Page 13 of Beautiful Vengeance
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 onyou.”
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 ofhischoosing.
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 hernow.“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.”
