Page 57 of Temptation

Orlando coughed to cover his laugh. Not because he was really that amused, it was just the absurdity of the situation. Everyone trying to do the right thing with only part of the information and coming to wildly incorrect conclusions.

“Well, I did appreciate that while Orlando was avoiding me,” Juliet reassured them, with another look at him. He squeezed her fingers again.

“Avoiding you because I liked you too much, not because I didn’t like you.” He wanted to make sure everyone understood that, especially Juliet. In hindsight, yeah, it might have been the wrong move, but he didn’t regret it. He’d needed that time to really get his head around things and to realize just how much he wanted her. How much being without her sucked.

If he’d jumped in headfirst after that night at Black Light Roulette, the way they’d initially planned to do, he would probably have ended up ruining everything with his skepticism and his certainty that things couldn’t work out. This time, having already experienced life without her, he’d been fighting against those thoughts the whole time. Not only that, but he’d already known what was on the other side and he’d known he didn’t want it, which had caused him to fight that much harder.

Juliet might be ticked that she’d just found out his thoughts on first marriages, but the truth was, he’d been pushing against that idea the whole time he was with her. Because even though a part of him hadn’t thought it could possibly work, he’d really, really fucking wanted it to.

“So,” Lawrence said, scrubbing his hands over his face and straightening up, turning back into the take-charge stepfather that Orlando was used to. His gaze flitted back and forth between his daughter and stepson, briefly landing on their entwined hands between them. “Where do we go from here?”

Juliet and Orlando looked at each other. This time when he squeezed her hand, it was in reassurance rather than warning.

“Juliet and I keep seeing each other, now with a little less worry that word will get back to the two of you. Though we’ll still be discreet for a while, I think, since we have other family members around here as well,” Orlando said, and Juliet nodded her agreement. “But to be honest, the two of you were our biggest worries. We didn’t want our relationship to affect yours.”

“I think therapy for all of us is a good idea as well, to try and work out this new dynamic,” his mom chimed in, and Orlando suppressed a groan. He should have known that was coming. She’d taken him to therapy during childhood when he’d started asking hard questions about Cameron, and hounded him to go when she’d re-married even though he’d been an adult. But he couldn’t really argue with her because he was pretty sure she was right.

“I think that’s a great idea,” Juliet said firmly, with a sidelong look at him, like she thought he might protest.

Nope, he wasn’t going to protest. They were right. But dammit, he hated talking about his feelings with a stranger. Maybe he could ask around Black Light. There had to be a kink friendly therapist who went there that they could work with.

Maybe he could even schedule a few solo sessions to talk through his feelings about having his stepfather tackle him while he was balls deep in his stepsister.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

JULIET

“Oh my God… I can’t believe I missed all of that.” Just as Juliet had predicted, Brooke had howled with laughter during the re-telling of the Great Parental Cock Block. Great in that it had been major, not that it had been a good thing.

Although, some good had come from it. Their parents knowing had been a massive relief. She’d also told her mom and stepfather the day after, over the phone. As expected, they’d been a little uncertain but accepting — encouraging even. After all, unlike her dad and Mona, they didn’t really have any reason not to be other than their concern for her.

She and Orlando didn’t feel the need to sneak around as much now. If someone saw them and told the rest of the family… well, it was a while till Easter so it would have time to blow over. And if things kept on the way they had been, they’d tell everyone at Easter anyway.

Therapy had also been good. Juliet had already had a virtual appointment with her personal therapist, who had been happy to hear from her after so long, and the whole family had an appointment scheduled for next week. Just talking it out and getting a completely neutral third-party opinion had been helpful, especially when it came to her annoyance over Orlando’s views about first marriages. She did understand it, but that didn’t mean she liked it, and being able to gripe about it with someone who both validated and soothed her had been nice.

Now she was updating Brooke, who found the whole thing fucking hysterical. Especially hearing about Orlando’s reluctance to fuck anywhere but behind a locked bedroom door for the past few nights.

“Well, if you’d been here, we wouldn’t have been fucking up against the wall in the main room, so when you think about it, really it’s your fault I got cock blocked,” Juliet teased, shooting the remark over her shoulder to where Brooke was splayed on her bed. Brooke cracked up again.

“I will accept full responsibility for such a hilarious story. If I was given the choice, I would do it all again,” Brooke cackled.

Shaking her head, Juliet turned back to her mirror and leaned in so she could swipe some mascara over her eyes. Tonight, she and Orlando were going on a real date, out to dinner in a popular restaurant, and then to Black Light. Obviously Black Light wasn’t a big deal as they were perfectly comfortable there, but in some ways this felt like their first real date.

They were going to be officially ‘out’ and about.

“One day karma is going to bite you in your big ole booty,” Juliet said as she blinked carefully, waving one hand at her eye to help the mascara dry.

“Well since I don’t have a stepbrother, I’m feeling pretty safe.”

Juliet rolled her eyes. “I was talking more about having your parents walk in on you. Or being epically cock blocked in a terrible way.”

“And this is why it’s good that my parents live so far away,” Brooke retorted. “Not a problem for me. Worst case scenario, you and Orlando walk in on me and then I have an unexpected audience. Trust me, I’m going to finish.”

She would too. Even though she was more a voyeur than an exhibitionist, she was comfortable enough with public play that she didn’t always use the private rooms at Black Light when she scened.

“Oh, I believe you.” Juliet pulled her hair back into a high ponytail. She’d noticed how much Orlando liked the look. Also, it showed off her bare neck, and she wouldn’t mind re-doing their choking scene but actually getting to finish. Replace certain memories with new ones.

Whether or not Orlando would go for it… he had barely touched her throat since the Great Parental Cock Block. So, she was going to try to tempt him to get over that tonight by making sure her neck was completely bare. The dress she was wearing was strapless and flowy, clinging to her curves, which were accentuated by the corset she was wearing underneath it.