Which was what led me to slap his palm and say, "Team fake engagement for the win."
He stared at me for a beat—probably wondering if I'd helped myself to more of Janet's candies—before belting out a deep laugh. "Okay, princess," he said, turning his hand over and gripping my thigh. My dress bunched under his fingers. A growly noise sounded in his throat when he noticed my knee peeking out from under the skirt and he inched it higher,higher.
There was too much fabric gathered at my waist to make this truly scandalous. Unless I leaned back and spread my legs, no one was catching a glimpse of my undies. But when Jude finished hiking up my dress, he skated his palm up from my bare knee to my?—
Oh.
Oh. Okay. All right.
"Still good?" he asked, his hand high on my leg and his fingers drumming an impatient rhythm on my inner thigh.
I didn't try for words this time, instead murmuring, "Mmhm," and thanking the heavens that it was too dark out for him to read the emotions on my face. Hell,Ididn't want to read them. Not when I knew they were a cluttered mess ofI really want to have sex with him right nowandBut what happens after we have sex?andGod, please don't let my stomach make this weird.
I really, really didn't want my stomach to make it weird. I'd been there before. It wasn't a good time.
But I felt all right. A lot better than this morning. And I knew this was my absolute last chance with Jude. We flew to opposite sides of the country tomorrow and I couldn't think of a single reason our paths would cross again unless we came up with one tonight.
I wanted a reason.
Maybe that was presumptuous of me. Maybe I was diving headfirst into shallow waters. But I had enough regrets to lastme a lifetime. I didn't want to leave Arizona with any more of them.
And that was why I shifted in my seat. Under different circumstances, it would've barely registered as movement. With Jude's hand spanning most of my leg, there was no hiding the way I gave up trying to press my knees together and just let them fall slightly open.
He paused, his fingertips frozen against my inner thighs. I kept my gaze fixed on the car ahead of us but I saw him cut a quick glance at me. He wanted to be sure, to know I'd done that on purpose. He released a breath, short and raspy, and though it hadn't taken the shape of any word I knew, it woke up every memory I had of us frantically stripping off clothes and tearing open condoms.
Another moment passed before he moved those fingers again but when he did, he dragged them in a straight line toward my panties. No detours, no time wasted. He didn't even bother teasing at the edges, instead going right to the center. Where I was already wet and throbbing, more aroused than I'd been since—well, since the other night.
But before the other night, it'd beenages. Not that I wanted to get into the short history of my sex life since Jude but the unimpressive details could fit on a small sticky note. With room left over for a doodle or two.
He tapped a finger to the hood of my clit, slow and measured like a metronome. It was annoying at first. Not nearly enough pressure and too much distortion from my underwear. I needed more. Much more.
But then those taps seemed to accumulate. They piled up on top of each other, building and building until my only option was to spread my legs as wide as the car would allow. To arch up into his touch. To close my hand around his wrist and demand the hard pressure of the heel of his palm exactly where I wanted it.
As I gasped and shook, Jude turned down the resort's driveway, his gaze straight ahead and his fingers curled around the steering wheel. It hardly seemed like I'd just ridden his hand to an orgasm.
But as we rolled to a stop in front of the resort and the building's exterior lights bled into the car, I noticed the erection trapped behind his zipper. It was…substantial.
As if he felt me staring, his fingers flexed on my extremely wet panties, sending a sharp pulse against sensitive flesh. I made an atrocious noise and he chuckled a bit, as if to sayYeah, that just happened. And then those fingers were gone. He brought my legs together and he straightened my dress, pulling it down to my knees. He gave it a final pass, his hand skimming over the fabric like that was all I needed to put me back in order.
He took my hand, the one with a death grip on the seat, and brushed his lips over my knuckles. His gaze fixed on me, he said, "I'd ask if you're good but I think I know the answer to that."
"Don't be smug," I said.
"Oh, I think I'm allowed." Jude tipped my chin up, pulling my gaze to his. He traced a thumb over my lips. "I'd let you put this pretty mouth to work but there are at least four valet guys watching us right now. Last I checked, you're not that much of an exhibitionist."
"I'm not."
"Then I think we should go inside now."
"Okay," I said, though it didn't sound like my voice. It sounded like the first step onto thin ice on a sunny day. "I think you're right."
chapter thirty-six
Audrey
Today's vocabulary word: restraint
The doorto our room was barely closed when we tore into each other. My dress was up, off, flying over my head as I wrenched his belt open and ripped at the buttons on his shirt.
