That gives me hope. “There’s a reason I never settled down with any of the women I dated. So many of them were great people. Kara was fucking perfect for me, but still, I didn’t want to marry her.”
He scowls. “She’s not that perfect.”
“She’s perfect on paper, but not perfect for me. You are though.”
He nods, although he still seems hesitant to accept what I’m saying.
My heart aches at his uncertainty, but I understand it comes from a place of fear. “I won’t let you down, Jude,” I say gently. “I know it’s hard for you to trust, but I swear on my life, I won’t let you down.”
“It’ll kill me if you do,” he says in a small voice.
“Trust me,” I whisper. “Please, Jude, we belong together. You know we do.”
“Liam,” he whimpers, “I want to trust you.”
“Then do.” I urge.
He leans in to kiss me as if he can’t help himself. He starts to pull me onto the couch with him, but I stop him.
“Let’s go upstairs,” I say. “I don’t want our first time to be on the couch. I want you in my bed. That’s where you belong.”
His mouth thins. “Your sheets probably smell of Kara.”
I sigh. “The sheets are clean, but I don’t suppose that’s really what’s bothering you. Shall I burn the bed? Maybe the whole house and start new with you somewhere else?”
He gives a grudging smile. “Maybe.”
“I’ll do it,” I warn. “Don’t think I won’t. There’s literally nothing I won’t do for you, Jude.”
He narrows his eyes. “Would you leave Golden Peak?”
My heart stutters at the thought, but I nod. “If that’s what you want.”
He frowns. “I don’t want that. Are you crazy? You love it here. Hell, I love it here. Plus, your mother would murder me.”
I laugh, relieved. “She might.”
He touches my face. “I… I don’t want to leave Golden Peak. I want to stay here and build a life with you.”
“Then let’s do that.” I slip my arms around him and we hold each other. I’m in awe of how much I need him. Of how perfect he feels in my arms. Jude is everything I’ve ever wanted or needed in a mate, and I almost lost him.
“Take me upstairs,” he whispers, his breath hot against my neck. “I’ve waited so long for you to wake up and see me, Liam.”
I pull back and cup his face. “Jude, I can’t see anything but you.”
Chapter Seventeen
Jude
Liam takes my hand and leads me upstairs. His grip is firm, warm, slightly unsteady. I can feel the rapid pulse in his wrist against my fingers. He’s nervous. So am I, but my nervousness is threaded with something I haven’t felt in so long I barely recognize it.
Trust.
I’ve walked past his bedroom a hundred times but never stepped inside. A large mahogany bed dominates the room, covered with a dark gray comforter, with a matching nightstand and dresser holding a few framed photos of his family. The window faces the pines, and moonlight spills across the floor in pale silver bars. It smells like him in here. Every part of Liam concentrated in this room. Evergreen, warm skin, and that deep earthy note that’s been driving me out of my mind for weeks.
He closes the door and turns to me. In the dim light, his dark eyes are intense, searching my face like he’s memorizing it. His chest rises and falls unevenly.
“I don’t exactly know what I’m doing here,” he says, his voice low and rough. “As you well know, I’ve never been with a man.”
