Chapter 19: Julian Atlas

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It's been two weeks since the attack on the Mexicans and things are a little tense for everyone. Mari has acquired her jacket and refuses to take it off which I think is adorable. I spend more nights at her house than at the clubhouse, my presence calms her anxiety and she calms my nightmares.

Gem seems a lot calmer too, Mari says she's been sleeping better since I got here and being around all of the guys has made it easier for her to interact with men in general. Gem struggled with that before, she would only ever let Runner touch her and then me and now she can hug almost everyone. She's a little suspicious around Boulder but that's only because he's relatively unnerving even for Breaker so it's understandable.

Mari has been spending more time with Lex and Saviour, with everything going on she says it's important for her to be there and I support her. It does mean I get to spend some more time with my daughter as well and I hardly let other people play with her, I just like having her around.

I get bored when both of my girls are at school and I can't wait for Mari to finish her degree and for Gem to finish for the summer, but I've still got three months until then. Right now, we've got bigger problems though, the Fire Demons – more specifically Slasher – are very unimpressed by the fact we have their Queen and their Princess, they're mounting their retaliation soon and we're not sure what to do.

With one of our enforcers down and our club only just finished recovering from the HR attack we are not at a good enough place to mount a successful defensive position. Soon enough I'm going to have to move Mari and Gem into the compound, it's not safe enough to have them out on the side lines even if they are only a two-minute ride away.

Even Reign and Saviour have moved back into the compound under the threat, they're our most skilled fighters and even they don't want to risk getting attacked on their own, especially with the baby.

As of right now, everyone is in the clubhouse. The girls are in the pink room comforting Runner and I'm in Romeo's office as he chews on a lollipop stick. "What's your problem?" I ask him. He's been off recently, doesn't really take part in any of the drinking games or the casual conversations we have in the other room. He goes out to bars all the time and sleeps with a large number of women, but he no longer brags about them when he gets home.

"I don't even know; I'm having some trouble with relationships." I sit up straight and look at him. He has never once said that he had a girlfriend, we all just figured he was continuing to be well Romeo, flirting with every woman he sees.

"Relationships? Last time we talked about women you said that you are in the prime of your life and don't want to settle down. What changed?"

"That's the problem, I don't have a clue what I'm doing. To be honest we're not even together, I just keep going back and then leaving again. I'm inconsistent and a bit of a dick so I'm a little angry."

"Dude, if you like her just stay." He groans and chooses another lollipop from the pot of them on his desk.

"I really don't think it's that easy, I don't know. One minute I'm like, yeah I can do this, I can stick around but the next minute I'm like I can't do that." I look over at him and notice that he hasn't really slept recently, his under eyes are dark and his hair is a mess and his skin is sullen. He is not happy.

I head over and clap his shoulder, trying to comfort him at least a little. I got lucky with Marielle, no doubt about it and I forget that other people don't have the same relationship as I do. I head back out to the main part of the house and bump into Mari, she looks surprised at first but then she declares that she was looking for me.

"There you are, lets go." She tugs my hand and I follow along behind her in confusion. We leave the clubhouse and that's when my confusion multiplies, where are we going without our daughter?

"Where are we going?" I ask as I lean against my bike, letting her step in between my legs and wrap her arms around my neck.

"We are going back to the empty house," She gently kisses my neck and nips at my earlobe, making me aware of just what she's thinking about, "you okay with that?" I lift her up and wrap her legs around my waist as I grip her ass to stop her from falling.

"I'm perfectly okay with that." I slip her on the bike behind me and head to her house as quickly as possible. As we get there, I feel a little jittery, I've waited close to four months for this and I want to do it right.

I lift her into my arms, and she hugs me tightly as I head into the house and into her bedroom. "Are you sure about this baby?" I ask her, gripping her waist and waiting for her okay.

"I've waited a long time, Jules. I can't wait any longer." I kiss her gently, settling her on the edge of the bed as I kneel between her legs. I slip her jacket off without breaking the kiss and lay it on the chair before taking my cut off. I lean her back on the bed and take her top off, groaning at the sight of the red lace and chocolate skin.

I nip and lick her skin around her neck and breasts as she writhes beneath me, her hips arch off the bed to try and find mine so I press her hips to the bed with mine and she moans at the contact. "Julian..." She whines and grips my biceps hard enough to bite as she begs me to give her some sort of pressure.

I grind my hips against hers and her eyes roll back as she cries out softly, she reaches up and nips my bottom lip teasingly in response to me. She yanks at my shirt as if she's trying to rip it, so I lift up enough to take it off and as soon as the fabric touches the floor, her hands are exploring the expanse of my torso and I press her hands above her head.

"Tell me what you want." I beg her, biting down on the shell of her ear and caressing her stomach as I reach down to undo her jeans.

"You. All of you."

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