Eighteen
Julianne put her hand on her back and stretched. “That’s the one thing about cooking that I don’t enjoy: cleaning up.”
Will harrumphed as he stacked the frying pan in the cabinet. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
Their guests had left nearly an hour ago, Brody leading the way to the small ice cream stand that was sure to be packed with holiday weekend tourists. She and Will had just conquered the mountain of dishes left behind.
“You know what they say: A messy kitchen is a happy kitchen.”
Will wiped the counters down. “This kitchen was pretty happy the way it was.”
“Hey, at least your house looks like somebody lives in it now.”
Will glanced around the first floor, a pained look on his face. “Yes, yes it does.”
Julianne stuck her tongue out at him. “Tell me the truth. Did you stay around to help me clean up because you really can’t stand to have your space out of order? Or was it because you wanted to be able to watch out the window to see when your mom gets home?”
Will draped a dish towel around the back of her neck and pulled her body into contact with his. “Or, option three, I wanted to be with you.”
His voice was a low rumble underneath her hands on his chest, and Julianne shivered. They hadn’t been alone since this afternoon, when clearly their relationship had hit a turning point.
“Option three works,” she whispered.
Will touched his forehead to hers. “We need to talk through a few things, Julianne.”
“Yeah.”
Will’s cell phone vibrated on the counter. Keeping his eyes locked with hers, he picked it up and answered brusquely.
“Roscoe, can’t this wait until tomorrow?”
He stepped away from her. Apparently, whatever it was couldn’t wait.
Will placed his thumb over the phone’s mouthpiece and sighed. “I’ve got to take this. You should probably get some sleep, anyway, while the baby is sleeping. We can talk tomorrow.”
His face looked strained, as if he wanted to do anything else but take this call. Julianne wanted to reach out and offer him comfort, but they weren’t there yet in their relationship. She felt they were getting closer, but she didn’t want to overstep the invisible boundaries that still kept them apart.
Julianne nodded, and Will disappeared into his study. As she climbed the stairs, she could hear Will’s angry voice as he argued with his agent. She checked on Owen before changing into a pair of sleep shorts and a tank top and climbing into bed.
But she was too keyed up to sleep. Instead, she crawled into the big chair under the dormer and pulled out the sketch she’d begun for Brody’s sister. Half an hour later, the gown was nearly complete; a few notes on the embellishments still needed to be added, but Julianne was pleased and relieved at the finished product.
A sound from the nursery alerted her to the fact that Will was checking on Owen. She heard his footsteps hesitate in front of the door to her adjoining room, before he left the nursery and moved down the hall to his own room. Julianne knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep if they didn’t finish what they’d started in the kitchen earlier. She just didn’t know if she had the nerve to make the first move. Maybe when Owen woke for his two A.M. feeding, he’d join her in the kitchen and they could have one of their quiet chats.
“Ah, the heck with it!” Julianne couldn’t wait another four hours to make her last confession to Will. She needed to do it now while she had the nerve.
His door was closed and she knocked softly, but there was no response. The shower was running in the distance. She debated whether to go in, but she’d come this far, so she forced herself to turn the doorknob and go inside.
Will’s bedroom was decorated in much the same style as the room Julianne was occupying, with one exception; the room featured a massive king-sized bed. The bed was situated in front of two sets of French doors leading out to the balcony overlooking the Atlantic. Fortunately, the sound of the shower drowned out most of the roar of the ocean. The door to Will’s bathroom was open, and steam wafted into the room.
The shower stopped, and now it was too late for Julianne to change her mind. She sank down on the bed in full view of the bathroom mirror and waited for Will to emerge. When he finally did, the sight of him stole her breath.
Clothed, the man looked like a Viking warrior, but naked, he looked like a Greek god. Droplets of water clung to his broad back, the lucky things making their way over his muscled torso, down from his tapered waist to his dimpled butt and finally to his hard thighs and defined calves dusted with blond hair.
Julianne’s nipples were painfully hard and she had to cross her legs to quell the tension between them. Will took a pull from a bottle of beer before grabbing a towel and drying his hair. Using the towel to wipe the condensation from the mirror, his hand suddenly stilled when he spied her reflection. Their eyes met in the mirror, but Will didn’t say a word or turn around. Slowly, he wrapped the towel around his waist and grabbed a bottle of ibuprofen. He swallowed two pills with a swig from his beer.
“You shouldn’t be in here,” he finally said, speaking to her reflection in the mirror.
“You shouldn’t be mixing alcohol and pills.”
He arched an eyebrow at her as if to say, Look who’s talking.
Julianne crossed her arms over her chest. “I wasn’t drinking that night!” She wasn’t sure if he’d heard her because his eyes had glazed over at the site of her aroused nipples. Rising to her feet, she attempted to take a step toward him.
“Don’t!” he growled, his back still to her. He closed his eyes and his fingers clung to the vanity. “I can’t do this tonight. We need to talk things out, but if you stay here now, we won’t be talking.”
“I just need to tell you something.”
“Not tonight! Please, Julianne, don’t you see? We started at this spot and everything got messed up. If we want this to work, we need to start at the beginning. We need to talk, but I’ve had a pretty shitty evening, and talking is the last thing I want to do with you.”
Julianne was beginning to get annoyed. “Well, thanks for the lovely compliment about my dinner. I just came in here to tell you something, but now I don’t think I want to.”
“Oh, for the love of all that is holy!” Will threw his hands up in the air as he turned and stalked toward her, his towel parting as he walked.
Julianne’s legs gave out at the sight of the magnificent body bearing down on her, and she slumped back down on the bed.
“Oh no, Princess.” He lifted her by her elbows, his fingers hot against her bare skin. “Say what you came to say, and then you’d better run for your life.”
Her hands hovered between them until they finally landed on his chest. He sucked in a breath at the contact. Will was right; she needed to spit out what she wanted to say before things got out of hand.
“I lied,” she breathed as his lips found the curve of her neck.
“You don’t say.”
He was being annoying again, and she dug her fingernails into his chest. He winced before pulling her in closer, his erection nudging against her. Julianne let out a breathy moan before using her lips to soothe the nail marks she’d left on his pectoral muscles.
One of his hands was pushing down her shorts as the other caressed her breast. Julianne needed to tell him before she totally lost her train of thought.
“I lied about the night on Sea Island,” she gasped.
Will pulled back to look at her, his eyes cloudy with desire as he sarcastically arched an eyebrow.
“Go on.”
She bit her bottom lip and took the coward’s way out by avoiding his eyes, instead focusing on his chest.
“That night. I remember it. All of it.”
He placed a finger under her chin, raising her eyes to meet his. “Prove it,” he challenged.
• • •
She’d pushed him beyond reason. Will had tried to warn her, but as usual, Julianne had been stubborn and wouldn’t listen. So now he was going to take what she was offering, the hell with talking. Talking was overrated anyway.
They were both naked except for the sexy excuse for a shirt she wore. Julianne slowly pulled it over her head, flinging it to the floor as though she’d practiced the move many times. Will’s mouth went dry at the sight. She took a step closer and their bodies were skin to skin, both of them hot and hard. Waiting for her to make a move was killing him.
Snaking her hands up over his shoulders, she cradled his jaw before finally pulling his head down to meet hers.
“You sure you’re okay with not talking about this first?” he murmured as his lips hovered above hers.
“Stop being such a girl and kiss me.”
It was all the encouragement Will needed. One quick move and he had her sprawled out on the bed. He crawled over her, taking his time, letting his lips get reacquainted with her body, inch by lovely inch.
“Will,” she gasped as he pressed tender kisses along the soft belly that had given him his son. She fisted her hands in his hair. “Come here so I can touch you.”
But Will wasn’t in a hurry. He’d dreamed about having her back in his bed for months now, and he meant to enjoy every moment of it. With his hands, he traced her hips, fuller now after childbirth. She writhed beneath him, her body anxious. He blew a quick breath on her nipples and she groaned, her hand gripping his shoulders.
When he was eventually face to face with her, he could see the desire, and desperation, reflected in her eyes. She didn’t waste a minute, pulling his head down to hers and kissing him. Will let her have her way for a moment before taking over, his tongue twining with hers. Julianne wrapped her legs around his waist and thrust her pelvis against his. He was on the verge of losing control, but he didn’t want the frenzied coupling they’d had on Sea Island. Tonight, he wanted more.
Pulling out of the kiss, he rested on his forearms and stared down at Julianne’s flushed face. She was panting beneath him, and that turned him on even more.
“Somebody’s in a hurry.” His own breathing wasn’t much better than hers.
“Well, that’s because one of us has been doing without for a long time,” she huffed. “While the other one . . . hasn’t.”
That was something he refused to feel guilty about, though. Yes, he’d been in a relationship throughout most of Julianne’s pregnancy. But had she told him about the baby, things would have been different. Obviously he thought so now, but if he was being honest, he wasn’t entirely sure.
He lowered his lips to her shoulder. “This is why we needed to talk first.”
“Yeah, probably.” A tear rolled down the side of her face.
Will erased its path with his lips. His hand caressed her belly before moving lower.
“It’s okay, Princess; I’m going to take pity on you.” He eased a finger inside her and her body clenched around it. Will sucked in a breath. “Is this what you wanted?”
She gasped. “It’ll do for right now.”
Smiling, he eased down to take possession of one of her breasts. They were fuller than he remembered and, as his mouth closed around her nipple, his body jerked in anticipation of what was to come. Julianne’s moans of pleasure were driving him wild, the rhythm of his thrusting finger meeting the cadence of her gyrating hips.
She came on a long, deep moan that nearly caused him to climax along with her. Will sank his teeth into her shoulder, then laved the tender spot with his tongue.
“Better?” Will asked when their breathing had returned to near normal.
“Mmm.” She smiled slyly before wrapping her hand around him.
Will closed his eyes at her touch. He wasn’t going to last long if she kept this up. Reaching over to his nightstand, he withdrew a condom from his wallet. Before he had it open, Julianne snatched it from his hand, pushing Will over onto his back.
“It’s my turn.” She deftly rolled the condom over his erection.
Will arched an eyebrow at her as she straddled him.
“Do your best, Princess.” He tucked his hands behind his head.
Julianne leaned down to kiss the tip of his nose, the move so unexpected it was erotic. The curtain of her hair created a sensual cocoon as she kissed his closed eyes, his jaw, and the corners of his mouth.
“Julianne,” he begged, and her tongue was suddenly in his mouth, this kiss more intimate than the last. He sucked on her lower lip and she reacted by grinding her ass against his erection.
“Julianne!” he nearly shouted.
Humming contentedly, she moved lower to gently suck on his neck. “Now who’s in a hurry?” she teased, a fingernail scoring his nipple, causing his body to buck beneath her.
That was the last straw. Will grabbed her by the hips, positioning her over the top of him, and thrust home. She was tighter than he expected, especially after having a baby. He had to catch his breath in order to slow himself down. Julianne’s sharp intake of her own breath refocused his attention.
“You okay?” he ground out.
“Oh, God, yes,” she breathed. “It’s wonderful. You’re wonderful.” She rose up on her knees before slowly coming back down. “Actually, I think wonderful may be an understatement.”
Slow wasn’t going to cut it for Will. He let her have her way for a few strokes before bringing her head down for a lingering, deep kiss. Grasping her hips, he increased the pace. Julianne threw her head back, and Will was mesmerized by the sway of her breasts. He leaned up to take one in his mouth.
She moaned his name. Pressing him flat against the bed, she adjusted their angle, still meeting him thrust for thrust. Will reached a thumb between them, searching for her sweet spot. She climaxed nearly immediately, a sob escaping her throat.
He wrapped her legs around his hips and flipped them over, driving into her until she came again. Only then did he let himself follow her over the edge. The ocean churned in the darkness as they lay on the bed, their bodies tangled together. It was several minutes before they both slowly came back to earth.
“Hmm,” Julianne sighed, a glow of faint contentment spreading over her face. “That was so much better than my dreams.” She stroked his calf with the insole of her foot, reawakening his sated nerve endings.
“Not only did you remember, but you dreamed about it, huh?” Will’s flagging ego did a little touchdown dance.
He felt her smile against the bare skin on his shoulder. “It’s all coming back to me now. I seem to remember there was more.” Her husky voice had his body stirring.
“So do I. Much more.” Will bent his head and kissed her softly on her swollen lips. She opened her mouth and her arms to him, and the kiss turned fiery in seconds. Needing no more encouragement than Julianne’s heated body, he proceeded to reenact the rest of their evening on Sea Island.
Owen’s urgent cries woke them several hours later. Will traipsed down to the kitchen to make the bottle, while Julianne changed their son. They fed him sitting against the headboard of Will’s bed, her back pressed against his chest as she cradled the baby, Will’s arms wrapped protectively around them both.