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All that mattered was what Eve needed and what he could possibly do to make this whole thing hurt her less.

He tried. He desperately tried.

But he couldn’t think of anything.

They had a quiet dinner in the library. Nancy brought them salmon tacos with a bottle of red wine, telling them they should enjoy even a simple meal at home.

Eve only drank one glass, but Jude had three—hoping the alcohol might dull some of the torment in his mind and heart.

Eve suggested they watch a movie afterward, which was perfect for Jude since it didn’t require him to focus or talk. She found a fun romantic comedy she enjoyed and asked if it was all right with him.

Of course it was all right. She could watch anything she wanted. He couldn’t process much of the storyline anyway.

Eve nestled up at his side on the couch in the media room under a blanket, and he put an arm around her. She giggled her way through the movie, and when it was over she appeared to have forgotten her breakdown earlier.

But Jude hadn’t forgotten.

When the credits finished playing, Eve adjusted her position and rubbed her hands up his chest until she was stroking hisbeard. Her eyes had gotten hot and soft, and Jude knew what she wanted.

Despite his distraction and the bleak desperation that had lodged in his heart, Jude wanted it too. He wouldn’t have much longer to touch her, kiss her, bring her to orgasm, find his release in her body.

So he kissed her so enthusiastically she fell backward on the couch with him on top of her. They spent a lot of time on foreplay, kissing and caressing each other as they slowly took off their clothes.

When she was finally writhing shamelessly beneath him, he suckled one of her breasts as he slid two fingers inside her, pumping them fast and hard as she eagerly rode his hand with her hips.

She came quickly but clearly hadn’t gotten enough. Her body was still rocking beneath him, and she was making those soft, sobbing sounds she always made when she was really into it. He slowed his hand, curling his fingers forward to push into her G-spot.

She arched and cried out loudly as another climax hit her unexpectedly.

Jude’s mind was a rush of need and pride and pleasure—and grief and guilt and deep responsibility.

She was his—his to take care of, to make feel this incredibly good. She was his to love and cherish and please. She was his to make it safe enough for her to let go in a way she’d never done before.

But she was only his for a little while longer. And there was no way for him to give her everything she deserved in the short time he had left.

He kept up his ministrations at her breast and started pumping his fingers faster and harder. She had her legs bent uparound his sides, and her hands were clutching fistfuls of his hair.

She was small and beautiful and warm and frantic in her need. She was louder than he’d ever heard her as she came a third time and begged for even more.

He gave her more. He gave her everything he could even though his own erection was a throbbing torment in the underwear he was still wearing.

He wanted to claim her desperately, but she was more important than his own needs.

When she’d come a fourth time, her body finally relaxed, hot and soft and limp beneath him. She was smiling up at him as she gasped.

He really couldn’t believe he’d made her feel that good.

It felt like he should say something, but he couldn’t think of anything appropriate. So when she started to fumble excitedly with his boxer briefs, he let her. She pushed down the fabric and retrieved his erection. Then she pulled him into position on top of her, and he was finally sinking inside her.

It was too much. The hot, wet, perfect shelter of her body. He moaned uninhibitedly as he slowly eased inside her, and then he couldn’t hold back any longer.

He took her hard, thrusting fast and vigorous, and she was with him all the way, wrapping her legs around his waist and panting as she rocked in time with his pumps.

She came again just before he did, crying out a wordless sound as her body shook through the spasms. Then he let go. Of everything. Found his release inside her as the waves of pleasure slammed into him.

His frantic urgency had eased when his body finally stilled and softened, but the desperate howling in his heart was louder than ever.

“Jude,” she whispered, pulling his head closer so she could press kisses on his mouth and cheeks and beard. “Jude.”

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