Chapter Thirteen
Paris, France
Kate
It was the early hours of the morning by the time our car dropped us outside our hotel, and despite being groggy, exhausted, and jetlagged, the awe of the Shangri La Hotel, Paris replaced everything I might have felt.
“Do you like it?” Jonathan asked, walking around the car to place an arm around my waist.
“I love it, it’s… it’s beautiful.”
“One of the best places to stay in Paris,” he whispered into my ear. “And I only want the best for you, Kate. I hope you understand that.”
“Welcome to the Shangri La!” a man called out as he approached us. He reached his hand out and Jonathan took it. “I’m Sebastian, and it’s a pleasure to have you both, Mr. Davenport.”
“The pleasure’s ours,” he responded.
He greeted me warmly and ushered us to follow him inside the magnificent hallway.
I’d never seen anything like it, and as he led us up to the elevators I snuck a glance at Jonathan to my side to find his eyes on me, watching me experience the world through him.
“This will be your suite for the duration of your stay,” Sebastian said, unlocking the large dark door and stepping aside so I could enter.
“All of this is ours?” I asked, surprised by what I saw before me.
He nodded, smiling proudly as he walked around flicking switches and showing me every mod con it had.
“Absolutely. When you hire the entire seventh floor, Miss, all suites are joined to make an apartment.”
“The entire seventh floor?” I glanced around at Jonathan, shocked that he’d gone to so much expense for me, but his attention was fixed on lifting the large shutters. I walked to his side as they rose, and there beyond the terrace was the Eiffel Tower, large and illuminated, so close that I could almost smell the excitement.
“Wow…” I breathed, resting my fingers on the glass and staring at its beauty. I’d never seen something so magnificent and special in my entire life.
“Will that be all?” Sebastian asked behind us.
“For now, yes,” Jonathan answered. “Thank you. In the morning I’d like breakfast served in this room at ten and then a car waiting downstairs for us at eleven thirty.”
“Very well, Sir. That will be arranged. Should either of you need anything before then, don’t hesitate to call us.”
Jonathan slipped something into Sebastian’s jacket pocket before walking over and paying the bellboy, and they both left with repeated ‘thank yous’ until we were left alone.
I turned back to the beautiful view and shook my head.
“You didn’t have to do all this,” I said quietly.
He came up beside me, facing the Eiffel Tower, and took a deep breath.
“Do what?”
“This.” I gestured around the room and at the view. “On top of everything, this is too much. The entire seventh floor? Really?”
He opened the terrace doors in silence, reached out for my hand, and once he had it he guided me out into the slightly cool air where we could hear and see the sounds and lights of Paris around us.
I took a deep breath and he turned me to face him, his hands firmly on my shoulders.
“I’ve never done anything like this for anyone before, Kate,” he said, his voice low and firm. “I’m fortunate enough to be able to enjoy this luxury whenever I want, and there’s only one person I want to do it with…”
He leaned in to kiss me, but I pulled back slightly.
“You can’t buy my love, Jonathan,” I said, irritated slightly. “I’m not like the others. I know once upon a time we had a contract, but things have changed. They’ve changed because I developed real feelings for you and I got hurt. Do you think five star hotels and private jets are going to erase that?”
He let his hands drop from my arms and turned back to the view.
“It was never meant to cause you so much hurt and upset. Krista doesn’t mean a thing to me, and the reason I couldn’t tell you was because it was a surprise and things weren’t fully confirmed yet.”
“So what’s changed?”
“What’s changed?” he asked, glaring at me slightly. “You’re asking me what’s changed? You don’t have trust in me. You didn’t give me the benefit of the doubt after everything we talked about and been through. You still thought I was capable of breaking your heart. You’re right, I’m many things Kate, and I’ve not been the best lover to a lot of women, but I’m not a liar.” He paused to catch his breath, the first time I’d ever seen him display any kind of deep emotion or feeling. “Everything I said to you the day we went to the beach was true. I feel everything for you.”
I hung my head, ashamed at how hasty I’d been in ending the one thing that had started to give my life purpose. He was right. I’d jumped to conclusions without giving him the chance to explain, and if he’d gone to such lengths to prove to me that Krista was there to help him with my surprise then I didn’t want to ruin it. I wanted him to do what he’d planned all along because I couldn’t deny it, life was better with him in it.
I kissed his shoulder and stood behind him, wrapping my arms around his waist. He remained tense for a moment, but softened as I melted into him.
We stayed like that for a minute, before he turned in my arms, held my face, and brought his lips down to meet mine.
We kissed, softly at first, taking our time to taste each other and get accustomed to such intimacy again, and then I felt the twitch of his hardening erection against my leg and he lifted me up against him, carrying me back towards the suite.
I didn’t take my lips away from his, not wanting our moment to end until he threw me backwards onto the bed, his eyes looking over me beneath him.
“Don’t ever do that to me again,” he whispered roughly, undoing his shirt buttons and belt. “Don’t ever walk away from me like that when you know I want you like this.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, my voice a raspy hiss. All I wanted was to feel him inside me and all sense of patience faded instantly.
I reached out for him, trying to pull him back towards me, but he remained just out of my grasp, sliding his shirt over his solid arms.
“What do you want?” he asked gruffly.
“You,” I said almost urgently. “I want you.”
He climbed onto the bed, straddling me and pinning me beneath his weight while his hands undressed me.
We didn’t speak, an unspoken desire radiating between us both as we looked at each other, our eyes connecting for the first time in a while. He knew that no matter how mad I’d been with him, my feelings hadn’t disappeared, and I understood that despite his past and previous love of anything female, he was the most dependable person I’d ever had in my life.
He hooked his fingers into the material of my dress and pulled it up over my head, freeing me of it and watching me intently. Then, after he flung it onto the floor, he touched his fingers against my skin and ran them all the way up until he held a nipple between his thumb and finger. I sighed with pleasure, closing my eyes, but he shook them open again.
“I want you to watch me,” he said, licking his lips. “I want to see you enjoy me.”
It wouldn’t have been the first time I’d had sex with someone while sneaking a peek at their face, but making love while watching the other person filled me with nerves.
I reached down to fiddle with his belt, averting my eyes, but he pulled my chin back up to face him, looking at me momentarily before he kissed me.
I slid his clothes off over his firm ass, and he kicked out of them, pulling away from me.
I didn’t look at his erection, but I clasped my hands around it, watching his sharp intake of breath as I built up a rhythm.
He bit on his lip again, and I saw him fighting the urge to close his eyes, but he didn’t, keeping them locked on mine as I drove him crazy.
“Kate…” he growled at me, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop because I’d developed an addiction to watching him—the look of intense pleasure on his face, his furrowed eyebrows, and the distant, lust-filled look in his light eyes. I wanted to spend an entire lifetime watching him, but he took hold of my wrist and pulled me away, panting, and then without speaking he hooked his fingers into the lace of my panties and ripped them off me. The material tore easily, and he threw them to the floor, grabbing hold of his still hard erection and entering me with a loud groan.
He watched me as I received all of him, part surprise and the rest ecstasy as my body shuddered with pleasure and arched upwards in response.
I closed my eyes, but as he held me down and bucked his hips against me, he lowered his lips to my ear.
“Look at me, Kate.”
I looked up at him, unable to focus properly on his face, but he took one of my hands and laced his fingers with mine up by my head and kept up his pace, thrusting into me, his rhythm and speed driving me closer and closer to orgasm.
I felt the buildup of excitement, pleasure, and tension within me, and I knew I couldn’t hold back anymore.
I wrapped my legs around him and his movements got faster and harder, his moans deeper, and as I threw my head back, shaking with my climax, he came too, crying out into the silent room, his eyes still fixed on mine.
I felt every tremble of his body as I watched wave after wave of pleasure spread across his face. I looked at his furrowed eyebrows and gritted teeth, and it sent aftershocks through my body until he was completely spent and he collapsed on top of me, sweating, panting, and shuddering. I wrapped my arms around his back, holding him as close as I could against my skin before I turned my head towards the window, the Eiffel Tower casting a glow around the room, and we stayed that way for a few minutes without speaking, our hearts beating together until his slowed and shallowed.
He climbed off me and I rolled over to face the window away from him, pretending I was asleep because I could barely think straight and because deep down there was still a part of me that was afraid he’d hurt me. I was afraid because I was falling so hard and so fast for him that I wanted a sign or some kind of confirmation that I could trust him with my heart, and that I wouldn’t open up and give him all of me only for him to realize I wasn’t what he wanted or needed. We lay together on the bed for several minutes until I felt him move against me.
“Kate?” he said out into the night.
I kept my eyes closed, pretending not to hear him because I needed time to think and get used to letting him back into my life like before.
I felt his hands stroke over my arm, and he pulled the blanket around my body before kissing my shoulder, his lips lingering against my skin.
“You’re loved, Kate,” he whispered, assuming I was asleep. “You’re loved more than you’ll ever know, and I’ll spend the rest of my life proving that to you.”
He kissed me again before he slowly and quietly left the bed and disappeared somewhere in the depths of the suite.
I heard another door further down close, and then I let the tears that I’d been holding finally fall. Once they did I couldn’t stop them, because he was the first person in my whole life to ever say those words, and I truly believed them.