CHAPTER TWENTY
Paris was so much more than Maggie could have ever imagined. The days flew by in a giddy blur of French bistros, jambon beurre on warm crusty baguettes, and the dark aromatic seduction of coffee, which practically billowed out of the cafés.
First it would rain, and she and Jake would huddle beneath a café umbrella, watching people scurry by. Then the sun would come out, the puddles would dry, and the whole city would be washed clean again.
As intoxicated as she was by the perfumes at the shops on the Champs -Elysées, by the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe, by the public gardens bursting with rain-splattered roses, her favorite part of the day was simply wandering the streets hand-in-hand with Jake.
She loved the Seine, which flowed through the center of Paris like a piece of living history, dotted with pleasure boats and spanned by bridges. And then as night descended, Paris put on her dinner clothes, and the lights made shimmering reflections of themselves on the water. Maggie felt as though she were walking inside a painting. Paris cast a spell over her far from the prying eyes of Cuervo.
But no matter what she did, she couldn’t stop time. And she wanted so much more of it. She wanted these days to go on forever. They visited one of Paris’s most famous bakeries and she got to experience what it felt like to be on the opposite side of the display case. Inside were thin layers of opera cake soaked in coffee syrup and slathered with buttercream. Jewel-like macarons made out of pink meringue. Cream puffs dipped in caramelized sugar. All she could think about was Jake and his brother making noodles in a coffee maker. Then he would smile at her and she fell in love with him all over again.
Maggie dreaded the moment when Jake would say good-bye.
She didn’t want to think about that now. Not on their last morning in Paris. They were out on the terrace of his hotel, the sky so blue, all of Montmartre spread before them and the Eiffel Tower in the distance.
So what if there were a few dark clouds looming on her inner horizon? She was here, and the man she loved was sitting in a chair beside her. There were tiny cups of French coffee and a basket of fresh croissants. Paper-thin slices of ham lay on a white plate.
He cupped her chin, one thumb tracing the curve of her lips. “Happy?”
“It still feels like a dream, and I’m waiting to wake up.”
“Maybe the awake part is actually better than the dream.”
She gazed at him and felt the heat of his eyes move over her. Through her. “Is it crazy to want you all the time?” she asked breathlessly. “Even when I see you across a room? Even when we’re standing in line for coffee?”
“Does it frighten you?”
She nodded, wondering why that was true.
“Fear just means it matters,” he said. “It means you’ve got something to lose.”
“Are you afraid?”
“Always,” Jake replied, and he had that quiet smile that never stopped getting to her, the one that tugged mysteriously at the corners of his mouth.
“Why?” she asked. “What part are you afraid of?”
“The part where I fuck it up,” he said with a somberness that pulled at her. “I’m in love with you, Maggie.”
She looked at him in astonishment, thinking he might make light of it or let her know he was joking. But his blue eyes were serious. And suddenly she was aware of how quickly her pulse had started pounding. How hot her skin felt, flushed and prickly.
Jake would never say such a thing unless he meant it. Even though he’d shown her in a thousand ways how much he cared, hearing it was an arrow through the heart.
She couldn’t speak. Her throat was dry, and even if she knew the words to explain what she was feeling, she wouldn’t be able to say them. She wanted to whisper that she loved him, too. Loved the vulnerable child he once was. His secret sweetness. He’d overcome so much, and now look at him.
So she showed him the only way she could. She shifted on to his lap, facing him in the armless chair, and fused her lips to his in a lush, open-mouthed kiss. Her entire heart was in that kiss. They stayed like that for a long time, breathing in the dark elixir of their arousal, the breeze ruffling wisps of their hair. She’d never wanted anyone as much as she wanted him right now. Her body roared with desire.
They were both naked underneath white terrycloth bathrobes. She slipped her hands inside his bathrobe, parting it to reveal his smooth, muscular chest. Her eyes filled with the heat of tenderness.
She couldn’t hold back now. It was all here, all out, hearts on the table. He’d given her his. Now she had to show him what that meant to her.
His tongue explored hers, slow and sure and drugging. All she could think about was this searing fusion that boiled the blood inside her veins, that made her quiver with the violence of love and passion.
She would never be the same after this. Never. She could try, because that’s what she did. Right foot. Left foot. Put on the brave front. But every moment of her life before this moment, before Jake showed her what it was truly like to be made love to, was a sad testament to how things could have been but never were. No one had cared before. No one had taken the time. She didn’t know it was possible to feel this way. Jake made her new again. And if she lost him now, she might die without him.
With her thighs straddling his lap, Jake parted his knees and he sprang free, gloriously hard and thick and heavy. She wrapped her hand around him and heard his sharp intake of breath.
She wanted. Oh, God, how she wanted. His strength was so sexy, but it was his vulnerability that undid her.
When he pulled the robe away from her shoulders and pressed his warm lips to her sensitized skin, she felt tingles cascading all the way down to her sex. His strong, square jaw was covered in stubble. It rubbed her and scraped her and made her want more.
Her hands roamed over his broad chest and strong arms. They skimmed the wide flare of his back. Anticipation made each nerve ending purr as though an ignition had been started. Every muscle between her legs gave one long delicious erotic clench.
Their mouths met while he brushed his thumbs back and forth over her breasts. All this dark heat gathered itself into a ball of blazing need, tighter, hotter as he surged against her. The excitement of his satiny hardness bumping and pulsing made her feel as though if she couldn’t have him, she would burst apart.
He ran his tongue over her stiff peaks, swirling and nibbling. Sparks of pleasure went up like flash paper across her skin.
“Maggie…” he muttered against her throat. She knew he was asking her to get the condoms. She knew how urgently he wanted this because she wanted it, too—would have done anything to feel him inside her. But that was just it. She wanted to feel him inside her.
“Not that, Jake,” she said huskily. “Just you.”
He blinked, a little dazed. “I’ve never had unprotected sex before. What if you get—”
“Pregnant? Don’t bet on it.” I should be so lucky.
He made a sound deep in his throat, a cross between a groan and a growl. Then he lifted her on top of him so that just the tip slid inside the first inch or two of her wet, eager folds.
“You’re sure, Maggie?”
“Oh, yes.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and braced her toes on the floor. He gazed up at her, his eyes gleaming. Then he pushed her down over him, bit by bit, stretching her, and ecstasy tore through her body. She cried out.
Who knew this could be such a wild, violent joy? She felt the pure, slick heat of him. The intimacy of it filled her and made her gasp as she surrounded him. Slowly she worked her swollen flesh over his, setting the pace. There was no barrier between them now. They were heart to heart. Flesh to flesh. He’d told her his deepest secrets, the things he was most ashamed of. And now this whole new world had opened up between them.
Jake grasped under her thighs and pulled her open to receive him more deeply and she gave a convulsive shiver. Fire rippled beneath her skin. She couldn’t stop the noises that escaped her, even though they were on a balcony and someone would surely hear. Urgency overrode her natural politeness. Nothing mattered but this.
She rocked her hips, bucking and sliding, first just lipping the head and then taking the smooth ride to the bottom. Warning bells went off inside her womb as it coiled and tightened, pressure building higher and higher. She felt him so deeply, so hugely. She’d never been this high before, and his gaze devoured her. Fiery pleasure torched her entire body and her orgasm exploded, rocketing outward, racking shudders making her squeeze around him.
Dimly, she realized that Jake was coming, too, pulsing inside her in heavy, full-body jerks. They were lost in mindless pleasure together. His hoarse, strangled sounds blended with her soft cries as she felt him flood her, lick after lick. The perfection of it, the rightness, radiated out in ever-softening waves.
For the first time, Maggie knew. She knew.
Reality was sweeter than any dream.