Chapter 45
forty-five
I wholeheartedly object to Juliet putting on one of my T-shirts after our bath, but it’s nearly three a.m., so fuck it.
My adrenaline has finally drained away, leaving my mind a bottomless blank and my extremities full of lead. I groan while I collapse onto my pillow.
Jules crawls into the other side of the bed and arranges herself the same way she did last week. I want her closer, but after everything she’s done for me already, I decide not to push it. Instead, I drop a soft kiss on the back of her head.
“Good night, bijou .”
The room falls into silence. For some reason, it takes that long for everything to hit me. Memories from the alleyway—my brother slumped on the concrete like he was garbage—wash over me. I do my best to fight them back, but one particular moment clings to me.
After Christian coded for the first time in the ambulance, they used shock paddles to get him back. When the jolt hit his chest, his body bowed off the gurney. His eyes flew open and rolled back into his head. And I believed, in my soul, that I was watching him die.
No. He’s not going to die .
I breathe deeper, tamping down my emotions.
He’s not going to die .
But no matter how hard I try, I can’t stop picturing his eyes, lolling sightlessly.
Fuck .
I refuse to cry like a bitch while lying in bed with the sexiest woman alive. My eyes water anyway. My next breath shakes.
Fuck, fuck, fuck .
“Graham?”
Juliet’s face appears, hovering over mine. Her eyes rove over my features, glistening in the low city light filtering through the curtains. Pain streaks through her gold irises.
She opens her mouth to comfort me, but I can’t take it. I know if she says one kind word, I’ll break. So I touch my fingertips to her lips, letting my eyes tell her what I don’t dare say out loud. Her gaze pierces mine, seeing everything I don’t want to confess.
I love you .
I almost said the words, earlier, in the bathtub. I know she sees it now. And I swear I see those flames reflected back at me.
She blinks away a sheen of tears and slowly laces her fingers into mine, moving my hand to the side of her face. Instead of speaking, her lips brush mine. Sweet and enticing. Irresistible.
Juliet kisses me until I can’t think of anything but her warmth melding into my cold middle. I caress her back, her hips, her ass. Losing myself in the feel of her skin, the way her curves fill my palms.
Our mouths and bodies communicate without words, giving everything we have and taking what we need. At some point, I strip her shirt off and pull her on top of me. She clutches herself closer, stroking my hair. Her tenderness makes my chest ache along with my cock.
“God, baby. I need you.”
That spurs her on. Juliet pushes my boxers off and rolls onto her back, guiding me on top of her. She lifts her arms over her head and stares up at me, offering submission. Giving me exactly what she knows I love.
A burst of raw need erupts inside me. I kiss her possessively, wrapping my hands around her wrists. Eating at her, I align her hot, wet pussy with my erection.
She moans, tipping her hips up to let me in. “Please,” she whispers. “Please, Graham.”
Pressing my cheek against hers, I nuzzle her face. “What do you want? I’ll give you anything.”
“You,” she murmurs. “Just you.”
Flattening her arms under my hands, I slowly push the first inch of my cock inside her. I’ve never felt anything so amazing. Her pussy is everything perfect about her body, concentrated in one place—her heat, the plush softness, the way she pulses for me.
While I pant against her temple, her head tips back on a groan. Hearing her abandon frays my patience. Cursing roughly, I thrust all the way in, screwing my hips into hers. A jolt of pleasure rocks down my spine.
“ Graham ,” Juliet cries. “Oh my God .”
I almost smile. No Spanish yet . That means I have work to do.
Rotating my cock inside her with every plunge, I gather her wrists in one hand and roam the other down to her breasts. Rolling her nipples between my fingers earns me another sharp cry. She grinds her snug heat over me, a perfect counterpoint for each of my drives.
I reach for her clit next, finding the bud swollen and wet. Circling my fingers over it, I graze my teeth against the cords of her neck. She moans out a stream of unfamiliar words as I bite just hard enough to leave a mark. Her pussy grips my cock tighter.
Suddenly, I just want her to hold me. I slip my hand from her wrists, releasing her. Dropping to my forearm puts us face to face. I curl my bent arm around her head, brushing her hair back. She lifts her face to kiss me. Without prompting, her touch skims over my back. Her nails bite into my shoulders when I thrust into her and press down on her clit at the same time.
More words tumble out of her mouth as she comes. My own orgasm builds—a persistent pressure at the base of my dick. But I don’t lose my grip until Juliet hugs me close, burying her fingers in my hair while I groan into the crook of her neck.
Pleasure pulses through and out of me, filling her. She brushes kisses over the side of my face, gentling me after I shudder in her arms. Her legs lock around my body, keeping me buried in her as I collapse.
With every last one of my defenses lying in rubble, I close my eyes and let her hold me. The next time I open them, sunlight fills the room.
And Juliet is gone.