19
LANDON
The restaurant was only fifteen minutes away from Julie’s house, but the ride home took forever. The inside of my truck was silent other than my groan every time we hit a red light, which seemed to be every fucking one on the way.
I’d asked her out to dinner tonight to finally tell her I wanted to be more than just friends, but she looked so damn beautiful in that dress and we were having such a good time just being together, like we’d been since I arrived at her house the other night, I didn’t want to put a wrench in any of it if she wasn’t ready to talk.
I’d never shied away from a conversation—never mind, so damn many times—in my life. But there was never this much at stake. I wouldn’t know how to function without Julie, and the very last thing I wanted was to spook her enough to make her put distance between us.
They’d tease me at work for being the rock from the north, the cool cucumber always in control. When I’d found out my ex-wife was cheating, it was a shock and a blow to my ego, but I’d never felt the need to punch the guy or even threaten him. My size had intimidated him enough not to have to use my hands or fists, and I’d been satisfied when he’d simply cowered away.
Then I saw Nate’s hands on Julie and completely lost my shit.
I would have felt like decking the guy if I’d run into him anyway, as everything Julie had told me about what he’d done before he left sent me into a white-hot rage just thinking about it. I’d had no idea she was sick or that she’d been treated like that for so long, and if I let myself think about it too much, the anger coursing through me would almost cloud my vision. I was furious with him and at myself for being too damn busy to notice what she was going through for all that time.
She hadn’t needed me to come to her rescue tonight, as she’d looked about as close to punching Nate as I was. I’d had to bite back a smile while I watched her in action. She was always strong and tough, but the thought of her sick and suffering alone made my stomach turn.
Realizing my feelings for Julie was a shock, but there’d been so many clues over the years—clues I’d missed or maybe ignored on purpose. Some were small, like the sketches I’d never thrown away for two decades. Others were huge enough to be embarrassed for overlooking them for so long. The thought of anything happening to Julie or anyone hurting her made me want to set the world on fire. Tonight might have been the first time I’d shown it, but nothing and no one had ever been more important to me than she was.
Then, instead of taking it slow, I’d backed her against the wall and plundered her mouth. Had I not heard a car horn in the distance, I would have slipped my hand inside her panties and made her come all over my fingers, right there in the street.
Every time I snuck a glance at her in the passenger seat, I’d only see the back of her head as she gazed out the window. It was as if both of us were afraid to talk and break whatever spell fell over us outside the restaurant. We’d done the same thing by the Bellagio fountains, but our actions had said too much to talk each other out of it this time.
We were five minutes away from her house when we came to a stop. The street I had to turn on was blocked off as a sanitation truck loaded garbage bags into the back.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” I groaned and let my head fall back on the seat, frustration simmering in my gut as I white-knuckled the steering wheel.
“Impatient?” Julie asked as she looped her arms around my neck.
“Maybe a little,” I whispered, cupping her cheek. Her mouth was still swollen from my kisses as it curved into a smile.
“I’ve been afraid to look at you the whole drive.” Her gaze landed on my mouth. “After fighting this hard not to touch you for so long, I’m about to explode.” Our heads whipped around at the beep of the truck, now backing up in front of another house but not vacating the street. Julie’s hand sinking down my chest was the only thing preventing my brain from short-circuiting.
I ran my mouth down her neck, swirling my tongue around the tiny patch of skin behind her ear that’d made her slump against me when I’d pinned her to the wall.
“Save that for later, darlin’,” I rasped, skating my hand up her leg and inching it across the inside of her thigh, teasing the wet cotton between her legs. “If we ever get back to your house, this is the first thing I want to taste.” I moved the soaked material to the side and traced her slit with the tip of my finger.
“Jesus, Landon,” she said, gasping as she dug her nails into my shoulder.
“Open a little wider for me, baby. Just like that…Fuck, Julie.” I slid my finger inside her, pinching her clit as I pumped in and out at a slow pace that tortured us both.
Her legs fell open, and she whimpered into my neck as her hips bucked off the seat, riding my hand.
“Feel good, darlin’? Tell me.”
A long moan fell from her lips as she buried her head into my neck.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” I chuckled. “You’re so wet, so fucking tight. I’m ruined once I sink inside you tonight. My sweet Julie.” My voice was nothing but gravelly need. Fingering her in the front seat wasn’t much better than doing it outside the restaurant, but nothing short of death would have made me pull away now. I was about to unbuckle my seat belt and bury my face in her sweet, wet heat right here, with cars behind us and in front of us. The louder she’d scream, the more everyone would know she belonged to me.
Maybe this was why I’d resisted Julie for this long. Somewhere deep inside me knew that once my hands and mouth were on her, I’d be too hooked to ever stop.
She clenched her legs together, squeezing my wrist as she fluttered on my fingers.
“There’s my girl. Look at me.”
I clamped my other hand behind her neck when she lifted her head, her eyes so hooded they were almost closed as her hips quivered against my palm.
“Eyes on me when I make you come. I don’t want to miss a thing.” She clasped her knees together even tighter, gasping a shuddering breath as she held my eyes, pressing her forehead into mine.
