Page 64 of Steal My Breath Away

He leaned over and kissed me slowly, his mouth moving over mine, tongue sliding between my lips in a gentle caress. “You have me, Haley. Every damn inch of me.”

With a groan, he reached over me and grabbed the top rail of the bedframe with a powerful arm. His bicep bulged as he shifted his weight and pushed inside me inch by slow inch, as if he had all the time in the world. I tilted my hips, trying to hurry him, almost desperate to feel his hardness filling me completely. He kept advancing at the same pace, his gaze on my eyes, my mouth, the rise and fall of my breasts, as the tortuously slow slide of his length inside me sent white-hot pleasure through my veins.

When he was fully seated, he brushed his fingers over my cheek. “I like you all pink and flushed,” he murmured, holding my gaze with the sheer power of his. “I like you beneath me, trusting me to give you what you need. But I like knowing that the second I release you, I’ll have my Haley back again.”

He leaned forward, his weight on one arm, and started thrusting in a hard, driving rhythm, pausing only to take my mouth in a slow, sweet kiss. How had I ever thought I’d had sex before? When I was with Ace, it wasn’t just a physical act. I felt him in my body and my soul.

“I feel you, Haley,” he said, as if he could read my thoughts. He reached between us and slid his fingers over and around my clit.

Arousal turned to clawing need in a heartbeat. He thrustedharder and deeper, while his fingers teased and stroked until the world shifted sideways, and I surrendered to the feeling of being totally and utterly possessed.

Ace groaned and moved faster. I hadn’t realized how much he’d been holding back until the bed started squeaking, the headboard tapping against the wall. My hands clenched around the bars as Ace rocked his hips, changing the angle of his thrusts. My vision blurred. The room disappeared. Through the pounding of my pulse in my ears, I heard him make a rough, guttural sound that was almost a growl.

With a choked cry, he slammed into me one last time. His cock thickened and pulsed inside me, and I went over the edge with him, the unexpected surge of pleasure intense enough to make me gasp.

Ace dropped over me, taking his weight with his arms. My mind felt hazy, my thoughts tumbling through a surf of sensation until there was nothing but a serene stillness like nothing I’d ever felt before. He kissed me gently, bringing me back, when his fingers tilted my chin, forcing me to look into his intense dark eyes.

“You’re so quiet. Are you okay?”

“I feel calm. It’s a strange feeling. Good, but strange.”

He stared at me for a long moment, but I wasn’t sure if he was seeing me. He seemed far away, lost in thought. “You don’t know what you do to me,” he said quietly.

“Hopefully the same thing you do to me.” I unclenched my fingers from the bars and wrapped my arms around his neck. His breath was warm against my cheek, and he smelled of sweat and soap and sex.

“Thank you for trusting me.” His fingers combed through my hair, brushing the loose strands from my face. “I know it’s not easy to give up control.”

“It was and it wasn’t.” I let my hand run up his chest and over the planes and angles of his pecs. “I never imagined it would be something I’d enjoy. I like to move. I like action. I’ve never beensomeone who could just be still—at least I haven’t until tonight. But I never thought for a moment you’d hurt me or even that you’d push me too far. You know me in a way not many people do. I knew I could let go and you’d keep me safe.”

Ace sucked in his lips and his gaze softened. “You trust me with your body, but not your heart.”

I knew what he wanted to hear, but I wasn’t there—not yet. “It’s not easy to go from trusting someone not to hurt you physically, to being emotionally vulnerable and open with them.” And then, because he looked disheartened, I kissed him and said, “Although I was pretty open and vulnerable when you tied me to the bed.”

His expression cleared and he smiled. “Does that mean that from now on you’ll do what I say?”

“Of course not.” I twisted my ankles and slipped the knots on the scarves before wrapping my arms around him. My outdoors-loving dad had taught us knots from an early age, something I was surprised Ace had forgotten. “But I do promise to try.”

CHAPTER 28Ace

I knew something was up the next Friday when Haley bolted down her dinner and disappeared the moment we finished drying the dishes. No lingering in the kitchen to gossip. No reflections on what she’d learned in class that day. No suggestions for alternate uses for the scarves that she now kept under her bed for late-night activities.

My worst fears were realized when she hunted me down an hour later while I was fixing one of the window sensors. She was dressed in a tight, backless dress and a pair of heels that gave her an extra three inches of height. Her hair fell in loose waves over her shoulders, and she’d glammed herself up with makeup. She was hot as hell, and the idea of other men looking at her, thinking the kind of thoughts I was thinking, put me in an instant bad mood.

“Are you trying on new outfits or are you planning to go somewhere that you didn’t clear first with me?”

“Chad organizes a monthly karaoke night for the volunteers at the radio station and tonight—”

“No.”

She moved closer, placed her hand on my chest and licked her lips. Her eyes sparkled, despite my refusal. Only then did I notice she was trembling. “Everyone is going to be there—”

“Still no.”

“Including Mark Hansell, Vice President of A&R at EMI Records!” Her voice vibrated with excitement. “He was in town a few weeks ago and heard me singing on Michigan Avenue. He found me online and listened to my music. Now he’s back in Chicago, and he wants to hear me live!”

I couldn’t fully share in her excitement because I was still trying to process her outfit and what it might mean. “That’s fantastic. I can call Jordan and arrange for backup the next time you have a gig at Bin 46—”

Haley shook her head, cutting me off. “Tonight.”

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