“I do, actually.” To her great relief she somehow managed to keep her voice level.
“Tell me.”
“I was thinking about Paris,” she said, trying to be as casual as possible.
His brow rose. “Is that so?”
“Mmmhmm. How would you feel about spending the night there instead of going directly to London? New Year’s Eve in the City of Lights?”
A warm smile formed on his lips. “Whatever makes you happy, Allie.”
“I want you to be happy, too, Hudson.”
“With the exception of perhaps a communal kiss,” he smirked, “I’m happy being anywhere with you.” He leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss just below her ear.
In spite of everything, Allie let out a small laugh, partly from the memory of Hudson’s reaction to the Venice celebration and partly from the sensation of his lips and tongue, sucking and kissing her sensitive skin. “No, no communal kiss under the Eiffel Tower, I promise.” Her hands found their way into his hair as his lips drifted down the column of her throat.
“Hmm, perhaps a king-size bed with a view of the Eiffel Tower instead.”
She tugged his hair until he raised his head to look at her. “Are you sure?” she asked. “We’d miss the lovely evening you planned on the River Thames.”
“We can charter the boat next week if you’d like?”
“I’d like. Very much.” A genuine smile stretched across her face at the thought of romantic dinner cruise with Hudson the following week. By then all of this mess with Julian would be behind them and they could get back to enjoying the new life they were building together.
“Then it’s decided. I’ll notify the conductor and arrange to have our bags unloaded at the next stop.” He stood and dug his phone out of the front pocket of his jeans. “Penthouse at the George V sound good?” he asked.
She smiled. “Sounds perfect.”
Hudson lifted the silver dome and snagged a piece of bacon before strolling out of the room with the phone pressed to his ear. Allie was dialing Harper’s number before the door had even fully closed.
After what seemed like a dozen rings, the call was finally answered.
“Hello.” The voice on the other line was so quiet, for a moment Allie thought in her haste she’d dialed the wrong number.
“Harper?”
“Who is it, babe?” a deep voice, thick with sleep, asked from somewhere close to the phone. Allie glanced at the time. It was just past noon in Chicago.
A few muffled words were spoken before Harper came back to the line. Normally Allie would have been all about asking for details about the mysterious man, but there was no time for that now.
“Hey you, aren’t you supposed to be sipping champagne in the French countryside?”
“I need your help.”Allie’s tone must have conveyed the urgency and anxiety she felt, because Harper was completely alert the next time she spoke.
“Give me one second,” she told her overnight guest. After a bit of shuffling she was back. “What’s wrong?”
The alarm in her friend’s voice brought the reality of the situation crashing down around her. Allie squeezed her eyes shut to stem the tears that stung her eyes. “It’s Julian,” she said past the lump in her throat.
“What’s that fucker done now?”
“He wants me to return his ring and he’s threatening to make trouble if I don’t.”
“Did you tell Hudson?” She let out a decisive snort. “I’m sure he could show Julian a whole new meaning for the word.”
Allie wanted nothing more than to tell Hudson everything. He would know the best way to handle Julian. But more than that, because it was killing her to lie to him. Secrets and lies had torn them apart. The last thing she wanted to do was have something else wedged between them. But this was different. This was about protecting Hudson and Nick.
“I don’t want to drag Hudson into this. Julian is my problem. I’ll give him his precious ring and then he’ll be out of my life. For good.”
“You can’t trust him.”
No, she couldn’t. But he’d left her no choice. “Will you bring me the ring?”
“To Paris?” Harper squeaked.
“Yes. I’ll take care of everything. All you have to do is get the ring from my brownstone and head to O’Hare with your passport. I think there’s a British Airways flight leaving around five thirty.”
“
Tonight
?”
“Yes, it should get you into de Gaulle around nine tomorrow morning. I’ll meet you there.”
“Whoa, slow down. Believe me, I’d like nothing more than to hop a jet to France. And you know I’d do anything for you. But I’m not so sure this is a good—”
“I wouldn’t ask if there was any other way,” Allie interrupted, her voice wavering with emotion. “Please.”
A moment of silence hung on the line. “Tell me what I need to do,” Harper said.
Allie gave her a quick rundown of the ring’s location, and after thanking her profusely and swearing her to secrecy, hung up to make the necessary arrangements. When she was done, she dressed quickly and packed up the rest of their things. As she zipped the suitcase she couldn’t help but wonder how she was going to make it through the next thirty hours. Hudson knew her so well, knew her moods, her expressions. It was going to be damn near impossible to act as though nothing was wrong. She took a deep breath. Somehow she’d find a way. She had to. Hudson and Nick’s very lives depended on it.
Paris had no shortage of luxury hotels, but the George V was inarguably the place to stay. An eight-story landmark just minutes from the Champs-Élysées, the hotel was the epitome of elegant sophistication. And after being crammed into a boxcar with goddamn bunk beds, Hudson was more than happy—make that thrilled—to trade in the one-of-a-kind experience through the European countryside for a king-size bed with sheets having a thread count to match the U.S. national debt. Not to mention a place where he didn’t have to walk down the hall to take a piss.
The concierge had greeted them immediately, taken care of checking them in, and quickly instructed a bellhop to escort them to their room. The private elevator with secure access had shot them up to the penthouse smoothly and efficiently. And the room itself was even better than advertised with a view that offered the perfect vantage point for enjoying New Year’s Eve fireworks from the comfort of a luxurious king size bed. But as the day wore on, the sixteen-hundred-square-foot space began to feel like a shoebox.
As the morning had turned into an afternoon that darkened into night, Allie seemed to withdraw. She became more isolated, offering what felt like forced laughs or strained smiles. Something was off. Logic told him it was nothing, that it was all a matter of his own perception. But the pit of his stomach told him otherwise.
Hudson fought the feeling and took a deep breath, trying to relax.
Hell of a lot of good that did.
In the bathroom, he planted his left palm on the marble while his right cranked the hot and cold. In a rush, water cascaded out of the faucet and began to fill the oversize infinity tub that was smack in the middle of the room. Turning his head, he saw Allie in the living room, staring out the double doors that openedto a terrace with three-hundred-and-sixty-degree views of the city. But she seemed oblivious to the night sky, the ambient glow of the city humming below her, and the Eiffel Tower glittering in the distance. Instead her empty gaze was indicative of someone stuck between two polars, concentrating hard on something while at the same time trying to get away from it. Hudson knew all about that; he was a pro at shutting down and sending out the hands-off message when the world was getting a little too clear.
The level of the water rose and steam began to billow from the tub. As it did, he replayed the past few hours, then the past few days, trying to figure out what, if anything, he could have said or done to cause this disconnect. On the train he’d left in search of confections with extra whipped cream, and when he’d returned the air had shifted and the mood had altered.
It didn’t make sense.
Any of it.
When it came to her, his senses were sharp. But right now he couldn’t nail the source of her reserve to anything specific.
“Allie?”
Her head turned. God, she was beautiful and the one woman he’d always wanted. In her white waffle-cut robe with her blonde hair loose around her shoulders, she struck him stupid. Still.
Hudson strode across the room. The candles he’d lit wafted in his wake, but did nothing to infiltrate the distinct chill in the air. Without a word he slipped his arms around her waist. She turned, running her hands up to his shoulders and linking them behind his neck. When her hazel eyes finally met his, there was honest-to-God emotion in them. His hands clasped the sides of her face and tilted her head before sealing his lips over hers. His tongue licked inside her mouth in lazy glides, tantalizing her as he waited for her to respond. And when she finally did, when she finally gave herself over to him, he groaned, drinking in the taste of her.
“Take a bath with me,” he whispered against her lips.
“Okay.” Her breathy voice was the only green light he needed. Hudson embraced her tightly and lifted her off her feet. His cock throbbed for attention, pounding between them as he carried her to the bathroom. The water was still running and the place had gone tropical, but the fog forming on the mirrors that covered the walls did nothing to hide their reflections.
In a coordinated sequence he set her on her feet, pulled the sash of her robe, and peeled the fabric off her creamy shoulders, letting it pool at her feet. She was just so goddamn beautiful. Although not in a modern, overdone way that was all about excess—too much makeup, fake nails, and over-the-top extensions. Allie was naturally beautiful, with delicate features reminiscent of Grace Kelly.
He spun her around to face the mirror above the twin sinks. The candlelight reflected off the beveled edgesand bathed her skin from head to toe. He lifted a hand and brushed his knuckles up the contours of her ribcage then along the gentle slope of her breast. Her eyes drifted to his hand, tracking its movement. The tension in her body was unbearable; she seemed anxious.
“Look at me. Don’t drop your eyes.” He dipped his head but his gaze remained locked to hers as he ran his tongue along the planes of her shoulders. Her skin was soft, smooth as satin under the caresses of his hands and against his tongue, and gradually he felt the strain ease out of her muscles.
His hand dropped between her thighs and a groan rumbled deep in his chest. Christ, she was wet. He had command of her body but he wanted her mind along with it. He slid his middle finger inside her, eased it out, then back in with a second.
Allie moaned and pushed back against his hand. “Hudson,” she whispered.
His tongue traced the pulsing vein in her neck. “I know what you want, but I need to hear you say it.” He was rock-hard and dying to be inside her, to feel her sliding slick, hot, and wet around his cock. But despite the burn that was spreading up his legs and through his groin, he held back, wanting her with him. He pulled his fingers out and thrust gently back into her. “Say it, Allie.”
“Take me.” Allie’s back arched and she clenched around him. In that moment he knew she needed the connection as much as he did.
Hudson reached for the belt of his robe and yanked it from the loops. The fabric split wide and his cock jutted out from his hips, hard, strong, and proud. He gripped himself and slid the tip between her glistening lips. The first touch against her slick sex nearly made him lose it.
In a split second the tension in the room was replaced with raw lust. He seized her hips, and when his fingers sank into her flesh he felt the need to tether them there, as if he was grounding them both in the moment. With a hiss, he entered her on a solid stroke that brought his body flush against her ass. Allie cried out, her fingers curling around the lip of the counter. He pulled out to the tip, then thrust sharply back inside her. The groan he let out vibrated throughout his whole body, and a harsh breath rushed out of her mouth.
Steam slicked their skin and the sound of water trickling over the edges of the tub behind them mingled with their collective moans. Glancing to the side, Hudson caught their reflection. He watched his hips roll and then pump into her, his lower abs flex and then release, as his cock was stroked from every angle. “Look at us,” he ground out. Each word was punctuated with a thrust of his hips. “Watch me fuck you.”
Her gaze landed on one mirror then the next and the next, and he knew she saw what he did in the multiple reflections. They were a prism of naked bodies all moving in unison, working together. Sweet hell, an orgasm was already perched at the head of his cock and the slow burn was creeping up his spine.
“Give me your mouth,” he growled. Allie craned her head back and he forced her chin up. He locked onto her mouth without apology, his lips crushing against hers in a desperate attempt to seal the fissure he feared was growing into a canyon between them. His tongue slid over hers in lush strokes and his hips moved in relentless drives.
When he felt her impending orgasm begin to coil around his cock, he moved his hand around her and massaged his fingers over the top of her sex.
“Please,”she begged.
“I have you.” Hudson bit down on his molars and locked his lower back in order to keep the steady pace. “Look at yourself. Look how beautiful you are. See what I see as you come.”
Allie arched her back, and as if on cue her release snapped free. “Hudson,” she cried out, his name a plea. The breathlessness of her voice surged the need in him and his body took over. There was nothing slow and easy, he was all rough and raw.
“That’s it. Give me what’s mine.” He gripped her hips and yanked her back along his length, feeling her pulse along his shaft and fucking her with the desire to erase anything and everything that was threatening to stand between them.
As he focused on the way his body slid and fit inside of her, he felt a wave of pleasure move up his legs and vibrate in his balls. But at the same time he felt the treasonous shift of her mind as her head dropped forward, hiding her eyes from his view. He smoothed his palm up her spine, wrapped her hair around his wrist, and gently pulled her head back up. “Don’t you fucking look away, I’m about to come for you.” Their eyes met in the mirror but he still felt like he was clawing through the fog to reach her.
“Fuck.” The word shot out of his mouth as he began to come, his body rearing back and his cock kicking deep within her. Allie dropped forward on her elbows and he caught her around the waist. He leaned over her, pressing a kiss between her shoulders, and they stood there for a moment with nothing but the sounds of their panting breaths echoing off the cold marble.
It was Hudson who finally spoke. “I’ll never let you go,” he murmured against her skin. “Never.”