Within These Walls (The Walls Duet #1)(53)

“The only man you will ever call by that title is me,” I whispered. I touched my lips to her neck and then moved them up to the sensitive skin of her ear.

Releasing our joined hands, I let my fingers move down the small curves of her body until I found bare skin where her shirt had lifted. My lips joined my eager hands and I nipped and scattered kisses across her bare skin as the pads of my fingers teased at the waistband of her pants.

“The only man who will ever touch you like this will be me,” I said with strangled effort.

This game had started out as light and playful, and now, it was turning into something entirely different. Every part of my body was on fire, needing more of her. I’d pushed myself too far, given myself too much, and now, I was dying.

She moaned beneath me, squeezing her thighs together, as if the flames were too much for her to bear as well. Gripping the edge of her pants, I curled my fingers underneath, touching her hipbone, and I gently tugged before kissing the flesh I’d just revealed.

I knew I was playing with fire. This was exactly what I’d said I wouldn’t do—not here, not like this.

Fuck, I want to.

I’m going to hell.

“Please, Jude,” she whispered. “Just this. Show me what it’s like.”

Anyone could come in at any moment. We had no privacy, yet I was still contemplating it. I wanted to give her everything, including this.

Continuing my trail, I kissed a path as I slowly inched the fabric down her hips, exposing her beautiful naked skin. I looked up and saw her watching me with hooded eyes. There was no inhibition, just the faint pink flush of passion and anticipation. If I wasn’t already rock-hard in my jeans, I would have instantly popped wood from that look alone.

I ran my hands up her legs, over her hips, and in the juncture of her slim thighs, parting them until they fell open. My fingers glided over her glistening flesh for the first time, and she gasped. She was stunning, and I was completely captivated. I smoothed my finger over her clit, and she instantly moaned.

“Shh, angel. You’re going to get us in trouble.” I grinned.

She pursed her lips together, a sheepish grin spreading across her face.

“Tell me to stop,” I said, running my thumb over her tender skin again.

“No,” she breathed

“Tell me you want this.”

“I want this Jude. Please.”

I bent forward and took my first taste of her. I saw her hand fly to her mouth as she tried to quiet her moans.

I should have known an angel would taste like heaven. Parting her thighs wider, I worked my tongue—going in and out of her core, moving over her clit, licking and sucking her until I felt drunk.

For a split second before I’d made the decision to do this, I’d worried it might be too much, too soon for someone so new to the physical side of love, but seeing her spread out before me, I couldn’t resist. I’d had to show her a glimpse, and she’d blossomed under my touch.

She writhed and moved against me, moaning under her breath, as her free hand wove into my hair. We were so caught up in each other in that moment that I thought the building could have come crashing down around us, and we wouldn’t have noticed. Luckily, it didn’t.

Lailah’s mewling became more erratic, and she pulled her hand away from her mouth. “Jude, it’s…I can’t…too much,” she said in staccato sentences.

I looked up to make sure it wasn’t her heart, and no, it wasn’t. Her eyes were heated, and her face was flush. Never breaking eye contact, I moved to just her clit and flicked over and over relentlessly. Then, I watched her break apart for the first time in her life. Her body trembled and shook, and her awakening was stunning.

Now, how the hell am I supposed to survive the rest of her hospital imprisonment, knowing she can come apart like that?





DEAR JOURNAL/DIARY/KEEPER of Secrets,

I know I’ve never addressed you as a diary or even as an entity at all, but I need you to be my sounding board for me today. I need someone to absorb all my secrets and not let them go. Will you do that for me?

For today, let’s talk as friends. You can be…well, you, and I will be me. Tomorrow, you can go back to being a bottomless void where I trap all my errant thoughts and dreams as they flutter and fly by.

Today, I feel…everything—happiness, love, fear, desire, and yes, even that dangerous little emotion, hope.

A new heart.

A new beginning.

A new life.

Could it be possible?

Could it be possible with Jude? Ever since he walked into my life, I’ve been walking on eggshells, scared of what my feelings might do to him, to me, to those around us.

But could this be the answer we’ve been waiting for? Could a new heart be our ticket to a normal life? To a taste of the world I’ve so desperately wanted to see with Jude by my side?

It feels too good to be true, and I’ve learned to distrust these types of situations. They never go well for me.

But what if they do?

Today, I had a glimpse of what life would be like with Jude beyond these hospital walls.

Dear God, I want more.

When he touched me, tasted me, and moved his mouth against my innocent skin, a part of myself awakened, a part of my soul came alive. My heart raced, and my skin flushed.

It scared me.

It thrilled me.