I felt the friction heating up with every stroke. I knew that at any moment, a spark would erupt into a flame and I would explode around his cock.
As amazing as I knew it would be, I found myself actually trying to hold back. I wanted to make it last as long as possible. I wanted to make it last forever. Lying there, naked with Romeo, wrapped up in his arms, with him inside me—it was my very idea of perfection and I didn’t want it to ever end.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his torso, pressing as much of my flesh to his as I could. Perhaps sensing my urgency, he covered my mouth with his, crushing his lips against mine as his tongue surged inside.
I had an instinct rising up within me, one that told me that it wasn’t enough to just have him inside me, I needed to get as close to him as possible, in as many ways as possible. It was like a drum beat in my brain, thumping out a constant rhythm: clo-ser, clo-ser, clo-ser, clo-ser.
I felt like a wild animal doing nothing but following my most basic instincts.
My fingers gripped Romeo tighter and I knew that my nails were digging further into his back. I wasn’t doing it intentionally to mark him, but I didn’t hate the idea. In fact, I kind of loved thinking about the fingernail marks on his back as a sort of “Property of Juliette” brand.
As my nails dug into him, his thrusts came faster and faster, which in turn built the pressure inside me up to the breaking point. I knew that I was mere seconds away from being claimed by another orgasm.
I felt my inner walls tighten and the rest of my muscles clenched around his dick. I felt it happening like it was a force outside of myself, as opposed to something that I was consciously doing. It was like I was being swept away by a tide that was far more powerful than I was.
I had intended to say something, to let Romeo know that I was about to climax, but before I could I was in the middle of it and no words could even escape. The world was spinning and I was being flung out into space. Again.
CHAPTER 18
Romeo
I was only semi-cognizant of a pounding sound in the distance but I was desperately trying to ignore it. Sleep was pulling me back to sweet oblivion when awareness started slowly filtering into my brain. I wasn’t alone and I wasn’t in my bed. I was in Jules’ bed. I’d spent the night with her. I’d made love to her twice before we both passed out intertwined in a heap of arms and legs. But now we weren’t intertwined at all.
I rolled over and reached my arm out. Before I’d even opened my eyes I feared that I was wrong, I was alone. The silky sheets were cold.
When I did pry my lids apart, I no longer heard the obnoxious noise that had disturbed my coma-like sleep and my suspicion was confirmed. Although my sight was blurry, I could easily see that Juliette was nowhere to be found. I pushed up on my elbows to a seated position and scrubbed my hand over my face before reaching my arms above my head to stretch.
Bright sunlight streamed in through the wooden shutters, blanketing the entire room in a radiant glow. As I lowered my arms, I checked my Apple Watch and saw that it wasn’t as late as I’d assumed from the bright daylight. It was just past seven a.m. The bed dipped as I shifted my weight and placed my feet on the hardwood.
I stood and noticed that the flooring wasn’t the only thing that was hard. I was rocking some substantial morning wood.
Disappointment settled in my chest as I bent down to grab my discarded sweats on my way to the bathroom. I was bummed that Juliette wasn’t there. And not just for the obvious reason jutting out from my body. It was her birthday morning, and I’d wanted to make the day special.
After using the restroom, I stepped back into the room and noticed a note on the small desk in the corner of the room.
Had work to do. Will be back soon.
That was it. No mention of the night before. No declarations of undying love like the letter she’d given me twelve years ago. Not even an X or an O.
My disappointment was growing but the good news was, I might still have time to make Jules a birthday breakfast before she got back. There was no way she was going to have a piece of avocado toast on her birthday. Not on my watch. I may have already made her favorite breakfast yesterday, but luckily I knew that she had a very close runner-up.
I grabbed my shirt and pulled it on, then paused. The bed was a mess and although I was tempted to leave it that way as a reminder for Jules, I knew that she hated an unmade bed. I had no idea what the housekeeping situation was since I’d requested that the only staff with access to the villa be Juliette.
So, I did my best to put everything in order. As I tucked in the sheets, the fresh citrusy scent that was uniquely Jules wafted up through air, and my morning wood returned. Damn, she didn’t even have to be here to make me hard.
I wasn’t sure exactly how to place all of the pillows, there were so many of them, but I did the best I could. Hopefully, she’d think it was the thought that counted.
As I walked down the hall, visions of last night played in my head. They were so vivid but still held a fantasy-like quality.
I’d made love to Juliette Pierce. And not only that, I was her first. I still couldn’t quite wrap my head around that. I definitely wanted to talk more about it with her, but that was going to be difficult with her brother around.
Jared was sitting at the large kitchen island, typing on his computer when I entered.
“Hey, have you seen, Jules? I knocked on her door, but there was no answer.”
Oh shit. That must’ve been the pounding that had woken me up. What if he knew that I was in there? What if he knew that I’d spent the night with his sister? What if he was trying to see if I was going to lie about it?
“She left a note saying she had to work.”
I turned on the coffee pot, knowing that I was definitely going to need caffeine for this conversation. As the machine came to life, I placed my hands on the counter and tried to decide what the best course of action should be.
If Jared did know, I wasn’t going to deny it. But if he didn’t, I felt no obligation to tell him, as shitty as that might sound.
Jared and I had been friends, best friends, for twenty years. I knew that I should feel guilty about what happened with Juliette, but I didn’t. She was an adult, I was an adult, and I loved her. I was in love with her.
“So, when did you decide to come out this weekend?” I’d mentioned to Jared that I’d be heading out to Oasis to work on my solo album, but he hadn’t said anything about planning the same thing.
“Yesterday,” his tone was somber.
I glanced over at him and watched as he shut his laptop and his expression grew very serious.
Fuck. He knew and he was about to confront me about it.
Here we go.
I turned so that I was facing him, leaned back on the countertop, and crossed my arms in front of me. I hadn’t meant to take such a defensive stance, but I had a feeling that this was not going to be an I’m-so-happy-you’re-in-love-with-my-sister talk.
He took a deep breath and I braced myself, ready for him to rip me a new one for crossing a line that was Guy Code 101: don’t mess with my little sister.
“I found my dad,” he stated and then exhaled.
I stood still, momentarily unable to speak. I’d heard what he said but the conversation had taken such a left turn, it had lost me.
“You what?”
“After you told me about your mom, I thought what if he’s gone, too? What if my dad’s dead and I don’t even know it?”
“So that’s why you were asking so many questions about my private investigator.” I’d thought it was strange at the time that Jared seemed to be more interested in the P.I. firm than he was on details about my mom.
“Yeah.” Jared nodded.
“What did Jules think about that?” Things could’ve changed but when we were growing up, Jules had no desire to find or have any relationship with her dad. She never even wanted to talk about him.
“I haven’t told her.
” Jared admitted.
“You haven’t told her?”
“No. I went and saw him yesterday—”
“You saw him?!” I was an only child, so I obviously wasn’t an expert on sibling relationships, but Jared and Juliette were close. They’d been through a lot together.
Jared finding their dad and not telling Jules was one thing, him going to see the man felt like a betrayal, at least to me it did.
“Yeah. He lives in Santa Fe and I went there before coming here.”
“Why didn’t you tell Jules?”
“I just had to see for myself whether or not he was worth the trouble. I wasn’t about to invite a wolf into the henhouse.”
That was a good point, but I didn’t think Jules would see it that way.
“My sister’s been through enough. It was really tough for her when Yaya and Papouli passed.”
His words were like a knife through my heart. It made me sick that I hadn’t been there for her then. I’d been so young and broke—but those both seemed like sad excuses now.
“So, what happened? Did you talk to him?”
“Yeah.”
“And is he? A wolf?”
“No. I don’t think so.”
“So are you going to tell her?”
“Yeah. Not today, not on her birthday. But tomorrow. I’m going to see if she wants to go see him. He really wants to see her.”
As Jared filled me in on reuniting with his dad, I tried to keep my best friend hat on and listen through that filter. But all I kept thinking about was how this was going to affect Jules.
I had no idea what the answer was, but this time, I’d be there for her no matter what.
CHAPTER 19
Juliette
I’m not a virgin.
The reality of that statement had not truly sunk in.
I had sex with Romeo.
The reality of that statement wasn’t even close to sinking in.
My back was stiff and straight as I sat in my office and tried to lose myself in my work. While my attempt was proving feeble at best, I had to admit that the click-clack of the keyboard as I typed was soothing. It was centering me. Calming me.
After several hours of lying wide awake in bed with Romeo, while my head spun like a figure skater, I decided to come into my office to work. It wasn’t the distraction I’d hoped it would be. Questions were still buzzing around in there.
What were things going to be like between us now?
Were we going to keep in touch when he went back to California?
Did he enjoy last night as much as I had?
Was this a one-night-only event or would we be doing it again?
There were so many questions that I had no answers to, but work was helping. I was in my comfort zone.
A knock sounded at my door and my heart lodged in my throat. Was Romeo here? Had he come to my office?
I glanced down to make sure that everything was in order and when I did, I pictured Romeo bending me over my desk and taking me.
No.
I shook the errant thought from my mind. Now that I’d had sex it seemed that Pandora’s Box had been opened. Every room I entered, every surface I saw, became settings for the porno that played in my head. When I’d quietly gone into the bathroom to change, I’d imagined him taking me in the shower. In the golf cart on the way here I’d imagined what it would be like to straddle him in it. Now that I’d been with Romeo, it was the only thing I wanted to do.
“Come in.” My voice was stronger than I’d expected and for that I was grateful.
Carlos, the head of security, popped his head in. “Sorry to disturb you. I’m looking for Mr. Sullivan. His mother’s here.”
I stood. “Is she okay?”
Liam’s mom suffered from Lupus. After years of begging, she’d finally agreed to move in with her son, so she lived only a mile away. But I’d never known her to show up at the resort unannounced.
“She seems fine.” Carlos nodded. “She’s waiting in Mr. Sullivan’s office.”
“I’ll take care of it. Thanks!”
I grabbed my phone to see if Liam had answered any of the texts I’d sent him over the past four hours. He was supposed to be meeting a friend for breakfast, but Cooper had pushed it back, and I’d let him know. He hadn’t returned any of my texts.
I called him as I made my way out to the back parking lot to see if his car was there.
I walked out the back door and almost bumped right into the man I was trying to find. Liam was with CiCi Howard, the woman who was the maid of honor at his friend’s wedding and had performed CPR on one of our guests. And it looked like she was now performing CPR on the owner himself.
In all the years I’d worked with Liam Sullivan, I’d never seen him show any interest in anyone. Women showed interest in him all the time, but he never reciprocated. I was shocked to say the least. I knew that I needed to announce my presence, or more to the point, his mother’s presence but I wasn’t sure what to say. “Um…”
My sad, one-syllable statement got Liam’s attention and his head turned. I cleared my throat, feeling like I’d just been caught spying on him. If it was anyone other than his mother, I’d have left him undisturbed, but I had strict orders to always interrupt him for his mother.
“Sorry to interrupt, but your mother is in your office.”
“I know, I’ll be right there.”
Liam returned his attention back to CiCi and the two spoke quietly for a moment. She smiled and gave me a slight wave before she went inside the resort. I smiled back before turning my attention to Liam.
When she was gone, Liam asked. “How are things going with Romeo?”
I froze. Did he know?
No. He couldn’t have known anything happened. It’s not like my deflowering was evident.
Was it?
No, I wasn’t thinking straight. Probably because I hadn’t gotten any sleep.
“Fine,” I answered flatly.
“No issues?”
Why would he think there were issues?
My mind was playing tricks on me. He didn’t know anything.
“Nothing I can’t handle.” I gave him my patented answer to all inquiries and then changed the subject. “Alexis said that everything went smoothly at the wedding.”
“It did. She did a great job.”
“Good. I worried when I didn’t hear back about your breakfast with Cooper being rescheduled.”
“Hear back?”
“I’ve been texting you since last night.” Because I had sex and couldn’t sleep so I was micromanaging your life instead.
“Thanks. I totally forgot that I was supposed to meet him.”
That wasn’t a surprise. Liam forgot most things. Like it didn’t bother me at all that it was my birthday and he had no clue. He forgot his own birthday.
We said a quick goodbye and Liam headed in to speak to his mom. I thought about going back to my own office but decided that it was time to face the music. Or I guess the musician.
I briefly considered taking a golf cart back to the villa, but then decided I could use some extra time to think about those questions that were swarming in my head like bees around a hive.
Were things going to be different between us?
Of course they were. How could they not be?
How were things going to be different?
I had no idea, but I would handle it.
Would he pretend last night hadn’t happened?
If he did, I would follow his lead. At least until Jared left.
Or worse, would he want to talk about it?
Since arriving, it seemed like all he wanted to do was talk.
Would it happen again?
Jared may be staying until tomorrow, but that didn’t mean anything since Romeo had come to my room last night.
At the thought that there might be a repeat performance my entire body erupted in sensation. Tingles spread down my limbs. My inner walls clenched.
I tried to ig
nore my body’s response as I opened the front door of the villa and heard voices and smelled delicious scents coming from the kitchen. Nerves danced low in my belly as I took a deep breath and followed the smells and the sounds.
As I turned the corner, both men stopped speaking. They had the same looks on their faces as they had when Papouli caught them sneaking out with two backpacks filled with toilet paper.
I’d been so in my own head that I hadn’t been listening to what they’d been saying, but now I wished I had. I tried to play it back but I had honestly been in my own little world.
Were they talking about last night?
Had some misplaced sense of loyalty caused Romeo to confess his sins to his best friend?
Did my brother know that we had sex last night?
Horrified didn’t even scratch the surface of what I was feeling.
“Everything okay?”
“Of course!” Jared stood from the stool he was seated on at the island and pulled me into a big hug. “Happy birthday!”
My eyes met Romeo’s and I silently searched for answers. Unfortunately, none were forthcoming.
His expression was blank.
“You hungry? Romeo made Yaya’s French toast and ham.”
My second favorite breakfast meal.
“I could eat.”
We all sat down and I couldn’t help but sense the dynamic had shifted between the three of us. There was a strange energy passing between Romeo and Jared.
“So, what does the birthday girl want to do today?” Jared asked.
“I’m working,” I explained.
“We’re going four-wheeling,” Romeo interjected.
My eyes shot to him. “We are?”
Growing up, I’d begged, even cried to go four-wheeling with my brother and his friends, but the answer was always no. And since my brother had saved up his own money to get his four-wheeler, it wasn’t like my grandparents could make him include me. I’d always guessed that was the reason he’d mowed so many lawns to get it.
“I know you’re thirty now and it’s your birthday, but I’m not going to lie, my first instinct is to say that you can’t come,” Jared said with a smile.
Resisting Romeo (Steamy Weekends Book 3) Page 10