Bartered (5 page)

Chapter 10

Hugo

Isobel’s little gasps and shallow breathing, which begged for my eyes to note her smooth cleavage, didn’t help at all to save my sanity. Everything she did tonight made me want her. From her smiles to the way she smelled. Or how she looked sexy, and yet, she had that air of innocence about her. She was lethal to my health the moment I laid eyes on her this evening. Even her nervousness only added to my already combustible body.

For a man like me
, who wasn’t capable of denying himself anything, it had been a hardship to harness this perfervid need to have her on the spot, which meant the driveway and with all of my security detail waiting patiently on us. However, all I had been able to think about was to devour her lips that reminded me of soft, pink petals and her body that was covered in a sexy gown that accentuated her best features. I had wanted to press her against the side of the car, nestle myself in between the warm crevice of her thighs before I hooked her leg above my hips and plundered into her wet, succulent depths. I wanted her moaning my name, begging me never to stop until I came inside of her and was drained to the last drop.

My passions were known across country
, yet I always liked to preserve a little privacy for my mistresses, thus displaying them out in the open wasn’t something I enjoyed. At the end of the day, I was a hot-blooded French man who admired beauty, but most of all, I was a possessive lover. I didn’t like to share what was mine, even if it was for onlookers. Yet the desire to take her against my car, to hell with the rest of the people watching, had dimmed my mood.

I was a man in control
, and when I felt this control being threatened by my passions, it became bothersome. I even found it ludicrous. However, my body demanded what it wanted, and as much as I wanted to put a wedge between us and keep her at arm’s length, I knew I had to remedy this need soon or I wouldn’t be responsible for my actions.

I needed her
, in any way I could. Period.

With my sour mood and a flighty business deal, it
had worsened when I saw her laugh and gaze those mesmerizing eyes towards Julien. My limits were sorely tested.

Julien was one of my closest friends, and though I knew he was a serial flirt and wouldn’t dare take a woman
of mine, it didn’t escape my notice that Isobel had a welcoming look on her, like an open invitation for him to take her. A look she hadn’t even dared give me, much to my disapproval.

There was no way Julien and I ever became competitive when it came to women.
In the business arena? Sure, most men were. But never with women. There was a silent, honorable understanding between us, one that was respected just as much as we valued ourselves as business partners as well as rivals. Yet, there I was tonight—contemplating if I should rip his throat out just to wipe off that shoddy smile he had for Isobel.

I couldn’t pinpoint the reason why she made me feel so volatile towards my friend.
However, I was betting this odd hankering for her would dissipate once I’d had my fill of her.

Six months, day in and day out, she was mine.
I was quite certain that, by the end of the fifth month, I would be counting down the hours until we would be free of each other. These affairs always tended to go sour after the third month; subsequently, I knew I shouldn’t bother pondering about such trivial feelings because my time was valuable.

“Ma belle, are you ready?”

She nodded, though her eyes told me she had reservations. In the back recesses of my mind, I had convinced myself she would come out of this bargain a better lover for her next conquest—skillful and knowing the value of seducing your lover. Moreover, when the time came, she would effortlessly surrender herself to me. The contract be damned.

Appearing relaxed
, as if I had all the time in the world lounging here as I watched her with intensity, was becoming difficult every second that ticked by. Isobel stood with feminine grace, though evidently lacking in confidence, as she lowered the zipper on the side of her dress.
This
needed to change. She was a beautiful woman who had no idea the kind of power she possessed in her beauty itself. Her tantalizing eyes alone could hypnotize any human being. Her fire and sass came to life when she was in public, but in the bedroom, she was the total opposite. She would be confident in her own skin, dressed or sans clothing. I would make sure of it.

“Lentement.”
(Slowly.) “Don’t take off your dress with abandonment. Let my eyes
savor
every inch of your skin.”

Her skin was perfectly tanned. The shade wasn’t too dark nor was it pale. It
seemed to glow, and when she gradually lowered her dress to reveal her perky breasts, my cock pulsed so badly that instead of pouring myself another glass of whiskey, I simply went straight to the bottle, helping myself until I felt the fiery sting burning in my stomach.

Her rosebuds puckered when she saw how hard I was. I didn’t dare say a damn word
, nor did I move because I was too skeptical of whether I could control myself. Our eyes clashed, and I felt her emotions through the few feet separating us. Then, when she bit her lip, there was something familiar about it. It was puzzling to figure out what it was, and at the same time, felt so intensely arousing.

“Keep going,” I softly commanded as she lowered the dress past her hips, showing me the soft curves on her hips and her flat abdomen.

After stripping her dress, leaving only her tiny, rectangular, flimsy thong, I took a moment to let my eyes worship her. Her black, strappy stilettos emphasized her toned, slender gams.

“Venez ici.”
(Come here.)

There was hesitation in her eyes before she came to her senses and did as I
had asked of her. Her shallow breaths, lip biting, and lip licking added to my lust.

“Come a little closer…
until your legs touch my knees,” I said roughly, feeling the rapid pumps of my heart and the adrenaline rushing into my system. When I felt the soft brush of her leg against mine, even with my trousers on, I could still feel the burn of it. I felt exhilarated. “Part your legs, Isobel.”

Stifling my groan when my eyes roved towards her heavenly
, parted warmth, I set my glass aside, my eyes focused on the intricate, lace-covered cunt. I reached my finger out and traced the fine edgings of lace, where it was against the outer lips of her pussy.

“You feel very soft,” I rasped out, hoping at the same time I wo
uldn’t lose control, not tonight anyway.

“Are you wet for me
,
mon bel amant
?” (My beautiful lover.)

She shivered before she gave a small
, reluctant nod, closing her eyes as if she was ashamed of herself for admitting she was aroused for me.

“How many men have touched you this way, Isobel?”

“Before you…” she said with difficulty, “there was only one.”

Mon dieu
,
but she was perfect. There was nothing more arousing to a man’s eye than a woman who was in denial of herself, wanting a man reluctantly.

Pushing it further, my tongue curled on top of my bottom lip as I stared into her eyes while my finger went underneath the lace and felt her skin, trailing it
farther into her pussy until I felt its hot, inviting essence.

“Isobel
,” I groaned out her name as I shut my lids close, tormented at the thought that I wouldn’t get to feel her tonight. For a week, I had lusted in vain; exercising my frustrations on Chantel and Sherry because I wanted to give Isobel space, for my need to conquer her was so intense. She made me feel like an animal, and I couldn’t fathom it. It was disconcerting, yet I couldn’t stay away.

Miséricorde!
(Mercy.) I thought as my finger flicked past her wet entrance.

Her breathing was loud and in shallow pants. Her body was on fire as she trembled
from my touch. And I was at the edge of being tested to the limit.

“Hugo
!” she hissed before her knees buckled and she landed somewhat sitting on her knees while her hands gripped my shoulders.

“
Oui, ma belle
. Tell me what you want.” Hunger roared in my veins as it rung into my ears, into my heart.

Dieu
, but she is so beautiful
, I thought as I gazed upon her delicate face, fighting to hold on, fighting for control.

“Let me touch you,” I breathed into her ear as my thumb circled her entrance. “I want to feel how tight you are
. How your cunt will grip. How it feels when it envelopes my length, blanketing it with warmth and slickness.”

“Sorry
, I can’t. That’s not part of the deal, Hugo.”

Something in her voice triggered my male pride. I knew she wasn’t punishing me b
ecause she had been upfront when we had signed the contracts, yet I couldn’t help the feeling of rejection. It was as if she’d slapped me, wounding me as a man.

“Très bien.” I took a sharp breath as I pulled my finger off her
, and I felt her freeze, glittering eyes staring at me in shock. “The deck below are bedrooms. Head straight all the way to the end. You can go rest. I have some work to do.”

She gasped, mouth slightly parted. “
You’re already dismissing me?
”

I was taking a break—a hiatus for my troubling thoughts
—but she need not know that. “Yes. You are dismissed.” Hurt bore openly in her eyes, but I steeled myself, unwilling to feel her pain. “Goodnight, Isobel.”

“Six months…”
she hissed with passion. “And I won’t ever think about you.”

Ah, she had claws. Good. A woman who prided herself wouldn’t dare fall for a man like me. Her spirited feistiness gave me assurance that there
wouldn’t be another Louise incident.

“Sleep well.”

She groaned like a woman in rage, ready to strike, instead she jumped off me, scrambling to get away from me, looking as beautiful as ever in her fiery display, walking away in only her thong.

Isobel Callas.

Every day you are becoming harder to resist
, I thought bleakly before slumping into the couch and closing my eyes.

“Baiser tout,”
(Fuck everything.) I grunted out, hating my life.

I brought
my finger, soaked in her essence, in between my lips. She tasted just as I had thought she would—an aphrodisiac.

The short spat I
’d had with Julien earlier brought back everything I wanted to forget.

“
You don’t want this to be another Louise, Hugo. She’s too innocent, and you’ll end up hurting her!”
Julien surely hadn’t held anything back tonight.

Louise Deniau.

I could totally understand Julien’s concerns since there was something about Isobel that reminded me of Louise. However, Isobel
wasn’t
Louise. She had fire when Louise had been pure through and through. Her meekness and her ways of always wanting to put me first had been her weaknesses.

Funny how things played out tonight.
It had been ten years after all.

I
t wasn’t b long before I felt the guilt consume me once more. I had been warned, and yet I hadn’t believed what my father had said. Ultimately, Louise had been the one who’d paid the price for my stupidity.

Chapter 11

Isobel

“You can rest go rest. I have some work to do.”

Bastard! How the heck do I manage to “rest” after what he just did to me?
Treating me like I was some cheap tart that didn’t have any feelings whatsoever. How dare he!
I seethed as I jumped in the hot shower in the en suite bathroom of the master bedroom.

Was this how he treated his women?
Chantel had simply had high praises for Hugo, but seeing how he’d been acting towards me for the past week, it was either he disliked me as a person or only saw me as a sex object.

Letting all six jets warm my body, I pondered harder about his immediate change of attitude. Well, he
had become a total ass when I’d declined him about what he wanted. Therefore, he was after vaginal sex, which I had clearly stated in the contract—that we both had agreed to and signed—wasn’t part of the deal.

Remembering that next morning of negotiation
, I distinctly recalled everything that had happened that day.

“There will be no vaginal sex. In the circumstances that Mr. Hugo Xavier won’t honor this binding agreement, he will immediately dismiss Ms. Callas from the six months contract, freeing her from all debts her father, Mr. Constantin Callas, accrued,” the lawyer, who had thick, black-rimmed glasses, said out loud enough for Hugo and I to hear him clearly. “Unless, of course, Ms. Isobel Callas asked of it herself, of her own free will.”

“After six months, all debts will be cleared
,” one of them said out loud, giving me a dead look.

“There is a mandatory monthly health check-up that is non-negotiable.” The oldest of the four lawyers eyed me sharply. “After today, you will see a doctor that will be a
ssigned to you for the duration of your stay. The doctor will provide contraception to prevent pregnancy. This is also non-negotiable.”

Didn’t he just hear what the other lawyer
had stated minutes ago?

“Monsieur, there won’t be a possibility for that, I can assure you
.” I protested as I gave Hugo a questioning look, hoping he’d change the terms.

“It’s
non-negotiable, Ms. Callas,” the uptight lawyer reinstated.

Resigned and feeling helpless, I made a small nod. “Okay, I’ll do it.”

There was no doubt in my mind that Hugo covered all aspects when it came to his health and unwanted pregnancies. Consequently, when I went to go see the doctor and had my physical check-up, I wasn’t a bit surprised that regular, good ole pills didn’t suffice; instead, I was to get injections because pills were unreliable, apparently.

Hugo had the upper hand. But even though he had made me tremble with his skillful touch tonight, I wasn’t going to give in to him. I was Damen’s and
not
his. His little tantrum of not getting what he wanted wouldn’t cut it for me. It was best he knew that.

After my shower, I fell asleep waiting for him to come to bed. Since this was the main suite, I had thought he’d be sharing with me
, but I was proven wrong the next day. I woke up with the other side of the bed untouched, which only led me to believe that he went somewhere else to satiate his needs.

After I got ready, showered and primed to face him, a soft knock came at the door.

“You may come in,” I murmured as I applied gloss on my lips.

The butler from last night appeared when the door opened, clearing his throat to get my a
ttention. “Madam, Monsieur Xavier gives his sincerest apologies for not being here to join you for breakfast. I’m afraid he had some private business to attend to. He said that you can take the rest of the day off, and if you’re willing, there’s a spa appointment ready for you at your convenience.”

Private business
, I acidly thought while I made a tight smile towards his little minion. “Thank you. I’ll be sure to consider it.”

When the butler left
, closing the door behind him, I threw my gloss back into my purse, feeling his barbed rejection once more.

Huffing, I gathered myself to
go upstairs to eat breakfast. The sun was already beating hot, and it wasn’t even ten in the morning. Taking the same seat from yesterday, my eyes scanned the small, delicious feast before me. Through his endlessly cold attributes, I couldn’t fault Hugo when it came to feeding me well. Even when he wasn’t around, he always had someone to bring me a meal.

“Mind if I join you?” A voice from behind made me snap my head towards the ne
wcomer.

Well, what a surprise.

“Of course, there’s enough to feed an army.”

“That’s kind of you.” Chantel strode towards me before taking the opposing seat and
then poured herself a cup of coffee from the traditional French pressed glass. She didn’t speak until she finished pouring, giving me a friendly look. “You must be wondering what I’m doing here?” Her brow rose as she pulled out a cigarette, lighting it seductively as I watched in silence, in awe of her confident grace.

“You’re here because Hugo sent you
,” I provided the answer without taking my eyes off her.

“
Non.
” She drew from her cigarette before tilting her head to the side, blowing off the smoke through her bright red, matte colored, stained lips. She had the typical French savoir-faire, one I truly admired in most of the women that trolled around The Riviera. Looking at me thoughtfully, she spoke again. “So, how are you finding everything so far? Staying at the villa? Hugo himself?”

This was the weirdest conversation I
’d had with anyone to date. “I’m comfortable living in the villa, of course.” The villa, which was aptly named Villa Blanc, was suitable for royalty. Whomever would detest that would be insane. “Hugo… well… I’m sure he’s just being himself.”

“Are you saying he’s a jerk?” The word
jerk
rolled with a heavy accent.

“Something like that,” I
replied as I reached for a croissant and pulled it apart. “Is he always so… rude?”

She thanked the butler for bringing her an
ashtray before looking at me again. “Hugo is one of a kind. He’s forward and cuts to the chase—a trait I admired most after being a mistress to a married man for five years.”

Whoa.

Swallowing the piece of bread that got stuck in my throat, I gave her a frown. I had always wondered about my father and his women, and I had never really met anyone who openly admitted being a home wrecker.

She made a nonchalant shrug before taking a sip of her hot drink. “Don’t look so shocked. You’ll be surprised how most women around here are.”

Good to know that tidbit. “Oh…”

“Hugo Xavier is a good man. I consider him a friend
, like family, even if that doesn’t make sense to you…” She paused looking away. “Sherry mentioned that you’re only with us for six months?” She gazed back at me with a raised brow.

Her immediate shift of the subject made me tense.

“Six months and not a day more.”

She made a nod before reaching out to touch my hand that was on the table. “You seem like a nice girl—maybe too young to handle a man like Hugo Xavier
, but he chose you.” Her brown eyes sought mine. “He’s enigmatic and an excellent lover. He will shower you with everything and will say beautiful words that will make you feel hopeless, but I warn you, never fall for him. You don’t want that kind of life.” There was something ominous with her warning, as if she wasn’t telling me the entire truth.

“Of course I won’t.” Did she think I was that desperate? I loved Damen. “There’s no risk of that
,” I assured her as I gave her a straight, pointed look. “Besides, Hugo might be handsome, but trust me when I say that I have given my heart a long time ago.”

“That’s reassuring to hear, Isobel.”

If I didn’t see the warmth in her eyes, I would’ve assumed this woman was out to get me because she herself was in love with Hugo. However, there was something in her expression that told me her coming here to warn me had been done with good intentions, thus I went with my gut, truly believing her.

“Do you have any plans today? I have a spa appointment
, and it would be lovely if you could join me.”

“Sounds like a plan. I’d love to join you.” She beamed at me before taking another cigarette out and
lighting it with gusto.

We spent a few hours at the spa getting massages, facials
, and manicures. During that time, we chatted about our lives with a few helpings of Rosè.

I found out she was twenty-eight and
had fled Paris when things hadn’t panned out with her affair with the married man that had lasted for five years. Chantel was apparently in college when she dropped out and had left Paris to heal her wounds. As much as I tried to pry the name of the man in question, she would make this small laugh and brush the subject off. So I abandoned the subject, leaving me wondering about her life.

In return, I spoke about Damen—my first love
, and the love of my life. Though she didn’t ask much about my deal with Hugo, her empathizing about my situation made me feel a little better. Apart from Father, it was great to know there was another human being I could openly talk about it with since my father was such a coldhearted bastard. I didn’t even doubt that, after this deal, he’d go on thinking this was simply a mandatory duty as his daughter. He wouldn’t dare say thank you because that would be beyond his capabilities. Bemoaning about my unfortunate father wouldn’t get me anywhere, however, therefore I left him out of the picture and vaguely described him as a non-parent, parent.

The rest of our time, we didn’t speak much about Hugo or his history. It was spent about her reminiscing
over the beauty of Paris and how she’d love to go back someday. When she was ready to face her wounded past, she’d make that trip to memory lane.

Entering the vast foyer, Chantel and I
had just arrived at the villa when the house vibrated with sounds—and I meant heavy moans and pounding.

The echo of a woman’s screeching and screams as she was being pleasured made me stop in my tracks. Standing in the middle of the circular foyer, I stared ahead in the vast
, freshly waxed, marbled hallway, mystified and visibly in shock. There was no doubt that it was Hugo’s skillful efforts that made the woman shout to the rooftops. And since I was with Chantel, the woman singing his praises was Sherry.

Was this an insult to me? Maybe I was overreacting
, but I somehow felt offended, because last night he blatantly dismissed me like I was some rubbish.

Chantel came up behind me. “Have you ever seen him in action?” Her question made me frown.

Shaking my head, I glanced back at her, wondering what she was thinking about.

She winked at me before taking my hand. “Come
, he usually doesn’t mind.”

“Usually doesn’t mind?” I parroted like a frightened idiot. “Hell
, no. I’m fine.”

Was she out of her loony mind? What she was suggesting was shameless. Besides, if I said yes, what did that make me?
A very curious individual?
My mind kindly provided.

Her hold tightened
, pulling me farther into the house while I tried to stop her, but she didn’t care. Maybe because she had no clue about some of my secretly hidden insecurities when it came to Hugo.

“You’re such a shy girl. We can hide if you want.” She kept on pulling us
farther in, and the sounds became harsher. It was much more profound, echoing against the walls, and I couldn’t help that I was getting goose bumps from Sherry’s animal dying-like sounds.

“Come on
, you have to see.”

Dammit
. As much as I hated to admit it, I was beyond curious.

“And you promise he won’t see me?”

“He won’t if you don’t make a sound…”

Feeling like the ultimate peeping tom
, the temptation of seeing him in action overrode rational thought. The two hadn’t even bothered shutting the double doors in his library. They’d simply gone at it, uncaring of the helpers and other people that could easily witness them mate like rabbits—well, more like Hugo not having sex, but fucking to be precise. Yes. I hadn’t known what fucking meant until that very moment.