“Second drawer,” I whimpered after his tongue dug deep in my mouth and shockwaves ignited through my body.

“Don’t move.” He backed away from me and I heard the crinkling of a condom wrapper as he suited up and returned to me.

His fingers were already lubricated and he found my crease, rubbing around my puckered hole until a guttural groan ripped from my throat.

“Fuck, I missed you,” he said, pushing one finger inside. I arched my hips and drove back against his hand as he added a second digit.

His hand reached around to fist and pump my cock. He swiped a finger across my tip, sending needy pinpricks of desire across my spine. His wet tongue and the small nips on my shoulder drove me to the brink. “Please.”

“Bend over for me,” he growled against my ear. “I need to take that arse.”

My legs trembled as I thrust my hips out. He parted my cheeks and I felt a whisper of lips across the small of my back.

“Fuck,” he shouted as he pushed inside me inch by magnificent inch. I lost my breath and braced my forearms roughly against the wall. The stretch and feeling of fullness was almost too much to bear.

He stilled, his forehead digging into my shoulder, as he hissed through his teeth. Jude was inside me, and holy fucking Christ it felt unbelievable as flames of heat licked over every square centimeter of my skin.

“This is too good, Cory,” he grunted. “Fucking brilliant. So damn tight.”

“Give it to me, Jude,” I said, as the friction and burn transformed into tingles of pleasure rippling across my limbs. I wanted to feel the tightness, the fullness, the blistering sting all the way into next week. “I need this. I need you so much.”

“Do you believe me now?” Jude’s teeth bit into my shoulder and then he licked the stinging skin to soothe the ache. “I’m fucking real, Cory. This is real.”

He growled and thrust inside, my shoulders making contact with the hard surface. He fucked me with such determination that stars began to flare in front of my eyes.

It didn’t take long before I blew completely apart, shivering and shaking and melting against the wall, as Jude’s hands dug further into my hips.

After Jude chased his own release, his groin propelling against my ass, two thoughts clicked solidly into my brain. Jude York in fact was real. And I’d just had the most intense sex of my life.

Chapter Thirty-two

Jude and I had fallen into a makeshift routine the next couple of weeks. We’d have lunch or dinner at his place or mine whenever our schedules would allow. But out in public we remained under the radar, attempting to look like nothing more than friends.

Behind closed doors was a different story. We couldn’t keep our hands off each other and usually ended up in bed, with Jude begging for me to top him and me happily obliging.

Or we’d skip the meal, preferring to use our time together to talk about everything under the sun, as if making up for lost time—our bodies constantly touching, our mouths perpetually hovering, our fingers frequently entwined.

“You want my mouth on you?” I’d asked him last night, my fingers hovering above his zipper. I’d stopped over after my night out with the Raw Ink crew. Jude had come by Zach’s Bar to hang out briefly but we always made sure to leave separately.

He shook his head, practically shivering from the contact. “I want your lips on mine.” Then he urged my fingers to release his swollen cock from the confines of his jeans.

While I wrapped my fist around his hardness, our mouths rested together, our lips never breaking contact. My tongue licked deeply in his mouth, kissing him at an unhurried pace, while I brought him to climax with my hand.

It was as if he needed to stare into my eyes, moan into my mouth, and share the same airspace to truly feel connected to me. I’ll admit I needed it as badly as he did.

I could tell how happy Jude had been to return to his own place with his dog—cooking and cleaning, and walking Chopper along the bay. Like it had become his home. Maybe more home than any other place on the road had been.

Chopper had advanced to fucking pet of the year in the short amount of time that he’d been with Jude. He was no longer such a whiny pain in the ass and played nicely with other dogs, including Patch. As if Jude was as much the balm to his soul as he’d been to mine.

***

Jude was invited to my grandmother’s house for a spaghetti dinner after my shift at Raw Ink. I planned on meeting him at her front door so I could finally introduce him properly. But it didn’t quite work out as planned.

Me: Sorry. Running late. Be there in five.

Jude: Already inside. Your grandmother is great.

By the time I arrived, I could tell that he and my grandmother had hit it off. He was sitting at her kitchen table drinking a glass of her peach tea while she told him a story about my winning first place in some art show in high school.

“Already, Grandma?” I said, sliding into a seat across the table from Jude.

“I don’t mind at all.” Jude winked and smirked at me. “Helps me get to know you better.”

“Why didn’t you mention how adorable Jude was?” my grandmother said, squeezing my hand. “I can see why you’re so smitten with him.”

Heat crept across my cheeks and I felt like a little kid all over again.

“Well, I fancy Cory, too,” Jude said, watching me closely, while his foot brushed against mine beneath the chair. “Quite a bit.”

And now my heart was fluttering against my ribcage like a damn baby bird. Right then I had the urge to blurt my whole heart out to him in the middle of my grandmother’s kitchen. We had yet to really lay it out there to each other. Face to face.