He didn’t need to lower his gaze to know what she was looking at. “Your words. They kept me sane while I was away.”
Her brows flickered. “It’s my handwriting too. I don’t understand.”
“I read your letter every day, Elle.” He tore open the foil and covered himself before climbing back over her and cupping her cheek. “I read it so many times the paper got ratty and fragile, and I knew I wouldn’t have it much longer. But Ineededit, because every time I read it, I saw you. I heard your voice. And I didn’t know when I’d have that in real life again.”
Tears gathered in her eyes. “I thought you forgot about the letter.”
“Nothing about you, or the effect you’ve had on me, could ever be forgotten.”
A tear slid down her face. “It’s still true. Youaretoo loved to lose.”
“You were with me every day, even though you didn’t know it.” He lowered his head, kissing the tear. Then his mouth moved over to her lips. It was a slow kiss this time. Gentle. He slipped his tongue between her lips, tangling it with hers before positioning himself at her entrance, only to pause and look at her.
“Tell me you’re mine, Tink. Tell me this isn’t a one-time thing.”
“I’ve always been yours, Jace. Always.”
The sigh hissed from him, and he lowered his head to kiss her again as he sank inside her.
She groaned, her back bowing off the bed. Even when he was seated deep inside her, he was unable to move.
Fuck, she was tight.
She wrapped her legs around him and tugged him closer. That was all it took to pull him out of his stillness. He lifted his hips and thrust back into her. She cried out, the sound so sweet, it punched him in the chest.
He did it again.
Her fingers curled into his hair, tugging at the roots. Her exhale rained over his face, so damn soft.
He thrust again and again, and it was fucking ecstasy. It was everything he’d always known it would be and more.Shewas everything he’d known she would be.
He cupped her breast, palming her and stroking her nipple as he lowered his head and sucked her neck. He wanted all of her. Every sound. Every movement. Every inch of flesh. He wanted every part of her to belong to him.
He reached between them and swiped her clit. She groaned, and her fingers scraped down his chest, almost breaking skin. So damn responsive. He did it again, this time rolling his thumb over her clit in circles.
“Jace…I can’t…I’m…”
He bit her earlobe before whispering, “Fall for me, Tink.”
The second the words were out of his mouth, she screamed and arched, her entire body convulsing as she broke. He kept pumping, wanting to stretch out this moment. To keep her there just that bit longer.
But at the feel of her walls pulsing around his cock, he couldn’t hold on. Two more thrusts and he lost himself. The shatter hit him so fucking hard, his world narrowed to just her and this moment.
He stayed inside her until he had nothing left. Until they were just a mess of heavy breaths and tangled limbs. Then he lowered his head to the nook of her neck and just breathed her in.
After a few beats of silence, her fingers began a slow trail up his back to his hair, and when he finally had the strength to look at her, she gutted him. The gray of her eyes. The way she pierced his soul with a single look.
The corners of her lips twitched. “Why the heck did we wait so long to dothat?”
He laughed. God, this woman was something else.
He dropped to her side, tugging her against him. “I have no damn clue, Tink. But we’re not waiting that long again.” No way in hell.
CHAPTER 19
You’re too loved to lose.
Elle traced the inked words with her eyes. It washerhandwriting.Herwords. And Jace had tattooed them tohisbody.
