Page 28 of Fame And Secrets
“Especially when we’re the last direction you’re looking, huh?” My voice dripped with ice. “I can’t help that I can’t travel. I guess a fat, pregnant side piece kind of gets in the way of your glitz and glamour lifestyle, huh, Jagger?”
He stared at me for what seemed like forever, his jaw ticking. Finally, he wrapped his palm around the back of his neck and exhaled. “Goddamn it, would you stop calling me that?” He punctuated his words with a low growl. “I’ve been under a lot of—”
I exploded. “Stress, I know. Stress. You’ve told me a million times. That’s your patented excuse.” Tears pricked my eyes again. “But what you haven’t told me is what this stress is, or why it’s so huge. You don’t tell me anything anymore. I feel like…” I lowered my head and sighed. “I feel like I live with a stranger.”
The flush started at his neck and traveled upward. “What do you want from me, Phoebe?”
I bit my bottom lip to maintain control. “Nothing, Julian. I don’t want a damn thing from you anymore.” I collapsed against the counter and hugged my engagement ring to my chest. Moments passed before quiet shuffling registered behind me. He picked up my hair and deposited it across my left shoulder. Opening my mouth to protest, I liquefied as he feathered soft kisses against my neck.
Damn him.
He knew which buttons to push and when to push them. My eyes closed, and he slipped his arm around my waist, resting his hand on top of my pregnant belly. With a deep-rooted sigh, he mumbled against the back of my head, his words caressing me with a seductive cadence.
“I’m sorry, princess. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you’d walked out just now. I couldn’t have blamed you if you did.”
“Julian, listen…” My voice sounded much too breathy for my liking. I’d planned on giving him the silent treatment, but he’d broken me with his touch.
Dropping his lips against my collar bone, he continued his confession. “No, listen to me. There’s no excuse for missing the appointment. Period. I don’t care if it was for the autobiography or not. Nothing’s more important than you and our baby. I know I haven’t let you in on some things, but you have to believe me when I say I have my reasons. They’re not despite you, they’re for you. Everything’s always for you.”
“Julian, I don’t think…”
He wove his other arm through my thick hair, gently pulling my head against him. “Don’t think Phoebe. Please, just don’t think right now.”
“You just can’t expect…” He interrupted again as his hand found its way under my skirt. He slid it slowly up my thigh and tilted it inward, causing me to draw a sharp breath.
“I need you. Tell me you need me too. I want to hear you say it.”
My ragged breathing was all I heard as his hand continued a path up the length of my inner thigh. Impatient, he pulled me firmly against him. Closing my eyes, I rested the back of my head against his chest while his full lips drew circles on my skin.
“Just say it,” he whispered in my ear. “Tell me you still want me.”
With our bodies pressed tightly together, my mind went blank, and all rational reasoning left, replaced by raw desire. Wrapping my hand around the back of his neck, I brushed my lips against his cheek.
“I want you.” Three words were all I spoke as the hand on my thigh grasped the string of lace resting on my hip and slid it down. With my head still bent backward, I felt him fumble with his own button and my breathing picked up in anticipation.
His lips pressed against my ear once more. “Hold onto the counter.”
Releasing my hold on his neck, I tightened a secure grip onto the edge of the kitchen counter and held my breath. His own breathing picked up as he lifted me onto my toes. With one dip and thrust, he reclaimed my body as his own.
He was home. Literally and figuratively.