“I want all our time back,” I breathe, threading my fingers into his hair and tugging just enough to tilt his head. A rough soundtears from his throat. “I want us to run. I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything.”
He groans. “Say it again.”
I look into his eyes, past the hazel, past the gold, and into the darkness beneath. “I wantyou. Forever.”
His grip tightens on my hips, like the words hurt and heal him all at once. His eyes flutter shut, a shadow passing over his face. When they open again, the gold isblazing.
A soft mumble drifts from the other couch. Heather, shifting in her sleep.
Jude freezes, his hand splayed possessively against my spine. One suspended heartbeat where the world rushes back in.
Then he leans close, lips brushing my ear. “Let’s go to my room.”
Immediate liquid heat ripples through my core. I nod, unable to speak. Carefully, he slides me off his lap. His fingers lace with mine, pulling me up. His other hand settles on the small of my back, guiding as he leads me toward the dark hallway. The moment we’re beyond the living room’s light, he spins me, pulling me against his chest. His lips hover a breath from mine.
“I really need you, Em.”
I pause, staring up into his shadowed face. What he just said isn’t just lust. It’s beyond physical. It was almost a confession born of the vulnerability in this moment. I answer by kissing him, softly at first. Then harder, my hands fisting in the soft cotton of his hoodie, pulling him into me. Jude inhales sharply through his nose, and the last thread of his control snaps. His mouth suddenly becomes hungry and urgent. He walks us backward, into his room, nudging the door shut with his foot. The softclickof the latch echoes quietly.
And then it’s just us.
Our kisses are a frantic, breathless trade. Between them, he yanks my shirt up and over my head. I fumble with his hoodie, pushing it up his torso, and he helps, pulling it off and tossing it aside. My heart hammers against my ribs, a wild, scared bird.I’venever loved like this. Never wanted to throw myself on the blade of someone else’s pain just to keep them safe.
He breaks away just long enough to tap his phone on the nightstand. A soft, haunting melody fills the dark room—Waitby M83. The opening notes wrap around my throat. Then he’s laying me back on the bed, his weight following me down. His hands are at my jeans, button, zipper, dragging them down my legs along with my underwear in one smooth, determined pull. The cool air kisses my skin, and I’m holding my breath, completely exposed to him. To the only man I’ve ever truly wanted.
His eyes never leave mine as he stands to unbuckle his own jeans. He pushes them down, and the moonlight from the window pours over him, painting his lean, muscular form in silver and shadow. The tattoos on his arms seem to shift and move. He is a beautiful, broken dream climbing back over me, settling between my thighs, the blankets tangled around our waists.
I wrap my legs around him immediately, heels digging into the backs of his thighs,desperateto feel him inside, to close every possible inch of distance. But he makes me wait. He kisses me again, deep and passionate, as his hand slips down. His fingers find me already soaked, and he groans into my mouth, a sound of pure male satisfaction. He sinks two fingers inside me, a slow, curling motion that makes me gasp and arch off the bed. I’m so ready, soachinglyempty for him. I lift my hips, chasing his fingers as they gently pump in and out.
His lips trail from my mouth, down my jaw, to the frantic pulse in my throat. He nuzzles, then sinks his teeth into the tender curve of my shoulder. The sharp, bright flash of pain-pleasure makes me cry out. He growls and removes his fingers, replacing them with the blunt, hot head of his cock. I rock my hips, rubbing him against my sensitive clit. Jude’s breath hitches. Heloops an arm under my right knee, hooking it over his elbow, opening me wider.
He pushes inside.
Not in one thrust. Hesinks. A slow, relentless, breathtaking invasion that stretches me perfectly, fills me so completely I whimper against his lips. He swallows the sound, kissing me as he drags back out, then pushes in again, just as slow. The pleasure isalmost cruel, this gentleness, when I’m coiled so tight. But this is Jude. He’s careful and respectful, even when it drives him to the edge. He’s always been so kind to me.
My hands skate over his biceps and the broad planes of his shoulders. I cup his jaw as he kisses me, his tongue tangling with mine. The song swells, the soaring synth tearing at the fragile wall around my heart. Tears burn behind my eyes, a messy mix of love and fear and this overwhelming, physical bliss.
He pulls back, just an inch, searching my face. “Are you okay?”
I bite my bottom lip, hard.I love you. Run away with me. I’m so scared.The words clot in my throat. I swallow them down. “I just...I just love you so much.”
His eyes narrow, seeing right through me. But he lets it go. He kisses me again, and this time, his hips snap forward.Hard.Three deep, punishing strokes that punch the air from my lungs and send a shockwave of pure pleasure radiating from my core.
My mind fractures. Thoughts of blackmail, of trying to get Rook to help me, of losing him, scatter like leaves in a windstorm. All that’s left issensation. The heavy, driving rhythm of his thrusts. The sound of his ragged, breathy grunts in my ear.
His pace quickens, and the hand not holding my leg fists in the sheets beside my head. I can feel his control fraying, his movements growing more primal. My own climax builds, a spring wound to its breaking point.
“Jude,” I gasp, my voice breaking.
“I know, baby,” he grits out, his thrusts turning deeper and focused, hitting a spot that makes me see white. “Give it to me sweetheart, come for me.”
My body seizes, a silent, shattered scream trapped in my throat as the orgasm detonates. It’s an endless, tidal wave of pure, convulsing pleasure that milks his cock, pulling a raw groan fromhim. He rides me through it, his rhythm faltering, until he buries himself to the hilt with a final, brutal thrust.
His forehead falls to mine, our breath mingling in ragged, shared gasps. My arms lock around his neck, holding him.
“I love you too, Em,” he rasps, his voice thick with emotion. “I’ll love you forever.” And then he kisses me, thrusting deeper to prove his point.
Chapter twenty-nine
