“I did,” I replied. “He said her name was Julia Hansen. I didn’t ask him anything else.” I purposely left out the part where I did ask if Andrew, Jude’s dad, had loved her. “Of course, she’s probably married now, but it’s a start.”
“Look at you,” he chuckled, tweaking my nose, “my little detective.”
“Hey,” I laughed, “if he’s going to think I’m this Julia person half the time then I deserve to know who she is.”
“I guess so.” Suddenly he pointed up at the sky. “Look, Tate! Now, that’s a shooting star.”
I gazed up in awe at the light streaking across the sky.
“Make a wish,” he whispered.
I closed my eyes, but I didn’t wish for anything. After all, I now had everything.
“What did you wish for?” He asked me.
“I can’t tell you that. You know that would break the rules,” I smiled.
He rolled on top of me, pining me against the blankets with hands on either side of my head. “You make me want to break all the rules I made for myself,” he confessed.
“And what would those rules be exactly?” I asked, tilting my head slightly to side.
He bit his lips, debating what he was going to say next. “I can’t tell you yet.”
“Can’t or won’t?” I countered.
“Won’t,” he answered immediately. “I’ll tell you soon, though. When I’m ready.”
I nodded. “Okay. As long as you promise not to forget. I’m really curious about all these rules you want to break with me.”
“One day,” he promised. His face grew serious, his eyes darkening to the point that they were nearly black. “Tate…” He swallowed thickly, his eyes closing. They opened wide and he took a breath. “Will you make love with me under the stars?”
I smiled, wrapping my arms around his neck and brought him down to the point that our lips were almost touching, but not quite. Before I kissed him, I said, “Do you really need to ask?”
I didn’t wait for him to reply. I closed that last millimeter between us and kissed him. He growled low in his throat. Jude initiated pretty much everything between us, but I was discovering that I could make him crazy by kissing him. I think it pleased him to know that he wasn’t the only one that wanted this. I wished I could be as open with my feelings as him. I was getting better but I wasn’t quite there yet.
So I’d just have to show him instead.
“Tate,” he breathed my name between our lips.
I kissed him leisurely, like we had all the time in the world. I put everything I had into that kiss so he’d know how I felt. I needed some way to express the depth of my feelings without saying them out loud.
His fingers found the buttons of my shirt, undoing them quickly. He pushed the fabric off my shoulders without breaking our kiss. It fell behind me.
I lightly bit his plump bottom lip and he let out a moan that had me squirming.
I pushed against him, deepening the kiss. Our tongues tangled together in a dance that only we knew.
My back rested on the soft blankets and my head was cradled by one of the many pillows. His lips broke away from mine and I gasped with longing. I wanted more. So much more.
His lips descended down my neck and he planted kisses over my breasts which heaved with every breath. I couldn’t get enough oxygen—no, that was a lie. It was Jude I couldn’t get enough of.
His fingers found the edge of my tank top. He didn’t bother taking it off slowly. It was ripped from my body and tossed outside the confines of the truck bed. Something told me I might never find it, and I really didn’t care.
I needed this.
I needed him.
“You’re all I want.” His breath tickled the skin of my stomach with his words. “You’re it for me. Please, never doubt that.”