Twenty-eight

Twenty-eight

DESI

My entire being sparks to life as our mouths press together in a hungry kiss. It's been too long, and I'm starved for the taste of Jace. I've chased this feeling for weeks, wanting to feel the undying ache for more, the thought of attempting to lose myself to someone else. I knew it would be useless because no one can compare to him.

His hands drop to the zipper on my dress and he slides it down with ease, as if it wasn't difficult to get up before I ate my weight in gourmet food. He slips the straps off my shoulders, and it falls to the floor. His stormy gaze takes in the black push-up bra and thong, still soaked from our escapade at dinner, and my black stilettos before he hisses with an appreciative tone that sends my heart into overdrive.

He lays me back on the bed, his mouth colliding with mine before kissing down my neck and across my collarbone. I run my hands over his cheeks and into his hair, lifting his face into my view. "Jace, I—I don't want you to stop this time. Please."

"You're the only force that can stop me, Desideria. All you have to do is say the word. No questions asked."

"I won't."

"Then I won't stop until I have you screaming my name."

The determination flashing in Jace's eyes is a complete turn-on. I know his fingers and mouth are magical, but I'm eager to discover what the rest of him can do. I don't doubt he'll make good on his promise more than once. Jace Wilder only does things to perfection.

He fishes his wallet out of his pocket and removes a golden packet.

I place my hand over his. "You don't have to if you don't want to. We aren't compatible in that way, and I can't contract any kind of human diseases, remember? Besides, I've only ever been with you, so . . ."

One side of Jace's mouth quirks and he tosses the condom over his shoulder. Pressing his lips to my neck, he says, "Now that I know I'll get to feel you around me with no barriers, it's going to be hard to hold back."

I thread my fingers into his hair and tug until he lifts his eyes to mine. "Who said anything about holding back? I meant what I said—I want you to give me everything, Jace. We've waited long enough for this." I lift my hips and press the damp center of my panties against the bulge in his slacks as I reach down and undo the button so fast I rip it from the material. "I can take every inch of you."

"Spoken like a true queen." He lowers the lace cupping my breast and drags his lips over the hard peak. "I suggest you not get ahead of yourself. You just might bite off more than this beautiful body can handle."

I arch my neck back and murmur, "Remember: I'm immortal. Nothing you do is going to break me." I bring my gaze back to his. "I want you to think about every time you wanted to be inside me and forced yourself to resist. Make up for all those times right now."

"I have a better idea." He bites my nipple. "Quit rushing this and let me savor you. I want to make this last."

I settle back into the pillow, raising my arms and crossing them behind my head. "Well, when you put it that way, why would I do anything else?" I eye his pants. "But can you at least take those off? I already ripped the button, so it should be easy."

He chuckles and tugs them down. "I'm second-guessing my plan. Maybe I should sit back and let you worship me. I have a feeling I would end up thoroughly ravaged."

I grin and bring one hand down to his cheek as if to tenderly stroke it, but instead I slide it to the back of his neck and pull him so our faces are inches apart. "It would be my distinct pleasure to thoroughly ravage you, and I think I could come just from getting you off," I say, my lips barely brushing against his.

"A theory I'd like to put to the test, but not right now."

Jace makes his way down my body, pulling the straps of my bra down my arms and lowering it to free my breasts. He pauses a moment to lavish each nipple with wet strokes of his tongue before kissing the moon on my sternum. When he reaches my soft stomach, his thumbs continue to the sides of my panties. They hook beneath the lace and drag it down my legs. Jace showers open-mouth kisses over each new patch of skin he reveals.

I shift underneath him, my body aflame with the insatiable need to touch him. Now that I'm here, underneath him, it's taking every ounce of my rapidly deteriorating self-control to let him continue his slow descent to my throbbing center.

When he finally slides my panties all the way off my feet and drops them to the floor, he leans back on his heels and admires me. Every inch of my skin tightens under his scrutiny. I let my own gaze roam over him—his smooth, tanned skin, hard abs, the strong biceps that I want wrapped around me, his chestnut hair mussed, and his gray eyes lit by lust, excitement, and something else I can't quite define.

My eyes drift to the scar on his chest. The reminder that Jace was once in mortal danger. To think that I might have never had the chance to know this beautiful, intelligent, witty creature . . . I'm absolutely smitten with him, every part, inside and out.

Jace lowers the band of his black boxer briefs. It follows the V at his hips and reveals the dark thatch of hair before the hard length of him is free. The last of his clothes end up on the floor and nothing remains between us as he covers my body with his.

He brushes the curls away from my face and says, "Are you sure this is what you want?"

One last attempt at giving me an out. His concern is totally unnecessary. My mind is made up, and I know what I want to happen from here.

"Yes, Jace. I'm surer of this than I have been of anything else in my entire existence. I need to be with you as much as I need my next breath. Don't make me wait any longer," I murmur, my heart racing against my rib cage.

I know what I'm getting with Jace. The passion we share, every kiss and touch are exactly what my body craves. I've spent too many decades chasing this feeling to fall short. It doesn't matter that we aren't forever or that he might not feel as intensely about me as I feel about him. I have the chance, even if it's only for one night, to give myself to someone who can satisfy me the way no one else can.

Jace places my hand around the back of his neck and curls my fingers in his hair. "You're in charge, little hurricane."

Little hurricane. I worried I'd never hear it again, but just now, hearing it from his lips, it feels like he never stopped saying it.

I tremble as he lifts my leg over his hip and aligns his body with mine. He runs his knuckles from my temple to my jaw and holds my gaze. My breath hitches as he rocks forward, and his fingertips dig into my outer thigh.

"Relax and stay right here with me. I promise I'm about to ruin every toy in the drawer next to your bed for the rest of your life."

I nod, and again he rolls his hips and his length glides through the seam of me. The tip of him touches my clit, rubbing against it in a way that makes my back arch. He plays with me until the need between my legs is a throbbing void desperate to be filled.

I grip his hair and brush my lips against his. "Please, Jace."

"Fuck, that's a pretty sound."

"What? Me begging for you? You like to hear that? My tongue dripping with those words, the pleas for your body to give me what I've wanted from you for months?" I tug at his hair and press my hips against his, a moan escaping my throat when I feel how hard he is against me. "You do realize how long I've wanted you, don't you?"

"I know, and I'm going to make the wait worth it."

Jace presses forward, stretching me open. He takes his time pulling away and dipping inside me again and again. Each movement pushes him deeper until every long, hard inch of him fills me.

He holds still and presses a kiss to my forehead. "Are you good?"

His lips brand my skin, and I know that even long after the sensation of his touch is gone, I'll feel their absence.

I meet his eyes and nod. "I'm more than good. I'm perfect."

He kisses my temple and down my jawline. "Yes. You are."

I stretch my neck back, and with each little open-mouthed kiss, he makes a contented sound in the back of his throat that makes me feel like maybe, just maybe, he is as smitten with me as I am with him.

He rolls his hips and the way he fills me up takes my breath. How goddamn perfect. "Jace," I gasp. "Tell me you feel that."

He laces his fingers with mine, pinning my hand above my head. "All I feel is you. Every curve." He pulls out and sinks back in. "Every inch of soft skin." Another thrust. "The tight, warm depths of you." This time he hits deeper. "I feel it all, and I want more." He lifts my leg higher, wrapping it around his waist. "Tell me I can take more, Desideria."

I meet his every move, clenching my walls around him, loving the groans he's breathing in my ear. "Jace, take it all. I'd let you have everything, forever, and you know it," I say without thinking, and I inhale sharply, hoping my words don't scare him away or cause him to back off. Not now. Not when I need him so close.

He takes my hand from his neck and pins it next to the other. Raw need burns in his eyes and the muscle in his jaw flexes. I hold my breath, waiting for this to all come to an end. Jace glides his tongue up the side of my neck and whispers against my ear, "Just give me now."

My reply leaves my lips as a moan as his body drives into mine over and over again. All tenderness evaporates into primal need. Jace takes me hard, fast, like he's just as starved for me as I am for him. I accept every gloriously rough stroke, letting them draw me closer to the edge. This is what I need, the hard push that sends me flying into euphoria.

"What are you doing to me, Jace?" I cry, struggling against his hold on me, not because I don't like it, but because I want him to scold me. I want him to dominate me. "I never thought it could feel like this."

"Only with me. It can only feel like this with me."

The truth of his words is harsh, but I don't fight it. I have no doubt he's right. This is us, and no one else will ever compare. His body was made to be buried deep in mine, his words are for my ears only, and the desire he feels belongs to me. I drink it up like fresh rain after a lifetime of blistering heat.

"Yes," I cry, tears slipping from the corners of my eyes as he lifts me off the bed, wrapping both of my legs around his waist so our bodies are flush together.

I squeeze until there's not even an inch of space between us. "Jace," I whisper, my lips brushing his. "I love what you're doing to me. It's everything I've fantasized about, but I want you to be rough with me."

His breath catches and he studies me before asking, "Are you sure, little hurricane?"

"Yes, I want you to be rougher with me than you've ever been before."

He groans. One hand grips my hip and the other slides up my spine and into my hair. He takes my curls into his fist and tugs. My head tilts back and he looks down at me with metallic eyes.

I hiss in response to the sting and my sex squeezes him. "Fuck, yes."

"No." My heart falters for a second, sinking like a stone to the pit of my stomach. His palm slides around my neck until he is gripping it from the front. "I think this is what you're aching for."

His hold is firm, constricting, but not enough to scare me. He lifts my face and hovers his lips over mine. Every inch of me threatens to melt under his dominant stare. Instead, I lock my eyes on his and move my hips.

I lean my head forward as far as I can, just enough to nip at his bottom lip with my teeth. I know I've bitten too hard when the coppery taste of blood hits my tongue, but instead of disgusting me, I am even more turned on. Especially by the thought that it might spur him on to rougher treatment.

Without missing a beat, he pushes me into the mattress and tightens his hold on my neck. The pressure at my windpipe does something to me. My body grips him tighter, and the light-headed feeling makes me feel like I'm floating.

His voice is husky as he demands, "Put your legs back the way they were."

With some effort I lift my legs around his waist and hook my ankles together, pulling him hard against me. I slide my hand down his chest, my fingertips trailing over every ripple and ridge of his abdomen before resting my palm at his waist, gripping his hip.

"Jace. Don't hold back," I manage.

"No chance."

And with that, he loses control. But this is more than sex, more than fucking. Yes, it's hard, fast, and rough. It is the intense joining of two bodies seeking the most basic kind of pleasure. But it's so much more. It's heightened emotions—a need to convey everything words cannot. It feels good—damn, does it feel good—but this moment is more than physical. This is a sacrament . . . it's spiritual.

Jace glides his hand between us and presses his thumb to my clit. "Come on, little hurricane. I want you to unleash that chaos inside you and rip me apart."

Jace Wilder means to make good on his promise to make me scream because when he pushes deeper inside me and pinches my clit, his name flows from my lips in an animalistic cry. The orgasm that rips through me is sudden, hard, and almost painfully intense. Wave after wave racks my body, my muscles tensing, legs shaking, stars flashing in front of my eyes.

And he doesn't ease up. He tightens his hold around my neck and leans over, closing his lips over mine in a kiss that takes every bit of breath that I have left.

"Fuck," he grunts through gritted teeth.

Jace shudders above me while he pulsates and fills me in a way I never knew was possible. It isn't just his release pouring into my body, but an overwhelming joy that runs soul deep. And as he thrusts into me for the final time, I know this moment will leave the most beautiful scar on my heart. I'll never forget when he was fully mine, and I gave myself completely to him.

With his mouth pressed to mine, he loosens his grip on my neck and rolls over, taking me with him, tucking me into his side. All the raw need is sedated for now, and he showers me with sweet, tentative kisses.

"Are you all right? I wasn't too rough, was I?"

I snuggle against him and shake my head. "I'm perfect. You were perfect." Running my fingertips down the center of his chest, I let them drift over his pecs and trace the scar from the wound that nearly claimed his life.

"Jace?"

"Hmm?" His lips are against my temple, and I'm so distracted by the way they feel on my skin that I nearly lose my train of thought.

"Are you going to miss me when I'm gone? All of me? Like, even my laundry when I leave it in the dryer too long and it's all wrinkly. Or when I forget and leave my blanket unfolded on the couch. Or when you're watching Star Wars and I'm not there to do my amazing R2-D2 impression."

"Yes, Desideria. I'll miss you. And all your little chaotic additions to my house," he teases. "It's been a long time since I've let myself get this close to someone, and it'll be hard to say goodbye."

I swallow over the lump in my throat and force the tears back. "Me too. I've never trusted someone like I trust you." I slide my hand up into his hair and rub my thumb along his jaw. "I want to spend every second I can with you before I go. Is that—" My voice cracks. "Is that okay?"

His gray eyes search mine and so quietly I almost don't hear it he says, "Yes. That's what I want too."

I'm torn in two by his confession. The upcoming weeks will give me more time to have moments like this with him. I'll get to curl up in his arms and tell him everything I want him to hear. I won't waste a minute. And when the time comes for me to leave, a gaping hole will run through my heart. I'll understand what it is to lose someone I love.