Chapter Ten – Julius

After a perfect day, Julius dropped Catherine off at home and made his way back to the hotel. It was only six o’clock, and since Adam had everything under control, Julius decided it was time to catch up on the paperwork he’d been ignoring.

Pouring himself a large Scotch, he sat down at his desk. And stared at the pile of papers in his inbox. All he could see was Catherine. All he wanted was Catherine.

He took a large gulp of the amber liquid, felt the burn as it trickled down his throat, and got down to business. A hotel didn’t run itself and until he passed more responsibility over to Adam, Julius had commitments he had to fulfill.

Out of necessity, Julius had trained himself to push aside all thoughts that might invade his mind and disturb his concentration. Soon he had himself under control, and plowed through the paperwork in a meticulous fashion. Buy eight o’clock his inbox was empty, his email answered, and the roster for the coming week finalized.

Time for a shower and food. His stomach growled in appreciation as he visited the kitchen and ordered a steak and fries. Sometimes he liked the simple things in life. Tonight was one of those times. He would sit at the dining table, drink a nice cold beer, and look out over the Bluff as the moon rose in the sky.

He took the stairs, finding the confines of an elevator unappealing. He itched to be free, to leap out of his skin, and fly through the starlit sky. Julius reached his room, and opened the door, and strode across the living area. Placing his hand on the window frame he looked out at the vista before him. How many times had he stared at the same view? But tonight, it was different, because he was different.

His shower washed away the dirt of the day, but did nothing to ease the growing tension in his body. His bear was itching to get out, to run across the mountain and roar at the moon. The whole world needed to know he had found his mate. She was part of his life. She was his. Or would be soon: he could sense her barriers slowly eroding, as she learned to trust him.

Pacing the room, dressed in a hotel robe while he toweled off his hair, he pictured Catherine here with him. He wanted to talk to her until there was nothing left to say. There was so much they needed to share about themselves. There was so much he wanted to say. Conversations he’d had with her in his head, as he’d traveled the path of life alone. But never alone. She might not have been here physically, but there was a small corner of his heart where she’d lived since that day. A memory kept alive.

A knock at the door brought him back to the present. His food was here. Throwing the towel on the bed, he went to the door and opened it. “Thanks, I’ll take it from here.” His skin tingled, and recognition filled his head.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to bring it in?” Catherine asked coyly.

He threw the door open, and pulled the room service trolley into the room. “Catherine!”

“I figured we are both mature adults. And if we want sex, then we should have sex.” She looked incredibly embarrassed, but incredibly focused. “Do you want sex, Julius?”

He shook his head slowly as he reached out for her and pulled her into the room. “Not sex. I want to make love to you, Catherine. Just as I have in my dreams. So many times.”

“Was it good? In your dreams?” she asked, catching hold of his bathrobe.

“Very good.” He caught her in his arms and pulled her close, their bodies pressed together. “I can’t believe you are here.”

“Believe it.” She placed her hands on his cheeks. “You need a shave.”

“If I’d known you were coming, I’d have had one.” He pushed her coat off her shoulders, and she shrugged it off. Julius turned away from her, going to hang it up next to the door.

“Drop it right there.” Catherine’s voice coaxed him to turn around. She pulled off her sweater and dropped it to the floor. “We can pick them up in the morning.”

If he had any doubt over what she intended, he didn’t now. She wanted him, and she planned to stay. This wasn’t some clandestine rendezvous where she would sneak out of his room before first light.

“If you insist.” Julius pulled his robe open, and tore it off, throwing it to the floor. He was in good shape, he’d kept himself fit and healthy, but he was aware he was no young bear cub.

“Wow.” Catherine paused, her shirt half unbuttoned. “Impressive.” Her eyes caressed his body, lingering on his erect cock. Which grew more erect. Painfully erect.

“I have never wanted anything like I want you now, Catherine.”

“It shows.” She nodded, and fumbled with her buttons. “I’m having a crisis of confidence.”

He crossed the room, and covered her hands with his. “Don’t. It’s just you and me. We might be a bit rusty, but we have all night, and we both know where we slot together.”

She giggled, a nervous sound at first that bubbled up inside her and erupted to fill the room. Her laughter was infectious and soon they were both doubled over, the sexual tension in the room dissipating.

“I always did like a man who could make me laugh,” Catherine admitted.

“I can make you laugh. I can also make you come.” He kissed her, while his fingers undid her buttons, his hand cupping her breast, the lace of her bra soft against his fingers. He groaned, and fumbled with the clasp of her bra, finally undoing it and freeing her incredible breasts.

“Do you know how much I want to cover myself up and dive under the covers?” Catherine said.

“If that’s what you want, I won’t stop you,” Julius said, running his fingers across the swell of her breast. “But you don’t ever need to hide from me.”

She swallowed, her eyes darting to the bed and then back to his face. Perhaps if he gave her something else to think about, she might not want to run and hide. Julius trailed his fingers lower across her breast, his thumb brushing her nipple. A sharp intake of breath from Catherine ignited his desire to explore her body. He wanted to strip the remaining clothes from her body, but first he was going to push her arousal up a notch or two.

Julius placed the palm of his hand on her breast and massaged it gently, his thumb teasing her nipple until it hardened into a taut bud. Lowering his head, he flicked his tongue across her nipple, before sucking it into his mouth. She whimpered and clung to him, as he sucked harder, his tongue tracing an endless circle around and around.

Her breathing came in short gasps, until she fought and won control. He switched to her other nipple, her fingertips digging into his arms as she reveled in the sensations. Catherine arched her back, and offered herself to him. His cock jutted up his stomach, and he groaned, his nerve endings oversensitive to any kind of touch.

Catherine moved, coming alive, and curling her fingers around his cock. Tentative at first, she stroked his shaft, her hand caressing the head of his cock. He nearly exploded right then. His mate. Touching him intimately.

Julius used his old mind-control trick to calm himself down. He was marginally successful. But he couldn’t hold out much longer. His self-discipline wasn’t that strong.

His hands trembled as he unbuttoned her skirt, and pushed it down over her hips. Hooking his fingers into the elastic of her panties, he pushed those down too, wanting to be completely naked, skin to skin with his mate. Before she could protest at being naked in front of him, he lifted her up in his arms and carried her to his bedroom.

No woman had ever been in here, except the hotel maids when they came in to clean and change the bedding. He’d only ever imagined Catherine here on his bed. To bring anyone else here would be a betrayal. Even though Julius had long given up hope of ever being joined with his mate.

He’d thought himself cursed, but as he lay her down on the bed, he considered himself blessed beyond belief that she’d walked back into his life by chance.

Catherine scooted under the covers with an apologetic expression. He didn’t care, as long as he got to touch her, to make love to her, it didn’t matter if it was light or dark, if they were under the covers or on top of them. He wanted her. He needed to claim her as his mate.

Julius slipped under the covers, and reached for her, pulling her close, and cradling her against his chest. She was shivering, her teeth chattering despite the warm temperature in the apartment. Her nerves were taking control. “We’ll take it slow,” he told her. “If you want to stop, tell me and I will.”

She nodded, and lifted her head to kiss his chest. She explored his body with her mouth and fingers, igniting a fire inside him that raged, but he fought for control and won. Julius stroked her arms, her back, letting Catherine set the pace. Slowly her confidence grew, and she wrapped her hand around his cock, and stroked him in a steady rhythm.

Julius trailed kisses along her jawline and down her neck, breathing in her scent, before tracing the line of her collarbone. At the same time, his fingers explored her flesh, touching her breasts, but not lingering as he stroked her soft belly, moving lower. She opened her thighs, and he stroked her mound, each touch edging closer to her center.

When his fingertip passed over her clit, she tensed, relaxing as he moved away, only for his fingers to return, and stroke her again. He circled around and around, smaller, tighter circles, until she expected his touch, and her tension broke.

Julius touched her intimately, stroking her clit, probing deeper into her sex. She was wet, ready to make love, at least physically, but mentally, he was unsure she was ready. If he pushed her too far, too fast, would she back off?

“It’s OK, Julius,” she whispered in his ear.

“Are you sure?” He moved to lie on his side, resting on his elbow and looking down into her beautiful face.

“Yes.” She nodded. “Absolutely.”

A tremor passed through him as he adjusted his position and slid between her thighs. What if he completely messed this up and came before he brought her to climax? He had never questioned his sexual prowess before, but sex had never meant so much to him. He wanted to please her in every way.

“Stop overthinking it.”

Her words jerked him out of his irrational fear, and he slid between her thighs. Catherine guided him toward her, the head of his cock pressed against her entrance. He flexed his hips and entered her, closing his eyes as a wave of pure triumph filled him. Finally, he was about to bury himself inside his mate.

Catherine moved, opening her thighs wider, and he pressed forward, slowly at first, but the need to impale her on his cock was too great and he thrust forward. Skin against skin, he filled her, his fingers scrunching the bedcovers into a ball as he tensed. Their skin was electrified, each touch intensified by a field of static surrounding them.

He pulled out of her before lunging forward, keeping his rhythm steady as he took her with him to new heights. Catherine kissed him, stroked him, a willing, active participant in the joining of two souls who had spent too long apart.

When he finally came, it wasn’t the huge explosion he’d expected. He rocked his hips, moving slowly inside her while her sex gripped him and milked his essence from him. She cried out, and he captured her mouth, kissing her until they were completely sated.

Then they lay in each other’s arms until sleep claimed them. Although Julius fought sleep, wanting to stay awake and watch over his woman. Just as he’d dreamed of doing so many times.