"Exactly," Tara nodded, dropping her handbag on the chair in the room and shrugging off her jacket, "We have some time to get ready, so don't rush or anything. Oh and honey? Will you wear that royal blue dress. The one with the ruffle straps?"
Willow crossed her arms over her chest, the barest hint of a grin on her face.
"Choosing my outfits for me now, are we?"
Tara blushed, shrugging one shoulder.
"Please? It looks great on you."
Willow just smiled and nodded, going to retrieve the dress, Tara glad that she didn't push any further. She really wanted her wife to wear that dress, not just because it did genuinely look great on her, but because her final plans for the day required a formal dress code.
"What are you wearing?" Willow asked from the closet.
"My yellow dress," Tara answered as she sat on the end of the bed and pulled her boots off, "The one with..."
She trailed off as Willow held up the dress she was talking about in front of her.
"That one," she grinned, "Thank you, sweetie."
"You're welcome, baby," Willow replied, handing the dress over and going back over to the closet.
Tara hung her dress on the back of the chair and pulled her socks off, sighing softly at the feel of the carpet under her feet as she unzipped her skirt, shaking it off her body and unbuttoned her shirt, slipping it off her shoulders. She picked up her discarded garments and folded them, placing them on the desk, before she felt strong arms around her stomach, pulling her back until she was falling onto the bed, with Willow on top of her in just her t-shirt and panties.
"Hi," Willow said quietly, her hand running up the blonde's bent knee and across her thigh.
"Hey," Tara replied, gulping at the feeling of her wife's touch, "What, um...what're you doing?"
Willow nuzzled the tip of her nose against Tara's and lowered her voice to a mischievous whisper.
"You said we had time..."
Tara moved a hand up to stroke the smaller girl's hair, an apologetic look on her face.
"Not that much time."
Willow nodded in understanding and stopped stroking her wife's thigh before bringing her hand up to run her thumb along the blonde's cheekbone, a hopeful look on her face.
"Can we still smooch a little?" she whispered, the barest hint of a blush rising on her cheeks, "I just can't get enough of you today. I mean, I always want you, but today...I just keep getting lost in your eyes."
"We can smooch," Tara replied, moving them both onto their sides and hooking a leg over the redhead's, "As much as you want."
Willow giggled and threw an arm over the blonde's leg, pulling them as close together as possible.
"We'd never leave this bed if I had my way."
Tara's gaze dropped to her wife's lips and subconsciously licked her own in response.
"If your lips keep looking so delicious that might just happen."
Willow grinned.
"Come and get 'em, sugar."
Tara leaned forwards and Willow turned her head into the pillow so that when the kissed, the contact was as close as possible. Their lips softly caressed each other for a few minutes until they brought their tongues into play, hands moving to cupping one another's cheeks as their tongues battled.
The duel moved between their mouths, sucking and stroking motions consuming them both until their session came to a natural end and they rested their heads beside each other on the pillow, both smiling softly.
"We can continue later..." Willow said, trailing a finger down her wife's bra strap, over the swell of her breasts and then in between her cleavage, "Yes?"
"Definitely," Tara responded, grinning and tucking a piece of hair behind the redhead's ear, before going in for another quick kiss, then rolling over and standing up, "We don't want to be late."
Willow lay on the bed for another few moments, contentedly watching the blonde walk around the room in just her underwear until she pulled her dress – canary yellow, strapless cocktail dress that fell to just below her knee – over her body and the redhead got up as well, discarding her t-shirt and throwing the blue dress Tara had asked her to wear over her head.
It was a keyhole dress with ruffled sleeves that happened to fit her figure perfectly and thought to herself that Tara must've have arranged for them to have dinner somewhere quite fancy if she requested her to wear one of the nicer dresses in her possession and was wearing one of similar class herself as well.
"Will you zip me up?" she asked as she flattened the two side collars against her neck.
"Of course," Tara replied, moving away from where she was rustling through one of the drawers on the dresser and over to Willow, dragging the zip up so the dress was secure, "You're gorgeous."
Tara ran her hands down the redhead's sides from behind, placing a single kiss just below her ear before moving off again. Willow straightened out the end of her dress with a huge grin – she felt sexy in that dress and her wife had just made her feel even more so.
She went over to the desk and opened one of the drawers, taking the necklace box, that she kept all her jewellery in, out and opening it, choosing a gold-banded necklace that had an orange stone in a spiral shape that fell into the line between her breasts where the dress was open, before walking over to the mirror between the windows and looking at her hair.
"Up or down?" she said quietly to herself, narrowing her eyes in contemplation, "Up or down?"
"Down," Tara said from the bathroom and Willow wondered how she'd been able to hear her quiet musings, "I wanna be able to play with your hair if the mood strikes."
"Down it is then," Willow said, grabbing a hairbrush and running it through her locks, flicking the ends so they turned inwards, then turned just as Tara came out of the bathroom, making the redhead's eyes go wide, "Hubba hubba."
Tara grinned and did a small turn.
"You like?"
She'd accessorised the dress with the chain Willow had given her on their wedding night and small diamond stud earrings, wearing her hair up in a bun but with curled tendrils framing her face and had applied a light amount of make-up, blue eyeshadow making her eyes pop and ruby-red lipstick making her lips look even more plumped than usual.
"Baby..." Willow breathed, going over and taking a hold of the blonde's waist, one hand moving behind to squeeze her ass through the dress, "Mmhh, you look..."
Willow leaned up for a kiss but her lips met Tara's palm as the blonde put her hand in front of her mouth.
"My lipstick," Tara said in explanation when the smaller girl looked both hurt and confused.
"Reapply it," Willow replied, swatting her wife's hand out of the way and crushing their lips together.
Tara couldn't help but moan into the kiss, breathing heavy when they pulled apart before giggling at the redhead's lips, which had smudges of her lipstick on it.
"Not your colour, honey."
"I always was more of a light gloss kinda girl," Willow grinned as she walked into the bathroom and wiped the lipstick off before going about applying her own make-up, holding up a two tubes of lip gloss, "Strawberry Kiwi or Mango Berry?"
"You're asking me?" Tara asked, putting a piece of paper in her handbag and reapplying her lipstick.
Willow smirked into the mirror, catching Tara's gaze.
"Well you are the one who's gonna be tasting it all night."
"Well that is true," Tara grinned, her eyes lighting up, "I already tried strawberry and you today, so let's go with Mango Berry."
Willow unscrewed the top and ran the wand along her lips, smacking them together when she was done.
"Mmhh, yummy. You're gonna like it."
"Can't wait," Tara murmured, going through her bag to ensure she had everything they needed for the night as Willow finished applying her make-up.
"Okay, ready when you are," Willow said after a few minutes, leaving the bathroom and slipping a pair of strappy heels on.
Tara turned was walked over to the redhead, her eyes looking up and down the other woman's body the whole way, devouring her completely.
"Tu ressembles à une princesse, mon amour."
"Um, I got the 'my love' part," Willow said with a gulp, feeling her knees go weak at the way Tara was looking at her.
"You look like a princess," Tara translated, bringing two fingers up to her lips, then pressing those fingers against Willow's lips as well, "My love."
"Thank you," Willow replied, kissing the blonde's fingers, "You look stunning. Everyone's gonna be jealous that I'm with you at the restaurant."
Tara just got a secretive half-smile on her face at that but Willow didn't have a chance to say anything as the blonde grabbed both their jackets and they put them on before walking out of the hotel hand-in-hand, the night sky having set in as Tara took them in the same direction they'd walked earlier, while the wheels in the redhead's mind starting turning.
"You said earlier about me seeing the Eiffel Tower at night...and we're going in that direction...are we eating there?"
Tara just smiled and shook her head.
"No. But you're right, we are heading in that direction."
Willow's brow furrowed in a mixture of confusion and thought.
"So it's a restaurant around there?"
Tara raised both her eyebrows and grinned, shrugging her shoulders. Willow sighed, seeing she wasn't going to get any more information from her wife and settled for enjoying the walk in the moonlight. After a few minutes, they strolled into the Parc du Champ de Mars again, the park they'd had their picnic in, and the redhead's breath caught in her throat as she saw the lit-up Eiffel Tower towering ahead of them.
"You were right," she breathed, her clutch on the blonde's hand tightening, "It's spectacular."
"I'm glad you think so," Tara replied, beaming from ear-to-ear, "That bodes well for the rest of the evening."
Willow started to pout and all but stamped her foot on the ground.
"Tara, tell me where we're going!"
Tara chuckled at the smaller girl's behaviour and shook her head.
"We're almost there."
They walked the remaining length of the park; Willow relaxing into the stroll again until they arrived at the other end of the green and Tara brought them towards a dock where a boat was floating on the water, the lighting shining out from it and reflecting against the water.
"Here we are," Tara whispered quietly, pulling her wife towards the boat.
"Wait, wait," Willow said, stopping in her tracks and pulling Tara around to face her as she realised what exactly was happening, "Are you telling me we're going on a moonlit dinner cruise on the Seine River?"
"Unless you'd like to grab a burger from McDonalds," Tara smirked, and Willow just shook her head, her smile beaming, "Then yes."
"I love you!" Willow squealed, throwing her arms around the blonde, "I love you, I love you, I love you!"
"I love you, too," Tara responded warmly, hugging back, "You like it?"
"Tara, it's the most romantic thing ever," Willow replied, pulling back, "I love it."
Tara grinned and started tugging them towards the boat again.
"Well, come on then!"
Willow giggled as they walked onto the boat and after Tara showed the confirmation email she'd printed off to the female hostess and their jackets were taken, they were showed to their seats, at a small circular table for two at the front of the boat, where two shot glasses with yellow liquid and a bowl of small doughy balls were placed in front of them just as the boat began pulled away from the dock.
"Mmhh, cheese puffs," Willow said happily as she popped one of the doughy balls in her mouth, before picking up the glass and peering at it, "What's this?"
Tara was pretty sure she knew what it was, but brought the glass up to her nose and inhaled to check, nodding when she recognised the aroma coming from it.
"Pastis. It's an apéritif. Tastes like liquorice."
Willow picked up her glass as well and after a cautious sniff, knocked it back in one go, coughing and spluttering as she did so.
"Oh boy," Tara said, quickly going over to the over side of the table and crouching down, rubbing her wife's back, "You're supposed to sip it, sweetie."
"It's strong," Willow coughed, swallowing repeatedly as the sharp aftertaste stayed with her, her fist balling on top of the table, "Very strong."
"Is everything alright over here?"
The hostess who had greeted them was back over, looking down at them both, an apprehensive look on her face.
"We're fine," Tara said, standing back up when she saw Willow had recovered slightly and going back to her seat, "Sorry for the disruption."
"Not a problem," the hostess smiled, relieved that there wasn't an issue, "Can I bring you a bottle of Chardonnay for your meal?"
"Please," Tara nodded with a smile, "And could we get some mineral water as well please?"
The hostess flashed her teeth in a charming smile.
"Of course."
She went off again and Tara reached across the table, taking one of her wife's hands in hers.
"You okay?"
"Uh huh," Willow nodded, the burning sensation in the back of her throat dying down as she started to look around, admiring the glassed-over roof and panoramic windows on the boat, "Baby, this is amazing, you can see everywhere."
"I know," Tara replied, taking in the views as well, "I always saw the boats on the river and wondered what it looked like from inside."
Willow looked over at the blonde, surprised.
"You never took a boat tour when you lived here?"
Tara shook her head and squeezed the redhead's hand.
"I knew it wouldn't be the same if I wasn't with you."
The hostess came back at that moment with their bottle of wine and their mineral water and poured them both a glass of each before departing just as the band that were aboard the boat started playing and the singer crooned out some traditional French songs.
The boat sailed around the Seine, the entire city of Paris illuminated and vibrant as the evening stretched and food was served.
"To us," Willow said, raising her glass over their meal of duck foie gras, asparagus tips and toasted Parisian brioche, "To the magical five years we've spent together."
Tara raised her glass as well and clinked it against her wife's.
"To the next..." she trailed off as she tried to think of the right figure.
Willow saw the blonde's contemplation and spoke up for her instead.
"To forever."