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I get lost in him. The water moves around us, cool against my hot skin, but Jude is warm. So wonderfully, impossibly warm.

I want his hands everywhere.

He makes that sound again. Heat pools in my lower belly.

“Jude,” I whisper against his lips. I’m asking, begging for something… what… I have no clue.

He pulls back gently, just enough to look at me. We're both breathing hard.

“I can’t get enough of you.” His voice is low, ferocious, then his mouth finds mine again with such urgency that I forget to breathe. I don’t know how much time passes as our hands and mouths explore each other. After a while, he slows the kiss, his lips running over my cheek, my ear, my neck ever so softly, making my head spin.

His low groan vibrates against my skin, and I feel it all the way down to my toes. My hands slide into his hair, pulling him closer.

I swear the entire Mediterranean could catch fire around us and I wouldn't notice.

Eventually, he kisses his way back to my mouth slowly. His lips brush mine ever so softly. His fingers loosen in my hair, and the hand holding me against him moves gently up my back.

He kisses the corner of my mouth. Then the tip of my nose. And finally rests his forehead against mine.

We're both trying to catch our breath. I open my eyes and find his eyes are closed, his lips still parted, and I can feel the rapid beat of his heart against my chest.

“Jesus, Nora,” he whispers.

I let out a breathless little laugh. “Yeah.”

His mouth curves, but when he opens his eyes, the smile fades into something softer. Something that makes my heart squeeze.

He brushes a strand of wet hair away from my cheek.

“You okay?”

I nod. “Yeah.”

His thumb moves slowly along my jaw like he’s trying to memorize every part of my face. His green eyes find mine, but somehow what I see in them is different… new, raw emotion shines in them, and my throat goes dry.

I should say something. Make a joke. Ask him whether he's planning to put me down sometime before sunrise. But I can't.

Because this is Jude. My grumpy Jude.

The man who has held me through some of the worst moments of my life without ever asking me to be anything other than exactly who I am. The man whose laugh became something I long for every day. Whose every thought I want to know. Whose quiet company has somehow become my safe place.

And suddenly, having his arms around me doesn't feel close enough. I don't just want his mouth, his body…

I want his soul.

Something swells inside my chest, warm and frighteningly tender. I don’t try to name it. Somehow, I push that thought away.

“Jude?”

“Yeah?”

“What is happening?”

He studies me for a second. “You're stealing my fucking soul, Nora.”

“Jude…”

“And I never want it back.”