The lead detective quickly apologized and wrapped up the investigation. Leanne was escorted away in handcuffs. Juliette would have to go to the station also to make a formal statement at her earliest convenience.
As soon as the cops were out of sight, Juliette confronted him. “I thought you’re my lawyer? What’s up with ‘if you’d like to arrest and charge Ms. Crabtree for assault and battery be my guest?’ You were kind of throwing me under the bus there.”
Wilhelm grinned. He grabbed her arm and pulled her in a tight embrace. “Thank you,” he whispered. Her body tensed at first, then, she relaxed.
“You already said that. You don’t have to keep thanking me.”
“I’m forever grateful for your help. And the way you defended the twins, you’re an impressive tiger mom.”
Her breath caught in her throat.
Wilhelm thought he’d committed a faux-pas when he just wanted to compliment her fierceness in protecting Leah and Thomas. But then, Juliette let out a quiet laugh.
“Any woman would do the same thing in my situation, Wilhelm. It’s no big deal.”
“I must disagree. It’s a big deal for us.” Wilhelm put his hand over hers, pressing a kiss to her fingertips. “Are Leah and Thomas sleeping?”
“I don’t think so. Bonnie is watching them right now.”
“I’d like to see them.”
“Of course.”
The cubs were napping after Bonnie fed them. They slept peacefully in the same crib, holding each other’s hand. Thomas hiccupped a little. Juliette hurriedly patted his back until it passed.
“Poor baby,” Juliette whispered. “He’s so cute.”
Wilhelm agreed. Satisfied that his niece and nephew were safe, he motioned Juliette to follow him out. Bonnie could watch them while they took care of another matter. They went to Halgar’s study. “I haven’t gone through my brother papers yet to look for the twins’ pediatrician, but I’ll have my own physician take a look at the twins in the meantime. Juliette, I have to go to Aspen to talk to the detective who’s investigating my brother’s death. But I’m not leaving until tomorrow.” He’d said it as a way to make it clear he had all day to spend with Juliette, if she wanted. But her eyes went wide.
“Investigating?”
He nodded. “The detective has a hunch that it wasn’t an accident. And given what just happened here, I think he’s on to something. I told him I’d fly in tomorrow. I want—I need—to see things for myself.”
“Oh, Wilhelm. I’m so sorry. It’s bad enough to lose your brother, but the thought that he might have been murdered … I can’t even imagine how that feels.” She frowned. “What about the babies? You’re not taking them to Aspen, are you?”
The babies.
The nanny was in jail, and while the housekeeper seemed to be willing to help out, Wilhelm wasn’t comfortable allowing another of his brother’s employees to take care of the twins. Not until he knew what was going on and why. The only person he felt comfortable allowing to care for them right now was Juliette, and she had her business to run.
As if she’d read his mind, Juliette said, “Let me watch them.” She put both hands on Wilhelm’s chest and took a deep breath like she was prepared to argue with him when he refused. “You said yourself I was good with them. I can close the shop for the weekend and give Noelle and Andy some paid time off so I can stay here with the twins. I know there are other staff here who could do it, but frankly I don’t trust any of them after what Leanne did. And I feel … protective of them. Please let me babysit for you?”
Wilhelm smiled. “I was just thinking of asking you. You sure you don’t mind closing for a couple of days?”
“Not at all.”
He’d surprise her with a month’s free rent later. Hell, maybe a year, or forever. She’d saved the lives of his remaining family. She deserved so much more than that. Offering monetary compensation to her right then, though, with the earnest look in her eyes and the light trembles that still ran through her after such a close call, wasn’t the right thing to do. He cupped her cheek and let his thumb brush her jaw. “Thank you. There’s no one I trust to take care of them but you.”
She beamed, and if there had ever been a perfect moment between them, a moment just right for a first kiss, this was it. Wilhelm put his fingers under her chin, dipped his head, and pressed his lips against hers.
Chapter Ten
When Wilhelm arrived at the mansion, all the tension that had built in Juliette from the moment she suspected something was wrong that morning started to fade. It was as if just seeing his face made everything better. She was still upset at what had happened, and terrified at what had almost happened, but the moment Wilhelm got out of the car and began walking toward her, she felt strangely at peace. And when he’d wrapped his arms around her, despite the horrible events of the morning, she felt content. Safe.
Juliette felt the way she did when she walked into Bonbon each morning, or when she went home at night and sank into a bubble-bath scented with lavender. She felt at home in Wilhelm’s arms, like she was meant to be there. Like she belonged.
Is this what falling in love feels like?
And now she was going to take care of his niece and nephew for a couple of days while he was out of town. Holding the babies gave her that same feeling of contentment and happiness. Their weight in her arms simply felt right in a way nothing else did.
When Wilhelm put his fingers under her chin and kissed her, Juliette didn’t question it. She didn’t tell herself that she’d been avoiding this very thing for months so she wouldn’t have to be hurt again. She hadn’t wanted to face falling in love with another man who wanted babies she couldn’t give him and have him look at her with disappointment. It had hurt too much, and she knew she couldn’t do it again.
But Wilhelm knew she couldn’t have a child. He knew and he was holding her close and kissing her, and she’d never wanted anyone as much as she wanted him in that moment.
Juliette sighed into the kiss and parted her lips in invitation, eager for more of him. He didn’t disappoint. It was as if he’d been waiting for just that reaction, because his tongue pressed against hers and the kiss deepened. His hand slid from her lower back to her hip, pulling her tighter against him, and a low growl rumbled from his chest to hers.
When Wilhelm raised his head to look down at her, his eyes sparkled with gold. “I want you so much, Juliette.”
Juliette licked her lips, aware her own eyes had changed with the passion of that kiss. Blood pounded through her, and heat between her legs reminded her how long it had been since she’d been touched. And how long it had been since she’d wanted to be touched.
She ached for Wilhelm in a way that would have distressed her before. Now she simply wanted him to make her feel like a woman. Her tiger wanted this tiger standing in front of her. She needed him, and she needed him now.
Juliette slid a hand up his neck. “Then take me,” she said, her voice half-plea, half-growl.
Wilhelm gasped, then crushed his mouth against hers. She welcomed it, her arms circling his neck as he grabbed her hips and lifted her. Juliette wrapped her legs around his waist and rocked her hips forward, grinding against the already-hard bulge in his pants. His hands squeezed her ass, holding her there as he walked until her back was pressed against the wall and he had leverage to rub himself against her, moaning softly into their kiss.
It wasn’t as if she’d never imagined Wilhelm kissing her and touching her. She was a healthy female tigress after all, and Wilhelm was easily the sexiest man she’d ever met. But the times she’d allowed herself to indulge in a quick fantasy had paled in comparison to the reality of tasting his mouth and the hard press of his cock between her spread legs. His whole body seemed to line up with hers perfectly, and his every movement seemed to hit all the spots that sent her pulse racing and her pussy throbbing for him to fill it.
She regretted not wearing a skirt, because she’d have loved to unzip his pants and feel
him slide into her right where they stood. Wilhelm may have had the same idea, because he moved enough to unzip her slacks and slide his hand down until his fingers found their prize. Juliette had a brief moment of embarrassment at how wet she must be, soaking her panties no doubt, but pushed it aside. That was what was supposed to happen, after all.
Wilhelm groaned as his fingers moved inside the fabric. His touch was firm, but not rough—just right. He cupped her mound in his palm and pressed against her clit while two fingers slipped inside her.
“Jesus, Juliette,” he gasped as her pussy instinctively gripped around them. “So hot and tight,” he growled.
She tilted her head back as he mouthed her neck, sucking and licking a fiery trail down to her collarbone. And then Wilhelm moved his hand, his fingers pressing deeper and his palm stimulating her clit with every movement. He traced across her throat to her other shoulder as he palmed her in a way that she thought might make her lose her mind—so good that it drove her higher, but not enough to make her come.
He let her slide down the wall until her feet could touch, so she lowered her legs thinking he would take her right on the floor or lead her to a bedroom. Instead, a tug sent the buttons of her blouse popping off and flying in every direction. He pulled the cup of her bra down and thumbed her peaked nipple, making her gasp. Then Juliette cried out as he dipped his head and sucked the nipple into his mouth as his hand shifted, leaving her empty, to flick her clit with his fingertips.
His growl triggered her orgasm as his fingers and his mouth on her tit drew a shout from her that caught her off guard. She cried out again, and he plunged his fingers into her, rubbing her clit with his palm and sending another shockwave of pleasure spreading out from her core.
Her fingernails dug into his shoulder as her pussy clenched again, weakening her knees. She might have fallen if his body and hands hadn’t been holding her up. Wilhelm’s mouth left her nipple and captured her lips in a needy kiss.
Juliette needed more. She needed to feel his hard cock pushing inside her, to see him lose control and come as hard as she just had. So she admitted something to him that she’d hadn’t dared hint at before.
When he lifted his face to breathe and gaze down at her, Juliette swallowed hard. “Fuck me, Wilhelm. Please … I’ve wanted you for so long.”
It was a truth she wouldn’t deny anymore. When he cupped her cheeks and stared into her eyes as if he could barely believe it, she said. “I want you so much. I need you.”
Chapter Eleven
His tiger wanted to preen, to howl, to revel in the fact that this gorgeous, sexy tigress wanted him. Wilhelm had always known how she affected him, but Juliette was always so cool with him that he’d sometimes wondered if he didn’t imagine the look in her eyes when she thought he wasn’t watching. He thought she was attracted to him, and he had a feeling that if they ever did get together, it would be magical.
Now she’d admitted that she wanted him too. Needed him. And she’d just come so beautifully against his hand.
The sweet, sharp smell of her sex filled his nostrils and wrapped around his senses so warmly that he swore he could already taste her. But imagination wasn’t enough.
“I’m gonna make you feel so good, Juliette.”
He put his hands on her hips and pushed her slacks down, hooking her underwear with his thumbs and dragging them along. They were soaked, wet enough that her slacks had started to look dark between her legs.
I did that.
Wilhelm growled and wrapped his arms around her, and in one smooth move he turned them and lowered her to the rug. The design looked Turkish, probably handmade and incredibly expensive, but Wilhelm couldn’t have cared less if they ruined it. On his knees next to her, he pulled her pants the rest of the way off, taking her shoes with them, leaving her bare from the waist down.
Her shirt hung open where he’d popped off the buttons, and one breast was bare with the fabric crumpled beneath it. He freed her other breast, slipping the bra below it, and straddled her thighs so he could cup both her beautiful tits in his hands. He sucked one nipple, then the other.
Juliette’s hands moved over his arms and his back, pulling at him, sometimes clawing, and then trying to remove his shirt. Wilhelm sat up and pulled it off with no concern for his buttons either, then tossed it aside. Her hands were already traveling over the planes of his stomach and chest.
He cupped the back of her neck and kissed her until her lips were dark pink and swollen. As she looked up at him, he unzipped his pants with one hand and pulled himself free, groaning at the ache of need he felt. He was so hard he thought he might break his zipper before he could get it down.
He shifted and knelt between her calves, giving her a better view of him. He wanted her to see how hard she made him. Then he raised up to push his pants and underwear down enough that he could lean forward and kick them the rest of the way off. Juliette reached for him to come back up to her, but the scent of her pussy called out to him.
With a glance up at her shimmering eyes, Wilhelm leaned down to slip his tongue into her slick folds.
Juliette’s back arched as she cried out. Her long fingers that he’d watched roll tiny rosebuds of dough morning after morning sank into his hair, pulling just the right amount. He flicked her swollen clit with his tongue and groaned at the way her whole body reacted. He filled her with two fingers and sucked lightly on the bud to feel her tighten around him again.
And then he plunged his tongue inside her, tasting her and learning her contours and the places that made her writhe.
“Wilhelm,” she pleaded, tugging a fistful of his hair. “Oh God, please.”
He looked up at her, licking his lips, and moved to hover over her.
“Say it again,” he breathed, desperately wanting to hear the words once more.
“Fuck me, Wilhelm. I need you inside me …”
He rocked forward and sank inside of her, both of their bodies tightening as they came together as naturally as breathing. Wilhelm could see that sense of rightness in Juliette’s eyes, sparkling golden as her tiger asserted itself.
He didn’t move for a moment, he didn’t want this feeling to end, and then Juliette growled softly and said, “Take me, Wilhelm. Make me yours.”
Wilhelm wasn’t much for words. He was a man of action. But her words found a place inside him where he knew they’d always stay. They mattered, and he needed her even more.
“Gonna fuck you and make you mine,” he ground out.
“Yes,” Juliette gasped. “Fuck me.”
Wilhelm rocked his hips back until he almost left her body, then pressed forward again, filling her and marveling at the tight heat of her. Within a few minutes, he’d fallen into a rhythm of snapping his hips back and plunging into her more slowly because of the noises she made each time and the way she arched her body to meet his, impatient at his pace.
This woman could drive him to distraction, he realized. It wouldn’t just be pleasant thoughts of her during the day and wondering what it would take to get her to go to dinner with him. Now he’d be imagining the silky grip around his cock and the soft, sexy look in her eyes. How she tasted. How her breasts heaved when she came.
How he was already on edge and wouldn’t be able to hold back any longer.
“You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen … especially like this. When you’re about to come for me.”
Juliette shuddered beneath him, clearly pleased at the praise. Her pussy clenched around his cock, making it impossible to delay any longer.
He slipped a hand between them and thumbed her clit in quick taps and circles. “Come for me, tigress. Come for me now.”
He kissed her and swallowed her shout of pleasure as her body clenched and rocked up. Her walls gripped him so tightly that he shivered and lost himself, breaking the kiss long enough to gasp and then groan her name as he pulsed deep inside her. Her body milked him of every drop, spasm after spasm of pleasure draining him as her pussy fluttered
and her orgasm came in waves.
Finally, she stilled, panting, with Wilhelm above her capturing her lips every few breaths. Reluctantly, he slid out of her and pulled her into his arms, pressing kisses against her cheek and temple.
“You’re mine now,” he said, and though his tone was light-hearted, he meant every word. “I’ve claimed you.”
Juliette lifted her face and half-grinned at him. “Is that how it works?”
“It is.”
“Maybe I’ve claimed you instead.”
Wilhelm chuckled. Juliette had always been clever and fiery. He had expected nothing to change just because they’d made love.
“Maybe you have,” he said. “I’m all right with that.”
She laughed and put her palm on his chest. “Good.” Then her expression turned serious, and she gazed at him wide-eyed, leaning close enough that they were almost nose to nose. “I am yours, Wilhelm. I like the idea of that, of being claimed by you, a lot.”
“Good,” he repeated back to her. “Because I meant it.”
Juliette’s eyes were damp, and her bottom lip quivered just enough for him to notice, as if what he’d said had moved her to tears. Wilhelm did the only thing that made sense, and kissed her more slowly and tenderly than before, his tongue sliding along her lips before dipping between them. He pulled her as close as he could get her, and poured every bit of emotion he felt into that kiss.
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