But then something happened. He rubbed her hand and stroked his fingers up and down her side, the steady rhythm of his breathing making the noise of her thoughts and the rest of the world die down. Just a little bit. Just enough for a warmth to replace them. For her to give in to being surrounded by so much beauty.
They stood there together a long, quiet time before he squeezed her close and pressed his lips to her temple.
“There are a lot of reasons why I’m here, in Paris.” His voice was gruff, but it was honest. “Not all of them are the best reasons. But what matters—what I prefer to think about—is that I am here. In this moment, in this spot.” He bent to place a soft, more lingering kiss against her cheek, then whispered beside her ear, “With you.”
Just like that, the wariness she’d donned like armor mere minutes ago faded away, his words worming their way past her defenses. She didn’t even care that it was a line. It didn’t sound rehearsed. It sounded true.
And in that instant, that was all that mattered to her, too.
chapter TEN
Rylan was a bastard. First, for misleading Kate about where he came from in the first place. Second, for being so damn evasive all afternoon—for keeping his cards so close to his chest every time she asked him about his past. He’d given enough away already, but the details she seemed so eager to ferret out of him were getting too real. This had become a vacation for him, too, a respite from the tedium he’d settled into. A chance to not have to think about all the things he’d left behind.
Third and finally, he was a kinky motherfucker of a bastard for what he was about to do right now.
“Come on,” he said, guiding her with a hand at the small of her back. They’d reversed their trip up to the top of Sacre Coeur and were down in Montmartre proper again, which she had loved. But she hadn’t seen all of it yet.
“Where are we going?” She laughed, a high, warm sound that he was glad to hear again after everything had gotten so serious there for a bit. She’d better still be laughing when she saw where they were going next.
“You’ll see.”
It was a subtle transition, the way all the kitschy shops and little cafés gave way to the area’s red-light district. The first couple of places they passed with dildos in the window, she didn’t even seem to notice.
But then her steps slowed and her eyes narrowed.
“Rylan,” she said, all warning.
Damn, he was a bastard. And this was going to be way too much fun.
“You know what brought Toulouse-Lautrec to Montmartre, right?”
“This isn’t funny.”
“Whores, dancing girls. It’s part of the experience.”
“Rylan!”
“What do you think the Moulin Rouge was? A nursery school?”
“That’s not why I wanted to come here.”
“I know it’s not.” He pulled out the trump card he’d been saving. “But you did ask me—repeatedly, if I might add—what I was getting out of this trip.”
“I’m not going into a—a brothel.”
He put on an expression of mock offense. “Of course you’re not.” They’d started moving forward again in spite of her misgivings, and—perfect. He stopped and put his arm out, gesturing to just the place he’d been planning to bring her. “You’re going into a sex shop. Totally different.”
“I don’t want to—”
“But I do.” He leaned in close, and she might be angry, but she didn’t flinch away. “I want to buy you a present, and then tonight I want to show you how to use it.” He let his arousal at the thought seep into his voice. “I want to find out how many times you can go before you beg me to stop.”
She drew back, and her face bloomed tomato red. But she put her hands on her hips, a defiant set to the angle of her chin. She looked around. Made sure they were alone before she choked out, “I know how to use a—a—” She lowered voice comically. “A vibrator.”
Well, color him surprised. “You do?”
“Of course I do.” She glanced over her shoulder again, looking uncomfortable but in a different way. She leaned closer, still keeping her voice down. “I told you. No guy has ever managed to. You know.”
“Make you come?”
God, he could feel the heat coming off her face from here. But her silence was her agreement. “So . . .”
“So?”
“So a girl has needs.”
“Never doubted it.” He’d been pretty sure she knew what an orgasm felt like, considering the way she’d arched into his touch and bucked against his tongue. Just the idea of her reaching between her legs and sating that ache had him hardening. The image of her doing it with a little mechanical assistance had him ready to pull her into an alley right here and now.
But he had patience. Not much of it, but enough.
He raised an eyebrow in challenge. “What I doubt is that you have any idea how to tell a man what those needs are. Which is why”—he stepped to the side and opened the door to the shop—“we are going to practice.”
She looked from the open door to him and back again, but her feet seemed glued to the ground. After what felt like an eternity of indecision, her flush deepened to the point where he was actually starting to worry she might blow. But just when he was half expecting her to go running for the Metro without him, she crossed her arms over her chest. “Fine.”
With that, she stormed into the store, and damn. He liked it when she got all fired up. Chuckling to himself and shaking his head, he followed in after her and let the door fall closed behind them.
Inside, the place was well lit. There were some racy images on the walls, and all the shelves were lined with books and DVDs and toys, but it wasn’t the typical place people imagined perverts in trench coats sneaking into to find material for jerking off. Only a handful of people were browsing, but more of them were women than men. Hopefully, that would set Kate at ease.
He picked up a basket and nodded at the girl behind the counter before wandering over to where Kate was standing, eyeing a display of glass dildos.
“Pretty, aren’t they?” He picked up a bulbous one with red swirls and put his lips close to her ear. “Wonder what this one would feel like inside of you?”
She squirmed. “Sounds cold.”
“It would be.” He set it down. “But that’s half the fun.” Grabbing one still in its packaging, he placed it in his basket.
She put her hand on his arm. He opened his mouth, ready to argue for why this was a good idea, why he’d love to rub this up and down her slit and watch it slip inside. But in the end, all she did was lift it out and replace it with a slimmer, purple one.
He practically swallowed his tongue. “Good choice.”
She hummed, walking past him to keep looking around.
While she was doing her own perusing, he grabbed a bullet that looked interesting and considered picking up some lube, but that seemed a little presumptuous. Maybe next time.
When he caught up with her again, she had the package for a mini-wand-type thing in her hands.
“Find something good?”
She startled but didn’t lose it on him again. She added it to their purchases with a shrug. “Travel-sized version of one I know I like.”
“Smart thinking.” He gestured at the rest of the store. “Anything else that gets your motor running?” Speaking of which, they had to stop for some batteries, too. “Handcuffs? Whips? Porn?”
“No, thank you.”
Fine by him.
Up at the front counter, he paid for everything in cash, keeping his open wallet out of her view. He waved her off when she tried to contribute. “It was my idea,” he insisted.
“Fine. But I’m getting dinner tonight.”