“Amber slows. Red stops.” His voice shook, but not from confusion. “Green means I am asking you to quit standing six feet away.”
My control broke in a straight line.
I stepped into him, took his face in both hands, and kissed him.
There was nothing gentle about the first contact. It was weeks of refusal and rules and restraint collapsing into the hot press of his mouth. Jace made a sound low in his throat and grabbed the front of my shirt, pulling me in like he had been waiting to use both hands. His mouth opened under mine, eager and clumsy for half a second before instinct caught up.
He tasted like beer and mint and adrenaline.
I backed him into the brick, one hand sliding to the side of his neck, thumb at the hinge of his jaw. He kissed like he argued, too much at once, trying to lead, trying to give in, trying to do both until I bit lightly at his lower lip and held him still.
He shuddered.
“Slow,” I said against his mouth.
He nodded, then immediately tried to kiss me again.
I held him off by his jaw. “Listen.”
His eyes were unfocused, pupils wide, lips wet. “I am listening.”
“No, you’re reacting.”
That landed. He swallowed, breathing hard through his nose.
I brushed my thumb once over the stubble at his jaw. Not soft enough to soothe. Just enough to focus him.
“Color.”
“Green.” A beat. “Frustrated green.”
Despite everything, my mouth nearly curved. “Noted.”
Then I kissed him again, slower this time, and felt the exact moment he let me set the pace.
It destroyed me.
His hands moved from my shirt to my sides, fingers digging in, then up over my ribs like he needed proof of where I was. I pressed one thigh between his legs and he arched before he could stop himself, a rough gasp breaking against my mouth.
“Fuck,” he whispered.
“Quiet.”
He nodded, then bit back another sound when I rolled my hips into him.
The contact was through too many layers, suit pants, briefs, the last useless barrier of public decency, but it hit like skin. He was hard against me. So was I. The realization went through both of us at once, blunt and undeniable.
Jace gripped my belt.
I caught his wrist and pinned it beside his head against the brick.
His whole body responded.
Not fear. Not hesitation.
Relief.
I held him there and dragged my mouth down to his throat, beard scraping his skin. He tipped his head back, giving me room with a trust that punched through the lust hard enoughto hurt. I kissed the tendon in his neck, then used my teeth just enough to make his knees flex.
