“Give me your mouth,” he growled. Allie craned her head back and he forced her chin up. He locked onto her mouth without apology, his lips crushing against hers in a desperate attempt to seal the fissure he feared was growing into a canyon between them. His tongue slid over hers in lush strokes and his hips moved in relentless drives.

When he felt her impending orgasm begin to coil around his cock, he moved his hand around her and massaged his fingers over the top of her sex.

“Please,”she begged.

“I have you.” Hudson bit down on his molars and locked his lower back in order to keep the steady pace. “Look at yourself. Look how beautiful you are. See what I see as you come.”

Allie arched her back, and as if on cue her release snapped free. “Hudson,” she cried out, his name a plea. The breathlessness of her voice surged the need in him and his body took over. There was nothing slow and easy, he was all rough and raw.

“That’s it. Give me what’s mine.” He gripped her hips and yanked her back along his length, feeling her pulse along his shaft and fucking her with the desire to erase anything and everything that was threatening to stand between them.

As he focused on the way his body slid and fit inside of her, he felt a wave of pleasure move up his legs and vibrate in his balls. But at the same time he felt the treasonous shift of her mind as her head dropped forward, hiding her eyes from his view. He smoothed his palm up her spine, wrapped her hair around his wrist, and gently pulled her head back up. “Don’t you fucking look away, I’m about to come for you.” Their eyes met in the mirror but he still felt like he was clawing through the fog to reach her.

“Fuck.” The word shot out of his mouth as he began to come, his body rearing back and his cock kicking deep within her. Allie dropped forward on her elbows and he caught her around the waist. He leaned over her, pressing a kiss between her shoulders, and they stood there for a moment with nothing but the sounds of their panting breaths echoing off the cold marble.

It was Hudson who finally spoke. “I’ll never let you go,” he murmured against her skin. “Never.”

Chapter Twenty-nine

Allie had spent the entire night staring at the ceiling of their penthouse suite. She knew every detail of the ornate cornice moldings and exactly how many crystal teardrops hung from the chandelier above the bed. But when the sun began to peek through the silk curtains, she was still no closer to coming up with a plan.

What reason could she possibly give Hudson for leaving him alone in one of the world’s most romantic cities? This was their first trip together. Under any other circumstances, nothing could convince her to leave his side. But her circumstances were anything but normal. And as much as she hated the thought of being away from Hudson for half the day, much less lying to him about where she was going, Julian had left her no choice. He was threatening to hurt the man she loved. If delivering a ring to Julian’s chateau would keep Hudson safe, then so be it.

The irony of the location Julian had picked for the exchange was not lost on her. Had she married him as planned, then they would have just been wrapping up their three-week honeymoon. The extensive itinerary had allowed for the last leg of the trip to include a weeklong stay at his chateau, culminating in a second reception her mother planned to host for Julian’s extended family, as well as their European friends who were unable to make it to the ceremony.

While it was true that many on the guest list would have been unable to attend either due to the holidays or the short notice, Allie suspected her mother’s motivation had more to do with impressing Bernadette Beauchene than it did with entertaining Julian’s distant cousins. Bernadette had been her mother’s roommate at Vassar. And while the Ingram name was often said in the same breath as Vanderbilt, Kennedy, and Rockefeller, it lacked the pedigree that came with hundreds of years of nobility and wealth. Hosting a ball at the country estate of her daughter, the new Marquise Laurent, would have no doubt been a means of leveling that field. The idea would have bothered Allie more but her mother’s motivation for planning a party at Julian’s estate paled in comparison to the lengths which her parents had gone to arrange the marriage in the first place. Not that any of it mattered anymore. Her parents were gone, as was her mother’s unspoken rivalry with Bernadette Beauchene.

And then it hit her. Bernadette was the perfect excuse to slip away for a few hours.

Careful not to disturb Hudson, Allie reached for her phone. She typed a quick e-mail to Bernadette, and had just returned her phone to the nightstand when Hudson stirred.

“I know what you’re doing,” he murmured from behind her.

Allie stilled. “You do?”

“Hmm.” He reached for her, one arm sliding around her waist as he pulled her to him, his chest against her back. “You’re checking your e-mail, something I’m quite sure I was told was off-limits while in bed. And besides, it’s a holiday. Nothing urgent to attend to.” He pressed his lips to her shoulder and she felt him smile against her skin. With a shift of his hips, an impressive erection prodded her backside. “Other than this.”

Arousal surged through her body. With no more than a few words and the feel of his skin against hers, she was slick and ready. All it would take was a subtle flex of her hips and he would be inside her, filling her, stretching her. She ached for him the way she always did, her body a slave to his. More than that she craved the connection of being one with him on the most intimate level. But there were arrangements to be made and a plane to meet.

It was just as well. Because as amazing as the night before had been, what lay ahead had weighed heavily on her mind, and she knew Hudson had picked up on it. He had sensed it in her mood, in the tension radiating through her body. And even though he’d eventually broken through and reached that part of her only he could touch, the fact that it had been so difficult brought a sadness all its own. She needed to deal with Julian. Once he was out of their lives, everything would go back to the way it was.

Hudson nuzzled against her neck while he began tugging and rolling her nipple between two fingers. She squeezed her eyes shut, fighting the wave of pleasure and gathering the strength to move away from the man who owned her, body and soul.

“It wasn’t work.”

He nibbled and sucked the sensitive skin beneath her ear. “Well, whatever Harper’s latest man crisis is can wait, too.”

It took every ounce of self-control, but somehow she managed to place her hand over Hudson’s, halting his amorous assault. “Actually, it was a friend of my mother’s. Sort of like an aunt to me.” That was a ridiculous exaggeration, but she had to make the story believable.

Allie sat up, pulling the sheet around her as she moved to the edge of the bed. “She wasn’t able to make it for the funeral, so when Ben told her I was in Europe, she started e-mailing, asking to get together.” Hudson’s watchful gaze made her suddenly aware of how quickly she was speaking. She took a steadying breath, using the time to do a quick calculation. Assuming her flight was on time, Harper was due to land just before nine. Allowing for customs, then the round-trip drive to Julian’s chateau, she should have no problem making it to the station by two. It wasn’t as though she and Julian would be having small talk over tea. “Anyway, I thought maybe I could have brunch with her this morning and meet you at the station later?”