Hooked Up: Book 3 (39 page)

“What shit?”

“That’s for her to tell. It’s not my place.”

“She’s been confiding in you and not me?” Sophie’s voice cracked—it sounded as if the floodgates were about to open.

“Not exactly. Look, I’m not going to discuss Elodie’s private affairs with you. Ask her yourself,” I said.

Sophie gave out a loud sigh. “She told me she didn’t want anything to
do
with me.”

“She’ll come round—just give it time. Look, I’ve got to go. I can hear the babies waking up.”

“Wow, you’re taking fatherhood so seriously.”

“You bet. I want to be the father I never had myself.”

“Talk to Elodie for me, will you. Please get her to call me.”

“I’ll try my best.”

“ANYWAY,” I SAID LATER, in an angry torrent of emotions, while Pearl and I were up on the roof terrace having lunch in the conservatory—my eyes fixed on Pearl as if it were all her fault. “What the fuck happened with your documentary on exposing arms dealers? You even had dinner with the bastard, why haven’t you told the world what an asshole he is already?”

“I wish it were that easy,” Pearl replied calmly, deflecting my rage with a flick of her wrist.

“Well what’s the fucking problem? His name’s all over the news now. He and I are more notorious than ever. Grab him while you can!”

“He’s a slippery fish, Mikhail Prokovich—you know that. There’s no proof, as such. You can’t go around accusing someone of something
that major
until you have the guilty package all wrapped up with a nice big bow. The more famous they are, the more delicate the situation.”

“Well hurry up about it, baby; I’m losing patience.”

“Oh, we’re working on it, believe me. The research is complicated.
He
is complicated. Clever. It’s hard to link him directly to any shady dealings. If we attack at this point, we could lose everything—all our hard work up till now. We need to be patient. Plus, he’s connected to governments and big businesses. We’re in cahoots with 60 Minutes and the BBC’s Panorama, because we need clout. HookedUp Enterprises can’t do this alone. We could get our asses sued if we aren’t careful. And despite your little quip about Europeans not suing, I’m sure we’d have Prokovich’s lawyers jumping down our throats, crawling all over us, the second they could.”

My fists were clenched in tight balls while Pearl coolly sliced a piece of homemade quiche for us both and served us each a small portion of green salad. She carefully poured us each a glass of Pinot Grigio, the crisp white wine—as chilled as she was.

I had married a headstrong woman who complimented my character in every way. She wasn’t riled by things when it came to her career. It seemed she had everything managed, including me. Her presence calmed me.

I had certainly chosen the perfect woman to be my wife.

“Anyway,” I concluded, “that fuck has some heavy karma coming his way. By hook or by crook, he’ll pay for being such an asshole.”

Pearl started laughing.

“What’s so funny? Are you laughing at my accent, Mrs. Chevalier? The fact that I don’t pronounce the H?”

“Not your accent, but I love it when you use expressions like ‘by hook or by crook.’ Do we even know where that comes from? Crook, as in crooked? Hook, as in a shepherd’s hook or something?”

“It’s probably derived from some obscure village in England called Crook or Hook. Anyway, right now, my focus is on Elodie. I’m worried about her. Obviously she left her cell phone behind on purpose so I wouldn’t be able find her.”

Pearl frowned. “That means you can’t track her down with the GPS, right? The way you did with me.”

“Thanks for that, you make me sound like a real stalker.”

She winked at me. “Well you are, Alexandre Chevalier. You stalked me all the way to the alter.”

I ‘crooked’ my finger at her and patted my lap. “Come here, you sexy wife, sit on my knee. Where are the twins?”

“Having their nap. I’ve got the baby monitor on. Modern spyware. See?” She showed me her Smartphone. “Sleeping like angels.”

“Where’s Rex?”

“In the park with Sally.”

“Patricia and the staff?”

“It’s her day off. The rest of the staff left for the afternoon.”

“So we’re alone?”

Pearl looked at her Reverso watch—a gift from me. “Maybe for an hour or so more.”

“Fuck lunch—it’s you I want to eat,” I said, lust glittering in my eyes, not breaking my gaze from hers. “You looked so beautiful last night, chérie, in your elegant gown. And I can still smell whatever you put on. Or maybe it’s just your natural scent. Whatever your secret is, it has me intoxicated. Get your ass over here.”

Pearl smiled and swept her hand over her golden locks, pushing her hair away from her face. She got up and sat on my knee. I was instantly hard. Fuck, even after giving birth and all the intricacies that came with child rearing and a household to run, she had me on red alert. She nuzzled her butt into my groin subtly, and I could hear a throaty growl, which surprised me as my own. I burrowed my nose into her elegant neck and smelled the Pearl Elixir that had me permanently mesmerized.

I kissed the nape of her soft neck. “Do you remember when we had our first bath together? I read you poetry and you slipped in the oily lavender water and the book flipped out of my hands and sank?”

“I most certainly do,” she said. “I thought I’d spoiled the moment, but you laughed—your first edition Baudelaire ruined.”

I nipped her lobe and she shuddered. I saw goose-bumps rise on her flesh. “And then we discussed the power,” I whispered in her ear, “of smell and how two people can be attracted to each other for no other reason than pheromones?” I inhaled her sweet essence and a rush of desire surged through my torso, hammering in my groin.

“And I wondered if it was the lavender oil alone that had me hooked on you.”

“I’d never felt so at ease with a woman before. I’d never had that intimacy before,” I murmured.

Pearl sounded surprised. “Really?”

“Really,” I said, my hand cupping her succulent ass. “You know when you’re listening to an old vinyl record and it jams? That was my life before. In a rut. And when you came along the needle jumped forward into the right groove and forced me to move ahead. Finally I could hear the melody—it flowed beautifully, and I knew the way it was meant to sound.”

She turned her head and smiled. “I’m a melody? I’m music to your ears?”

I gripped her thigh. “The best melody ever. You have the perfect beat, Pearl, the perfect rhythm. You soothe me. You enliven me. You make me dance. You help me sleep. Yes, you’re my music, chérie.” I sneaked my fingers between her legs and felt her wetness through the thin fabric of her panties. The fact that I caused such an instant physical reaction in her body made my cock ache with need. We hadn’t fucked for nearly a week—that’s what having children did—and it felt like a lifetime. I lifted her sweater and snaked my other hand around her smooth waist. “How do you keep so fit? So trim?”

“Trade secret,” she answered, nestling her butt into my solid, pounding erection. I spun her around and moved her soft thighs either side of my legs so she was straddling me. I cupped her chin with my hand and pulled her beautiful face toward mine. I didn’t kiss her straight away. I wanted to look into her eyes and really
see
her. Those guileless, big blue eyes that could have belonged to a little girl. I breathed her in.

“You’re sniffing me again, aren’t you?” she teased, her arms closing tightly around my shoulders. “You’re worse than Rex.”

“Caught me,” I said with a laugh.

“What do I smell of?”

“Of Pearl.”

“What
is
Pearl?”

“It’s unique. The pure essence of love. A secret potion. There’s no smell like it in the world—it’s deep and nuanced and . . . fresh. With a hint of sunshine. It makes my head spin every time. If I could bottle it, it would earn me more money than all of my enterprises combined. But then again, I wouldn’t want to share your elixir with anybody.”

I rested my lips on her mouth, my breath a tease, and with the tip of my tongue explored her Cupid’s bow. Such a pretty mouth, that belonged to a woman of another era, like one of Rossetti’s Pre-Raphaelites. My hand, still on her jaw, slowly traced down her neck to her shoulder. And then to the curve of her breast. She gasped. I could feel her hardened nipple through the delicate cashmere of her sweater. I trailed more light kisses around her mouth, stroking my tongue across her bottom lip, and she moaned, edging her crotch up against me, and her hands moved to unbutton my jeans—my rock-hard cock, pounding with desire, sprang up against my abdomen. Fuck, I felt horny.

She couldn’t take my tormenting kisses any longer—her lips parted and her tongue flicked out to touch mine as she held my thick erection in her grip. Chills ran through my body at her carnal touch.

I licked into her mouth and, gripping her hair, tilted her head back. “You’re mine, baby,” I growled—my sound vibrating in her mouth as she played with the tip of my crown, smoothing the pre-cum around my swollen dick—as massive as a cobra. I felt like I was about to explode the kiss was so erotic, and I couldn’t wait to enter her. But this foreplay was too beautiful to rush. We were fucking each other with our mouths, our tongues in a wild, wet tango, nipping, biting, stroking, rimming. I kept hold of her hair, not letting her go; my possessive nature a fire, stoked by her love for me.

“Your kisses are my food,” Pearl whimpered into my mouth as I consumed her whole. And it was true; we were nourishment for each other. It was as if I were eating her with my lashing tongue—sucking her, tasting her essence. Feasting on the Pearl Elixir.

I needed her so much.

“Sit on my cock, baby,” I murmured. “Slide yourself onto me.” My hands moved down to her ass, which I grasped voraciously—my emotions and desire in a frenzy. I heard a cry, timorous and panicked—for a second, I thought it was Pearl.

She shifted herself away from me and leaned down to grab her cell. “It’s Louis,” she told me, staring at the screen of her Smartphone. He never yelled that way—I could see why she jumped to attention. “I’d better go downstairs and see if he’s okay.”

“I’ll come with you.” I let out a sigh.

Fatherhood.

A full-time job.

PEARL TOOK LOUIS to the pediatrician, and I stayed behind with Madeleine, just in case what he had was contagious—two sick babies wouldn’t be the greatest, although it was the first time they had ever been separated, and I felt badly for them. I coddled her in my arms, rocking her gently. I put on a Vivaldi cello concerto and swayed with her about the apartment, which made her coo and smile—her toothless grin a joy to behold. It sent a rush of butterflies circling my stomach. I nestled my face against her pearly, soft skin—she too exuded a secret elixir: the baby elixir that was almost as intoxicating as Pearl’s.

I kept my eye on my cell, hoping that Elodie would call any second. My instinct told me that she’d be alright. But there was nothing I could do, for now. She’d told me she wouldn’t be going to her apartment in the Village, but I called her roommate anyway. Nothing.

Women always complain about how tough it is to be female, but shit, in that moment, I was in turmoil. Worried about Elodie, my twins, my belle Pearl. Feeling an overwhelming urge to protect them all, but not knowing how.