His lips trailed kisses along my neck, groaning as he tasted me. “Stripes...Jesus,” he murmured before latching onto my throat, sucking and licking the tender flesh between his lips.
My palms slid from his hair down the collar of his shirt, needing his hot skin, but I couldn’t get to enough of it that way. In a frenzy, I yanked up the back of his shirt, feasting on the feel of him under my hands. He felt likemyJude, but stronger. The last time I held him this way, he was all bones and sinew. Now, he was firm muscles and power.
“Tali, are you up there? The cars are here!” Dalia’s voice echoed from the bottom of the stairs.
“Say something so she doesn’t come up here,” Jude gritted out.
It took me a second to find my voice, then I yelled, “I’ll be right there.”
“Have you seen Jude?” she called.
“Yeah, I’ll tell him.”
Jude muffled a laugh against my neck, and I let my forehead flop down on his shoulder.
“Let me down,” I said softly.
With reluctance, he let my legs slide down, holding me until I was steady on my feet.
“We can’t walk down there together,” I said, still sounding slightly breathless.
He cupped my jaw, rubbing his thumb back and forth. “We’re all adults here. We didn’t do anything wrong.”
“No, I know. But this is my job, and I really don’t want to be the subject of gossip.”
“Tals, they all know.”
“Theythinkthey know,” I corrected. “I need it to be this way.”
He nodded, relenting. “Fine. But this isn’t over. Not by half.”
Peering up at him, my words lodged in my throat. How could the way I saw him have shifted so monumentally in such a short time? It scared the shit out of me that I’d gone from looking at Jude as my ex to seeing him as a possibility. More than a possibility—an answer to a riddle I’d been struggling with for thirteen years.
He planted a soft kiss on my mouth before he left, and I went into the bathroom, wiping away the last of my lipstick and staring at my well-kissed mouth in the mirror.
Outside, I nearly stumbled over my feet at the sight of Jude leaning against a black SUV, ankles crossed, thumbs hooked in his pockets, like he hadn’t just kissed the hell out of me five minutes ago.
He met me at the bottom of the stairs, holding his hand out for me to slip mine in.
“Did everyone else leave already?” I asked.
“Yeah, we’re the last.” Jude opened the rear door of the SUV and took some liberties with my ass as he helped me in. I gave him a dirty look over my shoulder, which he answered with a sexy, arrogant cock of his eyebrow.
He settled in next to me, turning in my direction. “The kid tried to hang around, but I sent him on his way.”
“The kid is a nice guy. He also flirts with every woman with a pulse.”
Jude settled his flinty gaze on me. “His face annoys the hell out of me. You don’t really like that guy, do you?”
“His face is too adorable to mess up.” I waited to continue long enough for Jude to let out a growl from deep in his throat. “And no. I’ve never been into younger, uncomplicated men. My taste lies more with the older, tortured type.”
He rubbed the corners of his mouth. “I’ve got you covered there, Stripes.”
I leaned the side of my head against the seat, drinking my fill of Jude Goldman. “Always have.”
We rode in silence, looking at each other in the dark backseat. Jude reached out, brushing a lock of hair off my face and tucking it behind my ear. The simple gesture sent goosebumps blossoming up and down my arms.
He picked up my hand from where it had been resting on the seat between us and rubbed his thumb over my black-polished nails.