Page 6 of Once Upon A Valentine
“I want you to take better care of yourself.” He blew out a rough breath but seemed to think better of letting it go and turned to face Bran fully as the elevator rose to the top floor penthouse apartment. “I want you to grow the fuck up. I want you to stop drinking all the time. Whatever you’re trying to hide from, trying to numb, it’s still there when you wake up in the morning and it won’t go away if you just keep ignoring it. I want you to face the man you’re supposed to be, the man your parents would have wanted you to be, and I want you to choose to be him instead of some overgrown frat boy that parties his way through the city and wakes up in strangers beds more often than he does his own. I want you to be better, Branson. That’s all.”
Bran stared at him, mouth agape, as the door of the elevator opened and Julian stepped out into his apartment. He almost didn’t think to follow him before the doors closed again. That had probably been the most words Julian had ever spoken to him at one time and it was all about how he wanted Bran to be a better man. Then he had to go and fuck up that amazing speech with those two little words at the end.That’s all. As if it were really as simple as just deciding and waking up tomorrow as someone new, someone better.
If it was that easy, Bran would have done it years ago, but it wasn’t. He had demons and they didn’t take days off. They didn’t care if he woke up early and decided to be better. Somehow, by evening, he always fell back into his bad habits to drown out the loss and the loneliness. Somehow, he always ended up thinking that the next drink would be the one that quieted the voices, that the next person he took to bed would be the one that could fix him.
Speaking of bad habits… he realized Julian was watching him, clearly waiting for some sort of reaction, and he knew it wasn’t going to be the one the man expected.
“You know whatIwant?” Bran covered the small space between them in two long strides and watched as wariness flashed across Julian’s handsome face. “You.”
He grabbed Julian before he could pull away and tugged him against his body. He fit one hand to Julian’s jaw and guided his face up so that he was at the perfect angle. Then, without thinking it through or worrying about the consequences, Bran smashed his lips down against Julian’s and kissed him just like he’d been dreaming of doing for years.
He felt Julian tense against him but Bran refused to pull away. He pressed his advantage, running his tongue along the seam of Julian’s soft lips, coaxing him into opening so that Bran could deepen the kiss. He slid his hand up into Julian’s dark hair and it was even better than he’d imagined. Soft and thick, he wrapped his fist in the short strands and pressed another hard kiss to Julian’s still closed mouth, rocking his hips forward to rub his erection against the man. A whine escaped him when Julian still didn’t reach for him or react in any way and he didn’t know if it was the sound or if Julian’s willpower had finally crumbled but a strangled growl escaped the other man and then he began to kiss Bran back.
No. He groaned as Julian bit his bottom lip and then swept his tongue inside when Bran gasped in pain. No, Julian wasn’t just kissing him back. He didn’t just join in. He took control. He took over and Bran could do nothing but sigh in relief and revel in the feel of this beautiful man that he had wanted for so long kissing him with more hunger than he’d ever known.
This… this was what he wanted tonight. Every night. Escape. To not have to think. To simply feel warm and safe and wanted. If he’d known he could get all of those things from Julian just by kissing him, he’d have gone against his better judgement and seduced him the first time they ever met.
Because this was perfect. They were perfect. Julian was perfect and he never wanted this kiss to end.
Chapter Three
For one small, smattering of seconds, Julian actually thought he’d be able to hold out. That he’d be able to push Bran away. That he wouldn’t lower himself and his standards by letting a drunk man coerce him into a kiss he’d had no intention of giving. And he’d almost accomplished it.
He’d come so close. He’d kept his tight grip on his sanity and was just about to pull away before Bran went andwhined.The bastard whined because he wasn’t getting his way and everything inside of Julian had responded to that sound. He’d wanted, no, he’dneeded, to give Bran whatever it was he could in that moment, even if he knew it would mean his ultimate downfall.
In a split-second decision that he would try to rationalize later, he gave in to the kiss. He accepted it as if it had always been inevitable. Maybe it had been. He’d wanted Bran for so long but he’d never allowed himself to think about how they would come together. If he had, he’d have imagined something softer and sweeter than this but since this was all he had he accepted Bran’s warm lips against his and then, as the taste of him surged through Julian, he took control.
He moved quickly, backing Bran up against the wall right there in the entryway. Bran groaned when his back collided with the hard surface but Julian swallowed the sound and kept going. He canted his hips forward, grinding their cocks together through the barrier of their clothing. All the while, he held Bran’s face between his palms, keeping him right where he wanted as his tongue delved deep, tasting and teasing, devouring this man that drove him crazy.
Bran slid his own hands to Julian’s chest. It took a moment through the fog of lust for Julian to realize what he was up to. Bran was trying to undress him and he couldn’t have that, not yet. He released Bran’s face and grabbed his wrists. He pinned them against the wall on either size of Bran’s body, holding him in place. Bran whined again and Julian growled, biting his lip again and then licking the spot to soothe the sting. He moved his lips across Bran’s jaw, reveling in the way his five o’clock shadow scratched against his own.
It was amazing really. The way they fit together. It felt so good. Felt so right.
Bran banged his head back into the wall and gasped as Julian’s hot breath tickled his ear, “Fuck me, Jules. Fuck me, please.”
The sound of Bran’s plea, the rough texture of his voice, it was enough to knock Julian out of the moment of insanity.
This was Bran. Branson Frost. Not one of the guys he usually dated. Not someone he could be with, not that way. Not without any preparation or conversation. Not when Bran had been drinking, was drunk, and had kissed him in some desperate need to always make the worst decisions ever.
Julian jerked away, panting and out of breath. Bran blinked at him, his mouth open in surprise and it took everything Julian had not to sneer at him for that. He doubted the dubious playboy had ever experienced rejection but he was about to. Julian couldn’t let this go any further. Never should have let it happen in the first place.
He struggled for air as he tried to get his thoughts in order and straighten his clothes. Bran looked downright edible in that moment. His hair disheveled from Julian’s fingers. His lips red and swollen. His blue gray eyes were heavy-lidded with desire and Julian knew that if he looked down, he would see Bran’s cock trying to break free of his pants just like his own was. Instead he shook his head and closed his eyes, trying to get his bearings.
“What are you doing?” Bran’s voice was softer now but it only made Julian angrier.
“What am I doing?” He snapped, opening his eyes to glare at the other man, “What areyoudoing? You can’t just go around kissing anyone you want, Branson.”
Bran’s mouth pulled into that adorable, lopsided grin, “Sure I can.”
“Well, sure, fine. You can kiss whomever you want. But you can’t kiss me.”
“But you’re the only one I want to kiss right now.” Bran pushed up from the wall, back to his full height, and Julian shook his head at those words.
Right now. Tonight. That was all Bran would ever be offering wasn’t it? He was stupid to have ever daydreamed of a life with this man. Sexual fantasies aside, he’d truly thought that someday, maybe, once Bran decided it was time to settle down, that they might finally have a chance to be together. Oh how stupid he had been.
Bran seemed to realize he was annoyed because his tone changed, “Hey. You kissed me back, Jules. You want me just as much as I want you.”
Julian snorted out a frustrated breath, “It doesn’t matter what I want.”
