Hot water poured down from the waterfall showerhead, hitting Jace’s head and shoulders before running down his back. He braced his hands on the tiled wall, letting the steady stream wash over his already heated skin.

It had taken everything in him to walk away from Adele in that kitchen. The second she’d turned around to face him he’d wanted to push her back against the counter and cover her lips with his. Thing was, it wasn’t the first time since she’d gotten to the cabin that he’d wanted to do things that were completely out of the norm.

He was wondering if he wasn’t the only one in that boat. For some reason he couldn’t explain, he’d felt a need to push at those boundaries that had long ago been put up between them. The more he pushed, the more he saw that desire in her eyes. Hell, he’d caught it every time he’d pushed, and he was starting to push more and more.

Did she want him too? Was that possible? And what were the odds that they could fool around and then go back to the way things had been before? He was pretty sure those odds were small. Very small. Slim to nothing. But it didn’t change the desire coursing through him. Proof in point was the massive hard-on he was currently sporting.

It had started when he was in the kitchen, and only got worse when he ate the cookies. And no, he wasn’t a weirdo that got turned on by baked goods…usually. But in this case, all he’d been thinking about was what tasted better: the cookies or Adele. And this was where he would lay odds on the fact that the answer was Adele.

He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that his erection wasn’t going to just go away if left unattended. He pulled back from the wall, grabbing the body wash from the ledge and squeezing a decent amount of soap onto his palm. Then he lathered up, took his cock in hand, and started to slowly stroke.

He tried to think of a fantasy that didn’t involve Adele, but that wasn’t going to happen. Naturally, his mind went to that morning, and walking in on her. He changed the narrative there though, instead of her yelling at him to leave, she crossed the room.

Her hands landed on his chest before sliding up and to his neck, pulling him down to kiss her while at the same moment her bare breasts pressed against his chest. He imagined her mouth moving over his, and the taste of her tongue…and the taste of her neck…and her breasts.

Breath now starting to saw in and out of his chest, he tightened his grip, moving his hand faster and faster over his cock.

Would she moan wildly when he sucked a nipple into his mouth? Grab onto his head and hold her to him while he nibbled and licked? And what would she do when he laid her down on the bed, spread her legs wide and buried his face between her thighs? That was the spot he really wanted to taste. Would she scream as he nibbled and licked here there?

Pressure started to build at the base of his cock, and he braced his free hand on the wall for support. The image in his head changing to one where he was moving over her, pulling her legs around his waist as he slid inside of her warm, slick body.

He couldn’t breathe, his chest was tightening, the pleasure building. He pictured her coming first, her nails digging into his back as she let go, his name on her lips as her body pulsed around him.

His release slammed into him, cock pulsing in his hand as he let out a long, low, satisfied groan.

It was just a moment of relief before reality hit him: it wasn’t enough. A few minutes of imagined pleasure with her would never be enough to satisfy him. It didn’t lessen the need growing inside of him. If anything, it had only magnified it. Made him want more.

He wanted the real thing, the whole thing, with her. In his bed. Skin to skin. Breaths mingling. Bodies moving. For hours and hours.

The thing was, it was way more complicated than all of that. She’d just broken up with her boyfriend, for fuck’s sake. Was she even looking for a rebound? Was that even on her radar? She was already hurting and he didn’t want to hurt her more. But what if she wanted a distraction? Well, that would be an entirely different story.

But above all, he needed to figure out if it was worth the risk of losing everything else. Of possibly losing her.

Once Adele finished with the cookies, she decided to keep her hands busy and make lunch. There was no point in even trying to attempt a grilled cheese masterpiece like Jace’s—she couldn’t live up to those standards—so instead she put together some pesto chicken with goat cheese on Ciabatta bread. Meanwhile, the stew from the night before was reheating on the stove.

It was close to one when Jace emerged from the hallway, hair all tousled around his head and wearing a pair of black sweatpants and nothing else.

Really? Really? Didn’t the man ever get cold? Or was he just a walking, talking furnace who didn’t wear shirts and looked like an effing Greek god? It was ridiculously unfair.

But, as she’d learned over the years, life wasn’t always fair…especially when it came to anything involving Jace Kilpatrick. Case in point, before she could look away from him, he caught her ogling his chest.

His eyebrows rose high and his mouth formed a lopsided grin, but before he had a chance to say anything, she spoke first.

“I made lunch. I didn’t think you’d have a problem with more stew and another sandwich.”

“Adele, I’d never turn my nose up at anything you make. But this makes us uneven again.” He stopped on the other side of the island, looking across at her.

Adele was just grateful that there was a solid four-foot barrier between them now and that he wasn’t standing right next to her…or behind her. What she wouldn’t give to be able to lean back into that solid chest of his…to feel his arms wrap around her…hold her close.

Not going to happen, Adele. Get. A. Hold. Of. Yourself.

Pulling back from that image, she cleared her throat and looked down, resuming her sandwich making. “Well, you can make dinner.”

Jace’s strong, tanned hands were suddenly in front of her, flat on the marble counter. She couldn’t stop herself from looking at him again, following the path up his arms and to his face. He was leaning forward, cutting the four feet between them in half.

“I can do dinner. But you’re in charge of dessert.”

“I made cookies. Are those not good enough?”

“While beyond delicious, those are a snack.” He shook his head. “And as you’ve had me watching that bloody baking show, I’ve been craving pie since this morning.”

“I can make a pie.” Honestly, there was no need to even fight this specific request. It was just another task to keep her hands busy, something that was becoming more and more necessary. “Any requests?”

“Surprise me.” He did that half grin thing again, the one that made her stomach flip.

“Fine. A surprise you will get.”

“Can’t wait. Anything you want me to do for lunch?” He leaned forward a couple of inches, the added pressure to his hands and arms making his muscles bunch and release.

“You can set the bar.” And for the love of everything good and holy put on a shirt.

“On it.” He pushed off the counter and rounded the island to her side. And just that quickly there was no barrier between them. And even less so because he was shirtless.

Had she mentioned he wasn’t wearing a shirt? Was it too early for a glass of wine? Probably. She really shouldn’t be adding anything to her impaired state at the moment.

Grabbing the butter knife from the counter, she sliced into the goat cheese and spread a generous amount onto three of the six slices of bread. Then she reached for the brand new pesto jar and tried to open it, tried being the operative word. The tiny little tin cap absolutely refused to budge.

Before she knew it, the jar was plucked from her hands. She automatically turned to the man standing next to her, like a freaking magnet. As was to be expected, there was no struggle for Jace to get the jar open, not even for a second.

“Here you go,” he said as he held out the glass bottom in one hand and the metal top in the other, looking just as smug as ever.

“I loosened it for you.” She grudgingly took them back from him.

“Sure you did.”

Jace moved away again, not that it did much good. Just being in the same room made her feel like he was on top of her. Her hands stilled from the task of pesto spreading as a very familiar image came to her mind, one of her underneath Jace, him moving between her thighs.

It wasn’t the first time she’d had that particular image in her head. Hell, it wasn’t even the thousandth.

It was Jace’s voice that brought her back to the moment. “I know it’s early, but do you want a drink?”

“Yes.” Her response was automatic and maybe a tad bit too quick and emphatic, so much so that Jace let out a low chuckle.

“You okay over there?”

“I’m fine, just fine.”

Fuck her no alcohol idea. She needed a drink…a lot of them.

“If you say so. What do you want?”

Him. She wanted him. “There’s a bottle of chardonnay in the fridge. You can have some.”

“I’ll take you up on that offer.” Jace moved to the refrigerator and opened the door. “And per our fair trade agreement, want do you want?” He asked as he grabbed the bottle and shut the door behind him.

Him! Dammit! “You can make me a whiskey sour later.” Because adding hard liquor to the mix would be really helpful for her.

He nodded as he opened the drawer next to her and pulled out the bottle opener. “Done.”

And she was done for.

Whether it was the hot stew, the glass of wine, or the mere presence of a shirtless Jace, Adele was feeling a little warm after lunch.

But as warm as she’d been inside the cabin, there was no warmth for her outside. She was standing on the porch, waiting for Katie to do her business, and hoping that the bitter winter air would help clear her head. And oh, was there a lot of cold air.

The snow was coming down again and the wind was blowing something fierce. All of the trees around the cabin were shaking with the force, swaying back and forth. It was a pretty ominous sight, especially with the thick, dark, gray clouds that were swirling overhead.

Adele pulled in another deep breath, filling her lungs with the frigid air, and subsequently triggering a full body shiver. Pulling her sweater tighter around her, she closed her eyes as she took another couple of deep breaths.

Something was changing between her and Jace…or more accurately, something was changing with Jace. Nothing had changed with her. She still wanted him as much as she always had. But Jace? Well, he was looking at her like he was still seeing her naked.

God, this was so damn confusing. Her head and heart were already all over the place, and adding Jace to the mix was making everything worse. So much worse. How, oh how, was she going to get through the next few days without doing something monumentally stupid?

Apparently not wanting to dawdle during this particular potty break, Katie made quick work of relieving herself before she was bounding up the porch steps and eagerly waiting to get back inside and into the warmth. Except it was way too hot in there what with Mr. I’m Too Sexy For Myself and his newfound boycott on shirts. Because really, he’d sat there all through lunch eating hot stew bare-chested. That was just downright reckless if you asked her. And dangerous for her sanity which was ever so slowly dwindling down to nothing.

Taking one last deep breath of cold air, she grabbed the handle and turned it, pushing the door open and heading back inside for whatever was to come next.

This time it was Jace in the kitchen, just finishing loading up the dishwasher with all of the dirty dishes. He looked up as she gave Katie a good rub down with the towel.

“That was quick,” he said as he started to wipe down the counters.

“It’s starting to get really nasty out there.” No sooner were the words out of her mouth than the lights flickered and went out. Even with the wall of floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room, the cabin was plunged into semi-darkness.

“Well, clearly.” Jace’s voice floated across to her in the silence. But the silence didn’t last long as the backup generator kicked on, powering up the refrigerator and the deep freezer in the laundry room. “Okay, can you get the flashlights and candles? I’ll get the fire going.” Neither of them had bothered with it that morning, so it was very much dead at the moment.

“Yeah.” Adele fumbled around to hang the towel back up before heading for the laundry room where the emergency kit was stored. She passed Jace in the kitchen as he headed for the living room, Katie on his heels, as she no doubt was about to go and burrow under a stack of blankets.

This trip was just getting better and better. There was no telling how long it was going to take for the power to get back up, what with this storm blowing around them. Luckily there was enough propane in the generator to last two weeks. That particular thought had her pausing in her tracks. Because, good Lord. There might be enough power, food, and water to last them that long, but two weeks in this cabin with Jace would surely be the death of her.

At this point, she wasn’t even sure if she’d be able to last the night.

Pulling out the big plastic box from the cabinet next to the washing machine, Adele riffled around for a minute, grabbing two flashlights, a pack of batteries, and a box of candles. She carried her loot back to the kitchen, setting it all down on the counter.

Her focus moved to the living room where Jace knelt in front of the fireplace. He’d already grabbed a number of logs from the pile in the corner and was stacking them up. But Adele wasn’t really focusing on what he was doing so much as him in general. The dim light was just enough for her to see the muscles in his back bunch and flex. Maybe his current state of undress wasn’t the worst thing. Now that there was no TV bingeing on the docket, she at least had something to watch.

Once the logs were stacked, and the kindling laid, the click of the lighter hit her ears. Jace moved the little flame around, getting the edges and corners of the old newspaper going. He sat there for a couple of minutes, poking and prodding until a good, strong blaze was going. Then he pulled the wire mesh closed and stood up.

Before he could turn around and catch her staring—again—she looked down and started loading the flashlights with batteries. Once they were both good to go, she grabbed the box of votive candles and peeled off the plastic packaging.

“So, I’m thinking that we won’t be spending the afternoon with Mary Berry while she judges desserts. Any thoughts on what to do?”

Adele pulled a couple of candles out of the box and set them on the counter before she looked up at him. “Cards?”

“Gin rummy?”

“Perfect.” She agreed.

“I’ll get the cards. You get the pen and paper.” Jace headed for the hallway where the game closet was, bypassing the kitchen island and snatching one of the flashlights from the counter.

Adele opened the catchall drawer next to her, rummaging around for a notebook and something to write with. Once she had both, she headed for the living room, figuring they might as well enjoy the fire—and all of its warmth and light—that Jace had just built. She grabbed one of the thicker blankets from the chest in the corner and spread it over the piled rug. Then she took a few pillows from the sofas and threw those on the floor as well.

Picking up another blanket, she unfolded it before wrapping it around her shoulders and sitting down to get comfortable. She put a pillow against the side of the trunk coffee table and braced her back against it. As it was heavier and harder to move, she gave Jace the sofa to lean against.

He walked out of the hallway a moment later, pulling a long-sleeved T-shirt over his head.

“You get chilly?” she asked before she could stop herself.

“I’m sorry, did my bare chest bother you?” He tossed her the cards.

She caught the box in the air. “Not at all.” She shrugged her shoulders, lying through her teeth.

“I just figured what with our fair trade agreement, you deserved a little show after the one I got this morning.”

“Hahaha. You’re so hilarious. Except not.” Adele pulled the cards from the box and started shuffling. “Also, that’s a banned topic.”

“So many banned topics. But besides that point, I needed more layers in the off chance that we turn this into strip gin.”

Adele stopped mid-shuffle and looked up at him. “We are not playing strip gin.”

“You’re no fun,” he said as he headed to the stocked bar at the end of the kitchen. “I know how to change that.”

“What are you doing?”

“Making you that whiskey sour that was promised.”

“Now? It isn’t even two in the afternoon.”

“Might as well be two at night with this.” He waved a hand in the air. “Do you want one or not?”

No. Don’t do it, Del. Bad, bad choice. You’ve already had wine with lunch. Drinking whiskey right now isn’t going to lead to good things.

“Yes.” Clearly she was going to ignore all of her better judgment that day.

A shit-eating grin split Jace’s mouth, and no longer wanting to look at said smugness, Adele returned her focus to the cards and started shuffling again.

“So what are we playing to?” She asked as the clink of glasses filled the room.

“One hundred.”

Adele split the deck in half and snapped them back together in another shuffle. “Aces are high and low?” She looked up as Jace walked to the fridge in the kitchen and filled the ice bucket.

“Yes, but negative eleven if left in your hand.”

“And the winner gets?” The question was out of her mouth before she could stop herself. Dammit. She really shouldn’t have put that particular ball in his court.

He thought for a second, grabbing two lemons from the bowl of fruit on the island before heading back to the bar. “How about loser has to take a shot?” He set everything down on the counter of the bar before holding up the bottle of whiskey.

Well, this sounded like it was going to be trouble. But she could not show weakness. Balking at his suggestion would imply she was scared of losing, which she soooooo was not.

So she didn’t hesitate.

“That works,” she agreed as she dealt them each ten cards.

It was time to play.

Over the next two hours, it got darker and darker outside. It might’ve been just after four in the afternoon, but it looked like it was the dead of night. In Jace’s opinion, even though it was cold and dreary outside, it was rather cozy sitting next to the blazing fire with Adele. Not only that, but she’d lit a number of candles in the living room and kitchen, the flickering flames adding to the ambiance. An ambiance that wasn’t diminished in the slightest by the light snores from Katie who was burrowed beneath a pile of blankets on the sofa.

They’d both finished two whiskey sours and were three shots into the afternoon. The first and second wins had gone to Jace, the third to Adele. They were about to start their fifth hand on the fourth round, and Adele was currently leading on points.

But Jace didn’t care about winning as much as getting her comfortable enough to where she’d really start talking. Sure they’d kept up a convo while they’d played, much like how they usually talked. They’d discussed the most recent season of Game of Thrones and predicted who they thought would end up on the Iron Throne. Adele was all about Daenerys, while Jace was pretty confident it would be Jon Snow.

“You know nothing,” Adele had joked.

They’d also discussed the most recent Thor movie (Jace’s favorite Avenger was hands down the Norse god), but no matter how good it was Adele was still a Captain America fan through and through.

They talked about the NHL lockout, and how negotiations still seemed to be going nowhere fast. Another potential deal was supposed to be submitted before the end of that day, but who knew if it would go anywhere. None of the other ones had.

The whole thing was just beyond frustrating for him. He’d shrugged at her question of how he was doing, as if the gesture seemed to say it wasn’t a big deal, except it was a huge fucking deal.

For him, not getting to play was comparable to missing a limb. Adele knew this and called him on his shit immediately. Nothing new or different there, she’d always called him out.

She’d also wanted to know how he was keeping busy. There’d been a lot of time spent at the Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville visiting the sick kids with other players (it was something that the guys had started doing a few years ago). He also volunteered with a local kids’ mentoring group in the summers, teaching boys and girls from the ages of ten to eighteen how to surf. He was a licensed surf instructor, after all. Might as well put it to good use. But as it was now too cold to go out in the ocean, he’d continued to spend time with them playing other sports.

Jace knew full well what it was like to grow up without his parents around, so he tried to give back in a way that he knew mattered.

These were all things that Adele usually would’ve known already. Over the last six years, they’d always been in and out of each other’s lives. But as she hadn’t really been around lately—what with the jackass and then filming the movie in Scotland—they hadn’t exactly been keeping up with each other.

So, since they were taking the opportunity to catch up now, he might as well try to slip in a few questions. Questions that would lead to more questions.

He wanted answers…wanted to get in her head…wanted to figure out what was going on in there. It was a place that was becoming more and more fascinating to him, and he very much wanted to explore.

Like, how did she feel about Troy now? How much had he gotten into her heart? How much had he broken it? Had she loved him? And how did she feel about Jace? What was with this vibe he was feeling between them? Did she want to see where it led? Or was everything all just going on in his head? And when had she gotten that new tattoo?

He’d just been biding his time the last couple of hours…waiting for the perfect opportunity…and for her to get a shot or two in her system.

Still mulling things over, he took a sip of his third whiskey sour before setting his glass down. Grabbing the freshly dealt stack of cards, he started organizing them while Adele did the same thing with hers.

King and jack of hearts; the ten and three of spades; nine of diamonds; seven of diamonds and hearts; six of clubs; and the ace of diamonds and clubs. Two aces in his hand…well, if that wasn’t a sign of good luck he didn’t know what was.

Adele flipped over the first card revealing the seven of spades, which Jace immediately picked up.

He discarded the nine of diamonds as he finally decided on what to ask. “I know it’s supposed to be an embargoed subject in more ways than one, but how does Troy die?”

Adele’s eyes had been on her cards but they snapped up at his question. “What?”

“How does Troy’s character die on Ponce?”

“How do you know he dies?” She dropped her gaze from his as she reached for the stack of draw cards. Picking up one, she stuck it into her hand before putting the eight of spades onto the discard pile.

“Because,” Jace said as he picked up the five of spades and promptly got rid of it. “You don’t date people you work with. So if there was any possibility of his character coming back to the show, you wouldn’t have started something with him. Which means, he has to get killed off. So how does it happen?”

“Jace, you know I can’t talk about that.” She shook her head as she grabbed his five and dropped the eight of hearts.

Drawing the nine of clubs, he dropped it on the discard pile. “Oh, come on. Cough once if I guess it right.”

She pursed her lips as her eyebrows climbed up her forehead.

“Yellow fever?”

No response.

“Duel at midnight?”

She grabbed her drink and took a sip, looking thoroughly unimpressed with this guesses.

“Shark attack?” Not a terrible guess as the show took place in St. Augustine, which was right on the Atlantic Ocean.

Adele’s mouth lifted into a half smile, clearly amused as she shook her head.

“Gonorrhea?”

This time she let out a laugh. “You aren’t even close.”

“Hmmmm…” He thought for a second before throwing out another guess. “Hit by a train?”

She looked at him for a second—facial expression giving nothing away—and then let out a tiny cough before taking another sip. Swallowing her drink, she set her glass down and pointed a finger at him. “Again, you know nothing. Understood.”

“Your secret is safe with me.” He made a cross over his heart. “Believe me, I know how important it is to love your job…and how much it sucks when you don’t get to do that job.”

Something flickered in Adele’s eyes as she looked at him, something that looked an awful lot like worry. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that look…it had been a long time since somebody had worried about him. Even with just the firelight illuminating them, he could see that her golden brown eyes had gone all soft.

“You know, sometimes a person can get so caught up in their own shit they forget to look around at what other people are going through,” she said before picking up a card from the stack and dropping the ace of hearts.

“I’m fine, Del.” Jace grabbed the ace and got rid of the ten of spades. “Just a bit restless with the lockout and all.”

She drew a card, looked at it, and immediately discarded it. She had no need for the ten of clubs, and nor did he. “Yeah? Then is the lockout the only reason you came up here for Christmas?”

Apparently, he wasn’t the only one who had questions.

Giving himself a second, he took another sip of his drink before setting his glass down and picking up a card from the draw pile. Jack of clubs, another card that was useless to him. He got rid of it before looking at her, deciding to be honest…what better way to get her to open up than by opening up himself.

“No, not entirely. It just didn’t feel right to be down there with everyone this year. Things are…different…changing. Everyone is moving on, everyone except me.” It was something he’d been feeling for a while now, but it was the first time he’d admitted it out loud. And if he were really honest with himself, something he’d felt since way before this season’s hiatus.

“What do you mean?” Adele’s brown eyes got even softer.

God, they were so pretty.

“Logan and Liam are both married with families, and don’t get me wrong, I adore both of your sisters-in-law, and those kids are everything, but I’ve become the odd man out. Something that was made even clearer at Thanksgiving, when you were with…what’s his face.”

Her mouth quirked at the fact that Jace hadn’t said Troy’s name, but that small smile disappeared when she started to talk. “Yeah, well, the difference is, Logan loves Abby, and Liam loves Harper.”

Well, that opened the door to one of his questions. Opened it wide. “And you didn’t love Troy?”

Adele paused for just a second, looking at Jace as she really thought about the question. “I thought I did. I really did. He was the first guy in a long time that I believed in the possibility of more.” She sounded so sad as she spoke. “He was patient. Didn’t pressure me. Waited until we stopped filming to start dating me. Waited for other things…” she trailed off as her eyes moved to the side.

“What other things?”

Adele’s eyes came back to his as she grabbed her whiskey sour and lifted the glass to her lips. She slowly swallowed before setting her glass back down. Taking her time as if she was deciding whether to answer or not. “We never had sex.”

Now that was a knowledge bomb just dropped. “Are you serious? You were with him for four months.” He didn’t even attempt to hide the shock from his voice.

A laugh bubbled out of Adele’s mouth, as she reached for the draw pile and grabbed a card. “And? We didn’t have sex.” Sticking the card in her hand she pulled out the one on the end, dropping the four of hearts. “Just because you don’t wait four hours to sleep with someone, doesn’t mean that everyone else works on the same time schedule as you.”

“You know, I’m not as much of a manwhore as you make me out to be.” Jace drew the six of hearts, another card that did him no good. Where the hell was the elusive queen of hearts to meld his jack and king?

“Oh really,” her eyes went big with exaggerated shock. “When was the last time you had sex?” Adele drew and discarded the king of clubs.

“Five months ago.” He drew the seven of clubs, something he could pair with the six of clubs still in his hand, and got rid of the three of spades.

“Oh my, you’re practically celibate now.” There was no missing the sarcasm laced in her words as she grabbed the three.

“Practically.” He agreed prompting an eye-roll, but her annoyance with him was replaced by a smug smile.

Fuck. He knew what that meant. So much for a lucky hand.

“Annnnnd gin.” Adele dropped a card facedown on the discard pile before she placed the rest of her cards face up.

His eyes moved over her melds: three fives, ace through three of spades, and all the queens.

“You had my ace of spades and my queen of hearts!”

“Yours? I didn’t realize you owned all of the aces, or that she was the queen of your heart.”

Queen of his heart. There was something about that phrase on her lips that made him pause for a second…more than a second…many seconds.

“—but what I do realize,” Adele continued unaware of the pressure now at the center of his chest, “is that just put me over one hundred points, which means I win this round and it’s time for you to take another shot, buddy.”

Somehow Jace remembered how to speak. “Well, aren’t you a humble winner.”

“Yup. The humblest.” She grabbed the shot glass and bottle of whiskey from the coffee table, filling the glass to the top and holding it out for him. “Drink up, Kilpatrick.”

“Don’t get too cocky, Del. We’re tied now,” Jace clarified as he reached for the tiny glass, making a point to brush his fingers against hers when he took it.

It was such a small amount of contact, and yet she sucked in a startled breath, all of that boastfulness of hers disappearing in an instant. He didn’t take his focus off of her as he tipped his head back and downed the shot.

“Well, before we start another round, I need to get some water,” Adele shifted where she sat, and if he didn’t know any better, he’d think her voice had wavered just a little bit.

“All right, let’s break.” Jace stood first, holding his hand out for Adele to grab.

She hesitated for just a second before she put her soft, warm palm in his. He gently pulled her to her feet and had to resist the urge to pull her into his chest. He didn’t want to let go of her hand, but he forced himself to. It was becoming more and more apparent that touching her was dangerous, mainly because he didn’t want to stop.

Hell, just being near her was dangerous. A fact that was made clearer as she looked up into his face. Was it possible, or had her brown eyes gotten even more golden?

Neither of them moved away, in fact, the space between them was getting smaller and smaller. Jace reached up and adjusted the flannel blanket wrapped around her shoulders. And then completely and totally unable to help himself, he lifted his hand and pushed back the hair that had fallen across her forehead. His fingers skimmed over her skin again…the warmth of her spreading up his hand and to his arm before moving out and across his entire body.

What the hell was this feeling? And why did it seem like he was playing with fire?

Speaking of fire, the logs behind them fell with a snap, making both of them jump. The sound broke the spell around them as a shower of sparks was sent into the air.

“Ummm…water.” Adele stepped back, shaking her head slightly.

The mention of water made Jace realize just how thirsty he was…in more ways than one. “I’ll, uh, put a few more logs on.”

Not that he needed any more heat. He was already a fucking inferno at this point. The need and desire in him at boiling point. He needed to figure out what was going on or he was going to lose his damn mind.

It didn’t take him very long to deal with the fire, and once he had, he headed for the kitchen. The multiple candles that were out and flickering on the counter gave just enough light for him to see that she’d already poured both of them a glass.

Jace washed his hands before he grabbed the chilled water and downed half of it in one go. Adele was standing a bit away from him, slowing sipping hers and looking just as confused as he felt.

Well, might as well go in for the kill. After finishing the rest of his water, he set the now empty glass down and leaned back against the counter as he looked at her. “When was the last time you had sex?”

“What?” Adele’s eyes went wide as she choked on her water.

“You asked me that question. Fair trade. Remember? It works on questions too.”

Adele hesitated for a moment, and he’d wager there was an embarrassed flush creeping up her cheeks as the seconds ticked by. But embarrassed or not, her eyes didn’t leave his. “It’s been two years.”

“Two years?” Holy shit.

“Yes, two years.” She repeated, looking less self-conscious and more confident as she pulled her shoulders back, and stiffened her spine. “Look, Jace,” her voice had taken on that snappish tone that—God help him—he was starting to find really sexy, “sex doesn’t work the same way for me as it does for you.”

“And how does it work for you?”

She set her almost empty glass down on the counter and moved closer to him. “It’s not about some momentary relief. It’s not about feeling good just in the moment, it’s about feeling good after too. It’s about having no regrets. Feeling fulfilled. I…” she trailed off, shaking her head.

“You what?” He prompted, very much wanting to know more. Her words struck home to him, a loud, resounding gong that rang in his ears. It had only been a couple of hours since he’d had similar thoughts, and that empty feeling of wanting more than a quick solo session in the shower. He’d had an overwhelming desire to feel something more.

Adele’s face got serious as she took another step closer to him. “I have to need someone.” She put her hand to her chest, palm over her heart. “Not just want them. I have to be so caught up in the moment that I reach the point of no return. I want everything right then and there. And if I can’t have everything, I don’t want anything.”

“And what’s everything?”

She took a deep breath before going on. “Everything is that, I can’t stop, I can’t pull away, I can’t breathe kind of passion. It’s a need to feel them against me, over me, inside of me. It’s a desperation that’s clawing to come out. But it’s also about wanting more. It goes beyond not being able to walk away before the sex, but you can’t walk away after either. Once isn’t enough. Twice isn’t enough. Ten times wouldn’t be enough.”

Well, damn. “So that’s everything.” He repeated her words, feeling an odd sort of ache in his chest. He thought it was because he’d never experienced that before…but the more he looked at Adele, the stronger that ache got.

“Yes.”

“And it’s been two years since you’ve felt it.”

“No.” Adele shook her head, her eyes leaving his as she glanced to the side, tracing her finger along the edge of the countertop. “It’s been longer than that.” Her voice had gotten softer, a departure from her impassioned sexplanation from a moment ago. “There were a number of years where I settled, but it got to the point where I was tired of putting myself out there, and then regretting it afterward because it wasn’t enough.” She took an unsteady breath before looking back up at him. “So I told myself it was all or nothing.”

“And you never felt that with Troy? The all or nothing?”

“You really want to know this?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Okay.” She straightened her shoulders. “I wanted him, but I was working up to the needing him. And look, we weren’t saints by any means. We fooled around quite a bit. Hell, we were together for four months and I’m not a freaking robot. It’s just that I needed more. It takes me a while to get to the sex level. It isn’t instantaneous. It never has been. There has to be trust. Some level of it at least. I thought…I thought I was almost there…thought Troy respected me and what I needed. But clearly my instincts were completely and totally wrong when it came to him.” Her voice broke on those last words as tears welled in her eyes.

She was hurting, doubting so much of herself, and everything in him wanted to fix it, wanted to take away her pain. His own instincts took over, and he took a step closer to her, close enough now to where he could reach out and touch her. But he kept his hands to himself…for the moment.

“Your instincts weren’t wrong. It’s why you waited. Why you didn’t sleep with him.” He reached up and grabbed another strand of her wayward hair, pushing it back before tracing the shell of her ear. “What are your instincts telling you right now, Del?”

“W-what?” The word came out on a whisper as all of the air left her lungs. So she was affected by him. It wasn’t a figment of his imagination.

“What would happen if I kissed you right now?”

“Why would you kiss me, Jace?”

“I think it would be an effective way to address this newfound tension between us.”

“There isn’t new tension between us.” Her breathing was uneven now.

“No?” His hand moved to her jaw, cupping the side of her face.

“No.” Adele’s entire body responded to his touch, a shiver of pleasure running through her. She pressed her cheek into his hand as she slowly closed her eyes.

“You know, you’re one hell of a costume designer, but you’re a terrible actress.”

Her eyes open oh-so-slowly, now looking drowsy…drugged. She shook her head as if she was trying to shake herself of the reaction he had on her. It didn’t work, the heat and want were etched onto her face, not something easily erased.

“Don’t kiss me, Jace.” There was that pain in her voice again. “Not if you’re trying to prove a point…or because you feel badly for me or something. I don’t want your pity kisses, Jace. If you’re going to kiss me, you better follow through. You better mean it.”

“I mean it,” he whispered right before he covered her lips with his.