Six’s focus moved from my face to hers. “You really think alcohol is what I need right now?” he spat.
Mira placed a hand on her hip. “What you need is to calm the fuck down. Drink this or get out of this house.” Her voice was equally venomous.
Six’s eyes narrowed before they slid down her body, but not in a leering way. When his gaze seemed to land on her stomach he swallowed hard and looked away, picking up the glass and tossing back the alcohol.
“Who are you?” Andra asked. I looked at her, confusion in my eyes. She was looking at Mira.
Mira turned around and looked at Andra with tired eyes and messy hair. “Mira.” She put her hands up to her hair and pulled it back, securing it a little bit more neatly. “And just so we’re all on the same page,” she started, an eyebrow raised and finger pointed at Andra, “I’m pregnant,” she said before she pointed her other forefinger at Six, “and I found Julian and brought him along Six, so get over it.”
I felt Andra shake her head from beside me. I assumed she’d known Mira, but apparently I’d been wrong. “You know Six?” she asked, confusion evident in her voice.
Mira narrowed her eyes on Andra and I squeezed Andra’s hand. “I think it’s pretty obvious I do, don’t you?” She looked back at Six. “Do you need another? Or can I trust you to chill out?”
Six glowered at her. “I am fine,” he said, his voice the opposite of his words.
Mira snorted. “Shut up, Six. You’re a shit liar.” She turned her attention to Andra and me. “Might as well sit. I’m sure Six has things he wants to growl and he expects you to listen.”
“No,” Andra said. Everyone turned to look at her. She looked directly at Six, whose expression had softened when he looked at her. “Six,” she started, coming closer to the table. She let go of my hand and grasped onto the back of the chair as she addressed him. “I know this complicates things and you’re feeling frustrated, but Julian is here now,” she glanced at me and smiled softly before turning back to Six, “and I’m happy. I don’t care if this compromises things. We’ll figure it out. I can’t lose Julian again. I refuse.”
“What if he was followed?”
“Ha,” Mira said. “It’s too late an hour for stupid questions, Six. I was with him. Come on.” Six glared mildly at her and she shook her head. “You just need to go to bed.” She ran her tongue over her teeth and I watched Six’s expression change as he looked at her. Intense was the best way to describe the way they looked at one another, though that was the word I’d always use to describe him.
His shoulders dropped from the aggressive stance he’d had and he looked at me with mild annoyance before looking at Andra again. “We’ll discuss this in the morning,” he agreed. He looked at Mira again, with a little more warmth. “It’s been a long fucking day.” His words to Mira seemed to hold more meaning than just the literal. Mira smiled slowly at him and I looked away, feeling a little awkward with the way they were looking at each other.
“Goodnight,” Andra said as she spun around and grabbed my hand, pulling me up the stairs with her. The moment we were inside the room, she shut the door and walked backwards from me. My eyes were adjusting to the darkness, so I could only make out her silhouette as she walked to the nightstand. The room lit up a second later when she switched on the table lamp.
I watched her, mesmerized, as she kept her eyes on me. She pulled the t-shirt she was wearing up and over her head before she tossed it at me, biting on her lip. Playful Andra. I’d missed her, desperately.
But I wasn’t feeling playful. The swelling in my chest, knowing this wasn’t one of my many dreams, was overpowering me, my movements. I held the shirt in my hands, and keeping my eyes trained on hers, I brought it up to my face and inhaled.
I watched her face change. The playful glint left her eyes. In its place was heady desire. I inhaled clementines and felt my whole body change, shift into a familiar place.
Don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t that I didn’t love seeing her playful side. But my heart was burning in my chest and I had seriously potent feelings for her, feelings that stole my air and changed the rhythm of my heartbeat. In Andra, I found more than love, more than hope and peace. I found my home.
I walked slowly to her, watched the movement of her throat as she swallowed. My eyes moved to meet hers the moment my hands touched her skin. Oh, her skin. Each time I touched her, my fingers came alive, as if she was the most beautiful instrument my hands would ever touch.
I pressed my lips to her forehead, felt the heat of her breath on my neck. My eyes closed and I savored this moment, savored being home again.
My fingers slid from her arms up and over her shoulders, touching her neck. My thumbs traced her jaw line, meeting at the center of her chin. My thumbs trembled when I watched her lips part. Every single part of her was made perfectly for me.
I brushed a thumb over her lips and looked into her eyes again. They were clouded over with lust. Seeing that lit a match in my veins.
My arms moved to encircle her as my mouth touched hers. I captured the breath she was about to take and sunk in, lips and tongues and nibbles from teeth.
“Julian,” she moaned against my mouth.
I lifted her up, relishing in the feel of her weight in my arms. I crushed her body to mine, unwound her hair from its messy bun, and dove my fingers into the strands. I turned around and sat on the edge of the bed, so she was in my lap, kissing me as passionately as I was kissing her.
I pulled back to catch my breath, our noses pressed against each other. I filled my lungs as I looked at her. “You make me a romantic man,” I said, my voice foreign even to me. I cupped her cheek with one hand while she looked at me, eyes open and unguarded. “I don’t think you’ll ever understand the depth of my feelings for you.”
She swallowed hard, sucked in air. “Ditto,” she said.
I smiled, ran a hand down the side of her face. “Ditto?”
She shrugged. “I’ve watched some older movies while isolated up here.”
“But Ghost?” I asked. “Aren’t you more into the action flicks?”
She had a small smile on her lips. “Yeah, but I think you might make me a romantic woman. Never thought that would happen.”
I returned her smile, feeling an ache blooming in my chest at having her here, in my arms again. I wanted to bury myself in her smiles, in the way she looked at me. On impulse, I pulled her to me again, hugged her tightly. I breathed in her scent again and sent up a silent thank you to the powers that be.
“Julian,” she said against my neck.
“Hmm?” I murmured against her hair.
“I really want to make out. Now.”
I pulled back abruptly and sealed my lips to hers. I felt her purr in the back of her throat.
She pushed me so I was laying on my back, with her on top of me, her hair a curtain around us. Bliss. That’s what it was. I ran my hands up her back, along the line of her spine until I reached her bra.
She pulled back as if expecting me to unsnap it but instead my fingers followed along to the front of the bra, over the cups, over her curves. I heard her suck in a breath and a second later, her delicate hands were on my shoulders, pulling me up before pulling my shirt up over my head.
When my shirt was gone, she ran her hands down my chest, over my stomach. My muscles clenched involuntarily. I flipped us so she was on her back, looking up at me with just the light of the lamp lighting up half of her face. Her lips were swollen and parted, her eyes heavy-lidded. It spurned impatience in me, so I grabbed the hem of her shorts and yanked, pulling them down. I stood up to remove them and removed my jeans.
I couldn’t keep my eyes off of her. She stared at me, into me, from her position on the bed. My blood pounded in my veins.
“Do you know what you do to me, Andra?”
She bit her lip and the corners of her eyes crinkled. “Show me,” she whispered.
I stepped between her legs and ran my hands up her calves, over her
thighs, squeezing every few inches. I felt her skin tremble beneath my hands and I smiled calmly, patiently, at her. Her eyes were burning with lust, their hazel the darkest shade I’d seen them. When I reached her underwear, I ran a finger just under the seam, back and forth along her stomach. Gently, I grabbed the sides and pulled, slowly down her legs.
“Julian,” she pleaded this time, impatience clear in her voice. But I still moved slowly, unwilling to rush this.
When I’d removed her underwear, I took her hand and pulled so she was standing with me. I pushed a soft kiss to her lips before turning her around, her back to my front. I moved her hair to rest over one shoulder. I rubbed a thumb over the Queen tattoo and kissed a line over the gorgeous curve that existed between her neck and her shoulder. My hands moved to the middle of her back, and unsnapped the bra while my lips pressed kisses across her exposed shoulder.
“We didn’t get enough time,” I whispered against her skin. “I didn’t get to explore all your delicate curves and lines.” I put my lips to her ear, nibbled on her lobe. “I plan to do a lot of exploring, Andra,” I breathed as I pushed the straps off her shoulders. My hands moved around to her front, cupping her breasts. Her head fell back onto my shoulder and I kissed the side of her neck, while I squeezed her gently. “God, you are flawless.”
“I think you’re trying to make love to me with your words, Julian,” she said, her eyes closed, her chest heaving with exertion. I turned her around so she was facing me again and pushed the hair from her face.
“Every single part of me wants that. I want to fill your thoughts, so that there isn’t room for anything but me.” I pushed her gently, so she was naked, on her back on the bed. I reached down for my jeans, grabbed the condom I’d put in my pocket earlier that morning with the hope of this moment on my mind. “You’ve filled my thoughts since day one.” I slid the condom on and climbed over her.
She looked up at me, her eyes full of emotion. She lifted a hand to cup my face. “You do, Julian,” she whispered earnestly.
I leaned down and kissed her, feeling my heartbeat settle in my chest. And then my body joined with hers in a dance that belonged only to us, with the music only we could hear.
Later, Andra laid on my chest drawing circles with her finger on my skin. “How did you find me?” she asked, sleepily.
I ran my fingers through her hair. And I told her of the last 36 hours, the whirlwind they were first. She was asleep before I could tell her the months of agony, of the dreams and the nightmares, the way I yearned desperately for this, for her breath on my skin, her body in my arms, her heartbeat in my ear. But it didn’t matter that she’d fallen asleep. Because every single second of her sleeping on my chest was worth all the months of missing her, missing this.
CHAPTER THREE
~Andra~
I woke up laying on my stomach, with Julian’s lips on the small of my back.
“Mmm,” I murmured drowsily. “Good morning.”
“Very good morning,” Julian said against my back. I snuggled deeper into the bed, feeling completely blissed out. “I made you breakfast,” he said, climbing up the bed and lying next to me.
I rolled on my side. “Why?”
He was propped up on one arm, his head resting in his hand. “Because I want to.” He smiled, that pearly white smile I had missed so much. “And,” he said, raising an eyebrow, “you’ve lost weight.” To prove his point, he ran his thumb down the side of my body and over my ribs, which were protruding slightly more than usual.
“Maybe ten pounds,” I said, pursing my lips. “I’ve been doing a lot of running.”
“On the beach?”
I shook my head. “Six doesn’t let me leave the house. The furthest I’ve gone is that back porch.” I frowned.
Julian tilted his head to the side, his hair flopped over his eyes. “We’ll have to change that then.” He said it as if it was the easiest thing in the world. Which meant he obviously did not know Six that well.
“Speaking of change, your hair has gotten a lot longer.” I reached a hand up and ruffled the wavy hair that was longer than I’d remembered. He had a surfer look now, with his unkempt hair and lazy facial hair. “I like it.” I winked and grinned at him.
Julian reached a hand for my face and I instinctively leaned in for his touch. I felt his thumb on my lip. “You are lovely to wake up to,” he said, his voice serious and heavy with meaning.
“I happen to like seeing your face when I open my eyes,” I replied, sitting up and pulling the sheet to my chest. “But I am hungry. What’d you make me?”
“Waffles.”
Oh. Something tugged my heart. I was reminded of Dylan and Rosa and everyone else at the ranch in an instant.
“What is it?” Julian asked, concerned etched. He grabbed one of my hands.
“Nothing,” I said. Julian wasn’t buying my answer and I had to remember that I couldn’t keep all my thoughts to myself as I’d done for the last several months now. “It’s just-” I started, chewing on my lip. “I used to have Waffle Wednesdays with Dylan, at the ranch.” I shook my head. “But this is great. Waffles with Julian.” I smiled at him, hoping it was an assuring smile.
“Sunday waffles with Julian,” he amended.
“After reunion sex,” I declared, my thoughts pushing the memories of the ranch to their spot at the back of my mind.
“Is there better sex than reunion sex?” Julian asked in a mock serious tone. I laughed.
“I guess we’ll have to find out,” I said as seriously as possible. “For research purposes.”
After breakfast, I showed Julian around the little house. Which was a tour that lasted all of five minutes. Six and Mira were gone. Part of me was bummed by that. And part of me was happy. As much as I was glad to not have Six’s lurking presence in corners of the house, eyeing Julian with distrust, I wanted to get to know Mira. Figure her out a little bit.
I showed Julian my collection of books, which were mostly written by him. He’d looked at me funny then, as if surprised to see so many of his books on my shelf. He picked up the one I’d reread over and over. The spine was cracked, the pages bent. It’d been well-loved.
“I like that one,” I explained, shrugging.
Julian just smiled his little half smile at me. As if I’d just revealed a secret.
“No historical romances?” he asked, coming up to me. “Watching romance movies? Ghost?” He furrowed his brow and held the hair away from my face. “Did I really find Andra?” He ran a finger along my hairline.
“What are you doing?”
“Seeing if this is like Mission Impossible, the one where the bad guy wears another dude’s face.”
I laughed and pushed him away. “It’s me, dork.” I grabbed his hand and pulled him back downstairs with me. “I’ve just been really, really bored.” I looked back over my shoulder at him.
“What a compliment!” he exclaimed. “You were so bored you read my books to pass the time. Thanks, babe.”
I pulled him out onto the porch and pushed him so he was leaning back against the railing. “I actually enjoyed your books.” I said, wrapping my arms around him. “But yeah, the movie thing? That was pure boredom.”
I felt his chuckle in his chest and I sighed. Having Julian this close again was like having dessert over and over. Decadent and sweet. I pressed a kiss to his chest. “This feels good,” I thought aloud.
“Don’t get used to it,” Julian said against my ear. “This is just the honeymoon period. Tomorrow I’ll kick your ass out of bed for some coffee.”
I laughed. I’d forgotten how much I laughed around Julian. “You prefer tea anyway.”
“I do,” he confirmed, kissing my hair. “What’s with the sad lone chair on this porch?”
I pulled out his arms slightly to look behind me. “That’s my thrift store chair. I’ve been trying to break it.”
“Why?”
I signed. “Because I’ve been so stuck inside this house that I hoped in bre
aking it, I’d get to leave the house to get a new one.”
“Do you want a new chair that bad?”
“No, I just want to leave the house.”
“Let’s go then.”
I looked up at him. “I can’t.”
“Says who?”
“Six.”
“Well as the only male on this property at the moment, I say you can.”
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t be sexist.”
“Then don’t be ridiculous.” Julian pulled away and took a step off the porch, into the sand. “Come,” he beckoned with his hand. “Let’s take a walk.”
I looked back at the house. “I’ll piss Six off.”
“We’ll both piss him off,” Julian said.
“He’s already pissed at you,” I added.
Julian put his arms out. “All the more reason to come out here with me.”
I was tempted. That was obvious. I shouldn’t. But I found myself taking the first step into the sand, feeling the grains slip between my toes.
“Come on, babe,” Julian encouraged. He took a step back.
“Why do I feel like I’m a baby and you’re teaching me to walk?” I asked with suspicion.
“Because that’s basically what I’m doing.” Julian grinned at me.
I launched myself at him. He caught me easily, threw me over his shoulder, and ran down to the water. Except he didn’t stop when he got to the water. He kept running, with me hanging over his shoulder, until I felt the water touch my toes. “Julian!” I exclaimed, right before he threw me into the water, fully clothed.
When I came up for air, he was grinning at me. The water was cold, almost too cold, but Julian reached for me and yanked me to him before I could complain. His body heat took the edge off my chill as I clambered up his body, wrapping my arms tightly around his neck.
“Yeah, this was colder than I expected,” Julian laughed, squeezing me tightly to him. “Sorry about that.”
I held him tightly, not worried about the cold. He carried us both out onto the sand, and we ran, laughing, back to the house.
He Saved Me Page 3
