Page 113 of Muse (Fighting Fate)

I pushed my body against his and slid my hands into his hair.

“You might want to stop before you get too worked up, baby,” he whispered in my ear.

I bit his neck a little then licked it better. “Why would I want to stop?”

He chuckled again. “Maybe you should look at the door.”

I paused. Shit, was someone there? Lifting my head, I saw the door was wide open. No one was there, but there was a note taped to it, written in big black marker pen.

‘THE DOOR STAYS OPEN’

Then in smaller writing, ‘Hi Jace’

Obviously my mom’s handiwork.

I burst out laughing. I was definitely not expecting that. Jace laughed beside me and pulled me closer. I went gladly, still giggling.

“Man, I love that sound. I missed it.”

My giggling instantly stopped. The truth of the last week was sobering. I squeezed him tight and tilted my head to look at him. “I love you,” I whispered.

His chest rose with a deep breath as he gazed back at me. I pushed up a little further and touched my lips to his. It started as a soft, lingering kiss, but I could feel the hurt he’d been carrying this last week, and I wanted to take that pain away. It was inside me too. The fact that I’d put that pain there made it mine to share.

Threading my hand into his hair, I kissed him deeper. That was the only way I knew how to sooth it. He responded without question. I wasn’t sure if he knew what I was doing or not, but it felt like he did.

We didn’t let it go too far. The awareness of the open door kept us in check. When we finally broke apart, we just lay there gazing at each other, Jace with his hand cupping my face and his thumb drawing circles on my cheek.

I didn’t know how long we lay there for, but sometime later, a tapping sounded on the door and Aiden walked in, plonking himself down on the end of the bed. His eyes narrowed on Jace, but he seemed to be smiling a little.

“So, does this mean your memory’s back?”

I grinned. “Maybe…”

Aiden smiled then, and it was a real, genuine smile too. “Thank god! Sad Jace was really starting to piss me off.”

Jace laughed beside me. “Yeah, okay, I’ll give you that one.”

Aiden laughed. “Well, you two need to get up. Mom’s cooking up a storm to celebrate the return of Mia.”

Jace kissed my forehead gently. “And that is definitely something to celebrate.”

I grinned. It sure was.

***

Much to my surprise, the day ended up turning in to one big celebration. After we finished the massive breakfast Mom had prepared, Kaeli arrived, dropping in to see how I was doing. Then Dean and Matt had rocked in, apparently needing to check on Jace. It was perfect.

We ended up down in the dungeon, spread out over the lounges and cushions the boys had down there. I was sitting on Jace’s lap because, to be honest, I didn’t want to be anywhere I couldn’t touch him. Jace seemed to be of the same mind, because he never once let go of me either.

After many hours that consisted of laughing, eating, drinking, and music playing, I decided a little bit of girl time was necessary, so I regretfully unpeeled myself out of Jace’s arms, and Kaeli and I went back to my room.

It wasn’t until after dinner that Kaeli eventually went home. We hugged at the front door for a long time, both of us a little emotional and teary, but happy just the same.

Watching her drive away, I decided while all the boys were still down in the dungeon, it was time to find Mom and have ‘the talk’.

Surprisingly, I wasn’t nervous at all as I knocked on her bedroom door and let myself in. I knew the time was right. I felt ready for it.

Mom looked up from the book she was reading and smiled. “Hey, baby. Has Kaeli gone home?”

---