Page 124 of The Invitation

“Where did you go?”

“Amazonico. It’s our favourite.” I will the atmosphere to fuck off, the small talk just not cutting it.

“Okay,” he says on an exasperated sigh, stopping at the entrance to the maze and facing me. “There’s something up. What’s going on?”

Tell him you heard him!“Nothing.” I smile, making sure this one is convincing as I reach for his lips, kissing him. “Like I said, just jaded.” My phone starts ringing, and Nick couldn’t have made his timing any worse. His name glows on the screen, and the atmosphere drops from cold to icy.

“Want to get that?” Jude asks, a certain edge of impatience to his tone.

I look at him tiredly. “Do you think I do?”

“You tell me.”

“Oh my God, are we about to have another disagreement, because I don’t think I’ve got the energy for you at the moment.” I hit reject with a forceful thumb, watching as Jude’s chest begins to pulse from where he’s trying in vain to maintain steady breathing.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“It means you need to fix your passive-aggressive possessiveness,” I snap, turning on my heels and walking away across the lawn, my stupid damn heels sinking in, forcing me to stop and remove them.

“Did you see him last night?” Jude grates.

“No, Jude, I did not see him last night.” I start to walk on, but stop, whirling around and pointing one of my shoes at him. “I saw Katherine, actually,” I declare. He recoils. “I saw her at the restaurant, and she made a point of saying hello, if you know what I mean.” The sarcasm in my smile is potent. “And I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want us to argueagain. What the hell was she doing in London?”

He exhales tiredly, rubbing his temples. “She lives closer to London than Oxford.”

I would ask why on earth she travels to Arlington Hall to work out, dine, and drink, but that would be a really stupid question. My phone starts ringing again. “Fuck off!” I yell at it, trudging off in no particular direction. “Don’t follow me,” I snap back at him, reaching for my head and rubbing. I’m too hungover for this bullshit.

His huff of disbelief smacks me in the back only a second before his body. A strong arm circles my waist from behind, he lifts me from my feet, and I sag in his hold, exhausted by us. Fight. Make up. Over and over.

Jude walks into the maze and follows the sea of green, turning corners, seeming to be heading into the unknown. How apt. “Why don’t you ever listen to me?” I mutter, held tight against his chest, his strides long and purposeful.

“Because you talk shit.”

I baulk at the trees.

“Why don’t you ever listen to me, Amelia?”

“I do listen.” I start to wriggle in his arms, peeling his forearm away from my stomach. “And that’s how I heard you tell your brother you feel fucked.”

He stops dead in his tracks, and, surprisingly, he releases me. I don’t give him a chance to explain. Like I said, I’m too hungover to deal with Jude Harrison today, so I turn around and push past him, walking back the way we came. I think. It all looks the same. I turn left and meet a wall. Back up.

Into his chest.

I’m spun around, the backs of my thighs are grabbed, and I’m hauled up his body. His mouth is quickly on mine, and I’m instantly swept away from my frustrations to that unbelievable place where my head empties and my body fills with lust. I return his force, kissing him hard, pushing my body into his. My outlet.

And I need an outlet right now.

I scramble to tear his T-shirt off, forcing him to put me down. My dress is ripped up my body and thrown aside. I yank open the fly ofhis jeans. He turns me and pushes me down to my hands and knees, coming in behind me.

Angry foreplay over.

He moves my knickers aside and slams into me on a yell, and my hands clench fistfuls of grass, my head dropping back as the feeling of him filling me to the hilt dominates my mind.

“Move,” I demand.Smash this uncertainty out of me. Show me why we’re good together.

“Beg,” he rasps, taking my hips. “Beg me.”

“Please,” I whisper, my walls pulsing, greedy, desperate for friction. “Please, please, please.”

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