Chapter 15
Bri
Jace's words left my skin buzzing and now I was beyond ready to see everything he said he was going to give me. I’d been anxious all week as we went back from spring break and got the new semester started.
Friday afternoon, I was more excited than I had been the Friday before spring break and damn near sprinted out of class at the end of the day to collect Hayden.
“Why are you here so early, Mommy?” Hayden asked when I walked into her classroom.
The elementary school was released about ten minutes before middle school, but Hayden’s teacher knew I worked up the hall.
If I ever didn’t get down here fast enough to get Hayden, Ms. Rogers sent her up to me.
She was probably old enough to make the trek to the middle school portion of our meandering hallways, but I’d never suggested it, and neither had she.
I was okay with waiting as long as possible for her to try independent things.
“I just had everything ready to go. No reason.” I waved at Ms. Rogers and helped Hayden gather her things.
“You’re all jumpy,” Hayden observed as I stuffed everything in her backpack.
“Just ready for the weekend,” I muttered as I once again marveled at how dang smart she was. She really didn’t look convinced. I couldn’t help but laugh.
I took Hayden straight to my parents’, eager to get back home and get ready for my date. I wanted to do all the pampering.
On my way out, Bianca stopped me. “Wanna go out tonight?”
“No, but thanks. I’ve got plans.” I smiled and tried to edge past her, but she crossed her arms and arched an eyebrow.
“What sort of plans?” she asked in a suspecting voice.
I didn’t want to answer, but my face answered for me when it flushed dark red.
Bianca looked properly scandalized for a moment, but then she smirked. “Be safe.” She winked. “Or not. This time I want a nephew.”
I scoffed. “Keep dreaming, sister.” Waving over my shoulder, I went out the door laughing.
But then on the drive home, I couldn’t help but wonder.
Maybe more kids weren’t outside the realm of possibility.
I tried not to dwell on it or jump too deep into thoughts of the future, but I wondered if Jace wanted kids.
I pushed that thought away, too. Too much, too soon.
I tried to remember the last time I had a good pampering session.
I was pretty sure it was several girls’ nights ago.
I had time, so I spent the afternoon pampering myself.
A bubble bath, shaving… everywhere. Lotion, oils, the whole nine yards.
I painted my nails and tried not to let my insecurities bubble up.
It’d been way too damn long since I’d gotten some.
What if I wasn’t good enough? Jace had been with a lot of women. He was experienced. I, to put it simply, wasn’t.
I tried to find my confidence.
Apparently, it was off somewhere in space.
By the time Jace arrived, I looked and felt like a million bucks, except for the whole being so nervous I was about to vomit.
He took one look at me and chuckled, then pulled me close and kissed me long and deep, forcing me to relax, and only then did he lead me into the living room.
With his hands on my arms, he sat me down. “Talk.”
I blew a breath upward and bit my lip.
He crossed his arms and looked at me like I was grounded or something. “I’m not starting anything until you’re fully comfortable.”
I sighed. I was seriously thinking about starting something serious with him, which meant I had to be totally honest with him. “Okay. I’m sorry.”
“You have no reason to be sorry.”
“Okay, so… I’m worried about not being able to please you,” I blurted out.
“Damon was… the book I read basically would’ve described him as vanilla.
He didn’t like blow jobs or, uh, returning the favor on me.
” My cheeks got redder and redder as I tried to explain.
“So, I feel like a teenager just now starting to date for the first time. And that you’re like a grown man. Experienced. Uh, oh, geez.”
He listened and let me ramble until I got it all out. He didn’t interrupt.
When I wound down, he nodded and pulled me close to him. He grabbed my hand and put it directly on his dick.
I looked at him in shock.
“There is nothing you could ever do that wouldn’t please me because I’m attracted to every part of you. You don’t need to worry. You’re all and more than I could ever need.”
He kissed me then, long, deep, passionate, with my hands still on his hard dick. Things heated up quickly, and his skin was hot, on fire the more turned on we both got.
The heat from his body made me more aroused.
Jace’s words had soothed me as much as his lips did.
I leaned into his kiss, opening willingly to his tongue, and the taste of him was divine.
My nerves settled again, though my confidence would likely need some help.
He was already hard beneath my hand, so I gave him a light squeeze.
He made a sound low in his throat, a groan bordering on a growl. It was the sexiest thing I’d ever heard, and I wanted to hear it more. I gripped him harder and gave a tentative tug. He buried his hand in my curls, the other guiding my hand, teaching me what he liked.
I would’ve learned anything he wanted me to if only to watch him come undone by my hand.
Making a bold decision, I threw my leg over him and climbed onto his lap. He slid his hands around and grabbed my ass, pressing me into him. I gasped at the sensation and clutched the back of the couch, grinding into him again.
The room heated quickly as our tongues danced.
I felt like I would combust with the need for him.
My fingers skimmed across the back of his neck, and his skin was feverish.
Instead of concern, I only felt my desire intensify.
He hadn’t moved to take anything off yet, giving me the idea that he was letting me take the lead, doing what I was comfortable with.
I slipped my hands under his shirt, his muscles hard under my fingertips. The heat his body was giving off made me want him more, and I pulled his shirt up over his head. My eyes traced over every line of muscle, every detail of Jace’s gorgeous self. He was almost too good to be real.
Almost.
But just to make sure, I needed to touch him.
I leaned back into him, sliding my lips across his cheek, his jaw, tasting the column of his throat.
The fire under his skin had lit one in me as well, and I felt my confidence swell under its influence.
There was nothing to be worried about. He wanted me, all of me, and he was proving to be a patient man.
Sliding off of his lap, I trailed kisses down his chest. When my tongue brushed across his nipple, he hissed between his teeth. Apparently, someone was sensitive. Grinning, I closed my mouth over one, running my hand over his stomach. He groaned as my tongue swirled around it.
When I moved to the next one, I glanced up to see him watching me.
I could practically feel how much he was holding back while he let me explore at my own pace.
Part of me longed to take him and get it over with just to ease the pressure that was building inside of me.
The other part wanted to know every inch of him, learn everything that made him gasp and moan and ache for more.
I’d believed him when he’d said all of those things to me. There was nothing I could do that wouldn’t please him. Those words alone gave me power over my own body and his.
My teeth teased his nipple and his head fell back against the couch. I soothed it with my tongue, then continued down to explore the ridges of his abs. That man had a pack that would make the god of thunder himself jealous.
The lower I went, the more excited I got. When I started unfastening his belt, his hands on mine made me pause.
“I just want you to know, you don’t have to if you’re not sure.”
The expression on his face was so sincere that I couldn’t help but smile.
I stood and grabbed his hands, pulling him to his feet, then led him into the bedroom.
Once he realized where I was taking him, he wrapped his arms around me from behind and started kissing my shoulder and up my neck.
I could feel his body heat through my clothes, and it made me want to tear them off, to feel it skin-to-skin.
I spun in his arms, taking his lips again, running my hands across his upper body. When he backed me into the bed, I pulled him down with me. His hands slipped under my top, brushing across the sensitive skin of my belly. Reaching down, I tugged my shirt over my head.
Jace gave a sharp intake of breath, pulling back just enough to take me in. “Breathtaking,” he murmured. I felt that one word all the way down into my core.
He slid one hand beneath me, and I arched my back. A second later, my bra was free, breasts exposed to the cool air of my bedroom. With Jace’s heat so close to me, though, I barely registered it. Even more so when his mouth closed over one. My body felt on fire under his touch.
I pushed my hands into his dark brown hair, trying to get my breath under control. My panties were already soaked through and I was tempted to move his hand down there. That was still just a bit outside of my confidence level, though. I squirmed as his thumb brushed circles across my bare skin.
As if he could see the direction of my thoughts, his hand slipped between my legs.
I gasped at the combination of the heat, the friction, the attention on the most sensitive areas making my mind blank out.
Keeping one hand in his silky hair, I used the other to attempt to get my skinny jeans undone.
The only thought left in my head was getting him closer to me.