Chapter Nine

When we get outside, it's pouring. Luc takes his blazer and covers me, protecting me from the rain. We are holding hands and he's taking me to the car that's already waiting for us. Though we were probably under the rain less than five minutes, it's enough to get his hair wet.

This time, on the back seat of the car, we sit right next to each other, me by the window. He takes my hand in his and rests both on his leg, which is pressed against mine. We exchange smiles and stay silent for the entire ride, our glances, however, speak more than our voices could muster. The minimal skin contact between us is lighting me on fire. He caresses the palm of my hand with his thumb while his serious face keeps staring at me with those blue eyes shining in the dark, city lights catching them every now and then, his hair messy and damp from the rain.

London lights keep flickering into the car as we drive across the city. Raindrops are running down the windows. There's something about this moment that tells me I'm going to remember it for quite a while. Something has shifted in me and it's almost palpable, I just can't tell what.

The way Luc observes me is as if though he has already taken off my clothes more times than I can count, and has kissed every inch of my body. There is so much desire and longing that I'm glad we're not alone in the car. My heart is finding its way up my throat once we reach the front of the building, anticipation is running through my veins.

He holds the car's door open for me, and once we're out, he clasps our hands again. I never hold hands with the guys I go out with. Actually, we are either at my place or the guys' place, not having romantic fancy dinners or walking the streets together holding hands.

The way Luc is firmly holding my hand right now makes me feel safe, and special. It's as if he knows what he's doing, when I don't. It's a good feeling, surprisingly.

The lift opens its doors for us, and once we're inside, I don't know what's going to happen. I don't know if he will press his button and I will press mine and we're both saying goodnight inside this lift. I don't know if he'll invite me to his place, or if I should ask him to go to mine. I've been fighting over what I want and what I should do the entire ride home.

We don't press any buttons, at first. Instead, Luc gently and slowly presses me against the metal walls of the lift, so that I take a few steps back until I feel his hot breath on my face, his hands both on each side of my neck, holding me in place. Goosebumps spread like an electrical current through me. The air is charged and I'm suddenly aware of every hair on my body. His powerful and intense daredevil gaze is holding mine like a magnet. I'm on fire, my face is burning.

‘What?' I find my voice to ask, and it comes out breathy.

The doors close, but the lift doesn't move as we haven't pressed any buttons.

‘You know what I really want to do?' he asks softly.

‘Hmm?' I murmur more than say.

My eyes are burning, only staring at him. My mind is swimming in dirty thoughts, thinking about the things I'd like to do to him.

‘Taste you right here,' Luc says, running the rough pad of his thumb over the skin of my neck.

I feel my heart pulsing in my ears, throbbing in my temple.

‘And then?' I dare to ask, joining his game.

He grins a wicked grin, one I'm starting to enjoy more each time.

‘Lick you right here,' he whispers in my ear, lightly brushing the shell with his soft lips.

Now I'm losing power over my legs; my knees are going weak.

‘And then?' I whisper back.

He looks at me. Now we're face to face, our noses almost touching.

‘Kiss you right here.' He touches and parts my lips with his thumb as his eyes focus on the spot he's touching, drinking me in.

‘Why don't you?' I say, breathless, watching his heavy-lidded eyes.

He closes the remaining distance between us and presses his body against mine, one hand lost in my hair, the other pressed against the metal, just above my head. When the skin of his lips meets the skin of my neck, I decide I can't fight against this. I'm too weak to resist Luc, I'm already too involved to say no.

His tongue strokes my neck, gently. Its warmth against my skin makes my panties wet and my heart beat louder against my chest. I sink my fingers into his hair and it feels just as goddamn good as I thought it would. I tug hard on it, pulling him towards me, possessing him, just as I tilt my head enough to give more skin for him to taste.

The doors open, and startled, we pull apart as fast as we can, as if we were caught doing something unlawful.

It's Mr. and Mrs. Warner from the third floor. He clears his throat, she lets out a shy smile. Luc exchanges places with me, placing me in front of him holding me by the waist, and I know exactly why he's done it when his hard erection presses against the small of my back. I do what I can to ease my breathing and put on a poker face for the Warners. They are old enough to be my parents, in fact, they know my parents from when they used to live here too, in my current flat. They've known me since I was born.

‘How are your parents doing, Olivia?' asks Mrs. Warner.

I clear my throat before replying, just to check my voice's still there. ‘They're good, thanks.'

I let out a forced smile, and both of them smile back. Luc gives a gentle squeeze on my hip. I'm sure the heat on my face reveals what we're up to.

‘Send them regards. We hope to have dinner with them again sometime soon,' says Mrs. Warner, politely as she has always been.

‘I will,' I say with the most innocent face I can muster, but very much aware of what's going on behind my back, literally.

The ride to the third floor is excruciating. All the while Luc holds me against him by my waist. As soon as we are left alone in the lift again he presses the button to my floor, not his. He then places his lips on my ear, giving me goosebumps from head to toe taking me by surprise. He's now tracing his warm and soft tongue along my ear, picking up where we left off. I close my eyes and lean my head back against his chest closing any possible distance we still might have between us.

He spins me around and presses me against the mirror facing me. He looks drunk, I feel giddy. His magnetic blue eyes fix on mine and it looks like they're begging for something. He pulls me by my hair towards him, his long fingers threaded through my hair, then his warm wet lips are on mine. His demanding mouth parts my lips and his tongue fills me, satiating my need of him. I welcome his gesture in full force, my hands are buried in his dark hair, and his are now tracing my spine down to my ass.

The doors open and we manage to step out of the lift without breaking apart, our kisses growing more frantic by the second. We are all hands on each other, until he holds my hands up above my head and against my flat's door. He's the only one touching now. He chooses my nipples to play with his free hand as his tongue's still inside my mouth. I moan, losing my mind. Right now he has all the power over me and I can't do anything but accept it and let him do what he wants.

I normally am the one who dictates how this goes, but against Luc I have no chance, unless I still had some remaining willpower within me, but it seems that I don't. I try anyway, ‘Wait,' I say, gasping for air as I break our kiss.

‘What?' he's as breathless as I am, and his blue eyes are dilated staring into mine, his mouth red from my lipstick, his hair a complete mess. He smells like sex even though we haven't had any. Yet.

He's still staring at me waiting for me to say something, but I can't speak. All I can do is try to make my mind think rationally about all this.

Think about tomorrow. You're going to regret this.

I try as hard as I can to make my mind behave, but it's pointless, no rational thoughts come. All I see is him, all I feel is him, all I want is him.

‘Who's there?' shouts Mrs. Thompson, this time she seems really annoyed. She probably got way too many packages from Amazon today.

We both chuckle on each other's mouths.

‘You were saying?' he whispers.

‘Nothing,' I say.

Oh God, why can't I say no to him?

He smashes his mouth against mine, demanding all of me. Fuck tomorrow. I want him, like I never wanted anyone in my life before.

In between his free hand finding its way under my dress, his tongue crashing against mine and my hands still held by his above my head, I realise it would probably be best if we didn't continue this outside.

‘Keys,' I manage to say against his mouth.

‘Keys. Yes, right,' Luc says with heavy breathing and a lot of effort.

Eventually, I manage to open the door. As soon as we're inside he lifts me up and I wrap my legs around his waist, dropping my clutch and his blazer on the floor. He walks with me straddling him across the room and sets me on the kitchen island. He kisses me desperately as I tug hard on his polo and pull it up over his head.

Oh the sight of his abs.

‘What?' he asks with a sexy as hell grin plastered on his face.

I smile back at the beautiful mess he is right now, running my eyes all over him. Shamelessly. Considering I'm fucked anyways, I might as well take advantage of the view.

‘You're looking at me like when you saw me for the first time in the elevator,' he rasps.

‘And how was that?'

‘Like you wanted to fuck me,' he says this with a serious face and a hoarse voice in his French accent.

Oh God.

I answer him with a laugh. With my legs still wrapped around Luc's waist, I dig my heels onto his ass and pull him closer. He tilts his head and analyses me for a moment, contemplating what he's seeing. His warm hands travel under my dress from my knees to my behind, until he grabs hold of the soft stretchy fabric and slowly pulls it up my head.

When my head is free from the dress and I open my eyes, I find him staring at me as if I were his muse. He half opens his mouth and runs the tip of his tongue along his lower lip before his mouth is on mine again.

‘Is this one of your designs?' he whispers against my mouth.

‘Yes,' I whisper back, almost trembling with so much need for him.

‘Good,' he whispers in my ear, then his lips, tongue and teeth begin their journey down my collarbone to my hard nipple, inducing an uncontrollable gasp. He's driving me insane with the sucking, licking and nibbling. The sensations send me to a parallel universe I've never visited before. I hold tight to his hair. When he reaches his destination I bury my nose in his messy hair and feel inebriated by the combination of both its smell and the thrill of him sucking my nipple through the thin fabric of my bra. Gentle, wet and slow. I moan. My sex pulses between my thighs, begging for more, for him.

He cups my breasts with his hands, one nipple he's sucking on, the other he's pinching with his fingers. My head falls back with another moan. Luc does it slow, and that's what kills me. Hearing my moan he goes back to kissing me. He sucks hard on my tongue, devouring me, eating me up. It's a kiss with need and urgency, as if he were barely containing himself under his pants, which I'm reaching for to open the fly. He doesn't stop kissing me while I do it, but as my hand lands on his erection straining his underwear, he takes little breaks between kisses and sucks air through his teeth.

I hear my phone vibrating on the floor, inside my clutch. Naomi and Lexi have been texting me, but I haven't replied. I ignore it and focus on where my hands are. But Luc stops for a second, eyes closed, panting. When he opens his eyes and they meet mine, I know he's hesitating. He's holding himself back.

‘What's wrong?' I ask through my heavy breathing. My hands are tugging on his waistband, so I let go of it immediately.

His hand finds its way around my neck, his fingers touching my nape, his thumb stroking my cheek. He watches me for a moment and presses his forehead against mine. It's so unexpected my heart stops for a few long seconds.

‘As much as I don't want to stop, I think we should,' he says, softly and breathlessly.

What?

‘I don't want to be a one-night stand for you,' he says.

Oh God.

I'm so surprised by the fact that I'm not disappointed with what he just said—if any of the guys I've been with in the past had said anything close to this I'd definitely be annoyed—I can't even respond to that. My mind's all over the place now, in a battle between the high it seems to be on and his words. I don't get the chance to say anything, because right then, something begins to vibrate in his back pocket, breaking the moment completely. Luc growls in frustration and puts some distance between us to check his phone. Worry takes over his face when he sees who's calling. He runs a hand through his hair and says, ‘I'm sorry. I have to take this.' His eyes meet mine briefly, he looks genuinely guilty.

‘Oui,' he says, pressing the phone to his ear. The person on the other side starts talking as he listens attentively with furrowed brows.

He helps me down from the island, picks his Polo from the floor and helps me into it. He presses his soft, swollen and smudged-with-lipstick lips against mine and gives me a reassuring smile. Shirtless, his pants hanging low on his waist, still with a hard-on, he strides across the living room and to the balcony, leaving me speechless, wanting and confused.