Truth or Dare Page 8

  She felt the grin against her skin right before she felt his hand at her hips. “Spread your legs for me baby,” he coaxed. “Arch your back. Yeah, just like that.” His murmurs were so sexy. “Beautiful. Don’t move.”

  His hands left her, and she heard the rustle of clothes and the tearing of foil, and then he was back, his hands on her again.

  Her nipples were hard enough to cut glass from the cold, but that didn’t stop her from pressing against the window in an attempt to arch her back into the beautiful cock pressing against her entrance. When Jude plunged inside hard, she cried out, fog spreading out on the glass.

  He was huge. She’d known that because she’d seen him, but feeling him was something different altogether. Jude held himself still as she adjusted to his girth, but his breathing belied his restraint.

  “Christ, woman,” he murmured before biting her back a little.

  The slight edge of pain, coupled with the tightness of his fit, propelled Annette to squirm, arching impossibly further into his cock. She rocked backward, and with a groan, Jude started moving.

  He withdrew, and she felt every ridge of his length as it stroked her insides. Then he slammed back in, holding still on the entry, as if trying to memorize how she felt from the inside. Each withdrawal left her feeling empty, almost depressingly so, and then he would slam back home, and everything was full and right in the world.

  Jude gripped her ass cheeks, spreading them, and she knew he was watching himself disappear into her because he kept hissing and moaning his appreciation, interspersed with words like “Shit” or “Fuck” or “So goddamned tight.”

  Then his thumb entered the mix, and Annette wondered briefly if Jude had an anal fixation, but the sensations were too much to ignore, so she just went along with the feelings.

  “Faster, Jude, please?” She was begging, and his morbid chuckle sent a touch of darkness through her.

  “After all that teasing with the paintbrush, you want me to go faster? Watching you put that fucking thing in your mouth killed me today.”

  She supposed that had been a huge tease for him, but he was killing her.

  Annette tried to match his strokes by meeting him on the push back in, but with the overwhelming sensation of his thumb in her ass, it was hard to tell when he was stroking in or out. It was all so much.

  She couldn’t feel the cold of the window at all now. She was so hot, it was slippery with condensation, and she slid across the glass as Jude moved in and out of her. She was no longer trying to restrain or control anything. She was just feeling at his mercy.

  She spread her hands, desperate for leverage—something to hold on to besides slick glass—afraid she would fall.

  Jude must have seen her struggle because his free arm went around her, rubbing her clit in fast circles that made her come apart. The mountains looked on, the wildness seeping in like the cold of the window as she totally lost control.

  Jude roared in her ear, and his mouth clamped down on her shoulder, sucking the skin hard as his hips pistoned in and out and his thumb buried itself in her ass. Annette didn’t know where the orgasm started or stopped, she just knew the climax ripped through her, pulling at her seams of sanity, leaving her limp.

  Her only thought was of Jude’s strength as he scooped her into his arms and carried her to the bed before tucking her in.

  Annette woke with an insane desire to sketch the explosion and fieriness she had seen in her dreams. She knew they were an aftertaste of the orgasms she’d experienced with Jude and felt a need to prolong them.

  But when she opened her eyes, she saw Jude staring down at her, and a shiver of anticipation rolled up her body, starting at her toes. The look in his eyes told her she had only bitten off the tip of the iceberg with their escapades.

  “Do you need to work more?” His voice was a murmur of promises.

  She was torn. She did need to work, and experience told her if she didn’t sketch what was in her mind right this moment, she wouldn’t remember when she did sit down with her sketchpad, but Jude’s darkening eyes told her he was ready to give her more sketch fodder that she could use.

  He still had the fiery color of her paint on his skin, even though the latex was peeling off in flakes.

  “I think you need to shower that off,” she said pointedly.

  “I was hoping you would say that.” He laughed as he scooped her up into his arms and strode toward the bathroom.

  She could sketch later. Who needed sleep?

  Chapter Twelve

  Jude was enjoying his cabin for all the right reasons. It was a family cabin, his father’s escape/deer camp, but he used it primarily as an excuse to go every month or so and ground himself. Even though right now he was feeling as far from grounded as possible. Still, he was enjoying himself immensely, more than he had coming up here alone.

  The fact he’d never really brought a woman up here was telling. Annette had created a certain peace in the place, and it wasn’t really explainable. She wasn’t doing anything with him specifically. Jude had let her work today, and she’d been hard at it, standing between the window and her easels. With a paintbrush in her hand, a brush in her mouth, paint everywhere, and her hair piled on top of her head, Annette was in the zone. She looked from her sketchbook to the outside to the canvas, her hands moving almost constantly.

  Jude had done his part around the place—chopping more wood than two people would need and cooking more food than she was eating—but mostly he just sat on the couch and watched her work. And for the first time, he daydreamed about what his cabin would be like with her as a permanent fixture in his life. Annette seemed to get the same amount of peace from his place he did, and he was mentally running through what he would update to make her more comfortable.

  He could put in a stove, and a bigger hot water heater, maybe a dishwasher that drained the gray water out into a flower bed or garden in the back? He could get some newer furniture for the living room, more comfortable stuff in colors she liked. Stuff that inspired her.

  It was surprising, really, because that was the very reason he’d never brought a woman up here. He didn’t want to listen to them complain about the lack of amenities. He didn’t want them buying shit for his cabin. And he didn’t want them decorating it with girly stuff because it was his.

  He watched Annette work, looking like she belonged here, and realized he wanted it to be filled with canvases and oil paints and drop cloths that belonged to her.

  Jude was fascinated. Intense concentration radiated off her in waves. At first, he’d tried to be unobtrusive but soon realized she was paying him zero attention, so caught up as she was in her work.

  Which left him to just watch her and daydream.

  Which made him horny and discombobulated. Everly hadn’t ever had this effect on him. Sure, she was sexy, but she had a hard veneer that left him feeling weird sometimes. It was one of the defining aspects of their breakup. She wanted more than he did out of the relationship, mostly since he couldn’t see himself ever being with her long-term. And it was because she was so hard and difficult sometimes.

  Annette was soft, warm, and everything Everly wasn’t. If he put the two of them together, it would be like night and day. Everly’s sexiness was something different from Annette’s, hands down. Where Everly was sleek sophistication, with her silky negligees and garters and stuff, Annette wore a pair of sweats like a second skin, displaying her curves with a charm and charisma Everly would never, ever have.

  Like right now. Annette looked so adorable, so completely focused in her work, that he felt the stirrings of desire just watching her. Hell, stirring was an understatement. Jude wanted to haul her over his shoulder and throw her on the bed, dig around in Logan’s lock box for the cuffs he knew were there, and keep her there the rest of the week.

  A heavy sigh left him as he rose an
d went into the kitchen. Maybe if he worked in there some, he wouldn’t be tempted.

  Much.

  Two steaks, a salad, and grilled asparagus later, he was eating while watching her. Again.

  It irritated him there was enough food for each meal for two people, and it only reminded him this was supposed to be Drake’s week to seduce Annette. He always planned a menu and forwarded it to Jude, since groceries were part of the package. Drake was a cook, part of his repertoire for seduction. Jude wondered what she’d told him that he hadn’t stuck around. It must have been bad for him to leave her here alone without making sure he’d actually held up his end of the bargain.

  So Jude would just cook the food and quit thinking about Drake.

  He cut her steak up and set her plate next to where she was working, unwilling to interrupt. Annette flashed him a grateful smile before continuing, and he sat on the sofa with his plate and ate while he watched her some more.

  He really needed to do something else, but the cabin was clean and he needed to eat, right? He managed to eat his steak and vegetables while watching her and getting totally turned on by her utter concentration. When Jude had finished and washed his plate, and Annette hadn’t taken a single bite, he interrupted her. It was four o’clock in the afternoon.

  “You need a break. You haven’t eaten since I made you breakfast, and your steak is cold now.” He patted the sofa. “Come on. Bring your sketch pad, but you have to eat something before you continue.”

  She looked at him as if she’d completely forgotten he was there, eyebrows raised and lips parted in shock. He patted the sofa again.

  “Come on,” he coaxed.

  She flashed a smile before putting her brushes down and joining him. “It smells good.” She took a bite, and he was fascinated with the working of her jaw, her throat, and her eyes widening at the flavor. “God, this is delicious.”

  He had to laugh. “You’re starving. I’m not that good of a cook.” She took another bite, practically shoveling the steak into her mouth before gripping an asparagus spear.

  “You’re a wonderful cook,” she stated as she chewed. A few minutes of silence and then she broke it. “I love this cabin. It’s fantastic. I could live here.” She blushed and looked down at her plate.

  The jarring image of him and Annette right here—the spring sunshine streaming through the giant picture windows she loved so much—struck Jude. And it didn’t scare him.

  “You can come back whenever you’d like.” He made the offer without thought because it just seemed right. He could imagine her coming back to paint. “Just let me know so I can make sure there’s enough stuff here and not a huge-ass storm coming.” He was going for levity now because his thoughts had taken a serious turn. His thoughts had gone down the same path they had all damn day, and he was afraid he would spew them out of his mouth.

  Her answering, beaming smile almost had him dropping to one knee and begging her to marry him, but the sane part of his brain told him that was the fantastic sex talking. He needed to get to know her more. That was what he’d thrown a fit about after the kiss, right? See where this could go?

  Well, Jude knew where it could go and was afraid Annette was in this for the wrong reasons.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The next couple of days passed in the comfortable pleasure of two people who didn’t really know each other but were doing their best to get there. In the mornings, Jude let Annette work in the corner, with the light from the window shining over her shoulder, while he puttered around the cabin, cooking, cleaning, and chopping more wood. In the evenings, they played cards, dominos, or her new favorite game, Truth or Dare.

  She’d never liked it before. The game was always an excuse for someone to try to get the best of her by embarrassing her or learning her secrets. Eventually, they’d use the information gleaned from the game to use against her in some form or another. Because small towns worked that way on a good day. Add in a game that made it easier to do it? Pfft. Fuggetaboudit.

  With Jude, it was a different game. It started out as an ice breaker, a throwback to the first time they’d met. Now, it was how they learned more about each other.

  Annette would ask him “Truth or dare?” just to let him lead the evening. If he was feeling sexy, he would say dare, but he always started out with truth.

  “Tell me about your family?” Annette found she liked it when he talked about things at length. She liked the faraway look he would get in his eyes as he remembered stuff, or the relaxing of his powerful posture as the good memories filled him.

  But this was a bit different. He started out stiff and relaxed into his story.

  “Dad died a couple of years ago of a heart attack, but before that, he used to drag us out here twice a year as a family and escaped here on weekends the rest of the year.” His vague smile made her warmer than hot cocoa, and her insides melted while he talked about his family. “He brought me out quite a bit, just the guys, while Mom went shopping or had some sort of luncheon with her friends. We would man around the house, grunt, chop wood, and fart a lot.”

  Annette couldn’t stop the giggle at the image of a young Jude, proud of his growing masculinity, high-fiving his dad after every toot.

  “Mom was a girly girl. She redecorated one room of the house every year after my Spring Break. We would come out here as a family on the break, then as I was back in school, she would reclaim her femininity by adding lacey shit to some room of the house. I’ll never forget the year she redid the den in shades of pink. I thought Dad was going to lose his shit. Kept saying he felt like he’d gone back inside the womb every time he sat down to the game. She redecorated that room again the next year. I never figured out exactly why she did that, except maybe she was pissed at Dad for something.”

  Jude chuckled, and the rough, deep sound filled the room, even if it wasn’t loud. When he quieted, he turned to her, back in the present.

  “Mom moved to Corpus Christi after Dad died. Said she’d had enough of the mountains and needed some beach time. Her sister lives there, and I know she missed Dad. This place probably reminded her of him too much.” He shrugged. “Truth or dare?”

  “Truth.”

  “Tell me about your ex. You came here from a serious relationship, right?” Jude looked at her like he didn’t want yet needed this answer. Annette took a deep breath and hoped she didn’t say something he didn’t want to hear. Because Lord knew she was enjoying her time with Jude and didn’t want to fuck it up.

  “He didn’t necessarily hurt me, but his name is Luke. Between him and my parents, they had my entire life mapped out, with no concern for what I actually wanted. We were going to get engaged, married, and I would teach art at the local elementary school. I was going to teach Sunday school and do what I could to help out on Saturdays in the feed store he owns.” She shrugged. “It wasn’t what I wanted. At all.” Her eyes dropped to her lap because she wasn’t ready to see the look on his face. “I mean, he was great. Is great. We just aren’t a good fit together, and nobody saw that but me.”

  “How long?”

  Still looking at her lap, she replied, “Seven years. Which is why I came here not wanting to get romantic with anyone.” Annette risked a glance up at Jude. His face was open, no judgement, but there was a tinge of something in his eyes. Jealousy? She wasn’t sure, so she continued rambling, hoping he would stop her at some point. “So I came here to find myself, and here we are.” She pointed at him, then herself, then him again.

  “Here we are.”

  He moved closer to her on the couch. “Did you love him?”

  She couldn’t tell him the truth: that she had loved Luke, until she didn’t. What kind of person did that make her? The kind who fell in and out of love willy-nilly, that’s who. “My turn. Truth or dare, Jude?”

  And so it went. As the days went on, they got to
know each other. When they got tired of the truth portion of the evening, they’d turn to the dare portion, and Annette learned there was so much more to sex with someone than she’d ever imagined.

  Jude seemed to take so much pleasure from her body, and she willingly gave it to him. For some reason, Annette trusted Jude. The way he touched her was different from Luke. Luke’s touch hadn’t been bad, but Jude’s hands on her body were so different from Luke’s. With Jude, she was a different woman. It was hard to explain, but Jude made her feel so different from herself. Or he brought out a side she had always wished she would find.

  Whatever it was, she loved it and couldn’t get enough.

  Her sketchbook was full of pictures of Jude and his various body parts, as she sketched most of the time they were playing truth or dare. She hadn’t actually painted as much as she’d needed to, but she had plenty of ideas. She painted all morning and afternoon, but unfortunately, she couldn’t really focus with Jude here, breathing her air, making her smile, and distracting her mercilessly. She felt guilty about it, knowing Drake had paid for this cabin for the week for her to paint, not have sex with the cabin owner, but she tried not to think about it much. She told herself she was finished feeling guilty because she didn’t live up to other people’s expectations.

  They still didn’t have electricity, but the snow had stopped on the second day, although the temps were still low and the roads were iced over this far up.

  Their fourth night, the whiny sound of an engine broke through the silence.

  “Do you think somebody is trying to rescue us?”

  Jude grinned at her, showing off a set of dimples she’d drawn over and over in her sketch book. “Do we need to be rescued?”

  Annette smiled sheepishly. “I don’t know. I’m not from around here. I think it’s clear I’ve never been in this much snow. Do we?”

  He planted a firm kiss on her mouth as he stood from the couch. “No, kitten. You’re perfectly safe here with me.”