Chapter 2 - Penthouse

"Juliet?! Jesus Christ, are you okay?! What happened? Where did he take you? Did they arrest him?"

Juliet allowed Edmund to get it all out. She glanced up at the police detective who sat across from her, whose desk phone she'd used to call home.

Detective Keamy smirked, highly amused. He could hear Edmund's voice through the ear piece, and he remembered dealing with him in person earlier that day. Nothing like almost losing your wife to humble a man.

"I'll be home soon." Juliet promised after a patient explanation full of the same lies she'd told the police. "I'm giving my statement now."

"I'll come get you." Edmund declared. "Which precinct -?"

"Edmund, don't. You're in no shape to drive. I'll have one of the officers drive me home."

Edmund moaned with relief. Keamy watched Juliet's face fall into an expression of withering contempt.

"My god…" Edmund went on with the show. "I am so beat up…"

Sure, she'd had the time of her life out there, but Edmund didn't know that. Why was he complaining?

"He was very worried about you." Keamy murmured through his sharp smirk when she hung up.

"He was worried about the car."

"I don't know," Keamy sat back, not hiding his amusement at all. "He was almost in tears when I saw him."

Juliet smiled. "Well. He can't really afford a funeral right now. Or a hospital bill. I'm sure he's relieved to hear I'm alive and uninjured. Did you need anything else from me?"

"I'd like the name of your pharmacist. I want whatever you're on."

Xanax and a big dick, she thought.

It's what Juliet would have said out loud, if she wanted to flirt with the man. But she had someone else waiting for her, and she wasn't sure yet if James liked to share.

Keamy looked over his notes distractedly. "You're sure he didn't…molest you at all?"

"Do you want him to have molested me?" Juliet asked flatly. It was the third time he'd asked that question.

Keamy swallowed a shocked chuckle and licked his lips. "It'd give us more leverage on the manhunt," he explained. "More resources, if he, uh…harmed your person, in any way."

Juliet relented, and smiled. "No. He was a perfect gentleman."

She had to shift in her seat when she recalled just how gentlemanly he'd been.

"If you catch him," she added, near certain that they would never do so. "Go easy on him. He's just a scared little bunny rabbit who got in too deep with the wrong people."

Keamy's eyebrows rose skeptically. "Is that what he told you?"

Juliet shrugged. "Call it women's intuition."

Keamy tongued one of his canines, and took a not-so-hidden glance at Juliet's ample cleavage as his eyes traveled back down to his notes.

Sure. Women's intuition. Whatever she said.

Juliet received a ride home from an Officer Cortez, who confessed envy over Juliet's part in the car chase.

"I've been stuck behind a desk for six months." Ana Lucia muttered. "Civilians are getting more action than me."

"You want to rob that convenience store?" Juliet asked, glancing through the windshield at the gas station across the intersection.

Cortez chuckled. "Nah. Then you'd have to go back to the station and answer more questions from our charming detectives."

She drove into the hills, followed the winding roads and pulled up to the Burke estate, the one with a gilded "B" adorning the front gate.

"If you think of anything else, give us a call." said Ana Lucia.

"Thank you." said Juliet. "I hope you can find some thrills, Officer Cortez." she added before she closed the passenger door.

The bored cop didn't look very optimistic.

Juliet punched in the code to the gate and waved graciously when Ana Lucia pulled away from the end of the driveway. Her smile faded once the patrol car was out of sight. Juliet looked up the driveway and sighed. She had one more chore to do before she could get back to thrills of her own.

"Babyyy," Edmund cooed as soon as he saw her come through the door. He approached with open arms, wrapping her in a hug without asking if she wanted one.

Juliet's face went sour when he squeezed her, and back to feigned gratitude when he let go.

"Are you okay?" he asked, still with the baby talk. "Did the bad man hurt you?"

Juliet shook her head and tried to look sad and tired. She needed to milk this.

"I've got Chef here," Edmund told her, ushering her toward the kitchen. "He'll make you anything you want. I've got the Xanax here too, I took one already -"

"Ed…" Juliet pulled gently from his grasp. She stopped his momentum, choosing instead to stay in the foyer. "Did you check the mail today?"

"The mail…?" he asked, confused as to its relevance.

Juliet nodded. She'd received the certified delivery notification on her phone, during the ride home with Officer Cortez. The package had to be around here somewhere.

Edmund called for his assistant, and demanded the young man fetch the mail immediately. Juliet remained nearby until the assistant returned with the thick manila envelope, and she watched Edmund's eyes travel over the front of the package delivered straight from her lawyer's office.

"We can talk about it later," she assured him, adopting his most patronizing tone. "I just want you to read through it now, and really give it some thought before you respond. Okay?"

"Jules…" Edmund's brow furrowed, his eyes closed and he shook his head to clear the confusion that overcame him. "...Is this because of the carjacking?"

Juliet stared at him blankly. Narcissism made him so stupid sometimes.

"No, Ed." she explained dutifully. "I didn't have divorce papers drafted during the four hours I was stuck at the police station, answering questions about my kidnapping."

"But-"

"I'm going to spend the night at a hotel." Juliet interrupted whatever he was about to sputter. "I need space. Especially after the ordeal I just went through."

"The one… you just went through?" Edmund echoed incredulously.

Ah. There was the snotty, petulant child she'd married. He touched the section of his ribs that were taped up under his dress shirt, with the hand that was wrapped in cloth bandages. He hadn't even had a chance to complain to her about his injuries.

Juliet smiled with the deepest sympathies she could muster.

"You'll be fine." she said softly, patting his shoulder before heading up the marble staircase to pack a bag.

James sat in a fluffy robe, on a fluffy bed, against fluffy pillows, trying to find something worth watching on the wall-mounted TV. As it turned out, the woman he'd accidentally kidnapped earlier that day kept a penthouse suite for occasions such as this, when she needed a place to stay that wasn't crawling with her husband's servants - or her husband, who crawled pretty well on his own. James remembered pulling him out of his car and onto the pavement, kicking the little worm until he crawled away. James chuckled to himself as he recalled the other man's sad little moans. He'd almost put tire tracks on his face.

James had already availed himself of the stone tile shower and the pink-handled razor on the bathroom sink. Surely she wouldn't mind; there were extra cartridges in the cabinet. The fluffy robe felt nice on his skin, but he was getting antsy. He hadn't heard a peep from Juliet since she'd slipped out his apartment window. The privacy of the hotel suite was a relief, but what if the police didn't believe her? Even worse, what if she'd decided to turn him in?

"Ya had a good run, old dog." James muttered. It'd be a heck of a story for a cell mate, that was for sure.

As it occurred to him that he should cut and run while it was still quiet, Juliet let herself in, pulling a small rolling suitcase through the door behind her. She crossed through the kitchenette and stopped when she could see the sleeping area. She stood there looking at him - in the robe, ankles crossed, TV remote in hand - please to see how comfy he'd made himself in her absence.

"Hi, honey." she said dryly. She took off her sunglasses. "I'm home."

James grinned. "I was starting to think you'd changed your mind."

"I'm glad I didn't." she said. "You're even cuter than I remembered."

"Well, shucks." James smirked. "You stole my line."

Juliet smiled softly. "Are you hungry?"

"I'm starving." James tossed the remote, sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed.

"I'll order room service. How about a steak?"

"There you go," said James. "Gettin' me hard again."

Juliet chuckled, and walked to the room phone on the bedside table. It wasn't close enough for James' taste.

"Get over here." He put his hands to her waist, pulling her closer. "I gotta thank you properly for saving my hide."

His face was level with her stomach, which he kissed as his hands slipped behind to grab her ass.

"And being so fuckin' beautiful I was willing to go to prison just to finish fucking you…"

Juliet ran a hand through his freshly washed hair, and waited for the kitchen to pick up her call. James nuzzled her breasts, biting them softly over her blouse.

"Room service for penthouse two." she said, indicating they'd picked up on the other end of the line.

James went quiet. He could be a good boy when he wanted to, especially if his hands could keep doing naughty things. Those hands caressed her thighs, until they found the hem of her skirt. His hands changed direction on her bare skin, moving back up to squeeze her cheeks.

"Porterhouse, medium rare."

James squeezed harder, expressing his enthusiastic approval of the temperature. Juliet stumbled forward as he yanked her underwear down her legs, and she smiled as the kitchen staff went through a list of available sides.

"One of each." Juliet said, in the mood to spoil herself and too distracted to choose. James was shoving her skirt up to her waist by then, and she wanted to end the phone call soon.

James scooted back and had Juliet climb on top of him, so her thighs were positioned on either side of his face. He laid back, and Juliet gasped silently when she lowered herself to his mouth.

"Yes!" she agreed to something over the phone. "Mm-hm..." That wine pairing would do fine. Juliet looked down between her legs, pressing her lips together to stifle the moans that wanted to come out. His eyes were all that she could see, and James looked up at her with evil intent.

"Yes, please." she said, when they asked her if she wanted dessert, too. "That's good…that's… perfect-"

Thirty minutes, they said. Juliet pressed a button to end the call and threw the receiver away, not caring where it landed. She needed both hands to steady herself on the bed when she started grinding against his face. This wasn't going to take that long.

Juliet emerged from the shower right as the food arrived. They sat across from each other at the small dining table in matching fluffy hotel robes. Over dinner James asked her to explain, in great detail, how the hell she'd convinced the police that he'd escaped his apartment and was now in the wind. Her story illustrated that it wasn't as difficult as it looked on paper.

"Not when you have perfect tits." James teased her.

Juliet simply smiled and sipped her wine.

"So. Where we headed next?" James asked after dinner.

"Why?" Juliet shot back sarcastically. "Are you in some kind of hurry?"

James was back on the bed, propped against his pillows. He was still in his robe, and this time Juliet straddled his waist. James moved his hands up her thighs. Her robe was loose, the belt barely tied. She had a spoon and a jar of chocolate mousse in her hands, and she alternated taking bites for herself and offering him one.

"As much as I want to stay in this exact spot for all of eternity, I have a feeling leaving town would be the smarter choice."

"Hmm." Juliet pretended to consider his logic. They smiled at each other.

James' eyes were drawn to the muted television, where the evening news had just begun. He recognized the photo of the bank immediately.

"Oh, shit!" He reached for the remote and raised the volume. "I told you I'd make the news."

The anchor introduced the story, a harrowing tale as told by the bank's customers.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" James muttered impatiently. He was waiting for the police sketch. As soon as it popped up, his face screwed up in prideful disappointment.

"The hell?! That looks nothing like me!"

Juliet looked over her shoulder.

"I may have gotten a few details wrong." she murmured around the spoon.

"A few?! What about the customers in the bank? They saw me too."

"I was in the car with you for a long time." Juliet abandoned the TV and turned back to James. "The police trusted me to know your face better than the bank customers who were laying face down on the floor."

She leaned forward and kissed the tip of his nose, breaking the TV's spell on him. James watched her slide another spoonful into her mouth and pull the utensil out clean.

He had a look of dreamy appreciation on his face. "Have I mentioned lately that I love you?"

Juliet chuckled, dismissing his joke. She offered him the last spoonful of creamy chocolate, and he took it.

"Mm. So," he asked, back to business. "Where to? Texas? Mexico? Antarctica?"

"We could go to Antarctica," Juliet set the empty cup on the bedside table and dropped the spoon in. "Or," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. "We could find your ex-partner and get your money back."

"What for? You ain't exactly hurtin' for cash, sweetheart." he said, craning his neck just enough to kiss her lips. They both still tasted like their dessert.

"It's not about the dollar amount." Juliet told him. She kissed him again, a little longer and deeper. When they parted, James leaned his head against the backboard and looked into her eyes.

"It's the principle of the matter?" he asked, smirking.

Juliet nodded. She smirked too, but she was serious about this. She slipped one hand between them, loosening the terry cloth belt at James' waist.

"You've got a screwed up sense of morals." James teased her.

"My therapist keeps telling me that."

"Not complaining, mind you…" James added, gently pulling the top of Juliet's robe apart.

"Yeah, the therapist didn't complain either." Juliet said sarcastically, earning a sly smile. But maybe that was because he was setting her on her back.

"Did the therapist get to fuck you like I do?" James asked. Once he had her on her back, he shed his robe completely.

"No," Juliet murmured, untying the belt of her robe so it laid open. "Nobody's fucked me like you do..."

James reached for one of the pillows. "Lift your butt." he said simply.

Juliet pushed her hips toward the ceiling so James could tuck the pillow underneath. As she settled, James knelt before her and got that look in his eyes, the same one she'd seen back in his squatter's apartment. Like he knew for certain he was going to make her come.

James' hand moved between her legs. She kept her eyes on his face. He placed the backs of his fingers against her, stroking slowly up and down her slit. Juliet bit her lip and made a soft sound. She got wet just being on her back with her legs spread in front of him, and he was spreading it all over her.

"Did we really only meet today?" Juliet asked him.

"I don't know. I feel like there may have been a past life or two."

"That's a romantic thought," she said, teasing.

"What, a bank robber can't be romantic?" he asked, playfully defensive. He stroked himself with his other hand.

"Sure he can. But you didn't successfully rob a bank," Juliet reminded him. "So…I think of you more as a car thief."

"Is that right?" James chuckled, his wicked smile a promise of punishment for the rib. The hand that stroked her moved to her hip, and James pushed the head of his cock into her. Juliet reached above her head and fisted the blanket where it draped the edge of the bed. Fuck, he hadn't gotten any smaller since that morning. She called out from deep in her throat, head pressed firmly back into the mattress, and drew her knees apart to make more room for him.

He eased himself in, slower even than she may have needed him to. He liked the look on her face while he did it. He liked to see her panting.

"This pussy was made for me."

Juliet nodded, and soft terry cloth rubbed against her cheek as she agreed with a breathless word. "Yeah..."

James put both hands on her waist and held her in place, impaling her at an achingly slow pace. With her pelvis propped up at that angle he went deep, and she felt even more helpless than she had the first time he'd pinned her to a mattress earlier that day.

Once he'd stretched her open, he built up a pace as punishing as it was pleasing. She couldn't form a single word, let alone sarcastic statements from that position, only shouting moans that intensified when they took turns stimulating her clit.

The pace slackened for a moment when he hooked his arms under her thighs, returning quickly to pounding thrusts once he had a tight grip on her waist again.

She soaked his cock, and the pillow under her hips, her back arching as the pleasure built up slowly from within. As the feeling grew, Juliet wondered if she'd black out this time. She was barely aware of propping herself up on her elbows, or begging him to touch her; she just needed him to be the one to finish it. Somehow his thumb found her clit around their human pretzel and Juliet's body tensed for what felt like eternity. All she could hear was James moaning his way toward his own climax, after which Juliet's vision returned and she found her arm wrapped over his neck.

Forehead to forehead, they breathed together and realized they were still alive. Juliet kissed his lips, slow and sloppy. He was still inside of her, hips still moving at a fraction of the force and speed that they had just been.

James looked down between them, and Juliet's eyes followed, so they could both watch him slip out of her.

"Fuck," Juliet whispered. "I like that." She fell back, and James let her legs down from his arms. Spent beyond spent, James used the last of his waking strength to pull her bodily by the waist so she was laying the other way, head to clean pillows. Juliet giggled drunkenly at the manhandling and watched James throw the ruined pillow to the floor. He laid down beside her, wrapping her up in both arms.

"I liked that, too." he whispered in her ear. He turned to nuzzle her face, and Juliet pressed her bruised, tingling lips against his.

"We'll go to Texas first," she told him after a few more kisses. "Then we'll get your money back." she said after a few more. "And we'll fuck fifty times a day while we do it."

James kissed back harder, until Juliet slipped away to use the bathroom. Once they were both ready for sleep, they made out for twenty minutes more before finally drifting off. Then they slept like babies in the safety of the penthouse hotel room.

Montgomery didn't know it yet, but his life was in danger. The man he'd betrayed in the bank had just met the love of his life, and she always got what she wanted.

A/N: To be continued!