“This isn’t your fault. I wanted to go downstairs to the club. AndIkissedyou. Everything was going fine until I did that.” I gulped and fear clung to the inside of my throat, refusing to be swallowed down. “I don’t think Jack’s going to call the cops. He wouldn’t want the press to find out that he got his ass handed to him. And leaking that photo would mean people would come forward with seeing him hit the floor.” God, I hoped I was right. Hoped Jack’s ego and self-preservation weighed stronger than his sense of revenge.
Jude grunted a curse and resumed pacing. “I hope not. Chloe said she doesn’t think he’s going to press charges, even though his nose was spurting blood like a geyser.”
“Good,” I added quietly, and Jude froze, lifting his eyes to mine.
He raised an eyebrow, humor twitching at the corners of his mouth. “Good?”
I nodded. “Yeah, fuck him. He deserves it.”
He held my gaze before sighing, smoothing a finger across his brow. “We need to get you home. Before the studio finds out about our week together. Before the media finds you here—I mean, you and Omar might not be legit, but the world doesn’t know that yet.”
“Jude—”
“It’ll look terrible. Be bad PR for you, and could severely ruin your reputation if people caught you here with me. It could ruin your chances of getting the part—”
“Jude, stop!”
But he didn’t. He kept rambling, gathering various items into a duffle bag. “I’ll call for my driver to come get you from the back driveway. We can find a way to get your car back to your place in the morning…”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I shouted over Jude’s rambling. He froze, bent over his cell, before turning to face me.
Alarm furrowed his brow, and his jaw dropped momentarily before a smooth grin lit his face. “You’re not?”
“No,” I whispered. “We have a contract stating that I’m here until Thursday.” Despite the false sense of dominance I had at the moment, my belly was quivering. It wasn’t easy standing up to a man like Jude. “No one followed us here,” I continued, “we are completely alone and safe in this house. You have gates surrounding the whole property for Christ’s sake. As long as Jack doesn’t call the cops or the press, we’re fine.” I lifted an eyebrow. “Besides, I still have a lot to learn, don’t I?”
He moved in slowly, approaching me like a jungle cat circling cornered prey, his eyes glowing nearly as bright. “You certainly do.” Rotating his wrist, he circled my hair around his fist until my neck was pulled tightly back in his grasp. Despite the fire in his gaze, a tender smile curved his lips. “Marly,” his gruff murmur rumbled through me.
His lips slid down my cheek to my jaw and he flicked a tongue out, caressing the tender skin at my neck.
My head fell back as I fisted my hands into his silky hair, the hard muscles of his neck clenched at my touch.
“Did I say you could touch me, Marlena? Drop those hands and touch yourself instead.”
Air sucked sharply into my lungs, but I did as I was told, lowering my hands to the tops of my thighs. Slowly, I pulled my skirt up and brushed my fingers over my wet opening. “Yes, Sir,” I answered quietly and through a thick web of lashes, I looked up, meeting Jude’s eyes.
Any sort of finesse or control Jude had exhibited before was far gone; in its place was a new primal urge, a hunger that claimed me as he brought his mouth down hard onto mine, groaning.
My fingers twitched, aching to stroke his thick soft hair, but I braced my arms, keeping them on my pussy instead. I gasped a breath of thick air, pulling oxygen in through my parted lips in a pant. Hunger ached in my chest for him. His pale green eyes dilated, then impossibly darkened as his mouth tightened into a hard line. He pulled back, examining me, dragging a single finger down my bare shoulder, drawing a teasing, provocative line. Blood roared in my ears and my belly quivered with a shaky breath until his mouth found mine once more, tongue thrusting rhythmically into my mouth.
His hand flanked mine and he guided my fingers from where they fluttered at my clit, inside my damp opening, until I was fingering myself with quick thrusts. A high-pitched whimper managed to escape, even though I was biting my lip. At which point, Jude pulled my hand from between my legs and dipped it into his mouth with a satisfied hum. His tongue worked my fingers in and out, rolling his tongue over the soft flesh of my fingertips, as his hard cock strained into my hip from behind the zipper of his pants.
Then, releasing my fingers from his mouth, he leaned down, kissing me deep with long, silky strokes of his tongue. Through the fog of our frenetic kisses, I grasped Jude’s dick through his pants, stroking against the fabric up and down his impressive length. A look of pure, undiluted pleasure slid over his features as he threw his head back and let out a groan. That noise, that groan, was like an aphrodisiac and my nerve endings sparked to life at the sound.
His hands found my breasts, squeezing them through the tight corset. “Fuck,” he growled, cupping my ass. Then he hissed, pulling back as his hand trailed over the bare flesh, brushing my seam. “What did I say about keeping your hands to yourself, Marlena?”
Whatever thread of composure I had left combusted and anticipation buzzed through my body. I hadn’t meant to disobey him; it was reflexive, touching him. But now that I had, the thrill and threat of punishment fired off little sparks in my core.
A fog of greedy lust engulfed me, so hazy I was nearly blinded by the need for his touch. For his lips. His tongue. Impossibly, in the last few days, I had found myself not only drawn to Jude in a way I never thought possible… but trusting him. With my secrets. With my body. With my desires. In such a short period of time, he’d had such impacted and change on my life.
Jude sucked in a hard breath, his eyes traveling to where I clutched my hands behind my back. His mouth came down hard onto mine once more and my lungs struggled for air as our kisses slowed. His fingers dipped between my legs, exploring into my slick, hot center, gathering moisture before trailing along my backside. It took every ounce of energy not to tear my clasped hands free and grip his shoulders for leverage. “God, that’s hot,” Jude hissed. “We should institute a no panties rule forever.”
“If you want, Sir.”Forever.The word left me breathless. I clenched my laced fingers tighter behind my back, forcing myself to remain still.
“Good girl, Poppy,” Jude crooned. My reward was his lips on mine, in a soft kiss that was no less intense than the others. “Move those hands around my neck.” I did what he said. Squeezing my ass, he lifted me and my legs wrapped around his lean waist. Rocking against his rigid length, I rubbed my cleft against the outline of his erection and his low chuckle rumbled through my mouth, vibrating down to my core.
“Patience,” he whispered, as his hands snaked around my midsection, locking me into his body. And then, we were walking—well,hewas walking. I heard the distinct creak of a door opening and then the silky feel of a bed beneath my bare flesh.
I started to kick off my heels, but Jude’s hand caught them around the arch, pushing them back up. “Leave them,” he whispered, lowering his body down slowly over mine and bracing his weight on his elbows. Hooking his fingers into my skirt, he tugged it down slowly, the smooth leather scraping my nylon thigh highs. “But this needs to go.” Then, he tugged the wig from my head, throwing it aside. “And this.” Grabbing a tissue from his nightstand, he swiped it across my lips. “And the makeup. I want the real you.”
