In hindsight, taking Jules to the picnic was the worst idea I’d ever had. The short-term gain of outsmarting the hospital’s matchmakers wasn’t worth the long-term pain of replaying the afternoon over and over in my head like a broken record I couldn’t bear to toss.
You were just a kid. What happened wasn’t your fault.
You’re a good brother, and you’re a good doctor.
Every time I thought about our conversation beneath the tree, I wanted to rewind and freeze time so we could stay in that moment forever.
Sun shining, food in our laps, the emptiness in my chest a little less empty with Jules’s presence filling it up.
It was unacceptable.
Wanting to fuck her was fine. Wanting to call her when I had a crappy day was not.
It didn’t matter if she was the only person I could talk to without fearing judgment. There would be no more quasi-dates from now on, not even fake ones. And definitely no more sleepovers or letting her borrow my shirt.
I still hadn’t washed the one I’d lent her after Hyacinth. I’d get around to it eventually, but it didn’t smell bad. It smelled faintly like her—warm and cinnamony with a hint of amber.
The same scent enveloped my senses now as I buried my face in her neck and drove deeper into her, trying to ease the ceaseless, unquenchable need in my stomach. But every thrust and kiss only magnified it, and my frustration spilled into the speed and force of my fucking.
The headboard banged against the wall in rhythmic response to my thrusts as I pounded into Jules, my muscles taut and slicked with sweat from the past half hour.
We’d landed in Athenberg that afternoon, and Jules and I must be on the same wavelength because she showed up to my suite twenty minutes after we checked in with nothing more than a, “Wanna fuck?”
No mention of the picnic, library, or any other rule we’d broken, thank God. We were both eager to return to the status quo, and I’d happily obliged.
Now, if only I could fuck the hunger for Jules out of my system, I’d be a happy man.
“Josh.” Her sharp cry ricocheted through the hotel room as she clawed at my back and exploded around me.
Jules fucked the way she fought—fierce and fiery, no holds barred. It was addictive.
The exquisite burn from her nails matched the fire in my veins as I clamped a hand over her mouth, cutting off her cry.
“Shh. You’ll wake everyone up.” My jaw clenched with the effort to hold back my own orgasm as her pussy rippled around me. Christ. It should be illegal for someone to feel that damn good. “You don’t want our friends to hear, do you?”
My suite was across the hall from Jules and Stella’s and only two doors down from Alex and Ava’s. Alex was taking a video call in the hotel’s conference room downstairs, and Ava and Stella were napping ahead of Bridget’s bachelorette party tonight, but I didn’t want to risk it.
We were already risking enough sneaking around right under Ava’s nose.
The headboard banging might give me away, but I could easily play that off as coming from another room on the floor.
Jules whimpered, but when I removed my hand from her mouth, she successfully kept her cries down even as she came a second time.
She pressed her face against my shoulder, her body shaking with her silent release.
“Good girl,” I whispered. “Keep those screams in, Red. I’m the only person who gets to hear how much you love my cock in that tight little cunt.”
Another, louder whimper.
Her pussy clamped around me even tighter than the first time, and a blinding orgasm ripped through me with such sudden, unexpected force it rendered me speechless for a second.
When the aftershocks finally faded, I sank against her, reveling in the sensation of her soft curves melting into my body. She felt so damn perfect I was tempted to stay there forever and lose myself in her warmth.
I allowed myself to savor the moment for another second before I reluctantly pulled away. I handed Jules a bottle of water from the hotel’s mini bar, my mouth curving at her content, slightly dazed expression.
“Thanks.” She took a sip of the drink, her voice slumberous with post-coital bliss. “I’ll leave soon. Just…” A yawn split her face. “Give me a second.”
Disappointment spiked in my chest at the thought of her leaving before I forced it down. This is just sex, I reminded myself.
“As long as it’s only one second. Don’t want you accidentally sleeping over.” I settled next to her in the bed. I itched to draw her closer, but I propped my hands behind my head instead.
She glared at me, her contentedness giving way to irritation. “I see the asshole is back.”
“He never left.”
“Obviously.” Jules climbed out of bed and shrugged into her shirt.
“I’m kidding, Red.” I leaned over and grasped her wrist before she could button her top. “Stay a bit longer if you want. It’s not like Ava and Stella are awake to hang out.”
I pulled her back into bed. She resisted for a second before relaxing next to me. She knew I was right. If she left now, she had nothing to do except wander the hotel.
“What are you guys doing tonight, anyway?” I asked.
“Dinner and clubbing.” Jules wrinkled her nose. “I wish we could throw Bridget a full-blown bachelorette party, but tonight is the only night she has even a little free time, so we’re keeping it simple.”
My eyebrows reached my hairline. “You’re taking the Queen of Eldorra clubbing? In Eldorra?”
“We’ll be in disguise.”
I stared at Jules, unsure if she was joking. She stared back with one hundred percent seriousness.
“Disguise,” I repeated. “I hate to break it to you, Red, but a wig and sunglasses aren’t gonna be enough to disguise the most famous woman in the country.”
“We’re not wearing sunglasses,” she scoffed. “No one wears sunglasses at night except douchebags. No, we hired a makeup artist to transform our faces.”
“Are you fucking with me? How the fuck is a makeup artist supposed to transform your face?”
“A skilled MUA can do a lot,” Jules said primly. “Clearly, you’ve never watched any before and after makeup transformations on YouTube.”
I rubbed my face. The conversation was getting more surreal by the minute. “No, I haven’t, because I don’t wear makeup.”
“So? You’re not an astronaut but that doesn’t stop you from watching videos about rocket launches.”
“Yeah, because rockets are cool.”
“So’s makeup.”
“Not to me.”
She rolled her shoulders in a shrug. “You’ve always lacked taste.”
“I’m fucking you, aren’t I? What does that say about you?”
Jules stretched her arms over her head and yawned. “That I’m a lovely, generous human being who’ll throw you a pity fuck when no one else will—”
A squeal cut off her words when I lifted her and delivered a sharp smack on her ass before sitting her on my lap. Her back pressed against my torso, and I reached around to spread her thighs.
“Don’t make me spank your pussy next, Red.” I rubbed my thumb over her still-swollen clit in warning. “I won’t be as gentle.”
A shiver rolled through Jules’s body, but she sank against me and fell quiet as I caressed her.
Yes, this was supposed to be sex only, but I would be an asshole if I kicked her out without some post-sex downtime, right?
I smoothed my palm up her thighs, over her stomach and to her breasts. It was more comforting than it was sexual, and I loved how fucking soft she was. Soft and warm and perfectly tailored for me, her curves fitting my hands like pieces of a puzzle I never wanted to finish solving.
“What are you doing tonight while we’re out?” She made a small, contented noise as I gently squeezed and kneaded her breasts.
“Grab a drink. Explore the city.” I had no clue. “I’ll figure something out.”
“Alex will be staying behind too.”
My hand stilled before I dropped it to my side. “Don’t see what that has to do with me.” The lightness of my tone contrasted with the sudden stiffness in my shoulders.
A sigh floated from Jules’s throat to my ears. “All I’m saying is, it’s painful watching you guys avoid each other. I can’t imagine it’s fun for you to hold onto your grudge either. Being angry at someone is exhausting, and it’s been almost two years. Maybe…” Her voice softened, taking on a far-off quality, and I wondered if she was talking about herself as much as she was me. “Maybe it’s time to forgive, even if you don’t forget.”
I leaned my head against the headboard and closed my eyes. “Maybe.”
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to. It was that I didn’t know how to. Every time I tried, the past reared its ugly head and dragged me back.
How could I let go of something that refused to let go of me?
“It would be—”
A knock on the door cut her off. “Josh?” Ava’s voice drifted into my room.
Jules shot up straight and twisted her head to look at me. We stared at each other with wide eyes.
“Can I come in? I think you have my backpack,” Ava said. “It has my laptop.”
Fuck. My gaze strayed to my black backpack. We’d bought the same one during a holiday sale a few years ago.
I gently extricated myself from Jules, climbed off the bed and unzipped it. Yep, there was Ava’s laptop sitting snug in between her notebook and a blue folder. Double fuck.
I must’ve grabbed hers by mistake at the airport.
I gestured at Jules to get into the bathroom, but she sat frozen on my bed, looking like a wax mannequin of herself.
“Can you get it later?” I called out. My heart slammed against my chest. “I’m, uh, busy.”
I would open the door and hand Ava’s backpack to her, but there was no way to do so without her seeing the bed.
“I need my laptop. I have to get some work done before the bachelorette tonight.”
Double fuck.
I stepped toward the bed, but Jules finally moved. She wrapped the sheet around herself and darted into the bathroom so fast she was almost a blur. I waited until the door closed behind her before I picked up the backpack and cracked open my door.
“Hey.” I shoved the bag at my sister. “Here ya go. See you later.” I tried to close the door, but Ava pushed it back open with narrowed eyes.
“Why are you being so shifty?”
“I’m not being shifty.” Sweat beaded on my brow. “I’m irritated because you interrupted me.”
“Doing what?”
“Uh, exercising.” Technically true. Sex was the best form of cardio. “I thought you were napping.”
She gave me a strange look. “I woke up.” Her eyes drifted from my sex-tousled hair to my tense shoulders. A faint green tint colored her skin. “Wait…do you have a girl in there? Was that banging sound you? That was what woke me up.”
Heat climbed on my face.
“How is that possible? We literally just arrived an hour ago.” Ava clapped a hand over her mouth. “I think I’m going to be sick. You are not allowed to have sex when I can hear you. I’m scarred for life.”
“You’re being dramatic, and what can I say? I’m a legend.” I pasted on my cockiest smile. “Now please leave before she comes out of the bathroom. Nothing kills the vibe like a little sister sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong.”
“Trust me, I don’t want to…” Ava’s eyes fell on something behind me. “Oh, weird. Jules has those exact shoes.”
Shit! I’d accidentally let the door drift open while we were talking.
Jules’s clothes were out of sight, but her shoes were right there, front and center, at the foot of the bed.
It was a testament to how much we used to dislike each other that Ava didn’t think the shoes could belong to her.
“They must be popular.” I forced a laugh and resisted the urge to wipe the sweat from my forehead. “Wish you hadn’t told me that. The second thing that kills the vibe fast is any mention of the she-devil. Anyway.” I pushed Ava further into the hallway. “Great to see you, don’t come back. Unless you want a firsthand look at the symphony.”
We both gagged at the same time.
If the vibe wasn’t already dead, it was six feet under and rotting now at the prospect of my sister being in the room while I had sex.
“I’m going to wash my eyes and ears out with bleach.” Ava shuddered.
I waited until she returned to her room before I closed the door and leaned my forehead against it. Relief cooled the sweat on my skin, but my heart still raced like it was competing in the fucking Indy 500.
“That was a close call.”
I lifted my head and saw Jules peek out of the bathroom, her eyes wide.
“These fuckers almost got us in trouble.” I nudged her shoes with my foot.
“Those are my favorite shoes, Josh. It’s not their fault.” She stepped fully into the bedroom and fished her clothes off the floor. “We shouldn’t have done this in the hotel. It was stupid. If she caught us…”
I grimaced. Jules was right. It was stupid to hook up in the hotel when our friends were literally down the hall. We could get caught any minute.
Normally, I’d never be that reckless, but…
I watched Jules get dressed, my heart rate not slowing down one bit despite the fact the danger had passed.
For some reason, logic always flew out the window where Jules was concerned.
