“Where are you taking me?” I asked.
Phillipe took my hand and tugged it. We seemed to be going in the direction of the hallway near the stairs.
“I have a surprise for you,” he explained.
I could hear the joy in his voice.
“Ooh, I like surprises.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” He promised, making me think of all things sexual.
“What kind of surprise?”
He stopped abruptly, forcing me to run into his side. “Well, if I tell you, it won’t be a surprise. Will it?”
Reaching around his body, I moved my hand to touch him.
He moved quickly. “That won’t work, Miss Rosenberg.”
I pursed my lips. “Okay, fine. I only wanted to touch you. Take me and surprise me.”
Before I knew it, his mouth was on mine. He pushed me backward until I felt a wall behind me.
“Stop, Phillipe!” I shrieked and giggled. “Penelope might—”
“By now, Penelope knows to just turn around and walk away.” He growled playfully, nipping my chin.
“What?” I asked after a breathy sigh. “How many times has Penelope walked in?”
Phillipe laughed now, and the deep timbre of it made his chest vibrate against mine. “Oh, too many to count.”
“Like when?” I demanded, slightly horrified by the thought.
“Hmm, the other day down in the kitchen.”
“What?” I shouted, remembering how he’d lifted me up onto the counter.
He grinned against my mouth while one of his large palms stroked my thigh.
“Lift your leg, Chantel. Put it around my waist.”
I complied because I didn’t have the will to say no to him, but I was otherwise not deterred. “She walked in on us in the kitchen?”
He unbuttoned and parted my pants before his hand slipped inside. As he found his way into my panties, his fingers slid down between my wet lips.
He groaned against my mouth. “Yes, but you still had your top on.”
Blinking, I let my head fall back against the wall. I pushed my hips out to him, and I thought of what he just told me. “Just my top? I had my top on the whole time.”
He laughed mischievously, as his teeth bit my bottom lip while his thumb brushed over my clit.
“Oh god!” I moaned, arching against his hand.
“Well, you had your panties on,” he stated softly.
His index finger flirted with my soaked core. I sighed and closed my eyes, ready to really let go.
That’s when he smirked against my mouth and added, “They were just around your ankles.”
Mortified, I moved my head away from him, but he chased me and had the advantage of sight. His hungry lips captured mine. His tongue pushed deep inside my mouth while two of his long fingers thrust inside my pussy.
Hearing his groan deep in his throat, I wrapped my arms around his neck as he hoisted me up. His free hand moved under my ass, pulling me toward him tightly, so I was wedged between the wall and his fingers pushing deep inside of me. He dragged his mouth away from mine.
In a voice that sounded strained and stretched beyond its limits, he said, “God, Chantel, your hungry little cunt is always so eager.”
Closing my eyes, I listened as his words washed over me. He started to rhythmically move his fingers in and out of me.
“Yes, Beauty, surrender. That’s right,” he murmured with his lips on my ear. “Give yourself to me.”
I opened my eyes while he continued to finger me.
“Your eyes are so fucking beautiful. Keep them on me. Keep them where my voice is, and I’ll tell you everything you would see.”
Parting my lips, I focused on his voice and let him take me over.
“You’d see a man who can’t keep his eyes away from you and can’t keep his hands off of you. You’d see someone who wants to be your lover…” He punctuated his last word with a deep thrust of his fingers. “Your friend…” With another thrust, the sounds of his fingers pushing through my slick soaked folds filled the space. “Your confidant…” His mouth was at my ear, and he bit the lobe before his fingers started fucking me fast and hard. “Your everything, Chantel. I’ll be everything you need.”
His lips were on mine and his hips were moving as if he were inside of me, and in a sense, he was. He crawled deep into my soul and staked his claim.
“You would see I am yours, and you are mine.”
With that, I felt my body clasp around his fingers, and I screamed his name, the intensity of it echoing down the hall for anyone to hear.
I never did get my surprise, but what I did get, I planned to hang on to forever.
Chapter Eighteen ~ Fleuve Sauvage de Fleurs
Day 13
I did everything I could to avoid seeing Phillipe today. In all honesty, I’m not ready to face him after the way he so coolly dismissed me last night. My pride is still wounded, and I know the best thing for me is avoidance. Instead of sitting for him, I have spent the day organizing my notes and typing up some key pointers on my laptop.
Having just awoken from a nap, I stare at the ceiling in silence as I lie in bed. As the sun disappears and the night begins to engulf the chateau, I get up and start to wrap up for the day. Yesterday evening took a lot out of me, not only physically but mentally. I’m actually starting to believe that I’m seeing and hearing things. I’m tired, and it’s becoming more and more obvious that I’m far too close to the man at the center of this story.
A loud knock startles me from my troubling thoughts, so I temporarily shelve them. Making my way to the door, I straighten the red blouse, and I open the door to a sober-looking Phillipe. He changed from yesterday’s jeans, and he is now back in all black. He’s wearing black slacks and a black button-up shirt with long sleeves. The coat I saw him in earlier is hanging over his arm, and he has one palm on the doorjamb.
He looks down at me with piercing green eyes. “Evening, Gemma.”
Raising my eyes to his, I somehow find my voice. “Good evening.”
Taking his palm off the jamb, he steps forward. I automatically step aside to let him into the small space that I have been occupying since I arrived nearly two weeks earlier.
I watch his broad shoulders as he advances toward the window. When he reaches it and looks out, I know the view he will see. I instantly feel guilty, as though he’ll know that I watched him down in the arbor earlier this afternoon.
He clasps his hands behind his back, his coat wedged between his wrist and his back. Without turning, he informs me, “We’re going for a walk. I suggest you put on some shoes.”
Looking down at my bare feet, I wonder when he even looked down to see that I was without.