Julia let him stare at her as he rubbed her breasts with lotion. He was there with her physically, but she’d lost him mentally. He’d felt her scars and had withdrawn immediately. Was he disappointed? Did he think she was mentally unstable? Would he want to be with her anymore?
Part of the luxury of being covered in ink was that the past was easy to hide.
“There was a time when I thought it was too hard,” she told him.
Elliot’s hands stopped moving on her chest and he leaned down to kiss her, bathing her in an overwhelming sense of relief. He spread out on his stomach next to her and propped himself up on his elbows.
“My birth parents were drug addicts that beat the crap out of me and left me for dead,” he said out of the blue. Julia turned her head, listening intently. “They told me they wished I’d never been born. When they went to jail, I went to a home for boys after being tossed around the foster system for a while. I hated it there, but by some miracle, one of the social workers talked one of her friends into taking me in. Lori Williams brought me home a few weeks later.” He rolled over and stacked his hands under his head and looked up at the sky, his eyes translucent when the sun hit them. “It took me a long time to adjust to having a family that didn’t hate me. Every time Cole or Tucker broke something, because really, they were just little kids, I would stand in front of them like a human shield, waiting to get the shit kicked out of me. Not once did my parents lay a finger on me in anger. Instead, Lori just hugged me and told me what a good brother I was.” He tilted his head to look at her then and her eyes were riveted on him. “You were right before, when you asked me if I joined the police academy to honor my dad. It was the only way I knew how to show him that he was the man I thought of as my father. That he was the one I wanted to be like, not that piece of shit that kicked me while I laid on the ground crying.”
“I’m sure he already knew,” Julia commented. “Your dad.”
“He did,” Elliot agreed. “But it still brought us closer.”
Julia looked up at the sky and took in what he’d said.
“My grandparents hated me,” she told him quietly. “At first, after my mother left me there, it was mostly disdain. They didn’t want me and they let me know it. Then, it turned into something else.” Julia rolled onto her side and faced him.
“What do you mean your mother left you there?”
“My mother gave birth to me during a rebellious phase. When she realized how hard it was to raise a baby, she went back home to her parents but they couldn’t stand the idea of her not living up to their expectations. So she signed me over to them so she could get married.”
Elliot sat up, his black eyebrows drawn down farther than she’d ever seen them. “She what?”
“It was easier for her to find a suitable husband without a toddler in tow,” she explained, just as her grandparents had always explained it to her.
“She gave you up to find a husband?” he growled.
“I wasn’t a very good child for them. I didn’t say the things they wanted me to say at the right time. I didn’t know how to act around other people, and that made my grandmother so mad. I’ve always been prone to anxiety attacks and they accused me of embarrassing them on purpose, of being willful. I was still young when they sent me to live in the pool house with my tutor.”
“You lived in the pool house?”
She shrugged. “Mrs. Langell was okay. She was a good teacher and I liked being a student. I graduated from high school when I was thirteen.”
“Holy crap.”
“I was homeschooled because they said I embarrassed them in public.” She sat up and looked out at the water.
“Was that when they drugged your food?” he asked.
She stiffened at the memory but continued. “They did that on and off, depending what they had going on. If they were having an important party and wanted me out of the way, it was a sedative. If they thought I was too high strung, it was antidepressants. If she…” Julia sucked in a breath. “If she thought I looked fat, it would be some kind of diet pill.”
“Jesus Christ,” he muttered. “Where the hell was your mother?”
“With husband number two, I think.” She shrugged. “I only met husband number three and four. She didn’t need me.” She looked at him with a hopeless expression. “I went to college, but I was young and it was a lot to take in.”
Julia took a deep breath and stalled. She just didn’t have the words to say to him. How do you tell someone that you want so desperately to love you, that you’re unlovable? She just shook her head and fought back tears as she looked away.
“Just get it out, Shorty. You’ll feel better,” he told her as he put his arm around her shoulder in support. “I’ve got you now and I won’t let anyone hurt you again.”
“Can I just get back to you when I’m all Zen about my past like you are?” she groused.
He smiled softly and kissed the side of her head. “If that’s what you want.”
He could read the frustration on her face, a tangible thing that he could see and touch if he reached out. He hated pushing her, but knew she’d feel better if she just got it out. He also knew that if she didn’t want to tell him, she damn well wouldn’t.
“My grandparents hate me. My mother forgot about me. I was hurt and confused. I tried to kill myself. It didn’t work. The end.”
He took that in, wondering about the details she’d skimmed over.
Julia looked away again. “Can we just drop this, please?”
“I just want to know you, Jules.”
“I know. I like that about you.”
“You just don’t want to do it,” he supplied as he pulled her back to lean against his chest.
They watched the water for a while as the sun rose high in the sky above them. Julia leaned her head against his chest and sighed.
“I just didn’t want to live anymore. I gave up.” He squeezed her a little tighter, shaken by her words, and kissed the back of her head. “It was easy. I had nothing to lose.”
“This world would be a very dull place without you in it, baby. I’d still be stumbling around in the dark without you to light my way.”
“Me?” she asked, surprised.
“Yeah. You,” he confirmed. “If you haven’t noticed it just yet, you’re kind of important to me, Julia. You just seem to get me like no one else does and I like the way you make me feel. Like I’m Superman and you’ve been waiting, just waiting for me to come along to save the day.”
When she said nothing after a few minutes, Elliot pushed the subject off and brought up something else. Giving her time to think about the bombs he’d dropped on her.
“Where are your grandparents now?”
“My grandfather was the CEO of Louzier Enterprises, though I heard he retired a few years ago. I’m sure my grandmother is still tormenting everyone that crosses her path.” After a second she added. “My father mentioned that my grandfather’s been sick.”
“Does your father run in the same social circle?”
Julia scowled. “God, no. My grandparents hate my father.”
“Why?”
“Because he got their daughter pregnant, ruined her life, and then left her.” She then asked quietly, “Can we not talk about this anymore?”
11
Julia was only mildly embarrassed to realize that she was inordinately thrilled to her quivering insides when Elliot took charge in the bedroom.
And the kitchen. And the bathroom.
He’d bent her over the arm of the couch and she’d accommodated his every demand. He hadn’t been pushy about it, nor had he needed to coax a reaction out of her. He simply had to ask—spell it out, and his words were enough to make her want to try anything he suggested.
He’d held her hand, as if she were royalty he was escorting, and helped her sit on the breakfast table. He’d spread her open and eaten her like she was his last meal, then taken her right there, her head hanging off the edge of the wood
top.
Their last night on the island came quickly and Julia wasn’t sure she ever wanted to leave. Aside from a few emails back and forth about the contracting software, she hadn’t worked at all, and after telling Elliot some of her history that first afternoon on the beach, her emotions seemed almost…cleaner, like she had nothing to hide. Like he might not mind who she really was. It was strange, yet liberating in a way, like she didn’t have to hide from who she’d been anymore—she could just be who she was.
Maybe she could finally let the old Julia, the one that couldn’t please anyone, go for good. Maybe, it was time to embrace a Julia that was only interested in pleasing herself.
And Elliot, with or without his clothes.
Even he seemed more lighthearted. Though his face often had a solemn, pensive expression, she knew now he was just taking everything in. When he listened he did it actively, concentrating fiercely. Even knowing that, he laughed easily and loved openly. It was all completely new to her; she was left feeling like a fledgling in some ways.
“Will you come back to New York with me?” she asked as her head laid on his lap, his hand trailing through her hair.
They’d been in bed for hours, talking on and off.
“Do you want me to?” he asked in return.
She shifted around so that she could see his face and assess his answers. She’d finally got the hang of deciphering his expressions and now that she had, they all seemed so obvious. The heated stares of desire or the slashed brows of annoyance. Where before she might need a moment to sort them, they were almost second nature to her now. His face was clear when she turned, his eyes wide with interest.
“If I have to go to court, I want you with me. If the deal goes through and I end up selling, I want you there too.”
“I’ll have to call my boss and see if I can get the day off,” he said, his lips turning up at the corners. “He’s a bit of a hard-ass.”
“I heard that about him,” she agreed with a nod. “If he says no, I can offer to do him a favor in return to see if it changes his mind.”
His eyes lit with interest and his palm slid around to the back of her neck. “A favor? Sounds interesting.”
She gave a half shrug. “I’ve been doing some research on oral sex.” Elliot made a choking noise, his eyes widening. “I think I’ve got a basic understanding of the technique. From what I read, it’s all in the timing.”
Elliot murmured something under his breath she didn’t catch but his hand tightened on her skin. “I’m here anytime you want to experiment,” he said finally.
She looked up at him through her lashes. “You wouldn’t mind?”
It was clear that he didn’t, but he didn’t make fun or tease her about any insecurity she might have. Instead, he took his hands away from her and linked them behind his head, a picture of strained relaxation.
“Do your worst, Shorty.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “You want my worst?”
“It’s better than nothing,” he reasoned. “But you do your thing and I’ll do mine.”
Julia took that as her cue and shifted until she could pull his shorts off. She was wearing minimal clothing already, lounging in nothing but a scrap of panties and a camisole. Her hands ran up his thighs, the hair there dark and coarse, but giving way to the velvety soft skin of his pelvis. Her fingers curled around him and she boldly leaned in to kiss him. Not once, but twice, then three times before using her tongue to light his fuse.
His hands strained at his neck; she could see when she looked up at him, her tongue still following the straight line of his hardness to the tip and back down again. He surged forward, his hips working of their own accord. Like she read, Julia sucked him inside the heated tenderness of her mouth, her hair sliding down and draping over his abdomen. His wild abandon, the soft breaths he released from the back of his throat urged her on. She felt powerful and in control, bringing a man like Elliot to the brink of release.
She became relentless, driving him further to the edge in a steady rhythm, heedless of what was coming. She knew damn well what happened when he finished. She knew what was coming and she wanted it. She was working for it and there was no stopping her.
“Jules,” he choked hoarsely, his body strung tight. “Babe.”
But she didn’t stop, instead she let him pump his hips while she stroked him, urging him on. He hit that natural cadence then, the one that said sweet release would be imminent and he hooked his heels around her legs, holding her close but still letting her be free. It happened then and it didn’t come as a surprise, his hoarse cry enough of a warning as was the tightening of his body around her.
When he finally lowered his hands to her shoulders, Julia felt an immediate sense of warmth wash over her, a comfort she hadn’t known was missing. She’d enjoyed pleasuring him immensely, but something had been missing, her connection with him tenuous instead of strong.
She crawled up his body and he pulled her to his lips, savoring their connection. His fingers tunneled in her hair as he held her closer, her breasts crushed against his chest.
“Day off approved,” he murmured.
“So I don’t have to blow the boss?” Her lips quirked and he gently touched his pinky to the dimple in her cheek that he loved so much.
“Those lips are mine and mine only, Shorty.” He kissed her again. “You can put them on me anytime you want, but they better not touch another man.”
She shrugged and settled back onto his chest. She didn’t have any interest in sex with any other man.
She wondered if after spending all this time with Elliot, she ever would.
When they arrived in New York midday on Monday, Julia felt like a different person. She’d left the island on a heady cloud of warm tenderness and soft emotion, only to have to turn her old-self back on. The change did not come easily. Elliot watched her with heated eyes as she dressed herself in another expensive, designer outfit in the plane’s bedroom, readying for battle. Taming her hair felt like an exercise in futility after days of letting it flow free. It had no intention of being subdued.
She was nearly ready when they landed and Kelsey boarded the aircraft, a garment bag in hand. Her assistant bustled on but stopped short at the sight of she and Elliot, holding hands as they sat in their seats.
“Well, would you look at that,” Kelsey marveled, absently handing the hanging bag to Elliot.
He took it like it was a lit bomb. “What’s this?”
“A suit. I think I got your size right but we can adjust if I didn’t.”
“What the hell do I need a suit for?”
Kelsey’s eyes shifted to hers and Julia felt her heart stop, the look in Kelsey’s eyes unreadable. The suspense was excruciating, waiting to find out if her lawyer was able to do his job or if she had to defend herself in court. She did not want to do that.
More than anything, she just wanted it all to be over.
“Papers in your office are ready to be signed. Jonathan and his counsel arrive at three for the signing. Press conference at four.”
Julia’s lungs expanded as she inhaled a lung full of freedom. Elliot’s hand landed on her thigh and she grabbed it, squeezing it tightly.
“Get that suit on, lover boy. Boss lady likes a pretty face by her side when she works.”
Julia could just feel Elliot’s scowl at Kelsey, didn’t even have to see it. She squeezed his hand again. “Please?” she whispered. “I want you with me.”
He gazed at her for a scant second before getting to his feet, plastering her with a hard kiss, and stalking back to the bedroom, garment bag in hand.
Kelsey’s smile fell somewhere between knowing and cocky. “Good weekend?” she asked casually.
Julia gave her a silent nod, her cheeks heating at the memories that were permanently playing on a loop in her mind. Sensual and erotic, they revolved like slides flipping by, reminding her every few seconds. They reminded her that she was just like everyone else, that she could feel and be felt, no m
atter what her grandparents had always told her. They reminded her that deep down, belonging to Elliot was the only thing she’d done so far that had made her feel whole inside.
Kelsey hummed. “Must have been. You look good. Refreshed.”
Julia nodded again, her words coming out in a rush. “I like having sex with him.”
Instead of laughing, Kelsey’s eyes turned soft. “That’s good. He treat you good?”
“Like no one else ever has,” she admitted. “I liked it.”
“I don’t blame you. We’ll keep him around as long as you stay happy. The minute you’re not, he’s gone.”
“He won’t stop. He already told me that.”
“He did, huh?” Kelsey sat in the seat across from her boss, waiting on Elliot. “What else did Tall, Dark, and Surly have to say?”
“That I make him feel like Superman,” Julia admitted, confusion clouding her words, but Kelsey just smiled.
“Confidence is good,” she confirmed and then let her line of questioning go. “I went on a date this weekend too. I don’t think I got quite as laid as you did, but I did okay for myself.”
“Must have been good. You look refreshed,” Julia said, the copying of Kelsey’s earlier statement making her laugh.
“Oh, you’re funny now, are you?”
“My girl’s always funny,” Elliot said as he exited the back bedroom of the plane, looking like an entirely different person.
The cut of the suit accentuated his broad shoulders and tapered waist. His hair was neatly slicked back, making him look expensive and a little dangerous.
Kelsey whistled. “God, do I have good taste in suits. You look good, El.”
He straightened his lapels but only had eyes for Julia. “How does the boss lady like it? Do I pass muster?”
She nodded, unable to look away. “You’re incredible.”
He looked pleased with that and suddenly, she got the Superman reference. He looked bold and fearless, ready to take on the world.
Elliot: The Williams Brothers Page 16
