A SWEETHEART FOR JUDE FORTUNE

by Cindy Kirk

  He spoke of the fence they were replacing in the north pasture, which made her think of their trail ride. Then he mentioned his sisters had gone shopping in Lubbock, which brought to mind her missing panties. Then there was the new bull...

  By the time Jude pulled the truck to a stop and got out, Gabi ached for him, wanted him with a desperate intensity she’d never experienced.

  He obviously felt the same. They barely made it inside before his mouth was on hers, his hands groping her through the lacy fabric.

  “Take this off,” he said, tugging at the dress.

  “Not here.” She pushed his hands away, her breath coming in short puffs. “Not with your mom watching us from over there.”

  Startled, Jude jerked his head toward the fireplace then expelled a breath at the sight of the family portrait of his family smiling back at them.

  “You’re right,” he agreed. “Not here.”

  Jude grabbed her hand and began to pull her toward the bedroom. Once they reached the hall, he jerked her back to him and began kissing her—urgent, fevered kisses that matched the wild beat in his blood.

  Raw need urged him to take her now, against the wall, on the floor. But he resisted, telling himself she deserved better than a wild tumble.

  They stumbled into the bedroom, bodies and mouths melded together. Still pressed together, he reached over and flipped on the light.

  She switched it off.

  “In the dark,” she insisted against his mouth. “Just the first time.”

  At that moment, she could have asked him to do it standing on his head and Jude would have done his best to comply.

  The shades were drawn, which, considering the proximity to the neighboring house, was totally unnecessary. The room was pitch-black other than a distant glow from the light in the living room.

  Though her passion appeared as ferocious as his, the way she’d blushed in the truck when he first suggested shedding her panties told him she didn’t have a lot of experience.

  Through the haze of mounting desire, Jude found himself glad of the fact and determined she wouldn’t regret trusting him with her body and with her heart. While she’d never said she cared, he knew she’d never let him get this close if she didn’t.

  He tightened his hold on his control and forced himself to speak softly in the same tone he used with a skittish colt. “Let me undress you. There’s no reason to rush.”

  “I don’t want slow.” Heat vibrated in her voice. “You’re lucky to have made it through the front door without me knocking you down and having my way with you.”

  Jude laughed, pulled her face up for a long, hard kiss. “You’re something special, Gabi Mendoza.”

  “Yes, I am.” She tugged at his suit jacket. “And you have way too many clothes on. Strip.”

  “It’d be easier if I could see,” Jude muttered as he fumbled with his belt. Yet, the urgent need for her propelled his movements and his clothes quickly found their way to the floor.

  “Easier isn’t better.” She moved to him. “Neither is slower.”

  When Jude wrapped his arms around her and felt only warm, fragrant skin, he realized she was already naked. Almost naked. By her position in his arms, she was obviously still wearing her heels.

  If he hadn’t already been hard, the mental image of her nude except for high heels would have sent him careening wildly in that direction.

  “This is my favorite dance so far.” Torturing him with her nearness, Gabi hummed one of the songs they’d dipped and swayed to at The Garden, while her body rubbed sensuously against his in all the best places.

  Jude slid his hand into her tangled mass of curls. “I want you.”

  “I hope so,” she murmured, “or I lost a perfectly good pair of panties for no reason.”

  Gabi felt some of her nervousness fade at his quick laugh. The touch of his knuckles against her cheek was wildly erotic.

  “Jude.” She spoke his name, then paused, not sure what she wanted to say.

  Love me as much as I love you?

  Please don’t love me because I can’t bear the thought of hurting you?

  “I want you,” he repeated, his voice a husky caress. Not quite steady fingers touched the curve of her cheek, trailed along the line of her jaw.

  “I want you more.” It was the truth. Her need for him was a stark carnal hunger she hadn’t known she was capable of feeling. She’d never wanted anything or anyone as much as she wanted Jude Fortune Jones.

  He ran his palms up along her sides, skimming the curve of her breasts. Gabi arched back while his long fingers lifted and supported her yielding flesh as his thumbs brushed across the tight points of her nipples.

  His stroking fingers sent shock waves of feeling through her body. The melody she’d been humming died away on a soft little whimper as her knees went weak.

  Scooping her up in his arms he carried her to the bed then dropped down beside her.

  “If you were tired, all you had to do was say so.” Her voice sounded breathless even to her ears.

  He chuckled. “I’ve learned that when knees go weak, it’s best to be horizontal.”

  Before she had a chance to respond, he folded her more fully into his arms, anchoring her against his chest as his mouth covered hers in a deep, compelling kiss.

  Then his palms were once again on the move, skimming the curve of her breasts before he allowed the tips of his fingers the barest of contact with her flesh.

  Her nipples stiffened, straining toward the remembered delight of his touch even as the warmth in her lower belly turned fiery hot and became a pulsating need.

  She longed to run her hands over his body, to feel the coiled strength of skin and muscle sliding under her fingers. She wanted him to touch her in the same way, wanted to feel the weight of his body on hers. Wanted to feel him inside her.

  Gabi planted an urgent kiss at the base of his neck, his skin salty beneath her lips.

  His hand flattened against her lower back, drawing her up against the length of his body.

  “You are beautiful,” he whispered into her ear right before he took the lobe between his teeth and nibbled.

  Shivers rippled across her skin.

  “You’re soft,” he continued as he kissed below her ear, then down her throat. One of his hands lightly stroked her belly.

  His hand moved up, pausing when it encountered the raised ridge of her scar. She tensed, but then his mouth replaced his hand and he was kissing his way up, touching his tongue to the tip of her left breast.

  It was dark and all she could see was the outline of his head. But the combination of seeing and feeling was the most erotic experience of her life. Gabi cried out in delight.

  He circled her nipple then drew it fully into his mouth. The gentle sucking had her arching against him. At the same time, his hand dipped low, slipping through her curls and between her legs.

  She parted for him, catching her breath as he rubbed against her slick center, then slipped one, then two fingers inside her. When he shifted slightly and found that single spot of pleasure, she nearly rose off the bed.

  This was like before, when they’d been on the trail ride, but more intense. She couldn’t bear herself enough to him. She wanted to be more naked, more exposed, more intimate.

  “Don’t stop,” she breathed, her blood like a fever in her veins.

  Thankfully, he didn’t. He continued to touch her, stroking her, teasing, circling as he worshipped her breasts. The combination made her mind go blank, her breathing come in hard pants. “I want you inside me.”

  She didn’t have to ask twice.

  Gabi heard the rustle of a condom packet being torn open, or at least that’s what she assumed it was, then he was inside her.

  He was large and stretched her in the best
way possible. She felt filled, yet the need for more grew.

  He wrapped his arms around her, drawing her close so they pressed together everywhere. She clung to him, urging him deeper.

  “More,” she breathed as he withdrew only to fill her again.

  The rhythmic thrusting made her pulse against him. She couldn’t get enough. She strained toward him, needing, wanting. She dropped her hands to his hips to pull him closer.

  She hadn’t known that this much pleasure existed in the world. That she could feel so good, so right, so everything.

  Her pulse throbbed hard and thick. Gabi tried to catch her breath then gave up air completely as her release claimed her.

  The climax rippled through her and still he touched her, gentling the contact until the last breath had been wrung from her body. At the very end, when she was sure there couldn’t be anything else, he shuddered in her embrace and called out her name.

  * * *

  If Gabi hadn’t known, hadn’t had all the tests reassuring her that her heart was good and strong, the rapid pounding in her chest would have worried her. Yet, despite the thump, thump, thump, languid warmth filled her limbs as she lay curled in Jude’s arms.

  “That was,” she said as she kissed his neck, “quite spectacular.”

  “I aim to please.”

  In the darkness, she felt his smile against her cheek.

  “Do you want to tell me about it?” His voice was as warm and soothing as his arms.

  Still, Gabi stiffened. “About?”

  “The scar.” He shifted, gathered her closer, kissed her temple. “I’ve seen scars before, you know. You don’t grow up with four brothers and not get them. We used to call them badges of honor.”

  She could hear the hint of laughter in his voice.

  “Why badges of honor?”

  “Because they signified that you’d forged ahead, given whatever you were tackling your all, even if what you were tackling was one of your brothers.” This time he did release a chuckle as his hand gently stroked her back.

  Badge of honor. She might have to think of her scar in those terms. God knows, when faced with the situation, she’d forged ahead, given it her all, and came out whole on the other side.

  Between them the silence stretched and extended, but Gabi didn’t feel any pressure. She sensed that Jude would give her all the time she needed. He was kind. A good man.

  “I had to have heart surgery.” Gabi closed her eyes, breathed deep. “When I was nineteen. It, ah, fixed the problem, but left me with quite a scar.”

  The gentle glide of his palm up and down her spine paused for a fraction of a second then continued. “You’re okay now?”

  “Like new.” Gabi told herself it wasn’t a lie. In a way, it was true.

  He exhaled a breath, pulling her tight against him for a moment. “Good.”

  Gabi thought she could be content to lie here with his arms around her until, say, the next millennium.

  “Can I see your scar?” he asked.

  She knew he felt her tense; she wasn’t a good enough actress to keep her emotions that hidden. It irritated her that she could feel so vulnerable just because of the incident at the pool party.

  “Not your scar,” he corrected. “Your badge of honor. If you show me yours, I’ll show you mine.”

  “You have a scar?”

  “Darlin’, every Jones boy has scars.” He kissed her hair. “I’ve got one from an emergency appendectomy when I was nine that will blow yours out of the water.”

  “We’ll just have to see about that.”

  “Okay, then.” Still, Jude made no move to get up. “Tell me why I mentioned turning on the lights, when I’m so nice and comfortable right where I am.”

  “It’s your curious nature.” Gabi trailed a fingertip up his arm. “Trust me, that’ll kick you in the balls every time.”

  His eyes widened in mock surprise. He leaned back, holding her at arm’s length. “Miss Mendoza, does your father know you use such language?”

  Gabi liked this playful side of Jude. But then she liked his serious side, his sexy side... She forced her thoughts back to the question.

  “Who do you think I first heard that from?” She grinned. “And don’t even try to tell me Stacey and Delaney haven’t picked up a few of those kernels of wisdom from your dad and brothers.”

  “Guilty.” Jude gave her a quick pat on the bottom as he rose and crossed the room to the light switch.

  She expected the room to be immediately flooded with stark white light. The kind she remembered from the O.R. suites. Instead, Jude must have had a dimmer switch because the room definitely lightened, but no more than 30 or 40 percent.

  Gabi decided she must still be basking in the afterglow of lovemaking because the light reminded her of golden moonlight.

  Jude returned to bed, crawling in beside her, pulling her close once again. His blond hair looked as if someone had raked their fingers through it. Gabi smiled, realizing that someone was her.

  His cheeks were dark with a light scrabble of whiskers, but those blue eyes were clear and oh-so-blue when they latched on to hers. “Who goes first?”

  “You,” she said. “So you can revel in being the best for a few seconds until my scar—er, badge of honor—blows yours out of the water.”

  “Ah, more talk of scars.” His eyes danced. “Stirs me up.”

  “Let’s see it.”

  Jude glanced down. “It’s a bit wilted at the moment but—”

  “Not that,” she said, swallowing a laugh. “Your appendectomy scar.”

  He exhaled an exaggerated sigh. “If that’s what really interests you—”

  “For the moment,” she said. “But hold the other thought. We can revisit that in a moment.”

  He rolled to his back, the sheet riding low on his hips. There, slashing a raised pink swath down his right side was his badge of honor. “Pretty impressive.”

  Gabi leaned forward for a closer look, trailed a finger down the ridge of it. Then impulsively leaned close and pressed her lips over it. As she lifted her head, she felt tears sting her eyes. “You could have died. If they had to do emergency surgery it meant the appendix was ready to burst.”

  “It was,” he agreed, wiping back the tears with the pads of his thumbs, his voice gentle. “But it didn’t. The way I see it, we can’t worry about what might have happened or what could happen. We have to take life one day at a time.”

  Feeling foolish, Gabi blinked back the tears.

  “Hey.” He cupped her face with his hand, his eyes boring into hers. “It means a lot to me that you care.”

  When she smiled, he put a serious expression on his face. “I’ve showed you mine. Now you show me yours.”

  Gabi loosened the death hold she had on the sheet she’d pulled to her neck the second the lights came on. She took a deep breath before ever-so-slowly lowering the sheet.

  Jude’s expression remained impassive as he took in the scar that started just a few inches below her throat and shot down between her breasts to a spot midabdomen. He cocked his head.

  “Well, it is longer than mine. I’ll give you that,” he said finally. “But it’s also thinner and not as ropy.”

  He lifted his gaze. “I think we have a draw.”

  “It doesn’t disgust you?”

  Surprise flickered across his face. “Disgust? Why would it disgust me?”

  Gabi vividly recalled the pool party held at a coworker’s home. When she’d taken off her cover-up, she’d been shocked at the horrified looks by several new staff members. Until that moment, she’d never thought of her scar as ugly. But she’d seen several eyes widen and had even heard someone gasp. When the guy she was with grimaced and told her it was a total turnoff, she’d wanted to sink into the grou
nd. Instead she’d told him his attitude was a total turnoff and walked away.

  “It’s ugly,” she said finally.

  He lifted his hands, looking truly puzzled. “It’s simply a scar. Actually, a mighty good-looking one.”

  The tight grip around her chest began to ease. Jude might be somewhat adept at hiding his emotions, but she’d have known if he’d been horrified by what he was viewing.

  Simply a scar.

  Relief flooded her. “Now that our contest is over, I suggest we return to more important matters.”

  His lazy smile did strange things to her insides. “What did you have in mind?”

  Gabi slipped her hand beneath the sheet, closed around him, found him in...full bloom. “I think we’re on the same wavelength.”

  His arms encircled her. “Darlin’, we are and have been...from the second we met.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Sunday proved to be warm and sunny. Gabi stared into her closet pondering what to wear that afternoon to the Animal Extravaganza at the Lubbock Civic Center. Knowing she’d be around dogs all afternoon, she didn’t want to get too dressed up. Yet, with Jude coming with her, she wanted to look nice.

  No longer needing to hide her scar from him, Gabi chose a sage-colored top with a slightly scooped neck. The lightness of the fabric hinted at spring, but the three-quarter-length sleeves said the wearer understood the season hadn’t yet arrived.

  Gabi paired the top with a pair of jeans that made her waist look thin, her hips curved and her backside well toned—the perfect trifecta. Her only concession to style—and to the hope of spring—was a pair of strappy sandals with a touch of bling.

  Pulling her hair back into a low ponytail, she studied her reflection then added a little lipstick.

  Her mouth curved upward as she topped the color with some gloss. She didn’t know why she bothered. Jude would have it all kissed off by the time they arrived at the Civic Center.

  Man, did he like to kiss. And being the honest sort, Gabi had to admit she liked kissing him, too. They’d certainly done plenty of it in the past forty-eight hours.

  When she wasn’t with her father, she’d been with Jude. Last night, when the handsome cowboy who she’d begun to secretly think of as hers asked her to stay over, she’d told him yes.