SMITTEN (Paris Après Minuit)

by Juliet Braddock

  They seemed to drive for miles, but the serenity between them never faltered. Even though she wore a blindfold, Nigel made it a point to reach out and touch her hand or pat her knee. A natural affection had already developed between them, and she couldn’t deny her feelings. Maybe some would call it a rebound, but this affair with Nigel just felt so different to her. She could dismiss the entire thing as a summer romance, but January wasn’t so sure that she was ready to do that once autumn arrived. Again, she wished she had more time, but she clung to these precious seconds with every bit of life in her soul.

  “Alright, I think it’s time to pull over for a second here and let you see again.”

  Again, he was so gentle as he eased his fingers into the knot to release it. When he told her to open her eyes, January nearly cried.

  Scrolling along both sides of the road, the lavender fields climbed the hills and rolled along the curves of the land. She couldn’t believe the absolute beauty before her eyes, and she had to open the window to allow that fragrant scent to drift into the car.

  “This is surreal!” she whispered as she turned to him. “I mean…I’ve seen lavender fields before, but this…”

  “Sometimes, I just drive out here to lose my thoughts for a little while,” he admitted. “It’s nice to share this with someone. But we’re not finished yet.”

  He knew the road well, commandeering every curve and hill on the landscape. Never had she felt so far away from everything in her crazy life.

  Nigel drove much slower now, reading into her absolute enchantment with the serene setting. He knew some of the farmers on this road, as he’d often trek from the manor house to pick up some local cheese and produce for his mother. That day, though, he only had January on his mind.

  She placed her hand over his on the wheel, and they shared a smile. This was already an exquisite afternoon. She couldn’t imagine what else he had in store for her. She closed her eyes for just a moment and drenched herself in all the good in her life. In the tranquil world they created together, nothing could ever be wrong.

  As he slowed the car to nearly a stop, Nigel caught her attention again. He turned to a dirt path with the forest looming around them. She wasn’t even sure the car could fit through the narrow passage.

  “Okay, Nigel, I’m curious now.” Adventure filled her soul as the thicket of trees enveloped the car within its folds. “What do you have on your mind?”

  “You shall see very soon,” he told her. “Very soon.”

  The canopy of foliage overhead almost made it seem like night had darkened the sky. January couldn’t imagine where the hell they were heading.

  Suddenly, she caught a flicker of light, and when they reached the edge of the woods, the bright afternoon sun nearly blinded her. Below them, hills of lavender grew in perfect paths for miles. In fact, she could see nothing but the baby-blue sky and the fields.

  “How did you ever find this spot?” January gasped.

  “In my wanderings.” Nigel parked the car, affording her the chance to appreciate his secret little place that he’d never shared with anyone else. “I was just driving around and decided to be daring one day not long after I moved to Avignon. It’s something to see, isn’t it?”

  “Nigel,” she whispered and leaned in close. “Thank you for bringing me here.”

  Their kiss was a lengthy one that continued to linger long after they separated. January had seen the world, but not quite the same way she saw it with Nigel. Inherently, he brought a sense of wonder to her weathered, habitual existence. He’d told her that she never ceased to surprise him, but January felt it was the other way around.

  “How about a picnic amongst the flowers?” he suggested.

  “A picnic?”

  He shifted gears while she continued to hold his hand and maneuvered the car down the slope into a well-hidden patch of flowering bushes. No one, he promised, would know they were there.

  “Technically, we’re trespassing,” she reminded him.

  “We’re fine,” he assured her. “I’ve come back here on my own, and I’ve never seen a soul.”

  “As long as the farmer doesn’t notice the tire tracks, we might be okay,” she said. “Dad always knew when someone who didn’t belong was on the property. And he knew the tracks of every vehicle our family owned. Down to the tractors.”

  “Not all farmers are, um, that obsessive, January.”

  “Are you talking smack on my Daddy?” she teased. “We don’t put up with that back in Kansas.”

  “Click your heels three times, Dorothy,” he said with a wink. “I hear that’ll take you back there.”

  “Oh, but I don’t wanna leave.” January touched her hand to the back of his neck to pull him close again. “And I can’t stop kissing you today.”

  “Must be the lavender…”

  Again, their lips met, and the heat escalated between them once more. Sensuality exuded from his affectionate moves, and as he worked her with his kisses, January fell deeper into the unintentional spell he cast upon her.

  “You stay right there for a minute. I have one more little surprise for you in the trunk.”

  When he opened her door, she noticed the picnic basket draped over his arm and the bouquet of flowers in his hand. Both had Clarissa’s stamp all over them, and January realized that’s why they had to stop by the manor house before they left.

  “I will make sure I thank your mother when I see her later,” January said as he helped her out of the car. “And thank you for thinking of this.”

  “I put the picnic basket together,” he told her. “She handled the flowers.”

  Nigel led her into the grassy space between the rows of bushes and laid out the tablecloth so that January could sit. She kicked off her shoes and basked in the sunshine.

  As he unpacked the basket, January peered inside. “Do I see condoms in there?” She just had to tease. “I know Mum didn’t put those in there.”

  “Given our track record, I decided to be presumptuous today.”

  Her eyes sparkled playfully. “You think all American women are easy, don’t you?”

  “I might be presumptuous, but I don’t stereotype,” he told her as he continued to plate the cheese and open the wine. “I can only say that the American woman with whom I am sharing a picnic lunch today does indeed enjoy the act of fornication.”

  “Fornication…” January fanned herself with her hand. “You proper English lads do turn me on.”

  Catching her quickly to him, he gave her a kiss on the lips. “Let’s be honest, January,” he said. “You like to fuck.”

  “Oh, my goodness!” she exclaimed in a stage whisper. “You said the eff-word!”

  “And you enjoyed it.”

  Before she knew it, Nigel had their entire spread laid out on the cloth, leaving enough room for them to sit beside each other. January felt so lazy as they sipped their wine, and she dropped her head down to use his lap as a pillow.

  The tendrils of her hair fluttered in the warm breeze, and his hands tickled over her face. These moments were truly what life was all about. They were sitting in France in the middle of a lavender field, eating cheese and grapes. If only every day could be so special, she thought. If only…

  “Can we pitch a tent and just stay here forever?” she wondered out loud.

  “If you know how to pitch a tent, I’m game.”

  “With four older brothers, of course, I do.”

  “I still can’t imagine growing up in such a big family,” Nigel reflected. “But it sounds like you had fun.”

  “We did.” In fact, she couldn’t wait to see them at the summer’s end.

  “Is that why you never had children?” he asked. “Because you came from a large family?”

  “Hey, I can still have kids,” she said with a playful swat to his arm. “It just hasn’t worked that way so far in my life. I was busy with my career. And then I met Etienne…”

  “He has two daughters, you said?”

 
; “Yeah, and a vasectomy to go with that,” she said. “I put my own dreams on hold because of him, although I’m not going to blame him. That was all my fault. I think I just stayed a little too long.”

  Finally, she felt as if she had started to figure out this whole mess.

  “Everything happens for a reason, or at least that’s what I try to tell myself,” Nigel said pensively. “Maybe he was a stepping stone to something else.”

  A stepping stone to you, she thought. “What about you? I’m sure you want at least one child.”

  “I always thought two was the perfect number. One to keep the other company.”

  “An heir and a spare.”

  “No, January, we’re not Royals,” he quipped. “I always wanted someone to pal around with on rainy days. It just seems sensible to have two.”

  “I agree,” she said. “Children need companionship. Not as much as I had, of course...”

  They continued to feed each other, touching and talking in between bites. There was no rush or hurry to the afternoon. They literally had nowhere to go but back to his cottage. January had grown so accustomed to the big cities of the world that she’d forgotten how delightful the calm of country living could be.

  “I didn’t expect to enjoy my time here, but after everything that happened—and without Charlotte—I just couldn’t see myself living in Paris,” Nigel admitted. “It took me a while to get used to Provence, but I like the people. I enjoy teaching. I have some great students. I clearly need to move away from my parents, but perhaps I’ll start thinking about finding a little place in town.”

  “And what about London?” she asked. “Have you ever considered returning?”

  “I’ve thought about it, but I grew up there,” he said. “It would be like you returning to Kansas. You left for a reason. I felt like I’d gotten everything I could out of the city. It was time to see more of the world.”

  “Oh, I get that.”

  “And I still don’t feel like I’ve seen everything I want to see yet…”

  “I think when you start to believe you have, you lose your sense of adventure,” January said. “My career has taken me so many places, but I still don’t feel like I’ve done everything I set out to do.”

  “And that’s what I like about you—that spontaneity.”

  “This trip was one of the most impulsive things I’ve ever done.”

  Nigel refilled her glass and sat back for a moment. “Really?”

  “Yeah, I kicked Etienne out, and then Xav showed up at my doorstep the next morning with reservations made.” January covered her mouth while she giggled. “And here we are…”

  Perhaps, Nigel should have worried that her break-up was so fresh, but he believed January when she said that she’d left Etienne—at least in spirit—long ago.

  “Here we are.” He tapped his glass to hers. “I’m so very glad you came.”

  “So am I…”

  Of course, they both spilled their wine all over the tablecloth as their arms wrapped around each other. The hot sun would dry it quick enough. Once she started kissing him, she just couldn’t stop, and she couldn’t promise that she could keep her clothes on either.

  As his hands began to roam, taking their course over her breasts and then passing over her thighs before he stopped to tickle her between the legs, she clung to him tightly. She was in the middle of a field in Provence, making love with a younger man, and she realized that many women could only dream of a moment like this one.

  January unbuttoned his shirt and pulled the tails from his waist. She needed to memorize every square inch of his skin—even the telling reminder of his scar—under the bright sunshine. A month from now, she wanted total recollection of every square inch of his body and of their time together.

  When she sat up in his lap to straddle his cock, he unbuttoned the back of her dress. His lips and tongue grazed over her neck, heating up her pale skin in the summer sun.

  And then he touched his forehead to hers. “What’s your fantasy right now?”

  She would have settled for a dry hump in the grass, but Nigel seemed ready for more. Caressing his cheek, she murmured against his lips, “Honestly, I’m thinking about making good old-fashioned love in the middle of a field of lavender.”

  Their noses bumped as Nigel shook his head. “No, really,” he pressed her. “What do you want me to do?”

  Her hands pulled his shirt away to reveal those strong shoulders. Kneading her fingers against the sinewy feel of his skin, she indulged in the tenderness of this moment. “I want you to make love to me,” she whispered. “I want you to just be Nigel. We can play later.”

  They both knew that time was running out fast. It was already Thursday, and Xavier had to get back to Paris on Saturday. If one could live an entire lifetime in two days, January planned to conquer that challenge.

  Nigel kissed away the shoulders of her dress, and then followed with the straps of her bra. He traced the tip of his tongue down the center of her breasts. All the while, she clutched his shoulders and swayed in his lap. The gentle nip of his teeth on the curve of her bosom elicited a serene purr that rolled from deep in her throat.

  When she tugged his shirt away, she didn’t notice his scar. This time, all her eyes caught was the sight of a man so wonderful inside and out that she couldn’t believe this day was actually happening.

  In turn, Nigel lifted her dress over her head, leaving her in just her bra and panties. He held her against his chest, and she found safety in his embrace. No, they didn’t need to practice his kink skills that afternoon. All she wanted was the assurance of his arms around her.

  But for their roaming hands that glided over each other’s bodies, they didn’t move from that position for quite a long time. The country air mingled with the fresh floral scents, soothing them both in the summer heat. It was simply about touching and seeking. They were in no rush to reach orgasm. January and Nigel were absolutely content just being together in this idyllic setting, clinging to every second they shared.

  “Another glass of wine?” he asked as he moved easily to retrieve their forgotten glasses.

  “Don’t mind if I do…”

  Nigel remained cautious of the fact that he had to drive, but he held the glass to her lips and tipped it slowly while she drank. Every drop heightened her senses as the fine Pinot Grigio trickled down her throat. She felt dazed and delighted.

  And then he claimed her lips in a kiss that was gentle yet so gripping that she could feel his emotion in every move of his mouth. Slowly, they eased down to the tablecloth, and Nigel managed to remove her bra along the way. He broke away only to peel away her panties and then returned for another lengthy exploration of her mouth.

  His hands wandered to her breasts to feel and pinch her taut nipples. She told him kink was the last thing on her mind, but Nigel gave her breasts a few quick spanks, knowing the reaction he could inspire. As he sat back to watch as her orgasm rippled through her body, January opened her legs to reveal her glistening lips under the strength of the sun, daring him to afford the same attention to her clit.

  “Oh, oh, ohhhhh…!” Her hands ripped at the tablecloth, sending his beautiful lunch all over the grass as she thrashed around. “I’m coming. I am fucking coming.”

  Then Nigel gave her clit a quick slap, sending excruciating shockwaves of delight throughout her nerves. However, he wasn’t finished with his tease. Clamping down, his fingers locked upon her breast and her clit, squeezing as she attempted to buck her hips against him.

  “Don’t stop, Nigel. Please, keep going…oh, fuck me!”

  His fingers continued to grip her most sensual spots while her cries echoed in the field. He thought that perhaps he should stop and calm her down—silence her—but he wanted to live in that moment. He wanted this afternoon to stick with her long after they packed up their picnic and returned to the manor house.

  “Fingers…inside me…” she demanded. “Oh, please…fingers…”

  Nigel
loved hearing her senseless babbling in the midst of passion, but he had another idea. He took her hand and wrapped it around his cock through his shorts, and January’s fingers went to work, rubbing and squeezing him through the linen while she continued to come.

  “Cock…” she whispered now.

  Fingers sliding along her clit, he asked, “You’re sure that’s what you want?”

  January decided that he’d make a great Daddy Dom, spoiling her and taking care with her every move. But she could address that suggestion at another time. At that moment, she just wanted him inside her.

  “Yes, please…”

  While he groused about the condom, Nigel did his due diligence. As he slipped inside her, generously filling her with one long thrust, he murmured, “You are absolutely ravishing…”

  “So, ravish me…”

  With the slight poke of his hips, he drove deeper into her, and as she tightened around him, Nigel closed his eyes and took a deep breath. January never short-changed on pleasure—not on her own, and not on his. Her slight moves and subtle touches drew him closer to his own satisfaction, all the while matching the tireless energy of his cock.

  When he looked down at January, with those big eyes and the black braid in her hair, the charge of their bond stilled him. After Charlotte, Nigel convinced himself that no other woman could take her place. Now, he relished the incomparable joy that January brought into his life.

  They scooted all over the grass, and she maneuvered herself to sit astride him. Jolts of pleasure sizzled between them, as her breasts bounced in the open air. So hard yet so tender, his cock swept her into a brazen whirl of need. They were trespassing. Fucking in their naked glory on private property. And January just didn’t care.

  His hands closed over her breasts again, pressing them together as he thumbed her nipples. Insatiable passion existed between them. Reciprocation alone didn’t satisfy. They still had so much to explore in their carnal journey together.

  The week passed too quickly. They only had hours remaining together. However, every second seemed more important than the last, and she couldn’t deny that he’d left her unabashedly smitten.