Page 16 of Love, Lies, and Whiskey

“Fuck.” He hauled her into his arms, holding her tight, struggling against the emotions swamping him. “I never used you. Don’t ever say that. None of this makes sense, but I believe you, and we’re going to get to the bottom of it.”

He framed her face in his hands, gazing into her eyes, wishing he could take away the pain he saw there. He wiped her tears with the pads of his thumbs, gritting out, “Do you believe me about the letter?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

Thank God. He touched his forehead to hers. “All these years, I thought you played me. I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.”

“I loved you.” She clung to him, tipping her face up, fresh tears hitting his thumbs. “I never stopped loving you.”

Her words sent the room spinning. “Jule” fell from his lips as he crushed them to hers. Their mouths fused like molten metal, their tongues sweeping deep and greedy in a fierce devouring. Blown away by how right and unfuckingbelievably incredible it felt to kiss her after all these years, he tore his mouth away, needing to know he wasn’t imagining it and that she felt it, too. She was clutching his shirt, desire brimming in her eyes. Neither spoke, but in the silence an unstoppable tsunami of want and need brewed. Holy shit. Nothing has changed.

Their mouths crashed together, their tongues plunging, possessing, claiming more by the second. Their hands were everywhere at once, their desire so powerful, her back hit the wall, but neither broke their connection. He reveled in her hunger for him, in her hauntingly familiar taste and needful touch that had fueled his fantasies and driven him out of his fucking mind for years. He’d been with dozens of women, chasing this high, but none had sparked white-hot passion or unleashed the beast in him the way Juliette always did.

It was like no time had passed and a lifetime had gone by in equal measure, and he couldn’t get enough of her soft womanly curves and needy sounds. Desire burned through him as they groped and moaned, their bodies grinding together. He fisted his hands in her hair, growling against her lips, “I fucking missed you.”

He took her in another punishingly intense kiss and stripped off her shirt and bra, freeing her full breasts. “Jesus, Jule. You’re fucking gorgeous.” He palmed her breasts and lowered his mouth, teasing one nipple with his tongue as he squeezed the other. She cried out, clinging to him as he sucked her nipple to the roof of his mouth, hard. The way she used to like it.

“Ohgod. Seeley.”

As he sucked, fondled, and teased, her fingernails dug into his flesh, her moans and pleas fueling his desire. He unbuttoned her shorts and pushed his hand into her panties, sliding through her slickness. “You’re so fucking wet for me.”

“Only for you,” she panted out, breaking the last shred of his control.

He crushed his mouth to hers, feasting as he pushed two fingers inside her tight heat, gritting out a curse when she moaned. He swallowed her moans and mewls as he fucked her with his fingers, her sexy sounds searing through him, making his cock ache to be inside her. He fisted his other hand in her hair, ravenously devouring her, wanting to reclaim every inch of her. “I need my mouth on you.”

He tore off her boots, shorts, and panties and buried his face between her legs. She tasted so fucking sweet. “Seeley,” she panted out. “Feels so good.” She’d always said his name when they’d made love, and it still brought a primal pleasure that nothing else had ever come close to. She was his drug, her pleasure, his addiction. Taking her clit between his teeth, he pushed his fingers inside her again, stroking the spot that had her thighs flexing, her breath coming in fast gasps. He licked and sucked, taking his fill, sending her climax crashing over her. “Seeleyseeleyseeley—”

He took everything she had to give, soaked in the sounds of pleasure sailing from her lips, even as the last shudder rippled through her. He rose to his feet, taking her in a brutal kiss, needing to be inside her more than he needed his next breath. She was right there with him, tugging open his jeans. He lifted her into his arms, and her legs wound around him as he carried her down the hall and into his bedroom.

He laid her on the bed and stripped off his clothes and boots in three seconds flat.

“I need you,” she said breathlessly, reaching for him as he came down over her.

His mouth covered hers, rough and urgent, and he entered her in one hard thrust, pleasure searing through him like fire. She gasped, and he cursed. “Did I hurt you?”

“No. You just feel so good.” She pulled his mouth back to hers.

They thrusted and gyrated, feasted and fucked with reckless abandon. She was so damn tight, so insanely perfect and familiar, he felt like he’d been lost, starved, and she was the only person who could satiate him. He felt like he’d finally come home. He lifted her ass, angling her hips, taking her deeper, driving, stretching, claiming her. “I fucking missed you,” he gritted out between feverish kisses.

“So much,” she said, clinging to him, her nails digging into his flesh.

Their bodies grew slick with their efforts, the sounds of their lovemaking filling the room. He pushed his arms under her, holding her tighter, thrusting harder. “Don’t stop,” she pleaded. Didn’t she know it would take a fucking act of God to drag him away?

He quickened his efforts, her pussy squeezing him so perfectly, every sensation magnified. Their kisses were more powerful, their touches more intense, and the sounds they made were drenched with dark desires, as if they’d bottled up all their passion for each other during the years they were apart, just waiting for this moment. It took everything he had not to come. He sank his teeth into her neck, and she cried out, her hips bucking and her inner muscles spasming around his cock, sending an earth-shattering release barreling into him. “Fuuck. Jule—”

They rode the waves of their pleasure, moaning and thrusting, consumed with passion, with each other’s pleasure, which went on longer and was more intense than ever before. Doc had never felt anything like it.

When they finally collapsed to the mattress, breathlessly kissing, their tangled bodies jerking with aftershocks, he held her tighter. After sixteen years of missing her, his sweet, fiery Jule was right there in his arms, and he was never letting her go.

AS THE WORLD came back into focus, Juliette reveled in the feel of Seeley’s big, warm body cocooning her. In his arms had been the only place she’d ever felt truly safe. His body was thicker and stronger now, his scruff more abrasive, his moves more nuanced and powerful. But the way he touched her, the way he felt inside her, while more intense, was as familiar as if he were still a part of her.

He kissed her forehead, those delicious lips curving into a sexy smile. “You okay, darlin’?”

Her heart squeezed at the endearment. “Mm-hm.” She’d seen flashes of the tattoos on his chest, shoulders, and upper arms. She wished she’d been there when he’d gotten them and knew the secrets behind each one.

His phone chimed from somewhere on the floor, drawing her from her reverie. His eyes shifted in the direction of the sound. She leaned back, putting space between them. “Do you need to get that?”

“No. Get back here.” He pulled her into a kiss.