this mini vacation, and to have all of my attention for once, instead of it being split between him, our children, and my business.
‘We’re going to see Max?’ Tristan exclaimed, some joy returning to his voice. He was elephant crazy, and our monthly trip to the zoo to visit his favourite elephant Max and his sister Donna was guaranteed to put a smile on his face, which in turn put one on mine.
‘You are, so you see, you’ll barely have time to miss me before we come home. We’ll be back the afternoon of Christmas Eve, so we can light a nice fire and all snuggle in with a delicious cheese fondue supper, and watch a festive film with hot chocolate and cookies.’ I kissed the side of his head and gave him another tight embrace before setting him down. ‘I’d better go, Daddy’s waiting for me downstairs. I’ll call you when I arrive, ok?’
‘Ok, Mummy,’ he sighed, ‘I love you.’
‘I love you too, darling, for the rest of my life and beyond,’ I uttered, full of emotion as I ruffled his dark hair and choked back some tears. Claire gave me a reassuring smile as she went to stand with him and put her arm around his shoulders while I headed to the door. I hesitated as I opened it and looked back. Tristan was clutching Eric, his favourite soft grey elephant, under his arm as Claire stood beside him, and I forced back the tears that were threatening to fall and gave him a wave, which he returned. It’s only four nights, Lulu Le Grand, I reminded myself as I shut the door and hurried across the landing to Lottie’s room. I knew they were probably going to be the longest four nights of my life, but I also knew that Luc would do everything in his power to take my mind off them both and make me happy. ‘Hello, darling,’ I whispered, as I gazed down at my adorable little girl, who lay sleeping on her tummy in her crib.
Tristan looked just like his father, with very dark hair and dark brown eyes, a few flecks of my eye colour in them. Lottie, however, was the spitting image of me, including having my rare amber eyes and rich, glossy, brown hair. Her little features were perfectly formed and I swore I’d never seen anything so beautiful in all of my life, not even the collection of precious diamond-set jewellery Luc would gift to me for special occasions. I gently swept a lock of hair off her forehead, then kissed my fingers and lay them on her cheek. She pursed her tiny lips, then smacked them as her little fists gripped the sheet below her more tightly as she stirred. I held my breath, not wanting to wake her for fear of her crying and breaking my heart even more than it was now from having to walk away from her. If Tristan had been proof of the passion Luc and I had shared for each other all those years ago, Lottie was the proof of our love since we’d been reunited. We’d barely been together a few months when I got pregnant with her, but everything with Luc happened at warp speed. And nothing had ever felt more right.
‘Lulu Le Grand!’
I grimaced as I heard his voice echo up the stairs. I’d obviously taken longer than my allotted five minutes.
‘Je t’aime, Lottie,’ I whispered, blinking back yet more tears at the thought of not seeing her for the next few days and nights. I felt so emotional to be leaving them. ‘Pour le reste de ma vie et au-delà.’ I finished the sentence I told my children every night, in French. Luc insisted that she hear it from the moment she was born, wanting her to be raised bi-lingual from an early age, instead of having to learn it the hard way, like Tristan and I had.
‘Lulu!’ The warning this time was full of impatience.
My husband ran a billion-pound financial investment firm, where a second’s delay could cost him or his clients hundreds of thousands of pounds. A lack of punctuality or timeliness was his pet peeve. I blew Lottie a final kiss and hurried out of her room, gently pulling the door behind me. I made it around to the top of the stairs just as Luc was beginning his ascent. The stern look on his face softened immediately when he saw the conflicting emotions on mine. On one hand, I was so looking forward to spending some quality time with him, without constant interruptions from work or an inquisitive Tristan’s stream of incessant questions, not to mention Lottie’s cries for comfort or a feed. On the other hand, I was dreading the ache I already felt at the thought of leaving them both blossoming into something unbearable.
‘I promise you I will do everything in my power to make you happy, even without them,’ he said solemnly as he gathered me in his arms when I reached him, his lips brushing across my hair.
‘I know you will. It’s just the first night I’ll spend away from Lottie, and the first time is always the hardest,’ I sniffed. ‘I promise that once I’ve wallowed, I’ll do everything in my power to be in the moment with you while we’re away. You deserve all of me, not just a part of me like normal.’
‘Lulu Le Grand!’ he admonished as he gripped my shoulders and pushed me away from him, holding me at arm’s length as his brown eyes locked onto my watery ones. ‘I will never begrudge our children taking priority in your life. The fact that you put their happiness before your own only makes me love you even more. You know my past, you know the pain it caused me to have no love in my life until I met you. But you need time for yourself, too. Time to remember that you aren’t just a doting mother, a talented businesswoman, or a devoted wife. You may be all of those things, but you are also a woman, with needs. The woman who only ten minutes ago looked at me like a starving tigress on heat. You are my woman, and I intend to remind you of that for the next four days. Forget your responsibilities and be selfish for once. Put your own needs first.’
‘And what about you? Don’t you deserve to be selfish, too?’ I replied, wiping a solitary tear that finally leeched out from my eye, touched at his words.
‘I spent most of my adult life putting myself and my needs first, until I met you. Then suddenly my life before seemed meaningless, empty and shallow. Looking after you and my children isn’t a burden, Lulu. It’s an honour and a privilege, one I will do to the best of my ability until I take my last breath.’
‘Are you ever at a loss for words?’ I exclaimed, as his words wrapped around my heart and squeezed tightly. ‘You always know exactly the right thing to say, to make me feel like the most special woman in the world.’
‘Because you are, ma belle. You make it easy. Come, we must leave now or we will be late, and you know how I hate tartiness.’
‘Tardiness,’ I giggled, correcting him as he laced his fingers through mine and pulled me towards the front door. He smiled at me over his shoulder.
‘Yes, that too.’ He pulled the front door behind us and hurried me down the huge grey flagstone steps and across the gravel to where David was standing, in his black suit and peaked cap, holding open the back door of the limo for us.
‘Morning, David.’ I gave him a warm smile. He’d been our driver for over a year, and was so good with Tristan.
‘Morning, Mrs. Le Grand. All set for your trip?’
‘I am now,’ I replied, quickly looking up to Tristan’s window to see him standing with Eric wrapp
ed in his arms, Claire standing next to him with her hand on his shoulder as they waved us goodbye. I took in a deep, shaky breath and blew him a kiss and waved back, Luc doing the same before he quickly bundled me into the back of the limo. Luc had slid in beside me and David had shut the door before I had a chance to linger and hold us up any more.
‘Four nights,’ Luc reminded me as he swivelled in his seat to clasp my face. ‘Four nights where I will do my best to make you forget how much you are missing them. I promised you a red hot Christmas, and I intend to deliver.’
‘How about you start with that incredibly dirty way you have with words,’ I breathed, as my eyes locked on his and I felt a delicious tingle, low in my belly, at the look of need in them.
‘For once I have no patience for words, ma belle,’ he growled. ‘My lips and tongue have other things prioritised. Take off all of your clothes, I want you naked and lying on the seat opposite, legs spread, immediately.’
‘Kiss me first,’ I ordered, my chest starting to rise and fall at the thought of what was to come. Luc raised one eyebrow in amusement.
‘You forget who is in charge here, but I will acquiesce, just this once,’ he chuckled, as the fingers of one hand curled around the back of my neck, the other firmly grasping my chin as he slanted his talented mouth over mine.
The heat of his breath sent a tingle skittering across my lips seconds before his crashed down onto mine. I gasped in surprise, never knowing what to expect from my husband. Some days he was in a domineering mood, others he teased me, occasionally he was tender and gentle, but today he was demanding and forceful, aggressive almost. He kissed me like we hadn’t kissed in days, like the world was about to end, like he could never satisfy his hunger for me. And I returned the kiss with equal ferocity. I’d spent so many years desperate to feel a fraction of what I had that first time I met, then lost, Luc, but no one had ever compared. He’d woken me like Sleeping Beauty, with just one kiss, when he fell back into my life unexpectedly, and I’d been living the fairy tale ever since. I never wanted it to end. I moaned as his fingers tightened possessively around my throat, his tongue plunging deeply into my mouth, sweeping around mine.
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