I answered by whipping my legs around and giving his backside a firm shove, pushing him straight into me. We were both caught by surprise as he filled me completely. My legs tightened around him, eager to hold on to the incredible sensations flooding my whole body. Leo hovered over me, staring with an expression of awe and rapture.

“You feel so fucking good,” he whispered.

Rendered speechless, I grabbed his head and pulled him down, needing his mouth on mine so I could express everything I could through our kiss.

“I’m going to start moving now.” He pushed in a fraction further before retreating almost all the way out. “You feel so damn good, Jules.”

I loved it when he called me Jules.

When he pushed back in, my head arched back and I willed him to keep moving. As if reading my mind, his pace picked up with each thrust. My mind was swirling in ecstasy, reaching heights I never knew existed. I could stay connected to Leo forever and want for nothing the rest of my life. When I looked up, his piercing blue eyes bored into mine with an intensity I couldn’t quite handle. My head fell to the side and his thrusts halted.

“Look at me, Jules.”

Wanting him to continue his sensual assault on my body, I raised my head back to his gaze.

“Are you okay?”

My eyes glazed at the extreme beauty of this man inside me. I’d seen the results of his fighting prowess bloodied on the floor. I’d seen his whole demeanour change in an instant and had him cause me physical harm in his beautiful house. Yet there was another side to him—warm, gentle and caring beyond which I’d never known from a man. I loved both sides equally and I wanted all of him.

“Don’t stop.” I swallowed the lump in my throat and pushed my hips up. “Please.”

My plea ended any further hesitation. I soared higher and higher, reaching for the summit I was now absolutely sure was there. Higher and higher. Leo was right there with me; his eyes, wild with lust, never left mine.

“Come with me, baby.”

I leapt off the cliff and sailed through our own personal oblivion. I was home.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Leo

Nightmares haunted my sleep. I watched her fall asleep in my arms. We spoke no further about the fact she’d broken up with Richard, mostly because she was giving me nothing. I knew she had baggage, I just didn’t know how heavy it was. With my own set of demons, I didn’t know if I was strong enough to shoulder a bigger load. Would she even want me to? It felt like hours later that I fell into a restless sleep.

Through a hazy fog, I dragged my feet as if wading through honey along the hallway of my family home. I grazed my hands along the exposed brick walls and looked down to see them bleeding. Unable to stem the sticky red flow, I continued on at a painfully slow pace. Screaming was coming from the kitchen and I just couldn’t get there. My feet wouldn’t let me run, however hard I tried. Too slow. Too hard. I wanted to call out, but my voice was muted. I wanted to be frustrated, but I was too tired and confused to try any harder. My subconscious was terrified, willing me to wake from limbo.

Eventually, my body found a way to the end of the hallway, and I stood in the doorway of the kitchen. It wasn’t our kitchen though. It was a kitchen I’d seen somewhere, but I couldn’t work out when or if it was even real. It was all stainless steel and marble—ultra modern and expensive. My head moved slowly around the room, features blurring into unrecognisable shapes and colours. Then my sleep-trapped mind was bombarded by a recurring horror movie, warping slightly every time.

My lifeless body dominated my vision, completely covered in blood. I was standing there staring at my own dead body. I’d heard screaming but didn’t know where it had come from. I scanned the room again, and this time the rustic country kitchen I’d grown up with had returned. A streak of blonde caught my attention and my sluggish head moved towards it. Juliette. She was holding a knife, screaming? She was crazed. Her beautiful navy eyes were black as night and her long blonde hair clung to her head in a damp mess.

“No!” I screamed, waking me from this new version of Hell. I sat up, sweat dripping from my forehead. Placing my face in my hands, I closed my eyes again, resting on my bent knees, and took some deep, calming breaths. As my heart rate decreased, I had flashes of the night before. I sat bolt upright and looked around, quickly realising I wasn’t in my own room.

Oh shit.

Juliette had gone to sleep in my arms but now had her back to me and was as far as she could get without falling off the side of the bed. Her arms were wrapped around herself protectively, and I was swamped by an overwhelming guilt. I should’ve just dropped her off last night. I’d been driven by lust and built-up sexual frustration and had barely stopped to think where her head was. She’d just broken up with Dick, for fuck’s sake.

There was something special about this beautiful, enigmatic girl, and I felt an unprecedented connection to her. I wanted more than a one-night stand, but her subconscious body language spoke of regret.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Juliette

Phenomenal sex with Leo was bittersweet. Sweet wasn’t quite the right word to describe such a mind-blowing experience, but I did feel the bitterness creep in and take hold of me. I’d wasted so many years shielding myself from anything likely to upset my mother. A one-night stand with a bartending motorbike rider, not to mention illegal fighting champion, would definitely upset her. My phone calls with my father assured me that Mum was coping. She’d stopped calling me and selfishly, I was relieved.

Leo made me feel worshipped. For one night, I felt like the centre of someone’s world rather than a disappointment. As my consciousness faded, I fought against it, wanting to hold on to the blissful sensations of his hands stroking my hair, the occasional light kiss to the top of my head. I had fallen asleep cocooned in his arms, his muscular torso a surprisingly comfortable pillow, but I woke up the same way I did when I shared my bed with Richard—with as much distance as possible between us. Annoyed at myself, I rolled over, hoping to get a chance to unashamedly admire the hottest man I’d ever seen, but instead I found myself alone. His clothes were gone and my door was closed. He must have slipped out while I slept.

I thought waking up alone after a one-night stand would involve a slew of shame, but I was completely fine with it. I wasn’t going to regret it, hang my head in shame or try to force it to be something more than it was—an awesome one-night stand. I’d never known lust before Leo, and it was far more amazing than I could’ve imagined and then some.

Leo had demons. A big part of me wanted to know what they were and maybe help him fight them. Can you help fight someone else’s demons by bringing your own set into the ring? I had no idea. What I did know was that I had a whole lot of shit going down in my life that I needed to sort out.

I got up and pulled my robe around me. I needed coffee. It was then I realised I could smell coffee and hear some clanging coming from the kitchen. I hurried towards the smells and sounds and was confronted by an unprecedented sight I wanted to photograph and put in a frame.

Leo turned towards me, a loaf of bread hanging in one hand and a coffee mug in the other. He was wearing only his black trousers, giving me a full view of his defined abs. His expression was at first unreadable, but then I watched as his eyes moved down my body before regaining eye contact. The lust flashing in his eyes could bring me to my knees, and I was grateful to be leaning on the door frame.