by J. Lea
“I can safely say that was unforgettable.”
“Thank fuck. I have to admit, you bruised my ego back when we met at Max’s, when you said you didn’t remember our night. Woman, I wanted nothing more than to remind you of the pleasures we shared that night, since then.”
I move to climb off the bed. Jude grabs my wrist and gives me a questioning look.
“Where are you going?”
“I need to take a shower. I’m all sweaty and sticky.” I scrunch up my nose.
He pulls me to him, hugging me tightly. “You’re not going anywhere.” He starts showering kisses all over my neck. “I like you sweaty and sticky. Besides, I’m not done with you yet.”
“You’re not? My body says differently,” I raise an eyebrow in laughter. I hurt in all the right places.
“Was I too rough?” I hear worry in his voice. I give him a fierce shake of my head, tracing my finger over his wrinkled forehead.
“Not at all. It’s just that it’s been a while since I… You know.” Leo and I stopped having sex a long time before we split.
“You need to rest,” Jude says firmly. I bite my lip. Even though I wouldn’t mind round two, I feel we need to slow things down.
“Why don’t you take a shower and I’ll make us something to eat in the meanwhile?”
“That sounds marvelous.” I smile at him, pressing a kiss to his mouth. I should’ve expected him to grab the nape of my neck and deepen the kiss. I return the kiss with equal passion.
“Shower!” He points his finger to the bathroom. “If you don’t get off the bed right this second, I’m not responsible for my actions.”
I wink cheekily at him, and he slaps my bottom, making me giggle.
“So perfect,” he grumbles as I’m walking to the bathroom.
Jude doesn’t notice when I get to the kitchen, leaning on the door frame. My eyes are watching him, dressed only in a pair of sweats, moving around my kitchen effortlessly, preparing breakfast. His hair is messy from sleep and our intense workout. He looks completely content which brings a smile to my face. I feel the same. I shouldn’t, but I do. I could easily get used to watching him dance around my kitchen, making me food and then feeding me. I could get used to us. And that freaks me the hell out. I shouldn’t be thinking that. But I so want him again. Two coffees are waiting on the counter, smelling delicious. One of them is practically screaming my name.
“Hungry?” Jude asks as he turns to me, holding a pan with scrambled eggs and cheese. I bite my lower lip, eyeing him. Yes, hungry, but not for food. It’s only been half an hour since he’s been inside me. Jesus, April. Get a grip.
“Where are Cole and Jessie?” I didn’t even realize they were gone until I noticed there are only two plates on the table.
“Jessie needed to go back home. He has a new case waiting and he can’t delay it anymore and Cole’s just left to go to the police station with your car. I hope it doesn’t bother you.” He fills the plates with food and puts the pan in the sink.
“Not at all.” His car was ruined in a fire, so naturally he can use mine from now on. “So, we’re all alone now?” I flutter my eyelashes at him, biting my lower lip.
“Yup.” He puts his hands around my waist and kisses me. We’re standing in my kitchen, barefoot, completely immersed into each other. “We should stop,” he says, slightly out of breath.
I purse my lips, disagreeing with him. “We don’t have to,” I tell him.
“You need to eat. I’ve exhausted you.”
“We can eat later,” I say as I push my hips into his, feeling his erection press up against me. God, he makes me feel insatiable. Didn’t I just tell myself we need to take things slow?
“You’re killing me, you know that?” he says as he grabs my butt. “Eat!”
I lean over the table, grab a fork, and when I swallow a forkful of my scrambled eggs, I exclaim: “There. I ate. Happy now? Can we continue where we left off just moments ago?”
He chuckles. “You’re really something special, you know that?”
“Well, when I know what I want, I don’t hide my intentions. And right now, I need your attention south of my waist.”
Jude swallows hard. “Woman, are you trying to kill me?”
“No, just get you in bed. Or is that a problem? Do I need to get my vibrator?” I raise an eyebrow, regarding him with laughter in my eyes. “Too old to keep up?”
“I’ll show you old.” He grabs my hair, pulling my head back, and my body erupts in goose bumps. We get lost in the wild passion we share. Jude kisses me hungrily, lifting me up by my butt, dumping me on the kitchen table. I lean my head to the side to give him better access to my throat.
“You’re so delicious, April. Sweet as honey,” he mutters between kisses. His right hand slides under my tank, finding by breast. I didn’t bother with a bra after I showered and I’m glad I didn’t. The sweats, riding low on his hips, are in the way. I want him naked. Just as I grab the band to pull them off, I hear a furious voice behind us.
“What the hell are you doing?”
Max.
He sounds and looks furious, lightning bolts shooting out of his eyes.
“Shit,” Jude curses and adjusts his sweats.
“Damn,” I join in. We hurry to get our clothes in order and I try to comb through my hair with my hands, as it’s sticking in every direction.
“What are you doing with my sister?” Max yells. He’s practically fuming. I’ve never seen him so angry before. He takes three long strides until he’s standing in front of Jude, almost touching chests, and he punches him. Jude clenches his jaw but doesn’t react, standing in place, regarding Max with a mixture of annoyance and worry. Max won’t stop. He pounces on Jude and I quickly jump between them before anyone gets hurt.
“Max, you need to stop.”
“You fucker! Is that how you protect my sister? By fucking her?” he yells at Jude across my shoulder.
“Max, that’s enough. Calm down.” Why is Jude just standing there?
“The hell I will.” I’m holding my arms out to stop Max, but he’s intent on getting his hands on Jude, so I give him a shove back.
“Do you even have time to look for her goddamn stalker or are you too busy fucking my sister?”
“Enough! You’re in my house and I won’t allow such behavior. If you don’t calm down, there’s the front door,” I tell him firmly. Max looks at me with eyes wide open, breathing deeply, and he scratches his jaw.
“Fine, but get that motherfucker out of my sight,” he points a finger at Jude.
“He’s not going anywhere,” I tell him.
“Max, it’s not what you think,” Jude finally speaks.
“It’s not? So, you weren’t just about to fuck my sister, right here, on the kitchen table?”
“No. Yes,” Jude gets confused. “You don’t know me. You don’t know what I’m like.”
“No? I remember you from our college days, screwing women left and right, a new piece of meat in your bed every week. You’re not fooling me.”
“Yeah, Max, in college. Also, past tense. I’m no longer the guy you knew back then.”
“Ha. It didn’t look like that to me when you had her on the kitchen table.”
“Max, stay out of our business. Jude and I are grown-ups. We know what we’re doing,” I tell him.
“April, you’re making a serious mistake.”
“Then it’s my problem, Max, not yours.”
“I’ve had enough.” Max holds his hands up, walking backward to the front door. “I can’t look at you anymore.”
“Max,” Jude tries to reason with my brother. Taking a step forward, Max flips him off, shaking his head. He slams the front door shut behind him.
“Leave him,” I say as I hug Jude who seems more than a little distraught. “He’ll come around once he cools down.”
“I doubt that.”
“Why were you just standing there when he attacked you?” I expected him to at least fight
Max off if not kick his ass, given his strength and capabilities.
“Max just saw his little sister hooking up with a man who was supposed to be protecting her. If I were in his shoes, I’d react the same. I had no right to fight him.” He slides his hand down my spine and he hugs me tightly to his chest, pressing a soft kiss to my forehead. He then intertwines his fingers with mine and squeezes gently. We stand there for God knows how long, and it feels just perfect. Too perfect.
Fourteen
Jude
First thing in the morning Cole told me dad called him to recruit him for a fraud case he’d been working on for the past few days, and so it’s just me and April again. I’m not too excited by both my brothers leaving so soon one after another, but it’s part of our job and I’ve gotten used to it. I’ll have to handle the case on my own which, to me, poses no issue as I’m usually working alone, but extra help would be more than welcome.
The day passed without incidents; we’re still in a one-way alley. April and I decided to spend the whole day in bed. I can’t get enough of her; I get hard even at the thought of her. I feel like a teenager again.
We’re in the middle of dinner, April smiling to herself from the other side of the table, one leg tucked beneath her ass, holding up a bowl of chicken salad with yoghurt dressing. She’s ignoring the hungry looks I’ve been giving her, focused solely on the full platter before her. I don’t mind—it took me hours to convince her to leave the bed and grab something to eat Today’s marathon must’ve left her starving. Hell, I’m starving.
The peaceful dinner is interrupted by my phone ringing, coming from the living room. I put my fork down and walk to the coffee table where I left it.
“Yes?” I answer when I see the already familiar Captain’s phone number flashing on the screen.
“Jude, can you drop by the station? We found something that could lead us to Ms. Brookes’ stalker.” At his words, I stand up straighter.
“Seriously?” It’s about time.
“Can I expect you here in half an hour?”
“Yes, I’ll be there.”
I take a relieved breath. April’s standing in the living room door, her shoulder to the doorframe, holding a glass of orange juice observing me.
“Good news?”
“Great, actually. It was the Captain, calling to inform me they found some evidence that could lead us to your stalker.”
April’s face brightens up instantly. “Really?”
“Yeah, but I have to get down to the station.” I pick her off the ground, spinning her around and placing a kiss between her breasts. My smile falters soon after I remember I can’t leave her alone in the house. “You’re going to have to come with me.”
“Why? Can’t I stay here?” she pouts. “You told me yourself this house is now an impenetrable fortress. I feel like a helpless child who needs constant supervision. Go, I’ll wait right here for you. I’ll wash the dishes and start reading a good book. You’ll be back in no time.”
“You sure?”
“Of course,” she nods. I give her a kiss.
“Okay then. Lock the door behind me and don’t forget to turn the alarm on. You activate it by pressing this button and the red light’s gonna turn on.” I know she already knows how to do all this but I can never be too careful. “You remember the code, right?” I don’t like leaving her alone, but as she doesn’t want to come with me, I’m left with no other choice—I need to see the latest evidence that could bring us closer to capturing the stalker.
“Yes. It’s not that hard to remember.” When Cole and Jessie installed the alarm system, she had to pick a four-digit code that she’d be able to remember in any situation. She chose the year of Max’s birthday, but backwards.
“I’ll be right back.”
“I’ll be here, waiting.”
Tingling with expectation, I park the car in front of the police station, locking the door behind me. I greet Officer West at the entrance, who is quite stereotypically stuffing himself with donuts.
“Hey O’Rilley, nice to see you again. What brought you here? Have anything new for us?”
“No, actually the Captain called not long ago, asking me to meet him here. Is he in there?” I nod toward the direction of his office.
West gives me a funny look, swallows his donut and shakes his head.
“He’s not here He went home an hour ago.”
“Home? But he told me to drop by.”
“You probably misunderstood him. Perhaps he was talking about tomorrow afternoon?”
“No, I heard him correctly.” I turn aside, rubbing my neck. “Why would he tell me to come here if he’d already left? That doesn’t make any sense.” Suddenly, I get a sick feeling in my stomach as I remember April’s home alone. What if this was a trap? Has the stalker managed to trick me? But how? I pull my cell phone out of my pocket and call April’s number, tapping my foot nervously on the floor, waiting to hear her voice which would be the only thing to calm me down. But the phone keeps ringing and ringing. “Fuck!” I yell.
“Is something wrong, O’Rilley?”
“Do you have any patrol cars here?”
“Yes, why?”
“I need you to send officers to April’s house. Now!” He knows her address by now so I don’t need to give him additional info. He moves quickly, calling “Deal!” over his shoulder as he disappears around the corner. I don’t waste time. I drive like a maniac through the dark streets of Boston. Just my luck—almost every stop light is blinking red at me and I’m so worried about April I feel like I’m about to throw up. I have a bad feeling in my gut; I’m afraid what might be waiting for me at the house. Fortunately, I don’t have to wait long. When I drive up April’s driveway, I see all the lights in the house are out and my bad feeling’s getting worse by the minute. Pulling a gun out of the waist holster, I move to the front door with caution. “April?” I yell, but I get no response. When I grab the front door handle, I’m surprised the door is locked. I walk around the house to check the windows and try to see if there’s something going on inside. It’s too quiet. Eerily quiet. The moon is giving me enough light so I can see the broken window in one of the guest rooms in the back of the house. My stomach clenches up in knots. “April?” I try again. I return to the front door, pull out my set of keys and unlock the door, opening them quietly and carefully. Why is the alarm turned off? I have no idea what’s waiting for me inside, but I need to find April. I take careful steps to the kitchen. It’s so quiet I hear the clock tick-tocking in the kitchen. Suddenly, there’s a distant sound of steps getting louder by the moment. The basement! Steps are coming from the basement. I hide behind a closet in the hall, holding my gun up. I see a light from a flashlight as someone walks up to the top of the stairs, closing the door behind them, turning around and walking toward me. Jumping in front of the moving shadow, I point my gun at it. April’s scream sounds through the house, her flashlight hitting the floor and light going out at the impact. “April?” I exclaim, my eyebrows furrowing. I can see it’s her in the moonlight shining through the windows.
“Jude? Fuck, you scared me to death.” Her hand is clutching her chest.
I finally let out a sigh of relief, clutching April closely. “What are you doing? Why are the lights out?”
“The electricity suddenly went out so I went into the basement to check if a fuse blew out or something, but nothing seems to be wrong with it.”
“Why did you turn off the alarm?”
“It started beeping very loudly when the electricity went out. I got a call from the security company and I explained what happened and then I guess I forgot to turn it back on.”
“Have you heard or seen anything suspicious in or around the house?”
“No, why? As soon as I hung up the phone, I went to the basement.”
“I don’t think the power going out was a coincidence. Someone did that.”
“Are you sure?” she exclaims in shock.
“I found there’
s a broken window in one of the guest bedrooms.”
“What?” she says incredulously. “Which room?”
“The one Cole was staying in.” April turns around on her heel and hurries off.
“April, wait,” I call after her, but she doesn’t stop. “Damnit, woman, would you listen to me?” I growl and run after her.
I find her leaning over the broken glass in the guest room. There’s no doubt it’s been broken from the outside as the glass shards are on the floor inside the room.
“What’s going on here?” April lifts her eyes to me.
“It wasn’t the Captain calling me earlier, it was a trap. Someone wanted to make sure I wouldn’t be by your side. I assume they wanted you alone.”
April’s hand flies to her open mouth. She reaches the bed for support. Just as I want to walk up to her to console her, someone grabs me and strikes my head.
“Jude!” April screams, but it’s too late as the attacker struck me so hard I hit the floor with my knees and the gun I’ve been holding knocked out of my hand. His hands on my throat force me to stand up. I won’t let him win. Trying to get the upper hand, I manage to wrestle myself free. April’s standing frozen at the side, watching us with horror in her eyes.
“April, run outside, the police are already on the way!” I yell, and receive a hard blow to the cheekbone.
“No! Jude!” she screams, her voice full of dread.
“Just do it!” I shout. The cut on my cheek is apparently deep enough to start bleeding and this pisses me off, giving me more motivation. I manage to get a kick in, and gritting my teeth, I yell, “At least once do as I say!” I exclaim as she’s still standing there. I evade his next blow, clenching my hands into fists and swinging hard at his head. I hit his temple. He grumbles in a low voice, his shadowed head to the side, and from the corner of my eye I see April run out of the room. Finally. Holding himself up, one hand on the wall, I see the attacker reach behind his back, and before I can move he lunges at me, a knife in his hand glinting in the moonlight for a moment before he thrusts the blade into my shoulder.