The Temptress

by C. J. Fallowfield

  ‘Shit Lulu, this is getting personal. I’m so sorry. One more minute, Mike’s about to enter the bar,’ came Henry’s voice. ‘Mike put the card in your right jacket pocket. Go and shake his hand to apologise so Lulu can retrieve it, then get the car and be at the front entrance waiting for her.’

  ‘Here,’ Luc advised, as he slid a worn photograph across the smooth surface of the bar towards me. ‘This is why I asked you to join me, why I touched you. Tell me that she is not the spitting image of you, that with different hair colouring and eyes, you could not be her.’ I reached out, my hand trembling as I angled the photograph he’d taken of me, lying in his bed. He’d been straddling my waist as he took a picture of me, just after he’d made me come with his mouth the first time, while telling me how beautiful I was.

  ‘Sorry to interrupt, I just wanted to come and apologise again for being so clumsy earlier, knocking into your wife and spilling her champagne,’ came Mike’s voice next to me.

  ‘Thank you for taking the time to apologise and for the drinks,’ Luc graciously accepted without correcting him. Six years on, six years and he still carried a photo of me in his wallet. I wanted to cry, I wanted to rip off my wig, reveal myself, throw my arms around his neck and tell him I’d never forgotten him either.

  ‘LULU, the card,’ snapped Henry, rousing me from my daze. I reacted instantly, my hand slipping into Mike’s pocket to retrieve it, just before he turned and walked away. I needed to leave and fast. The emotion of the moment I’d just experienced was replaced with one of sudden dread. A nagging voice in the back of my mind was telling me that it was no coincidence that of all the women in the world Mrs. Le Grand could have come to, she chose me, the woman whose picture her husband carried in his wallet six years after a one night stand. I heard a choking sob leave my lips and my free hand flew up to my mouth to cover it, as I lost control and tears started to roll down my face.

  ‘Isabelle?’ came his concerned voice as he stepped closer. I quickly wiped my face and reached out to grab my clutch and my book.

  ‘I’m sorry, I need to leave.’ I shot to my feet, tearing my eyes away from the picture of my face lying on the countertop. A face that looked so happy, free and relaxed. So sated after a night of exquisite passion. He leaned forward to pick it up, hastily putting it back into his wallet as I slipped his room key back into his pocket. I was done, this wasn’t worth two million pounds, I was not destroying him, not when he hadn’t done anything wrong.

  ‘You’re upset, you know this woman? She’s your sister, maybe?’ he queried, looking at me puzzled, then took a sudden shocked gasp. ‘She was your sister?’ His voice broke as he asked the last question and shot off his stool, looking at me confused and hurt. I shook my head and I couldn’t help myself, I reached up to palm his cheek, to run my thumb over his prominent cheekbone, over the face I knew so well. I did see it every day, but not just in my dreams. I saw it reflected in the face of my son, the face of his son. A son he didn’t even know he had. He drew in a sharp breath as he captured my wrist, the atmosphere between us changing in an instant, heat shimmering in the small space between our bodies as his eyes darkened with desire and his posture straightened. Damn it, he’d realised it was me. Before I had a chance to react, his free hand shot up to my head and removed my blonde wig, tossing it to the floor, my brown hair tumbled free and cascading down my shoulders. ‘Lulu, ma belle, c’est vraiment toi? It’s really you?’ he choked.

  Hearing my name pass his lips, his nickname for me of “my beauty” and feeling the need in him the moment he realised it was me, was too much. I was overcome with emotion to have the father of my child standing right in front of me, his face and body telling me that he still wanted me every bit as much as I wanted him. But I had so many questions that needed answering, before I even thought about what that meant in the grand scheme of things and it wasn’t like I didn’t know where to find him now. I could come to The Domville any weekend to see him. I tore my wrist from his grasp and ran for the exit, my heart pounding, hearing him call my name behind me.

  ‘Tell me you’re there with the car, Mike, please,’ I begged, as I ran through the lobby, noticing people looking as I tried to wipe the tears from my face.

  ‘I’m at the car, but I’ve got to drive around, one minute.’

  I wasn’t sure I had one minute, I could hear footsteps running behind me, the noise of metal toe taps clattering on the marble floor. I reached the side door and yelped as my shoulder connected with the immobile glass. Damn it! It was locked. With seconds to spare before he caught up with me, I jumped through the narrowing gap of the revolving door, begging the segment to move faster as I looked over my shoulder to see him approaching at speed. The gap closed, leaving no room for him to join me and I heard him curse as he slammed into the glass separating us, making it shudder. We stood in our own little sections, one piece of glass separating us, him taking a step towards me as it jerked forwards inch by inch, as I took one back, our eyes locked the entire time, both panting. Nothing could protect me from the inferno blazing between us now. It was no longer one sided. The thought that he’d not reacted like that until he knew for sure it was me, was heady. It was as if he’d turned off the tap of his sexual desire the morning I left and meeting me in the bar earlier, that tap had started dripping as his body reacted to mine, to the stirring of an echo in his memories. But it wasn’t until his brain registered who I was that the tap couldn’t contain the force behind it any longer and now it was flowing nothing could stem the tide. He shoved a hand through his hair as he tried to catch his breath and I saw him whisper my name as he stepped up to the glass separating us and put his palm flat on it. I moved forwards, without even thinking about it and did the same, feeling as if our skin was actually touching, that nothing could separate us. Time hadn’t, what was a measly piece of toughened glass? I felt a cool breeze as we continued to slowly move and looked behind me, a gap appearing to the outside. I looked back at him as I reached down with one hand and pulled off my one heel. He shook his head as I moved my palm away from his and removed my other heel, ready to run. I reluctantly turned my back on him as I waited to squeeze out.

  ‘Where’s the car, Mike?’ I demanded. ‘I don’t have much time.’

  ‘Left down the front of the hotel and I’m at the end of the walkway, I can see the curve of the revolving door from here.’

  ‘Have the back door open and be ready to drive the minute I hit the back seat,’ I warned, edging closer now the gap was nearly big enough for me to get through.

  ‘Lulu, are you in physical danger?’ came Henry’s concerned voice.

  ‘No, but he knows it’s me and I can’t handle him right now, he’ll have too many questions and I don’t want to lie. I need time to think this through. God damn it, this was a mistake, I should have walked away the minute I knew it was him.’

  ‘What’s done is done. We’ve done our job to the best of our ability. As soon as you’re safely in the car I’ll pack up. I’ll review the footage in the morning before we debrief, ok?’

  ‘Yes,’ I sighed, as I heard Luc shouting my name again, then his fist banging on the glass, swearing in French as I started to squeeze through the gap that had opened up. The minute I was out I didn’t look back, I started running like my life depended on it. The small night lights along the path were like a runway, guiding me to Mike and the waiting car I could just see further ahead in the dark. I heard my name being yelled again and looked behind to see him running after me, lost my footing and went flying, bouncing ungainly on the concrete slabs below winding myself. ‘Shit,’ I muttered, as I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the dizziness that had hit me from the shock of the fall. My right hand, which I’d held out to cushion the fall, had a sharp pain shooting through it and my knee was killing me. God knows where the shoes, book and clutch were, as I wasn’t holding them anymore. I just wanted to lie there, to close my eyes and sob with frustration at the whole bloody mess I was in. Suddenly I felt weightless, a
s a pair of hands lifted me up, then gently set me down on my feet, steadying me as I wobbled. He slowly turned me around and leaned me back against the hotel wall, breathing heavily as he clasped my face and turned my head to each side, looking for damage.

  ‘Merde, are you ok?’ he demanded, tearing his eyes from mine to scan my body and assess the damage. My hand was throbbing, so was my knee, but they were overshadowed by the emotions I was feeling to be back here, pinned against a wall by such a magnetic alpha male.

  ‘Yes,’ I whimpered, my entire body trembling. He moved closer, it was different this time, without shoes, even with my height, I was only level with the hollow of his throat, instead of those irresistible lips. Instead of pressing up against me, as he had all those years ago, I felt myself being pulled tightly against him, my face buried in the curve of his neck, his strong, powerful arms tightening around me. Memories came flooding back as I felt his hard, warm body against mine, his heart beat flexing against my chest and that large hard shaft of his pulsating against my stomach. Memories of our hot bodies writhing, coated in perspiration as he brought me to one climax after another. God I wanted him again, so badly.

  ‘Are you sure?’ He asked again, one of his hands twisting in my hair, gently pulling my face up to his. I cast my eyes down, unable to look at him. Unsure of what to say if he asked what the hell was going on. ‘Lulu, look at me, regardez-moi,’ he demanded, forcefully.

  ‘I can’t,’ I whispered, totally confused at which emotion I should be tuning into. The pain of my bruised body or the pain battering my chest, the excitement or the nerves to be so close to him again, the sexual longing his presence had awoken, or the feeling of fear that his horrible wife was going to rip the two of us to shreds. I was convinced now that she knew exactly who I was, she’d searched me out and sent me to him at the last minute, blind, knowing that I’d find it hard to pretend and knowing that he still carried a torch for me after all this time. I was her scapegoat. I was the woman she was going to vilify for breaking up her marriage.

  ‘Regardez-moi!’ he commanded sharply.

  ‘Mike, go help her out,’ Henry exclaimed.

  ‘Miss McQueen?’ Mike questioned.

  ‘I’m fine, I promise I’m fine,’ I replied firmly, hoping they’d know I was talking to them and not to Luc.

  ‘I’m not,’ snapped Luc. ‘You sit talking with me, you know who I am and you say nothing. Rien du tout! You are wearing different hair and these, damn lenses that cover the beauty of your natural eyes. Lulu, what the hell is going on?’

  ‘I’m sorry, I saw you and I just … I should have walked away,’ I whispered, staring at the gap in his white shirt which he’d left unbuttoned at the top, showing me a glimpse of his hard smooth chest that I just wanted to kiss.

  ‘Non! You should have told me, you should have told me it was you, but instead you deceive me, then when the game is up you flee. Encore, you flee, just like Paris. I spend the best night of my life with you and wake in the morning to find you gone. Do you have any idea what that did to me? I returned to The Domville and waited in the lobby for hours hoping to see you before you left for the airport. Why do you keep running from me? God damn it, look at me! I need an explanation. For then and for tonight.’ He pulled harder on my hair, tipping my chin right up into the air and glared down at me. He was furious and he had every right to be. ‘Mon Dieu, woman, what hold do you have on me after all these years,’ he muttered, as his lips crashed down onto mine, his hand in the small of my back pulling me even closer to him. Sparks flew as our mouths melded, longing pooling between my thighs as I reached to clutch his powerful shoulders, before one hand snaked up to grasp at his hair, ignoring the pain in my wrist. I already felt light headed after my fall, a kiss like this wasn’t helping, I felt like I was about to pass out. He still kissed like a conquering warrior, plundering and taking everything in his path, until nothing was left standing but him and his spoils. He groaned loudly, my name tangled up somewhere in my mouth, between our duelling and hungry tongues and I heard a discreet cough in my ear piece, snapping me back to reality. I quickly let go and shoved his shoulders, catching him by surprise. He staggered backwards, trying to right himself as I ran the few remaining steps for the car, ignoring the throbbing pain in my knee and jumped into the backseat. ‘LULU!’ he roared, his beautiful face contorted with rage, as I slammed the door and Mike put his foot on the accelerator. I turned to look out of the back window, to see him standing in the middle of the road, my shoes in one hand, my clutch bag in the other, staring after us as we sped away.

  ‘Shit!’ I moaned and threw myself back against the seat.

  ‘What the hell just happened?’ exclaimed Mike.

  ‘Possibly the end of my career,’ I sighed, as I reached up to touch my lips, still swollen from that brutal kiss. A kiss that had me longing for more. I winced at the pain in my hand, my wrist was already bruising.

  ‘Are you ok?’ asked Henry.

  ‘I think I’ve sprained my wrist and my knee is bleeding quite badly,’ I advised, as I looked down to where my dress was ripped and covered in blood. ‘I can patch myself up at home.’

  ‘That’s not what I meant, Lulu. It’s him.’

  ‘You think I don’t know that,’ I bit, I was so frustrated and confused.

  ‘What the hell is going on?’ demanded Mike again, shooting me a glance in the rear view mirror. ‘Who is this guy?’

  ‘I told you before, an old flame,’ I sighed.

  ‘I’d say that’s the understatement of the year. Does he know?’ asked Henry.

  ‘Know what?’ I asked, as I leaned my head back against the headrest and closed my eyes, cradling my aching wrist against my chest.

  ‘About Tristan?’

  ‘No,’ I whispered, fear suddenly gripping me in an icy embrace. Even forgetting Mrs. Le Grand’s scheming for now, even forgetting my feelings for a man I barely knew, how was I going to handle knowing the father of my son spent every weekend not half an hour away from my home. From his own son. They had a right to know each other, but that made me even more scared. ‘How did you know, Henry?’ I asked.

  ‘I should have seen it earlier, but I was distracted with you knowing him. The resemblance is remarkable.’

  ‘What resemblance, what’s going on?’ Mike repeated.

  ‘Luc Le Grand isn’t just a guy I had a fling with, Mike. He’s Tristan’s father,’ I sighed.

  ‘Holy shit,’ he muttered. ‘Does he know?’

  ‘No!’ I replied quickly, opening my eyes. ‘We went our separate ways, I had no way of finding him again.’

  ‘Well that nipper is going to be one good looking dude if he follows in his father’s footsteps,’ Henry said.

  ‘He really is,’ I agreed, with a gentle smile. ‘Can you do me one favour before you pack up, Henry?’

  ‘Sure?’

  ‘I dropped my clutch bag when I fell, which contains my phone and he has it now. Can you somehow turn it off, or remotely wipe the data, until I figure this all out, I don’t want him to be able to use it to find me. I need a time out to decide how to handle this.’

  ‘Piece of cake!’ he announced proudly. ‘Who needs Ian Smith when you have Henry Barking on the case? I’ll pick you up a new one in the morning and upload the cloud data onto it, it will be like you never lost the original.’

  ‘Thanks, Henry, you did great. Go and get some sleep. See you tomorrow.’

  ‘You did great too, all things considered. See you both in the morning.’

  ‘Night,’ replied Mike. ‘Miss McQueen, are you sure that you don’t need the hospital?’

  ‘Honestly I just want to get home and see my little boy, especially after seeing him tonight.’

  ‘You really had no idea he was the mark until you were in the bar?’

  ‘No, but I have a feeling his wife knew exactly who I was and set us up. I have some serious thinking and strategising to do tomorrow.’

  ‘Do you love this French dude?’

&
nbsp; ‘The French “dude” is called Luc, Luc Le Grand it seems,’ I replied, as I pondered his question. ‘No, it’s not love I feel for him, how could it be? We spent one night together six years ago and haven’t seen each other since.’

  ‘You have a kid by him and judging by rumours around the office you don’t get attached to guys because one broke your heart, I just figured it was him.’

  ‘Rumours around the office?’ I uttered, shaking my head in despair. ‘No, he didn’t break my heart, but even after only one night, he definitely … holds a place in it. I guess the idea of what might have been hasn’t helped me get over him, not when I look at Tristan every day and see him staring back. We had … we have this insane chemistry together.’

  ‘Well he seems pretty bent out of shape over you, after so long too. Why didn’t you go and find him?’

  ‘You make it sound easy,’ I laughed. ‘I was in a foreign city for a few nights and other than his first name and his body, on an intimate basis, I knew nothing else. I’ve never done that before or since. I was so ashamed, that I snuck out of the room in the morning without even saying goodbye. Not a lot to go on when I found out I was pregnant. He only knew me by my first name too. I don’t want this being “rumour” at the office. Even Violet doesn’t know all of this.’

  ‘Wow, then I feel seriously honoured,’ he nodded, as he navigated a roundabout.

  I thanked him as I grabbed my briefcase from the boot and retrieved my house keys, quietly letting myself in. It was still early, but I’d definitely have missed Tristan’s bedtime. I don’t know who was more shocked when I limped barefoot into my lounge, me to see Tristan was still up, albeit in his pyjamas, fast asleep on Dom’s chest, or Dom to see me with a ripped dress, brown eyes and a bloodied swollen knee.

  ‘O my God,’ he mouthed. ‘Go and change quickly, before he wakes up and sees you.’