A day and a half later…

Stopping only to play occasionally in the open squares on the way to Luxemboug, we made very good time to the city before using the rest of our money to check into a cheap hotel. If our plan worked out, then we could well afford the expense. That first night was a nervous one for us all, mostly because we just weren't sure just how Tommy's plan would work out. I lay down in a bed inside of Tommy's hotel room after grabbing one of his shirts hoping he wouldn't mind if I went to bed in his room since everyone else had congregated in Patsy's and mine. I was just so unusually tired all the time lately. Listening to the sound of the others next door as they chattered, I must have dozed because the next thing I knew I was looking at the back of my eyelids into nothingness. The room was dark, and I woke up to the irresistible need to hide under a blanket—that protective instinct we have as kids where our bedspreads are as strong as armor. Nothing can penetrate it; nothing can invade our personal space. Reaching out to pull the coverlet defensively over my head, my hand made contact with warm skin instead, and I drew back hastily as if I had been burned. Staring into the pitch-blackness around me for a moment, I hesitated only a second before reaching out once again to allow myself that selfish need to feel my skin connect with his. It was strange—touching him without being able to see any part of his visage, but your body once connected with someone else's doesn't need the sense of sight anymore. I let my fingers run over the planes of his chest relishing the strength I felt caged underneath his skin, and the security I felt just laying next to him suddenly made me unafraid of the dark. I had just grazed the bottom of his chin with my thumb when I felt his hand run chillingly up the side of my leg.

"Can't sleep?" He asked drowsily as his hand tweaked the fabric of the shirt I had fallen asleep in. I let my hand fall back to the blanket beside me as I stared silently at the darkness that kept his face hidden behind a shield. Without even waiting for me to reply to his question, he picked up my hand again and splayed it softly against the warmth of his lips before placing it once more on the ridges of his torso.

"Don't stop." He whispered gruffly as I shivered at the desire I heard resonate in his tone. Pulling me close to him, I felt the fabric of my shirt shift enough that my thigh came into contact with his bare leg while his hand settled gently along the curve of my spine right above my rear. I snuggled against him like a cat content just to hear his heart beating against my ear. It's strange really. We were so different and yet so alike that if you ever met us apart, you wouldn't see how we ever would have gotten to where we are now. But if you ever saw us together, it's as if we were two perfect puzzle pieces that couldn't stand on their own. Funny how I could barely remember life without him in it.

"Jude." He mumbled desperately as I felt his hand lift my shirt above my waist as his fingers skimmed the edge of my breast. I gasped as his tongue traced the lobe of my ear and before I knew it, he had flipped us over enough that part of his body lay directly over my own.

"God! I never can seem to control myself when we're together. It's like placing a match to a pile of timber." He said huskily as I let my hand roam to the end of his spinal cord lazily. I sighed slowly.

"I don't want you to, Tommy. I like having you feel out of control because it's the one time I know you're being honest. Otherwise, it's like staring at a well-manipulated stage dummy. No one can ever tell what you're thinking. I need to know that you feel comfortable enough losing control around me." I said with a quiver as he gripped my behind with his hand, squeezing gently before crushing his mouth passionately against my own. I moaned with the pressure as his teeth skimmed my bottom lip hungrily before nipping slightly at my collar bone and then lower. And somewhere between the passion and the fury of our unity, I realized something remarkable—I never wanted to share this part of myself with anyone else. Crying out at the point of no return, I felt him shudder above me before rolling over so that I rested easily against his chest with one leg lying casually to the side of us and the other somewhere in between. My breath rose and fell furiously as I ran a hand along his jaw before allowing myself to fall gently asleep still listening to the beat of his heart.