Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Darcy jolted awake to the sound of a door snapping closed.
Or a cabinet?
Something shut, sharply, and she opened her eyes.
Her face was buried in a super soft pillow that smelled, inexplicably, like sun-soaked cotton. The way clothes smelled when hung out to dry in the summertime.
She had no idea how Juliet’s bedding – and Juliet, for that matter, she now knew very intimately – smelled like that, because she was pretty positive Juliet/Juliet’s housekeeper(s?) didn’t dry her laundry outside.
Juliet. With whom she’d had sex last night.
Because apparently Juliet hadn’t been taunting her. Darcy felt very certain of that now, because there was nothing that said “mutually assured destruction” like Juliet coming in her mouth as though she’d never be able to experience another orgasm in her life.
Juliet Jacobs was a lesbian.
Even though they’d fucked for hours, Darcy still felt totally rocked by that reality.
Admittedly, maybe she shouldn’t. Because she was a lesbian, and she didn’t have any sort of timeline or anything on coming out. So… she supposed it wasn’t that insane.
When she’d imagined having some sort of kinship to Juliet in the past, she’d never imagined they had this in common, though.
That sharp cabinet/door/something closing sound happened again, and Darcy took a long, deep breath and rolled onto her back.
“You sleep like the dead, you know,” Juliet intoned, sounding amused.
Darcy rejected that notion immediately. “No, I don’t.”
She fucking wished. She’d give just about anything to be able to have more than a fitful sleep for months, now.
“I have no idea who has lied to you about that, but yes, you do,” Juliet doubled-down.
Darcy rolled her eyes, turning to face her left, where Juliet had last been in her memory. But the other side of the cushy, king-sized bed was empty save for some rumpled high thread-count blankets.
She lifted her gaze higher, taking everything in. She’d been in a bit of a haze when they’d gotten to Juliet’s bedroom last night, single-mindedly focused on the activity at hand.
She’d told Juliet exactly the truth: what she’d desperately wanted was to turn her mind off. Which was precisely what she’d gotten.
Juliet’s bedroom wasn’t palatially big, but it was very spacious. There was a large loveseat on the other side of the room, near the glass doors that opened onto a balcony.
She was surprised by the color Juliet had in here, having expected – if pressed – something far more neutral.
Her walls were painted an olive green, though, and she had gray and jewel-toned accents with her pillows and blankets.
Her floors were dark, polished wood, with some sort of expensive-looking rug that had been very soft under Darcy’s feet last night. It was… homey.
She continued her exploratory stare until she came to an open doorway that clearly led into the ensuite.
Just inside the door was a large vanity, which Juliet currently sat in front of, looking like some kind of glorious royalty.
The vanity, from Darcy’s view, looked like it was made of marble, and the built-in lights around the large mirror reminded Darcy of the lights she saw in the professional dressing rooms she’d been in. Of course, Juliet had that set up in her personal bathroom.
There wasn’t a single time Darcy could think of in ten years that she’d ever seen a photo of Juliet in public that didn’t look immaculate. Even when she wasn’t “dressed up,” she was always perfectly put together. So, it made sense.
Darcy sat up, running a hand through her hair – wincing as she encountered knots, even as she vividly flashed to the ways Juliet had gripped her hair, her body buzzing with the memory – as she darted her eyes around again, frowning.
Nope, no idea where the hell her phone was.
She trailed her eyes back to Juliet. “What time is it?”
Juliet was putting on mascara, her mouth slightly parted in a way that was ridiculously enticing so soon after their marathon sex. Darcy was… a little sucked in.
And Juliet took her sweet time doing it, expertly holding Darcy’s gaze in the mirror where Darcy could tell that she enjoyed keeping her waiting. That she knew she had Darcy’s attention.
She narrowed her eyes back, feeling that stir inside. She kind of enjoyed it, too.
Finally, Juliet leaned back, capping her mascara. She delicately placed it down in a spot that was obviously dedicated to it in a drawer next to her. “It’s just after ten in the morning.”
Shock slashed through her, and she sat up ramrod straight. “Ten?”
No way. No freaking way. She hadn’t slept past ten in – she had no idea.
Because that meant she’d slept for… well, she didn’t know exactly but she knew that Juliet had grabbed them water a little after one, and then they’d gone for another round. So, she’d probably slept for at least seven or eight hours.
She supposed that explained why she didn’t feel absolutely run ragged. The first thing she was accustomed to in the morning now was jaw-cracking yawns until she mainlined caffeine. But… no yawns. Her eyes didn’t feel gritty and sore.
Huh.
Even with so many other unknowns right now – because in the back of her mind that was processing, all she could think was !!! and ??? – she felt herself grin, her shoulders moving in a little dance.
She felt good.
Juliet slowly turned where she sat on her throne – that was what it looked like, anyway – to face Darcy directly rather than through the reflection in the mirror.
“If you have somewhere to be, might I suggest not falling asleep immediately after sex ends? I’d turned to get a sip of water, and when I turned back around you were out like a light. ”
Yeah, that was not her usual behavior. Last night she had felt so completely satiated. Exhausted. Perfectly wrung out, until she’d simply had no energy left to be anxious or stressed. Not even when she’d had sex with women from the bar the last few years.
Whether it was a positive thing or not, she and Juliet were… aligned.
It was like Juliet had looked into her mind and seen precisely what Darcy desired.
“Well the good news is that I don’t have somewhere to be. I was just surprised.” She eyed Juliet from across the room. Unlike Darcy, still naked in Juliet’s bed, Juliet was completely put together.
She wore a floral sundress, she’d clearly showered and dried her hair, her makeup had just been flawlessly applied.
She was back to looking like Good Girl Juliet, nothing like the bombshell of a woman who’d been wearing the short, silk robe as she’d awaited Darcy’s arrival last night.
“Do you have somewhere to be?” She asked, tilting her head.
“Yes,” Juliet succinctly replied, but didn’t provide any other details as she stood up from where she sat.
“That’s why I made a point of waking you up.
I have to leave in less than an hour… which means so do you,” she tacked on, as if Darcy needed to be informed that she couldn’t stay in Juliet’s home after she left.
Darcy dropped her mouth open in mock-surprise. “What? But, Juliet, I thought this really meant something to you. I thought I’d be moving in here with you now.”
“It devastates me to break your heart like this.” But there was a hint of a smile on Juliet’s lips.
“If you have to leave relatively soon, why didn’t you wake me earlier? You’ve obviously been up for a while.”
Juliet huffed out an irate breath. “I tried; I wasn’t quiet when I was getting ready. Finally, I decided I just had to slam the drawer shut until you stirred. If you didn’t, I was going to have to check if you’d passed away.”
“You’re really good in bed, but not sent-me-literally-into-cardiac-arrest good,” Darcy shot back. “Thankfully, I might add.”
Those dark eyes narrowed at her, as Juliet started walking across the room.
Darcy leaned back against the headboard, eyeing Juliet with interest as she got closer. “So you didn’t wake me up when you got up. And you didn’t wait until right before you’re going to leave…” She trailed off, dragging her stare down Juliet’s body again.
There was a flush on Juliet’s cheeks, her eyes set lower than Darcy’s face, right at her chest. Which, she realized, was now visible as the comforter had fallen away when she’d leaned back.
Shamelessly, she kicked it down a little farther.
“I have impeccable timing. You’ll find it’s often heralded as one of my best talents,” Juliet murmured, heatedly, kneeling on the edge of her bed next to Darcy.
“But you’re all perfectly made up.” She reached up and almost touched Juliet’s face. She was so, so close, her fingertips only a centimeter away from tracing down Juliet’s cheek. Fuck, she had a flawless face.
She could see Juliet shiver from how close Darcy was…
And then she dropped her hand down, tilting her head as she feigned a thoughtful frown. “I couldn’t possibly take responsibility for ruining what you have going on right now.”
“Prepare to be impressed by just how talented I am at not smudging my makeup,” Juliet shot back, voice dipping low and breathy, before she surged forward and kissed Darcy.
Darcy responded immediately, desperately wanting in an instant regardless of how hard she’d come multiple times last night. She braced a hand on Juliet’s lower back and pushed forward so she was lying on top of her.
She would, in fact, like to know how impressed she could be by Juliet’s talents.
Unfortunately for whatever Juliet’s mystery plans were, they were running late.
So late that Darcy was now situated in Juliet’s passenger seat, because it would have taken longer than Juliet was willing to wait around for a car to arrive for her.
Darcy couldn’t complain, though.
She’d made Juliet come twice in her mouth, without even taking off her pretty little dress. Juliet had then made her come, before ordering her to get a quick shower. She’d come back out into Juliet’s bedroom to find a t-shirt and joggers left with the note:
Unless you’d prefer the public thinking about your walk of shame if you’re spotted…