Zane & Lucky's First Christmas (Forever Love, #5) (16 page)

“Shall we?” He took my hand and led me to the bedroom, pausing at the door with a question in his eyes.

I nodded mutely, not trusting myself to say anything as I stared at the handsome man in front of me.

“Just so you know, this is one night and one night only. You will not see me again after tonight.” His fingers traced an invisible line along my collarbone, and I nodded without speaking. He really was an asshole, but for some reason unknown to me, I couldn’t resist him.

“Answer me.” His voice was commanding, and he leaned into me. I could feel his hardness pressing against my leg. “Do you understand?”

“I understand.” I tried not to roll my eyes. “It’s not like I want to see you after tonight anyways, you arrogant asshole.” I mumbled under my breath.

“What was that?” His eyes narrowed at me. “Are you being impertinent…?”

“Oh, shut up.” This time I took charge, and pushed him towards the bed, before crushing my lips down on his. His eyes widened in surprise as I pushed him down and pulled his tie off. I laughed as I started unbuttoning his shirt. “We have one night, let’s make the most of it.” I leaned down towards him, and then squealed as he flipped me onto my back and pinned my arms down.

“Yes, Lolita, let’s make the most of it,” he growled down at me, and I squirmed as I felt his fingers making their way up my stomach. My breathing was heavy and I stilled as I waited to see what he was going to do next. I wanted to feel his fingers all over my body. I wanted to feel what it was like to be with a man as handsome as he was. I closed my eyes for a moment and screamed inside. I couldn’t believe that I, Lola Franklin, was about to have a one-night stand with a man who put the sex god to shame. I shivered as I felt his tongue on my neck, and then I heard violins serenading our soon-to-be lovemaking experience. I opened my eyes slowly as I realized that Xavier had moved away from me.

“Your phone.” His eyes looked at me distantly and I frowned as I jumped up and grabbed my phone.

“Hello?”

“Lola,” Anna sounded breathless. “Where are you? I just got your text!”

“I can’t really talk right now.” I whispered into the phone. I looked up and saw Xavier staring at me with interest in his eyes. “Is everything okay?”

“Lola, listen to me. You cannot have a one-night stand.
At least not already. We just got here. At least wait and see if you meet anyone better.”

“There is no better.” I giggled slightly as I stared at Xavier as he leaned against the doorway. He looked dark, handsome and slightly dangerous and I was as turned on as I had ever been in my life. “Trust me.”

“Lola,” Anna giggled. “I can’t believe this. Where did you meet him?”

“At the hotel.” I whispered and turned around. “It’s a long story. I met the sex god at the museum, but then we got interrupted and now…”

“Oh my God, you’re not having a threesome.” Anna shrieked. “I know we said we were going to come out of our shells, but we never said anything about a threesome.”

“I’m not having a threesome.” I gasped loudly, and then turned around to see if Xavier had heard me. There was a sly smile on his face as he smirked at me and I realized that he had heard me. “Anna, I have got to go.”

“Come to my room as soon as you get home.” She demanded. “I mean it. I want details.”

“Okay.” I smiled into the phone. “Good night.”

“I would say sweet dreams, but I doubt you’ll be sleeping.” She giggled as she hung up the phone. I took a deep breath to gain my composure and then looked back at Xavier.

“Sorry about that.”

“Who was that?” He raised an eyebrow. “Boyfriend?”

“No.” I shook my head. “Of course not.”

“Why of course not?”

“Why would I be here with you if I had a boyfriend?”

“Well, you were here with Max first and then decided on sloppy seconds.”

“Whatever.” I sighed.
You’re not sloppy seconds by any means
, I thought to myself, but I realized he had a point. I had come back to the room with his friend and now I was about to hook up with him. It did look a bit shady.

“Your vocabulary is quite expansive, isn’t it?” He stared at me with a glimmer of humor in his eyes, and I realized that he was attempting a joke. A pretty poor and
ill-timed joke, but a joke all the same.

“I do wonder how a man like you gets women with your poor sense of humor and rude comments.” I played with my hair as I stared at him, determined that I was not going to let him kiss me or make love to me, no matter how much I wanted him to.

“It’s a wonder, isn’t it?” He smiled. “I’m not sure what women see in me.”

“Neither am I.” I sat down on the couch. “I think I’ll just sleep here until the morning.” I lay back and closed my eyes. “Good night.”

There was silence for a moment and I lay there, pretending I was falling asleep before slowly opening my eyes to see if he had gone to his room. I nearly jumped out of my skin as I saw his eyes peering down into mine.

“What are you doing?” I sputtered as I sat up.

“Coming to see if you were really sleeping.”

“Well I am.” I glared at him again, trying to ignore the way his eyes crinkled when he was laughing inside.

“Shall we call it a truce?” He sat on the couch next to me.

“I suppose.” I shrugged and then looked over at him. “Though, I’m not sleeping with you. That train has passed.”

“Well, that’s regretful.”

“Yeah.”

“How did you meet Max?” He peered at me thoughtfully. “You don’t look like the sort he normally goes for.”

“We met at an art show I attended this evening.”

“Oh, you like art?”

“
Kinda.” I mumbled, not sure why I didn’t tell him that I was actually in London because I was taking an art history course as part of my college degree. Maybe because I didn’t want to draw attention to the fact that I was still in college. He looked like he was in his late twenties or early thirties and I wasn’t sure that he would be interested in someone in their early 20s.

“Or were you there to find yourself a rich man?”

“Yeah, that’s it.” I huffed, annoyed that he had me out to be some sort of gold-digger. “I go to art shows to meet rich men for a night of hot sex.”

“Very funny, Lola.” He chuckled and sat back.

“Do you like art?” I looked at him curiously. I hadn’t seen him at the museum, but then it had been pretty packed and I had been mesmerized with Max. I’d been so overwhelmed with his flirting that I’d missed the talk my new professor was giving about one of the new exhibits. I only hoped that on Monday morning the professor wasn’t going to quiz us about what he had talked about.

“I think that art is as important as the air we breathe.”

“Oh?” I looked at him in surprise.

“I don’t suppose you would understand, but many do not understand what it is to live and breathe creativity.”

“Yeah, I suppose not.” I thought about Anna and how bored she looked when I talked about Monet and his Impressionist paintings.

“I can see I’m boring you.” He jumped up from the couch. “I shall let you sleep.”

“Thank you.” I peered up at him and tried to avoid staring at his lips. “I am a bit tired now.”

“Then I shall let you sleep.” He nodded and walked away from me. I felt oddly disappointed and bereft as he left me alone, and I lay back and looked at the ceiling wondering what on earth I was doing. I stared around the opulent room and I couldn’t quite believe where I was. I was just a regular girl from Palm Bay, Florida.  I had never even been abroad before, yet here I was in London, with my best friend Anna, having the time of my life. And I had only been in London for a little over a week. Everything in my life seemed different and better, though there was still a dull ache and pain that throbbed through to the surface when it thought no one was paying attention. I closed my eyes and tried to picture Xavier’s face. I didn’t want to think about what I had left back home; it wasn’t worth it. This was my life now, or at least it was for the next year. I was no longer Lola Franklin, nerd and boring girl next door. I was now Lola Franklin, ingénue and up for any and everything. Only maybe I hadn’t changed as much as I thought… if I had, would I be sleeping on a couch in a hot guy’s hotel room? Wouldn’t I be in the bed with him? Yeah, so he was a bit of a jerk. What did that matter? I wasn’t looking for a happily ever after, I was looking for some fun. I had already gone for the happily ever after and it hadn’t worked out. I almost laughed as the thoughts ran through my mind. I was 22 and already going through a midlife crisis.

I froze as I heard Xavier’s door open and footsteps coming towards me. I counted to ten before opening my eyes and I saw him standing by the wall watching me. I felt a bit creeped out, but didn’t say anything. Finally, he walked towards me and grabbed my hands and pulled me up off of the couch.

“Come, you must sleep in the bed. You’re my guest. I cannot have you sleeping on the couch. I will be a perfect gentleman and will not lay a finger on you.”

“Oh no,” I stammered blushing as my blood boiled in excitement. “There’s no need. I’ll be fine on the couch. It’s very comfortable.”

“I insist. You must sleep in the bed.” He pulled me into the bedroom with him and then picked something off of the bed and handed it to me. “Put this on, it will be more comfortable to sleep in.”

“I, uh. Thanks.” I nodded sheepishly. It was true, my pants were feeling pretty uncomfortable. “I’ll just go change in the bathroom.” I walked into the bathroom quickly and unfolded the t-shirt he had given me. It was big and long enough to cover my ass, but just barely. I pulled my jeans, top, and bra off and pulled on the t-shirt quickly. But then I stood there in the bathroom unsure of what to do next; when I walked the t-shirt rode up and showed my ass, and I realized that my nipples were poking through the thin white top. I thought about calling out and asking him to borrow some boxer shorts, but then I giggled to myself at my thoughts. My first night as a seductress, and I was asking for boxer shorts and worried that I was revealing too much.

“Be
confident, Lola. Own your sexuality.” I repeated the mantra of some self-help lady that had a free podcast on iTunes. I shivered as I pictured Xavier staring at me with lust as I walked back into the room. He’d be so overcome with his attraction that he would fling me onto the bed and would have his wicked way with me. I smiled at the thought of him wanting me so badly that he would beg me to kiss him and touch him.

I walked back into the room, practicing the sexy and sultry walk that I had seen in a YouTube video, but my hopes and dreams were for nothing. The lights were already off and Xavier was already in bed, and from the looks of it he was fast asleep and snoring. I climbed into the bed gingerly, lifting the covers carefully before sliding in next to him. I snuggled into the soft pillow and stretched out my limbs as I relaxed into the luxurious sheets. I took a deep breath and delighted in the masculine smell and warmth that surrounded me. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep, feeling comfortable as I snuggled up to Xavier’s back. I figured I
may as well enjoy as much of him as I could.

***

I was having the most wonderful dream. Xavier was kissing me all over and feeding me grapes and strawberries from his mouth. I purred against him and then he poured champagne in the valley between my breasts before licking it up eagerly.

“You’re so beautiful, Lola. I am so lucky that you have given your body to me.”

“Thank you Xavier.” I smiled up at him, and closed my eyes as my toes curled in pleasure as he sucked on my nipples.

“You have breasts that rival the Venus de Milo. So supple and firm.” His fingers traced the curve of my breasts as he gazed at them admiringly. “Your body is a work of art.”

“Just make love to me, Xavier.” I groaned as I felt his hardness press in between my legs.

“Beg me, my love.”

“Make love to me, Xavier.” I moaned and pulled him down to me, crying out as he entered me slowly. “Yes, yes. That’s it.”

“Do you like how that feels, Lolita?” he whispered into my ear.

“Yes, yes.” I moaned and trembled as I felt his fingers playing with me. I froze in my sleep as I realized that my dream was starting to feel real and confusing. If he was making love to me, how was he playing with me through my panties? My eyes fluttered open and I froze as I felt Xavier’s
breath behind me.

“You wanted to tease me, didn’t you, Lolita?” He nibbled on the back of my neck as his fingers rubbed me gently over my panties. I felt the warmth of his chest against me and as I stretched, I felt something else protruding into my backside. I froze again as I realized that he was naked. Xavier was naked and I had an opportunity to make my dream a reality. I swallowed hard and tried to ignore the feelings of guilt that spread through my body as I enjoyed the feel of him against me. Now that the alcohol high had worn off and I was sober, all my courage was gone. I was no longer Lola Franklin, seductress down for
everything, I was once again back to Lola Franklin, interested in sex, but too scared to do a damn thing about it.
Oh my God, oh my God. What am I doing? Does he have a condom? Will I get pregnant? Does he have an STD?
All sorts of thoughts were running through my mind as my inner angel and devil argued over whether I should let myself capitulate to the feelings running through my body. I turned around to face Xavier, and he groaned as he was forced to withdraw his fingers from my panties.