Rosie

After we finished skating, Jude led me to a small stand near the rink that sold hot drinks and bought us both hot chocolate. I wrapped my cold hands around the paper cup, grateful for the warmth seeping into my frozen fingers.

I sniffled from the cold, my nose running, and Jude immediately noticed. Without a word he brought out the scarf from around the backpack and placed it gently around mine, his fingers brushing my skin and making me shiver for reasons that had nothing to do with the temperature.

I brought the scarf to my nose and inhaled without thinking, his scent flooding my senses—clean and masculine that made my heart thump and heat pool low in my belly.

He watched me with dark amber eyes but didn’t say anything, just stood close while. Just being together was enough, standing under the lights with the sounds of other skaters and winter night air around us. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

When we finished our hot chocolate he took my hand and led me back to his bike. I climbed on behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist, pressing myself against his back while Baby roared to life beneath us.

The ride back to my cottage felt shorter than usual, or maybe I just didn’t want it to end. The tension between us had shifted into something heavier, heated, and I could feel it in the way his body was tensed under my hands and how my heart wouldn’t stop racing, anticipating something...

When we pulled up to my cottage I didn’t want to let go, didn’t want to say goodnight, and watch him leave. So when we both got off the bike and stood at my door in that awkward moment where we should say goodbye, I opened my mouth.

“Do you want to come inside?” I asked quietly, my heart pounding so hard I was sure he could hear it if he listened well.

His eyes widened and he stared at me before his eyes darkened while his body went still. “Rosie—”

“Please,” I murmured, I didn’t want the night to end yet, “I don’t want you to leave yet.”

He stared at me for a long moment, maybe making sure I knew what I was saying and his eyes flickered to my fiddling fingers before nodding once.

As soon as I opened the door, we went inside, I barely had time to close the door before he was on me.

He pressed me back against the wall that stole my breath, his mouth came crashing into mine in a fervent kiss that was nothing like the sweet gentle ones we’d shared before. This was rough, desperate, urgent, and almost overwhelming but I loved it, grabbing his jacket and pulling him impossibly closer.

I wanted him closer.

His hands were everywhere—in my hair, on my waist, sliding down to grip my hips—and I couldn’t think straight, couldn’t do anything but feel. His tongue swept into my mouth and I made a sound that seemed to drive him wild.

He growled—actually growled—low in his chest and the vibration went straight through my core and I gasped.

“Jude,” I breathed when he trailed wet kisses to my neck, nibbling and sucking at the sensitive skin there, and his grip on my hips tightened almost painfully and my breathing was coming out in shudders.

He pulled back just long enough to look at me with eyes that had gone dark with want. “Couch,” he said roughly and I nodded frantically.

We stumbled toward the couch, mouths still connected, hands grabbing at each other. I fell back onto the cushions and he followed, covering my body with his larger one, and the weight of him pressed against me making heat explode through my entire body.

His mouth found mine again and I opened for him eagerly, my hands sliding under his jacket to feel the hard muscle of his back through his shirt. He made that growling sound again and his hips pressed down against mine and I felt exactly how much he wanted this, wanted me, and it made me dizzy with desire.

My hands went to his hair, tugging, and he groaned into my mouth. His hands slid under my sweater, warm against my bare skin, and I arched up into his touch wanting more, needing more.

“Rosie,” he breathed against my lips and his voice was so rough it almost sounded deeper and animalistic, “You smell so good, feel so good—”

His mouth moved back to my neck and I tilted my head to give him better access, completely lost in the sensation of his lips and tongue on my skin. Then I felt something sharp graze against me and I gasped, my body trembled, and the action sent jolts over my body. I was overstimulated

His breathing was ragged, almost panting, and when I touched his face I could feel him shaking, and his grip on my waist had become bruising.

“Jude?” I whispered. I wanted to grind my throbbing core on him.

He made a guttural sound, his nose flaring while he pressed his face against my neck and breathed me in deeply like he couldn’t get enough of my scent.

His hands were shaky and I wanted to tell him it was okay if he didn’t want it or if he was nervous but the arousal in me was too strong. I didn’t think I could feel like this even with Josh... It wasn’t electric like this.

I wetted my lower lip to talk to him but his eyes caught the action and his eyes darkened and he cut me off with another desperate kiss, his hips grinding against mine in a rhythm that made my thoughts scatter.

He pulled back to look at me and I froze completely.

His eyes flashed gold with a hunger that should have made me run through the hill but inside my stomach was tingling— no, I blinked, it wasn’t possible.

“Jude?” I called and he flinched and immediately looked away, his nose flaring, and he clutched his hands to his side. His whole body had gone rigid above me and I could feel him shaking harder now, could hear strange sounds coming from his throat— deep rumbling.

I was confused by his strange behavior but I still wanted him, my body still aching for his touch despite it. I stretched my hands to pull his face back to me but he yanked himself from me, kept his face turned away.

“Jude?” I asked while trying to sit up, my body protesting the loss of his weight, his heat.

He didn’t answer or say anything at all as he turned abruptly and walked—almost ran—to my door, yanked it open, and disappeared into the night without a single word.

The door slammed shut behind him and I was left alone on my couch, confused and hurt and still dizzy with unfulfilled desire, staring at the closed door and trying to understand what the hell had just happened.