Eve smiled at her new friend. She was about to say how happy she was to have met Alex when she heard something like a grunt from outside and metal scraping against stone. Alex perked up and gave her a mischievous wink.
“What’s that?” Eve asked.
Alex just leaned over and gave Eve a quick kiss on the cheek. “I pledged to your father I would protect you, but I think someone else can do it better, at least during the night.” Then she hopped up to scurry to the window. She pulled the curtains aside.
Eve sat straight up. Suddenly, she saw Michel hoist himself through the window.
“Thank you, Alex,” he said, running his hand up the back of his head. “I’m not as used to sneaking around this place as you and Philippe.”
She snorted a laugh as he gave her a hug. “Anytime, Michel.” She turned back to Eve. “Goodnight!” she called in a whisper as she scooted out of the window. Then, to someone outside, “Iambeing careful.” Then again, “Philippe, just hold on.”
Eve heard their laughter as it disappeared into the night.
Then she was alone, for the first time, with the man she would marry. Michel.
The emotion of it struck her like a horse whip. She looked at him, feeling her hands shake and her skin tingle. She wanted him so badly, and he had been so near, but utterly untouchable for so long.
“I only came here to be with you,” he said. He held out his hands to prove his innocence. “We don’t have to do anything.”
“Are you insane?” She leapt out of bed and ran to him. She threw her hands around his neck and blanketed him with kisses.
“Are you sure?” he laughed. Even as he did, he pulled her closer to him. His hands squeezed into her hips, and she could feel his heat through the thin layer of her night clothes. “The wedding—” he trailed off.
“Please don’t make me wait any longer,” she whispered against his lips.
Then Michel grinned wickedly at her and picked her up. “Thank God.”
He moved her to the bed and set her down gently, but Eve was up on her knees in an instant, pulling furiously on his shirt while he threw off as much as he could. He ran his fingers across her body. She tingled where his fingertips touched.
He pulled his shirt over his head, removed his belt, and his shoes. He dropped his pants, and they were both in only their undergarments. Then he came up on the bed behind her. He kneeled behind her, with his front against her back as he pulled her shift up over her head. She could feel the rigidity of his body, his muscles, the thick length of him. She had his spicy scent all around her, his warmth already penetrating. She wanted everything now, right now.
She turned to urge him forward. Michel held her in place. “Slowly,” he coaxed.
She groaned and turned again to attack him.
“Slowly,” he repeated, his hands firm on her.
She groaned but conceded to let him take his time and touch her.
With his hard body behind her, his hands on her front, he ran them over her thighs and up over her hips. He paused over her belly, which had only slightly expanded at this point. “It feels different,” he said in awe. “It’s firm.”
“Yes, I know,” she hurried her words. “Faster, Michel,” she pleaded. “Now, take me now.”
Michel just laughed softly in her ear and continued moving his hands up her body, using his touch to tease her—his breath in her ear, his lips on her neck. Eve could barely take it.
She threw her arms back around his neck, urging his hands onto her breasts. “Michel,” she begged.
“Slowly,” he replied in a whisper. Now she could hear his own voice becoming raspy. She hoped it meant he wouldn’t make her wait too much longer.
He slipped his hands up her skin and gripped her breasts. The contact caused her to groan and fall back against him, pressing herself into his hands. She gasped for breath. So did he.
“Michel,” she said, her legs weakening as she fell against him. “Please.”
“Would you like me to hurry up?” he whispered against her ear, a tease in his voice.
“Yes, please.” She swallowed. “Anything. Do something.”
Then Michel moved around to face her. He grabbed her hips and lay her down across the bed. He gave her that wicked smile she loved so much. Eve reached for him with both her arms and legs, trying to pull him into her as fast as she could. He dropped his head and found her breast, sucking her nipple into his mouth as he made the other one pebble with his fingers. She arched into his touch. Then he switched the motion, trading mouth for hand, hand for mouth. Eve moved her hips up to feel him, wanting pressure between her legs. She felt like she might implode waiting for him.
