Her laugh was deep and throaty. “You can do better than that, King.”
“Yeah, I can.”
I cornered her against the wall, my arms braced over her, my body not quite touching hers, and I kissed her. The moment my lips made contact with hers, a growl rumbled in my chest. She moaned in return and our hips slammed together, my hardness connecting with her heat.
Something made me stop, some last vestige of responsibility.
“Do you need to use the phone? Call home?” I mumbled the words along her lips.
What I didn’t say wasI plan to keep you here a while.I should have been ashamed, but I wasn’t. Nothing had felt truer than Jules in my whole damn life.
“I should. Typically, I borrow a phone or snatch a landline somewhere.”
I blew out a long breath. “You should probably block the caller ID. Not sure it will look so great having you call from my place after eight on a Friday night.”
“Or any night or day,” she added.
“Exactly.”
“I’ll block it. I already thought of that.”
“It’s over here.” I guided her toward the kitchen with my hand on her lower back. No reason to remove it this time.
I flicked on the light and soft light flooded the room, reflecting off the yellow-enameled fridge.
“Oh my God, that’s so cute. Even the phone is old-fashioned. You really are so old,” she teased.
“Hey now.” I pinched her cheek.
She quickly lifted the receiver and pushed the big gray buttons—*67 and then her number.
“Hey, Mom,” she said softly. “I’m good. Staying out with some friends for a while. I’ll be late, but I’m okay.” She nodded while listening. “I will. ’Bye.”
She hung up the receiver and looked at me, any remnants of the little girl in her long gone despite her having to call her mom. “She’s just protective now. Wants to know I’m all right and everything. Sometimes I feel like she’s worse than me.”
“That’s because you’re a survivor, Jules. I wish I had your tenacity. When I left your kitchen last spring, that’s all I kept thinking. I need to be like that girl ... woman. When my knee blew, I was a sad fuck.”
She hopped up on the kitchen island, the pots and pans dangling from above almost grazing the top of her head, and I wedged between her legs. She cupped my face in her hands and placed a gentle kiss on my mouth. It spoke volumes, but she didn’t let her actions speak for her. She put her thoughts in words. This woman was brazen and bold, and I loved it.
“You deserved time to be sad. You lost your hopes and dreams. That’s what you gave back to me with this position on the team.”
“And we’re risking it all, right this very moment.” I owed her honesty in spades.
“We’ll be careful. Smart. The draw is too strong.”
I wasn’t afraid to let my actions do the talking, so I kissed her as the last word floated from her mouth. She wrapped her legs around my waist, and we ground into each other.
“Open your eyes,” I told her. “I want to see you, all of you.”
Her eyes were as green as the grass in the meadow outside, and I wanted to wander in them forever.
Jules
He told me to keep my eyes open, and I did. I focused on the ring of blue around his pupils, so honest and clear. I saw my hunger reflected back at me in a sea of honesty.
“Let’s go somewhere more comfortable, a little less industrial,” he mumbled into my mouth.
We released each other’s lips and he hoisted me around his waist, walking toward the back of the house. It was a ranch, and in the back was a large master bedroom with a massive king-sized poster bed situated in the middle.
