“I’ll introduce you to Bane.” He shifted closer to me, his voice softening. “I’ll give you his cell number, so you can communicate with him if you need to. That make you feelbetter?”
“Fuck,yes.”
His eyes held mine, and the tiniest ghost of a smile played at his lips. “Good.”
I swallowed, softening a little. “Look… I’m really sorry, okay? For that stupid fight, the othernight…”
He shook his head. “You were right. I didn’t want you aroundPiper.”
Oh.Well, thathurt.
“You’re ashamed of me,” I said, quietly. I couldn’t even look at him. “Just like you were backthen.”
He took me by the shoulders and got close to my face. “I am not ashamed of you, Roni. I was never ashamed of you.” I looked up into his dark eyes, and he said, “I just don’t want to even think about you bein’ with anyoneelse.”
What?
“With Piper?” I was so fucking confused. I’d rarely even run into Piper over the years. I’d never even had a real relationship with him, and we’d only had sex once, a decade ago. Piper didn’t care about me. I didn’t care abouthim.
Why did Jude stillcare?
“With anyone,” hesaid.
I took a slow, deep breath, just feeling thosewords.
“Come on, darlin’,” he said, slipping his arm around me. “Let’s sit down. We cantalk.”
He steered me from the foyer into a dark living room and sat me down on the couch. But he didn’t sit down beside me. He knelt on the floor in front of me, between my knees… just like he had that first night we’d ever hadsex.
And it killedme.
I wished we could just rewind, go back to that night, and startover.
Because that night… it wasperfect.
Before we fucked it allup.
“I don’t even wanna talk,” Iwhispered.
“What do you want,V?”
“I want to kissyou.”
He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me towards him, and I kissed him. He ran his hands down my thighs and then up, under my dress. I put my hands on his, but I didn’t push themaway.
“Jude…”
It was the feeblest attempt in the world to curb a guy’s attempt to get under my dress, and it was quickly abandoned as he slid the sparkly fabric up, exposing my lace panties. They were skimpy and red and had a sparkly little candy cane on the front, right above myclit.
Hegrinned.
“Merry Christmas?” Iwhispered.
He chuckled. Then he slipped a finger under the lace, yanked the panties aside, and shoved his face between my legs. I had no choice, really, but to fall back on the couch and enjoyit.
“Fuck… ahhhh… Jude… shit, I love it when you go down onme.”
“Yeah,darlin’…?”
