So fucking right that even as Julian himself started to cum under his jeans, a part of him was already thinking...
He was wrong.
Because it didn't sound just right.
None of this was just right.
But instead...all of it was too right.
Fleur cumming in his arms felt too right—-
Just like helping her last night, having her body next to him in bed—-
All of it had felt too fucking right.
And that was why, dammit...
Fleur wasn't sure what made her realize something had changed. All she knew was that it had. Felt it the moment it happened. But instead of feeling anger or hurt—-
"Oh God, no."
Julian had just been about to make a show of checking the time and remembering a meeting when Fleur suddenly jumped out of his arms. It made him feel instantly empty, which of course made no fucking sense. He had been about to make an excuse to leave, and now he didn't have to. This was a good thing, so why the hell did it feel the opposite?
"Don't be mad, okay? I had to accept a last-minute client meeting tonight."
She was already walking backwards to her room as she spoke, and Fleur barely managed to hide her surprise when Julian stood up to follow her.
"You're going to work even when you're in pain?"
"Well..." Fleur blew him a little kiss before turning around to head to her dresser. "Thanks to you," she told him with a smile over her shoulder, "I'm not in pain at all."
Julian leaned against the door and watched with a frown as Fleur began sorting through her clothes. "You're not in pain now, but what about after? Later?"
"I'll figure it out."
Julian had to stifle the urge to tell Fleur she was better off staying at home with him. He had been thinking of leaving, and now he could do so without any complications. How many times did he have to fucking remind himself of that before it finally started sinking in?
Fleur saw Julian's gaze glitter as she discarded her torn top and wriggled out of her pajama bottoms. She should probably feel shy right now, but just like it always was with Julian, her inner slut had taken completely over once again, and she actually found herself cupping her bare breasts before doing a slow little twirl for his benefit.
"Do you like what you see?" Fleur teased.
"Fuck yes."
The way he groaned the words out thrilled her so much that she just had to run to him, and after holding on to his shoulders for balance, she raised herself on her toes and placed a quick kiss that was mostly on his cheek and just barely brushed the corner of his mouth.
"I promise you'll see a lot of it tomorrow," she whispered into his ear before quickly jumping back. Not wanting to give him a chance to answer (or disappoint herself if he chose not to stop her, which he likely wouldn't), she changed in a hurry and ignored the way his gaze narrowed at the poinsettia-printed dress she had chosen.
"Half of your boobs are showing in that."
"What's that saying again? The more, the merrier?" She blew him a kiss as she backed away towards the door. "Please don't forget to lock up! Bye, chérie."
His scowl was the last thing she saw before turning away and rushing out of the apartment like she really had an appointment to catch...when of course she didn't.
Fleur waited until she was safely seated behind Maarten before allowing herself a little smile. Operation Yuletide 2.0 might've had hit a snag earlier than expected, but now was one of those rare instances she was thankful for being old enough not to quickly take offense and give up.
Julian, after all, was very much like her three brothers. They had all been commitment-phobes in the beginning, and she had obsessively taken note of what their respective wives had done to capture their hearts.
With stubborn men like them, one just had to be very, very patient.
But in the meantime...
Maarten didn't bother hiding his surprise when Fleur told him where to take her. "Paradijs again? And aren't you supposed to be having your monthly flux?"
"You won't die if you just call it my period, you know."
"Not for me," the older man said with a shudder.
"You're such a baby."
"And you still haven't told me why we're going to Paradijs."
"I have a last-minute client meeting." Fleur decided to stick with the same lie, just to be safe.
Maarten looked at her again through the rearview mirror. "Aren't you supposed to be on leave as well?"
"I...I...oh, just drive, Maarten, and will you please stop interrogating me?"
Something was definitely up, Maarten decided, and shortly after dropping off Fleur by the members-only entrance in the basement, he received a call from Julian Alexeyev.
"I'd like to know where Fleur is," Julian said without preamble.
Chapter Nine
Fleur was a closet penny-pincher. Not in the sense that she was stingy to the point of being mean, but she simply enjoyed being stingy...with herself. One of the things she learned from Willem growing up was how not to squander money, and from there she eventually discovered the joys of saving her money just because.