Chapter 8: Unavoidable
He liked her.
It was a hard realization for Hank to come to, and certainly one that had taken him a week or two of grousing and arguing with his inner self to come to, but he didn’t think there was any avoiding it now. Juliet Brown was a fucking likeable person, despite Hank’s best efforts to convince himself otherwise.
It was more unsettling to him because the list of people he liked was so short and less because of the actual woman herself. Truth be told, if he’d had to pull lots for a roommate on an assignment, he could have done much worse.
Simmons had suggested that Hank take a breather for a while before he went in again to let his name sift through the ranks of the Aguiler’s hired muscle. In that time, there was little for him to do besides twiddle his thumbs and watch Juliet - and Hank had never been very much of a thumb twiddler.
Certainly, there was paperwork. Hank was supposed to write reports on Juliet’s behavior, as well as record anything of importance she might mention, but she wasn’t exactly enthusiastic to talk about her eight years with Solomon. They’d have enough of that at her next session. Until then, he found himself noticing little things about her - things he’d been too busy to notice when she’d been parading around the kitchen naked.
Juliet was an early riser. She was almost always up before seven every morning, which he was grateful for because it meant his ass didn’t have to cook breakfast. They’d fallen into a kind of routine: she cooked and he did the dishes. When they ordered takeout, he paid and she cleaned up. Juliet spent a lot of time in her room, and, for a few days, Hank wondered if it was because she was avoiding him. While things were amicable between them, neither of them had forgotten their mind blowing night together. Hank, in particular, was reminded of it every time Juliet crossed his line of vision. When she wasn’t around, he hungered for the sight of her - which, of course, sent him out of his way when he was supposed to be minding his own business.
Hank had quite been unprepared the first time he heard her sing. Of course, she’d mentioned to him that Solomon liked to parade her in front of his people every time they had a big event, but, at the time, he’d merely assumed it was because the drug kingpin wanted to show Juliet off - and her voice be damned.
How wrong he was.
He had just hopped out of the shower and probably should have just gone to his own damned room to put some clothes on, but, instead, he found himself straying towards Juliet’s. She’d only come out of her room for breakfast and seemed in a rush to get back to her solitude afterward. Hank wondered what the hell she was doing that could be so private.
And then, he heard it. A dulcet, full-bodied alto that made every hair on his body stand on end Juliet’s words reached him. She was singing a jazz song beneath the blare of the TV outside, and Hank found himself pressing his ear against the door to hear her better.
“Unforgettable, that’s what you are. Unforgettable, though near or far...Like a sound of love that clings to me, how the thought of you does things to me. No, never before...has someone been more…”
Hank wasn’t really one to listen to a lot of music but he did remember sneaking into his mother’s collection of jazz CDs as a little boy. By that time, she hardly touched them and, of course, he really couldn’t afford any CDs of his own. The full-bodied, dated sounds of the jazz singers had entranced him, but in that moment, Juliet’s voice was just as memorizing.
“Unforgettable, in every way. And forever more, that’s how you’ll stay. That’s why darling, it’s incredible that someone so unforgettable...thinks that I am unforgettable too.”
She was a smoky mix of Billie Holiday and Diana Ross, somewhere between deeply sensual and amazingly sophisticated, and Hank found himself hanging on her every word - even after the song was over. If he were an impulsive man, he might have thrown the door open and demanded she sing another song. As it was, he was in hot water already - barely dressed with his ear pressed to her door.
He could only imagine the scene that would ensue if Juliet came out at that exact moment.
When he thought back on that moment later, Hank would admit that he’d probably mentally jinxed himself. No sooner had he turned away, intent on slinking back to his room, then the door swung open.
He started so badly he almost lost his towel. Whirling, Hank froze in place at the sight of Juliet in the doorway, staring unabashedly at his mostly naked form. Color rose slowly in her cheeks and she opened her mouth to say something as her gaze met his. A beat of awkward silence passed between them in which Hank was reminded that she had one of the most gorgeous pairs of legs he’d ever seen. Said legs were exposed by a dress he’d never seen her wear before. It must have come in one of the numerous packages that had arrived at the cabin bearing her name.
It always amazed him how much women could shop. He’d probably been wearing the same jeans for three days. Juliet made those jeans look ragged with the pretty little red number she was wearing. It contrasted well with her dark skin - which only made him want to see more of said skin.
What would it be like to see her naked in the light of day?
“Were you...looking for something?” When she spoke to him, he slammed back to reality, doing his best to backtrack and avoid what promised to be a very obvious erection. He had never been good at improvising, and it was obvious that he’d been eavesdropping. There was no reason for him to be outside her door when his room was in the opposite direction.
Desperate to direct the conversation away from himself, Hank blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. “That dress looks good on you.” He was supposed to be staying away from her. How the hell did he end up sneaking around outside her room?
“I...thanks.” Juliet glanced down at herself, her color deepening, before addressing him again. “It’s new. It’s weird I...I haven’t chosen my own clothes in so long I think I forgot what actually looks good on me.”
That had to be hard, considering that Hank was pretty sure Juliet would look good in a plastic bag. Like hell if he’d ever admit that though. “I was actually looking for a missing pistol part. Thought I might have left it in the kitchen but I scoured the damned thing from top to bottom and can’t find it. You been going through my stuff?” He meant the comment to be more off-hand than accusatory, but Juliet arched a brow, frowning slightly.
“Yeah, because I’m so fond of you biting off my head.” Shit. If he was going to keep his pride in tact he was going to have to get better at this sneaking around thing. Tugging his towel more tightly about his waist, Hank cleared his throat lowly.
“You might have taken it in there with one of your packages. I’m not head biting I’m just...asking.” It was a weak excuse at best, he knew, but he couldn’t bring himself to slink off with his tail between his legs. That had never been his style.
Juliet seemed to hesitate a moment before stepping away from the doorway. “Did you want to come in and check?”
Now he was stepping into dangerous territory. The smart thing to do would be to go back to his room and get dressed before indulging the damned charade he’d gotten himself into. But far be it from Hank to do anything rational.
Making sure that he had a firm grip on his towel, Hank brushed past her and into her room. Almost immediately, memories from the morning they’d spent together assaulted him. Juliet hadn’t made her bed and it would be easy enough to pretend that they’d spent time messing it up together. The entire space smelled like her and, perversely enough, the sight of a plain cotton bra slung over the back of a chair was almost enough to make him salivate.
What the hell was wrong with him?
“Only reason I’m in here is because you’re probably better than those two dunces outside at taking apart a gun.” He groused, doing his best to keep up the charade that had gotten him into the room in the first place. “Gotta cover all my bases.”
“Right.” Juliet sank down on the bed, obviously trying to hide an amused smile as she leaned across its length to take up her notebook. Hank made a show of pretending to look for the piece without seeming too intrusive...which was easier said than done. He wasn’t one to barge his way into women’s rooms - hell, the only intimacy he ever had with women was fucking them.
...But Juliet was different, somehow.
“You sing good.” He finally grunted, picking up a notebook on her desk to look under it. “I heard you. Outside.” Fuck, had he always been this articulate?
“Oh.” Juliet immediately flushed scarlet, looking pointedly out the window. “You heard that.”
“No need to get embarrassed,” he rebutted quickly. “Voice like that could take you places.”
“Ha.” Juliet’s reply came out in a bitter, one syllable sound of ironic amusement. “It never took me the places I wanted to go.”
Another reminder that Solomon had kept her locked up in a dangerous, gilded cage. Hank frowned, turning to face Juliet as he hitched the towel higher on his waist to preserve his modesty. “Not too late.”
Her scowl matched his for a moment before the lines faded from her face and she eased down to lie on her stomach. “I appreciate it, Hank...but just now, I’m re-learning how to sing for myself. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to do it for anyone else again.”
Well that was a damned shame. Not that he could ever consider himself a foremost patron of the arts but Hank liked to believe he knew talent when he heard it. When all of this was over, Juliet was probably one of the few people who could ride her innate talent to some semblance of fame...ever she ever saw fit to share it with anyone again.
Another reason Solomon Aguiler deserved to be drawn and fucking quartered. “You’re a brave woman.” He finally murmured. “It’ll take more than this to keep you down. I’d be willing to bet money on it.”
That drew a small smile from her. “You’d put money on me? Wow, that’s trust. That or a hulking salary.”
Hank snorted at the very notion. “Not a hulking salary, I’ll tell you that.”
Juliet’s soft laugh was almost worth the reminder that he was an underpaid pseudo-government employee. “Trust, then. I’m flattered.”
“You should be.” He smirked. “I can literally count all the people I trust on one hand...and I’ve known most of them a hell of a lot longer than I’ve known you.”
“Yeah, well, we’ve-” Juliet stopped abruptly in the middle of her sentence, her cheeks coloring as she snapped her mouth shut. She immediately looked away, and Hank arched a brow.
“What? Fucked?” At the word, she flinched, and Hank sighed, going to sit on the edge of the bed. He was careful to perch as far away from her as humanly possible - things were already dangerous enough between them as it was. “Hate to break it to you, sweetheart, but that has nothing to do with my trusting you.”
When Juliet rolled over to face him, her expression was surprisingly neutral. Hank had expected she might go off on him. In his experience, women didn’t too much appreciate his using the ‘F’ word...he just happened to have absolutely no filter. And up until this point, he hadn’t much cared. “So why do you trust me, then?”
It was a good question. One he’d never been asked before. Of course, Hank himself knew the answer, but admitting it to her was another matter entirely. He hesitated for a moment before doing what he should have all along. “I should go.” When he attempted to rise, however, Juliet’s fingers wrapped around his wrist and he started, just managing to grab his towel in time to keep from giving Juliet a free show.
“Hold on, where are you going?” She arched a brow in accusation. “You barge in here looking for your part and then run away. Screw that, Hank. Tell me.” She fixed him with an unyielding stare that was impressively intimidating. “Why do you trust me?”
He could have forced her to let him go and left anyway. Could have countered with an insult - he was good at that. But Hank found he didn’t want to do either of those things. He had never been good at talking, but if ever there was a woman who needed some positive reinforcement, it was Juliet.
“You’ve been through some shit, Julie.” Hank didn’t know when he’d started calling her that nickname, but now it just seemed natural. “And anyone who’s been through shit is careful. I can respect that. It makes you trustworthy...at least to me.”
For a long beat, Juliet just stared at him. Seeing as how Hank was already naked, the scrutiny was enough that he resisted the urge to squirm. This was what he got for telling the truth.
“I think…” Juliet finally broke the silence with a slow smile. “That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me. Who are you and what have you done with Hank?”
He rolled his eyes, long-suffering. “If I really left you’d probably be jumping for joy right about now.”
The comment was enough to temper her smile slightly. “I wouldn’t be happy if you left, Hank.”
“No?” He arched a brow, his tone somehow tentative. Was it possible to both hate and crave the way a woman made him feel? Juliet tapped into a vulnerability he’d never known he had...and made him want to shelter and protect her all at the same time...not to mention he couldn’t resist how damned gorgeous she looked in those new clothes of hers.
He reminded himself to concentrate on the physical side of things. Once his emotions got involved, he was fucked, and he couldn’t have that. “So,” Hank forced a crooked smile. “Make me wanna stay.”
Juliet took a deep breath before sliding from the bed. When she came to stand before him in her pretty red dress, Hank’s heart stuttered in his chest. Goddamn, she was breathtaking. You’d never know all the pain she was hiding inside. “What did you have in mind?”
Fuck. For a moment, Hank’s mind went blank. Juliet tended to have that effect on him. When his eyes scanned the room for inspiration, however, they quickly lit upon a probable mark. One he couldn’t believe he hadn’t stumbled upon in his clumsy search.
“What are these?” His arm hooked around her waist as he tugged her towards a box in the corner, hastily shoved beneath the edge of her bedspread. He flipped the blanket back to reveal a box over spilling with colorful lace lingerie. So much he didn’t know where to look first. Hank supposed he had never really appreciated a woman’s underthings before he took them off, but these weren’t even on Juliet and he was already salivating.
For her part, Juliet flushed slightly. “You know what they are. What do they look like?”
“Panties.” Hank replied without a moment’s hesitation. “Pretty fucking panties.” He reached down towards the box almost reverently, hesitating a moment before he touched anything. When he glanced at Juliet, her blush seemed to have lessened somewhat. She looked half as anticipatory as he felt. “Can I…?”
Almost immediately, the vixen turned to him with a wry smile. “Wear them? Hank, I didn’t know you liked that stuff-” He cut her off with a low growl as his hand grasped firmly at her hip in warning.
“Just for that, I get to pick which ones you’re modeling for me.”
Juliet’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. “Modeling?”
Hank’s expression turned fairly predatory. “You asked what I had in mind.”
She could have asked him to leave. Reminded him that he was overstepping both of their boundaries. Instead, Juliet merely slipped from his grasp to stand before him with her hip saucily cocked, her expression suddenly far more sultry than he’d ever seen.
“Alright, so pick.”
That was how he ended up sitting on Juliet’s bed watching her model her skimpy, delicious underwear for him. She went into her closet to change - how she managed that, he wasn’t quite certain - but every five minutes or so she emerged in a set of lingerie skimpier than the last.
Considering the clothes she’d picked for herself, Hank never would have imaged Juliet would pick thongs and brazilian cut briefs. That she’d be just as fond of lace as she was of her comfortable flats. Hank found himself far too transfixed by the contrast of the bright lace against her coffee and cream skin to do much more than simply stare.
He wasn’t supposed to touch her, but he’d be damned if he could stop himself now. The way those cute little bras boosted her breasts and tantalized him with the vee of her cleavage...how the minute muscles on her thighs contracted when she turned to show him the cut of her risqué underwear...Hank was hard less than ten minutes into the show.
In truth, he’d forgotten that he’d ever have to leave Juliet’s room.
When she stepped from the closet in her final pair of the evening, Hank’s eyes roamed her almost bare skin hungrily. Her bra - if you could even call it that barely existed. He could all but see the dark outline of nipples hardened by the chill air. And her panties...fucking God…
“You’d better not wear those with a dress,” He finally growled lowly. “Easy fucking access.”
Juliet merely laughed at his antics before her smile took on a more seductive edge. She walked towards him slowly – sultrily - the limp from her injured ankle all but gone. By the time she reached him, Hank’s hands itched to touch her. To skim over the generous swells of her breasts, curl into the fullness of her hips and jerk her towards him…
“You can’t.”
Juliet’s low, firm tone jarred him back to the present. “Can’t what?” His own voice was hoarse with want.
“Touch me,” Juliet’s slender hands cupped his face, the softness of her palms torturing him. “Not until you promise to come back.”
He was supposed to hesitate. To remind himself that he couldn’t get emotionally involved and making promises he couldn’t keep was beyond idiotic. But how the hell was he supposed to do that when the thing he wanted most in that moment was a mere hairsbreadth away?
“I promise.” He uttered the words without hesitation, tugging her into his lap to feel her against him.
Her touch was scalding - so much so that he couldn’t decide if he wanted to push her away or draw her closer. Considering he hadn’t touched her for weeks, Hank’s baser instincts quickly took hold. His arms were around her a moment before he was jerking her against him, his mouth slanting hard against hers.
He was being rough - far too rough, he knew. But he hardly cared.
How many times had he thought of her these past few weeks? Hank was hoping that escaping the safehouse would mean he could finally concentrate, but, instead, he found that Juliet haunted his thoughts no matter how much distance he put between them. When he was supposed to be avoiding anything that might blow his cover, he kept picturing the way she looked lying in bed next to him, sleeping with the early morning sun in her dark curls.
He was so fucked - and some small, vindictive part of him wanted to punish Juliet for the effect she had on him. He’d never laid hands on a woman in his life, so all he had was this…
And this was too good to be anything but amazing for either of them.
Juliet moaned softly, her arms snaking up to encircle his neck as she tugged him down against her. She didn’t seem to mind that he was almost crushing her. She was far more absorbed in tangling her tongue with his - driving him out of his fucking mind with those soft curves pressed against him.
Somewhere in the fray, Hank forgot that he was supposed to be clutching his towel. The decadent curve of Juliet’s ass was far more inviting. While his fingers curled into it, dark terry cloth fluttered to the floor. It gave Hank’s erection the room it needed to press eagerly up against Juliet’s warmth and he groaned as she gathered even closer to him, relishing the contact. When she stood on her toes, Hank lifted her from her feet, his mouth moving to the curve of her jaw, then hungrily down her neck.
They weren’t supposed to be doing this. They’d sworn they would never touch one another again. It wasn’t just for convenience sake, damn it, it was for his sanity. But none of that seemed to matter now. All that mattered was that she was finally back in his arms again.
All his excuses forgotten, Hank carried her over to the bed before following her down. How long had it been since he felt her body against his? Two weeks? Three? Too fucking long.
Juliet seemed just as ravenous as he was. Her hands were all over him - moving down his chest to pull him flush against her so his erection jutted more firmly against her stomach. He wanted her - needed her. And not even his conscience could stop him this time.
As he was reaching down to hitch her dress over her hips, the phone rang - and they both froze.
Up until that moment, Hank had almost forgotten that they even had a landline. Simmons usually reached him on his cell...unless he didn’t have it with him. He certainly hadn’t brought it to Juliet’s room. Fuck, he hadn’t even planned to bring himself to Juliet’s room, but here he was.
And now Simmons was calling. It could be no one else.
Hank exhaled a long breath as he gazed at the woman below him. Juliet’s mouth was swollen with his kisses, her curls mussed in a halo around her face. Against her dark skin, his own lighter, muscled forearm contrasted deeply...and it struck a chord in him. He couldn’t ever recall thinking a woman beneath him looked right, but, somehow, Juliet did.
“You should...probably get that.” She finally managed, her voice husky with want. The last thing Hank wanted at that particular moment was to talk to Simmons, but he knew there’d be hell to pay if he ignored the call.
Cursing inwardly, he rolled off Juliet and to the edge of the bed. Hank didn’t bother to spare a moment for his towel. Instead, he merely stalked, nude, through the safe house until he reached the kitchen - and the single land line. Yanking the receiver up, he all but snarled a greeting.
“What?”
“Interesting. You usually at least wait for me to say something before you get angry.” Simmons obviously amused tone did little to help Hanks temper, and he forced himself to reel it in.
“Sorry, Simmons...I was just...in the middle of something.”
“Right, well, I’m sorry to interrupt but I figured I’d let you know I’m coming down for another session in a bit, so get Juliet prepared.”
Fuck. “Yeah, I hear you. How long we got?”
“An hour or so. I’m leaving the city now.”
Hank at least waited until Simmons hung up before cursing viciously. It wasn’t until he looked up and found Juliet standing in the kitchen doorway that he realized she’d heard his entire tirade. Far from looking alarmed, however, she merely gazed at him with a knowing, sexy little half-smile lingering about her lips.
“So...you just going to stand there, armed and dangerous like that, until Simmons gets here?” It took Hank a minute to figure out what she was talking about, before he realized that not even Simmons casual demand had been enough to kill his erection. He was standing naked in the kitchen at full mast, and Juliet seemed to be very much enjoying the view.
“Shit.” At his low epithet, she laughed, advancing on him - in nothing but that damned lingerie of hers - until there were scant inches between them.
“You know...we aren’t supposed to do this, remember?” She ran two fingers over the tattooed contours of his chest until she was cupping his stubbled face, and Hank had to resist the urge to have her right there, on the counter.
“We aren’t.” He replied gruffly, jerking her against him a moment before taking hold of her wrist to slide her index finger into his mouth. “At least not now, but, later, all bets are off.”
He was done pretending.
Hopefully, in a few weeks, he’d be able to work his way up to Solomon and take the bastard out. Hank had a reputation for being a fast and efficient worker - which meant that his time with Juliet wouldn’t be drawn out any longer than it had to be. After all, he wanted Solomon off the streets just as much as she did - and when that was done, there would be no reason for them to remain together. They’d have to go their separate ways.
And if that was the way of things, why the hell shouldn’t he enjoy himself? God knew when he would be with another woman again, let alone one he liked as much as Juliet. They were both adults - they knew where this was headed. They were both fucked up beyond repair. Why not indulge a little bit? God knew he hadn’t done much of that in his life.
“How soon until Simmons comes?” Juliet inquired breathlessly, her dark gaze locked on his mouth.
Hank smirked. “Not long enough for what I want to do to you.”
It was probably the first time he’d seen Juliet pout. “Promises, promises.”
“Hey.” He tugged her fingers from his mouth to twine them with his own as he cupped her jaw, his gaze locking with hers. “After this session...as soon as Simmons leaves, we’ll forget all about it. I don’t want you thinking about that fucker any more than you have to, you hear me.”
Juliet’s expression went surprised for a moment, before her smile returned - one of the few genuine smiles he’d ever seen from her. “Alright.”
The words warmed him almost as much as the thought of being inside her...and that was saying a shit ton.