Chapter 12 – Jace
I’d been cutting strawberries for about two minutes before I noticed Cassie staring at me. She either didn’t realize how hard she was staring, or she didn’t care if I noticed, because she was still as a statue, looking directly at me.
Her gaze landed on my hands, then trailed up my arms, where she was currently staring, probably trying to decipher each of my tattoos. Seeing Cassie in her kitchen in jeans and a T-shirt, a version of her comfortable self most people never got to see, made me yearn for her even more.
Forcing her to go to the game wasn’t about wanting her to spend time with me.
My real intention was to get her out of the house and get her mind off everything she’d been carrying on her shoulders.
I wanted Cassie to have one night to herself.
No coffee orders, no customers, no family drama—just fun.
I didn’t mean to fall asleep on her couch either. But here I was standing in her kitchen, helping her make breakfast, so my plan had gone straight to shit. The longer I stood here, the harder it was to keep my feelings to myself.
I would give Cassie the damn moon if she asked me for it. Why didn’t she see that?
As I stood there slicing fruit, I noticed the peaks of her nipples, hard and pressing against her shirt. My mind wandered to images of what they’d look like without a piece of white cotton fabric selfishly hiding them. The longer my thoughts ran wild, the more my patience wore thin.
Cassie finally stopped staring and walked toward me because she needed a fork that was hidden in the drawer I was standing in front of.
As she moved closer and I moved away to give her space to open the drawer, our hips brushed.
I was pretty sure fireworks had gone off in her house.
Burning electricity shot through my body, and from the goosebumps on her arms, I could tell it had shot through Cassie’s too.
She stood in front of me with her ass just inches from my jeans that were getting tighter by the second. Now my mind flashed back to last night, filling with images of Cassie after she’d drunkenly taken her pants off in front of me.
Cassie stepped back, fork in hand, accidentally bumping into me.
It would be impossible for her to miss how rock-hard I was for her right now.
She quickly twisted around, my hands landing on each of her arms, pulling her body into mine before I could even think about what I was doing. I bent down, my lips brushing her ear.
“You know, Cass, if it were up to me, I would give you all this and more. Saturday morning breakfasts, Friday nights under the stars. I’d listen to you ramble on about every single dream you have and make them all come true, one by one.”
Skimming my lips from her ear to her neck, I placed one gentle kiss on her pale, freckled skin. She gripped my shirt, a soft whimper escaping her cherry-red lips, her body melting into mine as she pulled me closer—my silent invitation to keep going.
I traced my hand along her back to her neck, wrapping the strands of her hair around my fist, pulling gently. As she tilted her head back, her eyes locked with mine, fire blazing behind them as her breathing picked up.
In the next moment, I did the unthinkable.
I pressed my lips to hers, stealing the sharp breath she gasped the moment our mouths collided, my hand still firm against her neck, holding her in place. Her touch left a scorching path down my chest as her fingers slid lower, clutching at my belt—hovering at the edge of no return.
The longer I kissed her, the more her taste consumed me, each second pulling me deeper into a hunger I couldn’t tame. My hands framed her face, anchoring me—the only tether keeping me from being swept away entirely.
I grabbed her thighs, lifting her onto the marble countertop.
As I scattered soft kisses across her neck, she unbuttoned her jeans and slipped them off, leaving only a pink lace thong against her hips. My fingers wrapped around the fabric, my primal instincts taking over as I ripped it away.
She gasped.
“You take care of everyone, Cassie,” I said, licking the inside of each of her thighs. “Now it’s my turn to take care of you.”
Her head tilted back in pleasure.
I’d always imagined Cassie tasted like strawberries and vanilla, like a delicious strawberry shortcake. After today, I could die a happy man knowing I was right.
I could feel her hips push deeper into my grip, begging for more.
“Jace, don’t stop,” she moaned, running her hands through my already disheveled hair.
In my world, Cassie got whatever her heart desired and this moment was no exception.
Scooting her closer to the edge of the countertop, I used my thumb to massage her clit as my fingers pushed deep inside of her core. I could feel her muscles clench down around me, heat radiating off her freckled skin.
I replaced my fingers with my mouth, gladly being the reason Cassie was inching closer and closer to eternal bliss.
Her hips bucked, causing my tongue to slide deeper inside her wet center. I bit down gently on her clit, tugging on it just enough to leave Cassie begging for more.
I stood back up, face-to-face with her now. My hand gripping her neck, soft enough not to hurt her, but hard enough to let her know who was in charge.
“You keep staring at my muscles and tattoos, sugar. If you wanted them wrapped around your neck, all you had to do was ask,” I rasped, squeezing my fingers deeper into her neck.
A wicked smile spread across her face. She was loving every second of this.
“Spread your legs wider for me, baby,” I commanded. Cassie did exactly as I told her to.
“Good girl.”
I placed my fingers back at her entrance, shoving three of them into her without warning. Her yelp of pain turned into a long moan of pleasure.
“You want to be stretched out don’t you, sugar?”
She nodded her head, a devilish pleasure behind her eyes.
“After I fuck you in this kitchen, I’m going to take you to your bedroom and fuck you again there. Then I’m going to fuck you on your couch and any other damn surface I can think of. Is that what you want, sugar? To be fucked until you can’t walk?”
“Yes, Jace. I need you,” she whimpered, spreading her legs wider for me.
I knelt down again, placing soft kisses along Cassie’s entrance. I was about to do things to her body she could only think of in her wildest dreams.
My tongue slid into her center again, working until Cassie was moaning in pleasure, her orgasm echoing across the kitchen. The neighbors could probably hear her, but I didn’t give a fuck.
As she came down from her ecstasy high, her phone buzzed on the other side of the kitchen island, Ellie’s face popping up on the screen.
The sight of it was like a slap in the face as if Ellie were standing right here next to us. Reality crashed in.
“Cassie…” My voice came out rough. My hands stilled on her hips. “We need to stop.”
Her eyes snapped to mine, confusion flashing before melting into desperation.
“Please,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “Don’t stop. Not now.”
Her begging tore me apart. Every part of me ached to give in. But even as her words burned into me, I knew I wasn’t pulling away because of who she was—I was pulling away because of who I was.
I backed up, letting her go. I had to get out of here, quick. This moment was a freight train heading for a cliff—disaster the only possible outcome. It was no secret I liked Cassie, but admitting things I’d never said out loud would only hurt both of us in the end.
I bolted from the kitchen, searching frantically for my belongings.
Look at you, running from your problems again instead of facing them. Has therapy taught you nothing, Jace?
Cassie’s footsteps grew closer.
“What the actual fuck, Jace?” The hurt reverberated through her tone.
I kept my back to her as she approached, slipping on my flannel and placing my black cowboy hat on my head.
“Turn around and talk to me right now, or I’m breaking your other foot. You’ll be stuck here with me until both heal,” she said, stomping her foot.
I turned slowly. Hurt spread across her face.
“All that and you’re just gonna walk away? Pretend it didn’t happen?”
She was demanding answers I didn’t have. “I don’t know what came over me. Forget it ever happened,” I said, immediately regretting every word.
She looked up at me, stunned.
My heart begged me to say something—to do anything to fix this—but my mouth just kept fucking it all up.
“I’ve gotta get back to the ranch,” I said, opening the front door and slamming it shut behind me on any chance I ever had with Cassie Blake.