Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty-Five

Jude

Present

“I think I brought most of the beach back with me.” Ella turns her shorts pocket inside-out and granules of sand fall onto the cement of the driveway. “I haven’t even lived here for more than two minutes and I’m already making a mess.”

Sitting on the front porch steps, she begins to brush the stuck sand from her legs—somehow she managed to accumulate double the amount that I did.

“This is a home, it’s meant to get a little messy,” I tell her. “All I care about is you feeling comfortable and happy. Besides, you know I find cleaning therapeutic.”

Her eyes widen like I’m insane. “You and I have very different ideas of what therapy looks like.” She glances over at the garden hose, realizing it’s a losing battle of getting it all off of her. “I think I’ve come to terms with being hosed off.”

“While the idea of hosing you down in that little white shirt is tempting,” I say with a grin, “I do have two perfectly good showers inside. You take one, I’ll take the other. No need to rough it.” I open the front door and place her suitcase inside the entryway, but when I turn around, she’s still standing on the porch, worrying her lip between her teeth.

Grabbing her hand, I lace my fingers between hers, gently pulling her through the front door. The old wooden stairs groan beneath our feet with each step, the sound echoing softly through the house. As we reach the second story, I lead her to the first door on the left, the guest bathroom. It’s small and cozy, with vintage tiles and a clawfoot shower tub.

“It’s all yours. Towels on the rack are clean,” I say, pointing them out.

She thanks me before I head to the master bathroom off my room. Turning the water to near scorching, I watch as steam begins to fill the room. I step into the glass-paned shower and let the hot water spray over me. The heat of it seeps into my muscles, melting away the tension as I tilt my face into the stream.

A few minutes later, the door to the bathroom inches open, and I find Ella standing there. Watching me, completely naked, in my shower. It’s exactly like one of the many dirty scenarios I had imagined over the years involving her. Only difference now is that it’s real, and she’s actually here, her eyes locked onto mine .

Under her perusal, my dick stands at attention, not the least bit intimidated by her watching me like this. I clear my throat, attempting to keep my voice even. “Everything okay?”

“I couldn’t figure out how to work the other shower. I was coming to see if you could help me, and I don’t know, I guess?—”

“Come here,” I say, interrupting. The horny side of my brain takes over, and I step out of the shower, water dripping off my body as I move towards her.

A light sparks in her eyes so bright that I wonder if this was her plan all along. Silently, she peels her shirt off and steps out of her shorts. Long legs, olive skin, glossy dark waves cascading down her back—every inch of her is innately gorgeous.

I take her hand in mine, and we step into the shower together. The steam envelops us as the hot water pours down. Her body presses against mine, skin slick and warm, perky breasts pushed against my chest. I feel her heartbeat echoing off my own as my mouth crashes into hers. It’s this overwhelming, urgent response whenever I’m in her vicinity to be as close as humanly possible.

Her breath hitches against my mouth, and I feel her fingers digging into my back, pulling me closer. Walking her to the glass wall of the shower, my fingers dip between her legs, desperate to feel more of her. I watch as she arches her back, pressing her pussy deeper into my hand for more. It’s a view that will never grow old, no matter how many times we do this.

I can feel her getting wetter, growing tighter and more wound up as she gets closer. Her hand tightens around my wrist, stopping my movements. “I don’t want to come like this.”

I bring my mouth to her neck, tasting the sweet, damp skin there. “Tell me what you need.”

Her leg wraps around my waist, pulling me closer. Taking my erection in her hand, she guides it to where she needs me most. “I need you inside me.”

“Birth control?”

“IUD,” she confirms, in a rush.

The head of my dick is right there, poised at her entrance, teasing us both with the impending penetration. Holding my dick in one hand, I swipe the head of it along her wet opening. “Tell me you’re mine before I fuck you.”

Her breath catches, the intensity of the moment hanging heavy between us.

“Say it,” I urge, brushing the tip of my cock against her wetness again, feeling the shiver that runs through her. “Tell me you’re mine.”

She looks into my eyes, direct and sincere. “I’m yours. I’ve always been yours.”

“That’s goddamn right.” I thrust into her, stealing her breath with the motion, holding myself deep inside her as I lean down, trailing kisses along her neck, her jaw. She rocks against me, driving me even deeper, as I thrust into her. Our movements are slippery and frantic beneath the water.

“Fuck.” I’m barely holding it together. One more tiny movement and I’ll be coming inside of her. “Hold still, just for a second. It’s been a long time for me, and I don’t want this to end before we’re ready.”

With a deep breath, I finally pull back before pushing into her again, sinking into her until I’m buried completely. Her mouth falls open with a moan, the sound driving me wild. Pinning her wrists to the pane of glass, I take her hard, every thrust bringing us closer. It’s all too much in the best way possible.

Her lips are sweet and featherlight on mine as I push into her, each stroke harder, more desperate, until we’re both spiraling.

“Oh, fuck. Jude. I’m so close.” Hearing my name on her lips shatters the last of my restraint.

“Come for me. And say my name again while you do it,” I breathe, voice ragged.

I lift her up fully, her long legs wrapping tightly around me as I press her against the shower wall. Her voice rises, trembling with the effort to say my name as she shatters beneath me, right as we come undone together, in a perfect, wild storm.

Feeling her warmth, skin-to-skin, as I finish inside—it feels like we’re completely connected, like nothing else exists but us. I hold her close, as we stand under the spray of the warm water. My heart slamming into my ribcage, the thrumming of her pulse against me.

As she slides down the front of my body, I brush a wet strand of hair out of her eyes. “You’re everything. This is everything.”

She smiles, cheeks still flushed from earlier. “It still amazes me that you think so highly of me. ”

“It’s the truth. If someone asked me to describe my dream woman, I’d just say your name. Every single time. You’re everything that’s good in this world, El. No one else could ever come close to you.”

Her eyes soften, warmth spreading across her face as she tilts her head to meet my gaze. “Sometimes all I see in myself is the bad, the negative. Like I’m a dark storm cloud in a bright sky. But then you say things like that, and it makes me start to believe that maybe I’m wrong about myself. Maybe there is a light in me too. It makes me want to see myself the way you do.”

Her lips find mine, and we stay in our happy little bubble, ignoring anything that could burst the moment.

Eventually, I turn off the water and grab two towels, wrapping one around my waist and draping the other over her shoulders. We don’t say a word as we head straight to my bed, slipping under the covers together like it’s the most natural thing in the world. She curls into me, her head resting on my chest, the damp strands of her hair carrying the faint, sweet scent of almond from my shampoo. Her skin is smooth as she slips her feet beneath my leg. The rhythm of our breathing slows, chests rising and falling in unison, as if our bodies are tuning to the same frequency.

Half-asleep, she nestles in closer, and sighs. “Everything with you has always felt so right.”

And she’s not wrong. The only times I’ve ever felt whole in this world of madness is when I have her by my side.