Page 46 of The Heiress

“But this,” his voice broke, “this is very different. It changes everything.”

It was true. Having sex with Jace would permanently alter my understanding of him. It was a level of trust and intimacy that transcended the closest parts of our friendship.

And I wanted that desperately. To be seen and lovedphysically.For the briefest of moments I was struck by how lonely I was. How much pain was hidden inside that I couldn’t bear to let out because it would inevitably overwhelm me. Jace was the only one—theonly one—I could be that vulnerable with. Who would understand and treat me with the care I needed.

And ohfuck.He was the same, wasn’t he? I was the one who knew his pain. Who knewhim.The vulnerable, scared kid who pretended my family was his home. The brash teenager who faced his destiny head on. The man who stood by my side when the whole world changed. I was his safe harbor. I was the one he could be vulnerable with.

No one else.

My fingers tightened in his hair and my hips surged up. “Jesus, Jace. I love you so much.” I meant the words I said even though I hadn’t thought them through before I said them.

He blinked at me, the color draining from his face. For a brief, terrifying moment I thought he was upset. That he didn’t feel the same way and was about to leave me.

But then his breath hitched and without another word he kissed me so deeply, so fiercely it was like we became one. His body moved over me like a wave. I caught it and rode it, finding patterns in the chaos.

His lips traveled down my throat to my collarbone. Over my shirt to my breasts. For a moment he paused, his forehead to the center of my chest, as he caught his breath. Then he sat up just enough to pull his t-shirt over his head, exposing himself first. It felt intentional.Here I am. All of me. The good and the bad. Is this what you really want?

I reached up and traced the lines of his tattoo. The devil and his horns, the barbed wire pitch forks, thewords.

The price is your soul.

I traced a line to the other side of his chest. To his heart. I looked up into his eyes. This man still had his soul. I could see it. No matter the choices he made, the man inside still wrestled with right and wrong. He felt and he cared. And most of all, he cared aboutme.

I didn’t know what prices he’d paid or the cost he had to bear. Inside he was still Jace. His eyes darted between mine, searching, thinking. I didn’t know what conversation was taking place inside his mind or if I should even be privy to it. The pain was enough to tell me it was personal.

I reached for my hem when Jace’s hand covered mine. “Let me. Please?”

I nodded because it was all I could do. Words seemed to have stopped forming in my mouth, getting lost in a fog between my brain and my lips. The fog was most likely explosive levels of lust. Part of me didn’t want Jace to touch me because I was very afraid I might turn into a ball of fire.

But another part of me...well, it seemed that part of me had been waiting for this moment my whole life. So I soaked it all up, trembling when his fingers brushed the skin of my belly. He left his thumbs outside while skating his fingers underneath. His breath caught again and I tore my eyes away from his hands to take in the sight of his lips parting, the muscles of his neck and shoulders flexing and working, the wonder in his gaze. Inch by slow inch he pushed my sleep shirt up, pausing at my breasts, like revealing them was the last step off a cliff into oblivion.

“You have soft skin,” he murmured, brushing against the underside of my breasts.

I couldn’t form a reply and maybe it wasn’t necessary. Jace seemed to be wavering between his mind and his body. His eyes locked with mine. A permanent line between us connected. We worked together to free my shirt. He still wouldn’t look down. So I took his hand and pressed it to my breast, keeping it covered with my own.

He hissed and looked away. His jaw flexed. And then...his gaze swept over all of me for the first time. I didn’t feel vulnerable or exposed, only precious. Jace nodded a few times and then lowered his body over mine again, our bodies connecting skin to skin.

I sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to keep my body under control. “Is it possible to orgasm from anticipation?” I laughed but that was only because I was absolutely losing all control.

“I think yes,” he chuckled back, kissing my cheek, nuzzling my ear.

“Well at least we’re equally screwed.”

He laughed again and then paused. “I really want to make a joke but I also really don’t.” And that felt perfect. “Don’t judge me from the first go. I promise there’s more beneath the surface.” He shifted his body, his hands finding my most sensitive spots and beginning to tease.

“I’m counting on there being many, many layers still to discover, Jace Malone.” I knew my friend but I didn’t know my lover. I was hoping there were a few surprises in store. I pushed him back and rolled up onto my side. “I think I’ll start now.”

I explored the hard planes of his chest, found scars I didn’t know. He told me some of the stories, others he grunted past. Stitches from a knife wound, a broken finger in a fistfight, a dozen different scars on his knees and calves.

“You don’t have any other tattoos.”

He shook his head, watching my every move. “Don’t need anymore.”

“Clean, upstanding citizens.”

He nodded once. With his pants gone I had a clear unobstructed view of his erection. The one time I touched him, he hissed and asked me not to. So instead I visually studied his length. It was a good size, but too terrifyingly large. I was curious to see how he’d put it to good use. So curious I was just about done with this lovely and necessary mutual exploration. I crawled over him, straddling his hips in my panties. It was the only scrap of fabric left between us.

Jace groaned again. “I think you like torturing me.”

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