Billionaire Bad Boys of Romance Boxed Set (10 Book Bundle) (61 page)

“At the office,” she replied, lying smoothly.
“I had to fax Jean Patou the schedule in Paris. They need it by tomorrow morning. I thought that was more important…”

“Thank you,” he said, and she heard the gratitude in his voice. “The pre-show went without a hitch, Heidi. Thank you so much for all your hard work.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I can barely hear you!” He was now yell
ing to be heard. “I’ll see you in the morning, okay?”

He hung up without saying anything more and Heidi stood looking at the
dozen red roses sitting on her desk, along with a similar thank you note, probably meant for her to see in the morning. Her sketchbook was there, too, open in the middle of her desk, and there as another note:

These are beyond
good. Please have patience. I hope I’ve earned your trust.

—
K

The fact was, she did trust him, more than he realized, more than he could ever know. Her entire life, her heart, battered and broken and still beating, rested in the man’s hands.
She was his, bent on her knees, humbled and surrendered, an open offering. He didn’t know it, maybe he never would, but in Heidi he had found a woman who would follow him, wholly and without hesitation, wherever he decided to go, no matter what sacrifices she had to make.

Chapter Nine

“Adjoining rooms?” Heidi murmured. She looked up at Kaiser hopefully as the porter took their bags and said something in French she assumed meant “Follow me.” Heading around the corner, he bypassed the elevators the other patrons were waiting for, sliding his key card into a different slot down the hallway. Heidi noticed people staring at them, whispering, probably wondering who in the heck the mousy girl going up in a private elevator to the Belle Etoile Suite at Le Meurice with Warren Kaiser really was.

Kaiser smiled indulgently as he waved her in. “It’s an entire floor. Two, actually. I think we’ll have plenty of room.”

“Would you be needing the car this evening, sir?” The porter spoke perfect English to Kaiser, with just a hint of his Parisian accent.

“We’ll be dining in.” Kaiser slid his hand across the small of Heidi’s back, rubbing, and she shivered, wondering at his real meaning. She was tired—an eight hour flight, even in first-class, was exhausting, and while the
Christian Dior travel-suit she was wearing was gorgeous and much more comfortable than it looked, she still wanted out of it. And even in spite of that, she couldn’t resist the press of his hand, whatever his insistence might be.

The door opened and Heidi blinked in
amazement, gaping. She couldn’t help it. Being aware of the vast expanse of Kaiser’s money in New York—the clothes he purchased her, the lunches they took, the amenities he could afford—was entirely different than experiencing his wealth somewhere like Paris. Here, lavish wasn’t just impressive, it was stupefying. She stood there with stars in her eyes, only moving forward propelled by the firm pressure of Kaiser’s hand on her back.

Then she found her feet, flying from room to room to room…to room! Bedrooms, living room, sitting room, t
he bathroom was beyond magical—a gallery of black and white Italian marble with an enormous round tub as its centerpiece. If she hadn’t seen the terrace, she might have peeled her clothes off right there, but Paris called her name and out she went, throwing the doors wide and breathing in the fresh air.

They were in the center of everything—
the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, even the Eiffel Tower made a distinctive appearance like a sculpture of steel lace in the distance. It was a dream. She had to be dreaming. She had hit her silly head out on the beach tripping over Kaiser’s outstretched feet and was just lost in her own personal version of the perfect fantasy, that’s all. That had to be it.

“It’s a bit ostentatious for me. I usually stay in a little chalet on the Seine
.” Kaiser slipped his arms around her waist from behind, his lips moving along her hairline. “But I thought you might like to be in the center of all the action.”

“It’s…” But there weren’t words—Heidi spread her arms out to embrace the city,
unable to express the magnitude of her feeling, and laughed.

“Besides, this view is incredible. There’s nothing like a sunset in Paris.”

“There’s nothing like this,” Heidi agreed, breathless. “I’ll remember this forever. Forever and ever and ever.”

“I hope there will be plenty more experiences like this for you.”
He smiled. “Some day, a room at Le Meurice will seem like a night in a youth hostel.”

“I doubt that.”
She laughed, turning in his arms. She couldn’t have imagined a more romantic setting, the sun sinking behind the Eiffel Tower behind them, his eyes full of warmth as he looked down at her. “I just want to thank you. A month ago, I was…nothing…I couldn’t have imagined this.”

“You were never nothing,” he murmured, hugging her close. She felt his heart beating with hers and didn’t ever want him to let her go.
“Are you hungry?”

“Hungry, tired, dirty…”
She went through the list with a groan.

“Let’s work backwards.
” He chuckled. “Why don’t you draw a bath?”

“In your tub?”
she asked, incredulous.

“
Our
tub.”

Did he mean it? Was she really staying here, with him? There was a bedroom on this floor with a huge accommodating bed, but two more below, and she was sure to be relegated to one of those.
Surely…

“Will you join me?”
she asked, her eyes hopeful.

He smiled. “I’ll shower and order dinner. You go get clean.”

The Italian marble bathtub felt deep enough to swim in, and she left the overhead lights off and watched Paris come to life through the nearly person-high windows that surrounded her. Kaiser lit a candle before he stepped into the adjacent shower and she lazily washed her hair and shaved her legs, staring at the Eiffel Tower, sure she must be dreaming.

“I’m dreaming,” she murmured to Kaiser as he came in, dressed again for dinner
. He helped her out of the tub, rubbing her dry with the thickest towel imaginable. Her hair was still wet when he handed her a silk robe.

“Don’t you want me to dress?” she asked, sliding her arms into the slippery material.

“I prefer you undressed.” He smiled. “But I don’t think the staff would appreciate it.”

“The staff?” She’d been so absorbed in the experience she had missed the delicious smells filling the suite.
Now her stomach growled—loudly.

“Come to dinner.” He led her on his arm just as if she was dressed to the nines instead of barefoot in a silk robe, and sat her at a completely set table. She blinked in surprise as he poured her a glass of champagne.

“Drinking too much of that on an empty stomach isn’t such a good idea,” she told him, taking a sip anyway, and he smiled.

“It won’t be empty for long.”

He couldn’t have been more right. Their waiter brought out the amus
é
—a green pea gnocchi with onion emulsification. Heidi groaned as it melted in her mouth, a bright, airy pasta in a sweet, buttery foam. After that, she lost track of the courses, but they came, and they came, and oh god, they came again!

The asparagus was perfect in citron lavender vinaigrette with scallop and vanilla quenelles.
A perfectly cooked sea bass came out looking smart in his green jacket of wilted spinach, a dazzling display with an even more stunning flavor. There was chicken breast with pommes de terre, and veal with risotto, gold leaf and morels in a veal reduction.

And the cheese! Oh
, the cheese! Kaiser fed her piece after piece, each flavor more delightful than the last, and when dessert came and she thought she couldn’t possibly eat another bite, it was a light and refreshing—roasted pineapple with meringue, followed by petite fours, a perfect assortment of vanilla
madeleines
, chocolate truffles, Normandy tartlets, lemon
macarons
and almond
tuiles.

The waiter and chef both came out for a two-person standing ovation and Heidi even kissed the laughing chef on both cheeks and hugged him like a long-lost brother.

“Now, to bed,” Kaiser said, draining the last of his after-dinner brandy.

“The dishes,” she said, standing and taking them automatically, always willing to serve. He smiled, grabbing her hand and forcing the plate back to the table.

“Someone else will clean up.”

“But—”

Kaiser rolled his eyes and smacked her bottom, pointing to the bedroom. “Go!”

That language sh
e understood and, grinning, scurried off to the bedroom, Kaiser not far behind her.

“Climb up,” he directed.

The bed was enormous, the mattress much softer than she was used to. It was like sinking into a cloud as she stretched out on her back, nude, watching Kaiser remove his tie.

“Hands above your head.”

She obliged as he knelt beside her, using his tie to restrain her, the silk softly tightening over her wrists. The headboard was smooth wood with nowhere to tie her, so he left her hands above her head, telling her to stay that way and trusting she would. Of course she would.

“Spread your legs.” They were already halfway there. “Now, pull your knees back.”

She went to use her hands to hold her legs and realized she wasn’t allowed, so she pulled her legs slowly back, a position she knew wouldn’t be easy to hold for long. Kaiser’s gaze fell between her thighs as he unbuttoned his shirt and peeled it off, moving to settle himself between her legs.

“Just one goodnight kiss, my Juliet,” he murmured, kissing his way over the sensitive skin her inner thighs
. Heidi sighed as his mouth teased her with sweet, light kisses over the soft curls of her pubic hair. He made easy circles with his tongue, moving ever closer to her aching little clit. She grew wetter as his mouth got closer to her center, finally settling into a little flicker over the sensitive bud.

“Oh yes,” she whispered when his whole mouth finally covered her, sucking deeply, her flesh disappearing deliciously into his mouth, her clit pressed gently, throbbing against his tongue. Her thighs trembled with the effort to hold them back now, without the help of her hands, and he spread her wide with his palms, rocking her hi
ps back, her knees pressed toward her ears.

His thumbs pressed her clit between them, pulling the hood back as he fluttered his tongue gently over her little button. She gasped and arched, knowing her orgasm was imminent, unable to stop it, and knowing, too, that he hadn’t told her to come.

“Kaiser! Oh!” She managed that brief warning before she was overcome, her pussy contracting around the fingers he slid suddenly, swiftly inside her, the sweet throbbing revealing her furious climax even if she’d been able to attempt hiding it. “Oh god, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she whispered as he rose up between her thighs, but he just rubbed his wet fingers over her lips, making her suck them, taste herself.

His cock was free in an instant
and pressing against the still-pulsing flesh of her opening. Heidi cried out as his fingers slid deeper into her mouth and he began to thrust. She gasped and wrapped her legs around his waist, wanting more, all of him, sucking the tangy taste of her pussy off his fingers.

“Ahhhh fuck, Heidi, you’re so good,” he murmured, pinning her already-restrained arms above her head, her wrists encircled in one of his large hands, followed quickly by the other, his full weight on her now, and she wanted him, all of him.

“More,” she begged, digging her heels in. “Harder, oh, please, I want more, more!”

He grunted and thrust into her harder, faster, deeper, driving her back on the bed until her hands pressed, palms flat, against the headboard, trying to keep them both from sailing straight through the wall. And still, it wasn’t enough.

“Give me everything!” she whispered into his ear, feeling his ragged breath against her neck. “All of it, please, I want you, I want you, I want—”

His mouth came down on hers, crushing her into silence, capturing her breath, her heart, in one swift motion
. The moment it happened, he was hers and she swallowed his groan, forgetting herself and slipping her tied hands around his neck as his mouth slanted across her own with reckless abandon.

Their tongue
s tangled and she raked her nails through the hair at the nape of his neck, the kiss moving from passion to soft wonder as she felt him trembling above her, his belly clenching, his hips thrusting deep once, again. He gave a shuddering sigh as he collapsed onto her and when he tried to move away, she kept him there with the hands he had tied, pressing his head to her breasts. He relented, pulled the comforter over them both, caught in the circle of her arms.

“I love you.” She whispered the words, not even sure from the
deep, even sound of his breathing that he was awake to hear her. She didn’t care.

Nothing mattered—the show tomorrow, Lenny’s ignored voicemails on her phone, Andrea Paxton’s deception,
Carvel’s double-cross—nothing mattered but the man in her bed, in her life, and she held onto him tightly far into the night. Even when they moved to find a more comfortable position, she stayed bound and tangled in his arms.

* * * *

Heidi was in tears. She’d called Andrea’s cell phone at least a hundred times since that morning with no answer. Had she abandoned Kaiser already, then, and decided to pull out? Kaiser had kept close-mouthed about the “Andrea Paxton situation,” as he dubbed it, and wouldn’t tell her anything at all.

“Heidi, bella, this is Roberto
Carvel. Call me! I can’t find Andrea Paxton. Has she contacted you?”

She deleted the message, swallowing the lump in
her throat, going to the next.

“Heidi, Lenny.
Listen, I have to--”
She deleted that one without listening to it.

“Coming through!” It was a model wearing one of the last dresses in the line just before Andrea’s debut began, and Heidi went in the other direction, walking past models already dressed and ready to go out, wearing dresses based on designs Andrea had stolen from her. Heidi stopped and adjusted the feathery front on one of the dresses without thinking, something Andrea should have been here to do. Where the hell was she?

“It should flow when you walk,” Heidi explained to the model. “Like water.”

The brunette raised her eyebrows in surprise and Heidi flushed.