Sinful Desires Vol. 5 (7 page)

Would we end up back here? How long did he want to wait? The question kept circling in my head even as we walked to his car. I reminded myself that Julien and I were going to do this right. If we had sex tonight, it would be because the timing was right, not because I had no self-control when it came to him being naked.

I was surprised our conversation came as easily as it had when we were nothing more than friends. I'd anticipated an awkwardness that never came to be. We didn't struggle for topics or rehash the discussions we'd had before. If it hadn't been for the little things, it could've been any one of the dozens of times we'd hung out together as friends. Little things like Julien taking my arm as we walked down the concrete stairs to the entrance of The Tavern or how he placed his hand on the small of my back as our waiter led us to a table by the wine cellar.

The cold and threat of snow had kept people away and the place was relatively empty. We could hear the piano and singing from upstairs and it added a nice background to our easy conversation. He told me about what he was doing with all of his father's businesses and I told him about the different aspects of dance I was working on. We discussed the possibilities of ways he could use his family's companies to better the community, as well as having a lively debate over which Christmas special was the best.

By the time the check came, what we were doing felt as natural as breathing. When he reached for my hand across the table and threaded our fingers together, little sparks of electricity danced across my skin. It felt right, like we'd been made to fit together. His thumb traced circled across the back of my hand.

“We didn't talk about where this night was going to end,” Julien said softly. His eyes met mine. “I should take you home, give you a kiss good-night and then call you tomorrow.”

I swallowed hard, my stomach clenching as I willed him to give a second option. I knew we'd only been on this one date, but my body remembered his too well and craved it. He'd said he wanted to take it slow, but I wasn't sure that was the best option.

He continued, “Or, you could come back to my place. My cousin and his girlfriend left this morning. We could watch a movie and see where things go from there.”

“I'll take option number two.” I didn't even need to think about it.

Relief showed on Julien's face and his eyes sparkled. “I was hoping you'd say that.”

The energy between us on the ride from The Tavern to Julien's loft was almost palpable. If it hadn't started to snow, I probably would've leaned closer, run my hand over his thigh, but the roads were slick despite the salt trucks and I didn't want him to lose control of the car. Talking to cops or being in the ER was not how I planned on finishing out tonight.

Both of us were coated with fat, wet flakes by the time we got into his building and we laughed as we brushed them off. Even that laughter had an undercurrent of sexual electricity and only the presence of an elderly woman in the elevator kept us from starting things up right there. Instead, we stood next to each other, our fingers linked, and pretended we weren't both thinking about ripping the other one's clothes off.

I saw Julien's hands shaking as he tried to get his key in the door and I flushed with pleasure at the realization that I could do that to him. When he got the door open, he pulled me in after him and was on me before the door finished closing.

His mouth was hot and greedy, his tongue pushing between my lips even as he worked to remove some of the layers between us. Laughter bubbled up, escaping in a little burst at one of the points when our mouths parted. He pulled back, a puzzled expression on his face as he dropped his coat to the floor.

“I was just wondering if we were skipping the movie.”

He rolled his eyes and smiled, leaning down to take my mouth again. This kiss was no less intense, but the near frantic nature was gone. This was slow and thorough, one of those deep, wet kisses that movies always seemed to show but real-life never lived up to... until now.

My coat joined his on the floor, the snow melting into puddles next to our boots, but neither one of us cared about that at the moment. Without breaking the kiss, he picked me up and began to walk back toward his bedroom. I took advantage of my new position to tear my lips from his and begin working my way over the side of his neck and up to his ear.

He moaned when I tugged on his earlobe and the noise grew louder when I scraped my teeth on his neck. His hands tightened around me for a moment, and then released me, dropping me onto the bed.

I looked up at him as he undressed. His movements were unhurried, sensual as he unbuttoned his shirt. By the time it fell to the floor, my heart was racing. His pants were next, but he didn't just pull them off. It wasn't until he started on them that I realized what he was doing. He wasn't dancing, but it was stripping just the same. The tease, the leisurely reveal. As he kicked aside his pants, he was left in just a pair of gray boxer-briefs, tight enough to reveal how much he was enjoying what he was doing. Those came off at an excruciatingly slow pace, the expression on his face saying he liked taunting me.

Once he was done, I reached for the hem of my sweater, ready to return the favor. His hands covered mine, stopping me. Without a word, he moved my hands aside and pulled my shirt over my head. His eyes locked on mine as he peeled off my pants, ending up on his knees in front of the bed. He parted my legs, dropping his gaze to the dark green silk I was wearing.

“Damn,” he swore softly. “You're soaked through.”

I sat up and wrapped my hand around the back of his neck, pulling the two of us together until my mouth covered his. I took control of the kiss, my tongue sliding between his lips to explore the hot recesses of his mouth. His hands skimmed over the bare skin of my back, fingers finding the hooks and making short work of them. I moaned as his hands moved along my ribs, around to begin to work their magic on my breasts.

I arched into his touch, our mouths parting. His lips trailed fire down my throat, pausing every so often to shower a bit of extra attention. Not so much that I'd have to worry about covering it up, but enough to know that's what he wanted to do. When his mouth reached my breasts, I buried my fingers in his hair, loving the long, silky strands.

“Don’t ever cut your hair,” I whispered.

I wanted to close my eyes as he lavished attention on first one breast, then the other, but I wanted to watch him more. He looked up at me, his eyes darkening with each gasp and moan. Then his fingers were hooking around the elastic of my panties and they were sliding down my legs. They caught on my right ankle, but neither of us paid any attention. I was too busy watching him kiss his way down my stomach.

He sighed as his fingers slid between my folds, parting them and making way for his tongue. He licked one long stripe, making me fall back on my elbows.

“I've been dreaming about this,” he said, glancing up at me. “Making love to you this way.”

He hooked my legs over his shoulders and stretched his hands on either side of me so that our fingers locked. This time, when he buried his face between my legs, I called out his name. My fingers tightened around his as his lips and tongue went to work. Pleasure washed over me as his talented mouth sent every nerve singing. But it was when he looked at me from under those thick lashes that everything else faded away. I could see into the depths of his soul and something inside me reached out to something inside him.

As a child, I'd always been a romantic, believing in true love and happily ever after. Life had quickly taught me that those things didn't exist. When I'd first hooked up with Reed, I'd felt those parts of me wanting to come back, but I'd thought his betrayal had killed the last of any real romantic notions. Now, I found they hadn't been killed, but rather had just been dormant these past few months. I knew there'd be work and it wouldn't be easy, but in that moment, I knew I'd found my soul mate.

My orgasm burst over me as the realization hit me and I cried out, my back arching, hips rising, sex clenching around his tongue. He held me, kept me grounded as I came, and then his hands were on my hips, moving me further onto the bed. I heard a familiar ripping sound, and then he was stretching out over me, his cock nudging at my still quivering core.

“I love you,” I said, reaching up to press my palm against the side of his face.

The smile that spread across his face brought tears to my eyes. “I love you, too.” He brushed a stray hair off of my cheek, then leaned down to kiss it.

I raised my hips even as he surged forward and we came together in one firm thrust. His mouth covered mine, swallowing the half-scream that came from the sudden, nearly painful stretching. The feeling of being too full didn't stop me though. I began to move against him, with him, our bodies falling into an instant rhythm, the kind of dance that said we'd been partners for years.

He pressed against all the right parts of me and, as his hand slid over my hip and down my thigh to my knee, I knew we had been made for each other. He pulled my leg up and I keened as the change in position drove him even deeper than he'd been before. He was a part of me, connected in every way a person could be.

The room was hot, in stark contrast to the weather outside, and our bodies glistened with sweat. Our labored breathing mixed with the sounds of flesh coming together, punctuated by the pleasurable moans that escaped between kisses. It was just us, here in this room. The world outside didn't exist. Nothing and no one beyond the two of us. Time ceased to matter. We could've been there, riding the edge of passion, for minutes, hours or years. All I knew was that when it crashed over us, I didn't know if we could survive.

And then it was there, rushing, covering us with a flood of pleasure so intense I saw stars flash in front of my eyes and across his beautiful face. I heard Julien call my name and I was vaguely aware I was digging my nails into his back, but I couldn't get my muscles to obey me and release him, so I held him more tightly and rode it out.

Afterwards, our bodies lay entwined, trembling, and I wondered if either of us would have the strength to cover us with a blanket before we fell asleep. I put my arm across his stomach and pressed against him, not wanting to sink into oblivion. I knew it was irrational, but the last time I'd fallen asleep with him; he'd freaked out and run the next morning.

“I'm not going anywhere,” he murmured as he pulled me more tightly against his side. “Not this time. You're stuck with me.”

I kissed his chest. “Stop reading my mind.”

I was still smiling over our unusual connection when I drifted off.

When I woke the next morning, he was gone. My hand went to the place where he'd been and found the sheets still warm. Before I could panic, he spoke, his soft voice coming from behind me.

“You've got to see this.”

I rolled over and saw him standing at his window. I wrapped a sheet around me as I climbed out of bed. He was fortunate that the window was high enough to prevent anyone from seeing that he was naked, but I had to cover myself. As I reached his side, he took a step back and pulled me in front of him, his arms curling around my waist.

I gasped. I didn't need to worry about anyone seeing us in the window; there was no one to see us. The entire city was covered with white. The streets of Fishtown were buried under several feet of snow. It was clean and white, pristine.

“The news is saying everything's shut down for the day,” he said as he kissed the top of my head. “No one's supposed to be out unless it's an emergency.”

“So,” I said slowly, leaning back into his warmth. “What you're saying is, I'm stuck here for who knows how long.”

“Seems like it.” He nuzzled my ear. “Oh, what will we do to pass the time?”

I reached behind me and found my prize already starting to swell. He gasped as I took him in hand. “I can think of a few things.”

We laughed and he nuzzled me, the heat of his breath against my neck. “I can think of dozens.”

As we returned to bed, the laughter shifted and became something equally as joyful. We didn't rush and we didn't second-guess. We had the day and we were going to make the most of it. Tomorrow would come and we'd face whatever it brought, but for right now, we were going to enjoy today.

Chapter 10

As the first day of summer passed, I realized I'd been back in Philadelphia for almost a full year. Sometimes, it seemed like just yesterday that I'd returned for my high school reunion and my life had been turned upside-down. Or should I say, right-side-up. Other times, the memories of those days were so distant that they seemed like they'd happened to someone else. The one thing that never changed was that I was happier now than I'd been since my mom had gotten sick. Things weren't perfect, of course, but life was good.

Julien and I didn't spend much time with the high society types, but we were around enough, along with Anastascia, to keep up on the latest news. News such as the speedy dissolution of Britni and Reed's marriage, and her quick recovery with the heir to the McCord fortune. They announced their engagement at the beginning of June with plans for a spring wedding next year. I wondered if this was another business transaction, especially after Anastascia said she'd seen Britni's fiancé frequenting a couple of gay bars in the city, but I didn't dwell on it. That marriage wasn't my business.

The one aspect of Britni's family that was my business, however, ended up with a neat and tidy resolution. Brock was two months into an eighteen-month sentence for assault and would then be on probation for another three years with mandatory counseling and no alcohol. He probably would've gotten a lot worse if he'd gone to trial, but his victim preferred the plea over having to take the stand. I didn't really blame her. I could understand what she was going through. I would've testified if I'd been called, but I hadn't been looking forward to sharing everything with complete strangers. We'd heard rumors that the Michaels family had settled with the victim in the civil case as well, paying her medical bills on top of a nice chunk of money. I hoped she would be able to go somewhere new to rebuild her life.