“But these last few days, you’ve been so distant.”
“I have old insecurities too. About you being better off without me. About the people around me being hurt. But even in my darkest moments, I’m still too selfish to give you up.”
A tear fell down her cheek. “I can’t give you up either. But I think I get scared that one day I might have to.”
“Never. You’ll never have to.” He lowered his head and kissed the tear from her cheek. “I’d do it all over again, you know.”
“Do what?”
“Grow up with you. Torture myself just to be near you. Fall in love with you.”
Her intake of breath was sharp. “Love?”
He lifted his head, his gaze colliding with her. “Yeah, Tink. I love you. I’ve loved you for so long, and that love has become a part of me. I don’t know how to be without you in this world.”
Her hands moved over his chest, a tremble in her fingers, more tears in her eyes. “I love you too, Jace. I’ve tried not to love you for so long. I even tried to convince myself while you were gone that I didn’t. But I did. I’vealwaysloved you.”
A territorial growl ripped from his chest. He lifted her and turned, pressing her to the wall. “You’re the reason I came home, Elle.You’remy reason.”
She cupped his cheeks, pressing her forehead to his. “Thank you for returning to me.”
He kissed her. Once. Twice. Light grazes of mouth against mouth. On the third kiss, her lips separated, and he slipped his tongue inside, tasting her. Melding with her.
Her fingers threaded through his hair, her body grinding against him. So soft and all his. She’d become so achingly familiar to him, and as vital as the air he breathed.
He skimmed his hand over her body, finding her ample breast and cupping it. Grazing his thumb in a circular motion over her hard nipple.
She groaned, her core rubbing harder against him.
“I want to slip inside you so bad right now,” he whispered, the need consuming him.
She nipped his bottom lip before kissing across his cheek and whispering into his ear, “I’m on the pill. Take me, Jace. I’m yours.”
Fuck. With another growl, he positioned himself at her entrance. But before pushing inside, he ran his thumb over her clit.
She groaned, her head dropping into the nook of his shoulder. “Jace…”
He kept rubbing, until Elle tightened her legs around him, pressing his tip inside her.
A low, primal sound tore from his chest. “Elle…”
“Now, Jace. I need you now.”
Her words cut through that last bit of self-control, and he snapped, pushing inside her in one deep thrust.
Elle cried out,the sound so loud it echoed off the tiles. It was the first time there was no barrier between them, and it felt raw and intense and right.
She grabbed Jace’s shoulders, needing an anchor as he started to thrust. Long, deep thrusts, which pushed her right to the edge.
This wasn’t just sex. It was a million things. Love. Connection. A profound need to recapture every lost moment from the years they’d been apart.
Her hands ran up his neck, slipping into his hair and pulling. When he wrapped his lips around her nipple, she moaned, her head flinging back, the air barely making it to her lungs.
“Jace…” His name was a whisper on her lips. So achingly familiar. And hers.Hewashers. And helovedher.
She’d told herself,beggedherself, to let him go. To move on. But she never had. Not really. She’d loved him for so long that the feeling had ingrained itself into every part of her. It was rooted deep in every inch of her skin. This need to be with him and only him.
And finally she was.
