Page 101 of Ghosts of the Dead

Jace falls forward but cushions the fall with one hand against the ground until I’m lying gently on my back before he continues to pound into me. “Saving your life isn’t a favor that needs repaying. Fucking come all over my dick and enjoy it.”

My hips roll in time with his and I squeeze his hips with my thighs. He moans and buries his face in my hair. My lips fall open in a moan when he reaches down and uses his thumb to rub circles around my clit. “Shit, Jace,” I pant. “You should enjoy it, too.”

I squeeze my thighs and roll us over so I’m on top. I roll my hips, then regret the change in position when his thumb falls away. His hands fall to my hips and he gazes up at me through heavily-lidded eyes. “If you think I’m not enjoying fucking you, you’re insane. I could die a happy man right now.”

“Don’t joke about that.”

“Didn’t say it as a joke.”

I lean forward and cradle his head in my hands. Our thrusts turn slow and sensual, and I press my lips to his in a gentle kiss. Somewhere along the way, our fucking turned into making love.

His pace quickens, and I can feel myself getting close. The tension coils tighter with each movement. My leg shoots out and accidentally kicks over the pinball machine. The internal mechanics create an almost musical clanging that grows louder as it tilts until it crashes to the ground. Sensing my approaching release, his strokes becoming more deliberate, hitting exactly where I need him.

“Let go,” he urges. “I’ve got you.”

Another rotter slithers toward us, this one wearing a video game t-shirt with “GAME OVER” printed across thefront. The irony isn’t lost on me. Jace moans. “Dammit, I lost my knife.”

Before he can reach for his gun, my hand shoots out and grabs it. I aim. Jace’s thumb finds my clit again and I fire the shot, dropping the rotter before stars fill my vision and the purest cry of ecstasy when I shatter. Pleasure crashes through me in waves and his name tears from my throat, loud enough to draw more rotters, but I’m beyond caring.

Jace follows moments later with his face buried against my throat. He sinks his teeth into my neck while his body shudders, which sends a whole new jolt of pleasure shooting through me.

I bury my fingers in his tangled hair. “Don’t do that when I’m holding a gun. I could have shot you.”

He inhales deeply and presses his lips against my throat. “You couldn’t hurt me, just like I could never hurt you. I trust you more than I trust myself.”

I push back enough to look into his eyes, and I mean, I look deep into his eyes. What I see there makes me feel invincible. He doesn’t know it yet, but he has a piece of my heart I never thought I would give away. I kiss him softly, savoring the moment.

More rotter moans sound nearby, and Jace tightens his hold around me. “We’re attracting company.”

I smile at him, brushing my thumbs across his lower lip, my anger now spent and replaced with something softer but no less intense. “Ready for round two?”

Before he can respond, footsteps crunch over gravel, and I look up to see Mars and Caspian with mixed expressions on their faces. Luna trots beside them, her muzzle now stained with blood that isn’t hers. My body still hums from the aftershocks, which only grows more when I see the desire in the pitch black and pale blue eyes of Mars and Caspian.

Mars lifts an eyebrow and his gaze moves from us, to thepinball machine, fallen rotters, then back to us. “Looks like you found a way to pass the time. Now I regret following those fuckers instead of joining the party here.”

I try to push myself off Jace, but his hands slam down on my hips with a growl and he holds me in place, not ready to slide out of me.

Mars doesn’t break eye contact when he answers, and I can already feel my body heating up again. Jace raises his exclamation point brow, but I keep my focus on Mars while he talks. “We followed the bastards who torched the car. Found their hideout. Came back here in case you two wanted to have some fun…”

“Fuck,” Jace says. His hands fall away from my hips and he slides out of me.

Caspian holds out a hand to help me to my feet and steadies me on my shaking legs. He places a soft kiss on my lips before gathering my clothes. “Ready to finish this?”

I’m filled with renewed purpose when I wrap my fingers around the handle of my knife and grin up at Caspian. “More than ready.”

The fire islow since we stopped feeding it. There’s no need to.

I sit cross-legged beside Jace with our small first aid kit open between us. The burns on his skin from pulling me out of the car are angry and red, and the cuts on his hands and elbow still look raw. He winces when I apply antibiotic ointment to the worst of the burns.

“Hold still. It’s your turn to be the patient,” I tell him while dabbing the medicine as gently as I can.

His lips quirk into a half-smile. “Is this payback for when I wrapped your wrist?”

I glance down at my wrist, now almost fully healed fromwhen we first met. “Maybe. Though I was a much better patient. I didn’t whine nearly as much.”

“Bullshit,” he says, but there’s no heat behind it. His eyes don’t leave my face as I work.

“These could’ve been worse.” I wrap gauze around his forearm and secure it in place with the little metal clip. “You’re lucky.”

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