Star-Crossed (17 page)

“Are you gonna talk to me?” she asked, feeling shy despite her determination.

131

“Absolutely,” Romeo agreed, still studying her with rapt interest. “Slide back on the bed. Spread out those long legs for me.”

Romeo’s voice was suddenly low and compelling, that New York accent of his becoming extra thick like it always did when he was doing this, talking to her, turning her on.

Jules did as she was told, sliding back and grabbing the pillows. She propped them up against the headboard and leaned against them as she unfolded her legs. She stretched them out, planting her feet on either side of her laptop as she lay there in nothing but a pair of bikini-cut panties. Then she bit her lip, feeling torn between extreme embarrassment and sexual arousal as Romeo watched her, looking very intense and in charge of the situation.

“What’d you do when we’re talking?” Romeo asked curiously. “Do you touch your tits? Do you tease yourself a little first?”

“Honestly?” Jules asked, laughing self-consciously. “I’m not really one to beat around the bush. I usually get to the point.”

“That works for me,” Romeo said, his gaze still hot and intense. He eyed the pink, cotton material between Jules’s legs. “But you gotta take those off first. Lemme see all of you. I need it, Juliet. I didn’t even realize how badly I needed it until right now.” The craziest part of all of this was it made her hot as hell, the idea of performing for him, turning him on with her body and her actions. She almost didn’t want to take off her panties. She’d just waxed the other day, and there was only a thin strip of blonde hair to hide her obvious arousal.

But Jules wasn’t shy, and she certainly wasn’t someone to half-ass something. She pushed off her underwear and then spread her legs once more. She knew he could see her blush because it felt white-hot as it rose from the back of her neck and spread to her face.

It was tempting to close her eyes and hide from his reaction, but she didn’t; she looked back at the computer boldly to see Romeo lick his lips. His eyes were a vibrant 132

green against his tan skin. Even through the dimmed resolution of video chat, somehow his longing was palatable. Jules could actually see it, and it drew her in, making her forget the embarrassment.

“Do it,” he finally said, making it sound like finding his voice had been a challenge. “Lemme watch.”

Jules ran her right hand down her body, being more leisurely than she would’ve been if she hadn’t had an audience. She even touched her tits, the pads of her fingers running over her pink nipples, making them pucker. It was tempting to look away from Romeo’s intense gaze and study her own image in the small box in the corner of the screen, but she didn’t. This was for him, and if he liked what he was seeing, she wasn’t going to waste the energy convincing herself otherwise.

Then she slid her fingers down to her folds, boldly spreading herself for him simply because she knew he’d like it, and she wasn’t disappointed.

Romeo groaned. “Madonn
’
, I want you so fucking bad, Juliet. You got no friggin’

idea.”

“I got an idea.” Jules’s voice was husky with arousal. Her eyes fell to half-mast as she teased her clit. She did it slowly, almost torturing herself for the sake of the performance, but it still felt amazing, especially when she had Romeo’s image to fuel the fire. Her head fell back against the headboard and she moaned, “God.” Jules wasn’t good at the torment thing when it came to her own pleasure. She was more pent up than she realized and considerably more selfish. Fuck the performance, she suddenly needed to come. She rubbed her clit with intent, knowing he was watching how she did it and getting herself off on that thought.

She imagined Romeo touching her instead of lying there alone in her bed. Then she thought of his mouth and the way his tongue felt against her. She was wet and panting and flushed for an entirely different reason as she spread her legs wider and arched her hips into the touch.

133

Doing this in front of Romeo and thinking of their time in Vegas forced Jules to remember his cock, thick and hard, pushing into her, possessing her. She moaned loudly. Her head lolled to the side on the headboard as she shamelessly followed the thought up by sliding her fingers lower and then pushing two of them deep inside herself, finger fucking her pussy as he watched.

“Fuck,” Romeo grounded out. “I’m gonna come just watching you.”

“Don’t,” she said breathlessly and moved her fingers back to her clit, now desperate for a quick release. “I wanna watch you do it. It’ll only take me—” Jules’s back bowed, and she cried out when the orgasm slammed into her because she had perfected getting herself off a long time ago. She panted. Her eyes squeezed shut tightly against the pleasure that was better than usual, sweeter, more addictive, perhaps because it was for Romeo.

Her body was still shuddering, tiny aftershocks shaking her as she stopped touching herself and gripped at the comforter. She fought to open her eyes and admitted, “That was
really
good. I think I needed that.”

“Oh, baby, you can show me your rough edges anytime.” Romeo groaned, his hungry gaze still taking Jules in as she lay back against the pillows, sated and lazy.

“That was the hottest thing I’ve ever fucking seen.” Then he sat up and grabbed his laptop. He scooted back against the headboard the same as Jules had and fell against the mass of pillows behind him. He set the laptop down and adjusted the screen, showing Jules the powerful outline of his cock through the tight, black boxer briefs he was wearing.

“You sure you wanna watch?” Romeo asked her as he grabbed himself through his boxer briefs, cupping the ridged mass. “It’s okay if it doesn’t turn you on.”

“It turns me on,” Jules assured him and then admitted, “I enjoy watching guys jerk off. I actually
like
the money shot; makes me weird, I know, but seeing it is kinda my thing.”

134

Romeo smiled at that new bit of information, as if discovering the dark corners of Jules’s sexuality was a special thrill. If he liked her rough edges, she might as well show them to him.

When he pulled out his dick and fisted it for the first time, Jules was unabashed; she grabbed her laptop and crawled back onto her stomach, giving him her full attention. Fingers sticky, she still held the computer close as she watched him stroke that big, heavy cock and allowed herself the luxury of really admiring it. She liked the color of it, tan with a slightly darker head, rather than pink and pale like all the other men she’d been with.

He looked amazing spread out in front of her, his thick, powerful thighs resting on either side of the laptop. Washboard abs and a cut, muscular chest. Jules felt like she was watching art rather than something dirty and pornographic. Romeo was truly beautiful to her, now more than ever, and she took in every nuance of his motions, watching him jerk off hard and fast.

Unwaveringly, he watched her while he did it, cocky, unapologetic; he stroked himself like a man putting on a show. Jules was enthralled with actually seeing the pleasure on his face, watching it build, anticipating that first burst of Romeo’s release.

Her body tightened as a fresh surge of desire blossomed in her bloodstream, and her pussy ached for a second release.

He cupped his balls, and then he brought his palm up, licking it, wetting the broad expanse of it as he said, “So I can pretend it’s you.”

“Do you?” Jules couldn’t help but ask. “Pretend it’s me wrapped around you when you do this?”

“I’m usually listening to you when I do this.” Voice husky, eyes smoky green with arousal, he smiled and stroked himself once more. “I don’t jerk off without you anymore, Juliet.”

“I don’t either,” Jules admitted and then stretched out more comfortably and slid her hand between the bed and her body.

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“I see you,” Romeo reminded her, his voice hitched with pleasure.

Jules smiled as she ran her fingers over her sensitive clit, enjoying getting caught.

“Good.”

Romeo shuddered, his stroke became faster, his eyes closed for one brief moment, and Jules realized he had stopped performing. This was him, exposed and sexual, and that was the best show of all. Jules kept teasing herself as she watched until the image of Romeo getting himself off and her own ministrations caused a small sob of pleasure to slip past the tight hold her teeth had on her bottom lip.

As if already trained to respond, Romeo groaned in reaction to her moaning, his eyes closing. “
Merda
, the sounds you make.” Then he arched, his cock pulsing in his hand, thick jets of cum bathing his stomach and sliding between the deep ridges of his abdominal muscles. It was easily the most gorgeous thing she’d ever seen. She would’ve been really disappointed if he’d grabbed a towel or something to hide the physical evidence of his desire for her, but he hadn’t and she took a shuddering breath to fight the dazzling craving for more of everything Romeo had to offer.

“I wanna do this again,” she admitted with a soft, yearning sigh as she admired him, her fingers still between her legs.

“Tonight?” Romeo asked, his voice now gravelly with sex. “I thought that was a given. We never do it just once.”

“Every night.” She swallowed hard because the sight of him was making the ache too much to bear. “I don’t want this to stop. Ever. I wish you could promise me it wouldn’t.”

Romeo looked away, pain flashing on his face before he grabbed a towel next to him and made a quick, thorough swipe at the cum on his stomach. He tossed the towel aside and grabbed the computer, falling on his stomach as he looked at the camera.

“I don’t want it to stop either.” His eyes were deep, fathomless pools of green as he studied her. “You’re the first really nice thing that’s ever happened to me, Juliet.” 136

He couldn’t promise her. Jules heard it in his voice, but she also heard the heartache. He might not be able to promise her forever, but he wanted to and that felt like something.

137

Chapter Nine

Early February

“
I’m sexy and I know it.
”

Romeo looked to Tino, who was currently enjoying the benefits of satellite radio, and arched an eyebrow at his youngest brother. “You’re officially banned from energy drinks and convenience-store doughnuts.”

Tino bounced his head, giving Romeo a wide smile, showing off even white teeth as he sang off-key. “
I work out.
”

“Jesus,” Romeo groaned, looking toward the signs on the interstate, frowning.

“Wasn’t that our exit?”

“I dunno.” Tino shrugged. “You’re driving.”

“Motherfucker, you’re supposed to be watching the GPS.” Romeo growled and then reached over to shove Tino’s head for good measure. “I let you blare the radio

’cause you said you’d be watching the GPS. Now we missed the exit.”

“So get off here and turn around.”

Romeo turned on his blinker and looked behind him as he worked on getting over. Once he got off on the exit, he pushed the button on his steering wheel, turning off the radio.

“What the hell?” Tino complained when they were blanketed in silence.

“I can’t listen to one more minute of this club shit,” Romeo said as he breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn’t realized how loud the music really was or how deeply it was grating on his nerves until it was gone. “How long is this exit?” 138

Tino looked to the GPS on the dashboard. “If you go left, it should actually take you back to where we’re supposed to be. You don’t gotta get back on the interstate.”

“There’s nowhere to go left.” Romeo looked out the window at the sea of snow-covered trees. “It’s the off-ramp that won’t end. It’s like a friggin’ horror movie.”

“I definitely hear dueling banjos.”

“How long until we actually get to Garnet? Look at that thing and tell me how many miles until we get to where we’re supposed to be.” Tino studied the GPS, frowning at it. “Fifty-seven miles.”

“Fifty-seven miles?” Romeo repeated incredulously. “They can’t be over fifty miles from the nearest interstate. You’re looking at it wrong.”

“No, I’m not,” Tino argued, pointing to the screen. “It says fifty-seven miles to our destination. Well, now it’s fifty-six.”

Romeo stopped when they finally reached the end of the off-ramp and leaned over to look at the GPS himself. “We gotta find a McDonald’s or something. I can’t wait another hour to eat.”

“I don’t think there’s a McDonald’s around here,” Tino said as he looked down the long stretch of road to his right. “Did you get gas? I don’t see a gas station. I don’t see
anything
. Where the fuck are the grocery stores? How do these people eat?”

“There are houses. That means there are gas stations and grocery stores,” Romeo said as he spied one lone house across the street from the off-ramp. “And there’s definitely gotta be a McDonald’s.”

They didn’t find a McDonald’s, and Romeo was grouchy and hungry an hour later. It didn’t help that the blaring club music was somehow back on and a stop at the only gas station they’d passed had put another energy drink in Tino’s hand.