Crush (20 page)

He grinned at me as he continued to chew. I still hadn’t adjusted to it: Jude being über-rich. He had close to no table manners, lived in Levi’s and a white Hanes undershirt, and thought the Hamptons was a seventies rock band. You never could have known by looking at him that he was a millionaire.

And I loved that about him.

I hoped he’d still be sporting Hanes and Levi’s in ten years.

“So how was that movie you guys went to last Friday?” India asked, waving a fry at Thomas and Holly.

“It was all right,” Thomas said.

Holly couldn’t have looked more offended.

“But the company was phenomenal,” he clarified, giving her a wink.

“That’s what I thought,” she said.

“Did you guys make out or do anything freaky after?”

Holly choked on her burger. Thomas went red, a rare shade of scarlet, thanks to his fair skin.

“India,” I said, “could you be any more awkward?”

“Is that a rhetorical question?” she asked, while Jude thumped Holly’s back.

“Yeah. I suppose it is.”

India blew me a kiss before returning to the grand inquisition. “Well? Spill,” she said, looking between Holly and Thomas. “You two have so much pent-up S-E-X-U-A-L tension for one another I’ve almost passed out from lack of oxygen.”

“God, India,” I said, tossing a fry at her. She dodged it, so it flew into Anton’s chest.

I smiled. Even better.

“No,” Holly said, covering LJ’s ears. “We didn’t kiss or do anything else of a freaky or kinky nature, since you just have to know.”

Jude covered his mouth, but it wasn’t keeping his laughter contained.

“And just for future reference, we won’t ever be kissing,” she added.

Thomas’s head whipped to the side. “What?” he said to Holly. “Why not?” So much for playing the cool guy.

The skin between Holly’s brows creased. “Because I’m a girl,” she said slowly, like she was confused, “and you like boys.”

Thomas’s and my mouth fell open at the same moment. Maybe I should have been more direct with Holly about Thomas’s attraction to her, but I thought it’d been obvious. I hadn’t realized she still thought he was gay after the first night we all had dinner.

Judging from the hurt look on Thomas’s face, I didn’t think he’d ever be the same after this blow.

“You think I’m . . . I’m . . .
gay
?” Damn. He couldn’t have sounded more insulted either.

Holly’s shoulders slumped as her hands fell away from LJ’s ears. “Aren’t you?”

“I’ve got the little man,” Jude said, standing and grabbing LJ. He tossed him over his shoulder, much to LJ’s delight. “You want me to teach you how to throw a football ten thousand yards now?”

“Yay!” LJ replied, giggling as Jude walked him down the hall before disappearing into the bedroom.

That man was getting laid so good tonight.

“So wait.” Holly shook her head. “You’re not gay? You like women?” This was clearly rocking her worldview.

“What? No!” Thomas twisted in his seat.

“No, you’re not gay, or no, you don’t like women?” Holly asked.

“No, I’m not gay!” This was the first time I’d heard Thomas raise his voice. I suppose if there ever was a time for a guy to lose his cool, it was when the girl he had it bad for thought he was gay the entire time.

“Whoa.” Holly gave her head another shake. “This revelation is . . . profound.”

“Unbelievable. My whole life people have assumed I was gay because I was a dancer. People judged me because I slipped into a different kind of spandex than the other guys in the locker room.” Thomas shoved his seat back, stood up, and headed for the door. “I didn’t think you were one of those people, too, Holly.”

“Thomas,” Holly called after him. “Wait.”

“I don’t think so,” he said, continuing to storm for the door. “I’m going to find some boys to kiss.” When he slammed the door, it shook the walls.

“He’s not gay?” she said, more to herself than anything else. “Did you know?”

“He’s been my dance partner for three years,” I replied, staring at the door. “Of course I knew he wasn’t.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I thought you figured it out after the first night you met him,” I said, hating the way Holly was looking at me—like I’d betrayed her.

“I did think that, until we went on our date last Friday,” she said. “Until he kept bringing up this guy Samuel. He was talking about him making breakfast that morning, and how he always leaves his wet towels on the floor, and . . .” Holly’s face blanched. “Oh, my God, Samuel is Thomas’s roommate, isn’t he?”

I clucked my tongue. “Bingo.”

“Shit,” she said, slamming her fist down on the table.

“Do you like him, Hol?” I asked, feeling like I already knew the answer.

She bit her lip and nodded.

“A lot?”

Another nod.

“Then what are you still doing here?” I said. “Go after him.”

“Please, Lucy. Even if he did like me before I called him gay, he’s never going to say another word to me.”

“There’s only one way to find out,” India piped up. I was surprised it had taken her this long to give her two cents. She usually wanted in right away. Beside her, Anton was staying quiet for once in his life.

“You think I’ve got a chance in hell that he’s still going to like me after what I just said?” Holly’s arms were flailing about—a sure sign she was about to lose it.

India propped her chin on her fist and gave Holly a once-over. “Girl. I think that man would still like you if you told him to go get bent every time you saw him. He’s got it bad for you. Bad squared.”

“Lucy?” Holly said, her eyes shifting from me to the door.

“He definitely likes you. And I think you definitely like him, too,” I said. “So why don’t you go after him and definitely like each other.”

The corners of Holly’s mouth twitched. “Anyone have some lip gloss handy?”

India slid a tube out from her back pocket. “Always handy,” she said, tossing it to Holly, who managed to catch it despite being in the middle of that hair-flipping/hair-teasing thing she loved to do. Slicking on a coat of gloss, Holly headed for the door like a woman on a mission.

“Good luck,” I called after her.

After the door slammed closed for a grand total of twice in the past two minutes, Jude and LJ reemerged from the bedroom, football in hand.

“Uncle Jude taught me how to hold the football like he does,” he announced, skipping to the table.

“Everything all right?” Jude asked, coming up behind me and rubbing my shoulders.

“I hope so,” I said, feeling like my eyes were about to roll into the back of my head from the magic his fingers were working on my muscles.

“Movie time!” LJ said, rummaging through the DVD collection. “Can I be in between you and Aunt Luce in the fort?”

Jude’s eyes locked on Anton, and they narrowed. “You are the only man I’ll let come between Aunt Luce and me.”

So much for the drama being behind us.

SIXTEEN

H
olly and LJ were in their bedroom—presumably asleep, since I hadn’t heard a peep from there in the last ten minutes. India was racked out on the couch, hopefully in a drunken stupor where the trumpets of the second coming could have blasted and she wouldn’t have stirred. Poor Thomas had the floor, but I’d layered a few blankets for padding so he wouldn’t wake up with
too
much of a stiff back.

After reappearing thirty minutes later, Holly’s hand in his, both of their faces flushed and their lips swollen, Thomas and Holly cuddled up beside each other inside the fort and hadn’t spoken another word. Whatever was said or done had been effective.

Thankfully, Anton had taken the hint that he wasn’t welcome for our Friday-night sleepover and had gracefully bowed out, saying he had an early morning racquetball match scheduled.

You can imagine the fun Jude had with that little tidbit of information.

The apartment was, at last, quiet.

Locking myself inside the bathroom with my purchase from earlier, I brushed my teeth. Twice. I rubbed in a little satsuma lotion and ran a brush through my hair. I inspected myself in the mirror. Pretty damn hot. After three weeks of celibacy, Jude was going to bust something when he saw me in my little number. Hell, after three weeks of celibacy I was about to bust something just thinking about what was waiting for me behind a pair of room dividers.

I took another look in the full-length mirror on the back of the bathroom door. Something was missing, but I couldn’t figure out what. My bra was a sheer pale pink material. So sheer you could see my nipples through the fabric. My panties were the same color, but made of lace, and even had garters that were fitted to a pair of sheer black nylons that had seams running up the back. Black patent-leather heels finished the outfit. If you could call this an “outfit.”

Everything from the neck down was spot-on; it was from the neck up that I needed something. Something that was as sweet-meets-sexy as the rest of my getup was.

The lightbulb went off.

Pulling out the drawer that was overflowing with Holly’s toiletries and hair goodies, I rummaged around until I found what I was looking for. Just as I was pulling it out, a soft knock sounded on the other side of the door.

“Luce?” Jude whispered. My body tightened in anticipation just from his voice. “You take any longer in there and I’m going to bust down the door and do you on the bathroom sink.”

That image was appealing on so many levels. “It wouldn’t be the first time,” I whispered back. “Just go chill. I’ll be out in thirty seconds.”

“That’s thirty seconds too long,” he said back, before I heard his footsteps padding down the hall.

In even more of a hurry, I wound the wide black satin scarf around my head, tying it in the perfect bow that I slid to the side.

Innocent schoolgirl meets not-so-innocent seductress.

Smiling at myself in the mirror, I grabbed my bathrobe and put it on before cracking the door open. It was dark and quiet. Jude was a mere twenty feet away.

I didn’t want to make a noise, which actually took quite a bit of focus when I had a pair of stripper heels on my feet, so that twenty feet might as well have been twenty miles. Tiptoeing the last few steps, I slithered in between the room dividers.

Jude was lounging on the mattress, stripped down to his boxers. His skin was even tanner, and against every physical law known to man, his muscles had grown. His eyes were closed, but they snapped open the moment I slipped inside the “room.”

“Sorry I kept you waiting,” I whispered.

“Me too,” he said, tucking his arms behind his head. “My balls are so damn blue by now, they are solely responsible for creating a new shade in the blue spectrum.”

I started to laugh, but caught myself. The last thing I wanted was to wake one of the four sleeping bodies in this apartment, because I could not handle a serving of delayed gratification tonight. If I had balls, I could guarantee mine would have been bluer than his.

“Let me make it up to you,” I said, shrugging out of my robe. Before it had dropped to the floor, Jude’s eyes had widened beyond their capacity.

“Consider yourself made up,” he said, his eyes running over me.

I tried to ignore what was rising in his boxers, but I couldn’t. I needed that inside me. I wanted it now.

I crawled across the mattress to him, holding myself above him to purposely drive him a little crazy. When my face was directly above his, I stopped. I smiled down at him, reveling in the power I so obviously had over him. “How’s it going down there?” I said, lowering my mouth so it was just above his. So close I could taste his breath coming from his lips.

His hands grabbed my hips as his hips flexed up to meet mine. “It’s going to be a lot better down there when I’m buried deep inside you.”

I wasn’t sure if the moan that escaped me was due to his words or the continued pressing of his hips against mine, but I’d place an equal bet on both.

Fresh out of willpower, I lowered myself onto him, letting all my weight curve against him. I felt his erection running from the bottom of my panties to the top of my belly button. I moved up and down against his body. His mouth was no longer gliding against mine; it was sucking and nipping.

When I slid up him a third time, I almost came right then. I was so ready it was dampening his boxers, but I didn’t want to before he was inside me. I lifted my hips to remove the temptation of friction, and tried to catch my breath.

Tried and failed.

“That’s a nice bra, Luce,” Jude said, sounding about as breathless as I felt. One hand left my hip and traveled up my stomach before cupping my breast. His thumb and finger caught my nipple and gave it a gentle tug. “I wonder what your nipples taste like through it.”

In one seamless move, Jude’s mouth took the place of his fingers. His tongue played with my nipple before he took it into his mouth. He started out gentle, but that changed. The harder he sucked, the closer I got to coming.

Leaning back, I freed myself from his mouth. I wasn’t going to come until he was moving inside me, and since it was obvious I couldn’t hold off much longer, I grabbed the waistband of his boxers and pulled them down.

“What?” Jude whispered, grinning at me. “All done with the foreplay?”

How could he not be? I felt like I was ready to explode if I had to wait another minute, and here he was, casually relaxed and reclining, seemingly happy to grind and suck the night away.

“I need you inside me, Jude,” I said, grabbing hold of him. That got a reaction from him. “Please.”

I was just lowering my hand down him when he lifted his hips, successfully rolling me off him. I was on my back and he was hovering over me before I knew how I’d gotten there.

“Say that again,” he whispered, before running his mouth down my neck.

“What?” I breathed.

“Beg me,” he said, right before his teeth sank into my neck. I flinched, but more from pleasure than from pain.

“Please,” I said, pressing my pelvic area against him. “Please, Jude.”

His mouth stayed on my neck, gently sucking at it. His hands skimmed down my waist, continuing on past my hips and gliding around the front of my panties. That thumb of his stopped over my clit and circled it.

“Yes.” I sighed, flexing against his touch. “Please, baby. Do me.”

His thumb came to a stop, right before he tore the lace away. “With pleasure,” he said, right before he thrust into me.

I practically screamed in relief before Jude’s hand covered my mouth.

“Shhh,” he whispered, his voice gravelly as he moved deeper inside me. “I’m going to make you come hard, Luce, but I need you to be quiet so we don’t wake the whole house.”

He slid out, and I wanted to cry.

“Can you be quiet?” he asked, waiting.

“When was the last time I was able to be quiet?” I said, trying to get him back inside. But he wasn’t having it. He wasn’t going to enter me again until I agreed.

“I’ll be quiet,” I said, as quickly as I’d ever said three words.

“Good,” he said, just barely entering me, “but just in case . . .” Grabbing the satin scarf I had tied in my hair, he slid it down over my face until it was covering my mouth.

That, with the smallest amount of him inside me, almost caused me to come yet again.

His mouth found my other nipple this time, and right as he took it deep inside, his hips flexed and he thrust even deeper inside me. I almost screamed out again, but my promise fresh on my mind, along with the scarf covering my mouth, served to keep it contained. His pace picked up until he was breathing as heavily as I was. I was proud of myself that I’d managed to hold my orgasm off, but when his mouth moved from my breast to just outside my ear and he started whispering words, I started to spiral out of control.

“That’s right, baby. That’s right,” he breathed, not only moving faster, but harder now. “I want to feel you come, Luce.”

My body lost all control, and I was powerless to hold it back any longer. I felt all my muscles tighten around him as he sank inside me one last time, finding his own release. My moans started seeping around the scarf, growing so loud Jude had to cover my mouth with his hand.

Jude’s body trembled over mine, while mine was shaking more violently. A sheen of sweat covered his face when he lifted it above mine. Even though he was breathing rapidly, he was still able to smile. He untied the scarf covering my mouth right before his lips took its place. The way he kissed me, with such patience and tenderness, didn’t help calm my shaking body.

“Marry me,” he said in the space between our mouths.

Thanks to the ecstasy I was still swimming in, this question didn’t put me on edge like it normally did. “Soon,” I answered him.

He ran his fingers through my hair and gave me one last kiss. “I’ll take that,” he said, gathering me in his arms as he got comfortable. “That’s an improvement over ‘someday.’”

I didn’t know if
soon
meant tomorrow, or next month, or next year, but . . .

“Damn, you two. That was freakin’ hot.”

Jude and I tensed at the same time.

“How’s a girl supposed to get to sleep after that?” India continued.

I would have been embarrassed if I wasn’t still in my postsex stupor.

“Sweet dreams once you do,” I replied.

Jude chuckled into the back of my neck, and, with his arms around me, I was asleep before I even knew I was falling.