When she lifts her hand from my arm, I reach into the duffle bag behind me and pull out Kurt’s letter. “Here,” I say and hand her the neatly folded paper. “Read what he said. Maybe you’ll understand why this is so important to me.”
She nods but doesn’t say a word, peeking up at me as she unfolds the single sheet. I can’t watch her read it. I’ve read it at least a hundred times since Jim gave it to me. I walk over to the bed and let my body fall backward onto the mattress.
I stare up at the ceiling and wonder which parts she’s on. She’s sniffling, and out of the corner of my eye, I can see her wipe away her tears. The paper crinkles before she’s hovering above me.
“Jude,” she whispers while she sits down next to me. “I don’t know what to say.” She hangs her head, and her hands are twisting in her lap.
She’s feeling only some of what I felt reading the letter. I lived it with him. Thought of him as a brother. Losing someone in this way is devastating. I roll and sit up. My hand curls around the back of her neck, my palm resting against her cheek and my thumb pressing against the corner of her beautiful, pink mouth. “There’s nothing to say, Reagan. There are no words for what I’ve seen and what drove Kurt into oblivion. All that’s left is to feel.”
Before she can respond, I lean forward and crush my mouth to hers. I need to feel and get lost in something other than despair. Reagan is the only person who’s made me feel an ounce of happiness in more years than I care to admit.
Will my decision to run harder and do whatever it takes to win ruin anything that we may have?
I’m living in the moment, not worried about what tomorrow will bring.
Right now, it doesn’t matter. All that matters is getting lost in the feel of her full, soft lips pressed against mine.
When my tongue sweeps into her mouth and is met by a moan, I’m lost in a different abyss.
I’ve never been kissedlike this. Jude’s tongue is claiming; his lips are seeking. My soft curves mold against his taut muscles, every ridge finding a valley until there’s nothing left between us.
I can’t think. Now that Jude’s shown me his vulnerable side, all bets are off. Ineedto feel him and taste him. Whatever comfort or redemption he’s looking for, I want to be the one he finds it in.
Every nerve in my body responds to the primal hunger he incites in me. When his big hand reaches behind my head to cup my neck, I moan softly and his other hand tightens its hold on my ass.
He lifts me slightly and moves forward, putting his knee between my thighs and resting it on the bed. Anddamn, do I like it.
I suck in a breath, and he doesn’t miss it. When he pulls his lips from mine, I see the smirk I either love to hate or hate to love, depending on the day. “You like me pushing those legs apart, Reagan?”
“Felt more like a gentle nudge to me, Titan,” I say in challenge, my heart thundering with excitement.
He arches his brows with amusement. “Gentle, huh?”
When he presses his palm between my breasts and pushes me to the mattress, my sigh is half surprise, half arousal. As soon as my back hits the bed, he’s on top of me, his knee back between my thighs. I feel heat everywhere—from his body, my own, between my legs, and even inside my chest.
The scrape of his stubble on my neck makes my skin tingle and my back arch. I feel his groan against my throat. Knowing I excite him is like fuel on an already raging fire. I pull back my knee, trying to work my leg around his so I can wrap both legs around his waist and feel all of him pressed against me.
He digs his knee into the mattress, and another groan vibrates from his chest to mine. I gasp as his tongue traces a light trail along my collarbone.
When I grab his shoulders and pull my knee back again so I can feel his erection pressing against my center rather than his knee, he lifts his face from my neck and meets my eyes.
“No.” His tone is gravelly and strained, but firm.
“Yes,” I say, holding his gaze as I wiggle beneath him in an effort to get what I want.
It’s more than want at this point; I’m aching to feel Jude’s erection against me.
“Reagan,” he says, his voice laced with warning now. “No.”
He’s breathing hard, and arousal is pooled in his dark, narrowed eyes. He wants this, too. But he wants to control me more.
“Don’t tell me no,” I say, my tone matching his.
“You have no idea how hard it is.”
“Exactly. And I want to.”
The corner of his mouth quirks up in a grin. “That’s not what I meant, but Iamhard as fuck right now.”
