He runs a hand down his face. “We broke up.”
“When?” she demands.
“Almost two months ago.” He cringes, seeming to expect a reaction from her.
“Julian Ean, you mean to tell me you broke up with your girlfriend and I am only now hearing about it? Why would you deal with that all on your own when you didn’t have to? All the way in the boonies at that.”
He looks down at me, his beautiful gray eyes soft. I’m still confused by his mother’s call and am not ready to give in to him. I cross my arms over my breasts and narrow my eyes at him. He raises his brows and puts his hand on my bare stomach, trailing his fingers down my belly button.
“Is that your way of telling me you’re worried about me?”
I watch his fingers warily. They’re inching for the sheets bunched around my waist. He isn’t going to do what I think he’s doing with his mother on the phone, is he? One look at his naughty gaze and I think he might.
“I’ve been worried about you since you left home.” His mother sighs. “This is just so strange, Julian. In your email, it sounded like you were running from something. Or someone.”
His hand dips below the sheets. I panic and cross my legs, squeezing them together so he can’t reach the part of me with both know he wants. When he finds my pussy off limits, he chuckles, and settles on rubbing my thigh instead.
“What’s so funny?” his mother demands.
“Yeah,” I whisper. “What’s so funny?”
“Who’s that?”
Julian grins wide when I blush. He’s still rubbing my thigh. I want to open my legs and let him touch me. But I won’t. It seems more wrong than erotic at the moment.
“Mom, meet Kaelyn. Kaelyn, say hello to my mother and stop trying to seduce me.”
I gasp and smack his arm. “Julian.”
His mother laughs warmly. “Oh. I see why you didn’t think to call about Layla. She is old news.” She sounds strangely happy about it. “Hello, Kaelyn. What a pretty name.”
Julian’s smile is wide and handsome, full of things they shouldn’t be full of considering I just opened my legs during my angry outburst. His fingers find my inner thigh.
At the same time, his mother’s waiting for a reply. Heat course all over my body, staining my pale skin red. “Um, hello, Mrs. Ean. Thank you.”
Julian is positively glowing as his fingers find my pussy wet for him. “Hello, Mrs. Ean,” he whispers mockingly in my ear. He kisses below my ear as his fingers part me, massaging my entrance.
“Call me Charlotte, dear. How long have you two been seeing each other?”
“Answer her,” Julian whispers, massaging me slowly.
I bite my lip to keep from moaning. I’m attempting to glare but it’s difficult with his fingers teasing me. “Not long,” I manage, my voice squeaky. “Stop,” I hiss.
He shakes his head and kisses my shoulder.
“Well, it must be serious if he’s already letting me talk to you. He dated that Layla for a year before we met her.”
Oh, man … his fingers feel so good. They’re slowly easing inside, making me wet and wanting. I have to remember how to form coherent sentences and maintain a conversation with his mom at the same time. It’s sick. “You don’t like her? That makes two of us.”
“Would you like an unappreciative woman who stole your son and moved him clear across the United States?”
“No, I guess not.” Ahh.
“Then you see my point. Are you bringing Kaelyn with you?”
“Mhm,” comes his muffled reply. Painstakingly slowly he urges a third finger into my tightness.
“Will I like her? Or will I have to pretend like with Layla?”
For a second I ignore my pleasure. I stare at the phone.
“You’ll love her,” he assures her. There isn’t a hint of doubt anywhere near his words. They are steady and strong. “And you didn’t do a good job at pretending. Layla knew you couldn’t stand her.”
“Pity,” his mother lies. “And here I thought those acting classes in college paid off.”
Julian chuckles, picking up speed; his fingers pump me mercilessly. “I’m sure you’re upset.”
“How long are you going to be in town for Thanksgiving break?”
Thanksgiving? I lose my train of thought and cover my mouth with my hand, closing my eyes against the onslaught of lust.
“I haven’t decided.”
“What do you need the summer home for then? You can stay here. There’s an extra room in the condo.”
Is he trying to distract me? It’s working …
“I didn’t want to be in your and dad’s way.” He presses his lips to my ear. “Do you want to cum?”
I nod desperately.
“Oh, nonsense. You’re never in our way. When are you going to get here?”
I could feel her excitement through the phone. I could feel my own excitement as well. Julian’s fingers still for a second. I use the opportunity to ease his hand from between my legs and sit up, taking the sheet with me. I wrap it around my body and stick my tongue out at him.
He winks, and then brings his slick fingers to his lips. He sucks on them, eyes gleaming metal. “Mmm,” he purrs before answering. “Soon. I have to get a few things in order before I leave.”
Perv.
“How soon?”
“Why?” he asks suspiciously.
“I want to get things in order,” she mimics, unafraid to say exactly how she feels. It reminds me of her son.
“I don’t need anything special.”
“Who says it’s for you? I could be doing it for Kaelyn.”
I smile snottily. “Thank you, Charlotte.”
“Of course, dear. Julian can at times be a bit presumptuous.”
“Tell me about it,” I play along. Julian is anything but presumptuous and we both know it.
His mouth thins. “I’ll see you soon, Mom.”
She laughs lightly. “You’re right. I do like her. Layla was such a nag.”
“Wasn’t she?” I grin.
“Just a straight nag.” Charlotte can’t stop laughing. “He’s glaring, isn’t he?”
“Hard.”
“That’s what he gets for not calling his mother for nearly two months. See you soon!” She hangs up with an unseen flourish. I imagine bells, whistles, and fancy chiming tinkles pinging in her wake.
He puts his phone on the nightstand and moves to lie on his back. “Don’t start,” he warns. “Hunt wants us gone. Where better to go?”
“I don’t know,” I admit. I hadn’t given it much thought. I know we have to leave, but we aren’t there yet, so why worry about it? But the longer I am around Julian later needs much more time in my brain. “What are you going to tell them about not coming back to Savannah? And then there’s me. Are you sure you want me to meet your family?” I look down and play with the hem on the sheet, pulling at an errant white string. “What if they don’t like me anymore than they did Layla?”
“They’ll be so glad I’m home they won’t even question why we’re there. Trust me. They’ve wanted me home for years.” He grabs my thigh through the sheet, rubbing it reassuringly. “Kael, there’s nothing about you that they won’t like. You make me happy. You’re going to give me everything I ever wanted. How could they dislike that?”
I peek at him. Damn man. Even now my heartbeat hammers in my ear and delicious nerves fill my belly. “I want to give you everything you want.”
“Then move back home with me. We’ll start a life there. We can leave everything but us in Savannah where it belongs. We won’t have to worry about Nessa, or Brady,” he says, voice becoming harsh. “We won’t have to worry about anything. Hunt did us a major favor. Let’s not question it.”
Leaving Savannah behind, and all the pain I endured here, sounds too good to be true. I won’t miss this place. I’m grateful I was here for only one reason. And that reason is looking at me with nothing but love in his eyes.
So, I gi
ve in. I want to start a life with this man that isn’t tainted by my past. “No questions. You’ve got it.”
He raises his eyebrows. “I’d like to see how long that lasts.”
I smile back, because we both know it won’t be for long. “Want to make a bet? I won’t ask a single question. I’ll trust you.”
His grin deepens and his eyes fill with humor. “I believe that this much.” He holds his fingers up with little space between them. “It’s not in your nature. Not yet anyway. Eventually, you’ll have to let that way of thinking go. I’m going to spend the rest of my life putting your mind at ease. You’re going to be so calm and trusting one day I’ll say you’re beautiful and all you’re going to think is I know.”
“You plan on sticking around that long?”
“You couldn’t get rid of me if you tried. You know why?” His face is serious suddenly.
I shake my head. But I know why. I know.
“Because I know you love me. I’ve never known any one thing more. Do you know what it means to me knowing you let me in? Knowing you trust me to love you back?”
I swallow hard and shake my head again.
He moves so he’s hovering over me. He grasps my face between his hands and brings it close to him. “It means everything to me. Have I ever thanked you for letting me in?”
I can look nowhere else but his eyes. The emotion in them is making it hard to breathe. He knows I’m not going to answer. He knows he’s taking my breath away.
“Thank you for taking a chance on me. I know you’ve been hurt by a lot of people and it wasn’t easy to do. You let me in anyway. I’m going to do everything I can to make you happy. To show you how thankful I am for you. And now,” he says, leaning so close I can feel his breath on my lips. “I’m going to make love to you, my Kaelyn.”
He grabs my legs through the sheets and pulls me down so I’m beneath him. “Because that’s what you are. Mine.” Without even giving me a chance to catch my breath, he kisses me.
I find it in me to grasp his face and kiss him back, matching the intense movements of his lips. His hand rips the sheet away, leaving me bare beneath him. Without breaking the kiss, he reaches into the drawer by our bed. We’ve done this countless times and he doesn’t even have to look when he reaches for a condom. He rips it open in a second, reaches down to roll it over his length, and then he’s entering me. His hands brace themselves on either side of my head. His movements are measured and sure. He knows what he wants to do, and I am simply a recipient of his hard deep erotic thrusts.
I break away from his lips and moan senselessly at the ceiling.
He pumps his hips into me, hitting every ache and need I have. The pleasure inside of me builds, a slave to his cock, to his lust. I squeeze my eyes shut and focus on the deep dark need, feeling my body tense as he stretches me with burning perfectness. His heavy breaths come from gritted teeth and his eyes drip melted silver all over my body as he takes me high, higher, as high as I can go.
Sometimes when we have sex I can keep up fairly well. Other times I’m the one with all the power. But most times, like right now, I don’t have it in me to even remember to think, let alone worry about what to do. Julian makes love to my body for so long that when we’re done, I can’t even move.
He rolls over and onto his back beside me, his chest rising and falling rapidly. Sweat smears across my breasts and the smell of his cologne wraps around me. I fumble blindly for him, taking whatever part of him I can get. I feel his bicep and hold on tight, fearing my pleasure is going to explode and take me with it.
He sits up suddenly and goes to the bathroom. When he returns, he stands in the middle of the room, naked and beautiful. His thick brown hair is mussed and his eyes are still teeming with what we just did. His abs expand under his heavy breathing. I can imagine what I look like. Naked, legs splayed apart, face flushed. I can’t find the strength to move a single muscle but my lips.
“You are by far the sexiest damn thing I’ve ever seen,” he informs me.
I giggle. “I was just thinking the same thing about you.”
He grins easily. “Let’s shower, eat breakfast, and then we can start packing. I’m thinking about hiring Jaz and letting him deal with the house. He can send someone to hash out the details with the owner. I don’t think we have time for details right now.” He grabs a towel out of the basket on the floor and then looks at me. “Any more questions?”
“Can we shower together?”
“Of course.” He walks over and stares down at me knowingly. “You need help getting there?”
“Please.”
He slips his hands under my body and easily lifts me into his arms, holding me close to his chest. I wrap my arms around his shoulders and rest my head on him as he carries me to the bathroom. Ever since Layla ransacked his room, we’ve turned the back of the house into our space. We cleaned up the mess but we don’t go into his old bedroom unless he needs to get clothes.
His hands lather my body in the shower, touching me tenderly. I wash him the same way, but only because I’m still weak from his lovemaking. I imagine doing this forever, and the thought is what finally wakes me up. Julian never says anything about this ending. I don’t want this to end. I want this forever, his body wrapped around mine, his lips kissing me like nothing else matters, and his deep sexy voice saying things that leave me completely breathless.
I wrap my arms around him in the shower, holding him to me tightly. I can’t believe he’s mine. And that maybe, just maybe, I can have this forever. There’s nothing I want more than him.
He chuckles uncomfortably. “What is it?” When I don’t answer, he sighs, doing his best to guess my thoughts. At this point, he’s psychic. “Don’t be afraid to be happy, Kael. Don’t let your fears get in the way of us.”
I know that’s what I’m doing. It’s what I’ve always done. “I can’t help it.”
“There’s nothing to be afraid of. I promise you. I’m never going anywhere. You’re never going anywhere, are you?” I shake my head forcefully. “See? So, there’s nothing to worry about.”
I nod against his chest, still squeezing him to me. “You remember that time we talked on the phone? You were afraid of being wrong again. You could be wrong.”
“So could you,” he counters, but I know I’m not. I’ve never been wrong about Julian. “Just like it’s easy to put your wants onto others, it’s just as easy to put your doubts on to them too. I know it’s scary. But you have to think past your fears before they start making your decisions for you. Can you do that for me?”
“I’d do anything for you.”
“Thank you, baby. Are we done in here? Or do I have to convince you more?” His hands slide down to cup my ass and his fingers slip on my wet flesh. “I have no problem convincing you again.”
I find his cock, sudsy with soap, and grin when he inhales sharply. “Me neither.”
Before he can come up with a response, I drop to my knees in front of him. The water leaves my back and sprays against his chest. He looks down at me, lips slightly agape as I take him into my mouth. I need to pleasure him right now. Water drips down his hard chest and abs as I suck and lick him. He braces himself against the shower wall and moans. I fist his shaft as I suck him into my mouth, loving the taste of his clean wet skin. When he finishes, I enjoy swallowing him. I twirl my tongue around his head, swallowing his warm hot end. Why would I waste a single part of him?
“We’re done in here now,” I inform him sweetly.
I pat his chest and leave him in the shower, panting and mouth wide open. I grab one of the towels off the rack and wrap it around my body. He does the same, eyes latched on me. Together we walk, dripping, into our bedroom. Though it’s hard, we manage to maintain eye contact while we dress. I pick one of the new tops he insisted I buy, a dark blue long sleeve, and a pair of worn jeans. After drying my hair, I comb it out.
When we get to the kitchen, we dance. Brushing against one another as we pour coffee and
fry eggs. Running my hand across his back as his touches my arm. It’s like this most mornings, but it seems far more solid now that the trial is over. When it’s him and I we’re good at blocking the rest of the world out. It still exists. But it’s easy this morning to pretend it doesn’t.
I eye him as he sips his coffee. I want coffee with him every morning. Can I let go of my fears, fears that have shaped me over the years, to keep this? When I put it like that, the answer seems clear. But I’ve lived my life for too long and have feared too much to accept a false sense of ease.
Just as we finish breakfast, his cell rings. He rolls his eyes at the screen before answering it. “Yes, mother?”
I smirk and grab our plates, clearing the table and cleaning up as they speak.
“I’ll call when we leave. We’re driving, so it’ll probably take a few days to get there.” He groans. “I’m sure steak will be fine. Kaelyn isn’t difficult. Well, at least not about food.”
I make a face at the dishes.
“The sooner you let me go the faster we can get there,” he points out, leaning against the counter.
I plan on watching him interact with his mother, but the doorbell rings and he motions for me to go answer it. When I open the door, I’m shocked to see Brady standing on the other side.
“What are you doing here?” I demand.
His smile is white and easy. “I’m glad to see you too, Scarlet.”
I can still hear Julian on the phone. I have to either get Brady to leave before he comes to investigate, or deal with the mood that’s sure to follow. By the dumb look on Brady’s face, I suspect the latter. I sigh unpleasantly and step back. “Come in.”
He gives me a tight look as he steps inside. “I thought I’d come to check on you after yesterday. How are you doing?”
I close the door and lead him into the living room. We both sink onto the couch. “I haven’t thought about it, to be honest. I’m not ready.”
He nods slowly, watching me. “Or maybe you’re ready to move on?”
“Maybe. I want to forget you and Nessa ever existed.”
He smiles sadly. “Ouch, Scarlet. You think you’ll be able to forget me?”
Under The Peaches (Teaching Love Series Book 1) Page 35