He grabs my makeup remover and wets a cotton pad. I smile and close my eyes, already knowing what’s coming.
Gentle fingers cup my chin as Julian carefully removes my eyeliner. When he’s done, I open my eyes, and the sweet contentment on his face has my heart ready to burst out of my chest. He doesn’t say a word as he takes his time wetting my face. When he pumps cleanser onto his fingers and starts rubbing it into my skin in small circles, I sigh, leaning into his touch. After he’s done, he uses a damp washcloth to gently wipe it away, then pats my face dry.
He gives my nose a little boop before moving on to the rest of my skincare routine. I sit quietly, letting his easy care wash over me. I used to think I’d never find this. That I’d never find someone to love me this way. But this man has completely surpassed all my expectations. My life is so…full.Fuller than I ever thought it could be. I was convinced happiness like this didn’t exist. That I’d never be able to trust someone this way. That I’d never be able tolovesomeone this way.
Julian’s warm lips on mine startle me out of my internal musing, and I wrap my arms around him, kissing him back, and trying to pour all the love I have for him into it. His hands slide under the bottom of my shirt, dusting over my thighs and up to grip my hips. The small circles he’s making with his thumbs are driving me insane, but it’s the slow, easy strokes of his tongue against mine that have me moaning and arching into his touch.
His grip tightens as he lifts me off the counter and carries me into the bedroom, laying me out on the bed and settling himself over me. Like always, he’s careful to keep his full weight off me. His lips brush across my jaw and down my neck. I gasp when he presses down on my aching cock. He always feels so fucking good. Always. I’m a fiend. “More,” I whisper, tangling my fingers in his hair and urging him back to my mouth.
Julian keeps the pace of our kisses slow, his lips working over mine like he’s trying to commit me and my taste to memory. He braces himself with one hand and uses the other to skim my side over his shirt, his touch reverent, like I’m something precious he has to protect.
He doesn’t rush. In fact, he seems content to just kiss me. Love me. Feel me underneath him.
I whimper as his tongue slides against mine, the deep rhythm of the kiss making my stomach clench. He shiftsthe slightest bit, notching his thigh between my legs. My breath hitches when he rocks against me, the friction against my cock sending sparks through my body.
Liquid heat settles in my limbs as he moans into my mouth.
“Julian,” I whine, my voice sounding gone already. I want more. I need more. I needhim. Always. Forever. I don’t even have the words to tell him, but I don’t need to. He knows me better than I know myself.
His hand slides lower, gripping the bottom of my thigh and pushing my leg back so he can settle more of his weight on me.
He presses kisses across my cheek, making me shudder hard when he works his way to my throat and sucks on my pulse point.
The soft friction of his body has me burning up, every nerve firing like a live wire.
Julian groans. “God, you feel so fucking good.”
I still don’t have words, so I roll my hips up, loving the raspy moan he gives me in return. He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Every single inch of me—body and mind and soul—belongs to him. Every tiny piece.
When I open my eyes, his are already locked on my face—lust and love and heat burning in them. “I love you,” I breathe, unable to say the wordsany louder.
Julian hums, dipping his head to press his forehead to mine. “I love you too, darlin’. More than anything in the entire world.”
A hitching sob leaves my chest, and Julian pulls back, smiling as he lets go of my thigh long enough to brush an errant tear off my face. “I don’t know how I got so lucky,” he murmurs, brushing his lips over mine. “You feel everything so deeply, my darlin’. Fuck, I don’t know how I ever lived without you.”
My orgasm takes me by surprise, cresting in an explosion that sends my head spinning. Julian falls over the edge right after me. It’s quiet. Intimate. No desperate, frenzied pace. Just his body moving over mine and quiet moans shared between our lips as we kiss our way through it.
Even when we come down, Julian doesn’t stop kissing me. It’s lazy, almost, like we have all the time in the world, and for right now, we do.
After what feels like hours of soft, indulgent kisses, Julian’s weight disappears. I stick my lower lip out in protest, not even bothering to open my eyes. His arms slip under me, and my pout turns into a smile when he lifts me up and pulls the cum-stained t-shirt over my head. He cleans me off, taking his time to let his fingers ghost over my body before sinking into bed beside me. He pulls the blankets up over us and gathers me up in his arms, moving me untilI’m sprawled across his chest. I snuggle deeper, burying my face in the crook of his neck and breathing in his scent.
He lets out a little hum, but my body is already shutting down—my mind floating away as I surrender to sleep in the safety and warmth of his arms.
Chapter 16
Eli
I’m expecting to open my eyes to the sound of screaming. Always with the screaming. Dishes breaking. Things being thrown.
Instead, I wake to warmth. I tilt my head to the side, confused for a second. My bed is really soft. Much better than the folded-up pile of blankets I’m usually sleeping on. Maybe I’m still dreaming. But no, that doesn’t make sense. My dreams are never this… soft.
My hands pat around underneath me, and I can’t quite make sense of the plush mattress under my fingers.
Warm laughter echoes in my ears, and I peel an eye open, blinking up at a stark white ceiling.
Roman and Beck’s house. I’m at Roman and Beck’s house.
I sit up, stretching leisurely as I realize I’msafe.
