Chapter 10
Emily tightened her arms around his neck and kissed Jace back with all the longing inside her heart. She hadn’t expected this to happen. Maybe on the inside she’d hoped it would, but hope was a long way away from reality. She knew she could certainly work the angles to get them in bed. However, starting an affair was not the same thing as knowing they already had a connection between the two of them and at such a level. And that was what she wanted. His character had so much depth to it that she knew she wouldn’t get tired of finding out more about him. He was gentle, caring. A lot could be said for that can-do attitude of his, all packaged up in a quiet deep exterior. He was very protective. Very caring. Very special.
When she slowly pulled her head away, she stroked his cheekbones and his nose. When her thumbs dropped to gently follow the curve of his lips, they quirked into her ministrations, and he kissed her thumb pads, almost nipping at her skin.
She chuckled. “Do you bite?”
He hugged her close and whispered, “I might nibble a little bit, but I’d never hurt you.”
She tilted her head and searched his gaze. Feeling daring and realizing she hadn’t known him long but unable to resist the lure of attraction, the promise of passion, she slid her arms around his neck again, her fingers sliding along his scalp, and whispered, “Stay with me tonight.”
He kissed her temple, trailing warm delicate kisses across her eyes, the tip of her nose, and then a whispering feather of a kiss across her lips. “Are you sure?”
“I can’t say I have ever had a man question my invitation.”
The rumble of laughter that rolled up through his chest made her smile. He was so damn big. He was like a big quiet teddy bear. When his arms wrapped around her, holding her close, she knew how perfect he was. She couldn’t wait to make love with him. To have that intense focus turned on her … Was she deceiving herself? Was it what she thought was between them? Or was she reading this all wrong?
“It is fast,” she murmured, hating that common sense was forcing its way through her mind. Her body didn’t want to be sensible. Her heart didn’t want to have second thoughts. Her mind and soul needed to feel, to move past all this death, move past all this nastiness, to something joyous. She slid her hands down his arms and then back up again. She smiled and said in a low tone, “Help me forget the ugliness.”
He tilted her chin up and lowered his head. His kiss was teasing—light. Her response was anything but. When he swung her into his arms and carried her to the bedroom, it was just perfect. He set her down on top of the bed, his hands already sliding under her shirt, coming to her bra strap seconds later. Both items disappeared under his expert touch. Then they were kneeling on the bed, holding each other close. Hot skin to hot skin.
She laughed. “Well now, that was fast.”
He gave her a slow smile and whispered, “Hell no, it wasn’t. You still have on clothes.”
She tilted her head and challenged, “So do you.”
He’d left his shoes at the front door when she’d let him in. As she watched in fascination, he stepped off the bed, his jeans fell to the floor, and, a moment later, he stood before her completely nude. Completely at home in his physical body. Lord, she loved that about him. So full of self-confidence. His movements had a complete naturalness to them—all of them. And then of course there was his erection waving at her.
She reached out a hand, but he took a step back.
“Now who’s wearing too many clothes?”
She shuddered with need. Glancing down, she let out a breath and, in a flurry, freed herself of every last stitch. Even her thong went flying. Now she stood before him as nude as he was.
With a glance at the bed, she tugged the covers down to the foot. She went to sit down, only to find him already stretched out before her, his arms open and waiting.
She kneeled across the bed and came to him. She didn’t know where her normal shyness was. Her mother would be shocked at her lack of modesty. Then again, she hadn’t found holding back to be a blessing in any way. And, if Jace would show up in this relationship with as much honesty as he’d shown so far, she could do no less. He gave a tug, pulling her atop his heavily muscled body. She shuddered as her skin, already sensitized, overloaded as all her nerve endings came to life. He was so damn hot. She stroked a hand over his chest, loving the defined muscles over his ribs, and, as she drew her fingers across his belly, his six-pack showed up as he clenched his muscles.
She chuckled. “You are so beautiful,” she declared.
When he remained silent, she glanced up to find him studying her with a look of surprise in his eyes. She grinned. “I mean that. You’re seriously beautiful.”
He shook his head, pulled her toward him, and whispered, “You’re the beautiful one. Inside and out.”
His lips met hers in a gentle touch that quickly became possessive, demanding a response. She stretched across him, her hands busy in his hair, sliding through his curls, teasing, stroking, caressing. She lifted her head and kissed him again and again and again. She couldn’t get enough.
He rolled over, pinning her in place. This time when he kissed her, it was long, deep, drugging, an open-mouth kiss that left her weak and limp in his arms.
When he raised his lips to drift across her cheeks and down her neck, it was all she could do to whisper, “Wow.”
Instead of answering, he shuddered and kissed her again, his tongue sliding inside, finding an immediate response. She sank to depths of passion she’d never experienced before. Her body twisted and arched against him in a way she didn’t recognize. Nothing was hidden between them, and yet so much was unknown.
He appeared determined to explore every inch of her. She’d never felt so loved, so cosseted, as he teased and stroked, caressed and admired the valleys and curves of her body. When his lips followed the same trail his fingers had gone, she sighed and moaned, then laughed at the tickle spots and cried when he left her wanting more. He slid between her open thighs. She gasped, her hips automatically rising. As he drank deep from the heart of her, her whimpers of joy filled the room. But he wouldn’t let her climax like that. She lay panting on the bed, sprawled open before him, moaning for more.
When he rose up above her, he slid his hands under her butt cheeks and lifted her, pulling her higher against him. And then he slid inside and all the way home. She gasped at the invasion, the depth and the width of him stretching her, pinning her in place, holding her, … possessing her.
He tilted his head back, struggling for control, his hands gripping her hips to hold her still. She watched the ripples moving along his body, seeing the passion in his flushed cheeks and tense jawline. It was such a pleasure to watch him, reveling in his own passion, at his own delight in being here with her.
Then he let out a long slow breath, opened his eyes, and grinned at her. He cupped her breasts, his fingers gentle as they tugged on the nipples. He cupped, weighed, and measured them before leaning over and taking one of the nipples deep into his mouth and suckling hard. Her hips arched yet again, but there was no place for them to go as he leaned over her, bent at the waist, keeping her pinned as he tasted the bounty before him.
She tugged his head up and kissed him, a deep drugging kiss, and still he wouldn’t move. Frustrated she tried to raise her hips to get him to shift, but he wasn’t having any of it. Finally she grasped his head, tilted his face, and glared at him. “Move, dammit, move.”
He gave a bark of laughter and thrust his hips forward. She arched her back as he slammed home again and again and again. A kaleidoscope of colors and sensations exploded within. But it didn’t stop there. As one ripple ended, another began. She went from one climax right into another. Helpless, she lay in his arms as he pounded deep inside her, taking and giving pleasure for pleasure. She was helpless in the storm of his passion, her own rising and falling with every movement he made.
Finally he shifted her position ever-so-slightly, wrapped her thighs around his hips, and plunged in one more time—hard and so very deep. And he shuddered above her, his arms shaking, his face contorting as his own climax ripped through him. She couldn’t help but watch, loving that she brought him to this. Loving that he was here in her arms at this moment.
*
Jace slid to the side and tucked her up against him.
“So good,” he murmured against her temple as he slowly stroked up and down her back. Was there ever a feeling quite like this? His body throbbed with a satisfaction that went bone deep. He didn’t want this moment to end. She just had to give him a few minutes more to lie here and enjoy. Then he’d happily start all over again. No way was his body done for the night. It’d been too long, and she was too damn perfect.
“Talk about transporting me to a fantasy world away from the reality I’m currently living,” she said on a happy sigh.
A chuckle rumbled from his chest. “Maybe we can keep you in a fantasy world for most of the night.”
At that she propped herself up on her elbows on his chest and grinned at him. “Do I not need sleep tonight?”
“Well, tomorrow is Friday. So, by right, you have a weekend off to recuperate in case you are a little low on energy tomorrow,” he said. He tugged her closer into his arms and hugged her tight.
“I’m so glad Logan left you behind.”
“Me too.” He kissed her forehead and then her cheek, his body already waking up within seconds. He slipped her onto her back gently and slid inside.
She gasped and arched in his arms, her eyes closing. “So damn good,” she murmured.
He cupped her breasts, loving her soft skin. He bent down and gave them his undivided attention. All the while he kept her hips tight against his, their bodies sealed together as one. Slowly, gently, each stroke more of a caress, he pushed her closer to the edge again. The second joining didn’t have the same volatile excitement as the first. This was more about a meeting of minds and hearts, their bodies, the hunger, already at peace. This time it was more for them. He didn’t want to waste a moment of this special connection.
With a cry, she arched in his arms, calling his name. She collapsed onto the bed as he joined her over the cliff. With the afterglow still running through his bones, he wondered if anything was sweeter.
He gathered her in his arms, and she whispered, “I might need to sleep for a bit.”
He brushed his lips gently against hers and whispered, “Sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up.”
She snuggled in, her body fitting itself naturally to the curves of his. “Promise?”
He smiled. “I promise.”