“You’re breathing so hard,” she said into my mouth as she put her arms around my neck and pulled me closer. Her nipples were hard little points that dug into my chest, and I shuddered with the pleasure of knowing that she already wanted me again, too.
My relationship with Anna had never been like this. Although I’d always had a high sex drive, I was damn near insatiable now. Planting kisses on her lips before I started dragging my mouth south and kissing her neck and shoulders, I replied against her soft, creamy skin.
“I am breathing hard, but it’s because of you. You actually came with me. You weren’t even sure if you wanted to, but you did it anyway and all I had to do was ask. You didn’t make me beg and you’re not holding it over my head that you came.”
Emma grabbed my face and pulled me up until my eyes were even with hers again. “I’m not her, Colt. I have no idea where any of this is coming from, but I need you to know that I’m not her. If you want something and it means this much to you, all you’ll ever have to do is ask. And if I say yes, then there’s nothing to hold over your head. It was my decision to come, so why use that against you?”
With my heart pounding and three little words resounding in my head, I sealed my mouth over hers to shut myself up. Abandoning my previous mission of kissing her everywhere first, I reached blindly for the nightstand until I felt the foil wrapper under my palm.
Shakily opening it with one hand, I pulled away long enough to put the condom on and then I sank into her again. Emma was starting to feel a lot like home to me, and over the next few days, that only became so much more true.
Our first few days in Paris passed by in a blur that felt a lot like someone was putting together a movie montage of our lives. I pulled out all the stops, trying to convince her to fall in love with my lifestyle as much as I wanted her to fall in love with me.
I took her to the Louvre and smiled when she insisted on taking an elderly lady who was traveling alone through with us. We visited the Mona Lisa and spent an entire day exploring the rest of it. We went to the Palace at Versailles and marveled at the hall of mirrors. Then we stayed for the night fountains show and had a picnic on the lawn under the stars.
In between, we did everything off the beaten path that the travel agent had suggested and more. We also just strolled aimlessly down quaint little alleys and shopped in tiny stores selling supposed antiques and other souvenirs.
Emma discovered French coffee and fell in love with the café culture, not rushing through a single cup in all the time we were there. We sat on the sidewalks, watching people go by as we enjoyed our refreshments and talked about everything we could possibly think of to talk about.
One afternoon, I took her to the triangle d’Or where the finest haute couture shops in the world were located. Despite her protests, I bought her some new outfits under the guise of her needing them if we needed to have dinner with my clients or colleagues, but she saw right through me.
“Yeah, right. I know you just want to spoil me even more, Eldridge. How am I ever going to go back to real life after this?”
“This could be your real life,” I murmured as I pulled her to me, winding my arms around her waist and holding her against me. “You and I can do this, Em. For real.”
“You know what?” Her blue eyes connected to mine, and there was a world of wonder in hers. “I think that maybe we can. You start work in earnest again soon though, so let’s see how it goes once you’re back on the job.”
“It will be fine,” I insisted, but I didn’t add that it would be that way because I would make sure of it. Romantic candlelit dinners became our new normal. Our days were filled with the adventure we toasted to on the plane and our nights were filled with lovemaking and laughter.
I’d thought my best days were behind me, but those few days proved me wrong. They were, without a single shred of doubt, the best of my life.
On my last night before I went back to work, I wanted to make it as special as it could be, so after taking her back to the hotel to get dressed up for the evening, I slid in behind her and covered her eyes once we were back in the lobby.
“What are you doing?” she squeaked. “Why are you holding my eyes closed?”
“I have a surprise for you,” I whispered against her hair, urging her forward and guiding her to the revolving doors. “Since I go back to work tomorrow, I wanted to leave you with a lasting memory of my time off.”
“You’ve left me with so many lasting memories, sometimes I feel like I’m going to explode with it all. What gives, Colt? What have you done this time?”
“You’ll see in a minute.” It took some maneuvering to get us both through the doors without either of us walking into anything, but eventually, we walked out onto the sidewalk and I nodded at the man who I’d made the arrangements with.
He grinned, fixing his hat on his head. I lifted my hands off her eyes. Emma gasped, standing stock still when she realized what the surprise was. “A horse and carriage? Are you serious? I’ve always wanted to go on one of these, but to get to do it in Paris is just… wow.”
I grinned so wide, I nearly broke my cheeks. “You mentioned it to me once back in the ice-cream truck. If memory serves, you said that if you had to choose one experience out of a fairy tale that you’d want to have for real, you’d want it to be a ride in a horse-drawn carriage.”
She paused for another minute, then spun around and looked up at me with wide eyes. “You actually remember that? Even I forgot about it until right this minute when I saw the carriage. It’s a perfect one, too. So intricately beautiful with one black horse and one white pulling it. It’s like you snatched it right out of my dreams.”
I chuckled when she put her arms around my neck and pressed her body into mine. “I’ve been thinking about that time a lot, and late one night, the memory suddenly popped into my head. After you fell asleep, I looked it up and found this fine gentleman over here to help me out with bringing your fairy tale to life.”
“I can’t believe you,” she murmured, tears of joy glistening on her eyelids. “You’re the most amazing man who’s ever lived. Thank you, Colt. I’m never going to forget this.”
“That’s what I was aiming for,” I replied honestly.
Once I started working properly again instead of just overseeing things remotely, I knew there were going to be long days when she was going to be all by herself from sunrise to the early hours of the morning, and I needed her to remember how good it could be when we were together during my time off.
“If that’s what you were aiming for, then you’ve definitely achieved your goal. It’s perfect, honey. So perfect. Just like you.”
I chuckled. “Whoa there. If you keep talking like that, I’ll get a big head and start thinking that I can do no wrong.”