Juliette grinned into the warm flesh of his shoulder. “I think this is my favorite position.”
His shoulders jerked in a silent chuckle. “Don’t say that until we’ve tried them all.”
A warm thrill raced through her at the thought of trying all manner of positions with him.
“Definitely top five then,” she amended, drawing back to peer into his face. “Was it good for you?”
One dark eyebrow lifted in dry amusement. “Are you asking if it was top five for me?”
“Do you have a top five?”
“In general or with us?”
She had to think about that a moment. It was an interesting question and she had to really debate whether or not she wanted to know his favorite position with other women.
“In general,” she decided, curious to know what he liked.
His answer was the feather light rake of his fingers down her back from shoulder to ass where they curled, lifted her hips and pulled her more firmly down over the hard length of him still buried inside her.
“I would rather show you.”
Juliette’s eyes widened. “Is that … are you…?”
“Aye, it is.” The corner of his mouth lifted. “Doesn’t seem to want to go down when you’re around.”
A molten, hot shiver sliced through her. It poured over the embers left behind from only moments ago, igniting the flames to new heights. Her walls rippled around him, bathing him in a fresh wave of arousal. Her breathing quickened.
“I … I guess we should do something about that,” she decided.
Something dark flickered across his features that had her insides quivering.
“Oh, I insist.”
It was well after two in the morning when Juliette slipped out from beneath Killian’s slumbering embrace and crept across the room. Her limbs were still jittering from the earth shattering climax she’d experienced only minutes earlier, but she moved quickly gathering her things and getting dressed. Killian had passed out the moment he’d rolled off her. He’d hooked an arm around her middle just long enough to tuck her into the curve of his body, but it had taken no time at all before his slow, even breaths were burning into the back of her neck. She’d waited just long enough to be sure he wouldn’t wake up before untangling herself and sneaking out of the room.
It was in the contract, she told the guilt ridden voice when it whined about just leaving without a note. It had stated very clearly she wasn’t to spend the night. But it was more than that. She had to wake up early for her new position and she still needed to toss her new clothes into the washer. Plus … God help her, but spending the night with him scared the shit out of her. It was an intimacy she wasn’t sure she’d be able to walk away from in twelve months. It was just easier for all if she followed the rules.
At the bottom of the stairs, standing on either side of the front doors, Tyson and John straightened to attention. They squared their shoulders and watched her solemnly as she approached.
“Ma’am,” Tyson said, inclining his head.
Painfully aware of how bedraggled and rumpled she looked, Juliette fidgeted anxiously. “Shouldn’t you two be sleeping?”
“No ma’am,” John said curtly.
“We have been assigned to stay with you,” Tyson added, taking the bags from her.
Juliette’s eyes widened. “Stay with me? Like … everywhere?”
“Yes ma’am,” they said on unison.
She started to protest, but stopped herself. It was what she’d agreed to, after all. It was in the contract, Killian doing all that was in his power to protect her.
“Fine,” she muttered, trudging past them towards the door John quickly yanked open.
They took the same SUV as earlier. It hadn’t been put away, she noticed. But sat gleaming under the night sky and the lights that never seemed to turn off around the property. Next to it, the fountain of Killian’s mom sat bubbling quietly, filling the stillness with a sort of calm. Juliette paused to stare up into the other woman’s ivory face and thought of what Killian had told her about how his mother had died. It must have killed Killian and his father to see the statue every day, standing like a reminder of how they’d lost someone so important. But maybe it also helped ease the pain. There was a picture of her own mother, before the cancer had taken her health and youth and ultimately her life, on the mantel in the living room that Juliette used to stare at all the time after her mom had passed. Maybe it was the same thing.
“Ma’am?” John was holding the car door open for her.
With a last glance at the fountain, Juliette ducked into the backseat of the SUV and let herself be propelled home.
“Are you stupid?” Blue eyes blazing with contempt, Celina snatched the pen from Juliette’s hand. “The year goes first. Then the month. Then the day.”
It was a task not to snatch the pen back and jab it right in the other woman’s eye. It would have certainly made Juliette feel better after being bullied, threatened, belittled, and yelled at for most of the morning and afternoon.
From the moment Juliette had walked into the hotel lobby, Celina had been on her case over just about everything from Juliette’s selection of clothing to the fact that Juliette had even gotten the job, which was Celina’s favorite topic to shout about when no one was around to hear it.
“Does it really matter which goes first?” Juliette demanded. “The form doesn’t even specify.”
“It does matter!” Celina shot back, looking practically unhinged at the very idea. “I have worked here for five years and that is how I’ve always done it and that is how it should be done.” Sucking in a breath that heaved her ample bosoms dangerously close to the neckline of her low cut blouse, Celina tried again. “Year, month, day. In that order.”
Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Juliette turned back to the practice form Celina had her filling out.
It was simple enough. Most of it was done on the computer anyway and all she had to do was put in the guest’s information and hand them over a key. But Celina made it sound like she was singlehandedly responsible for the saving the world.
“Tell me again how you got my job,” Celina hounded, not for the first time. “I’m the one in charge of new hosts and I didn’t hire you.”
“Harold did,” Juliette said yet again without glancing up from the form. “He called me in yesterday and told me it was mine.”
“See, I don’t believe you.” Celina folded her arms. “The whole thing smells fishy. Harold would tell me if there would be a change like this and he would not put me on nights!”
Juliette shrugged. “You’ll have to ask him.”
“Oh, I will.”
Juliette didn’t doubt it. But what scared her was Celina twisting Harold’s arm into firing Juliette. Sleeping with the manager came with perks like that. All Celina would have to do was bat those pretty blue eyes and suck Harold’s cock and no doubt get him to do whatever she wanted. But what did that mean for Juliette? Would he fire her? Would he make her go back to being a maid? Unlikely. Celina would probably get her kicked out of the hotel for good. The very idea had her insides writhing and her skin going clammy. But she kept a cool composure, refusing to let the other woman get to her.
“Guests,” Celina muttered.
Juliette raised her head and watched as an elderly couple made their way to the counter. Both were smiling kindly and immediately put Juliette at ease. She straightened and returned the smile while positioning herself in front of the computer.