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I did.

“Just look at me,” he repeated. “It’s going to be okay.”

I nodded, waiting for him to push in even further. He did, but instead of a little bit it was all the way. He silenced my cry with a kiss and I clawed at his back.

“I won’t move until you’re ready.” He peppered sweet kisses to my jaw.

When I had adjusted to the feel of him, I nodded, letting him know he was okay to move.

He slid out slowly and back in. It hurt at first as he stretched me. My body wasn’t used to such activities. It didn’t take long for the pain to go away and pleasure like I’d never felt before replaced it.

Sex with Tyler had been dirty. I’d been a girl trying to escape.

With Jude…it was magic. The look in his eyes spoke of such love that I almost wept. This was why you were supposed to wait to have sex with someone you cared about. The difference was astounding.

His movements were slow and steady and once I got the rhythm of it my hips joined his in a sensual dance. He held his weight off of me, but his chest was still pressed against mine. I loved feeling him skin to skin. I felt like I could sink inside him and get lost forever.

Everything about our coupling was slow and sweet. It was nothing like I expected. It was better. Perfect, even.

I came again, crying his name as I clung to his damp shoulders. Tears stung my eyes from the overwhelming sweetness of it all.

A moment later Jude gasped my name over and over again in my ear as he found his release.

He rolled off me and onto his side.

He pulled my damp body against his and wrapped his arms around me.

His lips found the bare skin of my neck and placed a soft kiss there.

“That was amazing,” he breathed, his breath tickling my skin.

“Amazing,” I agreed.

My eyes drifted closed and I fell asleep with a smile on my face. With the arms of the one I loved wrapped around me.

Life didn’t get better than this.

Chapter Twenty Two

When I cracked my eyes open I couldn’t help smiling at the sight of Jude snuggled against me. At some point in the night we’d grown cold and ended up getting under the covers.

He slept peacefully beside me, his breath even as it fanned over my face.

I reached out, unable to stop myself, and traced my finger lightly over the elegant slope of his nose. His eye didn’t look nearly as bad this morning as I’d expected. There was a little swelling, but the coloring was non-existent. It made me wonder if Jude was used to being hit. If maybe his dad was like mine. He’d said his parent’s never beat him, but I knew from experience how easy it was to lie.

I chewed on my bottom lip worriedly as I pictured a small Jude, defenseless against his own father.

I never wanted this man to hurt or suffer.

That’s what love did to you, and oh how I loved him.

I didn’t know when I’d be able to find the strength to tell him. I was still too afraid of rejection—and frankly, it scared me that I felt so much for him in such a short amount of time. But I guess these things can’t be controlled. You fall in love when it’s right, not necessarily when you want to. It isn’t a magic switch you can turn on and off. It just…happens. Sometimes it takes time, and sometimes it happens over night. I guess, technically speaking, this had been a long time coming for us—if you counted the seven years I spent hating him, and the last year and a half or so he spent pursuing me.

I shook my head free of my thoughts and reached my finger out to touch his lips. They were soft against the skin of my finger and plump. He had perfect pouty lips.

I jumped when he opened his mouth and lightly nipped my finger. I let out a cry of surprise and then started to laugh.

“How long have you been awake?” I asked, hiding my face behind my hands.


Tags: Micalea Smeltzer Trace + Olivia Romance