"It's even more beautiful up close", I stop and stare in awe at the Eiffel Tower as the cold wind blows against my skin I wrap my blush-colored scarf around my neck before placing my gloved hands inside my warm, black peacoat. Eryx stood meters behind me watching me with a grin covering his face as the two large men, Arlo and Tirian, stopped off to the side where he was standing acting as bodyguards.

I could not understand the need for bodyguards on our trip. Still, I was not going to argue with Eryx why two rather large men who were over 6'6 wearing all black, from a beanie covering their militant style low-fade hair-cuts to the glocks resting in on the sides of their pants, thought they were hiding away in their trench coats. Still, I caught sight of it when one of them reached inside their coat for their phone. I should be scared of these two men, being that looked rather intimidating and probably could do some serious damage, but something pit of my stomach shifted me to stay in a calm and mellow state while being in the same vicinity as Arlo and Tirian.

I attempted on the private jet to make conversation with them, but Eryx nit that right in the bud stating that their sole job while on our trip to France was to be our bodyguards. I took out my phone and began to take videos and selfies of me standing under the Eiffel Towel. I huge grin covered my face as I stared back at some of the pictures I managed to take of myself. I then glance over at Eryx, "Bae, come over I want to take a selfie with you".

I motion with my hand for him to walk toward my direction. I watch as he speaks something to Arlo and Tirian as they stand in their place watching the both of us before Eryx stands in front of me, takes my phone out of my hand, and holds it high in the air before he grabs hold of my waist as I press the front of my body against his as he leans his face down and kisses the side of my cheek. His pecks on my cheek tickle my skin as I begin to giggle softly.

Eryx then picks me up and swings me in his arms as I try to get him to put me down. "Eryx", I say as I continue to laugh, "Put me down", he ignores my pleas as he smiles up at me before he kisses my lips. He finally reluctantly places me back down on the ground as I smooth out the wrinkles of his Cashmere Loro Piana Double-Breated Coat, which made he look as though he belonged on the cover of a high-fashion magazine.

I wrap my arms around his neck as he proceeds to slide his lips against mine. We share an intimate moment of sensual kisses before Eryx pulls away looking down at his phone with a frown. "I have to attend a meeting with someone. I will escort you to our hotel and meet up with you once the meeting is done". I groan in frustration. "Eryx, we just got here and you already trying to leave me by myself".

Eryx then presses a soft kiss to my forehead as a solemn expression covers his face. "I know Cherie. I'm sorry". He then reaches inside his coat, pulls out his wallet, and then hands me a black card. "Here, this should keep you occupied while I am gone". I frown as look at the black card and then up at him. "What do you expect me to do with this", I expect the black card he has given me in my hands. Eryx shrugs his shoulders.

"Whatever the hell you want. Buy whatever you want. No limit". He then winks at me and takes hold of my hand as we walk toward a black-tinted Cadillac SUV Eryx starts speaking French to the driver, which takes me by surprise because I had no idea he was fluent in French. I smile as he wraps his arm against the back of our seat as we sit in the middle Arlo takes a seat up front with the driver, while Tirian sits in the aisle behind us.

Eryx takes notice I am staring at him and looks down at me. "What is that look for Cherie", as he holds my palm in his hand before he leans down and kisses it. I smile, "I didn't know you could speak French". Eryx looks at me with a twinkle in his eye. Tu es ma joie de vivre (You are the joy of my life). He leans down and whispers against my lips as I place my hand against his cheek. "What does that mean", I ask as I stare into his eyes.

"It means you are the joy of my life Verena". My eyes widen at his statement before I kiss his lips. "You are the joy in mine as well". An hour later we made it inside of the penthouse suite of our hotel room, in one of the most exquisite hotels in all of France. I marvel at how big the suite is, which has three bedrooms, a kitchen with a gas stove, a dining area, and a beautiful bathroom that has a Freestanding Tub and a granite glass shower that has a rainfall showerhead. My favorite aspect of the suite is the bedroom, which is queen size.

I plop on the bed and moan at how soft and luxurious the comforters and pillows feel against my body. Eryx stands near the door, watching me, "Now that you are settled I will be leaving. You are free to go, Arlo and Tirian will make you whatever you want to go in the city. Order some room service if you would like". Eryx then walks over and kisses me on the lips before he leaves out the room as he whispers against my ear, "à plus tard chérie" (See later Cherie).

I blush at his statement as I watch him leave out of the room. I take out my knee-high-heeled boots from Steve Madden as I wrap my body inside the comforter before reaching for the remote control. I turn the power on the TV shifting through various channels until I come across a movie, Marvelous Ones, that came out a couple of years ago. An hour later, I finished the movie and got quite bored. My stomach began to grumble as placed my hand against it. I was not interested in ordering room service and decided to find somewhere to eat at a local restaurant. I place my boots back on my feet and reach for my coat that lies on the back of the door.

I walk outside of the suite seeing Arlo and Tirian leaning against the wall. I glance up at Arlo, "I am hungry I want to go somewhere to get some food". Arlo nods before he looks over at Tirian. Tirian looks down at me, "Where exactly do you want to go". His baritone voice takes me by surprise. "I thought you didn't talk", I state back looking between him and Arlo curiously. "I do, just only when I need to".

I nod, "I'm not sure about what exactly I want, I just want to try out some French food". Tiran nods at my statement as we begin to walk down the hallway leading to the elevators. Minutes passed and we made it outside of the hotel, Arlo tried to alert the valet driver to pull around the car, but I stopped him. "No need, I want to walk, if that's okay". We walk in silence as both men stand in between me as we walk down the streets of France.

I catch several people looking at us awkwardly, but I try to ignore them as much as I can. I take notice of a quaint little cafe that sits across the street, Le Petit Café, the sign reads as I point towards it as the men stop and take notice of where my attention has shifted to. I walk ahead of them across the street as I open the door to the cafe, as sweet smells of cake, and coffee hit my nostrils. My eyes water as I take in all of the desserts that sitting in the display windows which include macaroons, gougères (tiny bread), tarte tain, floating islands with dark chocolate crème anglaise and toasted pistachios, and many more desserts.

I walk up to the front counter and an older French woman looks at me with a smile covering her face. She begins speaking in French I have no idea what she is saying and have no possible way to order what I would like. "I can help you order if you would like", a beautiful black woman with a modelesque slim figure who looks as though she belongs on a fashion runway stands next to me. "Umm okay, if it's not too much", I say as my cheeks turn red. The woman waves me off, "Nonsense. You are American am I correct", she says as she looks down at me.

I nod, "Yes, I am". The woman grins, "Me too. I am Ryen by the way", she holds her hand out before I take hold of it, shaking it in greeting. "I am Verena". Ryen then let go of my hand before she walked to the counter and asked me what exactly I wanted to get. "The macaroons and the tarte tain caught my eye the most". Ryen nods before she looks at the older French woman as she begins speaking in French.

"Mon ami ici aimerait commander un nouveau lot de macarons et la tarte tain s'il vous plaît" (My friend here would order a fresh batch of macaroons and the tarte tain please). The French woman nods as Ryen states my order to her before she rings up my order, and places the black card Eryx gave on the payment machine. Ryen and I then find a vacant seat near the front of the cafe at a small table.

The French woman then brings a warm plate of French macaroons as well as tarte tain. I bite into the macaroons and moan at the moist and delectable they taste inside of my mouth. I then take a bite of tarte tain into my mouth, as tap my foot on the ground at how good the caramelized apples taste.

"This so good". Ryen watches me as she takes a sit of a cup of coffee. "Yes, I'm glad you are enjoying your desserts. What brings you here to France", I reach for the cloth napkin sitting in front of me before I wipe my mouth before answering.

"Oh my boyfriend is here for a business trip and wanted to come to France, so I'm here". Ryen nods, "Great, good to see another black girl here in France. I've been living here the past six years". Ryen then shows me the beautiful diamond ring that sparkles against her hand. "I'm married to a French man, a wealthy one actually. He's a quite busy man, but I love him though". Ryen has a fairy tale look in her eyes as she looks back at me.

"You look rather young, are you 20". "21", I state back. Ryen nods. "26, met my husband around the age you are now, My husband is Cauis Laurent, ever heard of him". I shake my head. "Can't say I have. My boyfriend is Eryx Vallea".

Ryen stares at me for a moment in disbelief. "You are Eryx Vallea's girlfriend. Oh my lord that man is something serious". I then raise my eyebrows as Ryen holds up her hand, "My husband is an associate of Eryx, so I am familiar with him and his family". Her eyes then roam down my body before she looks up into my eyes.

"I just never expected Eryx to have a girlfriend, you must be very special". I blush, "I believe so. We've only been together for almost three months, but I like him very much". Ryen looks as if she wants to say more but refrains from doing so as she watches me intently.

"We should exchange numbers and have an outing while you are here". "Of course, I would love that". We then pull out our phones and exchange numbers. Ryen then gets up from her seat, "I am free tomorrow, if you would like we can go shopping".

The idea of shopping in France sounds exciting and fun. "Of course, I would too". Ryen smiles, "Great I will text you the details later on tonight".

She then looks outside at my bodyguards and then back at me. "It was nice meeting you Verena", she then air kisses me. "Nice meeting you as well", I say before I watch Ryen.

That was quite strange that Ryen knows who Eryx is, maybe I can ask her more about her husband's affiliations with Eryx tomorrow at our shopping excursion.





Finally get to see Eryx speaking in another language. I wonder how the shopping excursion will go with Ryen. Eryx probably is not going to be too happy about it.