Page 103 of In the Net
There’s only one thing I’d never miss, no matter the cost, and that’s being there for her.
We chat about our excitement and nervousness about our big upcoming years while we walk around the right bank of Paris. On top of us both always being enchanted with the idea of this city, thanks to the memories we have together from our first trip here, when everything between us started to change, it’s become a precious place to us.
We cross the river to the other side, strolling through the Ile de la Cité and gazing at Notre Dame again as we pass by.
Like we’re being magnetically drawn, as we weave through the narrow streets of the left bank, we end up turning a corner and coming across the hotel we stayed at during our trip here months ago.
“Feels like another lifetime,” I say, my voice marveling as I look at the building.
“I know, right? It feels crazy to think it wasn’t even a year ago.”
A smile curls on my lips as I look up to find the window of the room Harper stayed in, the one I scaled the walls and snuck inside of when I was worried about her.
“The first room we spent the night together in,” I say, my voice somewhere between a joke and a wistful reminiscence.
“Would’ve been cute to try and book the same room for this trip,” she says. With the ink signed on my NHL contract, I decided to splurge and get us a hotel room that was honestly an irresponsible level of expensive, even for my respectable rookie contract.
A thought jolts into my head that has my dick twitching in my pants.
“It is a shame that there’s a room we’ve spent the night in together without us having, you know …” I bounce my eyebrows at her.
Desire flashes in her green eyes. “Maybe next time.”
Suddenly, my arousal is a runaway train. The thought of fucking Harper in the first room we spent the night in together has lust shooting through me. My groin is uncomfortably tight, and I don’t want to wait until we get back to the other side of town where our fancier hotel is to relieve it.
I shake my head, feeling my gaze sharpen. “No. This time.”
She giggles as I take her hand in mine and pull her through the door, into the lobby we entered separately months ago.
“Sebastian, what are you doing?” she whispers.
I glance around furtively, seeing that there are no hotel staff around. That’s what I counted on, because it was often the case when we were here. If you needed something, you’d have to wait around for ages. The classic French work ethic is working in our favor this time.
“Let’s go,” I whisper to her. She presses her lips together to mask a giggle as I lead her up to the floor we stayed on last time.
“How do you think this is going to work?” she asks in a hushed voice, though her tone is shot through with excitement that makes even more blood pump to my cock. “These rooms have locks, you know. And someone else might be in that room right now.”
“Nothing ventured, nothing gained,” I say with a wolfish grin.
Honestly, I have no fucking idea how I’m going to pull this off, but being back in this city with Harper, and remembering the frisson of thrill that shot through me the first time I saw her lying in her bed, it all has me feeling adventurous.
I spot a housekeeper stepping out of a room close to Harper’s old one, pulling a cleaning cart behind her.
I nudge Harper, and we approach the housekeeper. My spoken French isn’t that good in the first place, but I make it extra-jumbled and ungrammatical, putting on my best clueless tourist performance, only barely managing to get across the idea that Harper and I locked ourselves out of our room.
We must look trustworthy, because she takes out her master key and uses it to open the door for us. I thank her with numerous mispronouncedMerci’s, and we slide inside.
I sweep my gaze around the room, seeing that the bed is freshly made, everything is clean and orderly, and the room is clearly empty and waiting for its next occupant. Which means the coast is clear.
I turn to Harper, ready to crush my lips to hers, but she beats me to it.
Before I can make a move, her hands are twisted into my t-shirt and she’s pulling me toward her, pressing her mouth to mine with a hungry kiss. Flames lick through my bloodstream, and my hands roam all over her, frantically finding the hem of her shirt and sinking underneath to feel her skin.
“You fantasized about doing this while watching me sleep back then, like a creeper, didn’t you?” she rasps teasingly as I nip at her lips.
My groin swells, excitement pumping through me. I love how even though we’re together, her mouth hasn’t gotten any less smart or taunting. We keep each other on our toes, and we always will. It sure as fuck makes things more interesting in the bedroom.
I feather my fingers through her hair and clench my fist into a tight grip, tugging her head back so my lips can rake against the softness of her neck. “I’ll admit that when you admit how many times you touched yourself thinking about me, back when you were supposed to hate me.”
