I paused. “What?”
“Your beard.”
“Too much?”
“No.” He tilted his head, offering more of his neck. “Just reporting a sensory event.”
“Noted.”
I kissed him there again, and this time his laugh turned into a rough breath.
His hands were everywhere. My shoulders. My arms. The tattoos across my chest. My ribs. My beard. He touched like his focus kept jumping and catching, like every part of me demanded attention at once. I didn’t stop him. I didn’t ask him to be different. I liked the restlessness because it was honest. Because it was Jace.
We undressed in pieces, kissing between each failed attempt at coordination. His sock caught on his heel and he nearly tipped sideways.
I caught him by the hips.
“Elite athlete,” I said.
He pointed at me. “Fabric malfunction.”
“Of course.”
“Could happen to anyone.”
I guided him back onto the bed.
For a second, I just looked at him. Flushed cheeks, bright eyes, dark hair wrecked from my hands, mouth parted like he was about to make a joke and couldn’t find one strong enough to cover what he felt.
It undid me.
I climbed over him and kissed him until his body went heavy under mine. His hands slid into my hair. His legs shifted around me. We moved together in slow, searching contact, skin against skin, breath turning uneven, neither of us trying to win anything for once.
I learned him again without urgency.
The sensitive dip near his hip. The way his stomach tightened before he made a sound. The way he tried to stay in control until my mouth found the right place and his thoughts scattered. He said my name once, then again, softer. Not a request exactly. More like proof he knew where he was.
I kept my hands firm on him, steady enough to give him something to push against, gentle enough that he could choose every second of it.
When I moved lower, his fingers brushed through my hair.
“Declan.”
I looked up.
His chest rose and fell hard. His face was flushed, but his eyes were clear.
“I’m going to say something stupid,” he said.
“Okay.”
“Do you think Tiny knows he’s shaped like a coffee table?”
For half a second, I just stared at him.
Then I laughed against his stomach.
Jace covered his face with both hands. “I warned you.”
