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"Why? Because you have some ridiculous idea that because you're a man, because you're a Marine—that you shouldn't ever need help? That you should always be able to handle things?"
I didn't answer as the truth settled over me like a scarf woven from stones. I believed exactly what she’d said. That I was the man, that I was the Marine, that all of that together meant I should be able to solve any problem that came my way.
"It shouldn't matter where the money came from," she said. "Just that it came."
"Right." I felt the fight leave my body and resignation take its place.
"So you can't even look at me now?" Her tone was a mix of anger and distress, and my heart twisted in response. "Jace."
I wanted to reach for her, wanted to throw her on the bed and never let her go. But I couldn't make myself move. How could I expect her to ever look at me the same way again? "Whatever was between us," I managed to say. "It won't be the same now. It won't—"
Juliet didn't let me finish. She stepped into my chest, pressing her mouth to mine and kissing me almost violently. She pulled me into her body, wrapping her arms around me and claiming my mouth, finishing the kiss with a painful bite of my lower lip. She glared up at me and then sank to her knees, her hands going to my waist.
"No," I said, my mind racing, shame and desire flooding me, confusing me.
"Shut up." She had my fly open, her hands slipping inside my pants, finding me already hard.
"Jul—" Her name got lost as she took me into her mouth, and my hands went into her hair. I wrapped the long silk around my fist, realizing this was exactly what I'd pictured just moments before, the image turning to reality and nearly sending me off right then. I stared down at her, fisting her hair and pulling her head back and forth as she licked and sucked and moaned around me. "Fuck," I whispered.
Juliet didn't say anything, and if she minded the way I was moving her head, or pushing myself into the back of her throat, her protests sounded a lot like moans of satisfaction. One of her hands gripped my base as the other cradled my balls, and every thought in my mind had scattered, lost in the dark want that was filling me as I felt the tingling begin at the base of my spine. I was angry. I was desperate. I was hurt and ashamed. And all of it was being literally sucked from me by the hot wet mouth of the woman I knew without a doubt I was in love with.
Juliet Manchester, America's sweetheart, was on her knees for me as I fucked her mouth until her eyes watered.
Her hand left my cock and slid around to grip my ass, pulling me deeper still, and that did it.
Maybe shame was the prevailing emotion when she'd come in, maybe I'd felt like something less than a man before. But having her on her knees with my cock shoved halfway down her throat did a hell of a lot for my ego. And as I erupted inside her, grunting in an effort to keep from shouting, I thought there was a chance things could still be okay.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Juliet
Iwas angry at Jace. Even as I took him into my mouth, my own body igniting with want and need for him as he thrust over and over into my throat and I egged him on, I was still angry.
Money was the only thing I actually had—and it couldn't replace freedom or respect, but it was mine and I'd earned it, and I wouldn't apologize for that.
And I wasn't about to apologize for helping the family of the man I loved. But it felt like the money—the help—had wound its way between us like a poisonous serpent, tainting what had been perfect and sweet.
After I'd released Jace and wiped my mouth, gotten back to my feet, he'd pulled me into his arms gently, those big dark eyes still full of pain even though the lines on his face had relaxed.
"I'm sorry, Juliet," he said in a whisper. "This is hard for me. All of it. Watching you with him. Pretending I don't care. And then having you sweep in and rescue me like I'm some helpless princess ..." he trailed off, squeezing his eyes shut.
"Princess," I repeated, the irony of this huge man calling himself a princess striking me as funny. "Put your ego aside, Princess," I told him. "If you can. Because that's the only thing screwing this up right now."
"My ego, about a million dollars, a vindictive ex-husband, a pretty-boy movie star who's gonna lose a hand next time he puts one on your tit, and the fact you're my client. That's all that's screwing this up," he said, his tone bitter.
"Is that all?" I tried to keep my voice light as I realized how many things were actually stacked between us.
Half his mouth curled up into something close to a smile as his hands rested warm and firm on my back. "Yeah. And don't call me Princess again."
I laughed, pressing my cheek to his chest and trying to memorize the way it felt to be in his arms, the scent of him. As we stood there, I heard the front door open and close outside Jace's room, and then open again a few minutes later. I was about to figure out what to do next—dinner, more pretending—when I heard the door open yet again, and then heard Ryan and Tess talking as they moved past the east wing.
"I swear," Ryan's voice said. "I told you the truth. If Juliet's got someone in her room ..." I stepped back slightly and looked up at Jace, who was clearly listening too, his dark eyes serious, focused on the door.
"Ryan," Tess's voice came, sharp and angry. "You're the only guy here."
"We're sleeping in separate rooms."
"Doesn't sound like Gran is talking about sleeping," Tess said. Gran? What had Gran said? Had Gran heard me having sex? Mortification flooded me.
