by J. Sterling
I giggled. “My shoulders?”
“Stop repeating my words, Julia,” he said.
I found myself shutting right up. Normally, I’d get a lot of joy out of arguing with him, but I liked this bossy version too much to do anything that might make him stop. His fingers moved along the curves of my body under my tank, my skin prickling to life with each touch.
He reached for the hem of my top and tugged it up toward my head. I ducked out from it and heard his breath hitch. I was completely exposed from the waist up, and it was exhilarating to see the look in his eyes as he stared at me. I’d never had any self-esteem issues when it came to my body, but seeing the way James looked at me was something else entirely. He made me feel beautiful and wanted without saying a single word.
“I’ve wanted to touch your skin and taste you for as long as I can remember, Julia. I don’t know how I’ve lived this long without doing either.” His lips pressed against my chest before lowering to my breasts. He kneaded one nipple between his fingertips while his mouth did work on the other. His tongue rolled across my breast as his teeth bit down, eliciting a pain that didn’t hurt, but made me cry out all the same.
“God, James.” My voice came out sounding so heady. I should have been embarrassed, but I was too turned on.
“Did I hurt you?” he asked but didn’t stop.
My fingers wrapped in his dark hair and pulled. “No.”
His lips lowered to my stomach where I felt my abs constrict and release with each breath.
“Your hips are so sexy. You have perfect curves.” He bit down on my hip bone before swirling his tongue around the bite mark.
I had no idea what he was doing, but I loved every second. It felt like no inch of my skin would remain untouched by the time James was done with me.
I let go of his hair with my right hand and moved it on top of his shoulder. The way his muscles flexed and strained was so sexy; I found myself squeezing his arm, my nails digging into his skin.
“I like the way you feel. Your muscles are so hard.” It was an idiotic thing to say, but I’d never touched James before, and I liked how solid he felt.
His head shot up to glance at me before he refocused back on my body, worshipping it. He brushed his tongue against my hip before moving lower, taking my shorts and panties with him. Before I could say a word or move or even think, James was between my thighs, the way I’d imagined so many times before. The feel of his beard against my legs was heaven, but it was nothing like the way it felt to have his tongue inside me.
“Jesus, Julia, you taste so fucking good.”
My mouth dropped open with his words. Of course, I wanted him to think that, but hearing him say it catapulted me to another level. My thighs spread open wider as he got more comfortable there, his fingers swiping up and down before he inserted them inside me.
“You feel amazing,” I said out loud.
He moaned against me, his hot breath heating my core. His tongue darted in and out before he sucked my clit, making me squirm. A strong arm shot across my stomach, firmly holding me in place. Apparently, I moved too much, and he wanted me to stop. Sucking in a few quick breaths, I tried to steady myself, but it was no use. That man’s tongue was doing work in ways that didn’t make sense; there was no way my body could relax. I bucked against him, my hips rising into his mouth as I started my climax.
“I want to taste you when you come,” he said.
That was all it took for me to give myself over and completely release. I shuddered and jerked as his tongue went wild, licking and sucking until I couldn’t take anymore, and I pushed his head away from me with a laugh.
“Stop. Please stop.”
James moved to a sitting position and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, his beard glistening in the light. His eyes shimmered with mischief as he reached behind me and pulled me up to face him. “God, you’re beautiful,” he said before his hand wrapped around my neck, and he kissed me, the taste of me all over his tongue.
I hesitated for only a second before I was all in, my tongue in his mouth, my lips merging with his. I couldn’t get enough of him.
When he let me go, I fell back onto the bed and watched as he removed his clothes, pulling a condom out from somewhere and rolling it onto his length. I almost offered to do it, but I wasn’t that bold yet. As he moved on top of me, the tip of his dick positioned at my entrance, I lifted my hips to try to force him inside. He laughed, knowing full well that he was in control, and I lowered my hips back down to the bed and waited.
“Are you going to make me beg?” I asked, pretending to be annoyed.
“No. I just wanted to look at you first,” he said.
My heart melted into my mattress, never to beat the same again. We stayed that way, staring into each other’s eyes for what felt like a full minute or two, but I was certain it wasn’t. And, when he moved inside me, neither one of us broke eye contact.
It was so intimate, so utterly connecting. I felt like more than just my skin was bared to him; my soul was in the open, free for the taking. The most reassuring part was that I knew innately that he felt the same way.
My body stretched for him as he entered me, slowly filling me. Even in my most perfect dreams, it hadn’t felt this way. I couldn’t have known. I didn’t know anything could even feel like this, this all-encompassing, this emotional. He pumped in and out of me, slowly at first before his pace started to quicken, and my hands were all over his shoulders, his arms, and his chest again. I couldn’t stop squeezing, pulling, wanting him closer.
I lost myself in the way his body moved with mine, how receptive he was and how much he paid attention. If I flinched for even a second, he was aware of it and adjusted. And, when I tossed a leg around his lower back, he moved it off and told me no. James was a thousand times better at sex than I was. He made me feel like I’d never done it before. At least, not properly.
Maybe this is something more than just sex, I started to wonder but stopped myself from going that far, that fast.
“Are you okay?” He rolled his hips against mine, and I nodded before he leaned down to kiss me. “You feel amazing. So tight. So hot,” he said between kisses. “I’ve wanted this my whole life.”
He continued to kiss me with so much passion that I thought we might explode. I felt the weight of his words, the depth of his emotions with every touch of his tongue.
“I didn’t know it could feel this way.” I circled my hips against his, creating friction and feeling my orgasm rise.
“It’s because it’s us, Julia. It wouldn’t be like this with anyone else. It couldn’t be.” He kissed me more as his pace quickened. I felt him grow bigger inside me, and I knew what was about to happen. “Oh, babe, I’m gonna come.”
“I know. I feel it,” I breathed against his neck, and he nudged me.
“Look at me,” he demanded. “Don’t look away. Don’t close your eyes.”
I didn’t respond with words, but I did what he’d asked. And, when he came inside me, I felt everything he was feeling by looking in his eyes. His body shuddered on top of me, his sexy groans filling every empty nook of my house. I watched as his chest heaved and his muscles moved between flexing and relaxing. The man was a god, but I’d be damned if I admitted that to him. Doing this had been crossing the line enough.
He rolled off of me and onto his back but grabbed me in the movement. Without warning, I was in his arms, my head lying on his chest as he played with my damp hair. “Don’t ruin the moment and talk shit about the fact that I want to cuddle with you after,” he instructed, his breathing erratic and uneven.
I laughed against his chest and got lost in the sound of his heart beating. “I wasn’t going to say a thing.” But I had been thinking it.
* * *
The sound of shouting and arguing invaded my dream, waking me from it. I blinked a few times before piecing together that it was the familiar sound of both my and James’s dads yelling at each other. I’d lost count the number
of times they had screamed and threatened one another over the years. I tried to move before realizing that I was tangled with James’s naked body, our legs and arms intertwined. God, he was warm. I’d forgotten for a millisecond that last night even happened, but the sound of my dad’s voice yelling reminded me.
Wait.
Why was my Dad back in the states?
A loud, hard knock on the door, followed by my dad shouting my name, had me violently shaking James awake.
“James! James, you have to hide.” My eyes practically bugged out of my head as I shot out of bed.
“Hide?” he repeated like he wasn’t sure if I was serious or not as he fought back a yawn.
“My dad is here. He can’t see you. I don’t know what he’d do. I’m not playing.” My expression was stone-cold serious, my eyes pleading with him as I pulled my long hair into a ponytail before twisting it into a bun. I reached for my pajamas and quickly got dressed.
“Tell me where to go,” he said, finally understanding the gravity of the situation.
I looked around before pointing toward the closet, and James hopped out of bed and tucked himself in there. I hated that I felt like a teenager who was doing something wrong, but now wasn’t the time for logic.
“Julia!” my dad shouted again.
I yelled back at him to wait a minute. My stomach twisted as I opened the front door, and my dad barged inside.
“What took you so long?”
“I was sleeping. What are you doing home?”
“Where is he?”
Oh my gosh. Does he know James is here? There is no way he could know, I thought, convincing myself as I stood a little taller.
“Where is who?”
“I know you went out with that boy last night.”
“It was just dinner, Dad.”
“How many times have I told you to stay away from him? I’ve warned you. Stay away from that boy, Julia. You will not see him again,” he shouted, his voice filled with so much rage.
I hated how misplaced his anger was. James hadn’t done anything to our family, so why did he have to pay?
“I won’t? This is ridiculous, Dad. We’re both adults,” I attempted to stand up for myself, but my dad leveled me with a look that reminded me how serious this was.
He poked his head in the kitchen before looking in my bathroom and heading into my bedroom. I followed him, hot on his heels, half-terrified that he was about to find James naked inside my closet.
“What are you doing? My room’s a disaster.”
Thankfully, he walked back into the living room before facing me. “You’ve always had a crush on him.”
“No, I haven’t,” I tried to argue, but it felt useless at this point. Apparently, I hadn’t been as good at hiding my emotions as I’d thought.
“Anyone with eyes can see the way you look at him. The way you’ve always looked at him,” he said accusingly.
I flushed, knowing that James could hear every word.
“He’s not what you think,” I started to explain, wanting my dad to give him a chance, to maybe see things differently for once.
“Is he a Russo?” my dad cut me off, and I nodded. “Then, that’s all I need to know. Why can’t you just listen? Russos cannot be trusted, Julia. Do you think this boy actually likes you?”
My mouth fell slightly agape as I struggled to find the words to combat his accusations without confessing my sins from last night.
“Oh, you do. That’s rich. You think he actually cares about you?”
My dad laughed, and I couldn’t remember ever feeling so small or stupid before. It would be one thing to hear this crap from a jealous girl or a guy like Todd Lestare, but to hear it from my own father was a little more than unnerving and hurtful.
“He’s a good man.”
I half-wished James would appear at my side and stand up to my dad with me, but I knew that would only cause further chaos. This was something I needed to do on my own. Plus, the poor guy was probably rocking in the corner of my closet, wondering how he’d gotten into this mess in the first place. James was going to bolt and never look back after this and I wouldn’t blame him.
“Anything that boy does is for his own benefit.”
“Why would you say that? You don’t even know him.” I plopped down on the couch, my feelings all over the place. My head spun with words like betrayal and disloyalty while my heart beat with the exact opposite, happy I had finally given in to it.
“And, after one dinner, you think you do? Russos lie and manipulate to get what they want. It hasn’t worked in their favor yet, and I’ll be damned if it works on my watch!”
“What can James possibly want from me?” I asked through my wonder.
“Our vines,” my dad growled in response.
I refused to accept his opinions so easily. Not this time. “He has his own.”
“You know the south side vines are different. No one has those. They’ve been trying to steal them for years. I can’t imagine they’d stop now.”
“Dad.”
“See him again, and you’re out.” His face hardened. “Don’t test me, Julia.”
He walked out of my tiny cottage and slammed the door behind him, making the pictures on my walls rattle. I sank into the cushions of my couch and put my head in my hands.
“Well, that was fun.” James’s voice scared the crap out of me, and I jumped, my nerves completely frayed. He peered out one of the tiny windows before turning the lock on the door. “You weren’t joking.” He sat down next to me on the couch before wrapping an arm around my shoulders and pulling me against him. “The hate runs deep.”
“How much did you hear?”
“Pretty sure I heard every word.” He pressed a kiss to the side of my head. “I only enjoyed the parts where he talked about you having a crush on me. The rest was awful.”
I forced a smile before turning my body to face him. “I don’t have a crush on you,” I pretended to argue, but there was no use, especially after last night.
“Well, I sure as hell have one on you,” he said without an ounce of shame, and I wished I had his bravery. “So, how are we going to fix this?” he asked.
I gave him a confused look. “What do you mean?” There was nothing to fix.
“Julia”—he grabbed my hand and held it—“I want to be with you. Last night was incredible. Can you really walk away from what we’ve started?”
“You heard what my dad said.” My eyes began to water, and the last thing I wanted to do was cry in front of James.
“We’ll change his mind.” He sounded so confident, like what he suggested was the easiest solution in the world. “We’ll make him see how happy we are and that I’m not trying to con you out of anything.”
“We can’t,” I said, knowing that my dad would not listen to anything a Russo had to say.
“We can.”
“He won’t listen.”
My father was not a compassionate or understanding man.
“We haven’t even tried yet,” he said, his tone reasonable and logical—another two qualities my father lacked.
“It’s just—” I choked on my words, my thoughts, and my emotions as he stood up from the couch, looking like a knight in shining armor. “This is all happening too fast,” I lied.
“Too fast?” James’s eyes practically rolled out of his head. “I’ve been in love with you since I was a kid. There’s nothing slower than the story of us.”
“I’m sorry.” I stood up and started pacing. “You have to go.” Then, I began freaking out. “But make sure no one sees you. Can you do that?”
His head lowered, and my shining knight’s armor looked tarnished and defeated. “I don’t want to lose you.”
“It was one night, James. You never had me.” My words were harsh and bitter. I hated myself for telling the lie, but it was the only way to get him to leave, and I needed him to do that.
But, as my plan worked, I watched him go, wondering what the hell I’
d just done as my heart berated me with every beat inside my chest.
HEARTBREAKER
James
If I’d thought that Julia La Bella couldn’t break my heart again, I was dead wrong. I thought I’d heard the damn thing crack in half with her words. I sure as hell felt it as I made my way out her door and snuck into the far part of the vineyard where I hopefully wouldn’t be seen by anyone. But, to be honest, part of me wanted to get caught.
I ran into my mom the second I opened our front door.
“Oh, James, are you just getting in?” She looked me up and down.
“I was just in the barn,” I said as I made my way past her.
My parents had added onto the house and now lived in a giant, detached master suite downstairs, which left the entire second floor at my disposal. They gave me my privacy, and I gave them theirs.
“Sure, honey,” she said, clearly seeing through my lie.
Thankfully, she didn’t question me further.
I walked up three stairs before stopping short. “Hey, Mom?”
“Yes?”
“Do the La Bellas even know about the bet?” I didn’t need to elaborate or fill in the blanks. My mom knew exactly what I was asking.
“I have always assumed so.” She looked at me with slight confusion in her eyes.
“You’ve never talked to Mrs. La Bella before, have you?”
My mom glanced around the room to make sure my dad couldn’t hear. “Not really, but I’ve always wanted to. We aren’t allowed to be friends either, you know.” It was easy to forget that Julia and I weren’t the only ones suffering the consequences of our dads’ feud. “Why do you ask about the bet?”
“It was just something Julia mentioned the other day in passing. I don’t think she knows any of it, except the parts where Great-grandfather tried to take it back from her family.”
She offered me a nonchalant shrug. “That seems a little far-fetched, but I guess I wouldn’t know.”
The bet had happened on both of our paternal sides. Julia was the first girl born in our two families since the rivalry had begun. A romantic relationship between the Russos and La Bellas hadn’t ever been an option before now, which was why I was sure her dad had raised her with threats to stay away from me.
