by Mari Carr
“She looks sad to me,” Padraig said after trying to read the young girl’s expression.
“Does she? Wow. That’s funny. I don’t see that. I mean, I think she looks like she’s seen something sad or had to deal with something hard. Yet she looks undefeated to me, even powerful. Like she knows her worth even if those around her don’t.”
Padraig didn’t see any of that, but for some reason this woman who’d lived over a hundred years ago spoke to Mia. She seemed to have discovered a kindred spirit in the ghost of Helene, preserved in oil paint.
They stood in silence a few minutes longer. Mia continued to stare at the painting, but Padraig was more interested in the living, breathing embodiment of the portrait who was standing next to him.
She shook herself out of her reverie slowly. When she turned to look at him, her smile was huge, genuine. “Trip made. This museum…” She couldn’t find the words to express her happiness, but Padraig could see it, could read it in her eyes.
He also couldn’t resist any longer. He’d kept a proper distance for two days, but his willpower was gone.
He was falling head over heels for Mia Curtis.
Leaning down, he kissed her. Their lips lingered, but he didn’t miss the fact that she was kissing him back. In fact, her tongue darted out briefly to swipe across his lower lip.
He pulled back briefly. “Finished fighting this?”
She nodded without hesitation. “I want…” Her words faded again.
“I want it too,” he said.
Mia glanced back at the portrait one last time. “I can’t let this defeat me. It’s going to kill me, but it’s not going to defeat me.”
“You’re right. It’s not. You’re too powerful.”
They spent two more hours in the museum, discussing the artwork and enjoying the amazing view of the city through one of two huge fifth-floor clocks.
Afterwards, they found a small café for lunch en route to the Eiffel Tower. They’d discussed going up, but Mia was afraid the height might trigger a headache, so they opted for taking countless photos below.
Their day wound down with a slow, scenic boat ride down the Seine River.
With each passing hour, their desire for each other grew to almost painful heights. Now that Mia had turned the corner, they’d let go of their inhibitions, spending the day holding hands, kissing and cuddling, while whispering sweet nothings and sexual innuendoes in each other’s ears.
Padraig had spent the majority of their boat ride adjusting his pants to try to hide the hard-on that wouldn’t go away, no matter how many math problems he solved in his head.
“Dinner at the apartment?” he asked, praying she wouldn’t insist on going to a restaurant. There was no way he could sit through an entire meal and keep his hands off her.
“There’s no food there.” She looked as frustrated as he felt. Then her eyes brightened. “There! There’s a small store. Let’s grab some bread and cheese and wine and make a meal of that.”
Padraig was halfway across the street by the time she’d finished her list. “Perfect.”
They found everything she’d suggested, as well as some strawberries and grapes, and headed back to their apartment. As soon as they placed their bags of food on the kitchen counter, Padraig reached for her.
Pressing her against the cabinets, he gave her the kind of kiss he’d been wanting to give her since the museum. His lips pushed hers open and their tongues touched, explored. Mia’s hands had found their way to his hair and she gripped it roughly, desperate to keep his mouth on hers.
Padraig wanted more. Tugging her blouse free from her pants, he reached beneath, cupping her breasts as she moaned into his mouth. Wrapping his hands around, he unsnapped her bra with a skill he hoped she didn’t notice.
With the lace free, he was able to touch her breasts with nothing in the way. Her nipples were hard and…
“God.” He pushed away from her, leaning on the counter behind him. The kitchen in the apartment was small so there weren’t more than a few feet between them. “Unbutton that blouse, Mia, before I rip it off you.”
“Whoa,” she said, her fingers flying to the buttons on her shirt. “I’ve always thought that was kind of corny when a guy says it in a movie, but damn…I stand corrected.”
“Lose the bra too,” he said, torn between laughing and snarling about how long it was taking her.
“Yeah. About that bra. You know your way around the clasps, don’t you?”
“High school, remember? I might not have book smarts, but that doesn’t mean I’m not a quick learner.”
She tugged her blouse over her shoulders, letting it fall to the floor. Her bra still covered her, held in place by one of her hands. Her cheeks were flushed, the way they’d been when he’d introduced her to Sky and Teagan. He’d found Mia’s shyness endearing that night.
Tonight…there was no room for it.
“Drop the bra, Mia.”
She licked her lips nervously. “What about you?”
He drew his T-shirt over his head in one quick pull, tossing it to the floor.
“Oh. Wow.” Her admiring gaze traveled the length of his torso.
“Bra. I’m not going to ask again.”
Her eyes flew back to his. His dark tone aroused her as much as it fed her nervousness. However, it didn’t take his brave woman long to find her nerve. She loosened her grip and let the bra fall off. Rather than cover herself with her hands, she stiffened her spine and lifted her chin, letting him look his fill.
He didn’t fool himself into believing it was easy for her to hold that pose, to stand there so exposed. “Maybe it’s time you realized your worth, Mia.” He stepped closer, drawing his fingers over the top of one of her breasts, letting them drop lower to her nipple. He closed his thumb and forefinger around it and squeezed.
She gasped at the pressure.
“You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
Mia was right. So many times today at the museum, she’d remarked on the eyes of the people portrayed in the paintings. Said she could see so much just by studying the eyes.
As he looked at hers, he felt as if he could read every emotion flowing through her at the moment. The fear, the hope, the longing, the passion. She was everything he’d ever wanted in a woman. Everything.
Cupping her cheeks with his hands, he resumed the kiss, taking her mouth harder than before. He was starving for her, hungry—no, ravenous—and ready to claim it all.
Her heart, her body, her soul.
Her future.
He would take every second she had left, and then he’d fight God, the universe, the doctors, whoever he had to, to steal even more.
She was his. And she would be until the day she took her last breath.
Mia cried out when he nipped at her lip, and he forced himself to take a step away. Both of them were breathing heavily, staring at each other, sizing the other up.
“Bedroom?” she asked, breathlessly.
He nodded.
The two of them made their way to her room and Padraig struggled to regain some semblance of control.
Mia stopped just short of the bed, turning to look at him.
“How long has it been?” he asked.
“One time maybe six, seven months ago. Before that…it had been a while.”
Padraig absorbed that information, aware that her sexual experiences were limited. He wasn’t exactly a player himself, but he had some definite needs that might scare her a bit.
He reached for the button on her shorts, unfastening it before tugging them and her panties off. “Lay down on the bed.” He tried to temper the request, but as always, it came out more like a demand.
One that Mia responded to without question. Which didn’t help his control at all.
He placed one knee beside her hip on the mattress, one hand by her head. Leaning over her, he ran his fingers along her body, feasting on her with not only his gaze, but with his touch as well.
Mia shivered each time he stroked a sensitive spot, and her cheeks grew pinker under his concentrated attention.
She jerked roughly when he pressed the tip of his index finger against her clit. Just one touch.
“Sorry,” she whispered. “I’m so…”
“Ready?” he supplied.
She nodded, though he didn’t need her answer. Mia was wet and hot and…yeah…ready.
“Open your legs.” This time he didn’t bother to soften his tone. Once more Mia complied, even though he knew she was slightly uncomfortable with the added exposure.
He drew his fingers along the slit between her legs. Her eyes closed as her breathing increased. She tried to hold back her soft cries, but Padraig didn’t want her quiet. He wanted to hear everything. See everything. Feel everything.
He pressed two fingers inside her, relishing the way Mia thrust her hips upwards, fighting for more.
He stroked inside her half a dozen times, curling his fingers, seeking the hot spots. She didn’t fail to let him know when he’d struck gold. Her cries grew louder and her hips gyrated faster, wilder.
She would come like this if he’d let her.
Instead, he pushed her to the brink, then tugged his fingers free.
Mia’s eyes flew open and her forehead creased in confusion. She truly had been lost to the sensations.
“You’re beautiful,” he said. He would never get tired of telling her that, because it would never stop being true. Every single day he found something else beautiful about her. From the way she tried to hide her smile behind her hand, to the way she sounded when he drove his fingers deep inside her.
She reached up, her hands gripping his upper arms, alternating between caressing his muscles and squeezing them. She was a patient lover, one who didn’t make demands. He wasn’t used to that. Most women he knew would have pitched a fit if he’d left them hanging the way he just had Mia.
However, she seemed to appreciate his desire to draw this out. To make the moment last. To make it special.
“Can I touch you?” she whispered.
He rose, shedding his shorts and boxers before returning to the same position.
Mia looked down, her shyness vanishing, replaced instead by curiosity and desire. She slid her hand along his chest, not stopping until the head of his cock brushed against her knuckles.
“Wrap your hand around me, Mia. Squeeze it tight. Let me feel how good it’s going to be when I slide inside you.”
Her breathing, which had been rapid until that moment, appeared to seize, to stick in her chest. Neither of them sucked in a bit of air until her hand clasped around his dick and tightened.
Padraig placed his hand over hers, adding even more force to the grasp. Then he moved on to friction, drawing her palm up and down his hard flesh, showing her exactly what he liked.
Mia was a quick study. When she licked her lips, he bent down to touch the new wetness, to taste her again. She didn’t release him, didn’t slow her pace, even as he made love to her mouth, thrusting inside deeply, roughly.
Padraig let her push him to that same brink before pulling out of reach of her hand. For the first time, Mia started to protest.
“No.” It was all he said. It was enough.
Mia fell silent, waiting for his next move. The alpha inside him roared.
Moving down, he lifted her legs, placing her knees on his shoulders as he pressed his mouth to her clit.
Her hands flew to his head, pushing and pulling with equal measure.
“Paddy, I…”
He lifted his head briefly, forcing her gaze to meet his. “I’m not stopping, so stop trying to push me away.”
Her fingers relaxed in his hair, her resistance melting in an instant.
“No one has ever…”
Padraig heard her words and mentally shook his head. He was perfectly aware that there were a lot of guys out there who wouldn’t go down on a woman. Leave it to Mia to find only that type.
He ran his tongue along her slit before pressing it inside her. He thrust in and out, enjoying her soft mewls of delight and surprise. He’d told her once she was easy to be nice to. That wasn’t a lie.
Mia didn’t make demands or have a selfish bone in her body.
This time he was ready to take her all the way, but it was Mia who pulled away just before her climax struck.
“I want you inside me.”
He tilted his head and gave her a grin. “That’s definitely where we’re headed, Mia. I want you to come first.”
She shook her head. “I want it to be with you. Together.”
Padraig moved upwards, caging her beneath him to kiss her once more. “You realize you can have more than one, right?”
She giggled. “I’ve heard rumors of that strange magic, though I’ve never experienced it. Even so, I want our first time to be you and me.”
He nodded, deciding her request was exactly what he wanted to. “Let me grab a condom.” He started to reach for his shorts, but she stopped him.
“I’m on birth control. When the headaches first started, my doctor thought it might be hormonal.”
“Mia…” He hesitated. Not because he didn’t want to take her with nothing between them, but because he wanted her to be sure.
“Please.”
There was nothing he would deny her. And it had nothing to do with her health. It had everything to do with the fact that she had his heart in her teeth. Pop Pop had warned him, told him he’d fall fast and hard.
Truer words were never spoken.
Padraig kissed her again. Her legs parted, allowing him to lay atop her, his weight supported by his elbows. His cock rested against her slit, enveloping him in her incredible heat.
Neither of them moved to the next part. Content to drag this kiss, this night out forever.
After several minutes, her hips began to tilt, just a little bit. But it was enough to send the “do it now” message from his dick to his brain.
“God, Mia. I want you so badly.”
She smiled. “I’m yours.”
He lifted his hips, pressing the head of his cock against her opening. Their gazes held as he slowly slid inside.
Once he was fully lodged, he kissed her again.
“I’m trying to be gentle,” he admitted, though the effort was costing him dearly.
She frowned. “Did I ask for gentle? I was sort of hoping for something that matched the ‘I’m going to rip your blouse off’ level.”
He chuckled. “You might want to be careful what you wish for.”
“Paddy,” she said.
“Yeah?”
“If you’re not able to do it, I don’t mind taking control.”
It was the perfect taunt. Revealing that she understood exactly what sort of impact it would have on him.
He shook his head, though his wolfish grin grew. “Oh man. I wish you hadn’t said that.”
“I regret nothing.”
He hoped she felt that way after.
Until then…
Padraig pulled out until only the head of his cock remained inside, and then he thrust back in forcefully.
Unlike his first easy slide in, this motion packed a punch.
And it opened his eyes to something he hadn’t noticed until that moment.
Mia preferred his roughness.
Her nails scored into his back, making a mark he’d feel for a few days, and her legs wrapped around his waist, squeezing him like a vise. The new position opened her more, allowed him to go deeper. He took full advantage.
Padraig began to thrust, driving into her with the speed and power he craved. Mia met him blow for blow, her cries turning to pleas for more.
“Harder. God, please, Paddy.”
He gave her what she wanted. It still wasn’t enough. He withdrew and flipped her facedown, dragging her hips toward him as he pounded back inside.
Mia’s hands clenched into the duvet as she moved in unison with him, adding her own force. Padraig grasped a handful of h
er strawberry-blonde hair, using the grip to pull her back against his chest. With his free hand, he reached around to cup her breast. He squeezed the soft flesh, pinched her nipple.
Mia bent her head to one side, baring her neck to him, inviting him to kiss, to suck, to bite.
She wasn’t idle, digging her nails into his thighs briefly before dragging them farther back to grip his ass. She tightened her hands, clenching his ass cheeks with the same pressure he was applying to her breasts.
Still he thrust inside. Still she met him, silently demanding even more.
“Mia,” he cried out when his climax was imminent.
“I’m there. I—”
He stroked her clit, desperate to make sure he gave her what she wanted.
Together.
Padraig thrust three more times, shallower, as the intensity became too much. Lightning flashed behind his closed eyelids.
Mia pulled from his grasp, dropping to her elbows, her head pressed to the mattress as she trembled through her own orgasm.
Her inner muscles clenched, milking every drop of come from him.
Padraig struggled to catch a deep breath, feeling as if he’d run a marathon.
Slowly, somewhat stiffly, Mia moved forward, separating them as she lay prone.
He longed to see her face.
“Roll over, Mia.”
She did so, limp as a rag doll.
His smile provoked a scowl on her face. “You did this to me. I have no bones left in my body.”
Padraig dropped next to her on the bed, running a single finger along her shoulder and arm. “Do you think a very Parisian-style dinner in bed might help restore your strength?”
“Dinner in bed? Really?” She began to push up excitedly, but Padraig pressed her down.
“Stay there. I’ll make it.”
For the first time since they’d entered the bedroom, Mia failed to follow a command. Probably because they were back to regular old Paddy and Mia, their sexual appetites sated for the time being.
She sat up the same time he did. However, before he could leave the bed, she crawled closer to him, giving him a kiss. “Do you think we can do that again later?”
He laughed. “The better question is, do you think we’re going to make it out of this bed to see the rest of Paris?”