Jude Brooks was the last person on earth I’d ever wanted, but there are some things you just can’t fight. We were meant to be. I saw that now. Fighting on my end had been futile.
He slid in and out slowly, taking his time. My hips rose to meet his. There was nothing hurried about our movements. We both knew we had all the time in the world.
He sucked on my bottom lip, drawing it into his mouth and letting it go with an audible pop.
He cupped my breasts in his hands as if testing their fullness. Then, one of his hands headed lower and rubbed against me. My hips bucked and I clawed at his back. I couldn’t even begin to describe the feelings he generated inside me. It was like he knew exactly what to do to make my body sing. I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck, my fingers slipping against his damp skin, but I needed something to hold onto, because I was pretty sure I was about to fly away.
His fingers rubbed harder and my body tightened before relaxing. I gasped his name in his ear as I came down from my high.
He murmured something in my ear, but my brain couldn’t process his words.
He moved in and out of me torturously slow.
“More, harder, please,” I begged wantonly.
“No,” he growled. “This is making love, Tate,” he panted, “I’m not going to fuck you this time. We’ll save that for later.” There was a promising tone to his voice and my body shook.
His tongue laved against my neck, leaving a wet streak, and then he lightly bit the same spot as if he was marking me. I didn’t mind the territorial display.
He rubbed his thumbs over my nipples in a circular motion and my body arched back, giving him better access. He knew exactly what to do to make me crazy. He owned me, body and soul.
&n
bsp; His mouth took my breast once more and my body clenched around him from the sensations he created. I’d never known I could experience such pleasure.
His jaw clenched and his eyes closed. I rubbed his cheek soothingly with a stroke of my fingers. “Jude,” I pleaded, my words a breathy gasp, “look at me. Please.” I didn’t care if it sounded like I was begging. I needed to look in his eyes. I had to know if he was as affected by this as I was. I didn’t know if I could survive if he didn’t feel the same.
His eyes blinked open slowly, like it took a lot of effort.
My gut clenched at the look in his eyes. Oh yeah, he felt it too.
At the same time, and staring into each other’s eyes, we fell apart together as the stars twinkled above us.
Perfection?
I thought so.
Chapter Twenty Three
I walked nervously through the back entrance of the cupcake shop. I’d been so consumed by school for so many years that I’d never had a real job. Just the random babysitting gig now and then.
“Tatum!” Lucinda smiled, breezing over to me.
“Hi.” My voice shook with nerves.
She seemed to sense it and patted my cheek. “Don’t be worried dear. This job is easy peasy. Come on, let’s get you a shirt and hat.” She led me over to a closet and opened it up. Inside were several different styles of shirts and a hat like Bryce had been wearing the other day when I came to see about a job.
Lucinda looked me up and down and pulled out a shirt. She’d grabbed the right size. She handed me a hat and pointed to a door. “That’s a bathroom. You can change in there and then we’ll go over everything.”
Inside the bathroom, I locked the door just in case Bryce was here and tried to pull a prank on me. He struck me as the type to try something—not to be mean, but to have a laugh.
I removed my shirt and put it in my purse before shrugging into the Lucinda’s shirt. It was black with pink writing on it.
I pulled my hair back into a ponytail and secured it with an elastic. I put the hat on and pulled my long hair through the opening in the back. I sighed, looking at my reflection. Here I was, about to graduate, and working at a cupcake shop. It wasn’t the glamorous journalism career path I wanted for myself, but you had to start somewhere, and I needed the money. When I told Jude about my new job, he hadn’t been thrilled about all the time it would tie up, but after experiencing my dad firsthand he knew this was what I had to do.
I opened the door and found Lucinda standing at one of the counters, dropping ingredients into the bowl. Upon seeing me, she wiped her hands on a dishrag and blew her hair out of her face with a breath.
“I thought we’d start you on the register for a while, and work your way up to baking. Making cupcakes is an exact science, and until you know how to make them right, it can turn into a disaster.” I laughed, nodding my head in agreement. “Alright, come on sweetie.” She put a hand on my shoulder and guided me to the front.