Chapter 10 Sienna
SIENNA
“I don’t have the energy to move, and it’s all your fault.” I collapsed back onto the bed. Declan had made me come on his fingers in the shower, officially turning my limbs to jelly. Pulling my sweatpants and bralette back on had taken all the energy I had left.
Declan leaned against the bathroom doorway, arms crossed against his bare chest. “My fault?”
“Yes. Your punishment is you have to carry me everywhere now.” I reached for him, wiggling my fingers. His expression remained unchanged as he approached me, eyes narrowed, but he scooped me up in his arms all the same and carried me out to the living room.
He laid me down on the couch before taking a seat himself.
As far away from me as possible.
He spread his legs and rested his arms along the back of the couch, but no matter how hard he tried to project a picture of controlled ease, there was no avoiding the rigid set of his body and the tightness of his jaw.
I pushed myself into a seated position, my legs stretching across the couch cushions towards him. As much as I wished they were long enough to reach Declan, my socked feet just hit air. How had the man who fucked me against the wall a few minutes ago been replaced by this cold, tense version?
I played through my options:
1. Sit in awkward silence.
2. Ask him what’s wrong.
3. Assume he’s being a stupid man and close the space between us.
Since I was incapable of being quiet for long and I doubted either of us were in the mood for a heart-to-heart chat, I had no other option but to crawl closer and curl up with my head in his lap.
“This show I’m obsessed with had a new episode come out last night.” I turned the TV on and navigated to the streaming app. “Once we finish the show, I’ll probably have recovered from the orgasms, and we can decide how we want to spend the afternoon.”
Declan said nothing, but as the minutes ticked by, his legs slowly lost their tension.
Ten minutes into the show, he rested his hand on my hair.
Fourteen minutes in, he started playing with it, stroking his fingers through my slightly damp strands as I drifted off.
When I woke up, his hand had moved to massage my neck.
“You slept through most of your show.”
I hummed as I shifted in his lap so I could look up at him. A muscle feathered in his jaw and he let out a low grunt, probably because of the fact that my mouth was inches from the bulge about to rip through his boxers. I smirked. “Will you act out the scenes I missed?”
He scowled and muttered something under his breath, but the gentle circles his thumb made along my jawline told me his irritation was all for show. I leaned into his touch, feeling like a kitten lounging in a patch of sunlight.
“A delivery person will be here soon with clothes,” he said.
“Are you doing a fashion show for me?”
He tightened his hold on my jaw. “Keep sassing me and I’ll find something else for that smart mouth to do.”
I grinned and kissed his cock through the fabric. His eyes flared, but a knock on the door made me roll off of him. My laughter followed a frustrated, cursing Declan as he went to answer.
After we got dressed, Declan took my hand and led me out of the hotel where a Bugatti waited.
His clothing delivery had consisted of black slacks and a white button down.
I would have teased him for dressing like a stuffy businessman on the weekend, but when he emerged from the bedroom with the top few shirt buttons undone and his sleeves rolled up, I was too busy drooling to make fun of him.
I brushed my hand against his ass as he opened the car door for me, earning me a heated smirk before he closed it.
“What type of business are you in?” I asked as he pulled away from the curb and into the chaos that was Paris traffic. I’d thought Manhattan was bad, but Parisian drivers operated on pure vibes.
Declan’s large hands flexed on the wheel, effortlessly weaving in and out of lanes that seemed to be more suggestions than lines to follow.
“Corporate finance. My company primarily works in mergers and investments for large tech and pharma companies. We have offices in Dublin and here.”
I let out an exaggerated yawn. “Wow, that was more boring than I thought it would be.”
“And what do you do?”
I shrugged. “Mostly sit and look pretty.”
“I have yet to see you sit still.” His hand gripped my knee, pausing its unconscious, aggressive bouncing.
“But the looking pretty part?”
“That one is accurate.”
The next few hours passed in a blur while Declan showed me his favorite spots in Paris.
I had expected luxury stores, museum exhibits, and exclusive restaurants, but he’d surprised me with tiny, off-the-beaten-path shops.
I’d purchased an entire collection of mini paintings done by an elderly man with gnarled hands who painted intimate scenes of his Iranian immigrant community in Paris.
We’d spent an hour sitting in his dusty attic studio, drinking tea and listening to his stories of home.
I ate the best fruit tarts and eclairs of my life in a tiny bakery down a cramped side street.
The young woman who owned it greeted Declan by name and refused to let him pay.
Our last stop was a small cafe by the water for apéritifs.
Declan ordered for both of us—a selection of cheese, bread, olives, plus a Negroni for me.
Warmth spread through my chest at the easy way he remembered my drink order.
By the time we got back to the hotel, I was utterly fascinated by this closed-off, stoic man with the world’s most boring job who somehow contained endless depth.
The surprises continued when I opened the balcony door to find the space transformed.
The table and chairs we’d sat at for breakfast were gone, and in their place was a plush outdoor cushion that was more like a mattress.
Rugs were layered underneath it, and a bucket holding champagne waited near the balcony railing.
Declan stared at me from the middle of the living room.
“Did the Bastille Day fairies visit while we were gone?” I closed the space between us and slowly ran my hands up his chest.
“Those chairs were fucking uncomfortable.”
“Whatever you say.” I gripped his shoulders and jumped, wrapping my legs around his waist. He caught me effortlessly, his fingers digging into my bare thighs under my short skirt.
Two hours, several orgasms, and a shower later, the firework show was about to start.
I slipped out onto the balcony where Declan already lounged on the cushion.
He patted the space between his legs, and giddy butterflies filled my stomach.
I didn’t know if he was planning to spend the night again, and I wasn’t brave enough to ask.
I sank down on the cushion. His arms immediately circled me, pinning my back to his chest. His body engulfed mine, and I felt safe and shielded from the outside world.
“Thank you for doing this.” I twisted around to kiss him.
He stroked my cheek. “Do you want something to drink?”
“Yes, please.”
He leaned over to get the champagne. I tried to move off his lap so he could reach it more easily, but he just tightened his hold on my waist. He poured a glass and handed it to me.
I wiggled happily and he sighed, stilling my hand so my champagne didn’t spill.
“Wow, having you around sure is handy,” I said.
He pinched my butt and my squeal dissolved into giggles.
“There’s also bread, cheese, and dessert,” he said.
“I could live off bread and cheese,” I said. “And chocolate. And fruit...and cacio e pepe and Margherita pizza and energy drinks.”
He shook his head with an amused snort. “Only the simple life for you.”
I smiled and snuggled back into his chest, sipping my champagne and eating piece after piece of the cheese, bread, and fruit he handed me.
The Eiffel Tower lit up in the colors of the French flag while the national anthem played.
“Oohh, it’s starting.” I glanced back at Declan, unable to contain my giddy excitement. His gaze trailed over my face with such intensity it made my cheeks heat.
The anthem finished and everything went dark. The notes of a pop song about Paris filled the air before a series of bright fireworks illuminated the velvet sky.
The many firework shows I’d seen in New York City on New Years and the Fourth of July were arguably more extravagant than this one, but as I sat on the balcony, Declan’s firm arms around me, music and sparkles filling the air, I felt settled in a way I was unfamiliar with.
My mind, which had been loud my entire life, was calm.
I’d be back to my usual scattered, chaotic self soon, but for this moment, I soaked in the feeling of being perfectly and utterly content.