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“Perfect. You’re absolutely perfect,” Luca breathes, her lashes fluttering closed. “Don’t stop, please.”

Juliette’s stomach flutters at the way her voice catches onplease. She takes her time, circling her fingers around Luca’s clit, speeding up and slowing down at random. She never goes beyond the gentle touches, no matter how much Luca whines in the back of her throat.

“Don’t hold back,” Juliette whispers against Luca’s throat. She rucks up Luca’s shirt and cups her mouth around Luca’s nipple, her tongue flicking, pointed, just the way Luca likes.

Luca’s breath shudders through her teeth. Juliette loves watching how Luca’s body locks up and then relaxes, her muscles flexing and shifting as she leans into Juliette’s hand. Luca’s knees spread wide, and Juliette slides her hand down, fingers slick. She circles her thumb against Luca’s clit, nudging against it at different speeds and pressures. Piece by piece, Luca falls apart in her arms. Juliette’s name falls like a litany from Luca’s mouth as she comes.

“God, you’re so gorgeous,” Juliette whispers as she strokes Luca’s thighs. A flood of warm affection threatens to overwhelm her.

“Shut up,” Luca pants, tugging Juliette closer so she can hide her blotchy red face in her neck. Juliette laughs as Luca’s hair tickles her skin and Luca nibbles kisses up the column of her throat to her jaw.Heat crackles through her body as Luca’s fingers skate down the ridges of her ribs, squeezing her hip.

Before, whenever she was around Luca, she felt tight and jittery, like all of her limbs were twisted on too tight. But now, as Luca explores her skin with curious fingers, she melts.

Her body immediately coils as Luca’s fingers sweep through her slick heat before she dips two into her slit, curling against her walls and sending pleasure spiking through her body. Her fingers move shallowly, but the heel of her hand grinds against Juliette’s clit. “Fuck, Lux,” Juliette breathes, and Luca chuckles in her ear.

It’s as if Luca has a road map to every sensitive spot on her body, and in true Juliette fashion, it does not take long for her thighs to shake and her toes to curl. Heat burns through her gut, searing every nerve with vibrant pleasure.

Luca peppers her face with kisses as she returns to her body. She opens her eyes to see Luca’s face, bright with unbridled joy.

She loses track of time, twined in Luca’s arms and indulging in languid, soft kisses. She wishes she could live in this moment forever, caught in the rose-soft glass of whatever is unfolding between them.

Eventually, though, they wordlessly rise and clean themselves off. They rotate around each other like twin stars, hips bumping, knuckles grazing, and stealing kisses.

Luca collapses on the bed first with a yawn while Juliette twists her curls into a bun on the top of her head. “Come here, you’re too far away,” Luca whispers, splaying her hand across the bed.

Juliette laughs as she slips beneath the sheets again. Luca wriggles closer and wraps her arms around Juliette, letting their bodies slot together perfectly. Usually, Juliette doesn’t like being the little spoon, but as Luca interlocks their legs and Juliette tucks her forehead into the hollow of Luca’s neck, she finds she doesn’t mind. Actually, she loves it. Especially as she breathes in the dreamscape of Luca and lavender, as she finds warm comfort in Luca surrounding her.

“I needed this,” Luca murmurs, and Juliette nearly misses it as sleep crashes over her.

“Me too,” Juliette mumbles before she slides into inky dreams.

Luca is gone before Juliette’s alarm rips her from sleep. She flails her arm out for Luca as her eyes adjust to the murky light slipping beneath the curtains. Her side of the bed isn’t even warm anymore. Juliette swallows the knot of disappointment in her throat.

She sees a message from Luca time-stamped an hour earlier, telling her she’s going out for a run with Vladimir. Beneath that are a flurry of messages from Livia.

PICCOLA POLPETTA

Before you get rightfully pissed, I truly didn’t realize you were in the background.

And I’m not the only one who clocked it.

It’s fine Jules, trust me, it’s not that bad.

I promise

(guess some tennis girlies were on the boardwalk last night)

Her heart drops into her stomach as she scrolls through the pictures that accompany Livia’s messages. The first is of Livia, a selfie she posted with them in the background. It seems like they’re only talking, but Luca’s head is bent toward Juliette. Livia has done the most helpful thing and circled them in red.

The rest are from other Twitter sources, threads compiled by fans, and most are surreptitiously low-angled but close enough to make out Juliette Ricci and Luca Kacic. Several of them are of Juliette with her camera lifted, taking a picture of Luca. She can’t see Luca’s face in this photo, but she remembers the beginning curve of her smile. The next iscloser up and of both of them. Juliette with her curls flying in the breeze, the sun burnishing the edges of them gold, and Luca squinting into the sun, her smile wide and her dimples adorable. The composition is actually really nice, which makes Juliette irrationally angry.

The final thread is the weirdest for her. It’s a punch in the stomach to see herself staring at Luca like that. The smile on her mouth is wide and natural, and she looks so… happy. Luckily it’s from when they were coming off the beach and not making out, but still. Juliette looks as lovestruck as she’d felt. They’re both wrapped in their own little intimate world, and it says too much.

Heart-eyes Ricci spotted on the boardwalk with rival Kacic!Some random “news” source that is more like a stalking account writes in their post.

She scrolls through the replies, and heat crawls over her skin. Almost all of them are positive, but they’re too prying, too violating.

@riccisbackhand