“Yeah?” I said jerking down the kickstand and lamenting the loss of his fingers in my hair. I hung the hat on the handlebar and swung my leg over the seat.

Jude’s gaze scanned down my body to my raging hard-on. No way to hide it now.

“What if I said everything about you is too tempting?” I whispered.

Chapter Twelve

Jude moved toward the water like he was all too familiar with this kind of nighttime scene and I had to wonder if he did this often. I, on the other hand, hadn’t been out to the quarry in years. The park had closed at sundown and yeah, for me, this was as illegal as it got. Maybe back in the day I did some stupid shit, but now I was an adult with responsibilities and a grandmother to look after. I didn’t need to be paying fines up the wazoo just because some hot guy led me here one night after dark.

The quarry was small and shallow but the water was fresh and warm and blue in the daytime. Like a natural spring pond, if you had to compare it to something.

I felt a spot of water on my cheek and my stomach tightened. There was no thunder or lightning. Still, for me to be out on a bike during a rainstorm was huge. It happened unexpectedly sometimes, but I always sought shelter immediately or stayed after hours at the shop to avoid it. I was so into my ride with Jude that I had all but forgotten that the forecast called for showers.

But there was something different about being here with Jude. He was like an electric force field that I naturally gravitated toward. Even though danger signs were written all over him. I couldn’t help thinking back to the day he took care of my ankle or how meticulous he was about practically everything—especially his words.

I walked to the water’s edge and stood staring into its depths next to Jude. It was partly cloudy and the moonbeams shone down along the water’s edge. He cocked his head, as if expecting a string of protest to fall from my lips. But my throat was dry and my lips felt glued shut as I anticipated his next move. He seemed different tonight, almost defiant, on edge. Similar to how he was on his board, with his stunts. The one area in his life where he seemed to break loose and sail free.

Droplets of water broke the glass surface and I was mesmerized as it brought me back a few years to when I used to actually love rainstorms. I wished I could get back there to that serene place again. But too many large waves had already crushed that tranquility.

I found out my mother was dead the afternoon of a wicked storm a few minutes after I’d arrived home soaked from school. I remember how my grandpa pulled me into the safety of his arms. He died a couple of years later, from a heart attack. The cemetery was a muddy, watery mess the day of his funeral. And that last day with David. Fuck. We did everything wrong that day. If I could take it all back I would.

I turned to look at Jude, about to say something about the rain and getting back home and off the road, when he tipped his chin and stripped off his shirt. I gulped as I took in his smooth and lean chest that I’d now seen on more than one occasion.

“What are you doing?”

He unbuttoned his shorts without responding to me. He was back to being the silent Jude with a devious gleam in his eye. And silent Jude was apparently going skinny-dipping.

I watched in complete awe as he effortlessly yanked down his shorts, which left his boxer briefs. I could plainly see the outline of his long and stiff cock and all I could think was that I had done that to him. Unless he was some sort of an exhibitionist.

He appeared to show no shame as he pulled down his underwear and stared into my eyes with so much lust I could’ve waded in it. But I couldn’t hold his gaze for very long because I had to see him. All of him.

He stood perfectly still while my eyes skimmed down his pecs to his tight stomach. There was a light patch of hair beneath his belly button that led down to a denser mass. His gorgeous dick curved upward toward his stomach, and all I could think about was running my tongue around the long vein and thick head.

Though this was the boldest I’ve ever seen Jude, I could also tell that revealing himself to me like this was colossal, because there was a small tremor in his fingers and right then all I wanted to do was reach for him, hold him, help steady his nerves.

Then suddenly he walked with purpose into the cool liquid and I only got a glimpse of his tight ass before the water concealed it. My erection began throbbing in my pants and I tried to rein in my thundering pulse.

“Is it warm?” I asked past the lump in my throat.

He nodded.

“You shouldn’t go any further because of your tattoo,” I said, mostly just to keep myself talking. “I wouldn’t want you getting an infection.”

“Then come in with me to keep me in line.” His shoulders glistened in the moonlight and right then he was a vision, my every fantasy come true. He stood staring at me, water droplets hanging off his lips and chin from the light rain, willing me to discard my clothing and join him.

This was a different side of Jude and I didn’t want to blow it. I felt a little heady, thinking that he desired me. Even if this was only a one-time crazy-ass thing.

That thought drove me forward, the rain already forgotten. When I yanked off my shirt, Jude’s eyes turned positively savage and I swallowed thickly. When I took down my jeans and boxers all at once, his teeth bit into his lower lip.

It felt good to let my erection loose. I was thicker than he was and now so damn hard that I was leaking pre-come. The cool water would help soothe the fire rampant inside of me.

I strolled into the water and the cold liquid mollified me. “This feels amazing.”