“Julian…”
He kept his blue eyes pinned tight on me as he undoubtedly felt my pussy pulsing, clenching tight around him. Our chests were slick against each other now, our limbs more tangled than ever. My pleasure was seconds from his peak when I’d convinced myself he wasn’t going to say it back. But then I felt his nails dig into my skin.
“I love you, Sara,” he growled barely a second before he erupted a hard jerk inside me.
I gasped for breath – or maybe from shock. I wasn’t sure. All I knew was that I was in pure ecstasy as I felt Julian’s weight still slamming inside me as his heat flooded my pussy. His teeth were gnashed, his muscles quivering as he exhausted the last of his energy to keep fucking me, giving a wild, guttural grunt for every short, powerful thrust between my legs.
“Oh God, Julian!”
When I came, he grabbed my ass and yanked me to the very base of his cock, giving his every inch the full pleasure of my shaking climax. I was limp in his arms as he claimed every shiver and quake in my body, holding me tight against him and murmuring in my ear.
He said it back, I reminded myself, my bliss sending me off on a post-orgasmic cloud.
I wasn’t sure I’d ever come down from this one.
JULIAN
As usual, she fell asleep before me.
Her lips were lightly parted as she lay on her side in my bed, looking so fucking perfect and peaceful I felt like I could watch her forever. I kept my eyes on her even as I peeled my shirt over my head and pushed my sweats off my hips.
I checked my phone before I climbed into bed with her.
I had Colin’s text from hours ago waiting for me, but I’d wanted to wait till she fell asleep to open it. I wanted to enjoy the dinner she cooked for me, and the way the wisps of hair fell from her high ponytail as she danced around the kitchen to the old jazz playing on my speakers.
A part of me still held out hope despite the fact that I knew what kind of news Colin was going to report back to me.
I told him to just keep it short and sweet – that I knew what the outcome of my last-minute changeup in Biarritz would result in. I just wanted to give a last-ditch effort, just in case it might work.
My lip curled as I finally opened Colin’s texts.
COLIN: Sorry. No dice.
COLIN: Carter vetoed.
Thought so.
After what I’d done our last night in Biarritz, I knew well this was the direction we were heading in. In fact, I’d prepared myself for it all day, and I’d come up with a fallback plan once everything went to shit.
But after coming home to Sara, I let myself hold onto some idiotic glimmer of hope.
It was hard not to with her.
I never imagined preferring anything over the life I made for myself when I moved back to New York. I enjoyed my days at the tower, my nights at the stadium, and Sundays with my family. In between, I fit in drinks with my friends, and some women here and there. That worked fine for me for a very long time. In fact, after everything that happened in Stockholm and Biarritz, I was convinced that this was as good as it got
But then Sara came along, and I realized my life could in fact get better. Worlds better.
Unfortunately, there was no way to make it work.
37
SARA
I wasn’t sure if Julian expected me at work the next morning, and
even less sure when I awoke a tad before seven to find that he was gone. I frowned as I sat up in bed, my eyes floating about the room as I tried to remember him leaving. I didn’t, and I didn’t recall feeling him touch me in any way before he went.
Thankfully, when I checked my texts, I found one from him.