by Leeah Taylor
He watched her bottom lip wobble as she looked in every direction but his. “When Ollie told us what you remembered, we thought it was best not to do any more harm. You had lost so much already, Luv. Almost everything. Even yourself.”
He’d almost lost her before he had a chance to know her. To love her.
“We didn’t do it to hurt you or manipulate you or control you. We did it to protect you.” He grazed her cheek with his fingers. “I’ve told you time and again for decades, I will always protect you even if that means from yourself.”
The glowing flare in her eyes dimmed as her expression softened. Thank God! Then, like a switch, purple fury raged, and her hands slammed into his chest.
Damn. Here we go.
She slammed her fists in his chest, shoving him back. “God, I almost let you cajole me into submission like always. Sweet talking me back from the ledge. You son of a bitch.”
His very little patience for one of her tantrums wore thin, but he let her push him. Pummel his chest with her fists. Whatever she needed to get it out, like always. When she was beyond her shattered world and done with the broken pieces. She had too beautiful a spirit to be plagued by demons like rage and hatred. It’d consume her if she let it, so he never let it.
He allowed her to have her moment until she was red in the face and his back was against the door. Heart thumping against his rib cage while she took it all out on him.
“Come on, Damien!” she cried. “You had no problem putting me in my place twenty years ago. So go on!”
She swung, and he caught her by the wrist and then the other.
“Go on what? Hmm?” He arched his brow. “Yell? Scream? Hit back? Tell me, Luv.”
“Let go.”
“No.”
Juliette made a hasty attempt to jerk free, but Damien tightened his grip. He twisted her around and pressed her back into the door.
“You have always been stubbornly ridiculous. Who are you angry at this time? What has you beating into my chest so passionately?”
“You! For it all. For letting me fall in love with you. For taking my heart in your hands and shattering it on the ground every time you deny me.” She jerked against his hold, and he held tighter. “For luring me in with sweet words and almost I love yous then turning around and throwing it down the drain by fucking this whore or—”
“I never fucked those women. Not a one. Don’t believe everything you see—”
She sagged back against the wall. “But—”
“Money buys a lot.” He went nose to nose with her. “I had rules too, Juliette. No women in my bed. No witches ever. Never in the house. I did not fuck one woman in that house for over a century.” He released one of her wrists and cupped his hand around her cheek. “I had rules, and I did not break them. Not even when I sent you away.”
The fight in her eyes extinguished. He had no idea what the hell he was doing, but if it got her to calm the fuck down, he’d do anything. Except say three little words.
“I am sorry, Juliette, for hurting you. I just didn’t know any other way to protect you.”
Tears slipped from her eyes. “I don’t know if I’m sorry is enough. I’m not even sure I love you can be enough anymore.”
She pressed her hands into his chest.
Fuck that, I’m not making the same mistakes.
Damien pushed her back with his lips on hers. She feigned pushing him away, half-heartedly, before stretching up on her tiptoes to deepen the kiss. Her tongue slipped over his with hints of spice, whiskey, and cherries.
Fucking cherry sweet lips will be my undoing.
He picked her up, legs wrapped tightly around his waist, and he pressed her up against the wall. His lips followed the contour of her jaw, tasting and teasing her flesh, to the side of her neck. Every little soft gasp thickening the ache pressed between her legs.
He carried her to the couch and sat down so she straddled his lap.
“Three words,” she cajoled, smiling against his lips, grinding her hips and teasing him. “And we can take care of that hard ache.”
“You play deliciously dirty, Luv.”
He flipped her under him, driving her deeper into the cushion. Grinding hard between her legs until her eyes fluttered shut with a hushed mewl.
“I play dirtier. Not the only one looking to sate a certain ache, now am I?”
She swallowed. “I’m not sleeping with you.”
“Perfectly fine with that.” He flashed her a wicked smile as his hand slid to the button of her jeans and tugged it open.
“Damien…”
He froze. “Stop?”
He would if she said so, but by the gentle swirling galaxy in her eyes it was the last thing she wanted.
“No, don’t stop.”
Cross this line and there’s no going back. Fuck it!
He tugged the zipper down. “The way I see it, Luv, I have forever to fix the mistakes I made.” He pulled her jeans down past her hips and slid his hand into her panties. “I have forever to give you what you want because, my sweet Juliette, I do want to give it to you.”
She gasped when his fingers slid over her clit.
If he didn’t find a way to give her what she wanted, he’d lose her entirely. Because she was at her end. This was his last chance to make things right.
She crushed her lips to his. Consuming him from the inside out. Sinking claws even deeper into his heart and soul to drag him down into their chaos. He slid a finger inside of her, so wet and ready, and he wanted so much more. To taste her. To fill her. Bury himself inside of her. But not tonight. Her head fell back with a whimper that provoked a low rumble to vibrate in his chest.
Ruined.
He pressed his lips to the side of her neck. Her pulse raced under her skin, hot and flush, and it taunted the burning itch in the back of his throat. He thirsted to have her in every possible, delicious way. Pushing another finger inside of her and having her undoing beneath him was trying all his restraint.
Her breathing hitched, body pressed to his, and he memorized every curve her lips made when he hooked a finger inside of her. Committed to memory the way her eyes dilated and head fell back when he brushed his thumb over her clit. She sucked in a breath with a soft whimper.
Beyond fucking ruined.
She panted, hand gripping his arm and nails digging in. He smirked, hooking both fingers inside of her, and stilled.
“Don’t stop,” she breathed.
He followed the curve of her neck up to her ear with his tongue, nipping at the lobe to make her whimper. “Why are you resisting?”
He massaged taunting circles around, reveling in the way her breath rushed out in frustration mixed with pleasure.
“I’m not.”
Damien chuckled low. “Come on, Luv,” He pressed harder, and she bit down on her bottom lip. “What do you want? Permission?”
“Damien…” she whimpered.
The cute little wince in her features was all he needed to know.
“So wet.” He went back to lazy circles. Teasing her. “So tight.” He ghosted kisses at the spot just behind her ear. “So goddamn perfect. Go on, Luv, let go and come for me. All over my fingers…”
Her head fell back, eyes rolling, and she cried out. He almost came with her, dick pulsing with need, just watching her ride out the last remnants of her pleasure. He’d deny himself every time just to see her cheeks flush, body hot and glistening with sweat because of him.
What I would do to bury myself inside of her.
Damien cupped her cheek. “Who knew my sweet Juliette was so turned on by some dirty talk?”
She blew out a breath. “Screw off.”
He chuckled. “But you look so beautiful with all that red creeping up in your cheeks.”
“Damien.” She bit down on her bottom lip.
He tugged the lip free and brushed his thumb over it. “Are you hungry?”
He pulled away to shimmy her jeans back up over her hips.
Her
brow pulled together. “What?”
Damien leaned back. “Are. You. Hungry?”
“You’re serious?”
He chuckled. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“But…” She sat up. “You just… and…”
He chuckled deeper, pulling her onto his lap, and to his surprise she came without a fuss. She straddled his lap and rested her hands against his chest, acting as if she’d done it hundreds of times before. Like it came naturally for her. A measure of comfort washed over him to have her right there with his hands resting on her hips.
“What did you think?” He grazed her cheek. “I’d give you an out of this world orgasm and send you on your way?”
Her mouth fell open. “Pretty confident in yourself.”
“Tell me I’m wrong.” The red that flashed over her cheeks was all he needed to know. “Now, Luv, are you hungry?”
“Yeah, a little.”
He was content to stay exactly as they were. It crossed the line, but he didn’t care. He needed her close. He needed the intimacy he’d denied himself. What he’d denied her.
“Tell me what you want, and I’ll go down and get it.” He tucked strands of dark hair behind her ear. “Have dinner with me, Luv?”
She raised a brow. “Like a date?”
His heart stumbled in his chest. “Like…”
“A date?”
“Like me and you having dinner…”
“Like a date,” she giggled.
He blew out a breath. “I’m trying here, Luv.”
The fear crashed down around him. He’d just fingered her into blissful oblivion, yet the idea of a date sent him spiraling into denial.
Not this fucking time!
She smiled sweetly. “I know you are, and it’s all I’ve ever asked of you.”
I can try for you, Luv. I promise.
“A chance to make things right. That’s all I’m asking for.”
She sighed. “Please don’t make me regret this moment.”
Damien pulled her closer. “I won’t.”
“Don’t make me regret putting my heart back on the line for you one last time.” She took his face in her hands. “I don’t have any more to give if you break my heart again.”
“I know, Luv. I promise.”
“Good, but I’m still not sleeping with you.”
A smile ticked up on his lips, and he kissed her. Slipping his tongue past her lips, he got lost in the taste of her. He’d never get enough of her.
He pulled away. “Hell, Luv, I’m content right here. Holding you. Kissing you.” He pecked her on the lips. “But I’m feeding you first.”
“Chinese from the District?” she asked.
“Anything you want?”
“Pie from downstairs?”
Damien chuckled. “Anything you want.”
“Stay the night with me?”
He stilled. “You just said—”
Juliette shook her head. “I said stay the night with me. Not sleep with me.”
Blowing out a breath, he nodded. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be than right here with you.”
Fear doesn’t get to hold my heart hostage anymore. I want her, and I will have her.
“I love you, Damien.”
Heat prickled over his skin. Heart thudded in his chest. Hands trembled as he took her face in them. She covered them with her own hands.
“Luv…”
“Hey,” she said, meeting his eyes, “I’m here, and you have me, but I deserve all of you.”
He nodded. “You’ll have me, Luv. Just a little more time. Please.”
“And time you’ll have.”
33
Juliette
It was early when she opened her eyes to a sight that made her heart swell and plant hope that I love you might be enough. She wanted to believe he was at his end just as much as she was. She didn’t have much more to give.
What if he can’t ever say it?
She’d cross that heartbreaking bridge when the time came. Right now, she wanted to give him a genuine chance.
I can give him that much.
He was trying, and it meant more than she was sure he understood.
Damien wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into his chest. She inhaled deeply, taking in the woodsy spice lingering in the center of his chest on his shirt.
The rest of the night had been relaxed. She loved catching him watching her. Hunger dripped in his expression, and he sported a permanent hard on. She was more than eager to reciprocate, but he wouldn’t let her, and she respected him more for it.
Nothing was better than waking up to him. A serenity in his features as he slept. Entirely relaxed as he curled around her. He held her like she might disappear.
Ringing broke the spell of the perfect moment watching him. His brow pulled together, and he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.
“God, that better not be Lucien,” he groaned and reached over to the nightstand for the phone.
Juliette giggled. “Grumpy in the morning.”
She caught a satisfied smirk on his lips when he pressed the phone to his ear. “What could you possibly want this early in the morning?”
She giggled again and started to push off the bed, but an arm hooked around her waist to pull her back.
“Don’t worry, Daddy, I’m not dead in a gutter somewhere. At 297 years old I don’t think the daddy check-in calls need to be a thing.” Damien chuckled and shook his head. “Yeah, we’ll be home soon.”
Damien tossed the phone across the comforter, settled in behind her, and pulled her flush to him. “I wasn’t done cuddling you, Luv.”
“That so?”
“Nope.”
She wiggled her ass, and he growled into the side of her neck. “Not playing fair, Juliette.”
“Oh?”
“I mean it, Luv, behave or—”
“Or what?”
He had her under him in a blink, dark eyes devouring her. “Or I’ll have you in a lot of fucking ways.” He lowered down to her lips. “And none will be the way I want to have you the first time.”
She swallowed. Every word went straight to the pulse between her legs.
“Promise?”
He arched a brow and smirked. “Promise what, exactly?”
“All of it?”
“Fuck, Luv.” He touched his forehead to hers. “What are you trying to do to me?”
“Persuade you.”
“Yeah, well, you’re doing a good job of it.”
Am I? Well, then…
She trailed her fingers to his belt. “Maybe…”
His hands covered hers with a warning in his eyes.
“It’s not happening, Luv. Consider it me holding myself to a promise.” The rejection stung, and she went to pull her hands away, but his grip tightened. “Jules, there’s nothing I want more than to be buried cock deep in you so I can get sucked down into your undoing, but if I give in right now, then I’m setting a dangerous precedent for myself. I can’t have you, Luv. I don’t deserve you at your most intimate. Not yet.”
God, he’s impossibly frustrating, but he’s trying.
“You’re a good man, Damien Frost.”
He smiled. “I’m trying, Luv.”
“Then I guess it’s time to go home.” She made a move to get off the bed, but he caught her and pulled her back under him. “Damien…”
“I said I wasn’t going to sleep with you.” He arched a brow with a finger tracing down her belly. “I never said I’d leave you unsated.”
He slid his hand into her panties, and she gasped. “You’re going to have me entirely drunk on you.”
Damien chuckled. “Buzzed, Luv. You’re far from drunk on me.” He nuzzled into her neck. “Trust me.”
34
Juliette
Damien opened the door, and Juliette stepped into the house. Coming home was getting easier every time. She stopped feeling like an outsider and more like the family they’d embraced her as a long t
ime ago.
“Go easy on him, Luv,” Damien whispered.
She eyed Lucien at his desk in the study concentrating on a ledger.
She’d go easy on him, but it didn’t mean she wasn’t upset with him. He’d have handed her over to the very community that had shunned her when they knew she was different. The eyes weren’t right, they said.
“I won’t beat the hell out of him like I did you if that makes you feel better.”
Damien chuckled. “It doesn’t.”
“Going to stand out there all day, Juliette?” Lucien didn’t look up from his work. “And talk like I’m not right here? Have something to say then come say it.”
Oh, isn’t he in a delightful mood?
Damien pressed a kiss to her temple. “Good morning, Juliette.”
She watched him go upstairs before facing Lucien. He leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed.
“Are we doing this my way or yours where you have a meltdown?” he asked.
She crossed her arms. “I don’t have meltdowns.”
Lucien’s brow shot up. “You have meltdowns. Like make Damien climb the trellis to your bedroom when you refuse to feed and spell your door closed meltdowns.”
He’d laughed his ass off after. The whole situation was absurd. She fed. By taking a good bite out of Damien just before spelling the door shut.
“Jules—”
“You would have handed me over knowing what they would have done?”
“Back then, vampires did not meddle in witch affairs. Werewolves kept to themselves. We functioned with a razor thin line between the communities. One little misperceived threat and we faced a war.”
“You thought I’d cause a war?”
He nodded. “We’d never laid eyes on you, but we knew.” Shaking his head, he scoffed. “For god’s sake, Jules, we watched you grow in your mother’s belly. Heard the whispers. The Marquis hybrid mutt. The witches wouldn’t even say your name.”