He’d surprise her with a month’s free rent later. Hell, maybe a year, or forever. She’d saved the lives of his remaining family. She deserved so much more than that. Offering monetary compensation to her right then, though, with the earnest look in her eyes and the light trembles that still ran through her after such a close call, wasn’t the right thing to do. He cupped her cheek and let his thumb brush her jaw. “Thank you. There’s no one I trust to take care of them but you.”
She beamed, and if there had ever been a perfect moment between them, a moment just right for a first kiss, this was it. Wilhelm put his fingers under her chin, dipped his head, and pressed his lips against hers.
Chapter Ten
When Wilhelm arrived at the mansion, all the tension that had built in Juliette from the moment she suspected something was wrong that morning started to fade. It was as if just seeing his face made everything better. She was still upset at what had happened, and terrified at what had almost happened, but the moment Wilhelm got out of the car and began walking toward her, she felt strangely at peace. And when he’d wrapped his arms around her, despite the horrible events of the morning, she felt content. Safe.
Juliette felt the way she did when she walked into Bonbon each morning, or when she went home at night and sank into a bubble-bath scented with lavender. She felt at home in Wilhelm’s arms, like she was meant to be there. Like she belonged.
Is this what falling in love feels like?
And now she was going to take care of his niece and nephew for a couple of days while he was out of town. Holding the babies gave her that same feeling of contentment and happiness. Their weight in her arms simply felt right in a way nothing else did.
When Wilhelm put his fingers under her chin and kissed her, Juliette didn’t question it. She didn’t tell herself that she’d been avoiding this very thing for months so she wouldn’t have to be hurt again. She hadn’t wanted to face falling in love with another man who wanted babies she couldn’t give him and have him look at her with disappointment. It had hurt too much, and she knew she couldn’t do it again.
But Wilhelm knew she couldn’t have a child. He knew and he was holding her close and kissing her, and she’d never wanted anyone as much as she wanted him in that moment.
Juliette sighed into the kiss and parted her lips in invitation, eager for more of him. He didn’t disappoint. It was as if he’d been waiting for just that reaction, because his tongue pressed against hers and the kiss deepened. His hand slid from her lower back to her hip, pulling her tighter against him, and a low growl rumbled from his chest to hers.
When Wilhelm raised his head to look down at her, his eyes sparkled with gold. “I want you so much, Juliette.”
Juliette licked her lips, aware her own eyes had changed with the passion of that kiss. Blood pounded through her, and heat between her legs reminded her how long it had been since she’d been touched. And how long it had been since she’d wanted to be touched.
She ached for Wilhelm in a way that would have distressed her before. Now she simply wanted him to make her feel like a woman. Her tiger wanted this tiger standing in front of her. She needed him, and she needed him now.
Juliette slid a hand up his neck. “Then take me,” she said, her voice half-plea, half-growl.
Wilhelm gasped, then crushed his mouth against hers. She welcomed it, her arms circling his neck as he grabbed her hips and lifted her. Juliette wrapped her legs around his waist and rocked her hips forward, grinding against the already-hard bulge in his pants. His hands squeezed her ass, holding her there as he walked until her back was pressed against the wall and he had leverage to rub himself against her, moaning softly into their kiss.
It wasn’t as if she’d never imagined Wilhelm kissing her and touching her. She was a healthy female tigress after all, and Wilhelm was easily the sexiest man she’d ever met. But the times she’d allowed herself to indulge in a quick fantasy had paled in comparison to the reality of tasting his mouth and the hard press of his cock between her spread legs. His whole body seemed to line up with hers perfectly, and his every movement seemed to hit all the spots that sent her pulse racing and her pussy throbbing for him to fill it.
She regretted not wearing a skirt, because she’d have loved to unzip his pants and feel
him slide into her right where they stood. Wilhelm may have had the same idea, because he moved enough to unzip her slacks and slide his hand down until his fingers found their prize. Juliette had a brief moment of embarrassment at how wet she must be, soaking her panties no doubt, but pushed it aside. That was what was supposed to happen, after all.
Wilhelm groaned as his fingers moved inside the fabric. His touch was firm, but not rough—just right. He cupped her mound in his palm and pressed against her clit while two fingers slipped inside her.
“Jesus, Juliette,” he gasped as her pussy instinctively gripped around them. “So hot and tight,” he growled.
She tilted her head back as he mouthed her neck, sucking and licking a fiery trail down to her collarbone. And then Wilhelm moved his hand, his fingers pressing deeper and his palm stimulating her clit with every movement. He traced across her throat to her other shoulder as he palmed her in a way that she thought might make her lose her mind—so good that it drove her higher, but not enough to make her come.
He let her slide down the wall until her feet could touch, so she lowered her legs thinking he would take her right on the floor or lead her to a bedroom. Instead, a tug sent the buttons of her blouse popping off and flying in every direction. He pulled the cup of her bra down and thumbed her peaked nipple, making her gasp. Then Juliette cried out as he dipped his head and sucked the nipple into his mouth as his hand shifted, leaving her empty, to flick her clit with his fingertips.
His growl triggered her orgasm as his fingers and his mouth on her tit drew a shout from her that caught her off guard. She cried out again, and he plunged his fingers into her, rubbing her clit with his palm and sending another shockwave of pleasure spreading out from her core.
Her fingernails dug into his shoulder as her pussy clenched again, weakening her knees. She might have fallen if his body and hands hadn’t been holding her up. Wilhelm’s mouth left her nipple and captured her lips in a needy kiss.
Juliette needed more. She needed to feel his hard cock pushing inside her, to see him lose control and come as hard as she just had. So she admitted something to him that she’d hadn’t dared hint at before.
When he lifted his face to breathe and gaze down at her, Juliette swallowed hard. “Fuck me, Wilhelm. Please … I’ve wanted you for so long.”
It was a truth she wouldn’t deny anymore. When he cupped her cheeks and stared into her eyes as if he could barely believe it, she said. “I want you so much. I need you.”
Chapter Eleven
His tiger wanted to preen, to howl, to revel in the fact that this gorgeous, sexy tigress wanted him. Wilhelm had always known how she affected him, but Juliette was always so cool with him that he’d sometimes wondered if he didn’t imagine the look in her eyes when she thought he wasn’t watching. He thought she was attracted to him, and he had a feeling that if they ever did get together, it would be magical.
Now she’d admitted that she wanted him too. Needed him. And she’d just come so beautifully against his hand.