Page 35 of Savage Games

Richard just smiled. “You must wait and see.”

After several more minutes we turned down a quiet street in the shadows of a large twin-spired gothic cathedral. We stopped alongside two massive hunter green doors. Someone from the first SUV jumped out and opened the doors. The limo had to back up, turn, then back up again before squeezing through the narrow cobblestone passageway that was probably built over a hundred years ago and meant for carriages.

My mouth dropped open as the car pulled into a large circular courtyard. The house before me was all white with tall windows, actual gas-lit lamps flanking the doorway, and several balconies.

The entire place was ablaze with light. Through every window there was the champagne glow of warmth and welcome.

Again, I marveled at how Richard could accomplish all this when a few hours ago he didn’t even know he would be in Paris.

For one insane moment, I wondered if he somehow knew.

That was impossible of course; until I’d found the feather and overreacted, I myself hadn’t known I would try to flee to Paris. How could he possibly have known?

Still, there was this queer feeling in my stomach.

Somehow, someway, Richard was always a few moves ahead of me on the board.

While his home in Mayfair had a more sedate, refined elegance fitting an English gentleman of his stature, his home in Paris was opulent almost to the point of obscene.

Everywhere I looked there was polished marble and gold. Gold chandeliers, gold sconces, gold scroll and leaf design volutes at the top of the marble columns, which rose above the entranceway to at least three stories high to help hold up a ceiling decorated with a spectacular mural filled with fat cherubs and pink clouds.

“It’s… ah… it’s…”

Sweeping me into his arms, Richard strolled up the wide center staircase. “Don’t strain yourself trying to say something nice. It’s gaudy and garish as hell.”

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I buried my head in his shoulder and laughed. It wasn’t often Richard admitted that something within his sphere of influence was not up to his exacting standards.

“I bought it furnished and I haven’t redecorated. You can have that honor later… but right now I’m getting you into a nice hot shower.”

“Will I have company?” I asked cheekily.

“I’m never leaving your side again,” came his earnest response as he tightened his arms around me.

I barely glimpsed the circular entrance to the master bedroom suite before he carried me down a long corridor of mirrors and doors that I could only assume were closets.

Inside the bathroom, there was even more gold and marble, but I barely noticed as Richard was busy unbuckling the belt around my waist and tearing at his jacket.

The large walk-in glass shower quickly filled with steam as I stepped inside, hissing as the scalding water hit my chilled skin.

Reaching for the bar of soap, I inhaled its masculine sandalwood scent as I lathered it between my hands and then rubbed small circles over my stomach before reaching between my legs.

Richard’s large tanned hand enclosed mine.

“Oh!”

I hadn’t heard him enter the shower. Looking down, his hand looked swarthy and almost menacing as it nestled between my soap-covered thighs. His hand moved up to cup my breast as he kissed my neck before turning me around and pressing my back against the cobalt blue tile. Raising his arms, he caged me in. Using the tip of his tongue, he teased my lips with small licks, before claiming my mouth for his own.

I placed my hands against his chest, pushing my fingers through the thick curls of inky hair that covered that hard, muscled expanse before returning his kiss. Leaning up on my toes to press my mouth more firmly against his. Loving the way his tongue swept in to swirl and capture my own.

Pulling his head back, he cupped my jaw with both of his hands.

His jaw looked tense, his dark blue eyes hard and serious.

“I will make sure no one comes near you ever again,” he vowed.

Despite the heat of the shower, my limbs went cold.

If Richard were anyone else, anyone else in the world, I would have assumed he had misspoken. I’d have assumed he meant no one could threaten or scare me again, like with the dead bird.

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