He tensed, but said firmly, “Oui. I will never marry you.”
She waited for some kind of repugnance to arrive and prompt her to reject him. All she could think was that at least she would have this, him, for a little while. She closed her eyes, still swimming in the high of orgasm while tendrils of fresh arousal wound around her. He was offering a sensual, sexual contract of association, that was all, but it would be such a pleasurable one.
“I want to marry and have children. Someday. I’m not going to give you all of my best years and wonder what happened when you throw me over for a younger model.”
His fingers were under the fall of her hair, working upward in a comb to the back of her skull.
“I’ll let you go when you’re ready for that. You’re not searching for those things today, are you? Be with me until you are.”
A half sob pressed out of her. Was she really going to agree to this?
“If either of us was willing to give this up, chérie, you would have left in the middle of the night.”
“I know,” she said on a sob of surrender. “Please don’t be smug.”
“It’s not comfortable for me to be this taken by you.” He massaged her scalp, holding her in compassionate, irrevocable intimacy. “I am yielding, too.”
It didn’t feel like it. He was still hard inside her. She moved restlessly, drawing back to nip his chin, then looked into his eyes. “I bet I’ll get there before you do.”
“I bet I’ll make sure of it.” He threw himself forward, swooping her to the floor beneath him, sending them both soaring with the masterful thrust of his hips.
CHAPTER FIVE
Present day...
“KILLIAN.” HENRI STOOD and rounded his desk to greet the owner of Tec-Sec Industries as he was shown into Henri’s Paris office. They shook hands and Henri asked, “How are Melodie and the baby?”
“Well. Thank you.”
Henri wasn’t surprised by Killian’s succinct reply. Cinnia had summed it up nicely when she had first met the man who was an international security specialist and held the contract for the Sauveterre family’s safety. Did you meet at reticence school? He doesn’t care for small talk, does he?
They had met eight years ago, when Killian had come to Sauveterre International seeking investment capital to expand his global security outfit. Underwriting Killian’s ambitions had been one of the first really big risks Henri and Ramon had taken with their father’s money after their initial power struggles with the board. A year into watching Killian skyrocket with his business model and suite of military-grade services, they had hired him themselves.
That had been another type of gamble, a move Henri had not made without a great deal of reflection. Ramon operated on gut instinct while Henri was more fact driven. Killian had a good track record, but not a long one.
Ramon had left the final decision to Henri, after making a very good case for the change. “But we both have to believe in this. If you don’t like it, we won’t do it,” his brother had said.
Which had left the massive responsibility for any muck-ups squarely on Henri’s shoulders—where the weight still sat. Heavily.
Fortunately, Killian was a brilliant mind hidden behind an impassive face. Nothing escaped him. Aside from the occasional blip of overly exercised caution, they hadn’t had one security incident since signing contracts with him.
Not that Henri planned to become complacent as a result, but he felt he and his family were in very good hands. Even marriage and the arrival of his first child hadn’t thrown Killian off his focus on business.
“Coffee? Something stronger?” Henri offered.
“I won’t be here long,” Killian said with a wave of his hand and hitched his pants to sit.
Henri was relieved Killian was so reserved, not trying to bend Henri’s ear about the wonders of fatherhood. Henri didn’t need to hear what he was missing. Not when he was still stinging over Cinnia’s departure for that very reason.
The recollection jabbed like a rapier into his gut, swift and unexpected. She had left him to find the man who would give her the family she craved. Thinking of it sent a reverberation of frustrated agony through him every time he thought of it, so he refused to think of it and quickly pushed aside the temptation to brood today.
He took the chair opposite, distracting himself by getting to business. “You said it wasn’t an emergency. I assume it’s a price increase?”
“No, although there will be one at the end of the year to go with a system upgrade. The briefing for that will come through regular channels. No, this is something I thought was best dealt with promptly and face-to-face. One of my guards—I should say, one of the Sauveterre guards—brought me an ethical dilemma.” Killian braced his elbows on the chair’s arms and steepled his fingers. “In performing regular duties, this guard became aware of a situation that will be of interest to you, but the guard couldn’t come to you without compromising the privacy of your sibling.”