"'For my Luce,'" I read. Luce had two sparkly stones around it. My dad would love the "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" reference. "'Who has all my firsts that matter.'"
"Wow," I repeated. Words were failing me.
"What do you think?" he asked, looking at the bracelet proudly.
"Jude," I started. "It's . . . it's . . ." I had nothing more than one-syllable babble. Sliding the cuff onto my left wrist, I searched for the right words that would express my thanks.
Nothing.
Totally tongue-tied. I was a dancer, not a writer; my body expressed the way I was feeling a hundred times better than my words ever could.
And then it came to me.
Leaning closer, I kissed his scar. Once, twice, and then a third time before I moved to his mouth. I'd taken him by surprise. That was apparent from the way his muscles tensed. Taking Jude Ryder by surprise was rare, and I was going to enjoy it. Sweeping gentle kisses over his entire mouth, I savored the moment. Our other kisses were so passionate and unyielding I felt like I was being consumed by them, but this one I held on to. I enjoyed the scent of salt on his skin. The way the fullness of his bottom lip felt in my mouth. The way his tongue tasted against mine.
I pressed one final kiss into the center of his mouth. "Thank you," I said. "I love my bracelet." Okay, one final, final kiss. "And I love you."
"Damn, woman," he said, whistling through his teeth. "Have mercy. If that's the thanks I get, I will be getting you jewelry every single day."
As I leaned my head on his shoulder, I admired the bracelet. He had a finger, and now a wrist. And he had my heart. Jude Ryder was slowly taking me over, one body part at a time.
"And you're welcome."
We sat in silence for a few minutes. I slid my fingers up and down his as he was content to draw circles on my arm. It was peaceful, and although these kinds of quiet moments had been increasing during our time together, peace wasn't a regular thing in our relationship. I hoped that one day that would change.
"Hey, I need you to put something on," he said, pulling something out of his pocket.
My eyes narrowed at the thing dangling from his index finger.
"A blindfold?" I said. "A black satin blindfold? What was I saying about you being a horny perv?"
He shook his head. "This has nothing to do with horny . . . kinky . . . perverty," he said, sounding increasingly uneasy with each word.
I held in my laugh. "Damn," I teased. "There's a way to ruin a girl's day."
"So difficult," he said under his breath. "Just put it on. I've got another surprise for you."
Grabbing the blindfold, I slid it on. "Does this surprise have to do with any horny, kinky, perverty fun?"
"No." He chuckled.
"Double damn."
More laughter. "Luce, you are busting my balls big-time today."
"That's because I'm into that kind of thing. You know? The horny, kinky, perverty kind of thing." If I was going to be blindfolded so he could take me to some other surprise, I was going to let my snarky side run free.
It wasn't much longer before the truck came to a stop.
"We're here," he said, his voice all boyish and excited again.
"We're where?"
Grabbing my hands, he helped me out of the cab. Thankfully, he lifted me from the truck, because I didn't want to make a blindfolded jump not knowing what the hell I'd land on.
"Here," he answered, guiding me by the shoulders. We were moving over a hard surface. Concrete? Asphalt? Stone, maybe? Other than the sound of running water, fountains possibly, it was quiet. He couldn't have been taking me to a store; we weren't at the beach . . . where in the world were we?
Suddenly, he scooped me into his arms and jogged up what I assumed were stairs, before I heard a door open. Turning sideways, Jude walked inside before setting me down. My heart was already in my throat before he slid the blindfold back.
The first thing I saw was his eyes. I wanted to keep looking at them, to never look away, because I already knew what I was going to see when I did. I was scared to shift my gaze.
"I couldn't find a big enough bow to put around it," he said, turning me around. "I hope you don't mind."
Thankfully Jude had wrapped his arms around me, so when I wavered in place, he kept me upright. We were standing in a cavernous room, a space that could fit a decent-size home, and we were just in the foyer. A room a person walked through to get to others that were the size of my parents' cabin. There were two staircases going up to the second floor. One for going up? One for going down? I didn't have a clue, but it wasn't the only thing over-the-top about this place. The chandelier hanging in the center of the room was the size of a Volkswagen, the furniture was so ornate it went past the point of offensive, and the marble floors were so shiny they almost looked like an ice-skating rink.