“Okay,” I whisper, knowing I’m giving off more information than I’d like by being so compliant.

I pick myself up and the lights turn on again. I walk over to Julian and he faces the wall so his back is to me. I get on the sofa next to him and pull some of his coat over me. I know he’s doing his best not to touch me, but I can still feel his hard, tense body against my back and it’s giving me all sorts of naughty thoughts I really don’t want to be thinking about right now.

The lights go out again, enveloping us in darkness. Weirdly, it helps me relax a little more, and I get sleepy. Soon enough, my eyelids grow heavier and heavier and I slowly drift off to sleep despite the weird situation we’re in.

I wake up in the darkness, freezing. My teeth are chattering and even though I’m half-covered with Julian’s coat, I’m shivering from the cold. I wrap my arms around myself to fight off the feeling, but it’s no help.

Groaning, Julian moves next to me. I instantly tense up as he turns to his other side. I can feel his body pressing up against mine, but judging by his heavy breathing, I’m guessing he’s still fast asleep. Before I can react, his arms snake around me and he pulls me in against him so firmly I can’t fight him on it.

I’m tense as hell as he holds me painfully close. Does he realize who I am? Does he know he’s doing this? A thousand questions race through my mind, but then Julian nuzzles my neck and my heartbeat speeds up so much I wonder how the sound hasn’t woken him up yet.

I can now feel Julian’s growing cock pressing up urgently against my ass. I swallow thickly, doing my best to ignore the way my thighs have stuck together under the skimpy dress I’m still wearing. I’m getting fucking wet. I want this, want him touching me, as hard as I’ve tried to deny it since I first saw him again at this fucked-up school.

Unsure of how to react, I remain perfectly still and tense. But Julian seems perfectly relaxed, and in the darkness, I still can’t tell whether he’s awake. He’s still breathing heavily, so I tell myself not to put too much weight on this hug – he’s probably fast asleep and mistaking me for someone else, which is why his arms are wrapped around me right now. I’m sure he’d never hug me willingly. Not after everything that’s happened between us.

Relaxing against this embrace, I tell myself neither of us will remember this tomorrow, even though I know it’s a lie. I’ll remember it forever, because it’s the first moment of closeness we’ve had since our shitty breakup.

Guilt floods me, and I force my mind off the subject. I can’t keep blaming myself for what happened years ago. After all, Julian made some mistakes too, and he’s made it plenty clear he wants nothing to do with me anymore. So why would I worry about making it up to him? He clearly doesn’t want to so much as spend a minute in my company… Though his arms wrapped around me tell a different story.

It’s still cold as hell in the room, so I’m grateful for the heat his body provides. Settling against him, I finally allow myself to relax until my body feels pleasantly tired. I need some rest desperately. I hope the handyman shows up early tomorrow because I don’t want to be late for my classes.

As much as I hate it at this school, I’m also immensely grateful for being granted this scholarship. Without it, I have no hope or prospects, and both me and my parents are well aware of that.

They told me before I came here this was my last chance to find a husband. Given my father’s fall from grace and the subsequent shame on our family, I’ll be lucky if anyone wants to marry me, and they’ll have to be from a lower class – something I used to scoff at.

More guilt floods me until I have to swallow down a cry. Maybe I deserve this for what I did to Julian when we first met. I instantly snubbed him and wrote him off when I found out he was a servant, and he didn’t deserve that. But the tables sure have turned, and now we’re in opposite positions. I’m at his mercy.

“Francesca.”

I stiffen as the word rips itself from his lips.

He just said my name.

“Yes?” I whisper.

“Your fucking leg is twitching.”

His reply has me shivering in his embrace. He is awake. He knows what he’s doing, knows he’s holding onto me, hugging me. Even though I don’t want to admit how much this excites me, I smile at the thought in the dark room.

Tags: Isabella Starling Mafia Heirs Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net