But so was he.
He was multifaceted, always surprising me with a new side to him that I didn’t expect. I was never bored. I could barely catch my breath and I loved it.
“This is really extravagant,” I said with a laugh as we tumbled out of the theater and ran down the sidewalk. “But we need to?—”
Fountains exploded behind us in an ostentatious display of lights and music. Jude cupped my cheeks and kissed me. Onlookers cheered, whistled, and hollered. It probably looked like we had just gotten engaged or something.
But that wasn’t it at all.
We were living.
That, in itself, felt like the most monumental accomplishment.
The kiss turned into laughter as the spray from the fountain showered us in a mist. I threw my hands up to protect my hair, but Jude grabbed them and pulled me into a dance.
Every preconceived notion I had about Jude Greear disappeared as we waltzed in the middle of the Las Vegas Strip without a care in the world.
I threw my arms around his neck as he swung me around. I couldn’t help but laugh. For all the fear and danger we’d experienced, he’d also given me a freedom I hadn’t felt since I was a child. He’d given me time to sit back in awe of the world around me.
Living was a privilege that not everyone was afforded.
Jude had inadvertently given me the greatest luxury.
“Thank you,” I whispered as he gently lowered me to my feet.
With one last kiss, he asked, “Did you have a good day?”
“You gave me the best day.” I stroked one of the tattoos that peeked out of his collar—a trident. “But I need to thank you for all the rest of our days too.”
Something glimmered in his eyes. Maybe it was the reflection of the city lights. But it seemed deeper.
“Come on,” Jude said as he took my hand. “One last thing.”
33
JUDAH
Saturday, June 7 | 6:35 p.m.
Amelia and I raced through the lobby of a hotel and casino that was dripping in opulence. The thumping bass of an adjacent club rattled my bones as we careened into the elevator in a fit of laughter.
It had been decades since I felt this light. The moment the doors closed, I had Amelia pinned to the wall and my tongue down her throat.
For a woman who had never been kissed before two weeks ago, she took it like a fucking champ and gave it back to me tenfold.
She clawed at the buttons of my shirt as the elevator came to a smooth stop. “You need to find somewhere to fuck meright now.”
“Patience, love,” I said in a soothing tease as I backed her out of the elevator.
“Jude,” she whimpered in utter desperation. “Closet. Vending machine room. Something. Please.”
I pulled the room card that had been included in the packet with our tickets and IDs out of my pocket and tapped it against the hotel room door. Frankly, I had no idea how Cole’s people had managed to get an active hotel room key for a room they knew would be unoccupied, but there was a reason they were the best of the best. I waited for the chirp as the door unlocked, then pushed it open. Amelia and I stumbled into the dark room as the door slammed shut behind us. I dropped our bags in the entryway, even though spending even a second doing anything but taking that dress off her seemed like a complete waste of time.
“Where are we?” she gasped as I grabbed the hem of her dress and lifted it over her head in one smooth motion.
“Our hotel room.”
Her brows lifted. “You got us a room?”
