Second Chance Sister Read Online Free PDF Page B

walking up Rue Dessant when she realized that Louis was walking down to meet her. He took the larger parcels out of her hands. “How could you have seen me?”
    “I was upstairs.” He rustled a package he carried. “What is this?”
    “The dress for Wednesday night.”
    “And this?”
    “Lingerie.”
    “Oh ho. Sexy and revealing, I hope.”
    “Well — yes, or it would show badly under the dress.”
    “I am encouraged. You do not display your charms.”
    “You must show me what you want from me,” she said simply.
    He smiled and said nothing. In the house, Bettina welcomed her and set her things on the coat rack with her packages, then returned to the kitchen.
    Suddenly, Louis grabbed her, pressed her against the hallway wall, and kissed her savagely. She felt his hands stroking her body. She kept her arms around his neck and returned his kisses, but he was neither calmed nor soothed. His hands pushed and gripped. He kissed her throat, forcing her head back as he kissed and bit. He was out of control. She struggled ineffectively, gasping.
    Then he took a deep shuddering breath, and became calm. His grip was still strong, but steady. In her ear, he murmured, “Oh,
mon amour
, I am going mad with the wait.”
    “Louis,” she urged softly, “come.
Reste ici
. We are both going mad.”
    Slowly, he released her. She took his hand, led him to his own couch, and sat down with him.
    Louis drew her into his arms. He brushed her hair back from her face. He drew her legs over onto his lap, and kissed her again — gently, this time. “I hadn’t meant to — rough you up so much.”
    “You startled me more than anything.”
    “I did not frighten you?”
    “Non,” she lied. “My only thought was, this is not our wedding night.”
    Louis smiled and touched her lips with his fingers, recognizing the lie. “I promise not to lose control again.”
    “Before the wedding,” she amended.
    He acquiesced. “Before the wedding. Afterward, I make no guarantees.”
    “I would not ask for more,
mon mari
.”
    “I want to hear you call me ‘
mon mari
,’ and mean it, in our bed. I want to hear you say it after the loving.” Louis touched her face, and looked in her eyes. “I wanted to give you a tour of the rest of the house tonight, and ask you which room you wanted for our bedroom. Maybe not the same one I have always used, I thought.”
    “That might be a good idea. I don’t know.” Bishou gentled her voice to match his tone. His hand was under her skirt, stroking her thigh.
    “But now I am afraid that the moment you look at a bedroom you like and say, ‘
Ah, oui,
’ I won’t be able to restrain myself.”
    “‘
Ah, oui
’? Is that your sex cue?”
    “For lovemaking? Ah, oui,” Louis said, with a twinkle in his eye.
    Bishou thought of the number of times she had kissed him, and heard him say those very words. He had been telling her yes all along, and she hadn’t realized it. In an odd way, she felt as if she had wronged him.
    Bishou shifted their positions on the couch until he lay with his head in her lap. She rested her arms around him and made sure he was comfortable. He stroked her blouse at the breast. The smile never left his lips. He still wore his tie, a white four-in-hand. She loosened the knot and removed it, then unbuttoned his shirt enough to slip her hand inside. She felt warm skin and the movement of his chest as he breathed.
This is my man
, she thought,
mon mari
.
    “
Qu’est-ce que tu pensais
?”
    “I like touching you.”
    His smile grew. “I am glad. It feels good, too. And, tomorrow, you buy the wedding dress.”
    “Oui. Tomorrow.”
    “Are you excited?”
    Her smile matched his. “Yes, very. More about the man than the dress.”
    “Oh, what of the man?” he teased.
    “A luscious, sexy tobacco-man.”
    Louis laughed. “Now you make fun of me.”
    Bettina appeared long enough to say that dinner was served. They made their way to the dining room. While they ate, Bishou