Reckless Faith

Elle watched the trees fly past the car window. Jace was behind the wheel, and her car was still at the visitors center. He’d asked if he could bring her home and stay with her at her place. Well, told more than asked. He was still angry, while she was somewhere between confused and shaken.

Who was that guy? Had he actually been after her in the street the other day, and Cody had just opened the door at the right time? After today, her gut said yes.

But that didn’t make sense. She was nobody. And as far as she knew, she’d never pissed anyone off. At least not to the extent that someone like him would want to harm her. She didn’t know the guy. Hell, she didn’t even know anyone like him…someone dark and dangerous.

Jace pulled into the parking lot in front of her building. The entire walk to the door, he kept his arm wrapped tightly around her waist, his gaze continuing to move, scanning the trees and the cars like he was expecting company.

Maybe she was in shock, because she didn’t feel fear right now. But then, Jace tended to have that effect on her. The part she’d hated the most had been the danger he’d been in. He’d stood in front of a gun for her. Shielded her.

What if the guy had pulled the trigger?

Her blood ran cold, and she forced that thought to the back of her mind as they rode the elevator up to her apartment. It was only once they were inside that she took her first deep breath.

Home. Her little sanctuary.

She crossed to the kitchen, moving on autopilot as she opened the fridge. “Leftover pizza okay? I can heat it up.”

When he didn’t answer, she was about to turn when strong arms wrapped around her waist, making her gasp.

“Are you really okay?” he whispered, his breath brushing her neck.

He’d asked her that a few times. Once before Eastern got to the café, once during his interview, and again after. And each time, she’d answered the same. That she was fine.

This time, she just couldn’t give the same lie.

“You stepped in front of a gun to protect me,” she whispered.

His lips lowered to the crook of her neck. “And I’d do it a hundred times over.”

She turned in his arms, and he lifted his head. “I didn’t like that. I don’t like you being in danger.”

“I will always protect you.”

“I was scared for you.”

“Don’t be.” He slipped a lock of hair from her face. “If it’s a choice between saving you or me, I’ll always choose you.”

Her heart twisted. “I need you to be okay.”

He lowered his temple to hers. “I will be. As long as you’re safe.”

She scrunched her eyes against the building tears. “It’s getting harder and harder to fight this thing between us.” So hard that some days she wanted to lose herself in him and say to hell with the risks to her heart.

“Then stop fighting.”

His whispered words slipped into her blood, causing it to rush through her veins. She looked up at him, and all she saw was the best friend she’d grown up with. The first man she’d ever loved. The only man she’d ever loved.

“Okay.” The word fell into the room like a small bomb detonating at their feet.

His brows flickered. “Okay?”

“I’ll stop fighting.” Slowly, so slowly that she had time to see a million emotions pass over his face, she brought his head down.

At first his mouth was gentle on hers, almost hesitant. Then she ran her tongue over the seal of his lips. The growl from his throat was so loud that she felt it everywhere. In her mouth. On her skin. In her head.

He lifted her to the small kitchen island and stepped between her thighs, his kiss deepening, his hands exploring her waist as he tangled his tongue with hers.

Every kiss with this man had been hot and important and intense. But this felt different, almost desperate. Like everything they’d both denied themselves for so long was exploding in this moment.

She grabbed at his shirt and tugged it over his head. The second it was gone, he did the same to her, but he didn’t stop there. He reached behind her and unclipped her bra. It fell to the floor with a soft thud, then he was cupping her, an entire breast held in the palm of his big hand.

She groaned, pushing against him.

“So fucking beautiful,” he said quietly before his lips left hers and his mouth found her nipple.

She cried out and grabbed his shoulders, trying to hang on to something, anything, as he flicked her hard peak with his tongue.

Her head flew back, her lower belly throbbing with desire. It was torture and bliss rolled into one. It was a thousand sensations, all of which she had no idea what to do with.

He continued to hold and massage her other breast, his thumb finding her nipple, rolling it.

“Bedroom,” Elle gasped. “Now!”

The word had barely left her lips when he lifted her like she weighed nothing, his mouth rising to hers, nipping her lips as he crossed her small apartment to her bedroom.

Gently, he laid her on the bed, propping himself above her as he undid the button of her pants before dealing with the zipper. He moved down the mattress, dragging her pants with him. Instead of returning to her when he was done, he kissed her ankle, then her calf.

Slowly, he made his way up her bare legs, every swipe of his lips, every touch, making her core throb.

His hot breath brushed over her flesh as he whispered, “I’ve dreamed about these sweet thighs.”

Her heart thumped. She’d always thought her thighs were too big. Too jiggly. But when he kissed them reverently, they suddenly felt like the most beautiful part of her.

When he reached her panties, she couldn’t breathe. It was like the air physically couldn’t make it into her lungs.

He slipped them down her thighs until she was completely bare beneath him. A part of her, the self-conscious part, wanted to cover up. Shield herself from him. But before she could move a muscle, he was between her legs and running his tongue over her clit.

She cried out, her back arching as a fire built deep inside her. He did it again and again, and she fisted the sheets beside her. She screamed his name as he sucked her clit; as his fingers moved to her entrance. When he pushed inside, her entire body tried to lift off the bed, but he held her in place easily with a single arm.

“Jace!” This time his name was somewhere between a moan and a desperate plea. “Please, I need you.”

Finally, his mouth lifted, and he kissed up to her hip bone and across her stomach. He sucked her nipple as he passed. And the entire time, his fingers remained inside her, moving in and out in a rhythmic motion.

She was panting and on fire and throbbing all at once.

She grabbed at his head and dragged his mouth to hers before whispering, “Now.”

That one word hit him like a grenade.

Fuck, she gutted him. He continued to pump his fingers inside her, wanting her right on the edge, just like him.

Her nails raked down his chest, only stopping when she reached the waistband of his jeans. She popped the button, then undid the zipper. It wasn’t until she’d slipped her hand inside his briefs that he froze. His entire fucking world stilled. Her fingers grasped his cock, and he couldn’t move. She kissed and nipped at his lips, but all he could do was breathe. Close his eyes and tell himself, plead with himself, to hold it together for her.

“Mm, I like touching you,” she whispered, her breath brushing his lips with her quiet words as she began to pump him, moving her hand from base to tip and back again.

He was fucking sweating, his muscles so tight they might snap.

Her soft kisses moved over his cheek before she nipped the lobe of his ear.

He growled and grabbed her wrist. “I need you to stop, Tink.”

She pouted, and it was so fucking cute he almost let her go. “You got to touch me,” she complained.

He gently rolled her nipple with his thumb. “Because I can’t seem to stop myself.” He lowered his head, sucking on one perfect breast, loving her cry, before he rose and pushed down his jeans and briefs. He lifted his jeans back up to find the condom in his wallet.

She gasped quietly, and his gaze shot back to her to see her staring at his hip bone.

“What’s that?” she whispered.

He didn’t need to lower his gaze to know what she was looking at. “Your words. They kept me sane while I was away.”

Her brows flickered. “It’s my handwriting too. I don’t understand.”

“I read your letter every day, Elle.” He tore open the foil and covered himself before climbing back over her and cupping her cheek. “I read it so many times the paper got ratty and fragile, and I knew I wouldn’t have it much longer. But I needed it, because every time I read it, I saw you. I heard your voice. And I didn’t know when I’d have that in real life again.”

Tears gathered in her eyes. “I thought you forgot about the letter.”

“Nothing about you, or the effect you’ve had on me, could ever be forgotten.”

A tear slid down her face. “It’s still true. You are too loved to lose.”

“You were with me every day, even though you didn’t know it.” He lowered his head, kissing the tear. Then his mouth moved over to her lips. It was a slow kiss this time. Gentle. He slipped his tongue between her lips, tangling it with hers before positioning himself at her entrance, only to pause and look at her.

“Tell me you’re mine, Tink. Tell me this isn’t a one-time thing.”

“I’ve always been yours, Jace. Always.”

The sigh hissed from him, and he lowered his head to kiss her again as he sank inside her.

She groaned, her back bowing off the bed. Even when he was seated deep inside her, he was unable to move.

Fuck, she was tight.

She wrapped her legs around him and tugged him closer. That was all it took to pull him out of his stillness. He lifted his hips and thrust back into her. She cried out, the sound so sweet, it punched him in the chest.

He did it again.

Her fingers curled into his hair, tugging at the roots. Her exhale rained over his face, so damn soft.

He thrust again and again, and it was fucking ecstasy. It was everything he’d always known it would be and more. She was everything he’d known she would be.

He cupped her breast, palming her and stroking her nipple as he lowered his head and sucked her neck. He wanted all of her. Every sound. Every movement. Every inch of flesh. He wanted every part of her to belong to him.

He reached between them and swiped her clit. She groaned, and her fingers scraped down his chest, almost breaking skin. So damn responsive. He did it again, this time rolling his thumb over her clit in circles.

“Jace…I can’t…I’m…”

He bit her earlobe before whispering, “Fall for me, Tink.”

The second the words were out of his mouth, she screamed and arched, her entire body convulsing as she broke. He kept pumping, wanting to stretch out this moment. To keep her there just that bit longer.

But at the feel of her walls pulsing around his cock, he couldn’t hold on. Two more thrusts and he lost himself. The shatter hit him so fucking hard, his world narrowed to just her and this moment.

He stayed inside her until he had nothing left. Until they were just a mess of heavy breaths and tangled limbs. Then he lowered his head to the nook of her neck and just breathed her in.

After a few beats of silence, her fingers began a slow trail up his back to his hair, and when he finally had the strength to look at her, she gutted him. The gray of her eyes. The way she pierced his soul with a single look.

The corners of her lips twitched. “Why the heck did we wait so long to do that?”

He laughed. God, this woman was something else.

He dropped to her side, tugging her against him. “I have no damn clue, Tink. But we’re not waiting that long again.” No way in hell.