Knight 01 Knight And Play (6 page)

“This is the social area.” Lucien gestured at the various seating nooks, a bar, and a dance floor.

“It looks like any other club,” Sophie marvelled, surprised by the normality of the space. “Or a nicer version of a normal club.”

“I’ll take that.” Lucien nodded. “What did you expect? Something seedy? People use this area to make friends, dance, have a drink…” He shrugged.

“Just like a normal club,” Sophie said again, feeling slightly less intimidated.

“Kind of.” Lucien’s tone made her look back at him curiously, but he just shrugged again and motioned for her to head towards the open tread staircase that ran up one side of the dance floor.

She regretting going ahead of him as soon as she set foot on the stairs; he wouldn’t be able to avoid a close-up view of her backside, and Kara’s bottle green dress was cut to leave little to the imagination. She forced herself to keep climbing the steps steadily, and when she turned to him at the top he looked at her with a grin.

“What?”

He threw his hands out to the side and raised his eyebrows innocently.

“Nothing.”

Sophie narrowed her eyes at him.

“Which way next?”

Lucien placed a hand on the small of her back and urged her forwards down a corridor. The moody décor from downstairs continued up here, dark and opulently atmospheric. Each door along the corridor was closed, three on either side. Lucien reached for the first one and pushed it open, and Sophie peeped in. And then, hesitantly, stepped inside and stared.

“Okay. So this is nothing like a normal club anymore,” she murmured, taking in the huge bed area in the centre of the room and the mirrored ceiling.

“No.” Lucien’s voice was close enough to warm her neck, and his hand still scorched the small of her back. “We choose the best fittings and fixtures to make our rooms the most comfortable around.” Sophie nodded, too conscious of the fact that she was staring at a big sexy bed with Lucien to comment on the quality of the furnishings.

“Try it out. Tell me if it’s comfortable.”

Sophie gasped and shook her head.

“Don’t panic, it’s unused. This is launch night, remember?”

Sophie weighed up her options. She kind of wanted to say no, but she had to acknowledge that she kind of wanted to say yes too. She remembered her resolution to have fun today, and stepped tentatively forward towards the edge of the bed.

What would sexy Sophie do?
She dropped to her knees on the edge of the mattress and crawled to the centre, then flipped onto her back and glanced up at her own reflection. She caught her breath. The woman looking back at her was nothing like the woman she usually saw. This girl was sexy, no, sexual. Rosy cheeked, blonde waves spilling over rich aubergine velvet like a fifties pin-up.

“Well?”

Lucien crossed to the bottom of the bed and gazed down at her, then reached for a button that made the whole bed vibrate. She shot up on her elbows, and he laughed, low and smutty. “Pretty cool, huh?”

The vibrations did strange things. Sophie lay back and closed her eyes, allowing the sensations to play along her spine. She pushed her body down into them, and in answer Lucien turned up the intensity. Sophie could feel her whole body melting into the bed and as she pushed her bottom down, the sensations were strong enough to radiate all the way up between her legs. She gasped involuntarily and opened her eyes, meeting Lucien’s gaze as he watched her. “Shall I turn it up again?” he asked, levelly, one knee resting on the mattress.

Sophie straightened her dress and crawled hurriedly off the bed.

“It’s, umm, very comfortable,” she managed, as she darted out of the room.
Jesus Christ. What was happening to her?

She jumped as Lucien’s hand returned to the small of her back. Her skin throbbed with awareness. If he’d chosen that moment to press her against the wall, she’d have let him. And begged him for more.

He opened the doors to the rest of the rooms along the corridor one by one, but Sophie made sure to do no more than stick her head around and peep inside. Which was just as well, given that one room held a cage and shackles, plus an impressive array of whips and other sinister looking things she didn’t recognise on the wall. Another revealed a Nordic steam room, and a further one seemed quite tame by comparison, with its central pool table. Tame until Sophie’s mind offered up the idea of Lucien bending her double over it. She caught his eye and, not for the first time, she felt as if he could see the very thoughts inside her head.

As the tour continued, Sophie became familiar with the concept of playrooms for couples, swingers, singles… whatever your desire, it could be met here in these shadowy rooms.

A large spa area dominated the rear of the upstairs space, with an opulent hot tub lit with inviting stars and glittering mirrors all the way around. It was undeniably fabulous.

“Fancy a dip?” 

Sophie had to look over at Lucien to be certain he was joking. After the unexpected interlude in the first room she couldn’t be altogether sure.

“Maybe later,” she ventured, and received instant gratification from his expression of surprise. “Just kidding.” She smiled sweetly.

“That’s a shame, Princess.”

Sophie caught her breath at his casual endearment. Coming from him, this towering Viking, it was mind-numbingly sexy. She was in way over her head with Lucien Knight, and in that single moment of clarity she made a decision. If she didn’t let herself have this man, she’d spend her entire life wondering what would have happened if she had. Dan had absented himself from her in body and mind for long enough.
No more.

Lucien unlocked a side door, and led her up a separate flight of stairs to his private suite on the top floor. The front area held a desk, with office paraphernalia to one side and a lounge with invitingly sumptuous sofas and a huge TV on the other. Double doors stood open at the end of the room to reveal a decadent bedroom beyond. Sophie moved silently forward to stand on the threshold, and her eyes took in the huge bed, the massive gilt-edged mirror leaning against the wall, the open door affording her a view into a hotel-style, slate tiled bathroom.

This was it.

Now or never.

Sophie stepped into the bedroom and sat down on the club chair nearest to the window.

Lucien leaned one strong shoulder against the door and tilted his head to one side, watching her.

She crossed her ankles and looked up at him.

“My husband is having an affair, Lucien.”

He had the grace to look genuinely shocked, then waited and watched for her to continue.

“And here’s the thing. Right at this moment, he’s God knows where with God knows who until next weekend, and I don’t think I even care.”

How good did it feel to say that?
Sophie was momentarily taken aback by the strength of her relief at hearing her own words out loud. Dan had held her down with his casual disinterest for long enough. Acknowledging it was a release. Lucien crossed the room slowly, never taking his eyes off her, and sat in the chair opposite.

“He’s a fucking fool.”

Sophie shrugged and looked out of the window. “Maybe. He’s avoided having sex with me for more than six months now.”

“I’ll say it again. He’s a fucking fool.”

“Yes.”

Sophie gazed at Lucien opposite.
Jesus, he was beautiful.
If she was going to be unfaithful with anyone, this sinful, sexy man was it.

“Would it help if we fucked?”

Sophie laughed and put her hands to her cheeks in shock.

“Could we at least have a drink first?”

Lucien lifted an eyebrow at her and crossed the room to open a sleek cabinet. He returned moments later and placed a champagne bucket and two glasses on the table between them, then sat down opposite her again.

“Take your dress off,” he said, softly.

Sophie caught her breath. If she’d thought she was turned on before, she’d been mistaken.
Now, she was turned on.

She got to her feet slowly and turned her back to him. “I need help with the zip.” She didn’t actually, she could have dragged the dress over her head as she had this morning, but that didn’t seem appropriate for this moment. She stood for a few seconds, and the horrible thought struck her that he might not get up and help. It melted away the instant she felt him lift the weight of her hair over one shoulder to expose the zip. His fingers brushed hot against her neck, and it took all of her efforts not to turn around. The sound of the zipper sliding down was indecent in the quiet room. Sophie couldn’t be certain, but she thought he ran the lightest of fingertips down her spine as he went.

“Take it off,” he breathed against her ear, then slid back into his chair to watch her again, his long legs sprawled out in front of him.

Sophie turned to face him, and the raw lust in his eyes was so unfamiliar, so powerful, that she couldn’t tear her eyes away. She slipped the dress off one shoulder and then the other, then held her breath as she let go of the material and allowed it to slither to the floor.

Lucien’s eyes moved slowly from hers, over her shoulders, and lingered on her breasts encased in black silk. Sophie squirmed, and fought the urge to bring her hands up to cover herself.

“Stand still.”

He leaned in, poured the champagne and handed her a glass. She took it and drank deeply, letting the bubbles fizz on her tongue.

His eyes moved from her breasts to her stomach, lower to her black silk knickers.

“Turn around.”

Fuck.
Sophie wanted to gather up her clothes and run. Or… maybe she didn’t. She found that she wanted to turn around and let him stare at her backside.

She turned around.

For endless, silent seconds, he didn’t move a muscle. Sophie rubbed a finger up and down the stem of her glass as she wondered what he was thinking. She badly wanted to see his face. She knocked back half of her champagne, terrified that her silk-clad backside didn’t meet his approval.

She never usually wore stockings. It had taken ten minutes this morning to find the hold-ups in the back of her wardrobe, but she was glad of the effort now.

She was on the verge of turning round when she felt Lucien’s hand on her waist. Sophie drew in a sharp breath and arched her back as his warm hand slid around her to splay over her rib cage.

His other hand took her champagne glass and placed it on the table. He was so close behind her that she could feel the heat of him. When he stepped closer still, hard against her from shoulder to hip, his hands swept up and covered her breasts. Sophie heard him make a sound low in his throat, and then he turned her around in his arms to face him.

God, he was tall.
She looked up into his face, and his hand slid down her spine to caress her backside. He wound her hair around his other hand, all the way up her back until he had it tight enough in his fist to tip her chin up. His fingers bit into the cheek of her bottom, right along the silken edge of her knickers. Dan was always gentle, and at that moment Lucien was anything but. He was raw, and strong, and Sophie wanted him more than she’d ever wanted anyone else in her life.

How could she be here, half naked in his arms without having even so much as kissed him?

She slid her hands up onto the wall of his chest and touched him for the first time. Her hands registered hard heat, and even through his shirt she could feel the steady beat of his heart.

“Unbutton it.”

Oh, yes please.
Sophie worked the buttons open and slid the material back over his shoulders, and he yanked it off his arms and threw it to the floor.

Up close and bare-chested, Lucien was heart-stoppingly fabulous. The soft silk of her bra brushed against the hardness of his chest, and Sophie melted into him.

Lucien’s breathing was audible but steady as he caught hold of her hands. He snagged them both behind her back in one of his own larger ones, and his other hand slid around the nape of her neck to draw her mouth to his.

She was captive, at his mercy, and she loved it.

“Beautiful Sophie,” he murmured against her lips, and then, at last, he lowered his head and kissed her.

Sophie’s senses reeled at the first touch of his mouth on hers, soft and then hard and so filled with sexual intent that she trembled. He bit her lips and then licked them better. Explored her mouth with his hot, potent tongue as his firm hand cupped the back of her head. Being kissed by Lucien made Sophie feel as if everyone who’d kissed her before should queue up for lessons from him. Her knees buckled, but he had her so securely in his grip that it didn’t even matter.

“Easy,” he murmured into her mouth.

His hand slid around her throat, and then down to trace across the silk-encased curves of her breasts. Sophie arched against him, desperate for more, and she groaned as his erection pressed hard into her stomach.

He lifted his head to look down into her face, then eased his knee between her legs.