Chasing Julia (Rhode Island Romance #2) (15 page)

“This is mine,” he
muttered against her lips. “Feel how you want me?” He rubbed the rough pad of
his thumb across one nipple. “Your body doesn’t lie, Julia.”

“I can’t,” she
protested feebly. “I needed more time—”

“Stop thinking,” he
persisted. “Just feel.”

He buried his face
against her arching neck, licking his fine sandpaper tongue over her thundering
pulse as his hand slid down her belly and dipped between her legs.

She parted them
without a second thought, lifted her hips into his touch. She felt a long
finger push inside of her, his thumb stroking her clit.

She writhed and
squirmed, her bottom rubbing against the hard ridge of his arousal.

He dragged his
mouth to her ear, darted his tongue inside and took a swirling lick. She nearly
flew off his lap. His brief, exultant laugh sent a blast of delicious heat into
her ear. “See, Julia? See how you respond to me?”

That finger between
her legs pushed deeper, curled inwards and gently scraped against a swollen
place inside of her she hadn’t known existed. She clutched his head, rested her
temple against his as she cried out in an attenuated wail. The sweet pressure
inside of her built and built until the only way to relieve the tension was to
convulse and scream.

He shuddered
against her, the hand at the nape of her neck gripping hard. His finger
continued to thrust inside of her in a rapid, relentless pursuit of the second
climax that was quickly building up inside of her.

“Tony!” she cried,
her voice ringing with amazement and ecstasy. She’d never known such pleasure. It
was impossible to fight against it.

Tears sprang to her
eyes as she came a second time, her body quivering from head to toe. She
relaxed completely in his arms, surrendering to the most perfect bliss she’d
ever known.

He kissed her
forehead and then her closed eyes.

His finger lingered
inside of her as her body clenched around it in tiny aftershocks. When she
eventually stilled, he slowly removed his finger and trailed it up her torso,
between her breasts, along the arch of her neck to her chin. He slipped that
finger in her mouth. “Taste what I’ve done to you,” he commanded, his rich
bourbon voice pouring over her.

She obediently
coiled her tongue around his finger and tasted the essence of her pleasure.

His breath was
coming in staccato gasps against her cheek when he eventually withdrew his
finger and rubbed it slowly along her bottom lip. “See how good it can be
between us, Julia?”

Her brain was
groggy. She was complete mush in his arms. Her fingers played lazily with the
corded tendons at the back of his neck. “Mmm.”

His husky laugh
held both male pride and unsatisfied lust. Hearing it, she drowsily opened her
eyes. Her heart squeezed at the stark longing written on his face. “What about
you?” she asked sleepily. She slid her hand down his chest, grazed a
penny-brown nipple with her finger.

He shuddered. His
features grimaced as if he couldn’t believe what he was about to say. “You’re
still hung over. You’re going to take some aspirin and then we’ll take a nap.”
His gaze softened with his promise. “I want you wide awake when I take you.
When I’ve come inside of you, there won’t be an ounce of doubt left in that
head of yours about where you belong.”

“I
still can’t believe you did this,” Hannah muttered with a sour expression,
ignoring the flight attendant who was giving safety instructions in preparation
for takeoff.

Julia had only just
begun to breathe normally again. She’d sagged against her seatback with relief
when the airplane door had finally been shut.

Tony had been sound
asleep when she’d crept out of their bed two hours earlier. Before he’d drifted
off, he’d told her that he hadn’t had any sleep since five a.m. the previous
day; he’d been too busy chasing her.

She’d dozed in his
arms for a while, still lethargic after experiencing the most mind-blowing
orgasms of her life. When she had awoken to use the bathroom, Tony hadn’t
stirred as she’d carefully extricated herself from beneath his heavy, limp arm.

As she’d stood in
front of the bathroom mirror, studying her pale, wide-eyed reflection, all of
her doubts and insecurities had churned inside of her again. Her brain had
still been in a fog. She still didn’t remember the wedding. Then she’d made the
impulsive decision to go to Hannah’s room and grill her friend for the details,
hoping that would give her some peace of mind.

She’d found her
suitcase next to the bedroom dresser and quietly rolled it into the bathroom.
She’d quickly dressed in jeans and a lightweight sweater. She didn’t bother
with makeup. As she’d packed her toiletries, it had dawned on her what she was
really doing.

It wasn’t going to
be a short visit to Hannah’s room. Julia wanted to leave this hotel and Las
Vegas behind her as quickly as possible. As much as she loved Tony, she simply
couldn’t believe that she would’ve done something that didn’t fit into her
normal, good-girl behavior.

Maybe it had been a
joke, a prank. But Tony would never do something like that to her. His fury
when she’d insisted they get an annulment couldn’t have been faked. It had to
be true. She just wished she could remember!

She couldn’t think
straight when she was around him. That was the problem. He was just too damn
sexy and aggressive. He just had to look at her with those piercing brown eyes
of his and she practically swooned like a fan girl at a pop concert.

She wasn’t sure she
liked being that way. She’d never considered herself weak. And she didn’t like
feeling vulnerable. He had been too overpowering.

She needed to get
away. She needed to clear her head and calm her emotions and make sure that she
hadn’t just made the biggest mistake of her life. She couldn’t have Tony
around, influencing her decisions.

As she’d tiptoed to
the door, she’d heard a faint yip from inside the closet. The sound gave
impetus to her motions as she’d quietly unlocked the door and slipped into the
hallway.

She didn’t even
remember how the dog had come into the picture!

She’d raced to
Hannah’s room and shaken her awake. She’d ignored her friend’s entreaties and
grumblings as she’d pleaded with Hannah to hurry up. Julia’s rising hysteria
had finally convinced Hannah to go along with the escape. She’d insisted on
taking a shower first though. Julia had frantically paced the floor, dreading
that Tony would be banging on the door at any minute.

Afraid that they
might bump into him in the lobby, Julia had Hannah check out of their room over
the phone. Then they’d taken the elevator to the meeting rooms on the second
floor and from there taken an escalator to the lobby level. They’d exited out a
side door to the porte cochere. As their cab had pulled away from the hotel,
Julia had looked back to make sure they weren’t being followed.

Hannah had been
less than thrilled to learn that the only way Julia could arrange a fast exit
from Las Vegas was to first take a flight to Los Angeles, then hop on a red-eye
to Providence that wouldn’t get them home until nine-thirty the following
morning.

“I hate red-eyes,”
Hannah grumbled now for what felt like the hundredth time.

“At least you
didn’t have to pay for it,” Julia shot back. “I’ve now maxed out my personal
credit card.”

“Hey, this was your
choice. We could’ve left tomorrow morning as planned. Why you couldn’t stay put
and just enjoy a healthy round of hot sex with your hunky husband is beyond my
comprehension.”

Julia made a
shushing gesture with her hand. “Don’t talk so loud. I don’t want everyone on
this plane knowing my business. And I’ve gone over this with you half a dozen
times already. Why isn’t it sinking in?”

“Maybe because I’m
still hung over?”

Julia sighed. “Then
let’s talk after we’ve both had some coffee. And don’t fall asleep on me. I
need you to tell me exactly what happened.”

“I can’t believe
you don’t remember.”

“Well, I
don’t
,
okay?” Julia could hear the anguish in her voice. “That’s why I will never
drink champagne again.”

“Lightweight.” But
Hannah’s tone was conciliatory. She gave Julia’s arm a gentle nudge. “Just let
me close my eyes until they start serving beverages, okay? You woke me out of a
dream of Sam licking melted Godiva chocolate off my belly. I want to try and
get back into that dream again.”

Forty minutes
later, after they’d each downed two cups of coffee, Hannah retrieved her
smartphone from her purse and opened her photos. She swiped her finger across
the screen. “Here you are at the courthouse. Isn’t that sweet the way you’re
looking up at Tony? You look so excited.”

Julia studied the
photo closely. She did look excited. And happy. She didn’t look drunk. She had
a vague recollection of a clerk explaining the paperwork to her and Tony. She
remembered sharing a secret laugh with him as the clerk snapped her gum with
evident boredom.

“And here we are at
the lingerie shop,” Hannah continued. “You asked me to take this picture so you
could share it with Tony later.”

Julia cringed.
“Gah! Why did you let me buy that?”

Hannah gave her a
suffering look. “One, your bra and panties were all sweaty after a night of shaking
it on the dance floor. And, two, you wanted to wear something with a lot of
buttons for Tony to undo.”

A memory flashed in
Julia’s head. “I did say that, didn’t I.”

“You remember?”

“Yes.” Her voice
filled with relief and excitement. “I tried on a corset, too, with red ribbons.
But I wasn’t feeling it.” She winced. “I can’t believe I chose a thong,
though.”

Hannah smirked.
“You said Tony liked to touch your ass.”

Julia gave her
friend a worried frown. “Han, was I drunk?”

“No.” Hannah’s tone
was adamant. “
I
was still feeling a buzz. You guys didn’t see me sneak a
seven and seven when we were at that casino. But I would’ve gone along with
this drunk or sober. You were so excited about the whole thing. When we first
arrived at the chapel and were just looking around, it was like suddenly this
light switched on inside of you. You looked at Tony and said, ‘You’re right,
why wait?’ I loved how confident you were. I was so impressed.”

“And Tony didn’t
try to convince me not to do it?”

“He did say, ‘Are
you sure?’ And you said—”

“Absolutely. I said
absolutely.”

“Yep. That’s what
you said. Then you and Tony were kissing, and the wedding coordinators were
giving instructions on where to get the license. It was just a whirlwind from
that point.”

“Wait. Did he ask
me to marry him? Or did I ask him?”

Hannah cocked her
head to one side. “You know? I don’t remember either one of you asking. I think
it was just a given.”

Julia frowned. “I
don’t remember the dress. Let me see the dress.”

Hannah swiped to
the next photo. It showed Julia standing in front of a three-way mirror. The
dress was a strapless ivory satin column gown with an empire waist. There was
some pretty floral lace detail on the bodice.

“Oh,” Julia said
softly. “That’s lovely. I do remember wearing that! I remember trying on some
ball gown and princess styles. But I didn’t like them.”

Hannah laughed.
“You said you were
not
going to dress like a princess on your wedding
day.”

“I did!” Julia
laughed, too. She felt the lightness of relief as memories came rushing into
her head. Only now did she understand just how agonized she’d been that she may
have had a total blackout and would never remember anything about her wedding.

“What did you wear,
Han?”

“Oh, I didn’t want
to be in the wedding party, hon. I took the pictures, and I was your witness. I
just wanted you two up there in front of the officiant. See?”

And there they
were: Tony and Julia, facing each other, hands clasped, standing in front of a kind-faced,
gray-haired man. She remembered walking towards Tony down the short aisle,
remembered the glow in his eyes as she drew closer. She remembered looking up
at him, heart in her eyes and telling him that she would take him as her wedded
partner, to have and to hold…till death do us part.

She felt pinpricks
of tears behind her eyes as she beamed at her friend. “Oh, Hannah. I
did
marry him.”

Hannah smiled. “It
was a lovely ceremony. Only ten minutes long, but I cried. And you were crying.
And Tony’s eyes were shimmery, too.”

Julia glanced at
her naked ring finger. “We didn’t exchange rings?”

“You did! It was so
cute. We stopped by a grocery store on the way back from the courthouse, and
Tony put two dollars in quarters in the bubble gum machine before he found a
ring that you both liked. He said he’d replace it with a real one when you got
back to Providence.”

Hannah smiled. “We
laughed when he put it on my finger.”

“Here’s a picture
of your hands.”

The ring was a
plastic silver band with a big, gaudy diamond. Tony’s hand rested over hers.
His own ring was plastic, too, with the jewel snapped off.

Julia laughed.
“That’s so sweet. I wonder what happened to them?”

“They were kind of
tight. He must have them.”

Julia brushed a
hand across her damp eyes. “Oh, Han. I remember saying ‘I do’ and kissing him.”

“So… Why are you
running away?”

“Maybe because this
isn’t normal for me? This isn’t something I’d typically do.” She gave Hannah a
beseeching look. “You know me. I like having everything in order. I like
feeling in control. That’s one reason why I enjoy my job. I’m good at
organizing things. I was good at organizing my life.”

“True.”

“My life was just
about perfect, wasn’t it? But, since May, it hasn’t been. I’m afraid that I
haven’t been thinking rationally.”

“It’s tough to
think rationally when you’re in love.”

Julia heaved a
sigh. “I asked him for time. But he didn’t give it to me.”

“I don’t know,
Jules. I think you’ve grown too used to living in your comfort zone. I like
that Tony is forcing you out of it. I
love
that he chased you all the
way across the country. That is so hot.” Hannah squeezed Julia’s arm. “Why
can’t you just let yourself go and take a leap of faith? I thought you had this
morning. I was so proud of you. But now you’re letting all your little demons
of self-doubt take control again.”

“You both expected
too much from me too soon.” Julia shook her head. “I mean, I was just getting
past the fact that he’s Joe’s younger brother. I needed more time to adjust.
And Tony has been coming on so strong. I’m not used to that.”

Hannah’s tone was
firm. “When you were trying on the wedding dresses, do you know what you said
to me? You said one reason you loved him was because he made
you
feel
stronger, more confident in yourself. What’s happened to that Julia since nine
o’clock this morning?”

“Too much
champagne?” Julia said with a feeble attempt at humor. “Still feeling a little
scared?”

“Snap out of it!”

Julia’s laughter
carried an underlying tenor of dread. “He’s going to be so angry when he finds
out that I’ve left.”

“No doubt. He’s
going to be kicking down your door as soon as he gets back in town.”

Julia worried her
lip. “I’ll call him from Los Angeles.”

During their two
hour layover at Los Angeles International Airport, Julia placed six calls to
Tony’s cellphone. All of them went straight to voicemail. On the sixth call,
she finally left a message. After taking a deep breath, she said, “I’m okay. I’m
on my way back to Providence. Call me.”