Seven Day Seduction by Emma Shortt Page B

wrap yourself back up in it, pretend this
conversation did not happen.”
    She snapped her eyes back open, met his, and
wanted to groan all over again. He looked so serious, so intense,
and it was that more than anything else that made her speak. “The
way I feel for you…it’s wrong.”
    “Why?”
    “Because I shouldn’t,” she whispered. “I
shouldn’t feel anything.”
    “Because of him.”
    “Yes.”
    “And if he wasn’t here,” Jude demanded. “If
he was out of the picture, what then?”
    “Even then I think it would be too much,”
Louise replied honestly.
    “Too much.”
    “Jude.” She held up her hands, trying to
explain. “You’re overwhelming. You make me
feel…weird…confused.”
    “Weird how?”
    “Like everything is spinning out of
control,” she admitted. “Like I can’t think straight.”
    He let out a sigh, it washed over her, made
her shiver. “You do the exact same thing to me.”
    She wanted to rejoice at his words, but how
could she? How could any of this make her feel right? Happy? It was
so messed up. “This isn’t normal,” she whispered. “It can’t be.
People aren’t supposed to feel like this about each other so
soon.”
    “Of course they are,” he insisted. “We
desire each other, Louise. That’s what it all comes down to,
desire.”
    Desire. Her heart thumped, her head spun, and all of a
sudden Louise realized what was making her feel so panicky. How
could she have missed it? How could she have let herself? Jude and
she were on completely different paths. Yes, she wanted him, yes it
was all she could do to keep her hands by her sides and stop
reaching out to touch him, but it was more than that. Underneath
the pulse of want, was something else entirely, something that
spoke of more than just a physical need. Louise had feelings for him. Real
feelings already. After just three days she was already falling far
too fast, but Jude…she swallowed down the sudden lump in her
throat. It made sense now, when he spoke of wanting her he meant
just that.
    He wanted to bed her. To fuck her. And
likely that was all it ever would be.
    That thought hurt her in a completely
inexplicable way.
    “Stop,” she said. “Just stop.”
    But he didn’t. Jude moved forward and before
Louise could take another shaky step back, wrapped his hands around
her arms. He pulled her to him, pressing her body up tight to his.
Louise could feel the muscles of his stomach, the hard length in
his pants. She almost whimpered.
    “ I woke up thinking about
you,” he ground out. “Went to sleep thinking about you. For the
past three days you are all I can think about. It’s fucking
impossible but it’s there. Tell me it isn’t the same for
you.”
    Maybe if he hadn’t pulled her to him. Maybe
if she couldn’t feel his heart racing against her ear, she would
have. But Louise’s defenses were behind her, left next to the car,
and so she shook her head. “I can’t.”
    “Then we have no choice.”
    “What do you—”
    He bent his head and tilted her body, so
that she was looking directly at him. Louise had just a moment to
see the desire in his eyes, the intent, and then it was all too
late. When his lips touched hers she felt like she might actually
swoon. Dizziness hit, her heart leapt into her throat, and she had
no choice but to press her hands against his chest to steady
herself.
    He deepened the kiss, demanding she respond.
Louise was helpless not to. She gave one little moan. A denial? An
encouragement? She didn’t know. A moment later and they were lost
in one another. Jude took, she gave, he took more, she did not stop
him.
    They moved together, right there on the
street, lips dancing, tongues touching. It should have been a
tentative exploration, the first kiss, but it wasn’t. It was
explosive, passionate, it held everything they had both denied
themselves.
    It was overwhelming, she
couldn’t think. Her breasts ached, sensations travelled down from
them right to the other