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“I have a second surprise for you.”
Her emerald eyes widened. “And what’s that?”
“I sold my apartment when I moved to Paris. I haven’t been back long enough to buy something new. I will soon.”
“Oh? I assumed you’d move into the compound.”
My jaw tightened. “With my mother? No thank you. She can keep the manse.” She wandered the halls after midnight, carrying empty wine glasses, shouting at the servants for refills. She was a drunken banshee.
“I guess she would be a challenging housemate.”
I chuckled. “That’s putting it mildly. Anyway, our date is moving locations.”
“Now are we going to Marguerite’s?”
“No. Trust me. You’ll like this better.”
Kennedy rose from the table. “Should I keep guessing?”
“No, you should not.”
She stepped into my space. “Fine.”
Her lotion was the same citrus scent. It entered my nose, filling me with memories. Fuck. The compulsion to kiss her was strong. I gazed at her pink lips. I repressed the urge and offered her my arm.
“Let’s go.”
Once we were out of the dining room, we turned the corner for the elevator bay. Kennedy kept glancing at me. She expected an answer. She knew her way around the hotel. This wasn’t a backway to the parking garage. I inserted an antique brass key into the control panel. It clicked softly with the flick of my wrist.
“Upstairs?” She blinked. “Part two is upstairs?”
“What’s the difference between going to the suite and back to my place?”
I thought it was a valid point.
She faltered. “The people in this hotel work for me. I’ve never gone to a room with a guest. That’s a huge difference.”
Did it make me a dick that I was glad to hear that? Somehow it was minimal validation that Kennedy hadn’t been with another man. Absurd conclusion, but I wanted that truth. I wanted her untouched. Unloved. I wanted her free to be mine.
The bell dinged, and the doors retracted.
“You can put on an offended act for the staff that you don’t want to go upstairs with me.” I saw the goosebumps on her flesh when I whispered in her ear. “Or you can do what you and I both know you want. Step in the elevator.”
Her eyes flashed to mine. “I don’t take orders from anyone,” she hissed. “I haven’t for a long time. I no longer have to submit.”
My hand curled around her wrist. I pressed my fingers into her tender skin. “You could change that for one night, couldn’t you?” I winked. I thought she was going to slap me, but she wrenched her hand free and marched into the elevator.
“Are you coming?” She eyed me.
Without saying a word, I joined her, turning the key inside the elevator.
* * *
I had plannedstrawberries dipped in chocolate. A second bottle of expensive champagne. I had planned filling the original claw-foot tub with scalding water. Bubbles. Candles. Roses. Pulling out all the stops. But every fucking plan went out the window when we walked in that suite.
The door closed, and the world became ours.
Kennedy spun and I took her mouth with a sensuous kiss. Long. Slow. Her mouth opened. A quiet moan escaped from her throat. My tongue probed, remembering how her tongue liked to tangle with mine. I pinned her against the wall, savoring the taste of her. The beauty of her. I nipped behind her ear, trailing her throat back to her mouth. The kiss was deeper this time. More punishing. Brutal. But who was the predator and who was the prey?
