Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Marge met Sloan as she was clocking off. The big woman looked down at her, her expression unreadable. “You weren’t a total disgrace today.”

“Thank you.” Two days of working alongside the woman, and she knew enough to recognize the gruff sentence for the praise that it was. Warmth kindled inside her, the steady satisfaction of a job well done. It didn’t matter that her feet hurt badly enough that she was fighting not to limp, or that she was sore in places she hadn’t known she could be sore.

She’d done a good job.

Marge nodded like she’d said more than she had. “Take tomorrow off.”

Sloan’s gaze flew to her face. “But—”

“You work yourself too hard, you’re going to fall apart. Take tomorrow off. Soak your feet. I know Luke sent you to Jessica for yoga, so keep that up—it’ll stretch out your muscles gone tense from carrying plates. Do whatever you want, but take care of yourself.” She paused, her brows furrowed into a frown. “Be here at seven on Thursday.”

She’s not firing me.She released a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. “Okay.” She made it all of three steps before Marge’s voice stopped her.

“And Sloan?”

She turned to look at the other woman. “Yes?”

“You be careful with that writer, you hear? He hasn’t done anything wrong since he moved into town, but he makes the small hairs on the back of my neck stand up.” She shook her head. “Makes me think of my cousin. He was a SEAL. The man was never right after the war. He’d look at people and you could almost see him mentally listing all the ways he could kill them and hide the body.”

Sloan pressed her lips together. It was sweet that Marge was worried about her, so she didn’t laugh at the woman. Jude might be intense, but the thought that he could be murderous…“I’ll be careful. I promise.”

Marge’s expression softened. “You’re a good girl. Now git. We’ll see you on Thursday.”

She left the diner, half expecting to find Jude waiting for her. She still couldn’t decide if she was intimidated or attracted, though it was realistically a bit of both. He said he was going to take her out, but what did out even mean?

She stopped short. I’ve never even been on a date. She didn’t even know what to expect.

It was entirely possible that all the dates in the world wouldn’t be enough to prepare her for Jude.

She made her way back to the house, moving slowly enough that she wasn’t hurrying, but not dallying in the least. Every step that brought her closer spiked a strange combination of anticipation and something almost like fear. Maybe he changed his mind. I’ll get back to the house and he won’t be anywhere to be found.

If that was the case, she wasn’t about to go searching for him. Sloan had never considered herself very prideful, but the thought of him changing his mind and her begging him to change it back didn’t sit well. The whole point of this was that she was taking her life into her own hands, beholden to no one.

Except Teague, who had done all the heavy lifting to transport her out here.

And the still-absent Sorcha, whose house she was staying in rent free.

Temporary. I’ll save up enough of my money to find another place.

Eventually.

She shut that train of thought down, because she could feel depression hovering at the edges of her mind, waiting for her to stop moving long enough to suck her under. Well, that was just too bad. She wasn’t going to stop moving, or allow the sheer amount of things beyond her control to bring her down. She was finally, finally, in a place where she had a modicum of control over her life, and she wasn’t going to drive herself crazy thinking about all the things that could possibly go wrong.

Because the list is too long to number.

Stop it.

She was almost to her steps when Jude appeared on his porch. “Sloan.” He didn’t raise his voice, but she heard him clearly all the same.

And, suddenly, it was too much. She yanked her hair out of its ponytail. “I need a shower. You can wait.” She marched into her house before he could respond, slamming the door behind her.

The shower didn’t do a single thing to calm the turmoil inside her, and neither did dressing in her favorite white sundress and a comfortable pair of sandals. If anything, each move only spiked the sickening twist of emotions coiling themselves through her, demanding a release.

She nearly tripped over Jude when she opened the door, and that was the last straw. “What is your problem?”

He raised a single eyebrow, not looking perturbed in the least. “Sorry?”

“No, you’re not. You’re not sorry that you turned me down last night, or that you left in a hurry, or that you were an…an insufferable jackass this morning.”

If anything, his eyebrow inched higher. “You’re in a mood.”

“Are you kidding me?” She pushed at his chest, but he didn’t even pretend she had the strength to move him. “You weren’t interested last night, so you don’t get to waltz into the diner and order me to go out with you. I’ve taken orders my entire life, and I’ll be damned before I take one from you.” The outburst left her feeling deflated, but she clamped her mouth shut and refused to apologize. Maybe she was being the slightest bit dramatic, but that didn’t mean she was wrong.

Jude took a step closer, towering over her, his shoulders so broad, they filled the doorway. “Are you done?”

Just like that, she had a whole lot more to say. “Actually—”

“That was a rhetorical question, sunshine.” His big hand cupped the back of her neck, his thumb tracing over her jaw and up to drag against her bottom lip.

The touch shocked her into silence.

For a moment. “Jude—”

Apparently he wasn’t finished. “I didn’t say no last night because I wasn’t interested. I wouldn’t have apologized—twice—if I wasn’t interested.”

“But—”

“You want to know the truth? The truth is that I can’t look at you without wanting to strip you down, to run my hands over that tight little body of yours, to spread those sweet thighs and fuck you with my tongue until you’re screaming my name and begging for mercy.”

She swayed, her anger, her ability to think or move or talk or do anything except stare helplessly at him, all gone. She licked her lips, forgetting that his thumb was there, and stroked him with her tongue instead. His chocolate eyes went even darker, and he suddenly seemed larger.

Say something.

“You shouldn’t say things like that.”

“It’s the fucking truth, sunshine.” He stroked her bottom lip with his thumb, his hand gentle yet holding her in place easily. “You’re a good girl. I don’t have to spend any time with you to know that. You deserve better than the likes of me, even for a fuck. But that’s the difference between us. I’m not good. I might as well be the goddamn devil as far as you’re concerned, but I’ve never been good at walking away when I have my mind set on something. And, sunshine, I have my mind set on you.”

She couldn’t speak, couldn’t take a step, though she was at a loss if she’d move away from or toward him. It was like he held her captive with only a single hand, stalling out any and all reasoning ability.

Jude’s grip tightened, ever so slightly. “I was going to take you out. It’s not my scene, but I was willing to give it a shot. I changed my mind.” He stepped into her, his chest lightly pressed against her breasts, his thighs bracketing hers, his…Oh my good lord. His hard length pressed against her stomach, and it felt perfectly in proportion with the rest of his massive body, not that she was an expert on these matters.

His other hand came to rest on her hip, fingers bunching the fabric of her dress as he kneaded her. “Tell me to stop, and it’s done. I’ll walk away, and I’ll do my damnedest to leave you alone. Tell me to walk away, sunshine. Just say the words.”

She knew he was right. He was no good for her, and this would only end in tears on her part. The man wasn’t asking to date her. He didn’t want to get to know her. He was telling her all the things he’d do to her body.

But she couldn’t say the words to make him leave.

Sloan had never taken anything for herself in her entire life. She’d stayed in the background and gone with the flow and done everything in her power to play least in sight. Her brothers ran off any boy remotely interested in her, and she’d allowed it to happen. If her father had decided to move forward on his plans to marry her off, she would have walked down the aisle to a man of his choosing.

She’d never done a single selfish thing in her life until she asked Teague to help her escape.

Until she tentatively ran her hands up Jude’s chest, sucking in her breath at the way his muscles tensed beneath her fingers. Until she looked up into his stormy dark eyes and said the word that would damn them both. “Stay.”

*  *  *

Jude didn’t give Sloan a chance to change her mind. He pulled her more firmly against him and kissed her. As much as he wanted to pin her to the doorframe and have her right then and there, a part of him that he didn’t realize existed kept that desire reined in. She was sweet. She might have walked right into the lion’s den and given him permission to ravage her in exactly the way he’d described, but nothing worth having had been attained by rushing headlong into a situation.

He teased her mouth open, guiding the kiss, nipping her bottom lip and then sliding his tongue in to stroke hers. Sloan made a surprised sound, and he froze. No fucking way. But he didn’t stop, easing her into the kiss until her hands were fisting the front of his shirt and she was going onto her tiptoes to get closer to him.

Only then did he kiss down her jaw to her neck, allowing his whiskers to rasp against her sensitive skin, pitching his voice low. “Are you a virgin, sunshine?”

She went still and tense. “How did you—”

Damn it. He kept up his light stroking of her body, the small honorable part of him that he’d thought long dead reared up to demand he back the fuck away from this woman and back away from her now. “You were surprised when I slipped my tongue into your mouth.”

“Not surprised, just…” Her voice was breathy, her body slowly relaxing against him again. “I didn’t know it could be like that.”

Thathadn’t even been a kiss. Not really. He’d been testing her, tasting her. Thank Christ I started slow. The woman has never been properly kissed before.

Back off. Back the fuck off now.

He already knew he wasn’t going to. The thought of being the one to show her pleasure—true pleasure—was too intoxicating. He was a bastard for feeling that way, but he’d been worse things than a bastard in his life. So he set his teeth to the lobe of her ear. “I’m going to take you to bed now.” He lifted her, liking the way her legs instantly wrapped around his waist. She was a slight little thing, but fuck if they didn’t fit perfectly.

He walked through the house, hesitating for her murmured directions even though he knew damn well where her bedroom was. Jude kissed her as he laid her on the bed, settling between her thighs.

The move made her sundress ride up to her hips, and he wasted no time stroking her thighs even as he deepened the kiss. Whoever said a woman’s first time had to be painful was a piece of shit. Jude was going to make it good for her. Better than good.

“You change your mind at any time, you tell me to stop. That’s it, sunshine. One word and it’s over.”

She dug her fingers into his hair. Her eyes might be shut, but every part of her body was responsive to a criminal degree. She shivered. “What you said before. I, ah, I want that.”

It cost her to say it aloud. He could feel how tense she was and the words came out in a rush as if she needed to give them voice before she lost her nerve.

“You want my hands on your body.” He coasted his hands up her sides, tugging up her dress as he did. She had to arch up to allow it past her breasts, and his mouth actually watered at the sight of her in her white panties and bra. Jude ran a single finger down the center of her chest, purposefully avoiding her breasts, and over her stomach to the band of her panties. “You want me to drive you crazy with my touch.”

He eased back, spreading her thighs as he did. Without his body covering her, she shook, half fighting him as he spread her wider. He paused. “Do you want me to stop?”

“No, I just…” Her breath shuddered out. “I feel exposed.”

“That’s because you are.” He traced the edge of her underwear with each thumb, down the dip where thigh met hip, to where it covered her pussy. “Before the night’s through, sunshine, I’m going to see every single part of you.” He stroked over her clit, earning a gasp that shot straight to his cock. Jude did it again, torturing them both. “I’m going to take off these damn panties, and I’m going to spread your folds and explore parts of you that no one else has. And then I’m going to kiss you there. In fact, I’m tired of waiting.”

He slid down to settle between her thighs and pressed an openmouthed kiss against her panties. Sloan’s shocked moan was music to his ears, spurring him on. He kissed and licked and played with her until the fabric was soaked and her hips moved restlessly against his mouth. “I’m taking these off now.”

Her breath sobbed out. “You don’t have to narrate every move you make.”

“Maybe not.” He pulled the white fabric down her legs and tossed it to the side. “But you love every single filthy word that comes out of my mouth.” He nipped her thigh, causing her to spread her legs wider. “You get off on knowing that I’ve thought about this—that after we’re done, I’ll be thinking about this, reliving your every move, every sound, every single fucking taste.”

He sucked her clit into his mouth, letting go almost immediately when she made a keening sound. She was so fucking close, she practically vibrated with the need to get off. He’d bring her to orgasm, but not yet.

First he had to do what he promised.

Jude gripped her hips, keeping her legs spread and fucking her slowly, thoroughly, with his tongue. She cried out, her hands immediately going to his hair, but she didn’t try to push him away or pull him closer, seeming content to ride out the pleasure he dealt her. It was sexy as fuck.

“You taste so goddamn good.” He licked up and over her clit and back down again, savoring every single detail. “I could lick you until you come so many times, you forget your fucking name.”

“Jude.”

The desperation in the way she said his name steadied his frenzy a little—enough that he remembered his purpose. Her pleasure. Not his. Not now. Not until she was ready for him. When she was ready, he’d fuck her as hard and long as he craved.

It just wouldn’t be tonight.

Tonight was about her.