AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"No," he said, shaking his head. "I won't do this. We'll wait. And if we marry ..." If we marry. My God, those words cut jagged holes in him. Was that possible, after he'd steeled himself for the loss of her?
"No, Jude," she whispered. "I'll have you. Now. Please? Take off your clothes. I want to feel you against me."
He shook his head, but his cock had long since responded to the sight of her, and it throbbed eagerly at her words.
"Fine." Marissa pulled his shirt free from his trousers and pressed her belly to his.
"Oh, good Christ," he moaned. The feel of her skin, hot on his, became his whole world in that moment.
"You've made me wait too long already," she whispered. "You've reduced me to throwing myself against you. At least case this ache you started."
"Hush," he ordered, starting to forget why he fought her. Why? She slid her arms around his waist and pressed her breasts tighter to his chest, and Jude finally lowered his hands to her back. He spread his lingers wide over her naked spine.
"I don't want to do this," he murmured.
Marissa shivered beneath his hands. "It feels like you do."
God, he did want to give in. But more than that, he wanted to have her forever. "Let me leave, Marissa. I won't go to Italy. I'll find a house, and I'll court you properly. We can take our time. You can be sure. You must be sure."
She stretched like a cat, and his hands slid naturally down her back, shaping the precious lines of waist and hips. She was just so damn naked.
"Oh, Jude," she purred. "I love that."
Love. The word taunted him, and anger swelled in his chest again. But anger combined with a naked woman to calmed him in a different way. Instead of rage, he felt blind lust.
He kissed her then, tasting her for the first time in so long, dragging his hands down her body with intoxicating freedom. All of her was exposed to him. All of her was his.
She pressed close, her nails digging into his back, and kissed him with as much hunger as he kissed her. He could just unbutton his trousers and have her. Right now. Slide deep and true and make her his forever. Everything in his body and soul yearned toward that, a force he could feel, pulling every fiber of him toward her.
She wanted this. Wanted him. Why couldn't that be enough?
Jude let go of her and pushed her away, running a hand through his hair in violent frustration. "No! We'd have to marry—"
"All this talk of being a man," Marissa snapped, hands flying up in frustration.
She gestured from his head to his toes, but Jude's eyes lost track of her hand and focused on her breasts again. The nipples tight and flushed . . .
"Well, I need a man, Jude! Now. Tonight."
"Forever, Marissa," he growled. "You understand that? Coming to my bed is the same as marrying me. I won't let you go."
She raised her chin and held his gaze. "You're neither my tutor nor my guardian, so stop treating me like a child. Take me, and damn your caution."
Her eyes blazed with anger and lust. Jude knew his did too. And she was right. She wasn't a child, and she proved that by walking to his bed and laying herself out. Like a sacrifice or a feast. His pulse hammered.
She trembled a bit, like a leaf fluttering, and everything inside him shook as well.
This was a mistake, but she was offering herself and he ached for her, had been aching for weeks. Her eyes dared him to refuse. Challenged him.
Jude growled like an animal and pulled off his shirt.
It took him only a few moments to strip, and his lust grew as she watched him with triumph in her smirk. And then he was sliding into bed with Marissa, her skin an impossible beauty against his.
She was right. A man would not run from the love of a woman like her. A man would take his chances, and damn the risks, even if it was the worst mistake he'd ever made.
***
Marissa's body was a strange jumble of heavy pleasure and anticipation that made her feel afloat Jude's body became her world. He was pressed against her and hovering above her, and she could see nothing but his dark eyes as he stared down at her.
