Confessions: Julien (Confessions Series Book 2)

by Ella Frank

  He watched closely, looking for any more signs of distress. But when the room remained silent, Robbie figured that whatever had startled Julien had since passed, and he stretched a hand out across the space that was between them.

  When his fingers didn’t quite reach the sleeping man, Robbie’s heart ached. He’d never felt more helpless than he did right then. Julien was suffering. Robbie could see that more and more with every hour that passed, and he wished there was something he could do to help, to somehow ease his pain. But all he could do was watch as Julien fought off whatever chased him in his sleep, and that hurt more than Robbie knew it should. Realizing that he didn’t know everything about Julien. That Robbie was unable to give Julien what he really needed because he wasn’t aware of all of his secrets—yet.

  Robbie sighed and turned to seek out the one he knew could help, but, of course, Priest’s side of the bed was empty. He looked over to the bedroom door where it was cracked, saw a sliver of light peeking through it, and gently pushed the covers back.

  As he swung his legs over the bed, Robbie reached for Priest’s robe and shrugged into it. He then tiptoed across the room, and when he reached the door, he glanced back one last time to check on Julien to see that his legs were now stretched out and he appeared more relaxed than he had minutes ago.

  Satisfied that Julien seemed peaceful for now, Robbie opened the door and walked through, closing it to a crack, just as Priest had done.

  As he walked across the living room, Robbie spotted Priest in the kitchen with his hands braced on the counter and his head angled down. He’d pulled on his lounge pants but nothing more, and when Robbie walked around the island and got close enough to touch, he placed a hand on Priest’s naked back.

  Robbie didn’t speak, but when Priest turned his head and they locked eyes with one another, the worry in those steely depths was evident. Priest’s concern for Julien was written all over his face, and Robbie had to wonder if it matched his own.

  “Hey.”

  “Hello.” Priest ran his eyes down the robe, and his lips curved an inch. “Are you okay?”

  Robbie nodded and gestured over his shoulder to their bedroom. “Julien, he…”

  “I know. He’s restless tonight.”

  “Yes,” Robbie said. “He, uh…he called out her name but then went back to sleep.”

  Priest slowly nodded and sighed before he reached up into a cabinet and pulled a bottle of whiskey from it. Robbie leaned back against the counter and watched as he poured two glasses, and then held one out.

  Robbie took it and downed it in one gulp. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome,” Priest said, and did the same. After he placed the glass on the counter, he frowned. “Things are going to get rough around here over the next week or so.”

  Robbie nodded and rubbed at his arms. “I figured. I hate this for him. Hate seeing him suffer. Tonight he seemed happy to talk about her. You don’t think I pushed him too hard, do you?”

  “No.” Priest's voice was more solemn than ever, which told Robbie just how serious this was. “He enjoyed talking about her with you, I could tell. But it’s stirred up some of the more painful memories too. I know it’s hard to see him like this, and it’s only going to get worse, but it’s his process.”

  “Process?”

  “Yes. It’s how he’s able to function the rest of the time.” Priest rubbed a hand over his forehead, and then walked around the island to go and look out the balcony doors. “This is the one time of the year that he really allows himself to feel what happened. To remember and acknowledge it. The rest of the time, he is very good at compartmentalizing. Locking it away.”

  Robbie wanted to ask Priest what exactly had happened to Jacquelyn, but knew that, like Julien had once said about Priest, Julien’s story was for him to tell, and Robbie just had to be there when he was ready to tell it.

  “I’m worried about him,” Robbie said, and walked over to stand beside Priest. The twinkling lights of the city were beautiful, and while you could see the cars below, not a sound could be heard, making the night a peaceful one. “I wish there was something I could do to help him.”

  Priest turned and put his hands on Robbie’s shoulders. “There is. He’s going to drive himself into the ground this week to drown out everything else. He has that interview with the Culinary Institute, and the restaurant to organize for opening night. He will use all of that to get him through to next weekend, and we just have to let him go. Let him do it his way and be there when he stops, when he finally looks for someone to lean on. Trust me, you’re doing something by just being here. By being willing to come with us and help me get him through next week.”

  Robbie bit down on his lip. “I guess.”

  “It’s true. Now go back to bed and sleep. That’s the other way you help him. You give him someone to hold on to when he needs it.”

  “So do you.”

  Priest dropped his hands by his sides. “Do you forget where you found me tonight?”

  “No, but… Okay, then. What do you give him?” Robbie asked, wondering if Priest would respond. But he should’ve known better. Transparency was the key to Julien and Priest, and to the relationship being nurtured between the three of them.

  You want to know something, ask. Robbie couldn’t remember how many times they’d both told him that.

  “I give him someone who understands that life is anything but fair, and someone who loves him regardless of his past. Perhaps even because of it. Because that is what made him the man he is today.”

  Priest brushed a kiss across Robbie’s forehead, and the move was so sweet, and so unlike him, that it made a shiver race up Robbie’s spine.

  “We all have a role here, Robert. No one’s is greater or more important than the other. It’s just different. That’s why we work, and will continue to work, if we’re honest with one another. Now go and sleep.”

  “And what are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to sit in there and watch over the two of you.”

  Robbie’s heart practically skipped a beat at that response, as he walked toward the bedroom with Priest by his side. “You know, Julien told me something today that I don’t believe. Not for a second.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “That you hated him the second time you met. The night he asked you out on a date. But that’s not true, is it?”

  Priest came to a halt in the bedroom doorway. “No, it’s not.”

  Robbie nodded and looked over at the bed, where Julien now lay on his side with the sheets pulled up around him.

  “I wanted him from the second he turned around and told me that he was stealing my car. Much like I wanted you that day in the elevator.”

  Robbie’s head whipped around, and he saw the serious expression on Priest’s face. Priest meant exactly what he’d said.

  “It was instant, and powerful. And that’s how I knew it was right.”

  “I…uh,” Robbie said, and then forced a gulp of air down his throat. “I never know what to say when you talk to me like that.”

  “I know,” Priest said. “Get in bed, princess. Get some sleep. And when you do think of something you want to say, feel free to tell me—anytime. I promise you, I’ll always want to hear it.”

  Robbie’s cheeks flushed as he brushed by Priest to go and climb in the side of the bed where he wouldn’t disturb Julien. As he scooted in closer, Robbie wound an arm around Julien’s waist, and Julien immediately took hold of his hand.

  Robbie then raised his eyes to find Priest exactly where he said he’d be—sitting in a chair watching over the two of them—and as he drifted off again, Robbie wondered if he’d ever be brave enough to tell both of these men just how hard he was falling for them.

  Chapter Nine

  CONFESSION

  Knowing when to let someone go

  is one of the hardest things to do.

  Ask anyone who’s had to.

  THE FOLLOWING MORNING, Priest was up
and ready for work by seven thirty, and was surprised to find Julien dressed and heading out the door for a run. He assured Priest that he was fine, but Julien wasn’t fooling anyone. Something or someone was chasing him this morning, and if Priest had to guess, it was a ghost with long, dark hair.

  With time now getting away from him, Priest headed into the bedroom to check on Robbie before he left for the day. Last night had been a lot to take in, and if Robbie was uncomfortable in any way, then Priest wanted to know about it.

  As he pushed open the door, he found Robbie naked and sprawled across the middle of their mattress with the sheet kicked off and his face nestled into the pillows.

  He was quite the sight, their princess. One that Priest took a moment to admire as he walked closer and said, “Robert?” before gently shaking Robbie’s shoulder.

  The sound of his voice must’ve slipped into Robbie’s subconscious, because those longs legs shifted and made Priest want to crawl between them and kiss his way up Robbie’s spine.

  As Robbie’s eyes opened and focused on him, the picture he made had Priest’s cock throbbing. His hair was mussed, his eyes still sleepy, and when Robbie ran them down Priest’s suit, a beautiful morning blush bloomed on his cheeks.

  “Good morning,” Priest said. “You seem to have slept well once you got back into bed last night.”

  Robbie rolled to his back, no longer self-conscious about his nudity as he stretched under Priest’s admiring gaze. “I did. I think it was the nightcap. I feel ah-mazing.”

  Priest let his eyes sweep over Robbie to where his morning erection was proclaiming his words to be true. “You look amazing, too. You’re making it difficult to want to leave this morning.”

  “Then don’t,” Robbie said, his shyness from the night before having faded as he wrapped a hand around his stiffening length. “Take off that suit and get back in bed with me. Surely a few more minutes couldn’t hurt? You know you want to…”

  Priest’s nostrils flared at the arousal he could smell coming from the flirt doing everything in his power to seduce him. “I do want to. But if I get back in that bed with you I’m going to be hours late, not minutes, and I have court today. I actually woke you for a reason. To make sure you’re okay this morning.”

  “Don’t I look okay?” Robbie asked, batting his lashes.

  “Robert, you look—”

  “Too hard to resist?” Robbie suggested, as he widened his legs and offered up an adorable pout. “I sure hope so.”

  Priest rubbed his fingers over his chin and tried to squash the lust now clawing at him like a beast—not an easy feat when Robbie seemed determined to drive him out of his mind.

  “Julien went for a run this morning and wasn’t sure if you were heading out anywhere before work. He wanted me to let you know that for opening night he has two tables set aside for you.”

  “Oh, that’s nice,” Robbie said. “I get to invite some people to show off for. I can do that. I’m really very good at it. In fact, I’m showing off right now. Come back to bed, Joel.”

  Priest shook his head. “No. And you better not ever show off like this for anyone other than the two people who share this bed with you. Now, I have to go. So you can stop looking at me like that. I don’t have time for what you want.”

  “What about what you want?” Robbie then lowered his eyes to the erection Priest had no hope of hiding. “You didn’t sleep much last night. Let me relax you before you go to work. You’ll concentrate better.”

  “What you have in mind is hardly relaxing.”

  “It will be, if I do all the work. All you have to do is stand there and watch,” Robbie said. “Actually, that’s a lie. First, you have to take off that jacket and give it to me, then unzip your pants, and then you just have to stand there and watch. It’ll only take a few minutes after that. Promise.”

  Intrigued, and intensely aroused at this stage, Priest lowered his gaze to the hand Robbie was using to leisurely stroke his erection, and then started to unbutton his suit jacket.

  “Yesss,” Robbie said as soon as he realized he’d won. “Shit. You’re so hot in that suit.”

  Priest smirked, and once his jacket was undone, he shrugged out of it and tossed it over to Robbie, whose hips arched up off the bed as he brought it up to his nose, inhaled, and began to pump his dick harder.

  “Oh God. It smells just like you.”

  Priest’s cock throbbed as Robbie’s hand moved faster and he rolled to his side. He buried his nose in the stiff collar and shifted onto his stomach, and his ass cheeks clenched as he rubbed himself against the sheets. Robbie then dragged the jacket down his body, and his hips began to move as he started to fuck the expensive material and the mattress underneath him.

  “Jesus Christ, you’re a naughty fucking thing.” Priest growled and reached down to unbuckle his belt and unzip his pants, their conversation from yesterday rushing back to him in full force.

  Shoving his clothing off his hips, Priest wrapped his fingers around his aching dick as Robbie’s tight little ass thrust up and down on the bed and he continued to get himself off.

  A moan left Robbie as he writhed around in their bed, and when Priest put a knee on the mattress and it dipped, making Robbie’s body shift in his direction, that only seemed to spur him on.

  Robbie nuzzled his face into the pillow, biting down on it as he brought his knees up slightly and angled his ass toward Priest, and it was one of the sexiest things Priest had ever seen.

  Robbie’s body was flawless, his skin creamy and smooth. And it made Priest want to bend down and lick him all over, but fuck, he didn’t have time. And as Robbie’s soft whimpers turned to groans of ecstasy, Priest spat in his palm and stroked himself harder, wishing he could get inside that hot body and give Robbie exactly what he was asking for.

  “Fucking hell, princess,” Priest said, and Robbie turned his head on the pillow to face him, moved up on his hands and knees, and then did a slow, sensual body roll, dragging his dick across Priest’s jacket.

  “Wishing you were in the bed with me now, aren’t you?” the cocky little minx teased as he began to hump the surface beneath him, and Priest clenched his teeth.

  “No,” Priest said, and then he shifted to plant a hand by Robbie’s head and whisper in his ear, “But I sure as fuck wish I was in that pretty pink hole you keep flashing my way.”

  “Oh shit,” Robbie said when Priest then bit his ear, and a sound of total fucking satisfaction ripped from his throat.

  It was one of the most erotic sounds Priest had ever heard, and when Robbie’s body tensed and jerked up close to where Priest was feverishly stroking his cock, that was it—Priest came all over Robbie’s smooth skin with a thunderous roar, and he’d be damned if he didn’t like seeing his cum all over that tight ass.

  A few seconds later, Priest muttered, “Troublemaker,” and as Robbie rolled to his back with his eyes closed and a relaxed expression on his face, it was more than obvious that he’d just come all over Priest’s jacket.

  “Happy now?” Priest asked the rascal who had a blissful expression on his face.

  Robbie’s eyes opened and he nodded. “Mhmm. I feel like I’m floating on a big, fluffy cloud. What about you?”

  “I feel…relaxed,” Priest deadpanned.

  Robbie chuckled, sounding one hundred percent pleased. “Told you so.”

  Priest leaned down to kiss Robbie’s smiling lips, and then he picked up his jacket, which lay crumpled across Robbie’s lap.

  Robbie turned his head on the pillow and winked. “Sorry about your jacket,” he said, looking anything but. “You did say I could roll around naked on one if I asked. And I did ask.”

  “So you did, and I’m not sorry at all. You just made this jacket the only thing I’ll be able to think about today,” Priest said, as he raised it to his nose and inhaled. “Even if I can’t wear it.”

  Priest then walked into the closet, hung it on a hanger, and placed it beside all of Robbie’s other coats.


  When he turned and found Robbie’s eyes focused on him, Priest said, “This now belongs to you. After you wash it, let me know and I’ll be sure to wear it again so it smells like me. Then you can fuck it at your leisure.”

  Robbie’s lips parted in shock, and Priest wondered if he was more scandalized or turned on by the thought as he squirmed around in their bed.

  “And what about you?” Robbie asked, his voice breathless and sexy. “Do you want something of mine?”

  Priest took a clean jacket from the closet and then walked out and stopped at the foot of the bed. He ran his eyes up Robbie’s naked legs to his spent cock and balls and gave him an arrogant look.

  “No. I already have you to fuck at my leisure. Seems like a good trade-off to me.” Robbie licked his swollen lips, and Priest made himself walk to the bedroom door. It was either that or end up in that bed, inside that man, and now he really didn’t have time. “One last thing: I don’t know how long Julien’s going to be out, but tread carefully there. He’s dealing this morning. He’s all up in his head.”

  Robbie nodded, and Priest couldn’t help but feel a sense of guilt at leaving him and Julien today, but with a final look over his shoulder, he said, “Have a good day, Robert,” and walked out the door.

  AFTER PRIEST LEFT, Robbie spent a little extra time in the shower replaying what had just happened, and when he feared the hot water might run out, he decided it would probably be a good idea to get out and get dressed.

  He quickly made the bed and wondered whether Julien was home yet, and when he stepped out of their room in search of breakfast and coffee, he was greeted by the sun now spilling in through the open curtains and a sight that brought him to a dead stop with his mouth hanging open.

  There, in the center of the room where the coffee table usually sat, was Julien. He was standing, Robbie supposed, but he was bent completely in half so that his nose was touching his shins, his arms were wrapped around his ankles, and his eyes were closed.

  Shit. I can barely touch my toes, Robbie thought. At least, he thought he’d thought it, until Julien’s head turned his way and their eyes collided.