Because Kate already knew with certainty that would happen.
She’d obviously set something lethal into motion here. And yet, she didn’t back out. Just backed down.
She said, “If you want to meet at The Plaza—”
“I don’t want to meet at The Plaza, Kate,” he countered in his brusque tone. “I told you, this is a real date. I’ll pick you up—from your doorstep. No change of plans at the last minute.”
Damn, how he forced her hand at every turn! He was relentless…and Kate found that highly arousing.
“Fine, Jude. My apartment, seven o’clock on Saturday.”
“Fine, Kate. Now I’m taking that shower.”
She disconnected the call with trembling fingers as exhilaration tore through her from his words alone. Well, and knowing he was enticingly wicked to the core.
But she’d fought his lure enough to hang up on him—her only remaining defense against the magnetic force that was Jude McMillan.
Jude stripped off the rest of his clothing and stepped under the hot water falling from the overhead rain feature in his large, glass-enclosed shower. There were also dual showerheads mounted to the midnight-blue marble walls, but he’d used similar ones with the pulsating massage setting earlier at the executive fitness center he belonged to, needing the hammering of the spray against his too-tight muscles. Tonight, he wasn’t looking to alleviate tension resulting from his grueling day in court or his vigorous workout; what Jude needed was a release from the sexual tension brought on by everything related to Kate.
Not only the spiraling lust that entwined them now that Kate had conceded to her desire for him. But also the complexities in her life. The past difficulties, the present challenges and the future ambitions that defined her, demonized her, drove her. He was obsessed with learning all the external threats as well as her internal weaknesses that had caused her to construct such solid walls around her. Ones he’d hacked through the tiniest bit this evening.
She’d reached out to him in her hour of need by asking him to accompany her to this familial obligation she was under. But he’d also gotten her to admit that she was hot for him. That she wanted something more from him than just a date.
Despite her contending it would only be sex between them—if she did permit them to take their mutual attraction that far—Jude suspected he was still only getting half the story with Kate. Confirming he’d only broken partially through her barriers.
That was a start, however. And Jude was not a man to give up when he could taste the effervescence of victory on his tongue. Though it wasn’t so much the triumph of breaking through Kate’s barriers he wanted to taste. It was Kate he craved.
Just as he burned to learn every intricate nuance of her heart, mind and soul, Jude had a desperate, overpowering desire to know every inch of her body.
No…to own every inch of her body. To explore all her silky skin and enticing curves with his mouth and hands.
And bring her endless hours of pleasure.
As he lathered up his palms and slid one over his thickening cock, his eyelids dipped and he allowed a new fantasy of Kate to play out in his head. He imagined her acquiescing to his request that she come to his apartment this evening. Visualized her untying the sash at her waist from the dress she’d worn that day in his office. Letting it fall open to reveal the black-lace bra and matching thong he’d considered she might be wearing underneath when she’d been brushing against him as she’d patched him up.
In his fantasy, her mesmeric, tawny gaze locked with his as she reached behind her and unclasped her bra. Her fingers curled around the straps at her shoulders and she slowly eased away the material, baring her breasts to him. The bra landed on top of her dress, pooled at her feet. Her thong followed. She stepped out of her shoes and into the shower.
Her palms splayed over his chest as his head bent to hers and he captured her mouth in a long, deep, searing kiss that held the potential to obliterate all that haunted them both.
His arms wound around her waist, holding her tightly to him as their kiss went on and on. Until they were breathless.
Then he released her and turned her around, pressing her up against the marbled wall. Raising her arms above her head. As the water cascaded over her gorgeous body, his hands glided downward, along her forearms, her femininely defined biceps and shoulders, her shapely sides. Across her belly, making her flesh quiver from his erotic touch. His hands roamed over her hips, her ass. His fingertips swept upward, lightly, teasingly grazing her spine.
He leaned into her, his mouth skimming her neck. His hands moved around to the front of her, cupping her breasts. He caressed and massaged, causing her to squirm under his touch so that her ass ground against his cock. Making him harder
His thumbs whisked over her nipples, tightening them. His lips and teeth gently tugged at the skin on her throat.
She moaned.
“Are you ready for me, Kate?” he whispered in her ear.
“So ready, Jude.”
One arm crossed her chest, still palming a breast, kneading it, while his other hand slid south to the apex of her legs. The pads of two fingers rubbed her clit, slowly at first, eliciting small, sexy whimpers from her.
As his cock thrust into her from behind, his fingers on her clit picked up a more insistent rhythm with more pressure.
“Yes,” she murmured.