Foreign Love (An International Sports Romance) (Love in Shades) (8 page)

Chapter 22

Julia

I curl up on a corner of the couch, my sketchpad pulled into my lap. I sketch from memory a skirt that I’d seen a woman wearing on the métro today. It was long and flowy in vibrant shades of pink. I add a few details to it, making the design my own.

That would look great on Mackenzie
, I think to myself as I hold the sketchpad up to admire my work.

“That’s gorgeous.”

I startle and the pad slips from my hands.

I glance up to where Lucien is standing over my shoulder. “Hi…”

“Hi…” he says rounding the couch and taking a seat at the other end. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

I offer him a weak smile. “It’s okay.” Things have been awkward between us since our trainride back here this evening. I told him that I should go back to New York for the surgery. He told me that he wants me to come back and be with him.

And that sounds absolutely fucking crazy…

Except that, I want that, too.

I’m just as crazy as he is.

“I love your drawings. You’re so talented, Julia,” he says as he slides onto the far end of the couch.

I smile a small smile. “It’s a hobby I’ve had since I was a kid – drawing clothes. I sort of forgot about it for a while. I’ve been so busy with dancing and everything. But now that I’m injured, I’ve been drawing more. It’s helping keep me sane.”

He nods knowingly. “For me, it’s cooking. Cooking keeps me sane.”

He peers over at the page on my lap as I continue to draw.

“I was thinking,” he says finally, “you should go back. To your apartment.”

My heart sinks when I hear him say the words. But what was I expecting? He asked me to return to Paris after my surgery and I didn’t give him an answer. So, now he’s breaking up with me. I guess I can’t blame him.

Then, he continues. “You’re going to need more of your clothes. Maybe some things with long sleeves. For our trip to Théoule-sur-mer.”

I look at him, feeling confused. “Our trip to Théoule-sur-mer?”

His eyebrows furrow at me. “Yes. I told you I’d take you there with me.”

A smile curls my lips. “You were serious?”

His frown deepens. “Yes. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because we only just met.”

“Julia – sometimes your soul just recognizes another’s. Sometimes, you just
know
and it’s not a matter of how long you’ve known the person or how many days the calendar tells you that you’ve spent together…Sometimes, you just
know.
”

My heart trips all over itself.

“So, we will go to your flat tomorrow. Get you some clothes. We will leave in two days.”

“I have an appointment with Cynthia tomorrow,” I say.

“Perfect. After your appointment, we’ll go get your clothes. And the day after, we will go visit my family.”

Then, he seems to remember something he forgot. “Shit – tomorrow night my team has an important soccer practice. Some of the officials from the Olympic team are coming to watch us play.”

I feel myself beam. “I want to go with you.”

He gives me a surprised look. “You do?”

“Yes. I want to go to
football
practice with you.”

Chapter 23

Julia

Geneviève stands in the hallway like a deer in the headlights as I step inside the apartment, Lucien trailing just behind me.

“Lucien Beauvier?” she says breathlessly as we walk towards her.

“
Geneviève, je présume? Enchanté
,” he says stepping towards her with an outstretched hand and a huge grin.

I swear my roommate looks like she’s about to swoon. “
Enchanté
,” she says mesmerized as she shakes his hand.

“I just came by to pick up some clothes,” I say, breaking her trance.

“Yes, yes,” she says dismissively without even glancing my way. She chats with Lucien in a quick, excited French as I head off to my room to fill up my messenger bag with clothes. When I return a few moments later, the two are laughing and talking like old friends. Geneviève is complimenting him on his performance in what appears to have been an epic game between France and Germany a year ago.

“Geneviève, I’ll be in Théo-mer –“

“Théoule-sur-mer,” Lucien corrects me again with a small smile.

“–In Théoule-sur-mer for a few days,” I tell my roommate.

Her eyebrows jerk in surprise. “Oh?”

“I’m taking her to show her off to my family,” Lucien says proudly as he curls a tattooed bicep around my shoulder. “Do not worry. I will take good care of her.”

“Okay,” she says slowly as she appraises Lucien again, inch by delicious inch. “
Amusez
-
vous
!”

“It was great to meet you, Geneviève,” Lucien says bracing my roommate by the shoulders as they quickly exchange kisses on each cheek in that way that the French do.

Then, Lucien grabs my bag and steps out the front door.

Geneviève grabs me by the wrist, giving me an over-zealous look. “Oh…my…god…” she mouths to me as I go.

I give her a smug grin. “I know. I know.”

Chapter 24

Julia

The other players darted off the field nearly half an hour ago, but Lucien is still on the pitch, engaged in what appears to be a heated conversation with the coach. Even from up here in the stands, I can see the frustration on his gorgeous face and his angry dramatic hand gestures only confirm my suspicions.

I sit in the stands sketching away in my notebook. I saw a woman in the most gorgeous canary yellow shift dress this afternoon and it implanted a few original ideas of my own in my brain, so I want to draw it out before I forget it.

Finally, I hear Lucien calling my name as he heads off the field. When I look down at him, he gestures for me to meet him down at the locker room. I slip my sketchpad into my messenger bag and meet him in the narrow, brightly-lit hallway just outside of the locker room.

“Hey, you…” I say as I approach him. He’s leaning against the doorjamb and he drags the tail of his uniform shirt across his sweaty brow.

Seeing him like this after practice, covered in sweat and mud, smelling earthy and panting from exertion, does something to me. My lips tingle to touch his salty skin. My fingers itch to trail across the sweaty ridges of his torso. And I want him inside of me, grunting and rutting with that expression he makes each time he drives his cleats into the soccer ball.

“Hey.” His fingers curl around my forearm as he leans down and presses his lips to mine. “I will take a quick shower and then we will go home,” he whispers against my lips.

Ummm. Am I crazy or does he taste better than ever?

I stand on my toes and wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him closer, kissing him deeper.

“Shit –
je suis tout sale
,” Lucien murmurs apologetically when he pulls back and notices that he’s smeared mud and sweat down the front of my white tank top and short skirt.

I give him a coquettish smirk. “Well, I guess we
both
have to take a shower now, huh?” I tilt my chin in the direction of the locker room showers.

His eyes grow wide as he stares down at me. I can tell that he thinks that I’m crazy but he’s loving the idea just as much as I am.

“C’mon,” I grumble, dragging my hand down his body until I’m cupping his warm semi-erection in my palm. “All your teammates are gone for the night. No one’s here but you and me.”

I see desire flickering in his eyes and I take that as an opening to slide my fingers through his and lead him through the open doorway. Giggling all the way, heart pounding in my chest, I drop my bag to the tiled floor. I step into the stall at the end of the row of shower booths and drag him in with me before hauling the curtain shut and turning on the water. And we’re together under the pounding stream, clothes and cleats and all.

Lucien tilts his head and kisses me. Like he’s hungry. Like he’s starving. “You are such a dirty girl, Julia,” he groans, his fingers sliding up my neck and angling my face.

I moan as his hands slide under my skirt. “Make me clean,” I say wickedly.

His hands grab my ass, coaxing my left leg to wrap around him. He pins me to the tiled wall and the spray continues to beat down our skin. His teeth sink into my lower lip. “I like you better when you are dirty.” I feel his grin against me. “I like you when your pussy is wet, making a mess of my sheets and my come is dripping down your chin. I like it when I’m fucking you from behind and you are so wet I can hear myself splashing in and out of your body. You
know
I like you dirty, Julia.”

I moan as he sucks on the flesh of my neck and down my chest. His beard bruises my skin when he tugs at the low-cut V of my t-shirt as his lips move over the rise of my breasts.

We both jump when we hear a door slam loudly in the distance. Someone whistles a melody that bounces off the walls.

“Concierge,” he murmurs against my skin. “We must be quick. We do not have much time.”

I nod my head as I struggle to pull the small foil package out of the pocket of my skirt that’s bunched up around my waist.

Lucien cocks an eyebrow when I slap the packaging into the palm of his hand. “You are
ready
?” I hear the amusement in his voice. He thinks I planned this.

I press my lips to his ears and squeeze the ropey muscles of his biceps. “I’m
always
ready for you.”

Of course I’m carrying a condom. This
is
the guy that I fucked in the airplane bathroom after all. Spontaneous sex is nothing new for us.

I slide down to my feet and help him push his soccer shorts down his powerfully-toned calves. He quickly cloaks himself, dropping the condom wrapper to the floor. He spins me around to face the wall. “I want to feel your pussy from behind,” he grunts.

My hands are splayed against the wall. My thighs are spread wide. His fingers roughly spread my folds apart as he expertly pilots his thick cock into me. I squeal loudly as he slides in and out of me, slippery and wild.

He claps his hand over my mouth. “Shhh…Quiet, dirty girl.” He’s growing harder and longer and more wanton with each stroke. “Quiet.”

But it’s building in my belly.
So good. So good.
I need to scream.

I bite down on his fingers and he yanks his hand away. “Bad girl,” he growls against my ear as his open palm comes down wet and stinging against my ass. My pussy ripples around his cock, clenching and releasing in an erratic rhythm as his hand clasps over my mouth again.

A vacuum cleaner roars to life just outside of the locker room. We’re running out of time.

His breathing is heavy as he rasps hotly in my ear. “Come now, Julia. Right now.” And his open palm makes contact with my wet skin again.

And that’s all it takes.

A howl rips out of my throat. Lucien’s hand rises to my chin and pulls my face back to his. He consumes my sounds in his harsh, reckless kiss. I feel the orgasm coiling in the space between my thighs. Tighter, tighter, tighter. Until my spine curves, my cheek drops against his shoulder and the pleasure unfurls in one vicious wave after another.

He grips my waist and slaps into me again and again as deep as he can go. He bites into my shoulder to drown his carnal moans as he comes long and hard.