Page 112 of Muse (Fighting Fate)

She was…what? Realization hit me hard. Did that mean she remembered? Hope surged through me like a tidal wave. “You remember?”

She nodded, her face pained.

Ah fuck. I shook my head. “You didn’t understand, Mia. It’s fine.”

“I was so appalled by how it sounded...” she choked.

I sighed. “I know, baby. That’s just the way it is. It’d be the same if we tried to explain it to anyone else. Without the emotions that went along with what we experienced, it’d be easy to think what we had was just shallow and meaningless. Being there, feeling it, living it, changes how we interpret it. I know it was special, and thankfully you do too now.”

I smiled at her beautiful innocent expression. There was so much love in that smile, I knew she could see it. It was written in her eyes. “I love you, Jace.”

I closed my eyes as emotion took control of me. I was nearly fucking choking on it. Hearing those words from her lips again almost had me on my knees.

I opened my eyes and took her face in my hands, then I gently leant down and touched my lips to hers. “I love you too, baby.”

She sniffled a little and pressed her face back into my chest, her arms wrapping around my waist and holding me tight. I held her there against me, one hand pressed to the small of her back, and the other holding her head softly to me, and rested my cheek against the top of her head.

We stayed like that for a long time, just needed to hold each other, feel each other, and listen to each other breathe. It was the only way we knew how to heal the wounds we’d both been left with.

When we finally pulled apart, I looked her over for the first time since her accident. The scar in her hairline made me tense. It reminded me there were still people who needed to be dealt with. Trying to push it out of my mind for now, I reached for a couple of tissues and wiped the tears from her cheeks. “How are you feeling?”

She sighed. “Exhausted.”

Yeah, she looked it. I needed to fix that. I was going to take care of her now.

“Come on, let’s lie down.” Taking her hand, I led her over to the bed.

She followed willingly, sliding under the sheet when I held it out. For the first time since I’d arrived, I noticed she was wearing a really cute, light pink tank top, and a pair of those panties chicks likes to call ‘boy leg’. She looked so adorable.

I tucked her in gently then, kicking off my shoes, laid down beside her, making sure I was on top of the sheet before pulling her into my arms. She snuggled in close, laying her head on my chest and draping her arm across my chest.

Softly, I hummed the song I wrote for her while she’d been in the hospital. By the time I’d reached the chorus, she was asleep.

Chapter 54

Mia

The sensation of someone running their fingers thro

ugh my hair slowly brought me out of my dreams. As I gradually became aware of my surroundings, a smile began to spread across my face.

The fingers paused in their motions and I grinned wider.

“Good morning, beautiful.”

Jace’s low voice drifted into my consciousness like warm honey, joining all the other sensations I had running through my body, and sending it humming. Blinking my eyes open, I found him watching me with a gentle smile on his lips.

“You, are the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen. I wish I could wake up to you like this every morning.”

Drawing in a slow, deep breath, I just lay there and took in the sight of him. We were both laying on our sides, facing each other, with our arms and legs wrapped around each other as much as was humanly possible. I must’ve wrestled with the sheet some time during the night, because I had it wrapped around my legs in a way that had obviously made it easier for me to hook my leg over his.

Wriggling closer to him, I pressed my face into the crook of his neck and breathed him in. God I loved the smell of Jace. There wasn’t a better scent in the whole world. I made a small noise of pleasure against his skin and I heard him chuckle softly.

Yeah, I thought I could wake up to him like this every morning too.

I pressed my lips to his neck and kissed him slowly, taking soft, little tastes of his skin. I heard his breath catch and felt his hands tighten on my back. I loved the way he reacted to my touches. It made me feel like a temptress. Powerful.

And it turned me on.

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