Page 71 of Backhanded Compliments

Juliette’s whole body jolts. “Do you really?”

Luca looks away. Juliette slides out of the chair, her legs wobbling, but she steadies herself. She joins Luca on the other side of the counter. Starlike silver light weaves across Luca’s face, highlighting her high cheekbones. Juliette can’t read the emotion in her face, but Luca leans closer, as if they’re being pulled together.

“Yes,” Luca whispers, her voice rough. She clears her throat. Juliette twists their fingers together, her heart pounding. Juliette tilts her head toward Luca, and they’re so close that Luca’s breath skates across her face. Herbal, like she’s been drinking tea.

Juliette raises her free hand and skims her knuckles over Luca’s flushed pink cheek. “Tell me what you want.”

“Everything,” Luca breathes, squeezing Juliette’s hand so hard it stings.

Juliette’s stomach swoops, punching into her throat. It is so hard not to kiss her. It is like soaring and somehow, Juliette isn’t afraid.

“Be specific,” Juliette insists. Luca’s head dips, trying to kiss her, but Juliette turns her head away and chuckles. “Tell me, Luca.”

From this angle, she can see Luca’s eyes, dark and sultry, burning with a smoldering heat that Juliette can’t look away from. “I want everything from you. Kiss me. Touch me. Fuck me. Make me come, or don’t. Let me lick every inch of you. Let me worship you.” Luca’s eyes never leave Juliette’s.

Juliette never expected Luca Kacic to know how to dirty talk. She is stunned into silence, but the air between them crackles with the electric heat of untamed arousal and want. Then, Juliette lunges.

They crash together, desperate, hungry. Their hands unclasp as they scramble to touch every inch of each other’s skin they can. Luca’s hands thread through Juliette’s hair, tugging her close. Juliette grips Luca’s narrow hips, and they snap together like puzzle pieces. Their mouths clash together in a wet heat, fighting not for dominance, but because the pain hurts so beautifully.

Juliette crowds Luca against the counter and slides her hands down to Luca’s thighs, fingers digging into soft cotton. Luca hoists one leg around Juliette, hooking it around her waist. The hot cut of her body burns every other thought out of Juliette’s head.

Luca claws at whatever patch of Juliette’s skin she can find with one hand while the other roots into her curls, holding Juliette’s head close and where she wants it. Heat pools and centers in Juliette’s stomach as Luca whimpers in the back of her throat. Juliette breaks off their kiss and tilts her head to nip at Luca’s jawline. Her lips are raw and tingling as she methodically sucks kisses onto Luca’s pale skin.

She snakes a curving lick up to her earlobe. The scent of her hair, her skin, the perfume at the hollow of her throat, it all drives Juliette up a wall. “Is this what you meant byhave fun?” She asks.

Luca breathes hard, nearly hyperventilating. “Even better.”

Juliette smiles against her skin, and Luca shudders. “Good.”

Luca tugs on her hair and they kiss again, noses dragging against each other. Luca’s tongue sweeps across the seam of her mouth. Juliette slips her hand beneath Luca’s shirt, her skin hot and tacky with sweat. Her fingers trace the dip of her waist, brush along the ridges of her ribs as she realizes Luca isn’t wearing a bra. “Eager, aren’t we?” she asks as she pulls back.

“Efficient, I’d say,” Luca says. Her eyes are glazed, her pupils blown wide. She wriggles against Juliette.

“Bedroom?” Juliette asks.

Luca nods frantically. Her leg drops from Juliette’s waist, and she mourns the loss. But Juliette will have it wrapped around her again soon anyway. Luca twines their fingers and leads Juliette through the suite to the bedroom.

“Lay down and spread out,” Juliette orders, and Luca takes a shaky breath, flopping onto her bed. Juliette joins her, straddling Luca’s waist. Luca leans up onto the pillows and Juliette indulges in kissing her. Softer now, less frantic. They have time to relax.

Luca tries to intensify the kiss, hooking her arm around Juliette’s neck to drag her down and closer, but Juliette catches her wrist andsqueezes hard. Luca winces out of the kiss and Juliette loosens her grip, realizing it was too much. “I only have one rule,” she whispers, and Luca blinks, staring up at her with tender trust. “If you need to stop, if you’re uncomfortable for any reason or you’re done, you say Margaret Court.”

Luca’s eyes widen, and then she snorts. “Australian tennis champion and Christian minister Margaret Court?”

Juliette bites the inside of her lip to keep from laughing. “Yeah,” she says, “because you better not be moaning her name while we’re together.”

Luca smiles, and Juliette can’t resist swooping down to kiss Luca’s dimple. “Got it,” Luca says, laughing against Juliette’s cheek. “Safeword is Margaret Court. And that goes for you too.”

Juliette nods and then shifts back, stroking her fingers over Luca’s clothed stomach before she splays her hand and pushes the fabric away. The material catches on the underside of Luca’s breasts and Juliette keeps it there, held taut. Luca’s nipples press against the fabric, already tight and hard.

“Come on, Jules,” Luca whispers, her eyes heavy and hooded as she stares at Juliette.

“So impatient,” Juliette teases.

Luca’s chest heaves, and Juliette gives in and slips her other hand beneath Luca’s white T-shirt, cupping her right breast and sweeping her thumb in broad strokes across her nipple.

Luca stops breathing, and her mouth falls open as her head tilts back. Juliette leans down and mouths kisses onto Luca’s trembling stomach. “Lift your hips,” she says, slipping her fingers beneath the band of her sweatpants.

Luca thrusts up, back arching, and Juliette peels Luca’s sweatpants off.

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