“Michel.” She looked at him daftly. “You know me to be quite shrewd, do you not?”
“Yes,” he said. He felt like he was trying to solve a puzzle that was missing pieces.
“It was all my doing,” she said. “All of it. Meeting in Merv, Armin trying to sell me,” she lowered her voice, “falling into your arms.” She drew a finger down along his collar, down his chest. “You must have been quite desperate for a woman’s attention. You did not hesitate to buy me. As fast as a prized hog at market.”
He stared at her, incredulous, still gripping her arm. “But how,” he stuttered. “But…how?”
“I started in Carth. I listened for talk of French travelers. I learned who you were, your route. Despite your cockiness, people do actually know you in this region.” She shrugged. “It’s easy to get information when you speak as many languages as I do.” She fluttered her eyelashes at him, a feigned innocence. “Then it was just a matter of tricking the little pig man into thinking he should sell me at the brothel where I knew your crew would end up.” She bit her lip and looked at him slyly, seeming to enjoy finally telling him her scheme. “Getting the timing right was tricky. I really had to confuse that silly merchant to get us there at the right moment. But I did it.” Then she moved forward to whisper in his ear. “There you were, standing outside. Utterly bewildered. Like a camel seeing thorns.”
Michel stared at her, his mouth hanging open. “But…” he said and trailed off.
“It’s true.” She shrugged. “You don’t have to believe me if it hurts your ego.”
He blinked. “You planned our meeting?”
“Darling,” she said. She reached out to take a piece of the fruit and place it in his open mouth. “You had no chance once I decided you would be the one to take me to France.” She smoothed her finger over his bottom lip, grinning as she did.
He stared at her with the fig in his mouth. “You,” he said. “You,” he repeated as he swallowed. He wasn’t used to being so outsmarted. She really had been using him from the beginning. It made him mad, at himself, that he had been so blinded. Mad at her for being more quick-witted than him.
It also turned him the fuck on.
He grabbed her under her rump, and she fell over his shoulders with a shriek. He stomped over to the bed and dropped her on it. He had no time, he knew, to properly dash all her plans, to turn her inside out and teach her a few things, things men with experience could teach women who thought they knew everything. The others would return, Terence would return. But Michel couldn’t help himself in that moment, and provoking her was all he could think about.
As soon as her body hit the cushion of her bed, he was on top of her, nudging between her legs as he pulled her skirts up to her waist. She seemed startled by his attack, but was already panting and grabbing at his shoulders, pulling him to her. He leaned in to kiss her, a furious and greedy kiss as his hand struggled with her clothing. He was aching himself, inside his pants, but, for the moment, he was in control enough to stay in control of her.
He settled his weight so he could get his hand into her bloomers, and when he managed to find his way in, Eve arched up with a groan. Her soft skin went slick immediately at his touch, soaking his fingers. He loved that he had this effect on her, any effect on her.This woman.He kissed her mouth again as he canvased her delicate skin, teasing her, opening her up, calculating the best ways to use his calloused fingers to make her shudder.
Eve’s head went back, and she groaned again. Michel pressed at the most sensitive spot and watched a tremor pass through her, ending on a moan from her lips. He smiled watching her, rubbing her firmly now, aware that his time was limited, wanting to make her say his name again before they would be interrupted. Wanting Eve to know that he had plans himself, ones that she couldn’t predict. Or escape.
He changed his angle, feeling toward her opening. He sank his middle finger into her, followed by another. He knew this would be a new sensation for her, but he also wanted to shock and scandalize her. She gasped, and her eyes opened wide, finding his. She looked angry and wild at the same time, lustful and irritated. But he pressed in deep, and her body moved like he hoped she would move one day when they would be fully connected.
This was just a taste.
“You said you liked my hands. Was this part of your plan, Siren?” he asked against her ear.
Eve groaned. “Never,” she sputtered, “I never knew…”
“Should I stop?” he teased, lessening the pressure of his hand.
“No!” she shrieked, grabbing onto him, her nails cutting through his shirt and into his shoulders.
He grinned as he kissed a trail to her neck, not wanting to muffle the sounds she was making. He curled his fingers on the inside and pressed his thumb on the outside of her, and she lost her words, except for his name, which she gasped over and over. He worked his hand, feeling the muscles burn in his arm in the most delightful way. A growl grew low in his chest. He leaned into her, over her, catching her panting moans on his lips, working his hand in the absolute best way that he could. And then she broke apart.
Her breath came out, and he felt her contract, her body lifting off the bed and crashing into his. He grabbed her mouth again with his, but her body was too uncoordinated to kiss him back, so he just held her and watched her while he let her ride out the last waves of release on his hand, the bed beneath them flooded.
In the next moment, her eyes snapped open. She glared at him, still letting her nails prick his skin.
“Sorry,” he crooned, teasing. “You should know, I have some plans too.”
She laughed. He grinned. Then they were kissing again, her body still soft and shuddering beneath him. His hand brushed over the smooth skin on her stomach now, still caressing, still intimate. He never wanted to leave this bed or her arms or the softness and wonder between them. Soon, though, too soon, he heard the sounds of the men returning, and he knew it would have to end for now.
“For now,” he said, the thought on his lips. “That’s all.” He kissed her nose and then her forehead. “For now.”
He rose off the bed and adjusted his clothing and his body. Then he took her hand to pull her up, and his heart felt full as he did.
No, this had not been part of her plan, Eve thought. But what a wonderful surprise the things he did to her had been.
She let him pull her up to sitting, her body still aching from the way he had just touched her. She tucked her knees under herself and watched him as he fixed his own clothing, a grin on his face.
