“I wasn’t trying to goad you into a confession you didn’t mean.”
“I meant it. I just, you know, wanted to wait until we weren’t here. Someplace nicer. Maybe with some candles and shit.”
Jude threw his head back, laughter spilling from his throat. “Oh, General, I don’t need candles. Or shit. I just need you.” He stopped laughing and framed Snow’s face with his warm hands. “I love you, too.”
He pressed his lips to Snow’s and the warmth that flooded through his body was unlike anything he’d felt in his life. It swept through and lifted a weight off his soul that he hadn’t even realized was so heavy. He felt that maybe, just maybe, he was really going to build a life with this man. Make him a part of his family…and become a part of Jude’s.
“Come on,” Jude said against his lips. “Let’s grab your stuff and get out of here. The faster we do, the faster we can eat breakfast at your friends’, and get back to my place. I want us to spend the few hours before our shifts naked.”
Snow nodded, forced himself to let the man go and got out of his car. He felt like a mass of nerves. He’d just made a commitment and he knew damn good and well, he’d be spending most of his nights in that little apartment because he wanted to sleep next to him. And wake next to him. He wanted to do everything with Jude.
And they’d be looking for a place together soon because just standing at the door leading into his home made him realized he couldn’t live here. That he’d never feel safe in this place again.
Jude’s touch on his shoulder jerked Snow from the dark thoughts trying to crowd his brain. A smile, soft and all too understanding, tugged at Jude’s lips. Snow was safe with Jude. On a whim, he leaned in and snatched another quick kiss, causing Jude’s eyes to widen in surprise. Snow vowed that would be the last time Jude would be surprised by affection from him. This man deserved to know he was cherished. He would receive the affection and devotion Snow had always longed for.
Starting as soon as they got the fuck out of this house. It wasn’t a home any longer. The place was contaminated. Tainted.
“I’m going to run upstairs and pack my suitcases. I think I left my running shoes by the couch. Will you grab those and meet me on the third floor?”
“You sure? Sure you want to go up there alone first?”
The concern filling Jude’s face shot right through him. “Yeah.” Snow paused and cleared his clogged throat. When the hell did he get so damn sentimental? “Yeah. I’m in a hurry. And not just for Ian’s Belgian waffles. I want the naked you mentioned.”
“Then get to it, General.”
Grinning, Snow jogged up the stairs, but his steps slowed as he reached the second floor. He hadn’t intended to stop; was supposed to pass right by it to the master bedroom on the third floor. But the dried blood had caught his eye. Sarah had warned him that the cleaning company hired by CPD wouldn’t be able to stop by for another two days. He could have waited to get his things, but he’d needed to see it again. Needed to know that they were getting close to the end. That Gratton would be caught and they would be able to go back to their lives.
This chapter of his life would be over. No more reckless, one-night stands. No more self-destruction and dependence on Lucas and Rowe to pull him back together.
A loud thump echoed from the first floor. Snow twisted around, looked down the stairs, expecting to see Jude coming up, but the stairwell was empty. How long had he been standing there? A couple minutes at least. Jude should have found the shoes and joined him already.
“Jude?” he called but only silence answered him.
The hair on Snow’s arms stood on end as he turned back to the stairs, taking the first one as quietly as possible. He lifted his right hand, brushing his waist, but no weapon hung there. He’d left Rowe’s gun in the car. Fuck.
As he got within a few stairs of the first floor, his heart tripped at his first clear view of the living room. Jude was on his knees facing the rear window of the house, his fingers threaded together behind his head, while Gratton loomed above him, a gun pressed into the back of Jude’s head.
It was the first time that Snow had gotten a good look at Gratton since this game of cat and mouse had started. Time hadn’t been kind to him. His face was bloated and ravaged with lines along with the ugly scar across his cheek. His thinning brown hair, threaded with gray, stood up in all directions as if he’d been harried — maybe by the cops or maybe he just knew that his freedom was dwindling and this was a final act of desperation and revenge.