Parisian Affair (9 page)

'Oh,' Allegra replied. 'I must be practically
the only person in New York City who didn't go to school in
Switzerland.'

Sylvie flapped a hand breezily. 'Who cares
about things like that,
cherie
? It's meaningless now.' She
looked around them, then leaned in toward Allegra. 'Anyway, can you
talk now? If so, let's go somewhere we don't have to yell to be
heard.'

Allegra nodded. 'Sure, why not?' She was
curious as to what Sylvie wanted to discuss. They had met several
years ago when a mutual friend had introduced them. Sylvie had
bought a piece of jewelry from her—the first of several choice
pieces—and they had been friendly ever since. But they had never
really been confidants, sharing secrets like best girlfriends.

'Good,' Sylvie said. 'Let's go upstairs,
then.'

She led the way and Allegra followed until
they reached the expansive

staircase. When they were seated in a darkly
lit, uninhabited corner, Allegra was the first to speak. 'Okay,'
she said, 'what's this all about?'

Sylvie leaned in close to her again. 'You
swear you will not discuss this with anyone? Not Jason? Not even
Todd?'

Allegra looked at her with surprise, but
nodded. 'I promise,' she replied, putting her hand on her heart and
laughing.

Sylvie did not return her laughter. 'This is
very serious,' she said solemnly, 'and really must be kept secret,
Allegra.' Her voice dropped to a whisper. 'It has to do with my
boss, Hilton Whitehead.'

'Hilton . . . Whitehead,' Allegra said
slowly, as if testing the name on her lips. Her curiosity was more
aroused than ever. She knew, of course, that Sylvie worked for the
somewhat elusive software billionaire, but she also knew that
Sylvie never discussed him, his business, or his private life with
anyone. Allegra remembered that he'd made her sign a ten-page
confidentiality agreement before giving her the job.

Sylvie leaned in closer and put her hand to
Allegra's ear. 'He has a proposition for you,' she whispered, 'and
he wants to meet with you tomorrow morning.'

'A proposition?' Allegra said. 'For me?' She
pointed her fingers at her chest. 'I don't even know the man,
Sylvie.'

'Yes,' she said, 'but he knows all about you.
He's asked me more than once about one of the brooches you made for
me. You know, the one that looks like a dollop of caviar?'

'Yes,' Allegra nodded, remembering with
fondness the brooch made of hundreds of little gray pearls. 'But
what about it?'

'I told him that you know all about jewelry,'
Sylvie said. 'How you are an actual gemologist and all that. Not
just a designer.'

'So?'

'So, he wants to talk to you about
something,' Sylvie said.

'But what?' Allegra asked, beginning to
become exasperated with Sylvie's vague answers. 'If he wants a
piece of jewelry designed and made, then why doesn't he simply come
down to the atelier and place the order?'

'I'm not permitted to discuss that,' Sylvie
said mysteriously. 'You must come to the office to discuss it with
him.'

Allegra emitted a short, nervous laugh. 'But
why? I just don't get it. Even rich people come to the
atelier.'

Sylvie shook her head. 'No, no,
cherie
,' she whispered. 'He can't do that. It's far too
confidential a matter for that. Come to the apartment tomorrow
morning about eleven o'clock. He will explain everything then.'

Allegra looked at her, but she finally
nodded. 'Okay,' she said. 'I'll be there, but I don't know
why.'

Sylvie hugged her, then drew back and cried
merrily, 'Merveilleux. I'll see you at eleven.' She opened her
gem-studded minaudiere and took out a thick vellum business card.
'Here's the address,' she said.

Allegra took the card and slipped it inside
her beaded bag. 'Okay.'

'Remember. Not a word of this to anyone,'
Sylvie said. She air-kissed Allegra on both cheeks, then stood up.
'Now I will try to find Jean-Pierre. Are you coming downstairs to
have some fun?'

'Yes,' Allegra replied, getting to her feet.
'And I should probably hunt down Todd.' But she wondered if she
could have fun until her curiosity was satisfied regarding the
billionaire Hilton Whitehead.

'How about a nightcap, baby?' Todd asked,
nuzzling the nape of her neck.

'Don't you think we've both already had too
much?' Allegra asked with a helpless giggle. She finally managed to
unlock the lobby door and pushed it open.

'Oh, come on,' he said. 'You know me better
than that.' He followed her into the lobby and encircled her with
his arms from behind, hugging her to him and kissing the back of
her neck. 'The night is young, Ally.'

'It's almost three o'clock, Todd,' Allegra
pointed out, 'and I've got an appointment on the Upper East Side at
eleven o'clock in the morning.' But even as she said the words, she
could hear the unmistakable sound of surrender in her voice.

'That's never stopped you,' he said,
squeezing her tightly. 'Besides, eleven o'clock's a lifetime
away.'

Allegra pushed the elevator button. 'Okay,'
she said, turning to face him, 'but just one little drink.' She
held up a finger.

He kissed her finger and looked into her
eyes. 'I promise,' he said. 'Just one.'

Allegra was spread out on the couch in the
living room, her head in Todd's lap. He'd lit the candles on the
coffee table and put a soothing trance mix on the CD player. They
were nursing the second of the straight Stolis on ice that he'd
poured.

'Did you have a good time tonight?' he asked,
running his fingers through her hair.

'Uh-huh,' she said. 'I had a good time. And I
know you did. You and Candie. She's just like you. She can't stop
dancing once she starts.'

'Jealous?' he asked.

'Of you and Candie? Ha! Why would I be
jealous?'

'Well, you shouldn't be if you are,' he said.
'I saw you spending some time with the Italian Stallion.'

'Who?'

'Don't give me that,' he said. 'You know
exactly who I mean. Carlo d'Annunzio. I saw you talking to
him.'

'You did?'

'I sure did,' he said, 'and everybody knows
what a cocksman he is.'

She laughed. 'Well, the only thing he did for
me was get me a drink of water,' she replied. 'I didn't spend half
the night with him on the dance floor like you did with
Candie.'

'Oh, yeah,' he said mischievously, 'we had a
real good time. Especially slow dancing. Getting up real close and
personal, you know?'

'Well, if you're trying to make me jealous,
it isn't going to work,' Allegra said. 'Besides, isn't she a
lipstick lesbian or something?'

'Yeah, but I think she's falling for me,'
Todd teased.

She grabbed his hand and bit it playfully.
'You think you're really God's gift to womankind, don't you?'

'I don't know about that,' he said, 'but
there's one woman I sure would like to make happy.' He leaned over
and kissed her forehead. When she didn't protest, he kissed her
cheeks and nose and lips and ran his hands down her arms, gently
and tenderly. 'I love you, Ally,' he said softly. 'I really
do.'

His voice sounded earnest and his words
heartfelt, and in the warm glow from the drinks and the gentle
caress of his lips and hands, Allegra felt herself respond to him.
Despite her mixed feelings about his intentions, she knew that she
wanted him.

Her lips sought out his, and her hand went up
to run her fingers through his raven hair. Todd sighed happily and
let his hands wander to her breasts, where he brushed against them
gently. 'Why don't we get comfortable?' he said.

'Hmmm.' She slowly sat up, then got to her
feet, drink in hand. He picked up his drink and the candles and
followed her into the bedroom. He placed the candles and his drink
on a bedside table, then took her in his arms, kissing her
passionately.

Allegra slid her arms around him and returned
his kisses, losing herself in the comfortable strength of his
embrace. His mouth moved to her ears and neck, his lips kissing,
his tongue licking her, and she shivered ever so slightly as she
felt an electric-like pulse run through her body.

'Let's get out of these clothes,' he said
when he felt her response.

She nodded silently and held up her hair so
that he could unzip her dress. He did so slowly, his lips and
tongue tracing a trail down her back as he pulled the zipper down.
When he'd finished, he helped her pull the dress off her shoulders
and watched as she let it drop to the floor. His gaze swept over
her lacy black bra and slip. She started to take off her bra, but
he protested.

'Here,' he said, 'let me.' He unhooked the
bra, his dark eyes riveted to her ample breasts as they sprang free
of it. He tossed the bra onto the chair, then began to pull her
slip over her slim hips and on down to the floor. Allegra lifted
her feet, one at a time, and he leaned down and picked up the lacy
black silk and tossed it onto the chair with the bra.

As she stood in nothing but her black panty
hose and the black diamond jewelry, the candlelight flickered off
the pale beauty of her skin, and the diamonds glinted at him
seductively. Todd went down on one knee and, with both hands, drew
her panty hose slowly toward the floor. His tongue circled her
navel, then made a path down to the mound between her thighs, where
he nuzzled against it lustily before licking it.

Allegra gasped aloud as she felt bolts of
electricity shoot through her body, and her legs trembled. 'Oh,
Todd. Oh, my God, that feels so good.'

He began licking her with heightened passion
when he heard her reaction, and she placed her hands on his head,
steadying herself. Then he reached up and took a firm round cheek
in each of his hands, pushing her against his face. His tongue
licked her engorged clitoris before delving inside her.

'Ahhhhh,' Allegra moaned with pleasure.
'You're going to make me . . . you're . . .'

Todd abruptly stopped and rose to his feet.
He stroked her hair lovingly and kissed her lips. 'Let me get
undressed.'

As he quickly took off his clothes, she
watched, enjoying the sight of his lean, defined musculature and
the little ripple of those muscles with his every movement. His was
a classically proportioned body with a long torso, a small waist
and obvious abs, slim hips, and long legs, and every time she saw
it she was thrilled anew. He was like a magnificent Greek statue
brought to life.

He left his clothes in a pile on the floor,
and when he was finally naked, his gaze traveled the length of her
lovely softness, his already engorged manhood a testament to his
desire for her.

Extending both of his hands toward her, he
began stroking her breasts reverently as if they were objects of
worship, then gently thrummed her nipples between a thumb and
finger. He loved hearing Allegra's sharp intake of breath as her
body responded to his ministrations. She reached out and encircled
his manhood with a hand, and Todd gasped at her touch, featherlight
as it was. She stroked it, and he moaned with unbridled desire,
then pulled her naked body against his, unable to resist the
sensual, almost magnetic pull between them.

They kissed with a ravenous hunger for one
another that demanded gratification. Allegra reveled in the feel of
his muscular hardness against her soft, yielding flesh, and was
enthralled with his distinctly masculine odor, an aroma that,
whatever its components, was unique to him and never failed to
arouse her. She'd forgotten how wondrous these sensations were, and
asked herself why she had denied herself such pleasure.

He led her to the bed, where she spread out
lengthwise, her legs apart, her body anxious to receive him. Todd
mounted her, and though he was in a rush to satisfy his carnal
urges, he was gentle and loving. He wanted Allegra to savor these
moments they were having together, to remember this night as the
one that finally convinced her of his devotion.

When he entered her, Allegra emitted a mewl
of delight and put her arms around his back, holding him to her
tightly, as if she never wanted to let him go. The wonder of his
being inside her, the desire that he obviously felt for her, and
the sense of womanliness that he made her feel, along with the
powerful erotic pleasure she felt, engulfed her in a state of
otherworldliness. She and Todd were suspended apart, as if on
another plane altogether, in a state of bliss that they created
together.

He began moving inside her slowly, kissing
her lips, her ears and neck, and her breasts, breathing heavily as
he began to stroke faster and more deeply. She moved with him, his
desire inflaming her own, until she thrust herself up to meet him,
her body anxious to sate itself.

Suddenly she was overcome by the powerful
intermingling of love and lust that consumed her, and her body
began contracting as never before. Her floodgates opened and wave
after wave of orgasm engulfed her in an ecstasy such as she'd never
known. She cried out, unable to control the potent sensations and
emotions that possessed her. Todd, his desire fueled by her animal
like cries, released his seed in a final lunge, exploding in a
torrent. His body tensed into a rigid line as he expended himself
in one body- wracking spasm after another until he was completely
drained and spent.

He lay atop her, gasping for breath as he
clutched her to him, aware of her labored breathing and slick
flesh, as sweat-soaked as his own. When he finally caught his
breath enough to speak, he said, 'I love you, Ally. I love you,
love you, love you.' He peppered her face, her ears, her neck with
tender little kisses, still gasping for breath.

'Hmmm,' she breathed at last, 'you make me
feel so wonderful, Todd.' She hugged him tightly, then loosened her
grip and let her arms linger on his back. She couldn't bring
herself to say more, not yet. No one else had ever made her feel
like Todd, but she still couldn't completely trust the love he
professed for her.