SMITTEN (Paris Après Minuit)

by Juliet Braddock

  Beside himself, Nigel literally wrestled his lips from hers. There was clearly only one thing to do to settle January down, and that was to punish her. Luckily, they found their room empty of hotel staff.

  From room to room, he carried her, circling around then moving on to the next door, bouncing January like a baby on his hip. He seemed to be searching for something, but Nigel couldn’t seem to find it.

  “Armchair…no, that won’t do. This mix of styles is mind-boggling…”

  Nigel’s senseless muttering continued until January finally gave him a kick with her foot to his ass. “Nigel, what the hell are you doing?”

  “First, thou shalt not kick me. Second…I am Maestro,” he corrected her. “And third…I am searching…” He stopped to adjust his arms around her. “…for a proper Naughty Chair.”

  “Oooh!” She wondered what else her punishment might entail. “Find me one! Find me one!”

  “Stop kicking me!”

  “Sorry,” she said.

  Suddenly, he plunked her down on the desk chair. “Here!” Once he stopped her from falling, he shook out his arms.

  “Oh, come on, I am not that heavy,” January insisted.

  Pointing his finger, he warned, “Don’t you move. Do you understand?”

  January opened her hand. “Can I just have my purse to…freshen up a little?”

  “No make-up,” he told her as he handed over her bag.

  Although she gave him a bit of a struggle, January loved this commanding Nigel, as he truly strived to fill that Dominant role in her life.

  “Thank you, Dommy.”

  “I am going to break you of that,” he said. “Right now, I have to go find something. I want you sitting right there, do you understand? I shall return shortly.”

  “Is that a threat or a promise?”

  “Consider it a bit of both.”

  With a mission on his mind, he backed out of the room, watching her all the while. Nigel had to admit to himself, though, this Domination thing was fun. Until January, he’d looked at sex as an equal partnership, but she opened his eyes to the art of being in charge.

  January really had no idea how much he’d been reading up on the subject of BDSM, sneaking in some serious studying between his check-ins at the stables and while she was in the shower. Just as she’d instructed, he avoided modern fiction, and he looked instead to actual blogs of people who engaged in the lifestyle.

  Somehow—some way—he had to prove to her that he was serious…and that he could be her Maestro.

  Admittedly, the paparazzi rattled him, but once he knew she was safe, he managed to take control again. Of course, he’d have to accustom himself to the notion that people recognized her. He’d already convinced himself that she was worth the effort. January enlivened his dreary world. Where he’d lost hope, she returned that thrill of anticipation to his life.

  Perhaps he still fumbled through her indulgence in kink, but he knew he could do this. He rather enjoyed this raunchy side of himself that January unleashed within his soul.

  Yes, she brought him back to the world of the living, and he embraced the exuberance he felt in her presence.

  And then, just as he tore open the door to the walk-in closet, Nigel cursed himself. Bloody hell, he was falling in love with January, and he just didn’t know what to do with his emotions.

  For the moment, he obviously had to shelve his feelings. First, he had to endure their separation, but he had to remain hopeful.

  Nigel knew that he could do this. He just had to sway her into his open arms and knock her completely off her feet.

  Lifting her trunk, he stomped back to January in the den where he’d left her. That sinking feeling scared him once again, but he had to chalk it all up to his own education.

  Whipping his head around the room, he took note that everything seemed to be in place, but January sat in her Naughty Chair with a smirk. He dropped the trunk with a thud at her feet and stood before her with his arms crossing his chest.

  “What did you do?” he asked.

  “I was a good little girl,” she shot back with a pout on her lips. “I’m sitting here in my Naughty Chair, just like you told me to do.”

  “Alright…just give me the key,” he ordered, waving his anxious fingers in front of her. When she didn’t respond, he tapped his foot with impatience. “Come on, January. Hand it over.”

  He desperately wanted a good look at what was hidden inside that trunk.

  “You have to find it,” she told him. “It’s somewhere in this room.”

  “Oh, that’s it. I am going completely Dommy on you tonight…” Tearing through the room, he opened and slammed drawers and got down on the floor and looked under the love seat.

  “You are so frigid right now that you’ll never find it if you remain in the Arctic Circle over there.”

  “Thanks for the warning,” he sputtered.

  There were a million crazy places that she could have stashed the damn key, but then he stopped and looked at her. With the wink of her eye, he knew just what she’d done.

  “You planted it in an orifice?”

  “Are we back to those damn things again?”

  “Get up,” he barked as she stood from the chair and tried to kiss him. “No kisses for you, naughty girl…”

  “Just one?”

  In one swipe, he ripped her dress right down the back with his bare hands, splitting the zipper. He surprised and impressed himself with his own strength. Recovering quickly, he moved closer and lifted her skirt.

  “Damn, Dommy!” she shouted in delight. “You got this.”

  “Oh, I’m going to find that key. And you’re going to pay for it.”

  Pumping her fist, she grinned. “Yes!”

  Nigel gave a swift tug to her waistband. “Behave. And get the dress off.”

  Like a spoiled child who didn’t want to obey the rules of bedtime, she took the bunched linen skirt in her hands and pulled it over her head.

  As he retrieved the dress from the floor, Nigel shook it out.

  “You’re still cold,” she taunted him.

  “Just making sure that you didn’t lie to me,” he said. “You’re being awfully bratty tonight, and who knows what you might try?”

  One snap of his fingers behind her back released her bra clasp, and after he’d freed her breasts, he gave a good check between and beneath them.

  “Off with the panties,” he whispered through gritted teeth.

  “If you say so, Dommy.” January took her leisurely time to slip the silk down her hips. “You’re in charge here.”

  As she stepped out of her panties at last, his voice boomed again. “Turn around.”

  Just as he’d suspected, he found exactly what he was looking for, nestled between the cheeks of her ass. “Good to know your hiding spots,” he said as he retrieved the key. “Now, I’d like to see your toy collection.”

  Kneeling on his own wobbly legs, Nigel unlocked the trunk and lifted the lid with caution. He had no idea what he’d find inside. “Okay…ball gag…anal plug…blindfold…and…um…?”

  “How the hell did that get in there?” January exclaimed.

  “An electronic probe?” he questioned as if he’d misread the label. “My God, January—are you an alien?”

  With a shrug, she dismissed the shock-value. Xavier must have tucked her violet wand in the mix when she wasn’t looking. “What’s a little jolt of pleasure?”

  “Moving onward…” He dug in to find a small paddle. “Sit down and spread those legs.”

  The ring of her cell phone didn’t deter her concentration. Nigel wanted this, and she had to obey. She was sure that it was Xavier on the other line, inquiring about this leg of her journey. She could talk to him later.

  With her legs wide open, she watched his face as his gaze followed from her bare breasts down to the gleaming slit between her legs. January had been dripping with desire since the restaurant.

  Nigel still didn’t comprehend how
he made her feel, both emotionally and sexually. They didn’t need to undress to coax her arousal, and he always seemed to discover the most intense spots of skin to tease—at the inside of her wrist, the curve of her collarbone, the palm of her hand. He worked her so subtly, merely whispering over her tender flesh.

  Now, as she sat so bare and open before him, January held his eyes. His scintillating stare roaming over her body was a form of lovemaking. Her breath slowed as did her capacity to think clearly beyond her speculation of his next move. His tenderness eased her into this frenzy, and she just knew that a little tough love would shake her into a whirl of piercing pleasure.

  Raising his hand, he held her tiny leather paddle that was the exact size of a ruler and struck her clit. The slight surprise of pain brought her an overwhelming thrill. His second and third swats prompted her to grip the seat of her chair, but she could only spread her legs wider, as she waited for more.

  “January, shall we contin—”

  “Go!” she shouted. “Fucking just GO! Until I call a stoplight…”

  His hesitation paused their play for just a moment. Her lower lips were so plump and red, longing for him to propel her into the next round of sensation. Refusing her would be denying himself, and he’d already crossed that line of doubt.

  Steadily and evenly, he struck her repeatedly, while she wailed in exquisite ecstasy. Occasionally, he took the paddle to her nipples, engorging them with the sharp slap of the leather against her tender buds.

  Although her body tensed with her building orgasm, she found herself relaxing with the pleasure. Twisting her face, she twitched with every strike. One snap at her clit and then another to her nipple delivered such devious delight. So tender were her breasts that she felt the grueling agony of his taunting sweep her into complete submission.

  “Awful little whore…” His caustic words only pushed her deeper into subspace. She needed this dark release with him that filled every craving she’d ever known. “Bad little disobedient slut!”

  She didn’t hear the chuckle of self-surprise in his utterances. January focused solely on the fact that she’d misbehaved, and she relished every effort he put forth to please her. Now it was time for punishment by the one man who could melt her mind and body with the spark of his imagination.

  “So bad…” January muttered and winced with the flick of the paddle to her clit. Perhaps she should have stopped him, but the bliss was too intense to brush off. “Oh, I’m such a rotten submissive. Oh, fuck, I’m coming…”

  “I’m supposed to control you,” he insisted and continued his paddling. “You just can’t give yourself to me completely, can you, January?”

  There was a great deal of truth buried in this kinky play, but she had plunged so deeply that she could only focus on the swollen, sore center of her desire.

  Off in the distance, her damn phone rang again, but that time, January didn’t even hear it. Tighter, her fingers gripped the chair as she squirmed and slipped around. She was so wet with the nectar of her need. Only fucking him would satisfy her completely. For now, though, she just wanted more.

  “Bad girls…get spanked…and…fuck, that hurts, and I need more…”

  “It hurts you? How much, January? What if I stopped and made you wait?”

  At that moment, she realized his words had nothing to do with sex. They were both drowning in emotional turmoil. In play, they fortified their fears.

  “Just fuck me…” she called out to him. “Please, fuck me, Nigel.”

  His pants hit the floor just as quickly as the paddle fell from his hand. When he dropped to his knees, she grabbed his face for a kiss. Somehow, he struggled with the condom as their lips moved together.

  However, everything stopped when January tumbled to the floor with a thump.

  With a quick tap on her cheeks, Nigel panicked. “Oh, my goodness! Did you hurt your head?”

  “No. Please…I need you!” she shouted over the ring of her phone.

  “Who the hell is calling you?” he asked with exasperation. “Don’t they know I’m trying to have a proper romp with you?”

  “Fuck them! Fuck me, Nigel. Me, me, me…”

  Cock in one hand, he pushed the upturned chair aside and nearly knocked a lamp off the side table. He had to straighten up before the butler returned. Nigel certainly didn’t want her to be billed for damages.

  “So much for that punishment,” he grumbled. “I’m getting there…”

  As he plunged inside her, January’s orgasm continued to conquer her with each hard, even thrust. Their cries, she knew, carried throughout the massive suite, but she needed this union now more than ever.

  As he pulled her close for that thrilling skin-to-skin contact, her sore nipples smashed against his chest, reminding her again of how far he’d progressed in a matter of days with their play.

  And Nigel just couldn’t stop. In and out, he ravished her harder and faster with the force of his hips. Sweat broke out between them, allowing their sweltering bodies to move sinuously in union. January needed this pain, and he enjoyed giving it to her.

  However, being inside her wasn’t enough to satisfy him. Nigel needed her mind, body and soul.

  Pleasure built so quickly for Nigel that he nearly lost focus of her willing and writhing body beneath his. He’d never allowed himself to delve so deeply into his own needs. Now, he didn’t care if they both drowned in a sea of their own delight. Just the notion of being so close to someone brought him the justification for their affair.

  “Coming…now…” he shouted, and January moved quicker beneath him to capture every second of fulfillment that she could gather.

  “Harder, Dommy…harder. Oh, more!”

  Inside her, he erupted and with his release, he freed his soul at long last. Dammit, if he wasn’t going to work so hard these next few days with her to make her believe that this was right—for both of them.

  Their labored breaths came in quick bursts as they trembled in the wake of their climaxes. Always the gentleman, though, Nigel’s hands and lips made their way over her body. He took the time to make sure he hadn’t bruised her in any way. Although she embraced the pain, he knew the intention wasn’t to actually harm her.

  “You’re sure that you’re alright?” he whispered as his mouth tickled over her belly button.

  “Nigel, you were perfect just now,” she said and caught his hand in hers. “Perfect.”

  “I’m working on it…”

  “You know…” She rested her head on the throw pillow he’d placed under her. “Sex doesn’t only have to be one way.”

  “But you like it rough.”

  “Of course, I do,” she agreed and turned on her side toward him. “But sometimes it’s nice to just be…Vanilla.”

  “January, don’t change yourself for me,” he said, “and don’t tell me what you think I want to hear.”

  “Can’t I be a gluttonous, self-serving pig and have it every possible way imaginable with you?”

  “Well…” He caressed her shoulders as he swallowed hard. “The truth is…I’m actually having fun in this…exploration…with you.”

  Circling around his chest, her finger toyed with his nipple. “I don’t want us to lose the sense of humor—or the tenderness. I would miss that.”

  “Who says we have to?” he challenged just as her phone rang again. Angrily, he reached for the damn thing and handed it to her. “You better answer it. It’s probably urgent.”

  However, when she looked down at the caller ID, she frowned. “It’s…it’s Etienne. He’s been calling all along…”

  Nigel said nothing, but he dropped down to the floor to stare at the ceiling. January only panicked because she worried that something might have happened to one of the girls. Regardless of her feelings for their father, she still loved Sabine and Simone.

  “Well, you better answer it,” Nigel spat.

  Closing her eyes, she couldn’t look at Nigel as she swiped her phone. “Is it something critical?”
she asked without bothering to say hello.

  “Critical?” Etienne’s voice thundered over the line. “Critical? Don’t you know?”

  With a sigh of frustration, she sat up and crossed her legs. “Don’t I know what, Etienne?”

  “Could you not at least have the manners to tell me yourself?”

  “I don’t understand what you’re talking about.” She wondered how long this guessing game would go on. “What happened?”

  “What happened? You took off to the South of France with some other man!” he shouted. “Were you planning this all along?”

  “Etienne, I can—” She was about to launch into a full explanation on Nigel, but then she stopped herself. First off, she wanted to know how Etienne knew. Second, she wanted to know why he felt it was his business. “Who said I’m in the South of France?”

  “Google it, Janny,” Etienne bit back at her. “Don’t go kissing other men, if you don’t want it broadcast to the world.”

  The paparazzi photos had already gotten out. She couldn’t believe how quickly the word traveled. It was just two hours ago that they made their escape from the parking lot.

  “I…well…I…”

  “I didn’t think we’d settled things yet,” he said, his anger and sadness carrying loud and clear over the line. “I didn’t think you’d move on so fast.”

  “Etienne, I…”

  “You’ll come to your senses, January,” he said. “What you think you need today doesn’t even come close to our lives together. You’ll realize this. And you’ll come home.”

  “Etienne, I’m—”

  The line went dead. So stunned, she didn’t know if she should cry or act out in anger. She should have been careful today. She knew the press hung out in Marseille because there were so many movies and television shows filming at any given time of the year. Now, she’d dragged Nigel down in the mud alongside her.

  Then that familiar hand closed over hers, and she dared to open her eyes. Nigel smiled sweetly at her in the fading sunlight that streamed through the windows. “Hey, I’m here for you.”

  “I guess those photos made it to the gossip rags already,” January told him. “Etienne saw them.”