He kissed her. Let the softness of her lips smooth out the sharp, jagged edges caused by yesterday’s terror.
She hummed against his lips, her fingers slipping into his hair, tugging and pulling. He slid the sheets off her and crawled over her body, careful to avoid her bruises before running his tongue across her lips. When they opened, he eased inside, tangling his tongue with hers.
God, she tasted good. And the feel of her body under his was almost enough to heal the trauma he’d felt yesterday. And ithadbeen a trauma. Seeing her go over that ledge had been the worst fucking thing he’d ever experienced—and he’d gone through some heavy shit in his life.
He lifted his lips and touched his temple to hers, his breathing hard and fast. “You’re here. You’re safe. It’s something I need to keep reminding myself.”
She cupped his cheek. “It’s okay.I’mokay.”
“I can’t forget… I can’t get the image of you falling off the walk out of my head.”
“I’m here, Jace. With you. And I’m not going anywhere.”
“Promise me. Promise that you and I are forever.”
Her gaze shifted between his eyes. “Until our last breaths.”
He kissed her again. This kiss was harder. More desperate. He wanted to drown in her. Let her sweep him away and take him somewhere else entirely, where nothing else existed except the two of them.
It was only the ringing of her cell that had her pausing.
“Ignore it,” he said between reckless kisses.
She groaned and turned, reaching for her cell on the bedside table. “I can’t.”
He knew that. Even as a teenager, she hadn’t been able to let her calls go to voicemail.
As she answered the call, he kissed her cheek, then her neck.
“Aunt Jewel? What’s wrong?”
He tugged at the bottom of her shirt…well, his shirt. And he fucking loved her wearing it.
“How do you know what happened?” Elle asked.
He kissed up her stomach, ignoring the rage that pummeled his veins at the purple bruising. When he reached her chest, he took a nipple between his lips. She gasped and grabbed his head as he sucked.
“No, Jewel, I’m… Yes, but…”
He ran his tongue back and forth over the hard peak, and Elle arched into him, her fingers threading into his hair.
“Yes,” she said, breathless. “Okay. I’ll come. Yes, now.”
He lifted his head. “Now?”
She covered his mouth with her hand. “See you soon, Jewel.” She hung up. “What are you doing?”
He took hold of her wrist and kissed her palm. “Kissing you.”
“No. You had your lips around my nipple while I was talking to myaunt.”
“Hmm, I like hearing you say nipple. It makes me want to taste it again.”
He was about to lower his head and do just that, but she grabbed his hair. “I have to see my aunt.”
“Why?”
“Because she heard about yesterday. How, exactly, I’m still not sure. Freaking small town.”
