"What?" Julian was genuinely puzzled. "Is it just me then? Have you found anything wrong with its taste?"
"I haven't, no," Fleur said, "but I thought you would—-"
"Why should I?"
"Because the wine you're sipping is from Philippe's vineyards?"
Laughter once again consumed everyone as Julian spat the wine out on his dinner napkin, and hours later, when they were already in bed, Julian was telling her the only way he could get rid of the god-awful taste in his mouth was to replace it with the flavor of her cum.
Fleur had pretended to think about it for a moment, and then she had lied on her back and opened her legs, saying generously, "Please help yourself." She had only meant to tease, but Julian had instead taken her seriously, and after cumming thrice without rest from his mouth on her pussy, Fleur had ended up pleading for respite.
By the time Julian finally pulled away, he had made her cum for the fifth time, and Fleur had fallen into a deep exhausted sleep.
He took her hand gently, and his chest squeezed when her fingers involuntarily curled to grip his. If he had pushed through with his plans, the ring he had purchased earlier should now be on her finger. But instead, it was still in its box, now hidden away in a safe, and it was all because of those words.
If you want to keep Fleur in your life, then what you need to understand and accept for good is the fact that you're completely in love with our sister.
Those words had fucked him up pretty good. Had left him reeling the entire night even though Julian had done his best to hide it from Fleur. But now that she was no longer awake to see him struggle with the truth—-
Fuck. Fuck. FUCK.
After his first girlfriend's betrayal, Julian had thought he was over such bullshit.
But Fleur as always...
She was different.
Had always been different.
And now, he understood that she always would be different because it was exactly what Fleur's brother had said.
I love her.
His whole world seemed to shift as soon as he accepted the truth, and it was like having his soul recaptured all over again.
I love her.
I love her.
I love her.
The words should have made him want to run the fuck out of the room, but instead it made Julian want to settle down.
With her.
Adrenaline shot through his bloodstream, and Julian sat up in a heartbeat. Falling in love with Fleur made him feel as eager as a schoolboy, and he had to fight off the urge to wake her. He needed to tell her how much he loved her right this fucking moment, but because he also knew she needed her rest after his relentless possession of her body...
Julian's gaze zeroed in on her phone, and right away he had the most insane idea. Fleur loved surprises, and what better surprise could there be than to give her a self-recorded confession of his love on her own phone?
Knowing Fleur, she would likely have his video viral under a minute, and while Julian would rather stab himself in the eye (or both eyes even) than turn himself into another meme...
Man up, Alexeyev.
Since Fleur had never tried to hide her password from him, Julian was able to unlock the device with a single try. But just as he was about to hit Record, an email notification from Anneke had popped up on the screen, and its subject had his fingers tightening involuntarily around Fleur's phone.
Operation Yuletide - Philippe DeRose.
He could feel his blood turning cold as he clicked on Anneke's email, and it stayed cold until the early hours of morning, and Fleur finally started to stir.
Fleur smiled sleepily at Julian, who was seated next to her in bed. He was already fully dressed and looked his usual austerely handsome self in a dark suit. "Good morning."
"Good morning."
There was the faintest strain that underscored Julian's quiet voice, and the sound had Fleur rubbing her eyes and forcing herself to sit up. "Julian?" Something felt...different, and she became even more convinced of this when she reached for his hand, which was unusually cold to touch.
She was about to ask him what was wrong, when she saw Julian breathe deeply...
"Do you have something to tell me?"
Fleur was bemused. "Like what?"
"Is there something you're hiding from me?"
The words caught her off guard, and her heart skipped a beat.
"You can tell me anything, and I won't...I won't react like you might assume I would."
Fleur couldn't believe what she was hearing, but when she gazed searchingly into Julian's eyes, she could see that he knew something. She could feel it, and what else could it be but...love?
Julian knew she was in love with him, Fleur thought dazedly.
He knew...and he was telling her that she had nothing to fear about it.