Page 92 of Requiem
I almost laugh, but the sound is stolen by Jude’s mouth on mine. He’s kissing me like he’s trying to overwrite something inside himself. One of his hands leaves my face, sliding down my neck, and to the hem of my shirt. He fists the material and pulls it up. I help him, yanking it over my head, letting it fall somewhere onto the floor of the car. The cool air of the backseat hits my skin, followed instantly by the scorching heat of his palm on my bare stomach.
His mouth breaks from mine, trailing hot kisses down my jaw, my neck, to the swell of my breast. His teeth graze my nipple through my bralette, and I arch into him with a sharp gasp. “Jude…”
He doesn’t answer with words. He answers with his hands, hooking his fingers under the straps of my bra and pulling it down, exposing me to him.His mouth finds my nipple again, this time without the barrier, his teeth biting down, then soothes with his tongue. The sensation sends a jolt of pleasure to my core, which is already aching. My hips shift against the seat, seeking friction.
His hands are on my jeans, working the button and zipper. He pulls them down my legs, along with my panties. I’m naked beneath him now, sprawled across the backseat of the car, the leather cool against my back.
“Don’t get cum on the seats, please,” Rafe calls casually, his back to us. “I expect you to be on your best behavior after this, Jude.”
I laugh this time, realizing just how crazy this is. I would haveneverdone this before. But I love Jude so much that I’d do fucking anything for him.
He straightens, knees on the seat between my legs, and undoes his own jeans, shoving them down just enough. He’s already hard, thick, and ready, the sight of him making my stomach clench with anticipation. He doesn’t ask. He just moves, positioning himself over me. One hand guides himself, the other braces on the seat above my head. He looks into my eyes, his gaze holding mine with a dark, slightly unhinged intensity.
I stare back as he pushes inside.
The stretch is immediate, a burning fullness that makes me gasp. He enters me with one smooth, deep thrust, burying himself fully. A low, rough groan rips from him, his eyes squeezing shut for a second before they open and lock on mine again.
He begins to move, his hips pulling back and then driving forward again. The pace is hard, fast, and desperate. The car rocks with his rhythm, each thrust jolting my body. My hands scramble, gripping his shoulders, his arms, the muscles flexing under my touch. He’s fucking me in a way that’s unfamiliar for Jude, but I don’t mind. I want it to be rough like this. I want him to imprint himself so deeply into me that I can never lose him again.
He leans down, his mouth finding mine again in a searing kiss. His tongue swirls over mine, and I almost explode right there. We don’t need words right now. Justthis.
My climax builds rapidly, winding tighter with every slam of his hips into me. The feel of his body, the scent of his skin, thelookin his eyes—it’s overwhelming. I throw my head back with a breathy moan.
“Eyes on me, Emma,” he commands, his hand snatching my jaw and forcing my gaze to his.
He looks feral, his eyes almost black. I know his muscles are tensing, and his jaw is tight. He’s trying everything to keep in control of the thing thrashing inside him that wants to hurt me. The intensity of it all makes me break apart completely.
“Ugh,fuck,”he groans, riding out my orgasm while he chases his even harder than before. My nails dig into his biceps, little whimpers falling from my lips from the severity of every brutal drive.
But he doesn’t finish inside me. After a final, deep thrust, he pulls out, his body shuddering as he spills himself onto my stomach. The sudden emptiness is a shock, but the sight of his head bowed, chest heaving, with ragged breaths through his nose while he comes is its own kind of beauty. His body finally relaxes, and when he looks at me again, his eyes are clearer than before. The distraction worked.
I suppose I should thank Rafe for that.
Chapter twenty-six
JUDE GRAVES
The grocery store feels louder and more goddamn annoying than it should. The sound of fluorescent lights pushes against my skull, and the squeak of cart wheels dragging across the floor has me wanting to break a fucking head open on concrete. Voices drift past in Russian, words I only half understand, but my brain still tries to grab onto all of it anyway for some reason.
Even though I know no one is watching me, my shoulders stay tight as I walk beside Rafe, my hands hovering at my sides because I’m not entirely sure what to do with them. These hands have been responsible for so much destruction over the years. So it feels weird for them to just…exist without that.
He moves through the aisles with ease, barely pausing before reaching for what he needs. The man is impressive, being calm, efficient, and fluent in a world that still feels out of reach for me.
I trail him, not lost on the gazes of several smiling women as we walk past who seem to think we’re attractive. But even that feels fucking weird.If only you knew what kind of monsters we were.
I exhale slowly through my nose and flex my fingers once at my sides, grounding myself. I never felt so out of place before. A flash of memory tears across my mind of Alexei beating the fuck out of me for my last punishment. The one that I barely remember existing afterwards. My muscles tighten and tremble when I think of him choking me while chained to that chair. He choked until I almost died, then allowed me to breathe. He took his anger out on me in such brutal ways that whenever he hit, electrocuted, sliced, it was filled with so much goddamn hate.
I crack my neck in an attempt to will the memories away.
Rafe glances at me from the corner of his eye as he tosses something into the cart. “You’re thinking very loudly,” he mutters.
I huff a breath, rubbing the back of my neck. “Just…processing. I don’t feel like…like myself.”
“Dangerous pastime,” he replies dryly. Then, after a beat, quieter, “Given what was done to you, I’m not surprised. It will take time.” He pats my shoulder, and there’s something unexpectedly genuine in it.
I almost smile back. My gaze drifts again, observing the shelves and people moving around them. Life continuing all around us like nothing ever stopped.
And then, like it always does, Alexei’s voice creeps in.
