were pawing at him. I actually let Angel pull me forward a few steps, but all it took was one look in Jude's direction and I knew I wasn't going anywhere. Not with Angel, anyway.
The men Jude was dancing with were still all over him, but something in Jude's frame had changed. Or maybe I just wanted to believe it had. Maybe I was convincing myself that he was now holding himself a little bit apart from both men because that was what I needed him to do.
I was caught in a vortex of indecision as Angel tried to get me to follow him and Jude remained sandwiched between the men.
Then something changed.
It happened so fast I couldn't even be sure I'd seen it. One moment, there was only noise and hot bodies writhing around us and the next it was just me and Jude. He looked at me and I saw the nothingness; I felt it.
His eyes were blank, almost dead. His body was still moving, but he wasn't there. It was only when his eyes held mine for a split second that I finally saw that spark. That piece of Jude I’d been searching for all day.
My Jude.
I didn't care if I was imagining it or not. In that moment I knew that everything about the situation was wrong.
Completely and undeniably wrong.
I pulled my hand free of Angel’s and stepped forward, my eyes never leaving Jude's. The closer I got, the brighter that light in his eyes got until they were dancing with fire.
Need—pure unadulterated need knifed through me as I put one foot in front of the other. It seemed to take eons to get to Jude, but he never once stopped looking at me. I ignored the two men surrounding him. When I reached the trio, I put my hand out and Jude instantly took it. Excitement and relief poured through my system when his fingers linked with mine. I glanced in the direction of the door, but it was too far away and there were too many bodies between it and us.
And my need was too great.
I pulled Jude forward, freeing him from the grips of the two men. I dimly registered them yelling something aimed in my direction, but one hard look at them and they fell silent.
Let them try to take him from me.
I almost welcomed the idea of taking out some of the tightness in my body on them.
Jude didn't hesitate to follow me in the least as I led him to the back of the club and toward the bathroom. I wasn't exactly proud of what I was about to do, or rather where I was going to do it, but I was walking a razor’s edge. I was wound too tight and if I didn't get some relief by taking what I needed from Jude, I’d do something worse and take it out on the people around us, especially the ones who’d dared put their hands on what was mine.
The bathroom was crowded with guys in various stages of sex, but I ignored them all and headed for one of the empty stalls. Heads turned as I kicked the door open and then pulled Jude into the stall. I didn't care what anyone thought or that what was about to happen would technically be in the presence of others. All I cared about was getting Jude to myself. I slammed the door shut as I pressed Jude back against the wall and flipped the lock. I grabbed his hands and pinned them to the wall and then bent down and whispered, "Is this what you need?"
Our lips were inches apart. Jude’s breaths were coming in heavy pants. "To get fucked by someone in a piece of shit club?”
"No," he said softly with a shake of his head. "I need you, Nikolai. I just need you."
He barely got the last syllable of his admission out before I closed the distance between our mouths and took ownership of his. Jude let out the softest of whimpers when I opened my mouth over his. He tasted like a dream. The softest, sweetest of dreams.
I’d meant for the kiss to be slow and savoring, but as soon as his tongue touched mine, it didn't matter what I wanted.
It only mattered what I needed, and what I needed was Jude.
Chapter 14
Jude
He didn't just kiss me.
He consumed me.
He claimed me.
He destroyed me.
In the best way possible.
The world around me fell away as Nikolai's mouth moved over