Anything. Kieran had thought of this moment a hundred times, a thousand — and here, in reality, he did not know what to ask Jude for. He wanted every bit of intimacy he could get; physical, emotional, anything.

"You love me," Kieran echoed. His tone was full of wonder. It was an impossible thing, that Jude should love him. Jude knew all of Kieran; all of his secrets, the ugliest things he said when he was drunk, the bite he had given to Topaz Urquart.

"I thought I was too hopeful," Kieran said; he slid his hands down to Jude's hips, wanting to touch all the secret places he had not been able to before tonight.