Chapter 52
THE CAKE CONTAINER LIES OPEN, at least two slices missing from the nine-inch dessert. Jace lowers the forkful of chocolate cake, reaching for a paper towel to wipe the smudge of frosting off the corner of his mouth.
His blonde hair is mussed from sleep, the hood of his sweater bunched around his neck.
"Hey."
"What hey?" he scolds, scrunching his nose. "I wake up and you're not there. I check the whole house, and I still can't find you but your car's outside and I get, 'Hey.'"
His eye twitches and I can't help smiling.
I dislike worrying him, but his angry concern is too cute.
"Were you worried about me, Conner?"
He points an accusatory finger. "Don't try that shit, Daniels. Where were you? It's one thing if you come over late at night but I'm not sure what to think when my boyfriend sneaks out after midnight and comes back after three in the morning like nothing happened."
My eyes nearly fall out of their sockets. All else, but one thing, goes right over my head.
"What did you call me?"
We haven't put an official label on our relationship yet but hearing it from him first awakens a primal kind of satisfaction within me.
Jace's face flushes, color flooding his cheeks all the way to the tips of his ears. "You're not getting out of this. Don't try and change the subject."
I close the distance between us and he stands up, stepping away.
"I think you just called me your boyfriend."
"Sky," he warns. His back hits the refrigerator. "I did not. You were hearing things."
I shake my head. "No. I'm pretty sure I heard you say my boyfriend."
His Adam's apple bobs. I'm barely inches away and he has to tilt his head up to look into my eyes. What I find there almost undoes me. His gaze softens, pupils blown wide. His tongue darts out to wet his suddenly dry lips and I follow the movement.
My finger touches his bottom lip, and his brows tighten in frustration. He wants to kiss me, and he's frustrated because I'm not making it easy. I'm letting the tension build, giving him an inch and a teasing taste.
"Is that what you want us to be, Conner?"
He swallows, the sound audible. I slip a hand around his neck, leaning in close until his soft breathing fans my lips.
"What if I do? You said it wasn't a fling." Somehow, his gaze turns even softer. "Is that so wrong?"
Fuck.
He gasps ever so deliciously when I claim his lips in a bruising, needy kiss. My tongue darts into his open mouth and the taste of him almost sends me over the edge.
His heat, the warmth of his mouth and the taste of chocolate on his tongue quickly overwhelms me. Images of last Thursday jump to the forefront. Images of earlier before Kathyrn returned.
When I break the kiss, his breathing is soft and labored. Eyes glazed over and he's stuck in a daze. His attention drops to my lips, and I know, with that single look, with what he's feeling through the bond, our desires are mutual.
My grip on his neck tightens. Not to the point of pain but enough to have the desired reaction. Jace practically melts in my grasp.
"Go to your room and wait for me. Naked."
I can hear his heart pounding. His face flushes redder and his breath hitches but he saunters off, slipping into the hallway and a moment later, I hear the soft click of his bedroom door.
I'm being a total dick. He's worried about me. Worried about why I disappeared and where I went but I'm distracting him with kisses and the promise of sex to keep his mind off it. It won't stay that way for long. Once he bounces back from the lust-driven state, he's going to want answers.
Really, that's all I need. A temporary distraction from the bullshit and turmoil of my life because at this moment, Jace is the only thing that feels normal.