Chapter 5 #2
Ace seemed stunned for a moment, his pale eyes searching my face like he thought he could somehow read my mind.
Then he shook his head violently and scoffed.
“I asked management to track down NoFear. Not Norah fucking Sparkle and certainly not Peaches.” Then his brows rose, and he eyed me with renewed disgust. “This whole plan started with Xavier, didn’t it?
You got your claws into him months ago and then saw an opportunity to—-”
“To what?” I screamed in outrage. “Make it make sense, Ace! Explain to me how this all played out in your damaged brain because I am clearly not on the same page as you. Yes, I lied. Yes, I deceived you about who I really was. But to what fucking end? What exactly do you see as the benefit to me in all of this, because it has been nothing but torture for me to keep up this ruse. Do you have any fucking idea how uncomfortable it is to wear a chest binder every damn day? Trust me, Ace, it’s not just for funsies. ”
Whatever space I’d gained in shoving him, I instantly lost as he crowded back into my personal space so hard I nearly bent backward over the dresser.
“I don’t know what I think right now, Noah.
But I know this isn’t as innocent as you’re making it out to be.
I just don’t know why you waited this long! ”
Bewildered and angry, I shook my head, studying his face for some clue as to what the hell he meant. “Ace, you’re not making any sense. I get that you want to talk this out, but—-”
My words cut off as Ace’s hand wrapped around my throat and his mouth crushed against mine.
Shock wiped all coherent thought from my head as he kissed me with a harsh demand, taking the opportunity to thrust his tongue into my mouth when I gasped. It was… What the fuck is happening?
“Ace…” I protested in a small whimper as I leaned backward.
His strong grip on my neck jerked me right back against him, though, and this time?
Shit, this time I kissed him back. Because regardless of this downright confusing argument, it was still Ace.
I liked Ace, and I’d be lying if I tried to act like I wasn’t crazy attracted to him.
So yeah, I kissed him back, because for all I knew, I’d never be allowed back through the doors of Mount Olympus again, so what did I have to lose here?
Minho would hate me when he found out I’d lied, and Tor sort of implied he wasn’t expecting monogamy during one of our chats.
So I surrendered to my desires for a minute and grasped Ace’s toned waist as I kissed him back just as desperately as he started this thing.
A low groan rolled out of him, and he bit my lower lip hard enough to sting before breaking away.
“I fucking knew it,” he whispered in a husky voice before tightening his grip on my throat to pull me into another heady, intoxicating kiss.
His other hand slipped under my badly tucked towel, his strong fingers skimming up my thigh until he found my hot, wet core.
There was no hesitation or coy teasing as he confidently thrust two fingers inside me, and I gave a startled cry against his lips.
It’d been a hot fucking minute since I’d slept with anyone, and Ace wasn’t being gentle.
But at the same time, I’d been so wound up for so long…
I needed this.
No words passed between us. Our mouths locked together as Ace roughly pumped his hand and my hips rocked against him with desperation.
He didn’t move his other hand from my throat, and it made me wild with the threat of danger.
All those memes and fan theories about Ace being a Daddy in the bedroom?
Dead accurate. He clearly needed control, and right now I couldn’t think of any reason not to give it to him.
Almost embarrassingly fast, he brought me to climax, and I moaned against his possessive kiss as my core clenched and spasmed around his fingers, my legs shaking with the intensity of the release. Only then did he break away from my lips, but not before biting my lower lip again.
“How the fuck did I not see this sooner?” he murmured with husky fascination, his thumb stroking the underside of my jaw even as his other hand remained buried between my thighs. “How did you fool us all so thoroughly when you’re so fucking obvious now?”
My brain was a scattered mess. What the hell were we even talking about?
My stomach muscles fluttered, and I squirmed on his fingers.
This was such a terrible idea. He’d been angry enough to scare me just moments ago, and now his hand was slick with my orgasm and my lips buzzed like I’d been stung by a dozen bees. How the hell did we get here?
“Ace, I’m sorry,” I whispered, licking my lips and gasping for breath, praying the oxygen would make my brain work again. “This was never about you.”
He wasn’t meeting my eyes, instead staring at my mouth with a small frown set across his brows like he was trying to puzzle something out. But when I said that, his gaze jerked up to mine and his eyes narrowed.
“Liar,” he accused with a growl. “You wanted my attention, Noah? You have it. You want me to throw you down on your bed so you can show me what hooked Xavier so thoroughly online? Is it true that you’re called Peaches because of your juicy a—-”
My slap across his face stunned him enough that he released me, taking a step backward with a small grunt of surprise.
“Get out, Ace,” I told him with cold anger, my whole body trembling with regret for letting things go as far as they had. Fucking hell, what was I thinking? “Get the fuck out of my apartment and never come back.”
Fury heated his normally cool gaze as his lip curled with disgust. “Why act so offended now? I paid my subscription, didn’t I?” He gestured to the cash discarded on the carpet, and I could no longer stop the tears from spilling.
It hurt to see such a different side of Ace. Just two weeks ago, I’d damn near idolized him as a team leader and as a friend, and now? Now he was a stranger to me in every way that mattered.
“Get out!” I screamed, the tears blurring my vision.
I stepped forward to shove him again, and my useless towel slipped off my body, leaving me naked under Ace’s scathing gaze.
He instantly broke eye contact with me and swept his focus down the length of my body, but when I wiped my eyes with the heel of my hand I caught a completely unexpected expression on the Olympus team leader’s face.
He looked sick. Not just disgusted but utterly nauseous and horrified as he took a stumbling step backward, shaking his head with disbelief.
“Shit,” he breathed, swiping a hand over his face, visibly swallowing hard. “Noah… Shit. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have—-” He shook his head again, scrubbing his fingers through his own hair in frustration and anxiety. “I’m sorry.”
Then he was gone, fleeing from my apartment so fast it would have been funny if I wasn’t teetering on the brink of emotional collapse. I couldn’t find the energy to laugh, though, as I stood there sobbing while the sound of the front door slamming echoed through my home.
It wasn’t until my tears had dried and I returned to the bathroom that I realized what’d caused Ace to change his mind so damn fast. Standing there in my bathroom, staring at my reflection, I couldn’t help but wince because the bruising from the CPR spread the whole way from my breast bone down to my belly button in a harsh green and yellow against my pale skin.
The bruising was so dark it nearly obliterated my birthmark, which was ironic since that stupid fucking mark was how I identified Peaches content as me when my face wasn’t visible.
Now that I saw the damage, I felt it all the way into my broken bones, and it made me gasp with agony.
Yeah, I was a mess—-in so many more ways than just the physical signs.