Chapter 20: Trustworthy Brother...?

My trembling body died into exhaustion as my pants became slower. I was too tired to even think straight until I heard a certain word that snapped back into my old self.

“I told you… not to… call me Beautiful…” I speak in a quiet voice between my pants. My eyes closed as he began to pet my head again. I could tell he was smiling just by the tone of his voice.

“Sorry, Sukia. You really worried me. I’ve never heard you scream like that before, must’ve been one hell of a nightmare.” Julian murmured with his chin resting on top of my head.

“Yeah…” I mumbled my response as my nose subconsciously wrinkled from the stinging pain within my skull. My nightmares always took a toll on my mental state. Even so, I’m still too stubborn to see a therapist.

As I fully calmed down and my head felt like it was literally melting as I relaxed, I could hear Julian’s heartbeat from where I was pressed up against his chest. His warmth was comforting and his embrace made me feel safe. His scent was an intoxicating fragrance that I could never get tired of and it ignited an old yearning feeling for him that led to the night I slept with him. Despite my regrets, the heated memories make my cheeks burn and I quickly lean off of him while hiding my face behind my curly, damp bangs. “Thanks. I think I’m ok now… You can leave.” As I attempted to sit up, like in my nightmare, I was restricted by his muscular arms and forcefully planted against his body. I then glanced up at him warily. “Julian…?”

Before anything else could be said between us, I jolted in surprise while still in his grasp as my bedroom door suddenly slammed open and my mother came barging in.

“SUKIA! Are you alright?! What happened??” She started shouting frantically and she ran to my side. Like me, she has a habit of raising her voice when she’s worked up. Hell, where do you think I picked up the habit from?

My mom looked a little taken aback by the way I was sitting in Julian’s lap, tied up in his arms with my face still blushing.

Fuck.

Thankfully Julian had enough common sense to release me as soon as his father ran into my bedroom. “Sukia?? Is everything alright, darling? What happened?” Though he sounded worried, he didn’t sound like he was about to have a panic attack like my mother did.

“I’m fine! I’m fine! For fuck’s sake, just chill! I’m alright.” I snapped with irritation. The fact that the three of them just marched into my room without permission greatly annoyed me. I peeked at my mother and then quickly looked away as she stared at me expectedly. My hair and sheets were still damp, it was obvious I was profusely sweating in my sleep and I only did that when having a nightmare. I silently cursed myself. She knew exactly what happened and I knew I was going to hear about it later.

I was about to wiggle out of Julian’s grasp until I realized he had the comforter wrapped around my body. That’s when I remembered I had taken off all of my clothes except for my bra and underwear before going to sleep last night. If my body is exposed in front of our parents, that would definitely lift some brows and cook my cheeks again. Not to mention how awkward it would be in front of my new stepfather.

“It’s my fault.” Julian suddenly spoke up with unpredictable words and I looked up at him with surprise as he continued. “I was going to ask her what she wanted for breakfast and I startled her. I forgot how tired she must be from adjusting to life here and I just took her by surprise. I’m sorry for the shock it caused.” Julian had an apologetic look in his captivating blue eyes that would make any girl’s heart melt. And he made sure to adjust his grip into a lighter touch around my shoulders instead of clutching my hips. It was impressive how easily he made the situation look like a big brother was just taking care of his scared sister.

Fucking hell…

I hated this. I hated everything about it. Relying on other people to help me is one of the things that pisses me off most, it makes me feel incompetent. But without Julian’s help, the situation could’ve been worse. I peeked at my mom again to see her reaction to Julian’s words and her expression had turned from concern to questioning. She knew me better than anyone else and, because of that, she couldn’t tell whether or not Julian was lying. I will give him one praise, he’s quite a good liar. Almost as good as me I’d say.

Gabriel fell for every word as a smile brightened his face and warmth filled his eyes that matched his son’s. He looked very pleased seeing his son taking care of his new, confused sister. And fuck, it just pissed me off further how he could underestimate me this much. But, again, less work for me trying to hide the ugly truth.

“Thank you for being so considerate, son. But please, respect a woman’s privacy!” He said with a relieved sigh. It was obvious that he expected something worse too.

Julian gave a nod of his head with that classic, charming grin of his. “Oh, I definitely learned my lesson.”

Gabriel snorted a hearty laugh as if he found it hilarious that his son just learned a lesson that he had learned a long time ago. Or maybe multiple times. Don’t know, don’t care. I just want everyone the fuck outta my room.

“Come along, Bell, let’s give Sukia some privacy.” It’s as if Gabriel read my mind as he finally walked out of my room.

I didn’t know how to feel about giving my mother a nickname already. It made my chest hurt again. Dad used to shorten Isabella by saying ‘Bella.’ My painful thoughts are broken by my mother’s concerned voice. “I’ll make breakfast for the both of you.” She said then looked at me directly. “I’d like to speak to you later.”

Fuck me.

I kept my inner curse to myself as Mom left the room. Finally, Julian released me and the comforter immediately fell onto my lap, revealing my bosom and abdomen. Julian looked a little surprised when staring at my body. “Huh… you got some abs yourself. A four-pack?”

I give him a rough shove to push him away from me. “Fuck off, dude! I thought I made it pretty clear that I don’t want this kind of interaction between us!” Julian stared at me silently as I continued to blush. I looked away briefly while grumbling under my breath so low that my words were barely audible. “...Thanks… for helpin’ me out there.”

Julian finally smiled when he received some gratitude from me and got out of my bed. “I see that you still have great taste.” He says while peeking at my DD bra size.

My blush deepens but I wasn’t exactly the type of woman that covers up my tits so instead I just give him an angry bark. “JULIAN.” He gave an amused chuckle before walking out while softly closing the door. I finally released a deep sigh as if I was holding my breath the entire time. I couldn’t resist hugging myself as I tried to gain control over my body. The way he touched me ignited those feelings from our first night together. The way he touched me, the way he tasted, how he handled my body so easily as if I was as light as a ragdoll. I can feel my body craving him again and I knew damn well that the man would get on his knees and lick my feet if I told him to.

Not gonna lie, that’s kinda hot… wait, no, nothing about this is hot! I just haven’t had proper sex in a while. Yeah, maybe I’ll get my booty calls. Women are always fun.

As I comfort myself by thinking I’ll get in touch with some girls I used to mess with, I put on some jeans and a baggy, white, sleeveless shirt. It looked rather dirty and the top part where my chest is was all cut up. It was a shirt I had stolen from someone, somewhere, I can’t remember, I just took it and now it’s mine.

As I walked out of my bedroom and down the staircase to the kitchen, I texted Mason on my phone since he was the one who was in touch with the most women out of the four of us.

Scarlett? Perfect. I’ve always had a good time with her. Anything to keep my mind off of Julian’s body.