Maeve shot him alookas she shoved open the door and unceremoniously pushed him onto the bed. Her eyes were bright as she gazed down at him sprawled against the sheets. ‘Is teasing me a good idea right now?’
‘But it worked out so well last time,’ he said, raising a brow suggestively.
Her lips pursed as she toyed with the button on his trousers. Her fingers brushed the bare skin of his lower stomach. He shivered. How such a small touch could affect him so drastically was unfathomable. She tilted her head, gazing at him from beneath her lashes. ‘Show me?’
‘Show you what?’
She undid the button. ‘You said you thought of me…’
He swallowed, nodding.
‘I want to see what you did when you pictured me here.’
Oh.
Her smile was sly, catlike. Jude’s heart pounded in his ears. Somehow, this was so much more vulnerable than anything that had come before. To touch himself and think of her, knowing she was watching… the thought nearly stunned him into inaction.
But he trusted her.
He would give her what she asked.
His fingers shook as he set them on the next button on his trousers. At the same time, Maeve pulled her jumper over her head, leaving her in her chemise and skirt. Before he could undo another button, she had the skirt off and on the ground. Light poured through the thin material of the chemise, illuminating the curve of her breasts, the dip of her waist, just like it had all those days ago in her bedroom.
Thosedamnchemises. She knew exactly what she was doing.
Jude pushed down his trousers, keenly aware of her rapt attention. Slowly, he wrapped his hand around himself. Maeve hissed a shuddering breath as his own breathing grew rapid. He couldn’t look away from her face. There was something reverent in her dark eyes, almost disbelieving. How many times had he pictured her here – maybe not like this, stroking himself while she watched – buthere. Wanting him. If she couldn’t quite believe what blossomed between them, then he was the same. Overwhelmed and utterly undone.
His stomach tensed, and Jude closed his eyes. ‘Fuck.’
‘What did you think about?’ Maeve’s voice was thick, raspy.
‘You. Here.’ His voice was hoarse, bitten-off.
Maeve laid her hand on his wrist, hastening his movement until it bordered on too much. ‘What else? Tell me.’
‘How you’d taste. How you’d sound. If you’d shut your eyesor keep them open,’ he choked as she urged his hand faster. He gazed desperately into her face. ‘Do you, do you want me to—’
Abruptly, she stilled his hand. ‘No. Not yet.’
A breathless laugh escaped him. ‘This is punishment, isn’t it? For earlier.’
Her smile grew sharper, more feline. ‘Now, why would you say that?’
‘Cruel,’ Jude replied.
‘Deserved.’
He laughed, levering up to kiss her. There was too much fabric between them. He voiced his concern, and soon, nothing remained but layers of anticipation. Maeve scratched her nails down his back, whispering in his ear. ‘I love this. I love you.’
Jude ran his thumb along her jaw, kissing the tops of her cheeks, her eyelids, the tip of her nose. He wondered if happiness had a limit and, if so, if his allotment was more than everyone else’s. It certainly felt that way.
He ghosted his lips over the shell of her ear, smiling when she shivered. She wrapped both legs around his waist. The feeling of her against him was enough to make his brain stall out.
She shifted her hips impatiently. ‘Get on with it, would you?’
‘You sure are demanding today,’ he remarked, giving her what she wanted. The heat, the pressure… it was almost too much. He wasn’t certain how long he’d last. Her lids fluttered shut. He lost track of every place they touched. Her lashes were dark on her pink cheeks.
‘Let’s stay like this always,’ she whispered.
