Page 54 of Landing Her Eagle
Daphne reads the clock on the wall of the station. “Isn’t it too early to check in?”
“I arranged for our bags to be held at reception so we could get lunch and walk around. They’ll bring them to our room when it’s ready, so we simply need to get our key from reception when we come back. Nothing to it.”
“You’ve thought this through. Impressive, Mr. Morris.” She says it teasingly, but I intend on impressing the socks—and panties—off Miss Foster tonight.
I hail a cab and ask the driver to take us to our hotel. Daphne’s gasp of delight when we pull up confirms I made the right choice. The centuries-old hotel is a charming hodgepodge of French and German architectural styles with timber trim on the exterior, wooden balconies and walkways, wrought-iron gates, and leaded glass windows. A porter takes our bags and escorts us into the hotel.
“Logan, so nice to see you again! And you must be the lovely Daphne—welcome!” My friend Luc waits for us at the reception desk and greets me with a hearty handshake and a kiss for each of Daphne’s cheeks. He’s the general manager and kindly agreed to do me this favor based on our years of friendship. We originally met in Austria and spent a few months traveling Europe together, drinking lots of beer and being crazy. He knows all about Daphne and was happy to hear that I finally got my act together enough to have a romantic relationship with her. When I messaged to see if there was a room available for the next few days, and if we could do a few things to make our stay special, he was happy to help. He’s a romantic at heart.
I can see Daphne’s confusion, so I explain. “Luc is the general manager here. I’ve told you about him.” I see her make the connection and the genuine smile spread across her face.
“Luc!” She gives him a hug and presses a kiss to his cheek. “It’s so wonderful to meet you! How’s Bernard?”
“Bernard’s doing well. He’s traveling to open a new restaurant this week. He’ll be so disappointed not to meet you.”
The valet stashed our bags in a room behind the reception area, and I slip him a tip with a smile.
“Do you want to be texted when your room is ready, or will you be out until later?” Luc asks.
Daphne shrugs.
I study her a moment. Her gaze is alert, and her movements are full of energy. She’s ready to go exploring and see everything she’s only read about, but jet lag is going to body-check her against the boards at some point.
Grinning, she pats my shoulder. “Stop worrying! I’m good for at least another few hours. I’m finally here in France and want to go exploring! No sleeping until bedtime.” She winks, the flirty gleam in her eyes telling me that while she’s not sleeping until bedtime, there’s another way I can get her into bed earlier. I’m all for that, but we need to stretch the time until we can go to our room.
“We’ll come back after check-in time, Luc. Thanks.” I take Daph’s hand, and we say goodbye to Luc and leave the hotel. “What do you want for lunch? I think room service may be our best choice for dinner tonight, if that’s okay with you.”
“Don’t laugh at me over this. Yes, we’re in France and there are all kinds of wonderful foods, but I’m craving pub grub. I want comfort food.”
I’m not surprised to hear this from her. She’s been this way since I’ve known her. When she’s tired, all she wants are her favorite foods before she crawls into bed, dead to the world.
I think of the perfect thing. “I figured you would. There’s an Irish pub near here. Feel up to walking? It’s across the bridge, about a five-minute walk.” It’s cool but not cold, so walking won’t be too uncomfortable, and we can see a bit of the neighborhood on the way.
She nods eagerly. “That sounds perfect! Let’s go.”
Hand in hand, we walk along the century-old streets and cross the bridge over the River Ill. We marvel at the buildings and admire our fellow pedestrians. It’s easy to spot the tourists walking among the locals by the way they point at the buildings and stop to admire a view. Daphne and I are guilty of the same things.
We discuss topics we covered in our history and architecture class where we first met, and it reminds me of how we initially became friends. I thought she was pretty and found her attractive, but then we became friends, and that friendship has grown into so much more through the years. I can’t believe we’re here, walking these streets together, her hand in mine.
My heart is hers, and we’re finally going to be together fully.
I’ve never been this nervous about sleeping with a woman, not even when I was a virgin. This is the first time I’ve been in love with the woman I’m sleeping with. We won’t only be having sex, we’ll make love. It’s intimidating.
Of course, I’ve always been respectful of my partner. They always knew going into an encounter it wasn’t love. It was satisfying mutual needs, and I made damn sure I always satisfied their needs before satisfying mine.
But I want this to be wonderful for Daphne. After all, it’s her first time, not just with me, but at all. Part of me wants to drag her back to our room and love her like I’ve been longing to. Another part of me wants to keep walking, holding her hand, talking, laughing, and enjoying each other’s company without the pressure of sex.
“Is this it?” Daphne asks when we approach the Irish pub.
I nod, and we approach the entrance. Painted on the wall next to the door are historic notes about the building. Daphne knows Spanish, so she understands the general idea of what the French text means because of similarities in the two languages, but I want to show off and translate it for her.
“That’s the first time I’ve heard you speak French,” she says. “It’s very sexy.” She stretches to kiss me.
Wrapping my arms around her, I whisper French terms of endearment in her ear along with a few nonsense phrases about my car needing an oil change and sheep playing baseball on the moon. She emits the cutest giggle when I nuzzle the spot under her ear where I discovered she’s ticklish.
Pulling away, she grabs my hand and opens the door before I have the chance to be a gentleman and open it for her.
“I appreciate you’re an independent person, Daph, but I enjoy taking care of you sometimes,” I grumble.
