“Don’t think he minded,” Lucian replied dryly.
“I don’t even want to think about that.” She sipped her drink.
Lucian leaned over, placing his drink on the end table Gabe had built. A moment passed and Julia looked over at him. Their gazes locked, and damn if he didn’t feel like there was some kind of flutter in his chest.
“Are you ready to tell me about yourself, Ms. Hughes?”
She held his gaze. “You know a lot about me. You have since the beginning, before I even met you.”
“Not true.”
Julia shook her head. “What do you want to know?”
“You were married. What happened?”
She looked away as her shoulders tensed. “Of course, you have to ask that question.”
“I want to know.”
“Maybe I don’t want to tell you.”
“Come on.” He moved his hand off the back of the couch and tapped his fingers off those tight shoulders. “I’ll tell you about my relationships.”
“That’s not necessary.”
“I think it is.” He kept his fingers on her shoulders. “I’ve never actually been in a serious long-term relationship.”
“What?” Her gaze flew to his. “Are you serious?”
“Yep. Just never wanted to be. Normally I’m not with the same woman more than once.”
Her mouth dropped open.
“There’s the rare, very rare, exception, but it’s usually a rule of mine. Don’t go back for seconds.”
“I cannot believe you just said that.”
“Just being honest.”
“Yet again, maybe tone back on the honestly,” she said. “Are you some kind of commitment phobe?”
He chuckled. “I think it’s just that I haven’t met someone I wanted to commit to.”
Her brows rose. “Wow. I don’t even know what to say about that.”
“I think the longest was a couple of years ago. We lasted about six months.”
“Why’d it end?”
He raised a shoulder. “She wanted more. I didn’t have more to give.”
Julia stared at him. “Do you ever . . . want to give more?”
Lucian thought about the question, really did. “Yeah, I do.”
She looked away again. “Well, I guess then that’s not as bad as not wanting to.” She wrinkled her nose. “I can’t believe you’ve never been engaged or something.”
“Nope.” He worked his fingers into the taut muscles along her shoulders. “So what is your ex-husband’s name?”
Julia lowered her chin and blew out a heavy breath. “Adam.”
“Do you two still talk?” He worked his fingers along her neck.
“No.” She took a drink, and he felt the muscles along her neck tensing. “He . . . he calls every so often, but I don’t talk to him. Well, that’s not exactly true. He called earlier today actually, but I think . . . I think that’s the last I’ll be hearing from him.”
His attention sharpened as he recalled her ignoring a phone call and acting straight-up bizarre about it. “So it wasn’t a happy breakup?”
“Nope.” She smiled faintly as she looked over at him. “He was my first serious boyfriend. We got together in college and getting married just seemed like the next step.” She laughed then. “I mean, I did love him. I did.”
“Then what happened?”
She seemed to consider what to say next. “Love just wasn’t enough to make him—to make him happy.”
His fingers stilled. Everything about him stilled. “What do you mean, Julia?”
“He . . . wasn’t the nicest guy toward the end.” She leaned forward, so that he wasn’t touching her. “God, I can’t believe I’m talking about this.”
“Please don’t stop,” he said, at the same time almost wishing that she would, because he wasn’t sure what he would do if he found out that her ex had hurt her.
She sat her glass down on the coffee table and then tugged her sweater together. “He wasn’t always like that. It’s just—he was difficult. Like at some point in our marriage, everything just stopped making him happy. He was overly critical of everything—how many hours I worked, how the house looked when he got home, to how dinner was cooked—how I looked. There was nothing I could do, you know? Like I tried. I really did.”
Julia laughed again, this time the sound less shaky. “No one could fault me for not trying. Just nothing worked. Every conversation turned into an argument. Every compliment became snide.”
Lucian forced himself to remain quiet.
“I used to blame it on his job. It was stressful. He’s a police officer,” she said, and he really didn’t like where any of this was heading. “So, his job could be tough, but after a while . . . I just couldn’t deal with it anymore. We were hardly sleeping in the same bed, and I felt like I was . . .”
“Always walking on egg shells,” he said, recalling when she’d said that before.
Julia nodded. “Leaving him was scary, because he was—he was all that I knew, and I’ve always been hesitant—kind of afraid. It’s not like I don’t do new things—obviously. It just takes me a lot to work up the nerve. I tend to overthink things.”
“Never would’ve guessed that last part,” he teased.
Another small grin appeared. “Anyway, I left him about three years ago. I didn’t stay with him because I was weak. I stayed with him because I thought love would be enough.”
“I don’t think you’re weak.”
Another quick smile appeared. “Sometimes loving someone isn’t enough. I don’t mean to sound bitter, but love can’t fix everything about a person. It can’t just be enough at the end of the day. Not when it no longer feels like the person is walking the same road as you.”
Lucian agreed even though he was quite sure he’d never loved someone outside of his family. “And he still calls you?”
“Hopefully not anymore.” She reached for her drink and took a healthy swallow. “It’s like he likes to check in. I hate it, so I ignore it. I actually changed my phone number, but he managed to figure out the new number.”
Lucian really didn’t like the sound of that.
“The thing is, I know he doesn’t want to get back together.” She put her glass back down and for the first time, she faced him. “He just doesn’t like the idea of me moving on, even if he has—and he has. He’s remarried.”
“He sounds like an asshole.”
“Yeah,” she agreed.
Lucian wasn’t sure if he should ask the next question. “Has he hurt you?”
Her brows lifted. “Like physically? No. He never did that. He pulled the emotional and mental crap. You know, the kind of stuff that doesn’t leave evidence behind.”
“But doesn’t it, though?” he asked quietly. “It’s in the way someone carries themselves. It’s etched into every minute line of the face and in the shadows of their eyes. It still leaves its mark.”
Her chest rose heavily. “You . . . your father—did he?”
“Hit us? From time to time, he was known to get physical. That stopped when I got bigger or my brothers would step in.”
Julia’s expression fell. “I hate to hear that. You should’ve never gone through that.”
“Neither should you.”
“You’re right.” Nibbling on her lower lip, she brought one leg up onto the couch. “Did he hit Madeline?”
“I would’ve killed him if he had.”
She stared at him for a long moment and then a bit of blood drained from his face. “You’re not joking.”
“No.” He met her wide-eyed stare. “I’m not. That’s my sister.”
Julia let go of the edges of her sweater. “Have you . . . ?”
“Have I what?” When she didn’t answer, he leaned forward, moving his hand to her knee. “I’ve done some things.”
She inhaled sharply. “What kind of things, Lucian?”
“Things I’d do to your ex-husband if I ever had the pleasure of meeting h
im.”
“You can’t mean that. You don’t—”
“Don’t say that I don’t know you, Julia. I do. You’re kind and nurturing. You have the best laugh, but you don’t laugh nearly enough. You’re smart and even if you think you’re scared of things, you’re brave. And I hope you realize that last part. You wouldn’t be in this house, far away from everything you know, if you weren’t.”
She let out a shaky breath.
“And I know enough to know that you fall into that very small group of people that I would do terrible things to those who’ve harmed them.”
“What things?” she asked after a moment.
“Stuff I’m not necessarily proud of, but wouldn’t change.” He slid his hand up her thigh as he held her stare. “I would do anything to protect those I care about. Truthfully, so would my brothers.” He dragged his hand up, over to her hip. “There is nothing that we wouldn’t do.”
“That’s . . . that’s kind of scary.”
He waited for her to pull away or move his hand, but when she didn’t, he leaned in even closer. “But I don’t think you’re scared. I don’t think you’d still be sitting here if you were.” Their faces were only inches apart. “Would you be?”
Her eyes drifted shut. “What kinds of things have you’ve done, Lucian?”
“I’ve made sure that someone who hurt someone I cared about never hurt someone else again,” he whispered against her mouth. “I didn’t kill him, but that would’ve been kinder of me.”
Julia was quiet for a moment. “Was that the situation you all took care of that involved Gabe’s ex?”
Damn. She had a great memory. “It does.”
“Did that someone deserve whatever you did?”
Tilting his head to the side, he dragged his lips along the curve on her cheek. “They’d deserved that and then some.”
She trembled. “You guys . . . your family really is its own world.”
He slid his hand up her side, underneath the sweater. “You know what?”
“What?” Her hand landed on his chest.
Lucian guided her back until she was lying on the couch as he rose above her. Those beautiful whiskey-colored eyes met his. “I want you in this world—my world. Do you?”
Her fingers curled into the front of his shirt. “Just . . . just for a little while.”
A real smile curved up the tips of Lucian’s lips a second before he kissed her. He didn’t hold back. Because if she didn’t pull the brakes on this, he wasn’t stopping. He wanted this—wanted this since the moment he saw her in the bar.
Lucian claimed her with the kiss, and when her body started to tremble, he knew he had to do this first. Because if he didn’t and got naked, he wasn’t going to last. Not when he was already hard and ready.
He lifted, rocking back on one knee. “Take off that sweater.”
Cheeks flushed, she sat up and shrugged off the sweater. It got stuck under them, but he didn’t care.
“Love that top.” He trailed a finger along the lace. Then he moved onto her pants. Grabbing ahold, he slid them down, baring her. “No panties? Ms. Hughes, I am shocked.”
“Shut up,” she said, her voice husky.
He chuckled as he yanked the pants off her legs. He caught her ankle, kissing the arch of her foot and then moving slowly up the inside of her leg, kissing and nipping.
“Oh God,” she breathed as he passed her knee.
Pausing he glanced up, seeing those nipples pebbled under the thin material. He wanted to see them. Catching the edge of the flimsy shirt, he tugged it up. She lifted up, and then she was completely exposed.
Lucian could only stare for a moment, his eyes cataloging every soft swell and dip. His imagination had not done her justice. Jesus, she was a goddess.
So he told her that.
Julia laughed as she gave a little shake of her head.
“I’m speaking the truth.” Lucian cupped her breasts, dragging his thumbs over the rosy peaks. She shuddered in response. “Do you trust me?”
“Yes,” she said, and she didn’t hesitate.
Lucian kissed her fiercely in response. His dick was so hard, it was going to burst open his jeans. “I want you to sit up and I want you to scoot to the edge of the couch.”
The shudder in her grew as she sat completely up. That beautiful hair of hers fell forward. Taut nipples peeked through the thick strands as he rose off the couch. Knees pressed together, she scooted to the edge of the couch.
He could feel her trembling as he kissed her thundering pulse and folded his hands on her knees. Lucian kissed his way down, loving the softness of her skin, as he slowly parted her legs, dropping onto his knees between them.
Julia was staring down at him wide-eyed, her hands gripping the edge of the cushion on either side of her.
“Beautiful,” he rasped, taking in the most intimate part of her. “God, you’re beautiful. Don’t ever doubt that.” Bending, he kissed the inside of her thigh and then followed that delicate stretch skin to her core.
Lucian licked her.
She cried out, back arching.
Hell, she was already wet—wet for him. He groaned deep in his throat as he lifted his gaze. “You liked that?”
“Yes,” she breathed, those fucking little nipples parting her hair. The hottest damn thing he’d ever seen. “Obviously.”
Lucian chuckled as he nipped at the other inner thigh. “How does this sound, Ms. Hughes? I’m going to taste you and then I’m going to fuck you.”
Chapter 25
In the back of Julia’s mind, she knew that what they were doing could be a huge mistake. But that was the interesting thing about living, she realized at some point between leaving her room and knocking on Lucian’s door. It was flawed. Mistakes would be made.
She wasn’t doing this, thinking that something was going to come out of it other than probably the most amazing sex she’d ever have. No expectations. That was what tonight was about.
And right now, she was just focused on this utterly breathtaking man on his knees in front of her, between her thighs. What he offered sounded like heaven—like something Julia wasn’t sure she could handle, but she sure as hell was going to find out.
“It sounds amazing,” she said, and she didn’t even recognize her own voice.
His smile would’ve melted the clothes right off her if she wasn’t already nude. “You going to watch me?”
Her breath caught. “I’m going to try.”
“You better try real hard.”
Julia didn’t get a chance to respond.
Lucian was done teasing her. One moment he’d been talking to her and the next his mouth was on her. Her entire body jerked at the very intimate kiss. Hot, wet heat flooded her veins when he made this sound that reminded of her of a man starved.
He did something so wet and so hot, it crushed her—the way he used his lips and the way he worked his tongue in teasing strokes. Her fingers were digging into the fabric of the couch. She was going to rip it apart.
And her body was moving, shamelessly meeting the strokes of his tongue. Primal and stunning sensations pounded her. Her body was coiling tight.
“Lucian,” she moaned, her chin falling down. All she could see were his fingers indenting her thighs and his forehead.
Then he clamped his mouth around that bundle of nerves, sucking and licking until she couldn’t take it. She cried out as release poured through her, liquefying bone and muscle. Collapsing back against the couch, she tried to close her legs, but he wasn’t having it. He kept going until her spine curved and she cried out his name again. Then, only then, did he lift his mouth and press a kiss against her inner thigh. “I love those sounds you were making,” he said, his hands flattening out on her legs. “But you know what I love more? The way you came in my mouth. Fucking loved that.”
Julia exhaled raggedly. “Oh wow.”
That half grin appeared and he rose, dragging his hands up her sides to her arms. His glistening lips we
re the hottest things she’d ever seen. “I’m not done with you.”
“I’d hope not?”
Bending over, he kissed her, and she could taste herself on his lips and tongue. The combination made her feel drunk. Holding on to her arms, he brought her to her feet. He was still kissing her, the material of his clothes rough against her overly sensitive skin.
“I want to go back to my bedroom—to my bed,” he said, and he sounded almost surprised by that.
She ran her hands down his back. “That sounds like a plan.”
He pulled back slightly, just enough that she could see his face. “I’ve never had a woman in my bedroom before. Here, in this room? Yes.” His gaze searched hers intently. “But never there.”
Her chest warmed and brightened, but she tried not to read into any of that. “Okay.”
Lucian took her hand, leading her around the couch. As nude as she was, she felt incredibly self-conscious. She’d never walked around the house naked when she was married. One scorching look from Lucian as he swiped a wooden box off the bookshelf, though? She wanted him to look at her. That heated stare made her feel like the goddess he called her.
He pushed open the door, letting go of her hand as she entered the cooler room. A light came on over the large bed. The room was a blur to her. She only saw him.
Lucian watched her with a heavy hooded stare as he opened the box, tossing a silver foil or two on the bed. He placed the box on a dresser.
Eyes locked with hers, he reached down and pulled off the charcoal-stained shirt he wore. She’d seen him shirtless, but each time was like the first time. His body was impressive. He flicked the button and then the zipper, shucking off his jeans and the tight dark blue boxer briefs.
All Julia could do was stare.
Every inch of Lucian was stunning. From the messy golden brown hair and those broad cheekbones and well-formed lips to the defined pecs and chiseled stomach. And when Julia’s gaze slipped farther down, she saw that the rest of him was just as perfect. He had those muscles on either sides of his hips, those indentations she just wanted to touch. The dusting of slightly darker hair led to . . . Sweet Jesus.
Moonlight Sins Page 28
