Page 60 of Hard Rock Muse

“Your memory is playing tricks on you.”

“You made some mean pancakes.”

“With pre-made batter from a box.”

Julian came up to me and slung an arm around my shoulder.

“Still counts,” he said, pressing a kiss to my forehead.

I relaxed into his side, his familiar scent surrounding me like a cloud. I inhaled deeply to get more of it.

“You’re sniffing me?” he asked, amused.

“As if you haven’t sniffed my hair a hundred times.”

He ducked to bury his face in the hair falling over my neck and shoulders. He made exaggerated snuffling sounds, like an animal foraging for food, making me laugh.

“Mmm, still using vanilla?” he murmured into my neck, the vibrations tickling my skin.

“If you like the smell so much, you can use my conditioner yourself,” I told him.

“You want to leave your stuff here?” he asked.

It wasn’t a teasing tone. He was serious. Nerves fluttered in my belly.

“Maybe,” I said.

I turned around and headed to the living room. I examined the piano, running my hands lightly over the glossy, black-lacquered instrument.

“We haven’t really had the talk yet,” I said.

“You mean,The Talk?” He put the stress on the words so I knew he got my meaning. He moved to the piano next to me and ran his hands lightly along the keys. He pressed down on a note or two, a low, mournful sound. “Do we need to? I’ve been calling you my girlfriend.”

“Is that what we are?” I looked down at the piano keys, avoiding his eyes. “We just got back together, but we’re already talking about me leaving stuff at your place and calling each other boyfriend and girlfriend and…”

Julian came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. He tugged until my back was nestled against his firm chest.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “We can slow down.”

The steady thrum of his heartbeat was audible, pounding against his rib cage, hammering against me.

I turned in his arms and cupped the back of his neck. I molded my body against his, until there wasn’t an inch of space between us. I leaned into him, grazing his lips with mine.

“I don’t want to slow down,” I murmured. “Not right now. Right now, I want to go fast.”

His eyes flashed with heat. Pulling me close, he captured my mouth with his. He took my request seriously, thrusting his tongue between my lips without any teasing. I opened to him with a moan, melting against him.

With one hand tangled in my hair, he used to other to cup my ass and tilt my hips to grind down. His length was already growing stiff. I rubbed against him like a cat in heat, clutching at his shoulders and devouring his mouth.

“Fuck, Ev…” he groaned. “You have no idea what you do to me.”

“Show me,” I gasped out.

He practically dragged me down a hallway and into his bedroom. We tumbled onto the four-poster bed in a tangle of limbs. The bedspread was a light shade of grey, as were the satin pillows.

“What happened to your all black sheets?” I teased breathlessly.

“Too depressing,” he said.