Fallen from Grace (28 page)

His gaze changed from sweet and caring to dark and dangerous. “You really shouldn’t be here.”

“Well, I am, and I’m not going anywhere,” she stated, walking straight into his apartment.

She was standing in a small living room with lots of books, a couch and a treadmill. To the left was a tiny kitchen, and to the right was a hallway with three doors-two of which were closed. The smell of soap lingered in the air, and it made the muscles in her stomach tighten—he had just been in the shower.

“Where is your bodyguard, Grace?”

She turned around. “He’s not here, and I didn’t bring my cell phone.”

His eyes narrowed, and worry filled his gaze. “What’s going on? Did something happen?”

Her resolve was rapidly dwindling; she had been so focused on her anger toward Judas that his concern was nearly her undoing. “So much has happened, I don’t even know where to begin.” She looked at her hand; it was shaking. “But I want to know why you kissed that woman in front of me last night. How could you do that to me?”

He shook his head. Turning on his heel, he strode down the hallway, opened one of the closed doors and disappeared inside. He reappeared a few moments later wearing a black, zip up hoodie.

“Can I get you anything to eat or drink?” he asked.

Grace shook her head in response to his question but inwardly tried to shake away her suggestive thoughts. She was disappointed he’d covered his naked chest. But was pretty sure he hadn’t put on a t-shirt. Just one zip was all it would take to see it again.

Walking over to the black leather sofa, he stacked several books, then sat them down on an antique mahogany coffee table. He took a seat and braced his elbows against his thighs as he intertwined his fingers together, then looked up at her. A burden was heavy in his gaze, and Grace hoped it wasn’t because she was here.
But
he
did
say
I shouldn’t be
here
.

“Why don’t you tell me what prompted you to travel without your bodyguard and cell phone, and maybe I’ll answer your question.”

Grace walked over to the windows. “Should I go?” she asked, hugging her arms against her chest.

She heard him sigh, and turned to see him rubbing his hand across his forehead. She grabbed her purse off the coffee table and practically ran to the door. As she turned the knob and opened the door, he slammed it shut.

“Wait.” He uttered breathlessly.

She glanced up at him. His chest was heaving, and his mouth was slightly open. His brows were drawn inward, and his eyes held fear and something else. Grace dropped her purse, fisted her hands into his hoodie, and pulled his lips to hers. Judas didn’t hesitate—he wrapped his arms around her waist and pushed her against the door.

Unzipping his hoodie, she smoothed her hands down his chest as he deepened the kiss. His hands tugged her blazer down her arms, and it fell to the floor. Grabbing her legs, he wrapped them around his waist, and one heel fell, and then the other. He started walking with her somewhere. She didn’t even open her eyes; she hugged her arms around his neck, and he moaned into her mouth. His hands massaged her back, and he pulled his lips away.

“I’ve been dying without you, Doc. I want you so bad it hurts.”

She looked into his eyes, tucking her elbows against his chest, and pressed her hands to his cheeks. “I’m yours. Take me, Judas Woods.”

His lips crashed into hers. He pushed a door open, and she heard it hit the wall with a bang, then he gently placed her on his bed. His heated gaze made her skin hum, and she felt needy and hot.

“I can’t believe you’re in my bed. Do you know how many nights I’ve laid right where you are, wishing you were here?” She shook her head in response. “Too damn many, and now I’m going to show you what I’ve been dreaming of doing to you.”

Her heart nearly exploded. He unbuttoned her pants and slowly pulled them down her legs, his fingers skimming her bare skin all the way down to her ankles. His hands smoothed back up to her underwear, and the inside of her thighs ached for him to touch her
right
there, b
ut he didn’t.

She was propped up on her elbows, watching him. He removed his hoodie but not his shorts, and the anticipation made her mouth go dry.

“It might be a long time before I see you again, so I’m going to make sure I take this slow and enjoy every fucking minute of it.”

Grace hated swear words, but out of Judas’s mouth it was erotic and made her ache even harder.

“I’m not going anywhere, I swear. Just make love to me.” Her voice was bereft and breathy.

His lips twitched, and her eyes filled with pure satisfaction. “Be careful what you ask for. I have nowhere to be anytime soon.” He crawled on top of her, straddling her legs but not putting too much weight on her small frame, then began unbuttoning her white blouse. Her chest was rising and falling like she had just run a marathon. She laid back as her arms began to tingle, and rested her hands on his thighs.

Once the last button was loose, he opened her shirt and stared at her. “You’re so beautiful, Grace. The most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

His voice spoke straight to her libido; it flared, causing warmth to pulse through her veins and prickle her cheeks with heat. He rocked back onto his heels, pulled her up to sit, and slid her blouse off her shoulders and down her arms. He kissed her shoulder…her neck…the corner of her mouth before he gently slid his tongue inside.

Grace shrugged her hands out of her sleeves and wrapped her arms around his neck—her bare skin against his felt transcendent. This was the intimacy she’d been longing for; a physical exactness where her body and her heart felt at one with her being.

He laid on top of her and trailed kisses down her neck and across her breast. His hand dipped beneath her bra, and the sensation of his fingers gliding over her nipple nearly made her lose herself. Sliding his hand out, he kissed her chest and unfastened her bra. Pulling it from her body he tossed it aside and shook his head.

“I haven’t been a believer in God in a very long time, but only he could create someone so breathtakingly beautiful. You amaze me, Grace. Your heart…your mind…” His lips curved into a sinful smile. “Your perfect breasts are truly his best work.”

He lowered his mouth and gently sucked her nipple. She arched her back and opened her legs, allowing his body to settle between them. She relished how his weight felt pressing her into the mattress. Wrapping her legs around his hips, she moved against him, and a deep moan vibrated against her breast. His lips came to hers and she found her hands fumbling at the hem of his shorts and pushing them down his body. Her feet finished where her hands couldn’t reach, and suddenly Judas Woods was completely naked against her. The thought was exhilarating. She reached between them, and out of sheer impatience, moved her underwear to the side and guided him inside of her.

Taking him clear to the hilt, she rolled her hips and devoured his moan as his tongue caressed hers. A sensual rhythm fell between them as their bodies took control, pushing them both to the edge of all reason. Grace felt a powerful need building between her thighs, tightening and drawing all sensation and energy from the rest of her body until she couldn’t take it anymore.

“Judas!” she screamed.

Deep within her core an explosion erupted and spread through every inch of her being. Judas called out her name, and she felt him climax at the same time. His breath hit her neck, and his hands gripped hers firmly against the mattress. She turned her head and found his mouth, kissing him out of pure desperation. He came up for air, pressing his forehead against hers.

“I don’t want to let you up.”

She laughed. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m not ever leaving you again, Judas. I love you.”

He stilled. Several moments passed before she felt him breathe, then he propped himself up on his right elbow and stared at her. She brought her hands up to his face.

“That’s right, Judas. I love you, and I’m pretty sure I’ve loved you since the moment you walked into my office, claiming to need an evaluation for your client.” She laughed.

He upped her declaration. “Well, I’m pretty sure I’ve loved you since the moment I saw you standing on the curb outside the restaurant where I first met you. You took my breath away, and I knew I didn’t deserve you, but as I watched you from across the street and later inside the restaurant, I wanted to take you home and make love to you.”

Grace giggled. “Well, if I had known how good in the sack you were, I think I probably would have acquiesced.”

Judas smoothed his hand down her arm. “What about Ellis?”

Just like that, all joy seeped from her bones. A tremor of fear shook her. Judas’s eyes narrowed to lethal slits, and he shot straight up.

“What happened? What made you come here, Grace?”

“It’s a long story.”

“Then give me a condensed version.”

Grace pulled the covers up to her chest. “He claims I’m his and that I can never leave him. His bodyguard follows me everywhere, and I found out today he has been tracking my phone calls.”

“I know.”

Her eyes shot to his. “How?”

He ran his fingers through his hair, then glanced away.

“Tell me, Judas.”

With obvious reluctance, his gaze aligned with hers. “The truth is bad. Really bad, Grace, and I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Are you the reason why it’s going to hurt?”

He shook his head.

“Then it doesn’t matter.”

“How can you be so sure? What if the truth comes at a price?”

“Judas, you’re scaring me.”

“You should be scared.”

“I don’t care about a price. Nothing matters if we aren’t together.”

Judas looked truly awestruck. “Ellis
isn’t
going to let you leave, not without wreaking havoc on your life.” He glanced away.

Grace moved beside him and put her arms around his shoulders. “Talk to me, Judas. What do you mean?”

He looked at her. “Ellis threatened to leak photos of us from the Hamptons. Photos of our first night together if I ever spoke to you again. That’s why I haven’t answered your calls or texts. It’s also the reason I brought my
assistant
to the opera last night. He wanted me to make you jealous so you would fall out of love with me. I promise there’s nothing going on between us. In fact, I thought for sure I was going to be slapped with a sexual harassment charges.”

“Yeah, right. She probably liked it.” Grace couldn’t hide the jealously in her voice. “When did he show you the photos?”

“Last week. You don’t sound surprised.”

She looked down. “I’ve seen them.”

“What?”

“After we had spent our first night together, I left you and drove to my parents’ house to break it off with him, but he showed me a manila envelope full of photos of you with other women, then he showed me the one of us. He said he was working with an ADA in New York, building an extortion case against you and your father. I didn’t find out until a couple of days ago that the ADA is Rebecca’s father.”

The blood drained from his face, and he turned pale.

“I would have told you sooner, but Ellis made me believe you were getting close to me so you could blackmail my mother.”

“And you believed him?”

“At the time…I didn’t know what else to believe. We barely knew one another, Judas.”

“I’d say we knew each other pretty damn well.”

Her cheeks heated at the reference. Their first night together had been the best in her life, and things could have gone differently if she would have just stayed.

“I’m sorry.”

His shoulders relaxed. “Don’t be sorry. I’m the one in the wrong.”

“No, you aren’t. You’ve been protecting me, and if it’s possible, I love you even more.”

He closed his eyes. “I can’t believe I’m hearing those words from your mouth. I never thought it was possible.”

“Look at me, Judas.” He opened his eyes and turned to her. “I love you, and together we’ll get through this, I promise. For now, we’re safe. Rebecca said no one knows about this place.”

“You have yet to tell me how you came across Rebecca
and
managed to get her to tell you where I was.”

She smiled and cupped his stubbled jaw. “A story for another day. Right now, nothing else matters. Right now, we’re together, and that is
all
that matters.”

T
HE
NOON
HOUR
LIGHT
FILTERED
through the window, spilling across a naked Grace Winters. Judas held her in his arms and watched her sleep as he thought about everything that had happened since Grace had arrived on his doorstep.