by Fiona Keane
“Well…yes.” You’re not wearing pants. Don’t let him win. Julian’s fingers slowly spread, claiming my skin beneath the comforter, burning their possession into my flesh. He pulled his right hand away from me, lifting over me to balance his weight as his hand pressed into the mattress near my left thigh. Blinking away my stupor, I was paralyzed as Julian mounted me, his face lowering mere inches above mine.
“You have no idea,” he whispered, his eyes flicking between my mouth and the widened orbs staring into his, “how long I have waited for you. You haven’t an inkling of the need my body has for yours, for you?”
“Need.” I felt my cheeks burn. His attempted manipulation worked as I fell further under his spell. The heavenly scent of his cologne drifted into my nostrils, tying my brain in a functionless knot.
“I’m going to get them out of here, and then you and I are going to discuss what happens next.” His lips pressed against my forehead, filling my burning abdomen with fiery longing. Wanting.
“Next?” But he has no idea that his grandfather tried to kill me. How am I supposed to tell him this? I can’t just let him touch me like this and blurt it out. I can’t hurt him. I can’t. Julian’s forearms pressed against mine as he lowered toward me, kissing my forehead once more. I must be dying.
“I look at you, Aideen, and the world stops. There is nobody else. Nobody exists. It’s you. It’s only ever been you and it only ever will be you.” Julian’s head nuzzled mine, ceasing all function within my mind. I just need to think of how to tell him. When his grandfather leaves, I will tell him.
“Julian,” I whispered, finally finding my voice as I peered behind him at the door, praying it would remain closed. “I can’t stay here.” His eyes, vibrantly bearing into mine, fell despondently against my gaze while I spoke.
“I should never have expected you to be comfortable here.” His frustration was a muffled hum as Julian’s head hung low. “And now my family is here, Edward is here…forgive me. Please. I was selfish. I am selfish. I just wanted you. I want you. I want to protect you, and keeping you here with me is the only way I can make sure that happens.” I get it. I do. I honestly, without a doubt, believe him for the first time in my life. I trust him.
Closed off, stranded in bed beneath his powerful body, and momentarily hidden from the deviance brewing on the other side of those walls, I felt nothing but the delicate peace that Julian brought my heart. My soul was hopelessly devoured by the glowing sapphire blazing into my eyes, drinking every last particle of my being with each soft blink or unconscious flutter of his eyelash.
“It isn’t about you being forgiven,” I began, struggling to compose myself beneath the heat of his body, and the invigoratingly seductive cage in which he held me, “I just…” He waited, his expression and body patiently accepting my inability to speak.
“Yes?” His brows met ever so slightly, only hinting at his worry while Julian scanned my face. Balancing his weight above me on his left arm, Julian’s right hand lifted to stroke my cheek. The back of his knuckles hovered above my skin, barely touching my reddening cheeks, and my body was his.
“Leave with me,” I blurted, my heart bounding free of my ribs, landing directly next to his beneath the protective shell of his chest. Julian’s right hand returned to my side, his voice mute while my thoughts found our hearts buried within him. Don’t cry. Don’t do it. Let this beautiful devil think. Don’t you dare do it, Aideen. I swear, I will make you drink milk if you do this. Whole milk, girlfriend.
A small chuckle flirted with his throat, trickling from his parted lips as his smile formed. “I was waiting for you to ask.”
My lips met his with the heady, welcomed intrusion of his lust and desire. Desire. This man, this delicious, demanding deity desires me. Bringing my mind back to the important matter of Julian’s hands now tightly holding my head within their grasp as his teeth pierced my bottom lip, my breath caught. I needed to touch him, to feel him above me, but when I lifted my hands, his fingers left my face and locked around my wrists, binding them above my head in a prison that exploded my heart. His pelvis pressed harder into mine, his weight relaxing against me as his head nuzzled mine to the side, giving Julian’s burning lips access to spread their delicious sin along my exposed, aching skin.
I squirmed beneath him, desperate to hold Julian, craving only the release of my fingertips to I explore the man above me. Yet with each jerk of my body brought on by the softest touch of Julian’s lips or his stubble against my neck and collarbone, his grasp tightened, holding my hands in his possession above my head. Don’t ruin this moment, you horrid, overthinking brain.
“My God, Aideen.” His husky voice crackled into my ear. His right hand restrained both of my wrists in its possession as his left hand scoured my face and shoulder, caressing me as its warmth radiated into my pores. Julian’s fingers grabbed my chin, delicately at first before his lips once more crashed into mine. My hips wiggled, out of my control, while I wanted to free myself from his restraint, only to hold him.
“Julian,” I murmured, turning my face as his teeth grazed my right earlobe, “please.” The sudden, violent absence of his chest against mine, blissfully suffocating me, jarred my desperate body.
“What? I pushed you too far. I am so sorry. Please forgive me!” Julian climbed from me, almost instantly leaving me isolated on the bed. I wriggled up from the pillows and covers, kneeling on top of the mattress while Julian’s feet met the floor. I grabbed his shirt, stopping him from leaving me.
“Where the hell are you going, Molloy?” His hands dropped to mine and he lifted my palm to his chest in response.
“I wasn’t asking you to stop.” I squeezed the fabric of his shirt beneath my fingertips. “I want more. I need more. I need you. But…”
“There’s someone else?” That arrogant shit. His grin beamed, loud and destructively gorgeous. I…I love him.
“That isn’t even funny, Julian Molloy.” I pinched what skin I could grab with my palm that had spread above his heart, vibrating with a quick pound of his heart. “Get back over here. Now.”
Julian dropped my hand, the smirk upon his face melting me into a puddle desperate to be lapped up by only him, and pushed my shoulders before I landed on the soft covers of his bed.
“I’m here,” he moaned against my mouth, his legs pressed against the edge of the mattress, separating mine at the knees. “I always will be.”
His lips fought against my clavicle, warring to break through my ribs and reveal my heart. But he already had that. I had to tell him. Two things.
My hands wiggled to hold his face, tickling beneath the unusually neglected stubble forming along his jaw and cheeks. “Can you take me to my apartment tonight? We need to talk. I want to be alone with you.”
With an exhale deep enough to consume the Atlantic Ocean, Julian’s head fell against my chest. It was the warmest, most comforting weight. My veins throbbed, unable to keep up with my rapidly beating heart.
“Your heart is pounding,” he whispered, his fingers spreading around the sides of my ribs, burrowing into my skin and barely grazing my chest. “Talk to me here.”
“I can’t,” I urged, my voice weakened. “We need to be alone…please?” Julian’s head slowly lifted, his chin resting against my sternum with his wide, blue gaze patiently studying me.
“Of course.” His eyes flicked between mine, taking a moment to consider me, as though that was it. It. This is only the beginning. I hushed my mind, reminding myself that Julian might only be looking at me with the deepest expression of concern because he had a heart somewhere in there, dancing alongside my own.
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Acknowledgements
I want to thank the phenomenal Limitless Publishing team for the opportunity to continue Julian and Aideen’s story. Thank you to my editor for supporting me through this process and to the amazing marketing teams dedicated to helping this series find its audience.
Thank you to my family who support my writing with their unconditional love and patience. I would be lost in this journey if it weren’t for my friends who supported this series from the beginning. Thank you for brainstorming with me, inspiring me, and motivating me during the process of writing and editing this book. I can’t wait to continue this journey with you.
About the Author
Fueled by coffee and rainy days, shelves of books consuming her home in the Pacific Northwest, and a vivid imagination, Fiona writes about love because she believes the world needs more of it. She could spend eternity lost in a story, taken into someone’s thoughts while she is left lingering there long after the pages have turned. Fiona works to meld themes in the current world and spin them into stories of longing, determination, and hope. Her characters are relatable and relevant, as they battle their own fictional version of existence.
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