Accidental Fiancé (Unintentionally Yours #5)

33. Maggie

Chapter 33

Maggie

C hloe’s incessant screams echoed through the house. Marble floors and hardwood surfaces bounced sound quite well, evidently. She had stormed off, humiliated and defeated.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it. The memory of her face twisted in anger and degradation kept me smiling. I knew I was supposed to be better than that. She was the petty one, not me. But there was poetic justice there.

As I stood there, I couldn't help but revel in the fall of Chloe, at least a little bit. Chloe deserved what was coming to her. After everything she had done to me, the feeling of seeing her brought to her knees was one I wouldn't forget anytime soon.

The moment I confronted Chloe, the way she had crumbled, it felt like part of my past had been set free. The weight I had been carrying all of these years because of Chloe had finally been lifted.

The mystery was over, a lifetime of unasked questions answered. I had always wondered what I’d done so wrong to make Chloe Foster hate me so much. But I’d done nothing wrong. She was a nut job.

I had seen the way Julian had looked at me during the confrontation, the admiration in his eyes as I stood my ground. That wasn't pity.

It was love.

He reached his hand out for me and I took it willingly, abandoning my luggage by the front door, and followed him upstairs.

Once inside his room, I stood there for a moment, watching him. I felt as though I was seeing him for the first time. All those furtive glances. His protective nature. He wasn't worried that I couldn't handle myself. He simply wanted to be there for me. Because he loved me.

I felt like a fool.

“Julian,” I said softly, breaking the silence.

For a moment, neither of us said a word. We just stared at each other, the air thick with something unspoken that had been building for far too long.

He swallowed once. Twice. As if trying to find the words or the nerve to say them. “You're staying?”

I nodded, stepping closer to him. “If I'm still welcome. Here. With you.”

He closed the distance between us in a few long strides until he was standing right in front of me. I loved having him close. His presence was comforting. “Maggie, I?—"

But before he could finish, I reached out and placed a hand on his chest. He fell silent. His heartbeat was strong beneath my palm, and I could feel the steady rise and fall of his breaths. He looked down at my hand, then back up at me, his expression unreadable.

I whispered, “What now?”

“That depends on you. Why did you come up here with me?”

I squirmed against the depth of that question. There were so many reasons, but only one that mattered. “I had to. Needed to.”

“But what about everything you said before?”

It was hard to admit that I was wrong. That I had let my high school insecurities interfere with who I’d become and what I wanted now. It made me feel childish and pathetic, but I had to own it.

I cleared my throat. “I was stupid. I let Chloe get in my head and convince me that I was the pathetic thing she accused me of being. That I was just someone to be pitied instead of someone to be loved. And I thought that you saw me the same way she did. I?—"

“Are you saying,” his words came out slowly and quietly, “that’s the way you saw yourself?”

The question struck hard. I watched his Adam’s apple bob as he waited for an answer. I didn’t want to give it. But I owed him that. “Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I was poor and unpopular, and those things don’t usually make a girl feel all that confident. It took me a while to come to embrace who I am despite how I grew up, and teenage me was not there yet. I suppose there were residual echoes of things inside my head, that is, until I saw Chloe have a meltdown over absolutely nothing.” A nervous laugh escaped me. “But I can’t say those issues won’t come up again. I’m human. Insecurities are real, and when things started to fall apart, they crept up again. I might be poor but I’m proud and receiving anyone’s pity doesn’t sit well with me.”

He exhaled out his nose, a little frustrated. “Maggie, you have never been someone to pity. When we met, and I asked for your help with algebra, did you think I did it because I felt sorry for you? Or because I admired you and knew you could help?”

I chuckled a little at that. “You definitely needed my help. You couldn’t solve x for shit.”

He grinned. “Damn straight. And when I asked you to go to the movies with me, was that out of pity or because we shared an interest in those movies?”

“I get it now.”

“What about when we went for long walks downtown at all hours, just hanging out and talking about nothing?” He raised a hand to my cheek, touching me softly. “Did I feel sorry for you then, or did I want to spend time with the prettiest girl I had ever seen?”

My heart swelled in my chest. My words tripped over my lips, quiet and unsure. “I don’t know.”

“I don’t feel sorry for you, Maggie. I never could. You’re not less-than, you’re not a thing to be pitied. You’re a woman to be loved and adored, cherished and worshipped every day.”

It was impossible not to fall into his sparkling gaze. “I made a mistake, Jules. Can you forgive me?”

His gaze intensified, and I could see emotion flickering in his eyes. He paused as if overwhelmed but then he steadied himself, and his voice became clearer as he spoke slowly. “I can forgive you if you tell me precisely what you want. Chloe aside, high school bullshit aside, tell me what you want. Why you came up here with me.”

I took a deep breath, feeling the truth rise up in my heart, unable to stop myself from saying it. “I want you. I never stopped wanting you.”

The words gave texture to the air between us. Heartache, longing, love. For a moment, Julian didn't move. He just stared at me as if he couldn't quite believe what I had said.

Then, in a rush of movement, he closed in, his mouth crashing into mine in a searing kiss that stole my breath.

The world seemed to fall away. The only thing that mattered at that moment was him. His lips against mine, his body so close. The way his hands trembled slightly as he held me. It was a homecoming, like all the pieces that had been scattered were finally falling back into place.

I kissed him back with everything I had, pouring years of frustration, love, and desire into that single moment. His hand slid from my face down to my waist, pulling me closer, tighter, and I could feel the desperation in his touch. We had both been holding back for so long and I knew that it was finally our time.

“Stay,” he whispered against my lips, his voice husky, pleading. “Stay with me, Maggie. Don't leave again.”

I pulled back slightly, just enough to look him in the eyes. “Yes,” I whispered. “I'll stay.”

His lips were on mine again, more urgent this time, ravenous. His hands roamed my body as he backed me toward the bed. My heart raced as I felt the mattress against the backs of my legs, and before I knew it, I was lying on my back with Julian on top of me.

This time, things would be different. There were no more lies or pretenses between us. This time, we could actually discover each other. Discover the love that had never been able to properly be explored until now.

Julian's hands slid under my shirt, sending shivers down my spine as he explored every inch of me. I gasped as he kissed my throat, his lips hot against my skin. Heat, so much heat. Inside of me, between us, pouring from his body.

He leaned back just long enough to pull my shirt over my head. His eyes dark with desire as he took me in. “God, Maggie,” he murmured, his voice full of reverence. “You're so fucking beautiful.”

I blushed under his gaze but I didn't look away. I wanted him to see me. All of me, just as I saw him.

I reached for him, tugging at his shirt until he pulled it off, revealing the thick muscles of his chest and arms. My fingers traced the lines of his body, marveling at the way his skin felt beneath my touch. It was like discovering him all over again, and it made my heart ache with how much I had missed him. Even though I hadn’t actually left him behind, it felt like a lifetime since we last touched, and this time, there was so much more at stake.

This time, we were an us. Not him and me. But us . This wasn’t a hookup built on a lie. It wasn’t a fly-by-night lapse in judgment. This meant something. It meant everything.

Julian leaned down, his lips finding mine again as his hands slid down my body, unbuttoning my pants and pulling them off with one swift motion. His touch was electric, every brush of his fingers sending waves of heat through me, and I couldn't stop the soft moans that escaped my lips as he kissed his way down my neck to my collarbone. The curve of my breast. When he sucked my nipple into his mouth, I let out an ungodly sound from my very soul. I tugged at his belt, desperate to feel him closer, and he let out a low growl as he helped me free him of the constraints of his clothes.

When he finally pressed his naked body against mine, skin to skin, it was like everything else in the world ceased to exist. There was only us, only the burning and the need and the overwhelming desire to be together. “Are you sure?” Julian asked, his voice husky as he looked down at me, his breath coming in ragged gasps.

I nodded, my heart pounding in my chest. I had never been surer of anything in my life. With that, he kissed me again and reached between my thighs. He cupped my pussy, and my back arched off the bed. His touch was a live wire of pleasure. He stroked my clit, finding my rhythm almost by instinct.

I rode his fingers, grinding up to meet his hand like it was my own. He slipped a finger inside. I rocked against it, and when he brushed against my spot I saw stars. I clenched tight around him as my climax built.

He teased, a whisper in my ear. “That’s it, right? That’s the spot? I want to get this right?—"

“Yes!” I hissed.

“Are you sure?” Another finger probed me. “I think we’ll have to keep at this so we can be absolutely sure.”

I whimpered his name and felt him smile against my cheek. I was so close.

“If you’re not sure, I might have to stop.”

“Don’t you dare!” I gasped.

He let out a low chuckle. “I love it when you tremble like that. Like you’re helpless to what I’m doing.”

“I am, don’t stop!”

His stubbled jaw grazed against my ear. “Never.” With that, he worked me double-time, sending me screaming into the stratosphere. I came so hard that I was sure everyone in the house heard me. There was no holding back, no keeping it in. My orgasm ripped through me, ecstasy wiping my brain clear.

My body pulsed as he rubbed the head of his cock against my wetness. He watched me writhe, still gasping from the intensity of the orgasm. His shoulders heaved with his breaths. Hoarsely, he said, “I need to be inside you.”

All I could do was weakly nod.

He thrust himself in up to the hilt, sending us both groaning. The feel of him took my breath away as he filled me up. He drove us up the bed until we were in the middle—I hadn’t realized we had been half on and half off. Once in place, Julian was in charge.

He rolled himself into me like a dancer, hitting my tempo again. He cocked his hips exactly right to keep me on edge. With every thrust, inches of him glided against my spot, with every withdrawal, I got it again. I was too lit up, too sensitive. I didn’t know what was different but as good as he had been before, this was something else. Something devastating in the best way possible.

I rode him from underneath, unable to hold still. He wrapped his arms under me to make us as close as two people could be. His hard body pressed against mine, his lips and teeth and tongue meeting my mouth, jaw, and neck. We were like a pair of wild animals, hungry for only each other.

But then he pulled out and for the briefest moment, I was confused. What had I done wrong? Then, without a word, he picked me up, flipped me onto my stomach, and reentered me.

The new angle allowed him to bare down on my spot with every stroke. Our bodies slapped together, the sound echoing through the room. Just as I crested over another orgasm, he reached around my hip for my clit, and I came apart. I screamed into the pillow until my throat hurt.

“That’s it, baby,” he growled as he guided me through my climax. “Come all over me.” He didn’t let up. He triggered another orgasm off that one, and I could barely breathe, but I didn’t care. I needed this. Needed to lose myself in him. In us.

After my third, he grabbed my hips with both hands and pounded me for a minute. I thought he was about to come too as he throbbed inside of my body—his usual giveaway.

But nothing about today was usual.

He laid on my back, nearly slowing to a stop. There, buried deep inside of me, he bit my earlobe and said, “Do you know how much I have missed you, baby?”

“I missed you, too.”

Julian pressed deeper into me before pulling out again. He turned over and pulled me onto his lap as he sat up against the headboard. He cocked his hips up as he pulled me down his length, and I held his shoulders for balance. Face to face, body to body.

I loved this. Watching his expressions as I rode him, or rather, as he drove me on himself. His fingers dug into my ass while he maneuvered me up and down his cock. I felt like I was getting close to the edge again and staring into his eyes made it all the more delicious.

The intensity there had become so much more. Connection. Submission. Love.

Now that my strength was back, I wanted in on this. I looped my arms around his neck, and just before I kissed him, I murmured, “Let me.”

He slowed down to let me take over as I kissed him, and before I knew it, I was in full control of this ride. The addictive slide of our bodies drove me on, and orgasms were almost pointless now. A little one hit, and I moaned in his mouth. A bigger one took over, and he ate my scream. He wrapped his muscled arms around me, unwilling to allow an inch between us.

We were one creature with no beginning or end, sustained by orgasms and love. Nothing else existed but this.

When his body tensed, I knew it was coming to an end, and I was overjoyed at his impending pleasure. I shuddered as I whispered against his jaw, “That’s it, baby. Come for me. Fill me up.”

His head tipped back as he grunted, and we came together, trembling in pure bliss. I nipped at his exposed throat, hungry to sink my teeth into the meat of him. His grip tightened, pulling me closer still as he poured into me. He ground his hips up, sealing us, sealing our love.

Afterward, we lay tangled together on the bed, our bodies still humming from the intensity of it all. Julian's hand rested on my hip, his fingers drawing lazy circles on my skin while I rested my head on his chest, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat.

For a long time, neither of us said anything. We didn't need to. The silence between us was comfortable, filled with a sense of peace that I hadn't felt in a long time. Peace, but also power. There was a strength between us now, a connection no one could sever. Maybe it had always been there.

Eventually, Julian broke the quiet. His voice was soft and filled with wonder. “I can't believe you stayed.”

I smiled, my fingers trailing down the length of his arm. “I never wanted to leave. Not really.”

He kissed the top of my head. “I'm glad.”

I tilted my head up to look at him, my heart swelling with love for this man who had fought for me time after time. Not because of pity but because he loved me. There was no more doubt in my mind or my heart. He let me stand on my own two feet when things went to hell, standing by and supporting me but allowing me to find my voice. He wasn’t my protector, he was my rock. And if I was lucky, he would walk by my side for the rest of my life.