CHAPTER 17
“What are you doing?” Kristin asked nervously as she walked out of the bathroom after dressing for bed in a silky emerald-green nightgown that hugged every curve she had.
Julian had no body issues. He’d just stripped down naked and was currently sprawled out on the bed with his engorged cock in his hand, stroking over the length of it absently.
“Thinking about you,” he answered with a wicked grin.
Her heart stuttered as she looked at his incredibly ripped body and casual position. One arm was stretched behind his head, the other was, um . . . busy. He looked like sin and temptation, the mischievous expression on his face dangerous.
How he could be so amusing—yet so intense—was a mystery to her.
And Julian was one big enigma wrapped up in a delicious package. He was unpredictable, and he could easily catch her off guard.
Just like he was doing right this moment.
Her eyes ate him up, lovingly caressing his muscular chest and six-pack abs.
She waited where she had stopped, at least ten feet from where she wanted to be, on the bed right now. Julian would make his move. He always did.
Chewing on her lips, she waited.
And waited.
Then, she started tapping her foot in impatience as she watched him turn his head, still stroking a firm hand over his cock.
“Well?” he said with a devilish expression on his face. “Do you want some of this or not, baby?”
Kristin nearly groaned, pressing her thighs together to stop herself from sprinting over to the bed and crawling up his gloriously nude body, begging for him to touch her. Julian always came and got her, taking her where he found her, or to bed to do all kinds of wicked things to her body that left her pleading for release.
Never, not once, had she ever needed to wait for him to jump all over what he wanted.
Licking her lips as she stared, mesmerized by the distracted motion of his hand, she answered huskily, “Yes. Yes, I think I do.”
He crooked his finger at her to summon her closer. “If you want it, come and get it,” he answered bossily.
It was a challenge. Kristin knew it. Julian wanted to see if she’d be the real aggressor. There was teasing behind his actions, but his purpose was very clear.
Am I willing to go to him? Am I willing to initiate the intimacy?
There was no question of whether or not she wanted him. Every time she so much as thought about Julian, her body reacted. But she’d be damned if his victory would be that easy.
She put a fingertip to her chin. “I’ll have to think about it,” she told him with a sultry smile. “There are a few things I’d like to do, but I’m not sure you’ll like it.”
Sucking on the tip of her finger, she met his gaze boldly.
“What?” he asked, his voice suddenly urgent.
“I want my mouth all over your body right now, and I’d really like to move your hand aside and take over that job.” She nodded her head toward his cock.
“Then fucking do it,” he rasped, his hand moving a little harder and faster.
Sauntering over to the bed, she smiled down at him, her heart ready to leap out of her chest with longing. His body called to her, and it was screaming loudly right now.
“I’m not sure I should,” she considered as she slid one leg onto the bed. “I mean, it is rather bold.”
“Then be bold,” he demanded.
Kristin had lost track of how many times he’d brazenly pleasured her with his mouth between her legs. Never once had she returned the favor. Not that she didn’t want to. Honestly, she wasn’t that confident with her skills in that department, but she was fairly certain she could find a way to please him.
The way Julian was constantly lusting after her like she was a supermodel had given her a sense of sexual power that she had never experienced in her entire life. He made her want to break out of herself and be the temptress he accused her of being.
Knowing she affected him in the most carnal of ways was as heady as it was crazy.
She moved over to him and pushed his hand away, threading her fingers with his as she leaned closer and commanded, “Kiss me.”
His warm breath was already wafting over her face as she lowered her mouth and their lips met in the most sensual kiss she’d ever experienced.
His arm shot out from under his head and he threaded his fingers through her curls. He didn’t rush as he thoroughly explored her mouth, his hands caressing her scalp. The embrace was hot, erotic, and completely captivating.
Kristin was struggling with control as she finally brushed her lips against his and then trailed her mouth down his neck and across his chest. “You have an incredibly hot body, Julian. But I’m sure you already know that.”
He groaned as she licked her way down his abs, finally slipping her entwined fingers from his as she faced the most daunting cock she’d ever encountered. Recklessly, she flicked out her tongue and laved over the sensitive head, savoring the bead of moisture that was already hovering there.
His encouraging hands speared into her hair as a low, animalistic sound came from his throat. “Take it,” he instructed roughly.
She stroked her hand up and down the shaft as she commented, “I’ll have you begging for it.” Fair was fair. Kristin figured she had begged and pleaded with Julian often enough. It was his turn. She replaced her hand with her tongue and licked up the side of the shaft.
“Kristin,” he exploded in a warning voice.
“Want something?” She sucked the head gently.
“Oh, fuck. Okay. Please,” he shouted in a tone that said he didn’t give a shit about his pride.
She responded immediately, taking him into her mouth as deeply as possible and sucking as she pulled back.
“Oh, Jesus. I’m dying here,” Julian barked gutturally as he tightened his grip on her head.
She had him exactly where she wanted him, the same place he had her almost all the time: hot, needy, and so desperate to come that he didn’t care what he said.
His groans of pleasure spurred her on, and she teased his balls gently as she sped up her pace, letting him guide her on giving him exactly what he needed.
She squealed as she suddenly felt her body turning, her panties jerked from her body in one powerful yank.
“I’m not coming alone,” he grumbled into her slick pussy right before his tongue pierced between the folds, her nightgown now rolled up around her waist.
The pleasure of feeling his hungry mouth devour her shocked adrenaline into her system as she bent down and took him back into her mouth. She could barely keep her rhythm steady as Julian’s grip on her thighs grew tighter, his mouth more urgent and demanding.
Their bodies both damp with perspiration, they climbed together toward climax in a tumble of arms and legs, and with a frenzied kind of madness that sent Kristin over the edge as Julian groaned, the vibration sending her body into a violent orgasm. His hot release came at about the same time, and Kristin savored the taste of him as she trembled above him, lost in her own pleasure.
She collapsed in a heap next to him, her hand stroking his thigh. “Oh, God,” she whispered, knowing what had started as a challenge had ended in something cataclysmic that neither one of them had been able to control.
That’s what happened when Julian touched her. Every. Single. Time.
He sat up and pulled her up beside him, holding her so tightly that she could hardly breathe. But she wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. She needed that closeness and reassurance right now. She wanted him to hold her just like this, like he’d never let go.
“Kristin,” he whispered hoarsely, stroking a soothing hand up her back and then into her hair.
They lay like that for a long time, neither one saying another word.
Eventually, the two of them roused to take a shower. Kristin felt like she’d been completely destroyed, her body limp and lifeless.
“Coming?” Julian asked as he rolled out of bed.
“I already did,” she answered bluntly as she slid across the bed to follow him.
He laughed, a deep rumbling sound of amusement that had Kristin smirking at him.
Making her lift her arms, he slipped her silky nightgown over her head. “I owe you a new pair of panties,” he said, quirking a wicked brow at her.
Julian had already provided her an entire wardrobe. Everything she had packed for Maui had come from the supply of clothing he’d bought her and stocked in his house. “You bought me plenty of underwear,” she replied, wondering if his assistant had picked out her sundresses, jeans, shirts, shoes, and all of the intimate apparel she’d found in the closet.
“I’ll get you more,” he promised as he adjusted the temperature on the shower.
“Who bought the stuff at your house for me?” She asked the question before she could stop herself.
He looked at her, his eyes caressing her face as though he was looking for something. “I did.”
She rolled her eyes. “I know you paid for them. But I know you didn’t shop for them.”
The lingerie was elegantly sexy, but not blatantly trashy, and the clothing was the same.
“My assistant helped. I’m not very good at picking clothing for a woman,” he admitted, sounding like he didn’t want to admit there was anything he didn’t do well. “I’d be happy if you were always naked.”
“She’s willing to do your shopping?” she questioned, ignoring his provocative comment.
He shrugged as he took her hand and tugged her into the shower. “Of course. She’s my assistant.”
The pulsating jets of hot water soothed the muscles in Kristin’s body that she hadn’t known existed until she’d started doing sexual calisthenics with Julian.
He picked up her sponge and body wash, turning her so he could wash her. Kristin tried to keep her mind out of the gutter as he glided the slick sponge all over her body. “Maybe she doesn’t like doing your shopping for a new wife.”
The poor woman had to have a thing for Julian. Kristin couldn’t imagine that any female could work for him and not have some kind of crush on him.
“She didn’t mind.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because she told me,” he answered sensibly.
“Any woman is going to say that to her boss.”
Julian turned her around, taking his time cleaning the front of her body as he answered, “Why do you say that?”
“I’m saying maybe she has a thing for you. Sometimes, when a woman works that closely with a guy, feelings get involved.”
“Are you jealous, Scarlet?” he asked curiously.
“Of course not,” she replied defensively. “It’s just natural that something like that could happen.”
“Look at me,” he beckoned, handing her the sponge when he was finished.
She made a motion for him to turn around, but he didn’t move.
“Kristin, look at me,” he cajoled again.
Lifting her head, she finally met his gaze with a challenging stare. “What?”
“You don’t need to be jealous of my assistant, or anyone else for that matter. She happens to be happily married with several great-grandchildren. I’ve asked her many times if she wanted to retire, but she swears she enjoys having me for a boss. I pay generously, and my employees are loyal. She loved picking out things for my new wife because she keeps up on the current fashions.”
Her face flushed as she made another impatient gesture for him to turn as she looked down at his chest. He spun around, but not before he’d thoroughly surveyed her expression.
She felt somewhat foolish, being envious of a woman who probably looked at Julian as a son. “Well, can you thank her for me? She has great taste,” she finally answered as she scrubbed his back with more force than was probably necessary.
“I know she’ll like hearing that,” Julian answered evenly. He let her work for a minute before he confessed, “I was jealous, too. When I saw you out on a date with somebody else, it nearly killed me.”
“I wasn’t jealous,” she protested instinctively.
“You were, and I kind of like that. Jesus, I feel so fucking possessive of you that it scares me sometimes. It’s a relief to know that sometimes you feel a little bit the same way as I do,” Julian rumbled.
“I didn’t know we were married when I agreed to go out on a blind date. I wasn’t sure I’d even see you again anytime soon,” she told him breathlessly, her heart racing from his admission that he had hated seeing her with another guy.
“Doesn’t matter. All I could think about was if he had touched you, I’d take his head off.”
“He didn’t. It was a date that Mara set up. He was nice enough, but he wasn’t . . .” She stopped herself, almost realizing too late what she was going to say.
“He wasn’t what?”
“Never mind. It’s not important.”
Julian turned and took her shoulders. “It is important,” he insisted. “That guy you were with . . . He wasn’t . . . what?”
Silently, she washed the front of his body quickly, finally finishing her statement. “He wasn’t you. He wasn’t a pain in my ass from the moment I met him. He didn’t come up with nicknames or challenge me to be more all the time. He didn’t make my body sing when I looked at him, and he sure as hell didn’t make me as angry as you do.”
Foreplay.
The word drifted through her mind in Julian’s husky voice, just like it so often did when she was annoyed with him.
“Good,” Julian said in a satisfied voice. “Then I guess I’ll let him keep breathing.”
The territorial statement satisfied something feral inside her while she kept telling herself neither one of them should be jealous. They weren’t in some kind of committed relationship. Yeah, he was technically her husband, but not for long.
She kept reminding herself that Julian Sinclair was her temporary husband as they stepped out of the shower and got dried off. But for all of her self-talk, it didn’t help at all as she snuggled up against him in bed, more content and happy than she’d ever been in her entire life.