Unveil (Alchemy, #3)

by Elodie Hart

‘With tits like that, you don’t need anything,’ Maddy says. ‘The Big Bad Wolff will go wild for it. Let it all hang out, that’s what I say.’ ‘Why does it feel like that’s more of a life philosophy than a boob philosophy for you?’ I grumble.

Her dress is just tight enough to graze every curve. Nobody nails that mix of class and feminine sensuality like Genevieve. She exudes them both. Her arse looks fucking amazing, though I prefer it bare. Arched. And her dress has a zip running from neck to hem. Tut tut. What a naughty girl.

‘It’s definitely neither. But it has to be done. I’m the details person—the guys take the piss out of me for it. I’ve been sleeping really badly, imagining all the things that could possibly go wrong with the pop-up.’ I’ve also been sleeping really badly, imagining having you cuffed to my bed while I fuck your pretty cunt, I think, but I opt not to share that information.

She’ll be fucking furious when she finds out the accommodation plan. But it definitely doesn’t involve a hotel. I can’t wait.

I fucking KNEW IT

‘This is my third drink, and I don’t want to flout your rules. They’re there for a reason.’ She gives me a small smile. ‘I think you’d be fine.’ ‘Nevertheless,’ I say. ‘I’d better go.’

‘I just want to say.’ I clear my throat and fix those blue eyes with mine. ‘You seem to have a certain impression of me, which I may or may not deserve. But know this. If you ever grant me permission to touch you, that will be it for me.’ Her eyes widen, shapely eyebrows arching in a silent question. I forge ahead. ‘I mean to say, once I touched you, I wouldn’t touch anyone else. No one. I know how to play, sure. But when I’m with someone I’m genuinely interested in, that’s it. Not out of obligation, but because that’s the way I want it. Do you understand?’

I want to hate it. Part of me feels like all this is the human equivalent of Anton fanning his peacock feathers in a display of wealth and power and superiority and opulence, all of which I despise myself for finding attractive. But I’d be a miserable bitch if I allowed that to be my reaction. Because, if I take all this at face value, it’s seriously generous of him to fly us all out to France like this, as well as being practical and time-efficient.

But I always feel her intense sheepishness in that scene. Her vulnerability. Because, damn it, she let her guard down and she let him ravage her in a way they can never go back from, and she’s squarely on his turf.

‘I have a house here,’ Anton tells me, his dark eyes fixed on me. He shrugs. ‘No need to bother with hotels.’ I know he’s purposely used the word hotels to remind me of what I made him promise. Buggery shit. I’ve been fucking ambushed. Again. ‘I see,’ I say through gritted teeth.

LOL

I can’t help the frisson of pleasure that ripples through me. Because who am I kidding? An impossibly tall, impossibly gorgeous man is accompanying me from his jet to his chopper which will, in turn, whisk us off to his presumably stunning villa in one of the most beautiful and exclusive enclaves in the Mediterranean. He’s bent some rules to get me to himself, and, irritating as that may be in theory, in practice it’s actually pretty sexy. If I’m to be hijacked, then I can think of far worse people and far worse places to suffer.

‘Bonjour Madame, Monsieur,’ he chirps. ‘Bonjour,’ we echo in sync, and that frisson grows, because I know we must look like a couple. A well-heeled couple on their way to their chic French retreat. Fuck my life.

🤣

‘Please don’t tell me you’ll be flying this thing,’ I mutter as we emerge onto the sweltering tarmac where our helicopter awaits. He looks down at me and grins. ‘Definitely not. Not my core competency.’ ‘Thank fuck,’ I say. Not just because I’d fear for my life, but because such an act would be way too Christian Grey, and the assault on my competence kink would probably knock me out.

I’ve just stepped foot on his property and already I don’t want to leave.

the scent that hits me as I descend, slowly and carefully and clutching Anton’s hand, from the helicopter, is pure crack. It’s French pines and fragrant flowers and seaweed. It’s heaven. This is heaven.

Simmer down, I tell my vagina. It’s just a bit of French. Of course he speaks French. And German. And Italian. You know this from your online stalking. It’s not a big deal.

‘Why don’t we take off our shoes and we can have a proper look around? The grass is very soft.’ I hum my appreciation, because clearly I need to lose these dangerous wedges far more than he needs to lose his loafers. It’s thoughtful of him. Before I know it, he’s squatting and looking up at me. ‘May I?’ he asks. ‘Sure, thanks,’ I say awkwardly.

My feelings for this guy may be a complicated, fucked-up mess, but I’m not one to withhold praise when it’s due.

‘My room’s down there,’ he says, and yours is right at the other end.’ He winks at me. He knows exactly what’s going through my head. Keep me away from the Big Bad Wolff.

Wowzers. This is a head fuck of epic proportions. I’ve landed in paradise, with the most attractive, confusing, and frankly terrifying man I’ve ever met. His home is delightful.

This house has held me at my lowest lows. It’s been my monastery and my sanctuary, my very own Alchemy, and my children’s playground. And it has never hummed with magic, with potential, like it has this past twenty minutes since I helped Genevieve off the helicopter and over my threshold. Fuck me.

😭

When she’s armed up and ready to fight, she’s the best, most intoxicating kind of challenge. But when she’s soft and delighted and lets that armour slip, she’s dangerous, because she’s irresistible. I’m so tempted to wrap my hand around my cock and take the edge off, but I deny myself. Because the edge is what makes me me. It makes me hungry, and determined, and relentless. Ergo, it makes me far more likely to get what I want. And I know what I want.

I hope she enjoys her brief reprieve in her room, because, if I have my way, it’ll be the only time she spends in there.

humous.

Hummus*

She’s sitting upright, and I know I’ll need to work harder to ensure my beautiful guest relaxes in the way she deserves. Not that I can blame her for being on her guard.

‘On the contrary. I’m an optimist. I choose to be that way. And yeah, I work hard, but I live hard too, and I believe love is a very important piece of living a full life.’ ‘And sex,’ she reminds me. I grin and raise my glass. ‘Amen to that. And Amen to Alchemy.’

You are making me sad

I brought you here in the hope that if we spent some time together, you’d come to understand that we do actually get on well, that we have a lot more in common than you’re willing to accept, and that I have the utmost respect for you.’ I stop. ‘Yes, my intentions are purely dishonourable. Fucking filthy. But you hold all the power here. All of it.’

I’d love this evening to be a date, but if it’s just good food and wine and excellent conversation between two new friends in peaceful surroundings, then that’s fine too. Okay?’ I raise my eyebrows at her, and she swallows, then nods. ‘Okay. Thank you.’ ‘My pleasure.’ I sit back and cross my ankle over my knee.

Swoon. I’m dead. Dead. No one try reviving me because I DON’T WANT TO LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE THIS MAN IS FICTIONAL 😭😭😭😭😭

‘And the sector was irrelevant.’ ‘No.’ She meets my gaze. ‘It wasn’t. I loved the idea. It was a massive departure for me—not exactly JP Morgan. But what you see as a conflict is deliberate. I’ve chosen to present this front of decorum so I can be taken seriously. Women don’t have enough seats at enough tables. I want to be there, at those tables. In those conversations. I have as much right to access and networking as any other senior person in any industry.’ I think I’m in love.

She’s so fucking radiant. I want to return to this conversation. I want to hear her view on every single topic. I could talk to her for years and never get bored. I want to help, to open any doors people have been too fucking stupid to open for her.

But more than that, I want to kiss her till she moans into my mouth. I want to lick along her collarbones and slide that dress off her shoulders and suck her tits right here. I want it so badly I can’t breathe.

‘Gen,’ I say, unable to keep the pain out of my voice. She doesn’t reply. She just sets down her glass and looks at me. Really looks at me. And I know I’m not imagining the mutual hunger. ‘Please,’ I tell her. ‘Please. Let me touch you. You’re extraordinary. I want to show you how extraordinary you are.’

Like I alone have the power to put him out of his misery. To quiet his demons through the simple act of letting him put his hands on me and slay me. Above all, I can’t say no to him when he begs. Because Anton Wolff doesn’t beg. So I don’t say no. I say yes.

I’ve held him off and held him off, and now I have no doubt I’ll be punished for that. However strong my attraction is to him, however strong my feelings for him, there’s no doubt in my mind he’s a predator. He’s still the Big Bad Wolff, and he wants me, and I have a feeling he’s about to rip me apart. And fuck, I’m so ready to put myself in his hands.

He wraps one warm hand around my neck. The other goes around my waist, tugging me even closer. ‘Fucking finally,’ he grits out. And he dips his face to mine.

It’s an angry kiss. A why the fuck did you make me wait kiss. A look how fucking good it is between us, you idiot kiss. An I can’t believe you were trying to deny this kiss.

And as for his smell? It’s fucking crack. I breathe him in and a low noise of pleasure escapes my throat.

stares down at me, breathing heavily as he decides what to do with me. He could bend me over this table and be balls-deep inside me in about ten seconds flat, or he could drag me up to his bed and torment me for hours. Who the fuck knows with this guy? And that’s the fun. Because, Lord knows, I’m fine with either option.

‘At least you’ve seen them,’ I tell him. ‘I’ve seen nothing of you apart from your cock, which you seem to get out whenever I’m around.’ He throws his head back and laughs, his teeth a flash of white in the dim light, the sound of his mirth cutting through the cicadas.

‘You and your team all seem convinced you have to fuck me to get your memberships,’ I say lightly. Wrong call. ‘We are not going to discuss you being with anyone else, in any capacity, while we’re doing this,’ he snarls.

In an instant, he’s shoved my thong aside and driven two fingers inside me. It takes me by surprise, and it stings a bit, but it also feels like nothing else on earth, and I know when he finally fucks me I will lose my actual mind.

‘All I’ve ever wanted to do is make you feel amazing. Turn you inside out. I’m going to do that tonight, but you’re going to have to give me everything.’ He presses his thumb to my clit and holds it there, and I nearly shoot off the table. ‘Got it?’ ‘Yes,’ I gabble. ‘I’ll give you everything.’ ‘Good girl.’

A woman like Genevieve will have impossibly high standards for anything other than a quick fuck, but I intend to break her and put her back together so beautifully that she’ll have no choice but to accept that we should be together.

‘Bend over,’ I tell her firmly, and she lets out what I think is a happy sigh and folds herself over before my eyes. I was going to do this over the dining table, but this is better, because she’s bent far further over than she would be up there, her arms stretched out before her on the mattress and her arse held high by the bolsters. I have plans for that arse.

‘Because I wanted whatever I could get of you. Even if it wasn’t enough.’

God, the noises she’s making are fucking unreal. This is the Gen I wanted—naked and shameless, all decorum abandoned. She’s whimpering now, and it’s fucking beautiful.

There will be a time, in a few minutes, when I kiss every inch of her plush skin, but right now I need to sheath my dick so far inside her she’ll never be the same again, and there is not enough blood in my brain for anything else.

‘I didn’t expect you to fuck me missionary,’ she says tartly. I’ve just made her come apart on my tongue and she’s still giving me shit, even as she catches her breath after her spectacular orgasm. ‘Shut the fuck up and put your legs over my shoulders,’ I say through clenched teeth.

See how fucking miraculous it is between us? See how insane you’ve been to keep us from doing this every hour of every day?

‘Head down. Cunt up,’ I tell her in my most commanding, don’t fuck with me voice, and she groans like she’s been waiting her whole life for me to tell her to do that.

Waking up with him is unreal, and I drink in the sight of him in the morning light. For a guy in his early fifties, he’s in amazing shape. I mean, I knew he would be. It was pretty obvious that under those fitted white shirts and perfectly cut trousers was a body to die for. But he really is beautiful.