"Just relax. Let me work." He didn't speak again for several minutes, his magic fingers roving down her arms and back up. He rubbed her neck and then made his way down her spine.

Lori thought she might fall asleep and slip under the water if she wasn't careful. It felt that good and relaxing.

When Jude reached her thighs and ma.s.saged the muscles between her legs, she came alive. He switched places with her and sat her in the corner. He settled on his knees between her legs and resumed his ma.s.sage from her feet up, pulling on each toe and rubbing the sole of her foot before working his way to her shin.

Lori watched the intense expression on his face as he ma.s.saged her beneath the water. She grabbed the edges of the hot tub on both sides to keep herself from floating away. Her arms were out of the water this way, but she was warm enough now that it no longer mattered. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s bobbed at the top, her nipples sometimes popping above the water level. They puckered as they hit the air and ducked back under.

Jude worked up her legs until he reached her s.e.x. He pressed her thighs wide and set her feet on the bench seat.

And then he lifted his gaze to hers and held it. "Eyes on me, baby. Don't move." He took both outer lips between his fingers and squeezed, pinched a row up and down her v.u.l.v.a as though it was simply part of the necessary, thorough ma.s.sage.

Lori held as still as she could, but her breath caught in her throat. The laziness of the last half hour evaporated in an instant as Jude pressed and rubbed everywhere intimate. Suddenly he flipped his hand over and plunged two fingers into her p.u.s.s.y.

Lori yelped. "Oh G.o.d..."

He did it again, settling his thumb on her c.l.i.t and pressing hard.

Lori's toes curled under and she had trouble keeping her ankles in place.

"Your face is flushed, baby." He gave an innocent half smile. "Are you too hot?"

"No, Sir." It was hard to keep her eyes focused on his face.

When Jude added his second hand and circled her forbidden hole, she moaned.

"Keep looking at me, baby. I want to watch you."

Her eyes had fluttered. She struggled to open them as he pushed a finger into her tight hole.

"That's it, baby. Accept my finger... Yes, your a.s.s is so tight, baby." He stroked his finger in and out, matching the pace of his other hand inside her p.u.s.s.y. "I know you like to have both holes filled." He thrust both fingers in opposition.

Lori held her breath. She'd come so hard before and now the build was slower. But just as intense. It seemed he stroked her everywhere at once. Even her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were engaged as they bobbed up and down, in and out of the water, making her aware of her nipples.

Jude added a third finger to her p.u.s.s.y and held them deep while he stroked her c.l.i.t and her G-spot at the same time. His other hand continued to pump in and out of her a.s.s. She stiffened. "I'm going to come, Sir."

"Go ahead, baby."

Lori fell over the edge, a slow crash that had her p.u.s.s.y pulsing in tandem with her a.s.s, every muscle inside her working on Jude's fingers, gripping them as though she never wanted to let them go. And she didn't.

When she finally came down, Jude released her and tugged her feet to set them on the bottom of the hot tub.

Lori was exhausted, more so than before. But she never wanted to leave this warm water or break from the gaze meeting hers from inches away.

Whatever happened to Jude for the last two years, she knew one thing for certain: he loved her. His feelings were written on his face. h.e.l.l, he'd proven himself over and over to her in the past days, bringing her to climax more times than she could count. She could count only three times he'd gotten his own satisfaction from her body. He adored her and never intended to harm her. She was softening to this new reality. But should she? What if he left her again? Her heart couldn't take that kind of torture.

Something in the backyard caught her eye. She glanced over Jude's shoulder. Nothing.

"What is it?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Nothing. Must be seeing things."

Jude turned around and stared at the expanse of trees behind the house, his gaze shifting from left to right slowly. She thought he stiffened.

"I'm sure it was an animal or something," she said, reaching for him. "Come back here." She pulled him close, but he stayed rigid as though she'd scared him. Weird.

Chapter Thirteen.

On Tuesday morning, Jude stood in the doorway to the bedroom, sipping his coffee and watching Lori sleep like the dead. Granted, he'd kept her on her toes most of the evening yesterday, pushing her to her mental limit.

Was he forcing her to acquiesce too fast? He wanted her the way she was before he left her. It would take some time to regain her trust, but if he could get her body to respond to his every command in the same fashion as before, everything else would fall into place.

Monday evening she'd spent a lot of time cooking dinner and cleaning afterward. Jude hadn't asked her to perform that service, but she'd insisted.

Jude stepped into the room, set his coffee on the bedside table and stroked Lori's a.s.s beneath the sheet.

She squirmed under his touch and turned her head to the side, opening one eye. "Is it late?"

"Yep. You have a cla.s.s to teach at eleven." He swatted her b.u.t.t. "It's time to get in the shower."

She smiled and stretched her arms over her head. The sheet inched down her body, leaving her b.r.e.a.s.t.s exposed. "I slept hard."

"I can see that." He tugged the sheet away. "Come on, baby. Shower."

He hadn't showered yet himself. He'd saved the luxury to share with Lori.

Leaving her on the bed to pull herself awake, he padded to the bathroom and flipped on the water. He loved bathing her. The feel of her curves under his slippery hands made his body hum.

He heard her creep up behind him, so he didn't flinch when she wrapped her arms around his middle and leaned her face against his back. She kissed a line up his spine and reached on tiptoes to nibble his shoulder. "I'm dirty."

The sentence was loaded and he grinned. He reached behind and nudged her toward his front. "Get in."

While she stepped into the warm cascade of water, he removed his jeans and underwear. His d.a.m.n phone beeped in his jeans pocket as he set them on the floor. He tugged the device from the pocket, only to find the same blank number. He tossed it on top of the pile, shaking away his aggravation.

In moments he was beside her, kissing the top of her head and reaching for the shampoo.

"You don't have to work at all this week?" she asked.

Jude paused a moment and stared at her. "I have a few weeks of vacation, baby. I'm eligible to retire soon."

"From the army?"

"Yes. I've been a.s.signed as an advisor for the National Guard unit here for the remainder of the year."

"I see." She lowered her gaze and didn't say anything else.

He held her glorious red locks as he spread the lather into her scalp. She tipped her head back to give him better access. Water sluiced over her nipples, making them pebble. Jude reached around her front and spread the soap across her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, molding them to his hands.

Lori moaned and leaned into him.

"Uh-uh, baby. Shower first." He stood her back up and washed her entire body. While she let the water run down her, he washed himself. She stayed in her lazy, just-woke-up stage the entire time. She'd never been a morning person.

After he ushered her out of the shower, dried her and wrapped her in a towel, he nodded to the bedroom. "Go lie on the bed with your p.u.s.s.y to the edge."

Her eyes shot open wider. "I could have shaved myself, Sir."

He tweaked her nose and raised his brows. "I know that. But I wanted to do it. Stop questioning me."

She hastened to leave the room, and he dried, cinched his towel around his hips and gathered his supplies.

He found her where he'd asked, not as close to the edge as he liked, but in the right position. "Lift." He tucked a towel under her a.s.s. "Open wider." She did as he said. "And don't move."

When he squirted shaving cream into his hand, the swish noise made her flinch and she stiffened. Having her p.u.s.s.y shaved by him made her nervous, but it also made her h.o.r.n.y.

She squirmed again when he touched her skin and spread the lather around. "Hold still, baby. I don't want to hurt you."

Slowly he dragged the razor up one side of her p.u.s.s.y, from her a.s.s to her c.l.i.t, carefully avoiding the little nub. He repeated the action several times on each side, wiping the razor on the towel in between until he was satisfied. "So smooth." He stroked her skin with his fingers. "I'm going to insist on shaving you myself for a while. I can reach everywhere easier and do a better job than you."

She nodded, her face pinkening.

"Flip over on all fours, please." He pulled the towel away as she lifted, her legs shaking. "When was the last time you wore a plug, baby?"

"With you, Sir."

He inhaled sharply. She never ceased to amaze him. "Lower your head and spread your knees wider."

She set her forehead on the bed and widened her stance.

Jude stepped away for a moment and grabbed the lube and a medium plug from his bag. He set the plug between her knees and squeezed some lube onto his fingers.

With one hand, he held her cheeks open; with the other he circled her tight hole. "Relax. You know the drill. If you stiffen, it'll hurt more. I'm going to loosen you up first." He pushed one finger inside her and she bucked forward. He stopped. "Did I say to move?"

"No, Sir." She righted herself.

"Have I injured you?"

"No, Sir."

"Then stay still, Lori." He pressed his finger deeper and circled it around her entrance until she stopped clenching. As he added a second finger, she moaned. She didn't pull away, but she more than likely didn't realize she rocked forward and backward into his touch, essentially f.u.c.king herself on his fingers.

He scissored his fingers in several directions until he was satisfied she could take the intrusion of the plug. The one he'd chosen would be tight, but not more than she could handle.

Holding her cheeks apart, he removed his fingers and grabbed the plug. He circled it in the lube several times until it was well coated and then nudged it forward.

Lori moaned. "It's too big, Sir. It's been too long."

"Hush, baby. It's not. You just aren't used to the feeling." He pressed forward until the plug finally breached her hole and slipped into place.

She squirmed and gasped for air.

"There. I love knowing you're wearing this. It helps you concentrate on what you are to me while you aren't home." He rubbed her a.s.s right above the outside n.o.b of the plug.

She twisted her face around to see him. "Jude, I can't wear that while I teach yoga. It would distract me and someone might notice it."

Jude kissed her a.s.s cheeks and left her to wash his hands and put things away. When he returned, he took her hand and led her from the room. "Legs spread wider when you walk, please."

She did as he said until she walked with an uncomfortable, difficult gait. Good. He liked her a little awkward. It embarra.s.sed her, and the pink flush was s.e.xy as h.e.l.l.

He turned toward her as they entered the kitchen area. "Ten minutes on the chair, baby. I'll make breakfast." He pointed at the seat where he'd already set up the thick d.i.l.d.o. "If you say a word, I'll double it."

With a shiver, she hobbled over and took her position, straddling the chair and lowering herself over the wide c.o.c.k. It wasn't as though he needed to point out how many times in the last half hour she'd argued with him about his choices. Ten minutes was beyond fair.

When he had breakfast ready, he told her to sit on the floor where she was, legs crossed, and handed her a plate of eggs, bacon and toast. "You can eat facing the window also. Think hard about defying me again."

She didn't say a word, but her face was flushed as he handed her the food. He set a gla.s.s of orange juice next to her.

She must have been starving because she gobbled the meal in minutes and set it aside. She didn't ask if she could move.

Jude worked around her, loading the dishwasher and cleaning the kitchen. When it was time for her to leave for work, he excused her. "You may go dress and leave. You may remove the plug. And I expect you to come home with better control of your mouth."

She stood awkwardly and waddled to the bedroom. Minutes later she emerged and went to the door, her yoga clothes in place.

"I'll see you at two thirty, correct?"

She had two cla.s.ses to teach.

"Yes, Sir." She left silently.

Jude spent a few hours on his computer and then tried to watch some television.

Man, he needed a nap.

He closed his eyes, praying he could rest. Luckily, for the first time in days, he slept hard. Hours later he jerked awake at the sound of his phone beeping.

Jude glanced at the caller ID. s.h.i.t. He'd forgotten to call Stanton. "Cavanaugh here."

"Jude, you didn't return my call."

"Sorry, busy week. What's up?"

"I need to meet with you. We have a situation I need to discuss."