Chapter 5

In the last two weeks, Juliet hasn't slept alone once. I've made damn sure of it. Thank fuck for all the holiday time I've accumulated because there's no way in hell I'm leaving my little fairy. In truth, I don't plan on going back to the office at all, not until my transfer is complete and I can work from here.

I close the real estate website on my phone and set the device down on the cushion next to me, my attention stolen by Juliet sauntering towards me. She's wearing some sort of soft, short night dress that instantly has my cock hardening. The hem of it skims her thighs, reminding me of just how soft her skin is there, and the neckline dips to show off her cleavage. Juliet reduces me to a drooling, demanding caveman, contrary to the charming, put-together man I try to show the world. Only my girl gets this side of me. Only she has ever made me feel like this.

Juliet is mine. My girl, my little fairy, my love.

It's been two weeks, but I want forever with her. We'll get it, once we figure out how to tell my daughter we're together at all. There's been more than one near-miss where Juliet and I have almost gotten caught, and I can tell it's straining Juliet, too. I avoided Laura's questions if I was seeing anyone when I took her and her boyfriend out for dinner, and Juliet told me that Laura quizzed her on the marks I kept leaving on her skin.

It's not like I like lying to my daughter. I fucking hate it, actually. But as her father, I want to protect her from anything that could hurt her. Except right now, it's me that might hurt her—me and her best friend.

Juliet pulls me from my thoughts by casting me a look over her shoulder as she walks down the hall to the bedroom. I jump to my feet, stalking after her, eyes fixed on the hem of that night dress that sways and gives me a peek at the crease where her ass meets her thighs. I have the insane urge to bite her there. She really is fucking edible.

I speed up to reach her before she gets to the bed, instead grabbing and lifting her, and sliding onto the mattress. She falls forward and grabs her headboard. Her soft thighs dimple under my touch, and I arrange them on either side of my face. My hands travel up to her ass, pushing her clothes out of the way and groaning when I find she's not wearing panties underneath.

"How can you be so filthy and so sweet at the same time?" I ask her, taking in the sight of her hovering over me. Already, her pussy is starting to gleam with dew, but I want her drenched. I tug, trying to lower her down onto my mouth, but she resists a little, biting her lip.

"I…I don't want to crush you."

That's equally adorable and ridiculous.

I dig my fingers into her flesh, tightening my grip. She shivers, letting me drag her down so her pussy hovers over my lips. "Little fairy, you couldn't crush me if you tried." I turn my head to kiss her thigh. "But if you did, I'd die happy."

She laughs, but the sound quickly turns to a moan when I flatten my tongue against her, licking from her entrance to her clit with a groan of approval. Finally, her knees give out and she settles against me, allowing me to eat her the way I want. My cock is unbearably hard, precome making a damp spot on my pants, but I need her to let me taste her release before I take my own pleasure.

"Oh, yes!" Juliet cries out, her voice raspy with pleasure.

I suck on her clit, then gently tease the sensitive bud with my teeth.

I've learned every way Juliet likes to be touched, licked, and fucked over the last fortnight, and I make good use of my knowledge. I alternate between sucking on her and drawing tight circles around her clit with the tip of my tongue until her hips are rocking. She grinds against my mouth, moans spilling from her lips and her hands gripping tight to the headboard.

The taste of her coats my tongue, and I savor it. When I press my tongue inside her, drinking from her, I can feel the flutters of her pussy against me. She's close and desperate in the way she whines and pants above me, and I grin against her.

"That's it. Come for me, little fairy," I murmur, turning my head to kiss the sensitive skin right at the top of her thigh. "Soak my face like a good girl."

She gasps at my words, and I return my attention to her clit, sucking and licking and devouring her. Her thighs tighten around my head, a soft, warm vise, and a rush of wetness coats my chin. I dip down to catch what I can, soothing my tongue over every inch of her to work her through her orgasm.

"Delicious, little fairy."

She rises off me on shaking legs, blinking down at me with wide eyes.

"More," Juliet says, sliding down my body to yank my pants down.

I help her out, ridding myself of clothes, and she straddles my thighs and looks at me hungrily. I let her, smirking when she licks her lips and runs her hands over my abs, then down to grip my cock. She squeezes, and I swallow a swear when she leans forward and laps at the precome beading at the head. She moans around me, glancing up at me through her lashes, and I nearly fucking come right then.

Instead, I reach for her and sit up so she's on my lap, making her squeal. Reaching between us, I fit my cock into her pussy, and Juliet grips my shoulders, sinking onto me, taking every inch. Her eyes flutter and a shaky sigh leaves her lips as she takes me to the hilt, her nails scratching at my shoulders.

I wrap my arm around her waist and reach between us with my other hand to cup her breast and play with her nipple, making her whimper. She leans forward, starting to rock her hips, and I claim her mouth, swallowing every addictive whine and moan she makes while riding me.

"You feel fucking incredible," I groan, pinching her nipple with one hand and bringing my other down to her hip to help her ride me, encouraging her movements as I thrust up from the bottom to push deeper and harder inside her. "You feel like mine, Juliet. Mine now, and mine forever."

"Yours, always yours," she pants in agreement, voice thick with need and her head lolling forward onto my shoulder. I take advantage of the column of her throat now exposed, trailing open-mouthed kisses over her shoulder and neck. The hot, wet clench of her around me is fucking heavenly, and my teeth scrape her shoulder, bliss searing through me.

"Jared!" Juliet screams, her voice muffled by my shoulder. "Yes, please. Oh, I'm gonna?—"

"Come all over my cock, little fairy," I tell her, seconds away from my own orgasm. "I want to fill up this pretty pussy, so you feel me inside you all fucking day. Fuck, yes, take it all."

Juliet comes, and the squeeze and pulse of her inner walls send me over my own edge. My teeth sink into her shoulder, and I come hard inside her, filling her just like I promised I would. She grinds against me, drawing out both of our orgasms, and I kiss and lick over the mark I've made on her skin. I know I should probably stop leaving marks, given she keeps getting asked about them, but fuck I love knowing she's carrying around my mark. A claim. A sign she belongs to me.

Juliet is limp and soft, panting against my skin as we catch our breath. I stroke a hand up and down her spine, soothing her.

After a minute, we pull apart, and I head for the shower, intending to take her with me. But she laughs and pushes me away, shaking her head.

"If we get in that shower together, I'll get more dirty instead of getting clean!" she protests, making me grin.

I huff, but I know she's right, and I need to order us some food before I fuck her again. I mean it when I tell her I want to look after her and that includes making sure she's got enough energy to both dance the way she does…and fuck.

She showers first, and I add some food to the basket on the takeout app, leaving it open so Juliet can add whatever she wants when she gets out. I kiss her chastely, nodding to the phone, then head to grab my own shower while she wraps her hair in a towel and pulls on a set of silky pajamas.

Just as I'm stepping under the spray, I swear I hear someone knock on the door. I shower quickly, wrap a towel around my waist, and head back to the bedroom. But Juliet isn't there, and I frown, heading down the hall in search of my girl.

I find her still at the door and sidle up behind her to see who's there. We weren't expecting anyone, and there's no way the food has arrived this fast.

When I see who's on the other side, I freeze.

"Laura?" I ask, jaw dropping open and taking in the fact my daughter's standing right there.

Oh, fuck.

Laura's eyes go wide as saucers, darting between Juliet and me. With Juliet in her pajamas and me in nothing but a towel, it only takes Laura two seconds to conclude what's happening here.

There's a long, heavy beat of silence where the crisis management part of my brain begins to kick in and go wild, as though I can fix this the way I fix shit at work.

Laura speaks before I can. "What…what the hell is going on?"

Juliet's face drops, her eyes wide and watery, her lips parting but no sound coming out. The confusion and fear on her face make me want to wrap her in my arms and protect her from the world. But that's not what's needed right now.

"Okay, let's all sit down and discuss this," I suggest, thankful for the years of crisis management work has given me.

"Are you going to put some clothes on before we do or do I have to act like it's normal to see my dad in nothing but a towel sitting on my best friend's couch?" Laura asks, the words both harsh and a little wobbly.

She's my daughter, and I hate seeing that look on her face just as much as I hate it on Juliet's.

"Of course," I say gently, ushering Laura inside fully and closing the door behind her. "Why don't you guys go get a drink and have a seat, and I'll get dressed and join you in a second?"

Both of them still look a little shell-shocked, guilt shining brightly in Juliet's hazel eyes as she leads her best friend, my daughter, through to the lounge.

I make good on my promise to get dressed, doing so in record time, and rush back out. This will be okay, I tell myself. I refuse to let my daughter or the love of my life be hurt by this.

I should have done something earlier, should've sorted this right from the start. But I didn't, and now the two most important girls in my life might get hurt because of me.

I walk into the lounge to see Juliet pouring three glasses of white wine just as Laura's declaring, "I'll need the entire damn bottle to even begin to process this."

Juliet snorts and dutifully slides the rest of the bottle across to Laura. Laura's frown breaks, and she grins at her friend, their bond obvious even in the strain of the situation.

"I won't lecture you about drinking right now," I say teasingly to Laura, who shoots me a death glare in response.

"You can't lecture me about shit right now," she snaps back.

I nod. I deserve that.

We settle down into three separate chairs, and I resist the urge to grab Juliet and yank her onto my lap, though I do press a kiss to her cheek on my way past to sit down.

"I'm sorry this is how you found out," I begin, taking a sip of my wine before setting it down on the coffee table between us all.

Laura snorts, taking a gulp straight from the bottle, which makes Juliet giggle quietly. "Were you going to tell me at all? How did this even happen? Are you…Oh, God, are you really sleeping with my best friend?" She scrunches up her face and shudders.

Juliet goes bright red, leaning forward towards Laura. "We were going to tell you. I just…I didn't know how. It wasn't planned or anything. I just…the night of the showcase, when you went to have dinner with Ryan, I didn't have anyone else there. I was just gonna go home and order take-out, but Jared offered to buy me dinner to celebrate, and well…"

Laura gapes at us while Juliet explains how instantly we clicked, how we fell for each other faster than she thought possible, how she's never felt like this before. I let her speak, gazing at her as she tries to explain our connection. I love her. It would be impossible for me not to. I might tell her she's mine all the time, but fuck if I'm not hers, too.

"We're not just sleeping together," I add. "Juliet means more to me than I know how to explain. I understand that this must be a shock to you?—"

"Understatement of the damn century," Laura mutters under her breath.

"—but it was never my intention to hurt you, Laura. I am sorry for that, but I am not sorry for falling for Juliet. I love her, and I hope that in time, you can come to accept that," I say as gently as I can, needing Laura to know that nothing will separate me from my girl.

Laura shakes her head. "It's not the fact you're together. Well, okay, yes, that's weird as fuck. But I'm hurt because neither of you told me. Two people I should be able to trust, my best friend and my father, have been lying to me for weeks. God, Juliet, I asked you like a hundred times who the mystery guy you were seeing was!"

Juliet winces. "What was I supposed to say?" she asks in a small voice. "Juliet, who gave you all those hickeys? Oh, just your dad."

Laura shudders, shaking her head violently. "Yeah, no, you're right. I would have fainted."

"But I shouldn't have lied. I should've found a way to tell you," Juliet admits.

Laura takes a deep breath. "I need time to process all this." She looks at me and then at Juliet. "I don't know if this is ever not going to be really fucking weird. But if you're serious about this, about each other?—"

"We are," Juliet and I both answer at once.

Laura sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose like she has a headache. "I've seen how happy you've been recently, Juliet. I want that for you and for you too, Dad. You both deserve to be happy, to be loved. Just…give me a while to get to grips with the fact that you're finding that love and happiness together."

"Of course," I tell her, watching her stand.

Juliet catches Laura's hand and squeezes, and my daughter offers her a shaky smile. I walk Laura to the door, pausing at the threshold of the apartment.

"You know I love you, Laura," I tell my daughter.

She nods. "I love you, too, Dad, but my best friend…really?" she says with a huff of a laugh.

"I know," is all I can say in response. Because I can understand how fucking odd this must be for her. But there's no screaming or yelling or demanding we stop seeing each other, so I hold onto that seed of hope that she really will be able to accept this. Before she leaves, I give her a hug, which she returns, and make her promise to text me when she gets home safe.

Then I return to Juliet and hold her while we both discuss what to do next. We're in agreement on the future though—us together no matter what.