“I got that impression too. Not from anything he said, just that he seemed like he’d understand if that happened.”
“I know.”
She lay beside him looking up at the ceiling, and a million thoughts were reflected in her averted gaze. Judging by the few times she opened her mouth as though to speak and then didn’t, Julián guessed that she had a lot to say but didn’t know how. Or didn’t want to say too much. She looked at him and he saw a flicker of what looked like pleading in her eyes. He wanted to fix whatever was troubling her but wasn’t ready to have a conversation in which she reminded him again that she was leaving in March. Maybe she felt the same way.
Finally, she whispered, “I don’t have this all figured out, Julián. But I loved what happened between us last night.” The blush in her cheeks spread as she looked up at him. “This will take some getting used to.”
“No one said we had to have it all figured out right away.” Wanting to reassure her, he laid his lips on hers. He held back a little, not kissing her roughly like he had before, just smooching her lower lip and brushing his lips against hers.
As he braced himself above her, she wrapped a hand around his shoulder and rested the other on his pectoral. He paused to look at her for a second, enjoying every line of her nude body. “You’re every bit as beautiful as I imagined. Even more so.”
She smiled up at him and caught her lower lip between her teeth as he took his time looking her over. Even so recently sated, he knew he would be hard for her again in no time. But he wanted her to know that this went beyond sexual satisfaction for him. He returned his gaze to her periwinkle blue eyes and dipped his head again.
Their kisses were languid, nonverbal communication, giving and tasting passion. He’d taken control earlier but he was careful now to not press her against the bed. He wanted her to know that although he hoped she stayed, he wouldn’t force the issue. He didn’t want to say the words so he showed her. He put everything he’d felt for her into his kisses, sliding his tongue along hers, stroking and delighting but not seeking to overwhelm her. She clung to him and returned his kiss, a tiny shudder going through her in response to him. Encouraged, he kissed her more deeply, tasting the recesses of her mouth. His heart pounded as he made promises with his lips that he couldn’t with words right then.
I’d do everything I could to be close to you, if only I knew that was what you wanted.
The sentiment scared the shit out of him. He’d never felt this way about any other woman before. With a look and a touch she could lay all his emotions and needs bare.
Across the hall the shower shut off. He released her lips and looked down at her. Her eyes flitted to the doorway for a second and he could see the longing to speak in her eyes again, but she said nothing. The door to the bathroom opened, emitting a cloud of steam into the hallway.
“The cover girl is finally done,” he murmured with a chuckle.
She quirked an eyebrow like she wanted to ask but then her expression went serious as they heard Chris moving down the hallway toward the kitchen and the utility room beyond. “Is this really all right with you? The three of us, I mean.”
Julián willingly gave her the reassurance she needed. “It is. I’ve never told you about my brother’s family, have I?”
Gwen raised an eyebrow but simply said, “No, I don’t think so.”
Julián filled her in on his brother’s unconventional family. It had thrown Julián for a loop when his brother, Peter, had tried to explain to him that not only did he love Jordan but that he and Jordan were both also in love with Tracy, who had known and loved Jordan most of her life and had fallen hard for Peter the moment she’d met him.
Julián had initially been very judgmental and resistant to the idea of his brother being in love with another man, but seeing the three of them together had changed his mind. It was obvious they loved each other and any long-held beliefs on Julián’s part would only serve to separate him from his brother. The relationship had been confusing to wrap his mind around at first but in light of current events now made perfect sense to him.
“Wow.”
A chuckle welled inside Julián. “Yeah. I’ll be an uncle in March.”
“Congratulations.”
Julián stroked her rib cage and smiled at her shudder. “So our ménage isn’t some half-baked idea on my part, or Chris’s for that matter. Sudden—maybe. But we have talked about it and the discussion did include you specifically.”
“Oh, so I won’t have to worry—”