Knight and Stay

by Kitty French

  He swallowed wine, giving himself time to choose his words carefully. Keeping his tone neutral, he said, "We're not in England now. You can be anything you want to be."

  He knew he'd crossed a line, but she beckoned him on.

  "Anything? Then I'll be a singer in a smoky Parisian bar, or a can-can girl at the Moulin Rouge."

  Lucien couldn't help it. His eyes dropped to Sophie's breasts, and his cock stirred in response. She had the curves to dance at the Moulin, and the idea of her bare breasts on display made his mouth water.

  He lifted his gaze to hers, and found her eyebrows arched.

  "I guess I asked for that," she said, and she didn't move her hand away when Lucien placed his close to it on the table and stroked her fingertips idly.

  "Paris brings out the best in you."

  The tiniest of laughs escaped Sophie's throat. "What happens in Paris, stays in Paris. So Kara said, anyway."

  Lucien liked the sound of that very much. "Kara's just become my second favourite lady. You should listen to her."

  "I do."

  She flipped her hand palm up on the table, and Lucien traced his index finger along the lifeline cut that across her palm.

  "I think your rules need amending." He drew slow circles on the fleshy mound beneath her thumb. "In fact, as your boss, I think I should be the one who makes the rules around here."

  "What's wrong with my rules?"

  Lucien laughed softly. "They restrict me. They stop me from telling you how your curves make me hard. They stop me from kissing your neck when you sweep your hair to one side."

  He had the benefit of her full, slightly breathless attention.

  "But they don't stop me thinking those things, Sophie. Every time you bend over the desk, I think how much I'd like to push your skirt up around your waist. I wonder what colour knickers you're wearing, and I imagine taking them off you."

  Her fingers curved around his as he stroked his thumb over the tender pulse point inside her wrist. The beat definitely kicked up several notches as she digested his words. She drew her bottom lip into her mouth and held it there, as if to stop the words she wanted to say from escaping. Was she holding in her agreement, or her rejection?

  Her eyes told him what her mouth wouldn't. She wanted this every bit as much as he did. He locked his eyes onto hers. There was no turning back.

  "I imagine running my hands over the tops of your stockings, then between your bare thighs, and you open them a little to invite me in. God, you're wet, Sophie. You're hot, and you're drenched, and I reach for my belt so I can..."

  Lucien's phone beeped loudly on the table next to him, and Sophie jolted and snatched her hand away from his.

  "Fuck." He shoved his own hand through his hair and stared at the offending screen, then at her shell-shocked expression. "The car's here."

  His cock was still rock hard.

  "This conversation isn't over, Sophie."

  Chapter Eleven

  Sophie stepped out of the limousine a little while later, glad to be out of the confined back seat. Lucien hadn't said or done anything unprofessional in the car, yet she'd never been so close to anyone who radiated such clear sexual intent. He'd spoken of the site renovations they were going to view, and handed her checklists to complete on the tour, almost as if the conversation over lunch hadn't happened.

  Had she imagined it? She'd drunk a little wine, maybe she'd misheard him.

  However innocent and work-focused Lucien’s words were, there was no denying the lightning bolt of awareness when her fingers brushed his on the paperwork, or the casual burn of his knee where it touched hers.

  The cool afternoon air helped lessen the heat that suffused her cheeks, but it could do little to calm the fire raging in her belly. He'd lit it. Or had she? Paris had clearly had a profound effect on her state of mind. Had she given him different signals? Or was he similarly affected by the city of love? The dynamic between them had morphed dangerously into something sexual, something her rules were too flimsy to hold steady against.

  What would Lucien's rules involve? The blush returned to Sophie's cheeks at the thought, and she pushed it hurriedly aside as he joined her on the pavement.

  "So. This is it. First impressions?"

  Sophie tipped her head back to survey the tall, regal terraced building.

  "First impression... um, understated?"

  Lucien nodded. "Absolutely. This is a good address. My aim is to be thoroughly in keeping. Gateway Paris will be discreet, elegant and very, very grown up."

  He placed a hand on the small of her back, and she felt the imprint of it might scorch her.

  "Shall we?"

  Sophie didn't trust herself to answer, so she just inclined her head and stepped inside the doorway.

  The last time she'd visited an adult club with Lucien it had been open for business and throbbing with paying customers. This was quite different, an almost completed renovation project with wires still trailing, stepladders leaning against walls, and workmen in overalls buzzing around.

  Someone called out, and a second or so later a short, older man bustled over to them with a wide smile on his weathered face. Lucien greeted him warmly in French, and then introduced Sophie.

  "Sophie, this is Jean, my site manager. Jean, Sophie, my assistant."

  Jean smiled in greeting and handed them each a hard hat.

  Great. Sophie eyed it reluctantly. Lucien lifted it from her fingers and placed it firmly on her head with a smart tap for good measure.

  "Safety first, Ms.Black."

  Right. So he was back to calling her Ms. Black again. It seemed he hadn't forgotten his declaration that her rules no longer applied.

  Jean and Lucien began a rapid conversation she didn't have a prayer of understanding, and then the smaller man shook Lucien's hand and melted away.

  "Jean isn't coming with us then?" Sophie asked. The French supervisor had given her back her sense of safety in numbers. Without him she was essentially alone with Lucien, despite the presence of the various artisans around the place.

  "No. I'll give you the tour myself." Lucien turned to a wallboard by the front doors and removed a clipboard and pen. "Can you take notes as we go round, please?"

  Sophie accepted the board, her mind wandering back to the tour he'd give her of the club back in the UK when a clipboard had been very much out of the question.

  She pinned her paperwork to the board and clicked the pen a couple of times.

  "Ready?" Lucien asked, absolutely neutral.

  "As I'll ever be." Sophie nodded slightly and pursed her lips. "Let's go."

  In decor, Lucien had recreated a similar urban opulence to his larger clubs back home, but here in these smaller rooms it felt far more intimate. Deep, amethyst velvet padded couches lined the booths, and a small stage and dance area filled one side of the lower ground floor. The bar gleamed with backlit mirrors and optics awaiting their upturned bottles, and a couple of women were unpacking glasses and spirits onto the bar. They glanced over at Lucien and then back at each other, and Sophie recognised the look that passed between them. Hot man in the room. She could hardly blame them. Even in a hard hat, Lucien oozed sex.

  Decadence dripped from every sophisticated fixture and fitting; the place screamed high-class sex den. Thanks to her previous visit to a Gateway club with Lucien, Sophie could all too easily imagine naked dancers and intimate couples twined around each other in those booths.

  He took a seat in one of them now, and inclined his head for her to join him on the curved seat opposite to go through the ground floor checklist. He nodded as she reeled the list off one by one, then gave her a series of comments to note down for future action. She clicked the pen closed and prepared to stand and move on.

  "Anything else?" she added, as an afterthought.

  He nodded and steepled his fingers on the table.

  "Yes. You look fucking sexy in a hard hat."

  Her throat dried up in shock. "And I’m supposed to write thi
s down?"

  "Absolutely," he said, conversationally. "Write 'Sophie looks fucking sexy in a hard hat.'" He paused, because she wasn't writing. "Write it down."

  She flicked her eyes around the room, unwilling to raise her voice because of the proximity of the electricians working near by. His eyes held hers in direct challenge, and she made a split second decision. She wrote it down.

  "Anything else?" she repeated.

  "I want to take that hat off and run my hands through your hair."

  "Lucien..." Sophie warned.

  He stood abruptly. "All done in here, Ms. Black. Let's move on."

  Sophie swallowed hard and followed him across the dance floor and down a set of steps.

  "The spa." He waved his hand around to indicate the space, and Sophie opened the next checklist accordingly. The entire basement space had been converted into a luxury relaxation area, centred around an as yet unfilled pool and jacuzzi. Several workmen were scattered around the space, and Lucien took her elbow and steered her slowly across to sit on the edge of the raised circular jacuzzi wall.

  As before, she worked methodically through the list, and Lucien answered each question in turn after inspecting the room.

  She cleared her throat. Here we go again. "Err… any other notes?"

  Lucien was sitting alongside her on the curved wall, and as he turned towards her his splayed fingertips brushed against her thigh on the tiles.

  "Yes." His lazy, lustful eyes flickered down her throat, and then back up to her mouth.

  "I need to remember to bring you back here when the jacuzzi has been filled. I want you to test the jets."

  She frowned, making shorthand notes. "Can't the plumber test them?"

  "I want you to do it." Lucien leaned in close to guarantee that only she would hear him. "I want you to tell me if the jets are perfectly positioned to massage your clitoris."

  Sophie 's mouth dropped in a perfect O, and she instinctively crossed her legs. His words made her tremble.

  "Write it down."

  He looked at the clipboard, then at her pen, then at her face.

  His fingertips still brushed her thigh, rhythmically enough to prove it wasn't accidental.

  She wrote it down. Check the jets are positioned for clitoral massage.

  Knowing he was watching her write the words made her squirm.

  Once again he stood suddenly, leaving her hot and bothered as he led her back through the main room to a staircase leading up to the first floor. Sophie found herself walking on shaky legs along a plushly carpeted hallway, low-lit and sultry with the same air of sexy sophistication as downstairs. The scent of new carpets and fresh paint would no doubt fade once the place was packed with warm, pulsating bodies.

  "The playrooms."

  Sophie closed her eyes for a second, and then followed Lucien through the first doorway.

  Equally decadent but decidedly more intimate than the rooms that had preceded it, the space was dominated by the huge square platform bed placed centrally with a step up all of the way around.

  "This is the couples’ playroom. The bed area is designed to accommodate anything up to sixteen people at any one time."

  Sophie frowned, and found herself abstractly wondering where one might find sheets on such an industrial scale. And then Lucien's hand skimmed feather light against the small of her back, more of a caress than a guiding hand, and all linen-related thoughts left the building.

  Flustered, she sat down on the edge of the bed and clicked the end of her pen at him.

  "Are you ready to run through the tick list for this room?"

  Lucien glanced briefly around at the completed room.

  "No need. Lets skip straight to the 'any other notes' box." He dropped down alongside her, not quite close enough to touch, close enough to feel the heat of his body.

  Sophie had guessed there would be extra information, yet still she held her breath.

  "The mattress needs to be comfort tested."

  She started to write but he reached out and stilled her hand.

  "I meant now."

  Sophie glanced towards the open door. "No way. I'll write it down, but I'm not rolling around on that bed with you."

  "I didn't ask you to roll. Just lie back."

  It wasn't the demand of a boss to his PA. It was the demand of a man to a woman, and Sophie's body responded before her mind could play catch-up. She lay back.

  "Well?" Lucien eased back too, propped up on one elbow watching Sophie. "Is it soft? Or is it hard, do you think?"

  Sophie turned her head to look at him. "I'd probably call it firm."

  "Firm." Lucien murmured. "But does it yield to your curves? Would it be comfortable if you were being pressed into it by the weight of your lover?"

  Sophie closed her eyes.

  "Imagine you're being screwed right now, someone's hips grinding against yours."

  His hand dropped over her hip as he spoke, a pleasurable pressure to enhance her perception of his words.

  "Are you comfortable, Sophie? Does it feel good?"

  Sophie opened her eyes and looked into his, sinful, mercurial pools of lust.

  "It feels good Lucien. Really good."

  He licked his lips, and for a second Sophie felt certain he was going to lean down and kiss her. If he'd asked to road test that mattress properly right there and then, she'd have had her skirt around her waist in seconds.

  But he didn't. He paused for a second, his eyes on her mouth, and then stood up and offered her his hand to help her up.

  "You can sign this room off. It's complete."

  Lucien walked ahead of Sophie into the bondage room, and at the sight of a small team of fitters drilling holes on the walls he turned and walked straight back out again.

  The rest of the inspection could wait. He'd had enough of everyone else's company but Sophie's.

  "Let's get out of here."

  He snapped his phone against his ear, and seconds later they were back in the close confines of the limo. As the car eased into the traffic, Lucien turned to Sophie.

  "About those rules of yours."

  Sophie didn't reply, but from the way her eyes darkened and her tongue darted across her top lip, he knew she wanted to hear what he had to say.

  He didn't touch her. He couldn't, because he wanted her so much that a little wouldn't be enough. The air in the car shimmered with barely held in sexual frustration.

  "That no touching thing." He curled his hands into fists because the instinct to reach out for her was so strong. "That holds for the next ten minutes. And then I'm going to touch you everywhere."

  The sigh that left her lips wasn't one of resignation. It was one that yearned for the next ten minutes to be over.

  "And as for that no kissing thing." He slid close to her on the back seat and his eyes dropped to her lips. "I'm going to kiss your mouth." She tilted her head, an invitation to plunder, but he held back. "And I'm going to kiss your neck."

  He shifted to accommodate his erection as his eyes strayed lower. "Then I'm going to strip you naked and kiss your fucking beautiful tits." She whimpered, and closed her eyes, her head resting back on the seat. Her nipples pushed visibly against her blouse. "Can you feel me all over your body, Sophie? Imagine my head between your legs. I'm going to kiss you slowly, right there, until you come in my mouth."

  The car came to a halt outside the apartment building, and Lucien jumped straight out and opened her door, muttering something low and fast to the driver, who stepped smartly back into the car and was gone in an instant.

  His hand grabbed hers and tugged her through the courtyard, he banged his fist repeatedly on the lift’s call button, swearing under his breath at the antiquated system that had seemed so charming earlier. Sophie knew from the way his chest rose and fell that he was every bit as ready as she was, and as she stepped inside the cage, he knocked the breath from her lungs as he pinned her against the side. Cold ironwork cooled her back, and the heat radiating from Lucien's body s
corched her front. His hands gripped the bars either side of hers.

  "Don't stop me," he murmured, a breath away from kissing her as the lift jolted to a halt. She shook her head. She wouldn't stop him. She was terrified that he would stop.

  He unlocked the apartment door and pulled her inside.

  Chapter Twelve

  Lucien slammed her against the back of the closed door, his hands buried in her hair, his mouth all over hers. Sophie met him head on, tasting him, feeling him, drinking him in. His erection pressed hard against her belly and his breath came in short hot bursts that matched her own.

  "Fuck..." He wrestled out of his jacket and reached for her polka dot blouse without breaking the connection with her mouth. "You're wearing too many clothes," he muttered against her lips, and in one swift movement he yanked her blouse open, sending buttons scattering against the walls. He pulled back a fraction to look at her exposed bra as she tore her arms from the sleeves.

  Lucien shook his head, his jaw clenched. "Still too many."

  He reached around her body and flicked her bra open, then pulled it off and flung it aside.

  "Fucking hell, " he groaned, his hands already on her breasts between their bodies. She gasped with pleasure as he rolled her painfully stiff nipples, and her hands fought for space to get him out of his shirt.

  "Take this off, " she murmured, frustrated by the need to feel his naked skin.

  He broke away for a second, stepping back and breathing heavily as he discarded his shirt and reached for his belt.

  "I've never wanted to fuck anyone as much as I want to fuck you right now," he breathed, pinning her back against the door.

  Lust shot through her groin at his guttural words. She clutched at him as he reclaimed her mouth, relishing the glide of his hot skin beneath her hands. She could barely breathe as he reached down and dragged her skirt up over her hips and pushed his hand inside her knickers. At last. At last.

  "Oh God," she sank her teeth into his lip as he opened her with his fingers and found her clitoris. All of the air seemed to suck out of the room. There was just Lucien, and the pleasure he was giving her with his thrusting fingers.