Chapter 15 #2
Indecision flickers in Ace’s gaze, but only for a moment.
Then he closes the distance between us and captures my mouth, kissing me hard.
His hands come to my hips and he turns me so my back is to the mattress.
Then he gently pushes me onto the bed, lies me down, and just stands there, looking at me.
No. Not looking. Devouring.
While he stands there, devouring me with his eyes, he yanks off his shirt and tosses it across the room. His pants follow, leaving him only in a pair of tight black briefs that cling to his muscular thighs and straining erection.
My eyes go wide as I take him in.
Since I’ve been living here, I’ve seen Ace without his shirt on, his broad shoulders and thickly muscled chest on glorious display.
I know he has a dusting of golden hair across his chest that my fingers itch to touch.
And I know he has a tattoo of the Blade and Arrow insignia on his left shoulder; two arrows criss-crossing over a blade.
So I already knew Ace looked good without clothes on. But with just a thin layer of fabric covering his evident desire, a damp spot showing just how excited he is…
My core clenches, feeling desperately empty and aching to be filled.
Ace pulls his briefs down, leaving himself naked before me. His erection juts towards me, long and thick and just as big as I imagined.
Ace notices my gaze lingering beneath his waist, and his lips curve up. “Do you like what you see?”
“Yes,” I reply. “But you know what I’d like even more?”
He takes a step towards me. “What’s that?”
“To touch you. Take you in my hand and find out what you like.”
His arousal jumps. Desire flares in his eyes. “You would, would you?”
“Yes.” My voice is even throatier than before. “I would really like that.”
Ace tugs me to the edge of the bed, so my legs are dangling off it. Then he slides my panties off and tosses them aside. “Do you know what I’d like?”
“What?” I ask breathlessly.
His gaze moves between my legs. “I want to taste you,” he says. “I want to find out if you taste as sweet as you do when I kiss you. And you know what else I want?”
I shake my head. “What else?”
He kneels, then lifts my legs and drapes them over his shoulders. “I want to make you come with my tongue and fingers. I want to know how it feels. What kind of sounds you make. And I want to make sure you’re ready for me.” His gaze searches mine. “Would that be okay with you, Yara? If I do that?”
My core squeezes again. “Yes. That would be more than okay.”
His blue eyes turn to midnight as he looks at me. “Good.”
But rather than diving straight in, he splays his hand over my stomach, resting it there for a moment. “Do you have any triggers?” he asks. “Anywhere you don’t want me touching? Positions you don’t like?”
It’s so far from what I was expecting him to say; I stare at him in surprise. “Triggers?”
His expression sobers. “Yeah. I just thought… Well. After what you went through…”
Realization strikes me. “Oh, no. No triggers.”
“No?”
“No.” I sit up, then lean forward to kiss him. “I was lucky. In that sense, at least. No one ever touched me like that.”
A few seconds pass before Ace exhales heavily. “Okay.” Relief fills his gaze. “It wouldn’t have mattered to me,” he adds. “I just want to be with you, however you’ll take me. But I’m just… I’m so fucking glad.”
“Me too,” I reply. “But now that that’s out of the way, do you think we could get back to the fun stuff?”
A smile tugs at his lips. “The fun stuff?”
“Yes. The fun stuff. Like all the things you said you were going to do to me. And the things I want to do to you.”
Ace chuckles. “Well, if that’s what you want, I’m happy to oblige.” He gently pushes me back down and lowers his head between my thighs. His breath is a warm whisper across my skin. “I’m very happy to oblige.”
Then he spreads my legs wider, so I’m fully exposed to him. “Beautiful,” he murmurs. His tongue strokes along my center, sending ripples of pleasure through my body. “So fucking beautiful.”
With one hand, he finds my sensitive bud and flicks it gently, like he’s testing to see my response. My hips jerk instinctively, my body wanting more. “Do you like that?” he asks. “When I touch you there?”
“Yes.” I clutch the bedspread as he flicks me again. “I like all of it.”
He pinches the little bud a bit harder this time. “And this?”
My inner muscles quiver at the sensation. “Yes.”
“Good.” Ace’s eyes raise to meet mine. And oh, my, seeing him like this—kneeling in front of me, eyes dark with desire and his features taut with need—makes me want him even more. “Do you want me to keep going?”
“Ye—” My words stall when he plunges one thick finger inside me. “Yes. Please.”
And he does.
Using his mouth and fingers, he builds my pleasure until I’m making sounds I’ve never heard before and my body is trembling with need. A distant part of my brain says I should be reciprocating, bringing Ace as much pleasure as he’s giving me, instead of just lying here passively.
But I can’t bring myself to move. Can’t bring myself to pause this growing swell of ecstasy.
Prying my eyes open, I look at Ace, or rather, the top of his head. A moment later, his gaze lifts to meet mine, and the emotion in his eyes takes my breath away.
Unlike the other times I’ve had men go down on me—not that it’s happened often, but some guys seemed to trot it out like a bargaining chip—Ace doesn’t look like he’s just biding time, waiting for it to be over. He looks like he’s really enjoying it. Like my pleasure is more important than his.
And that’s what makes me say, “I don’t want to finish like this. I want to finish with you inside me.”
His forehead creases. “Don’t you like it?”
“I love it,” I reply. “But I think—no, I know—I’d love it even more if you were inside me.”
And there’s that word. Love. The one I’ve toyed with saying more times than I can count. A word I’m still keeping secret, not because I don’t feel it, but because I’m scared Ace doesn’t feel the same.
“Are you sure?” he asks. “I don’t mind waiting.”
“I’m sure.” Sitting up, I reach for his erection, finding it slick and hot with need. His skin is velvety soft as I stroke it experimentally. I trace the vein that runs down the length of it, watching arousal bead at the tip and the pinkish color flush deeper. “I want you, Ace. All of you.”
“Tink.” He climbs onto the bed, taking me down with him. Then he braces himself above me with one arm, while he plumps my breast in his hand with the other. “I want you, too. More than anything in my life.”
There’s something in his expression that makes me wonder if he’s not just talking about sex. If he’s talking about something much deeper than that.
With my good hand, I stroke his bristly cheek. “I want you more than anything, too.”
And I don’t mean just sex, either.
Ace notches himself at my center. “I think this is the best position,” he says. “For now. So I don’t hurt you. Soon, we can try some other things, too.”
“Already thinking ahead?” I tease.
“Yara.” His mouth dips to meet mine. “This isn’t going to be the last time. Once I have you wrapped around me, I know once won’t be enough. Are you prepared for that?”
I nudge my hips forward, aching to feel him inside me. “I’m definitely prepared for it.”
Just as he’s about to sink inside me, he freezes. “Protection. I need to grab something. I wasn’t thinking we’d—”
“I’m on birth control,” I blurt, resisting the idea of waiting for even a second. Even though I’ve never been with a man without a condom before, the thought of forgoing it with Ace doesn’t bother me. “And I’ve been tested.”
An indecipherable emotion moves across Ace’s face. “You trust me that much?”
“I do.”
“I’ve been tested, too,” he replies. “And I’ve never been with a woman without. Ever.”
“If you’d rather not—”
“I would. With you? I definitely would.” Then he kisses me hard before adding roughly, “Thank you. For trusting me with this.”
I lift my hips, taking him partly inside me. Though he’s incredibly thick, I’m so wet and ready for him, there’s only a slight tug of pain. “You know what I think?”
“What?”
“I think I need you. Now.”
That look moves over his features again.
As he plunges deep inside me, his gaze never leaves mine.
It says multitudes without a single word.
I want you.
I need you.
I trust you.
And maybe even, I love you.