Consume Me (7 page)

Taryn reached out to take his hand. “You know better than that, Errol.  It’s not that I don’t want to stay here with you. This weekend has been great, more than I’d dreamed of, and I absolutely love it out here, but I can’t just ignore what’s waiting for me back home.”

Nodding pensively, Errol took a few bites of his breakfast, took a long and loud slurp of his coffee, then set his cup down with finality. “Yesterday you sounded completely enamored with the idea of moving out here, of making France your home.  How much time did we spend on the internet looking for a new apartment?  I even took appointments to visit three of them and I thought you’d want to check them out with me.”

Surprised and a little tickled by his attentive desire to tend to her new disdain for his apartment, she gazed at him.  “You took appointments?  You didn’t tell me that.”

“I wanted to surprise you.  Of course, I didn’t know you’d want to go back so soon, so I made the appointments for next week.  I’ll have to call to change it.”

“Errol, you didn’t have to do that…”

“I knew you dreaded the idea of returning to my place, so I wanted to go back to Paris and check these places out.  After only a few nights in a hotel, we could be settled into a new place… just like that.”  He snapped his fingers.

She smiled, touched by just how quickly he’d acted on her fears.  He could so simply have ignored them; pat her on the head and tell her to get over it.  “That’s really sweet of you, Errol.  I appreciate it, really.”

“Appreciate it so much you're going to just leave and return to New York?”

“Please don’t make me feel guilty for doing what I feel I need to do, Errol.  Think of your Nana.  If she were the one at home alone and in need of you, would you just turn your back on her so you could be with me?”

He remained silent a long time then took in a long and deep breath.  “Fine.  After breakfast we’ll head back to Paris.  But will you at least humor me?”

“What do you mean?”

“At least take the time to come see the apartments with me, and then we’ll…”

“And then we’ll what?”

“We’ll see what we’ll do from there.  Maybe once you see our new home you’ll forget all about New York.”

Not wanting to argue the matter any longer, Taryn nodded and finished her breakfast.  She thought she’d made her intentions clear when she’d arrived, but evidently she hadn’t.

During the long drive back to Paris, Taryn was filled with melancholia.  She’d never thought of herself as a country girl, but the country air had quickly grown on her and leaving out here with Errol was something she could now very much imagine.

More than anything she longed to stay at Errol’s side, whether in Paris or out here, but she wished he’d understand her need to return to New York.

As the Paris skyline rose over the horizon, and the rolling green hills fell further and further behind, her heart pounded with anticipation and trepidation. Paris was beautiful, filled with so much history and art, and it was the culinary heartbeat of the world, but New York… Her home, her heart, her love, her family.  Leaving it all behind wasn’t that easy.

“The first apartment overlooks the Seine,” Errol said as he maneuvered through the narrow streets bordering the river.  He pulled up to the impressive stone building.  They met the real estate agent in the front hall and took the elevator up to the fourteenth floor.

“It has a smaller kitchen than I’m accustomed to,” he discreetly said to her, “but the bedroom is impressive, and you can’t beat the view.”

Though her heart wasn’t completely in it, Taryn followed him to the window in the bedroom.  The view was indeed impressive, and while the kitchen may have been smaller than he was accustomed to, it was spacious nonetheless. 

“What do you think?” he asked as he ran his hand over the window sill.

“It’s very romantic… very old world.  I love the woodwork and the cabinets.”

At the second apartment, Taryn was impressed by the immensity of the bathroom, but the view left much to be desired.  Only on the fifth floor, the best they could hope for was a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower if they pressed their face to a window.

“I thought it was on the fifteenth floor.  Had I known it was the fifth, we wouldn’t have bothered.  Let’s hope the third one is a winner,” Errol said with optimism.

As soon as they pulled up to the tall building, Taryn had a feeling they’d like this one.  And the moment they stepped out of the private elevator and into the enormous dwelling, her feeling was confirmed.  Despite her intention to return to New York, she couldn’t help but be impressed with the beautiful and spacious apartment.  Ornate woodwork, intricate details, beautiful mosaic floor tiles, elegant doorknobs, majestic windows… it was more than she could have hoped for.  Taking up the entire top floor of the nine story building, the three-hundred and sixty degree views were unparalleled.

“This is spectacular,” she whispered to Errol.  “We can see the Eiffel Tower over the Seine out of the bedroom, and there are a dozen windows in the living room that allow us to see practically to Le Louvre, and from the dining room… well, I’m sure on a clear day we could see all the way to Versailles.  And then there’s everything in between…”

“I think we have a winner,” Errol said to the real estate agent.

“
Parfait, monsieur
,” the agent replied with a pleased grin.

“Don’t you think we should discuss it a bit longer,” Taryn whispered as she tugged on Errol’s arm.  “Maybe we should sleep on in and come to a decision tomorrow.”

“Why?  This place is perfect.  It has the space I need in the kitchen, the romance of this old world architecture you want and the view we both love.  And look at that living room.  We can dance in that room.”

“If monsieur and madame will follow me, there is also the rooftop gardens and terrace.”

Taryn and Errol looked at each other and smiled.  They’d already viewed the terrace that from the many windows of the living room.  Shrugging, they followed him.

 “It’s a bit of the country right here in the heart of the city,” the agent said as he opened the door and mounted the steps that brought them to the rooftop garden.

“This is spectacular,” Tar gushed.

“You have a spa, sauna and gym.

“I’m already looking forward to making love to you up here,” Errol whispered in her ear.

She giggled and shot a sidelong  glance at the agent who appeared not to have heard him.

“That settles it then.  Let’s close this deal.   I can have my things moved here before you can say
paté de foie gras
.”

The real estate agent discreetly left them alone to discuss the matter all the same.

“Don’t be too impulsive, Errol.”

Setting his fists on his hips, he turned to her.  “Why are you doing this, Tar?”

“Doing what?”

“I don’t know. You're impeding our progress?  You're holding us back. I thought you wanted this.  It doesn’t get much better than this, Tar.”  He took both of her hands in his. “I thought you wanted to be with me.  I thought you wanted to marry me.  Are you having second thoughts?”

“No.  I do want to marry you, Errol.  I want all this, but it just isn’t the right time.  Please try to understand.”

He pressed his lips together. “Okay.  Fine.”

She glanced at her watch. That morning, she’d quickly check the flights out of Paris on the internet and there was one leaving in just under an hour.  “Look, it’s too late for me to catch a flight today, so I’ll stay another day, but tomorrow…”

He smiled.  “And you can bet I’ll take advantage of every minute of this last night together.

“But seriously, Errol, first thing tomorrow…”

“Not first thing.  I have an early class tomorrow morning.”  He pulled her into his arms.  “I can take you to the airport afterward… at two o’clock.”

“I can take a cab, Errol.  You don’t have to…”

He huffed his frustration.  “I want to take my fiancé to the airport, Tar.  No disrespect to your mother, but I’m sure she can handle another few hours with my crew.”

She had no reasonable argument for that.  “Okay, I’ll stay a few hours more.”  Getting on her tiptoes, she reached up to kiss him.  “As much as I hate to go, tomorrow I will leave.”

He kissed her back, pulled her tightly to him and groaned his displeasure.  “I’ll go wrap things up with the real estate agent, and we’ll head to the hotel after that.  I want to start ravaging you as soon as possible.”

Taryn followed him inside and remained in the kitchen while he headed to the agent in the living room.  She watched him walk away feeling suddenly guilty for making him go through all this while she returned to New York. It didn’t make sense that he should sell his apartment and move just because she’s afraid of the dark.  Then again, it showed his commitment, didn’t it?

“Let’s go,” he said when he returned a few moments later.  “Everything is settled.”

In the car on the way to the hotel, Taryn felt she had to say something, but the words wouldn’t come. Only when they reached their luxurious and spacious room did she finally speak her mind.

“Errol, I feel awful about this. It’s unreasonable for you to move because of me while I return to New York.”

“I anticipate you’ll come back, won’t you?”

“Yes, of course, but…”

“Then it’s settled.  There’s no point putting it off.  By the time you get back, I’ll be in the new place and you’ll have nothing to fear.”

Taryn sat back on the king sized bed.  “It’s just that I know how you already have so much to take care of… what with your restaurant in New York burning down and everything.  It’s selfish of me to add this to your problems.”

He sat beside her and ran his hand from the curve of her neck down between her breasts.  “I don’t want to spend the last moments I have with you discussing all this.  I want to taste you, and savor you, and fill my soul up with you.”

Cupping her breast, he laid her back and covered her lips with his own.  His hands trembled as he pulled her shirt up, exposing her breasts to his ravenous mouth.

“I can’t get enough of the taste of your skin.”

“I want your skin, too,” Tar said as she reached for the zipper of his pants.  If she had to leave him again for a few weeks, she wanted to leave him with something to remember.  She wanted to drive him crazy, make him so horny he’d remember this night forever.

She pulled out his already hardened shaft, brought it to her mouth for one single long suck then slid his erection between her breasts.  Pushing her breasts together to better squeeze his erection, she glided her voluminous orbs over the length of him.

“You wild siren, damn I love you.”  He grabbed her wrists, jerked her further up on the bed and straddled her.  “I want to fuck you.  I want to screw you.  I want to make love to you.  I want you, Tar.  I want you.”

He jacked her skirt up and pushed his erection deep inside her, filling her with his arousal, filling her with his love, filling her with memories that would cling to her for weeks on end.

Wrapping her arms around him, she held him close, kissed his chest, his neck, and his cheek before finally finding his lips.  She never wanted to let him go.

And hours later, when he took her for the third time, she seriously questioned her decision to return to New York.  They were so good together, it was impossible to imagine being away from him again.  How would she survive another few weeks without his touch?  How would she manage to concentrate on her responsibilities back home when all she wanted was to touch him again?

Chapter 10

W
hile Errol prepared to go to his morning class, Taryn contemplated him from the luxurious sheets of the large bed.  The hotel room was spectacular, rich and elegant, and she couldn’t help but wonder how he could afford such a luxury while his restaurant lay in ruins.

“How are things going with La Benicoise?” she asked without thinking.  She’d managed to keep from mentioning the burnt down eatery all weekend, but her curiosity finally won over.

He shrugged as he buttoned up his crisp white shirt.  “Not so great.  The insurance company isn’t satisfied with the reports they’ve received.  I’m thinking it might just be easier to sell.”

Stunned, she looked at him wide-eyed.  “Selling?  Isn’t that a little bit drastic.  I mean, this is your baby.”

“It’s quickly turning into a headache.  I just don’t know if it’s worth it anymore.  Besides, it’s not like I don’t have plenty to occupy my time with.”

“I couldn’t ever imagine giving up Sam’s so easily.”

He pulled the zipper of his slacks up and shot her a questioning glare.  “I’m not giving it up so easily, Tar.”

Taryn couldn’t help but notice how defensive he sounded.  Suddenly, Matt’s words came back to her.  It was inconceivable; Errol would never torch his own restaurant.  Then again, never would she have thought she’d hear him say he wanted to sell the place.

On the other hand, if he sold the restaurant, he would no longer have to have contact with Suzanne.  That alone would be well worth watching him sell his New York eatery.

Pulling on his jacket he looked at her with hungry eyes.

“Are you sure you won’t change your mind… about leaving?  I could be back here at two and fuck you the rest of the day.”

“I’m sure, Errol.”  She chuckled and patted his clean shaven cheek. “Though the thought of us naked and making love all afternoon sure sounds tempting.”

“You know, you leave me no choice but to go back to New York the minute I have enough episodes in the can.  While I’m there I can take a closer look at what’s going on at La Benicoise.”

Taryn smiled, but in the back of her mind, all she wanted to do was talk to him about Matt’s suspicions, but felt it wouldn’t go over very well.  Instead, she changed the subject altogether.

“Last night I was thinking of your offer to sell your apartment to buy the one we visited yesterday.”

“Isn’t it a great apartment?”

“It is, but don’t you think it’s a bit much.  I mean, what if you can’t sell yours?”