17. Julian
JULIAN
I ’d never felt anything as incredible as being buried in Lance, fucking him while having no control, having him hold me down and ordering me not to come.
I was so hard I thought I might lose my mind.
His ass was tight and delicious, and being bare inside him was heaven.
I hadn’t known how good that would feel.
I’d never even considered it with anybody else, but I trusted him.
I was probably an idiot to do so, but I was going to be a satisfied one.
Lance’s breath was almost as ragged as mine now. His sweat dripped onto my abdomen, and he looked painfully hard. I tried to reach for his cock again, but I couldn’t free myself from his hold. “I want to touch you. I want to make you come. I want to feel your cum on me.”
He groaned, the sound loud and rough like I’d pulled it from deep inside him. I liked that while he might be controlling this, I wasn’t powerless. I was affecting him just like he was affecting me.
He let go of my right hand. “Do it.”
I gripped his cock, working him hard. Watching him.
“Come in me,” he ordered. “I want to feel it dripping out of me. I want it to burn inside.”
“Oh God.”
I was right there. He kept riding me as I jerked him off.
“Close. So close.” Heat seared through me, a flash of light that seemed to blind me. I drove my hips up as hard as I could and let go, pumping my release into him.
Seconds later, I felt the hot splash of his cum on my body, again and again, a seemingly impossible amount poured from him. My dick pulsed one more time, and tension fled my body. I sank deep into the mattress while also feeling like I was floating. Nothing existed but a white fog around me.
“Julian? Julian!”
I heard a voice calling me, but it seemed far away. It was easier to stay in the dreamland I was inhabiting and bask.
“Julian!” The command was too strong to ignore. I opened my eyes and blinked up at Lance. He was hanging over me, worry on his face.
“Are you all right?”
I nodded. “Perfect. Lovely.”
He grinned. “I’ve never fucked a man unconscious before.”
“Really? I figured you did it every time.”
“Not everyone gets the full experience like you. Sometimes quick and dirty is good enough.”
“Sometimes it would be for me.”
He laughed. “Not often. This is what you need.”
“How did you know?”
“I suspected it from the moment I met you, but after tonight, I had no question. The way you reacted… It was the hottest damn thing I’ve ever seen.”
“I never thought anything could feel that good.” I knew I was revealing too much, but I couldn’t stop myself.
“You had been with someone before, right? I mean, I thought…”
I nodded. “Yes, but it was like plain oatmeal, and this was dinner at a five-star restaurant.”
Lance’s smile widened. “I aim to please.”
Before I could think of what to say next, he rose off me. “Stay there. I’ll get something to clean you up.”
I was more aware of my surroundings by the time he came back. As I started to come back to myself, I wasn’t sure I wanted to. The reality of my situation was nowhere near as pleasant as my orgasm stupor.
I closed my eyes while Lance cleaned me up, letting him take care of me. I couldn’t believe I was able to keep from grabbing the washcloth and insisting on doing it myself, but I’d already given so much. I might as well let him take care of me.
Once he was done, Lance disappeared into the en suite bathroom again, but he returned quickly, lay down beside me, and pulled a blanket over us. I turned to my side so he could spoon me.
“Rest,” he ordered as he kissed the back of my neck.
I tried. I really did, but I couldn’t fall asleep.
I was exhausted, but my mind wouldn’t slow down.
I couldn’t stop pondering what all this meant.
There were so many questions I needed answers to like why the stolen necklace was in the library?
Why had Lance only expected to find some clues?
Who were these people that even Lance was afraid of, and how the hell was I going to be able to go back to work without being in danger?
Lance was keeping so much from me. He might be great in bed, but he was a criminal, probably a killer. The Theriots were a powerful family, and some of the rumors about them gave me chills.
Lance was still, and his breathing was steady, but I didn’t think he’d fallen asleep either. After several minutes of my mind spinning through all manner of scary scenarios, I turned over and faced him. “I can’t sleep.”
He opened his eyes and brushed my hair off my forehead. “Neither can I.”
“Can you tell me a little bit more about the necklace?”
“Only a little bit. You want something to eat while we talk?”
I nodded. “I’m starving.”
He grinned. “You ought to be after all that. How about some French toast?”
“You can make that?”
Lance huffed. “I’m a damn good cook. My parents taught me right.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “Then prove it.”
“You’ll learn not to challenge me.”
“Will I?”
He smiled, and I knew he liked my answer.
Lance wanted to be in charge, but he didn’t want me to make that too easy.
He was exactly what I needed, even though I would never have been able to put that into words before the insanity of the last few days.
I just hoped whatever this was between us would last a little longer.
I wanted to stay in the fantasy—except for the part where my life was in danger.
As I slipped out of bed, I glanced over at Tony, who was curled up and sleeping in his doll-sized four-poster bed on his puffy mattress covered in a silky pillowcase. Of course Lance would go over the top for him.
“Let him sleep,” Lance said.
I nodded and followed him to the kitchen.
He gestured for me to have a seat at the kitchen counter while he began gathering ingredients.
The night had been wonderful so far, but my mind had never been very good at keeping reality at bay.
The longer I sat watching Lance move adeptly around the kitchen, the more the need to ask questions rose within me.
I believed him and his brothers when they said I was in danger, but I needed to understand exactly what that meant.
If I was going to be mixed up in some organized crime intrigue, if my life was on the line—that still seemed impossible to me even after all I’d seen that day—I deserved answers.
“How did the necklace end up in my archive?”
Lance turned around from where he had been beating eggs and milk together. “The less you know about that?—”
“The more crazy I’m going to feel.”
“All I can tell you is that a contact of Remington’s left it there after telling Remy he was passing along information that would prove who was behind the theft.”
“Who is this person, and how did they get in without me knowing it?”
Lance sighed. “They didn’t.”
“What do you mean?”
“They came in as a regular patron, someone you wouldn’t have noticed. I was supposed to slip in and retrieve it the same way.”
“While accompanied by your pet monkey?”
He huffed. “Obviously Remington told me not to bring Tony, but?—”
“You don’t listen to directions.”
“Right.”
“I need to know who it is. What if I see him again?”
“The man is probably dead.”
Had I heard that right? “What?”
“He took it from a family member who was the original thief. He was probably hoping to get the attention off him by passing the necklace on, but it didn’t work. I don’t know for sure, but my guess is his relative found out, and he paid the price.”
“How do you know that?”
“Remy realized the man had disappeared, and tonight, one of our men received confirmation of his death.”
“Do they know you have the necklace now?”
Lance shrugged. “We don’t know. That’s why you’re staying here under my protection until this is all sorted out.”
My mind whirled. Things like this happened in movies and books, not in real life. “How do you sort something like this out?”
“You really don’t want to know that.”
I imagined it involved murder and possibly some gruesome torture, so maybe I didn’t want the details. “What will stop these people from coming after us? Do they want the necklace back? Will they still want revenge if they get it?”
“We have to convince them that revenge will be too difficult and costly for them.”
Just how powerful were the Theriots? “Will they buy that?”
“We’ll find a way to make them.”
He didn’t sound as sure as I wanted him to.
How had someone involved in this gotten into the library without me noticing?
Of course Remington had been a patron, and I hadn’t known how dangerous he was at first. I would still have barred him from the library even if I had.
Just because he’s a mob boss doesn’t mean he gets to put his hands all over rare materials.
“What are you thinking about?” Lance’s lip was quirked up like he was fighting a smile.
“Nothing.”
Lance dropped several pieces of toast onto a grill pan and then turned to me with raised brows.
“Fine, I was thinking about your brother.”
“What about him?”
His voice was strained. Was he jealous? No way. “How much of an arrogant asshole he was when he came into the library.”
Lance laughed, and I loved the sound. It was the most relaxed I’d seen him except for the moment when he’d… No, don’t think about that. I didn’t need to be sitting there with a hard-on.
“You’re thinking of much better things now, aren’t you?” he asked.
How the hell did he do that? Even Gwen didn’t know what I was thinking that easily, and we’d been friends for years. I was used to being a puzzle to people. “Um… maybe.”
His smile turned predatory. “If I wasn’t determined to prove to you that I make the best French toast you’ve ever had, I’d drag you right back upstairs.”
No matter how hungry I was, I wouldn’t protest. “I deserve to know more about your enemies.”
Lance sighed.
“Were you hoping you distracted me?”
“I should have known better.”
“Why was the necklace stolen in the first place? Just for the money?”
Lance flipped pieces of toast onto a plate and added more to the pan. “I think they did it to prove they could and possibly as a gift. The head of the family has a new wife.”
I frowned at him. “What good is it as a gift? She can’t wear it. Not when…”
“Maybe not right now and certainly not here, but the people responsible are based out of Houston, not New Orleans, and as much as you want this to be something everyone would recognize, it’s not. They could say it was a reproduction made because of the stir caused when the necklace was stolen.”
“Why would someone believe that?
“Because they don’t want to be shot.”
Yikes. “I guess I didn’t think about it that way.”
“These are not nice people.”
“You’re not a nice person.”
Lance chuckled. “You’re right. I’m not, but I’m going to protect you, and I’m going to do it by keeping you here where I know you’re safe.”
I huffed. Was he trying to scare me now? “I can’t just stay home from work, Lance.”