12. April
Why am I starting at Julian’s mouth?
Because you want to kiss him, dummy, my snarky subconscious replied.
I told her to shut her trap. I did want to kiss him but that didn”t mean I was going to. That would be crazy. I wasn’t sure what happened, where the intense urge came from to graze my lips against him. Maybe dredging up memories also brought up buried desires. Ten years ago, I’d hoped that Julian would give me my first kiss ever at some point during prom. Unfortunately, it never happened. I wanted it to happen now. I had a feeling he was very good with his mouth.
Back away from the hot man, April!I begged myself. Yet, I felt myself swaying closer to him as if under compulsion.
“April?” Julian’s voice sounded a little strained. He visibly swallowed but he didn’t back away. “What are you―”
I did it. I gently brushed his lips with mine, experimentally. Only his deep inhale was audible along with the rapid pounding of my heart. Oh, my God. He was probably going to pull away and laugh the whole thing off, maybe tease me a little. Panicked, I pulled back, wide-eyed and took in the small frown he wore. Yup, he was going to laugh. The second he did, I’d melt into an embarrassing puddle at his feet. Then, I’d have to lock myself in the fancy suite and never face him again for the rest of eternity. What was I thinking? I was his nurse, for goodness’s sake, and he didn’t even see me like that...sexually.
Julian’s lips parted as if he wanted to say something but he snapped them shut and just stared at me. Then, his eyes dropped to my mouth. I remained frozen, afraid to even breathe. I was surprised when he dipped his head and kissed me, then pulled away. It wasn’t as chaste as the one I gave him but nothing too crazy. Yet, I was heated to the core. We gazed at each other for a moment. I was sure my face was blood red because it felt as if it was on fire.
“What’s happening here?” he asked.
“I’m not sure. I just…” I swallowed, holding his gaze. “Honestly, I was taking the kiss you owed me from prom night.” What possessed me to be so bold? I didn’t know. Temporary insanity was a possibility...
Julian’s eyes came alive with amusement. He’d always smiled with his eyes, even when he kept a straight face. I liked that about him. Groaning inwardly, I shut my eyes. Now I was liking things about him. My eyes opened as he laughed softly.
“Well, fuck, Flower Child. If I owe you a kiss, allow me to pay my debt properly and thoroughly.”
His mouth latched on to mine before I could get a word out. He stole my breath. For a moment, I was frozen by shock even though I’d kissed him first. Then his lips moved, slowly, coaxingly. Sighing, I melted and kissed him back. My lips parted, inviting him to deepen the kiss. He did. His good arm wound around my waist, pulling me against his chest. I stumbled and fell into him with a gasp, my palms flat against his chest. His injured, plastered hand came up to push away tendrils of hair from my face.
His tongue swept into my mouth and explored with sensuous strokes. The scent of his cologne went straight in my head, leaving me intoxicated. His hard, toned body was a contrast against my softer one. Being crushed against him felt so good. Julian’s hand left my waist and came up to palm the nape of my neck. He held me in place and delved deeper, practically drinking me in as if he was dying of thirst and I was the last drink of water on earth. It was amazing. A delighted moan sounded in my throat as he continued his exploration, driving me wild. A kiss had never felt and tasted so incredible. My proverbial socks were knocked off and my panties quickly followed. Holy shit. I was right. He was good with his mouth. I was soaked between the thighs, my body begging for him to go beyond the bone-melting, brain-muddling kiss.
He walked me back into my suite, our mouths still attached and moving in a sensual dance. More. I needed more. Suddenly, I was starving for Julian to touch me everywhere. As if reading my mind, he lifted his hand to slide under my left breast. His fingers and the hard coolness of his cast penetrated my sexual haze but it was his grunt of pain that completely pulled me back. I yanked my mouth away from him.
“Oh, my God,” I groaned. The man was thrown from a motorcycle less than two weeks ago. He hadn’t healed properly and here I was ready to climb him like a tree. I was hired to look after him until he healed properly. What was wrong with me?
He blinked when I took two steps back, and I watched as his hands dropped to his sides. “Where are you going? I wasn’t done paying my debt.” His voice was a low octave that made my breath hitch, and his lips curled upward into a wicked smile. Damn him for being so sexy. I wanted to kiss him again.
“Oh, I think you have.” I took a deep breath then exhaled. I touched a finger to my lips. “In full,” I murmured. Holy mother of God. What was that? Who the hell even kissed like that? Julian just made love to my mouth.
“How did I do? Is that what you had in mind for prom night?” he practically purred.
My brows shot up. “That’s how you would have kissed me?” I couldn’t believe we were actually standing here, discussing a hot as hell kiss. My face felt as if it was being held centimeters away from the sun.
He shrugged. “I undertake all of my endeavors with gusto.” The smirk he wore was just too much. The way he was looking at me, how his eyes were roving from my lips to my robed torso to my bare legs and back up, was lighting a fire under my skin.
I snorted. If he’d kissed me like that when we were eighteen, I most definitely would have lost my virginity on prom night. I blushed because my mind went there. Losing my virginity to Julian. I gave him a once-over out of the corner of my eye. I wish. It probably would have been stellar. Stop it!
My mind kept going to Julian and sex...sex with Julian...and it was disturbing. “I-I’m sorry,” I stammered, “that was highly inappropriate.”
“I kissed you.”
“I mean the first time. Things got out of hand.”
“Did they ever,” he drawled, giving me that heated look again.
Rubbing the back of my neck, I looked everywhere but at him. I was never good with this kind of thing. “I don’t go around kissing clients…”
He lifted a brow. “I’d hope not. But I get special preference because we’re frenemies right?” He grinned a boyish grin that tempted me to smile back.
Instead, I groaned and rubbed my eyes. “One, please stop calling us frenemies. Two, what we did was...stupid. Wrong. Let’s just forget about it. I mean, it meant nothing.” Swallowing, I chanced a look at him, my face still burning.
He blinked, averted his gaze, then rocked back on his heels. “Yeah,” he muttered. “Nothing. Just a little kiss among frenemies.” A smile lifted one corner for his lips. “I’m not going to stop calling us that. You get these cute little lines of disapproval above your nose when I do. It amuses me.”
I rolled my eyes. And of course, he was back to messing with me. The heat of our insane kiss...mistake, dissipated. “Whatever. Can you not tell anyone about this?”
He scoffed, his demeanor changing. His expression went from teasing smirk to angry lines. “Right because I run to share every kiss with the media. What do you take me for, April?”
My mouth opened and closed. “I just…” Why was he so upset? “That’s not what I meant.”
Julian huffed. “Yeah, okay. I’m going to go.”
I followed him to the door. “Julian…”
“See you in a few hours.” He lifted his good hand in a sort of wave but kept walking. I watched, a little surprised by his obvious irritation. When he disappeared, I closed my door and sagged against it as I tried to catch my breath. Did all of that really happen? It was surreal. Julian came in here all remorseful and hot. I forgave him for a stupid incident in our past and kissed him.
Pushing myself in front of the door, I trudged to the bedroom. “Why, April? Why?” I threw myself face down on the bed and growled into the mattress. I’d never been so forward with a guy before. I kissed Julian first. Who am I? He always brought out a different side of me, and I couldn’t determine whether that was a good thing or not.