Page 10

S aint had convinced Juno to give up her apartment to help save money. Her insurance company had sent her a few thousand dollars for her car, which surprised the hell out of him. He was sure that she’d owe them money for that hunk of junk. For now, she was trying to save every penny and even though he could drive again, he chose to lie and tell her that he needed her to drive him around still. He told her that the doctors were worried that his arm needed more time to heal and that they advised him not to drive or do anything strenuous for at least another month. Juno seemed to buy it and moved in with him to get her funds to stretch. She also decided to hold off on finding a car until she found another job. He wanted to tell her that she could stay for as long as she wanted, every time she talked about finding a job and getting herself another place to live. was sure that she wouldn’t want to put him out, but he had already gotten used to having her around.

The problem was, that he was a chicken and didn’t want to spook Juno and have her run off. hadn’t kissed her again after the first time that he got a taste of her while all their friends watched. She had dropped a bunch of hints, letting him know that she wanted him to kiss her again, just as she had admitted in his truck, weeks ago, but he wasn’t sure if that was a good idea or not. Well, not until Juno agreed to move in with him. worried that she’d eventually leave him for a new life, and even though he tried to fight them, his feelings for her were evident—at least to him. Juno seemed oblivious to the fact that he was falling for her. She had him wanting things that he never thought he’d want with a woman—starting with a long-term relationship.

Juno had been out job hunting all day and had decided to do something nice for her and make dinner before he told her that he had feelings for her. Sure, he was buttering her up, feeding her well, hoping like hell that she’d admit that she felt the same way. He had his hopes up, and all he could think about was moving her into his room—permanently.

When she moved her stuff into his house, he promised that she could have her own room, and she agreed. She brought her bedroom furniture with her and set up the bedroom across the hallway from him. He hated not moving her into his room up front, but he wanted Juno to come to him on her own terms. She told him that she wanted him to kiss her again, and yet, she made no move and sent him no signals. He was so damned confused by Juno that he wanted to yank his hair out. But tonight, he planned on that all changing. Tonight, he was going to stop being a chicken and tell Juno what he wanted from her. Hopefully, she’d feel the same way, but he wasn’t holding his breath.

Juno had taken his truck to run to the police station because they had more questions for her. Plus, she wanted to put a restraining order against Bruno. He offered to go with her, but Phoenix and Vixen had already volunteered to tag along with Juno. The three of them walked through the front door and stood in the entryway saying their goodbyes as though they wouldn’t see each other tomorrow night down at the Harlots. Sprite and Phoenix stuck their heads in to tell him hello before they headed out. He liked the way that Juno’s friends accepted the two of them living in the same house, but he was sure that she had told them all that it was strictly platonic. He hated that because all he could think about doing was claiming Juno as his and never looking back.

Juno walked into the living room and plopped down on the sofa next to him. “Did you have any trouble down at the station?” asked.

“Nope,” Juno admitted. “It went smoothly.”

“Great,” he said.

“What smells so good?” she asked. Straining her neck to peek into the kitchen.

“I made us some dinner,” he said, feeling pretty proud of himself.

“That’s so nice,” she said.

“Don’t get too excited,” insisted. “I’m not much of a cook, but I’m pretty good at winging it.”

She nodded, “Winging it sounds good to me,” she said. “Hell, any food sounds good to me today. It’s been a long fucking day and I’m ready for a shower and a bed. I was up most of the night worrying about the questions that they wanted to ask me at the precinct.”

“You should have told me,” he insisted, “I could have kept you company while you worried.”

“There was no sense for the both of us to be up all night. Plus, you need your sleep to heal. You don’t want to take a chance that you’ll have to have surgery.” Every time she brought that up, he felt like an ass. His doctor cleared him a couple of weeks ago from the possibility of having surgery, but in order to keep Juno with him, he had to lie to her.

“I’m feeling pretty good,” he said. That part was true at least. didn’t have to take prescription painkillers in a while and his pain was manageable with over-the-counter pain relievers. “Come in the kitchen and we can eat.” She followed him into the kitchen, and he pulled out the chair for her, trying to be a gentleman.

“This is really nice,” she breathed. “Is there a special occasion you’re celebrating? Is it your birthday and I missed it?”

He chuckled, “No,” he said, “I just thought that we needed to do something nice. It’s been a rough few weeks for you having to lay low from Bruno and everything. I decided to make you a nice dinner and hopefully, we can talk.”

“Talk,” she squeaked, “what’s there to talk about?” He could tell that Juno knew exactly what he wanted to talk about with her. She was a bigger chicken than he was and that made him want to laugh. Weren’t they a pair?

“I think that we need to talk about that kiss,” he said.

“What kiss?” Juno asked, still playing dumb.

He sighed, “The only kiss that we shared, Juno. You said that you wanted me to kiss you again. Is that still true?” He asked.

Juno shyly nodded her head, “Yes, but I just assumed that you didn’t want to, or that you changed your mind.” He was an idiot. Here she had been waiting all this time for him to make a move, and he was too scared to do it.

“I haven’t changed my mind,” he admitted. “I was just being a chicken, and I’m sorry that you thought that I didn’t want to kiss you.”

“So, what now?” Juno asked. He knew what he wanted to do, but he had promised her dinner. None of that mattered to him now. wanted his chance with her and if he let it pass him by again, he might not get a third chance with Juno.

He stood and pulled her up from her chair, wrapping his arms around her waist, and sealing his lips over hers. She tasted like sunshine and honey, just the way she did the last time he stole a kiss from her. But this time, he was going to take his time and thoroughly kiss her. And from the way Juno moaned into his mouth, she didn’t seem to mind.

He broke their kiss, leaving them both breathless. “Wow,” she breathed. “I’m pretty sure that I’ve never been kissed that way before.”

“Surely, you’ve been kissed before,” insisted. “You are twenty-two, right?” He asked.

“Yep, I’ll be twenty-three next month,” she admitted. “And I’ve been kissed before, but it was more like our first kiss. No boy has ever kissed me like you just did.”

“Man, honey,” he corrected. “I’m a man.”

“I’ve noticed,” she whispered, giving him an outrageous wink. He loved the way that she could give him shit one minute and make him laugh the next.

released her, the wheels finally clicking into place. “Wait, if you’ve never been kissed that way before, what else have you never done, honey?” He had a pretty good that he wasn’t going to like her answer, but he needed to know what he was getting into with Juno.

“I’m a virgin,” she whispered. felt as though his heart might beat right out of his chest. How could she still be a virgin at almost twenty-three?

“Did I just hear you say that you’re a virgin?” asked.

She giggled, “You look just as upset as when I asked you to pick me up some tampons at the grocery store, . It’s not a big deal. I’ve just never found anyone I wanted to have sex with.” Yeah, having to pick up her girly stuff from the store wasn’t a chore that he enjoyed, but he couldn’t send Juno to do it while Bruno was still out there. No one had been able to track him down, and that had feeling completely uneasy about the whole situation.

“You never had a boyfriend?” asked.

She shrugged, “Not really. I’ve gone on a few dates here and there, but with my job, it was hard to get too involved with a guy. I didn’t want to get a lecture about dancing for a living or anything like that. So, I kind of steered clear of men.”

“I guess that won’t be a problem for you now,” grumbled.

“No, it won’t be, but I’m still not interested in men,” she insisted. “Well, not all men, because I do like one in particular.” held his breath waiting for her to admit that she liked him and when she smiled at him, it took everything in him not to pull her into his arms and kiss her senseless again.

“Is it me?” he asked. He needed to hear her say the words before making his next move.

“It is,” she said, “if that’s all right.” It was more than all right with him, but for some reason, forming sentences wasn’t easy for him right now.

He nodded and she wrapped her arms around his neck again, going up on her tiptoes to kiss him. He pulled her tighter against his body and took over the kiss, leaving him wanting more from her.

lifted her into his arms and started for the stairs with her. “Where are you taking me?” Juno asked.

“I’m taking you up to my bed,” he said. “Tell me now if I’m going too fast for you, and I’ll stop.”

“I’ve been waiting for you to make a move for weeks now. You are definitely not going too fast for me, . I’m just worried that I won’t do this right.” He sat on the edge of his bed, keeping her on his lap. Maybe he was afraid that if he let her go, she’d disappear, or maybe he just liked having her close.

“There is nothing to ‘Do right,'” he assured, “just do what feels natural to you. I promise to try to go easy on you since it’s your first time, but it will hurt.”

“I’m aware,” she said, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, “but I’ve already told you that I want this, . I want you.” That was all the reassurance that needed.

He flipped her onto the mattress and covered her body with his own. “Well, then, you’re wearing too many clothes,” he teased. He had spent the past few months wondering what Juno would look like naked. He already had a pretty good idea of what she’d look like since she had paraded around in her T-shirt and panties every morning. He wanted to tell her to put on some clothes, but then the masochist in him decided that wasn’t what he really wanted. Watching her like that made him half crazy with lust, but he couldn’t help himself. No matter how much he tried to fight it, wanted her, and nothing was stopping him now from taking what he wanted.

made quick work of stripping her bare and stood on the side of the bed to admire his handy work. “Beautiful,” he breathed, looking her over.

“Your turn,” she said, laying back on the bed, waiting for him to give her a show. She was going to have to be disappointed because if he got naked now, things would be over way too quickly.

“In due time,” he said, “I’m not finished with you yet.” She pouted up at him, making him chuckle as he kissed his way down her sexy body, giving her breasts some extra attention. The little moans and breathy sighs had him wanting to scratch all his plans, get naked, and sink into her body, but she deserved better than that.

settled between her legs and looked up her body to find her watching what he was about to do next. “Just relax, honey,” he ordered. She nodded and laid back, squeezing her eyes closed.

“You are going to need to tell me what to do, . I’m out of my element here.” Juno wasn’t out of her element at all. He saw her up on stage, and watching her dance was sexy as fuck. The last thing she needed was instructions from him.

“You’ll do perfect, honey,” he assured. He dipped his head to lick through her wet folds, making her nearly buck off the bed. “Hold still,” he ordered, wrapping his big hands around her body to grab her luscious ass, spreading her open more for what he hoped would be intense pleasure for her.

could tell that she was close when she started to ride his tongue, taking what she needed from him. Her natural instincts were kicking in and God, she was so fucking sexy as she chased her orgasm. And when she shouted out his name, losing herself as she rode his tongue, he nearly came in his damn pants.

“You’re fucking perfect,” he praised.

“That was fucking perfect,” she whispered, her voice hoarse from shouting his name. She looked like someone messed her up—her hair, her makeup, and damn if she didn’t look perfect. “Why are you looking at me that way?” Juno asked.

“Because you look sexy as hell right now,” he admitted.

“Now, you keep saying things like that to me, you might never get rid of me, .” He was sure that she was teasing him, but he wanted to tell her that it would be just fine with him. decided to keep that bit of information to himself as he stood to pull his clothes off.

Juno went up on her elbows to watch him, and when her eyes darted to his cock, he covered himself. “Shit, honey,” he grumbled, “if you keep looking at me that way, this will be over before it begins.”

“You’re big,” she whispered. “How will we fit?”

“We’ll fit,” he promised. “I’m sorry that this is going to hurt you.”

She shook her head, “I’m not,” she assured, “I know how this works, . Please, just make me yours.” He climbed back onto the bed and covered her body with his own.

“Ready?” he asked. She smiled and nodded up at him and he held his breath as he started to slide into her drenched opening. The little whimpers coming from her parted lips were nearly his undoing, but he knew that he had to do this next part. He pushed his way completely into her and she cried out. God, he felt like an ass.

“Are you okay?” asked.

“No,” she breathed, “yes. I will be, just give me a minute.” He held as still as he possibly could and when Juno wrapped her legs and arms around his body, he knew that she was good to go. “I’m okay now,” she said. That worked for him because he was sure that he wouldn’t last very long inside of her.

pulled out of her body and slammed back into her hot core, over and over, until she was shouting out his name again. That was all he needed to find his own release, losing himself deep inside of her body. He collapsed on top of her and her arms tightened around his shoulders.

“Was that okay?” Juno asked.

“It was more than fucking okay,” he admitted. It was perfect. Who would have thought that his brother's friend from grade school would grow up to be the perfect woman for ? Not him, that was for sure, but she had, and now, he had no plans to let her go. At least, not anytime soon.