Chapter Thirteen
Notre Dame was one of the most beautiful buildings Meredith had ever visited. She walked around the huge cathedral for so long, her neck creaked from admiring the stained-glass windows and the magnificent ceiling.
“Do you like it?” Jules asked.
“It’s wonderful, so vast yet still intimate, and every corner, every nook and cranny, is full of art or sculpture or candles.” She shook her head in wonder. “It is one of the most amazing places I have ever been to in my life. Thank you for bringing me here.”
“I’m glad you like it.” His lips brushed her cheek.
“Jules.” She glanced around. “We are in a place of worship.”
“Then we should leave because if God can hear the thoughts I’m having about what I’d like to do to you later, in the bedchamber, I’ll be damned to hell for all of time.”
Shock bristled through Meredith for a split second and then the emotion erupted as a giggle. She slapped her hand over her mouth. “Honestly, you’re incorrigible.”
“Only because you’re so pretty.”
He slotted her hand into the crook of his elbow and led her from the cathedral.
A smile spread on Meredith’s face. She felt alive, adored, wanted, and…and in love.
“I have an idea,” Jules said after glancing at his pocket watch. “Why don’t we pay a visit to a little Café-chantant I know?”
“A what?” She laughed.
“A singing café. Most fun, I can assure you.”
“I have never heard of such a thing.”
“They are becoming more and more popular in Paris.” He headed west at a street junction. “And Petit Paradis is one of my favorites when I’m in town.”
Meredith was intrigued. A singing café. Whatever would that entail?
The glass front of Petit Paradis spanned two streets as it hugged the corner plot.
Curved, red canopies with scalloped details sheltered a smattering of outdoor seating on either side of the door.
A huge, pink climbing rose had taken over the window boxes on the story above, sending tendrils and flowers waterfalling almost to the ground in some places.
A chalkboard held a list of the day’s specials—bouillon, potage aux choux, entrec?te, jambon—and was set beside the door.
“Petit Paradis is lively,” Meredith commented as they approached.
“Indeed. That is why we have come here. For some fun. I truly hope you will enjoy yourself.”
Meredith could barely remember going anywhere just for fun. Everything she did had a purpose. Yet here she was in Paris, with her…lover—sort of—and about to experience a singing café of all things.
They stepped into the dimly-lit café and Jules quickly found them a table with two wooden chairs. A small, red candle burned in the center and white linen napkins sat next to it in a stack.
“My love,” he said, pulling out her chair, “is this suitable for you?”
“Very much so.” Meredith sat and breathed in the heavy air. It was thick with the smells of food, perfume, and tobacco.
“Two red wines, please,” Jules said, holding up his hand to a passing waiter.
“Certainly, monsieur.”
Jules pulled his seat closer to Meredith and took her hand beneath the table. “What do you think?”
“It’s certainly popular.” The place was busy with every table occupied. There were couples, a few groups of men, and at one table, a group of women who were chattering excitedly.
“It looks like we arrived just in time.” Jules gestured toward a stage not unlike the one in the Lyon’s Den, though the curtains were deep blue and a chandelier hung just in front of it.
A woman in a tight corset dress with a voluminous white gown stepped to the front of the stage.
She had tall, fluffy, red feathers in her hair and she grinned at the audience with a confidence Meredith instantly envied.
She spoke in French and then in English.
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Petit Paradis.”
Meredith had also never seen such bright, blood-red lip rouge. It was startling and made the woman’s teeth appear very white.
“I hope you enjoy your time with us.” She fluttered impossibly long lashes, held out her hands, and then began to sing.
Her voice was high and the French words flowed into one another almost as an instrument would play. Meredith was mesmerized and kept her focus on the woman’s pretty face.
Their wine arrived. Jules chinked his glass with Meredith’s and smiled. “She has a good voice, yes?”
“Oh, yes. I mean oui, oui.” Meredith giggled and sipped her wine. What a fabulous day she was having, and it just kept on getting better.
After a few minutes, the song became a little faster and she began to strut left and right, the feathers in her hair quivering.
Meredith felt her heart rate pick up, almost in time with the tempo.
Jules ordered them two more wines and she realized she had drunk hers without even noticing.
And then the woman’s walk became a stomp. She banged her feet on the wooden stage in time with her song. The crowd’s excitement grew, becoming almost raucous. They were clapping and whistling and singing along.
Meredith joined in with the clapping, laughing as she felt her cheeks flush and her breathing pick up.
The woman was almost dancing now, swirling and flicking her gown so that her ankles were on show to the audience in the front row.
Such an act would have been scandalous amongst the ton, but here, in Paris, it seemed to Meredith that anything was possible.
And oh, what fun that was.
Two hours later, Meredith emerged into the fresh air with her head spinning and her ears ringing.
“What a delight that was,” she said, hooking her arm into Jules’s.
“The best. I am so glad you got into the spirit of it. It’s not for everyone.”
“I adored it,” she said, squeezing closer to him as they walked toward their hotel. “Every moment. Thank you for taking me to Petit Paradis.”
He took her hand and kissed it. “You are so unique, so delightful to spend time with, Meredith. Right now, I cannot imagine being here with anyone else but you.”
Her heart did a silly little flip. “Do you mean that?”
“Of course.”
“Or is it the wine speaking?”
“No.” He stopped and turned her to him. “It is a truth. Being with you makes me happy, showing you new things makes me smile, and it… It’s good for my soul.” He paused and drew his head closer to hers. “You are good for my soul.”
“Your wretched soul, huh.” She raised her eyebrows at him.
For a moment, Jules’s eyes widened and his mouth opened, but then he tipped back his head and let out a loud guffaw. “Yes, you’re right. I am a wretched soul, but maybe, just maybe, you can save me.”
Soon they arrived back at Le Meurice. The road was cast in shadows and the streetlamps were being lit. A horse and cart clattered past, spilling husks of straw, and a woman was begging on the corner.
Jules handed her a coin and wished her bonne nuit before he and Meredith headed into the entrance.
“Are you hungry?” he asked, nodding at the restaurant.
“In all honesty, no. The bread and ham with our wine we had was more than sufficient.”
He smiled. “To our bedchamber, then?”
“Excuse me, Mr. Habsburg.” The receptionist held up his hand. “Please, one moment.”
“Yes?” Jules stepped up to him.
Meredith’s knees weakened a little. What if he was going to accuse them of a false marriage? Kick them out onto the streets for the night?
“You had a delivery. It is in your room, but the messenger awaits payment.” He nodded to a young man in a black beret seated in the lobby reading a newspaper.
“Ah, yes, of course, thank you.” Jules nodded and stepped up to the young man, a wad of cash emerging from his pocket. Quickly, he paid him and they exchanged goodnights.
Meredith pushed her shoulders back down from where they’d bunched up by her ears with sudden tension.
“Right, now that is out of the way,” Jules said, “we can go to our bedchamber.”
As she looked at the stairway, her body hummed with excitement. Jules had already hinted that he wanted to bed her again tonight. That he desired for their bodies to become one. Was that to happen now or much later? Would he wait until the stars came out?
Surely, that would be the proper thing to do.
They walked past another couple dressed up for dinner and Jules nodded a greeting to them.
Meredith hardly trusted herself to speak. Her body was almost quivering with anticipation. They drew no curious glances; it really was as if they were married. As if they were meant to be.
Jules paused at their bedchamber door and dug into his pocket for the room key.
When he opened it, he gestured for her to enter first.
Meredith was giddy with excitement; her nipples were tight and her belly a knot of expectation. It was as though her body remembered every sensation, every kiss and slide of flesh, and craved it more than anything else she’d ever wanted.
The door shut with a definite click and the key turning in the lock created a clunk that tapped around the darkening room.
“My love.”
He was behind her, his big body pressing to her back.
“Jules.” She spun in his arms and between one heartbeat and the next, his mouth captured hers.
His kiss was on fire with intensity. His tongue probed for hers and their bodies collided in a frenzy of searching hands and urgent caresses.
He cupped her breasts and squeezed and then clasped her ass, pulling her so close, she could feel his erection through his pants.
“Jules,” she gasped.
“I want your body so badly, I can hardly breathe.”
He was breathless. So was she.
“Yes…” She pulled at his jacket. “Take me—now.”
His mouth hit down on hers again as he rid himself of his jacket and cravat. Then he curled his hands into the neckline of her gown and pulled…hard.
The ripping sound was fast and urgent and she gasped at the reckless action.
“I’ll buy you another gown. Ten more.” He found her naked breasts and cupped them. “I just need my hands on you… Damn… If I don’t do this, then I’ll shatter into pieces.”
Meredith had never felt so reckless, so desired, and her blood ran like fire in her veins as she found his naked chest and huddled closer to him.
“I will make you release with intensity you have never felt,” he said, pulling her gown from her shoulders. “That is my promise.”
“I know… I know you will.”
Suddenly, he was spinning her around to face the bed. She fell forward, her hands landing on the neatly made coverlets.
“Oh…but…Jules.”
“Like this.” He shoved her gown up to bunch on her back and then palmed her naked buttocks. “We will release together like this.”
She twisted to look at his face through the shadows. His eyes flashed with lust and his mouth was set in a line of determination and desperation.
With his foot, he pushed at her right ankle, spreading her wider for him.
“Are you ready?” he asked, fumbling with his breeches.
“Yes. Yes…do it.”
She hung her head and looked at her breasts. Elongated with gravity, they were shifting with her rapid breaths.
“So pretty.” He directed the head of his penis at her cunny. “Everything about you is so sweet. You are a work of art.”
As he’d spoken the last word, he’d driven into her body.
She snatched in a breath as she was stretched widthways, lengthways, filled so impossibly perfectly that she bucked back for more.
“Oh, yes, that’s it.” He gripped her hips and held her firm and possessive. “You’re so tight and sweet around my cock.”
“More.”
He gave it, pressing in until she could feel his balls jutting against her.
“I hope you can have a womanly release soon,” he said, his voice strained. “Because I want to… So soon… Damnations… I…”
He moved faster, steaming in and out of her, dragging her onto him as he lunged forward.
The air was pushed from Meredith’s lungs each time he hit full depth.
She closed her eyes and fisted the covers.
The pressure was growing in her cunny. The way he was rubbing over a hot, sensitive spot inside of her was driving her crazy with longing, with need, with the desire to hit that pinnacle of pleasure.
It crossed her mind that they were feral, like animals, rutting in a sweaty, needy, desperate way. That thought turned on the pleasure signals all the more. How frantic they were for each other, for their joining.
“Oh… Oh…don’t stop,” she gasped. “Please.”
“Are you…near?”
“Yes. Yes.” She’d shouted out the words, but she didn’t even care if they were heard. This was all that mattered. They were all that existed.
And then, as the wave of ecstasy rose inside her, she held her breath and savored the moment before it crashed through her body. She cried out, arched her back, and curled her toes.
“Argh…my goodness, I… Yes…”
He was pulsing inside her as she throbbed around him. Wet heat flooded her and she battled to catch her breath. Her entire body was shaking and perspiration popped on her brow.
He released her hips and cupped her ass cheeks as he slowed. “Meredith… I… That was…”
“Exhausting.” She flopped forward onto the bed.
Slipping from her, he dropped to her side. He laughed and blew out a breath. “Yes, you are right. It is quite the exercise. But the best form of exercise, don’t you agree?”
“I think I do.” Cool air washed over her naked ass and his release seeped from her cunny. But she couldn’t move. The total and complete satisfaction was overwhelming and she closed her eyes and sighed.
She’d sleep awhile. Regain her strength with Jules at her side, and then perhaps they’d find another new way to thrill one another.