Chapter 25

Sia moved into his touch as Julian untangled one of his hands from her hair and moved it gently down her spine. It gave him relief that Sia wasn’t just doing this to get Arthur off her mind; she was reacting to him. He would love nothing more than to erase him from Sia’s consciousness, to make sure that she would never remember him again.
This wasn’t how Julian had planned their first night together to be like. Yes, he’d wanted her to come to him of her own free will—and she had—but she had done so with shadows in her eyes and Julian’s guilty conscience weighing down heavily on his mind. He wanted their first time to be perfect, perfect for her. Julian wanted to give Sia the world and more. He wanted her to experience all the joys and pleasures that she had missed out on.
Tonight, he decided, was going to be all about her.
His palm met the smoothness of her waist, her skin warm and delicate under his calloused ones. He heard her gasp and took the opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth. He was careful so he would not on come too strong. He stilled for a moment, letting her decide and make the next move. Sia entwined her tongue with his, beginning a sensuous game for dominance. Julian let her think she was winning, before he tipped the game in his favor and took over the kiss, exploring every ridge and corner of her mouth.
The hand that he had on her waist moved upwards until he reached her ribs, just below her breasts. He ran his fingers just below the supple mounds letting her know his intentions before he cupped her breasts in his palms. She fit him perfectly.
Sia gasped, craning her neck, and Julian took the opportunity to attend to her neck, battering it with soft, sensual kisses. He sucked her neck just above her collarbone, and she threw her head back, moaning. He liked that sound very much; it shot a ripple of pleasure through his body. Sia wasn’t like anyone he’d ever been with, and he realized, with a start, no one else mattered as much as Sia did to him.
From the days of being near and far from her, he had never thought she’d be this small against him, but she fit him perfectly. Her ivory skin was so soft that he could get addicted to it. In fact, he would not mind one bit of it. He had known that once he had her, it would never be enough. What he felt for her was too overwhelming to be true and yet, as his lips moved over her skin and his fingers traced her body, it was very, very real.
Feeling desire burn hot and hard in his blood, he drew back, much to Sia’s protest. With his hands under her knees, he picked her up in his arms and carried her to his bed. It was his first time with Sia, and he didn’t want it to be on the floor like they were animals. He laid her gently down on the mattress and stood back to take off his shirt before he joined her in bed, covering her body with his. If he could give her nothing else, he’d give her tenderness and love. He’ll show her how a man truly made love to a woman.

* * *

Sia felt herself tremble from within. There was an ache inside of her that she knew only Julian could soothe, and she didn’t like the fact that Julian was treating her like a glass doll. But a thought crossed her mind that maybe she was comparing Julian’s tenderness to Arthur’s rough violence. Maybe this was how men and women really made love. Sia felt a burst of excitement at the fact that she was finally going to find out how men and women really made love. She couldn’t help but feel impatient to learn as well.
And then Julian was lying her on the bed and taking his shirt off, and any other thought vanished from Sia’s mind. She couldn’t help but admire the raw masculinity of Julian with wide-eyed innocence. He was a big man, all sinew and muscles, while she wasn’t perfect like the models she’d worked with.
She noticed his chest had scars all over them. Some tiny specks of white and brown lines while some stood out with their considerable size. From small nicks to the skin to wicked-looking knife wounds. They only added to his dangerous aura. Julian had stiffened over her, holding himself in place with his hands on either side of her head. He was probably thinking she was scared. But Sia wasn’t, far from it. She could never be scared of Julian.
With shaking hands, she touched one of his scars. It was old and a faint white line was all that remained of it. Sia lifted her face to plant a soft kiss to the scarred skin and felt Julian relax under her palms and a shudder go through his body. When she looked up at his face, she saw that his eyes were closed, his lips parted on a sigh.
She ran her hands down his toned body and back up to his chest. The scars felt rough under her palm, sending tingles down her spine and causing heat to pool in between her legs. These scars wear a part of Julian, a part of the man she loved . . . who belonged to her.
The sudden possessiveness should have scared her. She had never believed anyone ever belonged to her, but then she realized that shehad belonged to him—body, mind, and soul. She decided she loved the idea of belonging to him. Daring to do something that she had never tried in her life, Sia raised her head towards Julian’s chest and flicked her tongue over one of his taunt nipples.
A groan left Julian’s mouth and before Sia had any chance of repeating her previous action, Julian pinned her to the bed and kissed her again. This time, his kiss was all raw heat and hunger. He had been very patient with Sia for as long as he could, but he wasn’t a saint, and his patience and control were a hair’sbreadth away from snapping completely. Taking the hem of her shirt in both his hands, he all but tore it in half and flung it over the side of the bed. When his eyes met hers, she saw the hunger, the iron-clad control . . . and the tenderness. If she wanted him to stop right now, she knew he would do it for her, but she didn’t want to. For the first time in her life, Sia didn’t cower away from a man’s hungry eyes. She welcomed it.

* * *

Her breathing came in short pants, and she pushed her perfectly rounded breasts forward, begging for his attention. She was perfect for him with her soft creamy flesh and her delicate beauty. The only thing that stood out amongst the inches of soft, tender flesh where the gashes that Arthur had inflicted on her.
No! He fought with his conscience and his anger. This was about Sia, about them. He wouldn’t let Arthur poison what they had between them. What they had was beautiful and pure, and tonight, he’d focus completely on Sia and make her feel everything that she had never felt from a real man before.
Flicking his tongue across one budded nipple, he watched with divine pleasure as she moaned his name and arched her back off the mattress, molding their bare bodies together. The pleasure of feeling her soft, naked skin over his was exquisite, and he wanted to please her more. So, he continued his assault of her breasts with his sinful mouth—kissing, biting, and sucking both mounds—while one of his hands drifted downwards ‘till they found the waistband of her boxers.
He felt her suck in a breath, and he waited, afraid that it might have scared her. Then she bucked her hips, signalling for him to continue which he gladly did. His fingers slid inside her boxers and found the silken curls just above her womanhood. Julian kept his mouth on her breasts and let one of his fingers glide smoothly over her sensitive lips. Sia thrashed around under him, trying to find something to give her a release. Julian knew she was close to an orgasm, but not close enough. She seemed extremely sensitive to him, he thought, and he found that extremely pleasing.
He lightly bit on her right nipple while his hand tugged at some of those delicious curls. The satisfaction of hearing her moan his name was something else. So, he slipped his hands further down and parted the folds of her most intimate lips. He was surprised to find that she was already wet.
He moved his face downwards, kissing his way down her body. He stopped just inches above her boxers and looked into her face to ask for her permission. Sia’s eyes were closed in pleasure, her expression that of a woman in the throes of passion. A thin film of sweat clung to her body, adding an attractive sheen to her already beautiful skin. His control was on the verge of snapping, but he reined it in with teeth-gritting strength.

* * *

Sia opened her eyes and looked at Julian, her green eyes shining with pleasure and trust. He asked her with his eyes if he should continue. Sia knew that if she said no, he’d end it then and there, no matter how hard it was for him. But Sia nodded her head and, with a sigh of relief, Julian removed her boxers, threw them over his shoulders and feasted his eyes on her. She was absolutely beautiful, absolutely perfect. Julian bent his head and kissed her chest, right on top of her heart, before kissing his way down once again until he found her folds and plunged his tongue into the heavenly sweetness that was her.
Sia bucked her hips off the mattress from the pleasure of Julian’s tongue dancing in her core. The sensations she was having was nothing she had ever experienced before. Arthur was always in it for his own pleasure, never letting her feel, never waiting for her to get adjusted. But Julian . . . Julian felt like an addiction. He was giving her pleasure in ways she never knew was possible. She could feel his tongue inside her, teasing her, tasting her, marking her. And she didn’t mind that at all.
A sudden feeling started building in the pit of her stomach. She’d felt it before but never had it felt thisgood. She thrashed in bed, wanting more of it but also wanting it to end. Her emotions were jumbled up. She didn’t know what she wanted anymore, but Julian did. Julian’s tongue moved faster. His hands found her nipples, while hers clutched the comforters desperately. The feeling built . . . built . . . and then . . .
“Julian!” she cried as she shattered into a thousand pieces.
For a while, her mind went blank, as tremors ran through her body. She had died and just gone to heaven. There was no other explanation for it. Julian had shown her all the pleasures she could possibly imagine without even penetrating her. How had she lived without it for so long? Her lids felt heavy as she forced them open to stare at Julian, her lands and legs limp by her side. She saw Julian raise his head from between her legs and flick his tongue over his lips in a very slow, seductive manner. It made heat pool in the apex of her thighs yet again.
Julian got up from the bed, and Sia went to call him back, but the protest died in her throat as Julian stripped down completely and stood in front of Sia in all his glory. He was built magnificently, and Sia wanted to lick every delicious nook and cranny of his body just like he had done with her. Next time, Sia promised herself. Next time, she’d savor him just as he had done her, but right now, she wanted him—desperately. She opened her arms to him, and Julian came willingly. This time, his kiss was tender and sweet and as he entwined her tongue with his, she tasted herself.
“Mine,” Julian whispered as he came back up for air, bracing his muscular arms on either side of her head.
“Yours.” She had been his from the time they had shared their first kiss, but she had been afraid then, afraid of another abusive relationship, afraid of how strongly she had felt for Julian. But she wasn’t afraid anymore. She was in love, and nothing else mattered anymore.
He kissed her with so much passion that she could die right now and not have a single regret in her life. Then she felt his manhood at her entrance. Sia braced herself for the impact, but the sensation of Julian buried inside her to the hilt was nothing she could ever prepare herself for. She found herself wanting more, and she wanted it now!
They both moaned in unison, their bodies joining on the most primal level, their heartbeats synchronized as one. Julian was aware of how tight she was, and he tried to remember to be gentle with her. But his control had snapped as soon as he had been engulfed in Sia’s velvety warmth, and he couldn’t remember anything else by then.
Her core was a tight fist, squeezing him in the most delicious of ways. He thrust into her, slowly at first, letting her adjust to his size. But when Sia matched him in every way, begging him for more, he forgot gentleness and simply drowned himself in her. She was slick and hot, and she welcomed him with open arms. He felt like he had been parched, wandering in the desert for days on end, and finally his oasis: Sia.
He could stay like this with her forever . . . and he planned to.
This time when they came, they came together, screaming each other’s name until pleasure was all they knew. Then, as the night turned to dawn and the first rays of light hit the horizon, Julian pulled Sia to his chest and drifted into a peaceful slumber, surrounded by her scent, contented to have her in his arms.