by Ella Frank
Confessions: Julien
Ella Frank
Ella Frank, LLC
Contents
Synopsis
Also by Ella Frank
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Coming Soon
Thank You
Special Thanks
About the Author
Copyright © 2018 by Ella Frank
www.ellafrank.com
Cover Design: Hang Le
Cover Photographer: Jules Godfrey Photography
Cover Model: Jack Sutton
The author acknowledges the copyright and trademarked status and trademark owners of the following:
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Coke - The Coca-Cola Company
Sandy - Grease Paramount Pictures
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Synopsis
People are complex.
Love a double-edged sword.
And when it comes to a broken heart, there are no rules, only time…
For the past eight years, Julien Thornton has been living with a secret. One that only a handful of people know about.
To the outside world, he has it all.
A thriving career. A loving husband. And a face that the American public fell for by the millions, on a reality show that inadvertently saved his life.
But behind the shine of celebrity, behind the easygoing nature, a crippling truth fills Julien with pain and self-loathing. It’s a truth that he fights to overcome daily with the help of his husband, Joel Priestley, and now their boyfriend, Robbie Bianchi.
But unlike Priest, Robbie doesn’t know what he’s helping Julien to fight. He doesn’t know what Julien did all those years ago. And with the anniversary of his sister’s death fast approaching, the time for explanations is running out.
And thus the question: will the princess be able to forgive the prick as the priest once did?
Only time will tell.
Also by Ella Frank
The Exquisite Series
Exquisite
Entice
Edible
The Temptation Series
Try
Take
Trust
Tease
Tate
True
Confessions Series
Confessions: Robbie
Sunset Cove Series
Finley
Devil’s Kiss
Masters Among Monsters Series
Alasdair
Isadora
Thanos
Standalones
Blind Obsession
Veiled Innocence
Co-Authored with Brooke Blaine
Sex Addict
Shiver
Wrapped Up in You
PresLocke Series
Co-Authored with Brooke Blaine
ACED
LOCKED
WEDLOCKED
Dedication
For ma petite poulette,
You were the gull, Jacquelyn,
strong and wild, fond of the storm
and the wind, flying far out to sea...
You were my little woman,
and you will always be a part of me.
Your frère,
Julien
Chapter One
CONFESSION
Those who are meant to be yours
will always find you.
“WE MEET again, Mr. Thornton.”
A shiver of awareness raced up Julien Thornton’s spine as he stood in the jail cell of a downtown L.A. police station where he’d been thrown around an hour ago for public intoxication.
He didn’t need to turn to know who was on the opposite side of those steel bars. That voice was the one he’d been hoping to hear when he’d made his “one call” and left a message after a generic voicemail. That voice? It had been on his mind since the last time he’d heard it, nearly two weeks earlier when he’d met—and attempted to steal the car of—a man who called himself Priest.
Julien pivoted on his heels, and when he did, he realized that he’d grossly underestimated the impact that Joel Priestley had had on him the first time around.
Oui, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him, that was true, and oui, he might’ve purposely provoked the police officer tonight hoping he’d end up needing a lawyer. But Dieu, he’d forgotten the way Priest made his body respond. Like an inferno was licking through his veins.
With auburn hair, stormy eyes, and a presence that Julien gravitated toward like a magnetic force, he didn’t think anything could prepare a person for the powerful energy Priest exuded. Not to mention that cool, judgmental stare of his.
But Julien had no one to blame for that judgment but himself. Maybe if they didn’t always meet at the end of one of his week-long benders, he could have the upper hand with this man for once. And wouldn’t that be délicieux, he thought, as he looked at the lawyer who’d dropped him home two weeks before, instead of at the police station like he’d originally threatened.
Priest was as put together now, at three in the morning, as he had been that afternoon in the alley. Suited up in a tailored navy number that framed his broad shoulders and emphasized the rich color of his hair, he looked sharp, controlled, and dangerous to Julien’s already unstable state of mind as he stood there sizing him up with an unreadable expression.
“I’m curious,” Priest finally said, as he clasped his hands behind his back and took a step closer to the cell where Julien had spent most of the night sobering up. “Did you not understand me the last time we spoke?”
Julien clenched his jaw and wondered if Priest realized how condescending he sounded when he spoke—or just how much it turned Julien on. “Non. I understood just fine.”
“Then what part of ‘I won’t be so lenient next time’ made you think that calling me to bail you out of here was a good idea?”
Julien was still trying to work that out himself, but thought it might have something to do with the fact that he was drawn to this man. There was something about Priest that made him feel alive, when all he’d felt for months now was dead inside.
When Julien didn’t respond, Priest cocked his head, studying him closely, the disapproval rolling off him in waves. “Are you that hard up for a date that this was the only way you could think to get one?”
Putain, the man was arrogant. But for reasons Julien couldn’t explain, that seemed to make him all the more appealing. “You’re the one who gave me your card the last time we met. Perhaps it’s you who are hard up for a date, monsieur. Giving your number out to—”
“Criminals?” Priest frowned. “No. That’s called smart business acumen, considering I’m a cri
minal attorney.”
Julien scoffed. “I’m hardly a criminal.”
“Really?” Priest said, and took his time examining the six-by-eight space Julien currently stood in. He then leaned forward and said in a lowered voice, “Your current situation tells a different kind of story.”
Despite his “current situation,” and the reason he’d gotten himself into it, Julien felt his lips curve, and he realized exactly why he was drawn to Priest. He possessed the one thing that Julien had been looking for—the ability to take his mind off the black hole his life had become. “Maybe it’s le destin.”
“And what does that mean? Destiny?” Priest straightened and brought his arm around to check the time. “I doubt destiny has anything to do with it. A more likely scenario is that I was your only option.”
“Even if that’s true,” Julien said as he wrapped his fingers around the bars, “you came anyway.”
“As I said before, it’s my job.”
“At three in the morning?”
“At any hour of the morning,” Priest said, and then looked down the hallway that was devoid of anything other than dreary off-white tiles and horribly bright fluorescent lighting. “I’m going to go and see if I can get you out, and then you and I are going to have a talk.”
Something about the way Priest said you and I made Julien’s pulse race, and as Priest went to walk away, Julien whispered, “J’ai vraiment hâte,” and the ever-so-serious lawyer stopped in his tracks and looked back.
This time when those eyes roamed over Julien, his breath caught. There was nothing cool about that stare now. There was heat, interest, and an intensity that made Julien’s fingers tighten around the bars before Priest cut the connection and walked away.
Julien watched him go until he disappeared around the end of the hall, and then he released his breath on a rush. Merde. He’d never been so attracted to someone in all his life, and as he stood there waiting for Priest to save him yet again, Julien knew he needed to stop what he was thinking.
There was no way in hell he deserved someone like that. Non, no way at all. That didn’t, however, stop him from counting down the minutes until Priest returned to him…
AS THE MATTRESS dipped down under him, Julien’s eyes slowly opened and the man from his dreams took form in front of him.
He was gloriously naked, and the glow of the city lights cast an intimate silhouette of Priest as he pulled back the covers and slipped between the sheets for the second time that night. The room was silent as Julien placed a hand against Priest’s chest and studied his face, wanting to see for himself if the strain from tonight’s unexpected caller had eased any.
“I thought you’d fallen back asleep,” Priest said, as he covered Julien’s hand with his own, and that was when Julien saw it: the slight narrowing of Priest’s eyes, as though he was still troubled over what had happened earlier. He ran his fingers down Julien’s cheek.
“Non. Not yet. I was drifting in and out. But it’s never a bad thing to open my eyes and see you, mon amour.” Julien turned his head and brushed his lips over Priest’s fingers. “I was actually thinking about you. So one might say you appeared right out of my dreams.”
“One might also say that you are tired and slightly delusional.”
“Peut-être,” Julien said, and then a soft hum left his throat as Priest kissed his jaw, and then started to make his way down Julien’s neck. “That’s one of the reasons you love me, is it not?”
Priest’s lips drifted over Julien’s collarbone, then he raised his head and said, “It is.”
Julien cradled Priest’s face between his hands, and this close he could see that Priest’s eyes were focused on him, waiting for whatever it was Julien wanted to say, and there was plenty.
It was sometime early Thursday morning, and less than an hour had passed since their boyfriend, Robbie Bianchi, had arrived at their front door ready to take them up on their offer that he move in. But unbeknownst to their princesse, he had walked into a situation none of them could’ve seen coming.
So oui, Julien had plenty to say about tonight’s turn of events. But he also knew that now wasn’t the time. Instead, he looked over to the slip of light visible through the cracked door of the bathroom and asked, “Is Robbie coming?”
“He already came. He’s showering now, winding down,” Priest said, as he rolled Julien to his back and maneuvered himself over the top of him. He wasn’t fooled at all by Julien’s diversion tactics. “I thought you would’ve joined us in there.”
“I know,” Julien said, and originally he’d thought so too after he’d sent Robbie in to find Priest. But once he’d brought Robbie’s bags inside and locked up, Julien had been unable to push aside the call regarding Priest’s father, and had known that following Robbie into the bathroom wouldn’t be about giving Priest what he needed right then, but more about what he himself did—and that was answers.
“I had too many questions for you,” Julien said. “I still do.”
Priest sighed and lowered his forehead to rest it against Julien’s. “It’s late. Can’t we wait until tomorrow to drag my past out into the light of day?”
Julien opened his legs so Priest could settle in between them, and then ran his fingers over the scruff of his beard. “Oui, we can wait.”
Priest rested his forearms by Julien’s head and shut his eyes. It was clear he was more in control than he had been an hour ago, but there was still an air of agitation about him. “How about you tell me about this dream of yours instead?”
Julien let his eyes flutter shut and, for the moment, allowed Priest to distract them both. “Well, it was about you.”
“Yes… You already said that.” Priest pressed a kiss to Julien’s lips. “What about me?”
Julien’s eyes opened and he grinned against Priest’s mouth. “I was thinking about the night you bailed me out of jail. And how— Ahh…” One of Priest’s hands had slipped down to wrap around Julien’s stiffening cock, giving him a long, slow pull. “Refais-le, Joel.”
“What were you thinking?”
“I can’t think about anything when you’re doing that. Putain.” Julien arched his head back into the pillow, as he thrust his hips off the bed.
“Do you want me to stop?”
“Jamais,” Julien said, panting.
Priest began to move his hand up and down Julien’s erection, and then he sucked on Julien’s lower lip. “Why were you thinking about that night? Surely we have more memorable ones.”
“We have many,” Julien said, as his eyes found Priest’s. “But I was thinking about how glad I was that I kicked that police officer in the shins.”
Priest’s hand stopped its movement, his eyes narrowing a fraction. “I didn’t know that,” he said, and Julien craned his head up to kiss Priest’s serious mouth.
“Oui. He was going to let me go that night with a warning. But I… Dieu que c’est bon.”
“But you?”
“I wanted to see you again.”
“Even if it meant jail?”
“Even if it meant jail,” Julien said. “I wanted you to come for me.”
“Jesus. I always forget what a reprobate you were when we first met. So much fucking trouble.”
Julien wound his arms around Priest’s neck. “Like you’re a saint. Tell me, did you make Robbie wait until after you came before you sucked his cock tonight, or—”
“How can you be sure I sucked his cock?”
“Because, mon amour,” Julien said, as he flicked his tongue over Priest’s lower lip, “I can taste him on you.”
Priest tossed back the sheet and moved his way down Julien’s body.
“I find that I’m in the mood to focus on things other than myself tonight. Sucking Robert off was a great distraction, and from my experience, our princess mixes very well with something French.”
Once Priest was on his stomach between Julien’s thighs, he ran his tongue up the underside of Julien’s shaft, well on his way to bloc
king out his problems with something more pleasurable. “Let’s see if that’s still accurate.”
And all Julien managed as Priest lowered his mouth down over him was “Oui… Let’s.”
ROBBIE BIANCHI STOOD in the steamy shower stall with his eyes shut and his head tipped down, as warm water sluiced over his tired muscles. It felt ah-mazing against his stiff neck and shoulders, and after the week he’d had, he was enjoying the few solitary minutes he had to himself.
Not that he wanted to be alone. Oh, hell no. Not when the alternative was to belong to the two men in the room next door. But when he’d made the spur-of-the-moment decision tonight to accept Julien and Priest’s invitation to live with them, Robbie had expected to knock on their door and then crawl in bed between them. Instead, he’d walked into a situation he hadn’t expected or understood—and, quite frankly, he still didn’t. All he knew was that whatever it was, it had left Priest broodier than usual and Julien visibly stressed.
Robbie wiped the water away from his eyes and then reached for one of the bottles of body wash and flicked open the lid. As he brought it up under his nose, he took in a deep breath, and the scent that enveloped him was all Julien.
