DECLAN
One year later, Jace woke me by stealing my breath.
Not on purpose at first.
At first he was just warm weight and restless sleep, one knee hooked over my thigh, one hand shoved under my T-shirt like he had been searching for skin in the dark and found it. His hair was smashed on one side, his stubble rough against my shoulder, his mouth slightly open against my collarbone.
Then he made a low, irritated sound, shifted, and rolled directly on top of me like gravity had personally offended him.
I grunted. “Morning.”
He didn’t answer. He kissed my chest once, badly, eyes still closed. Then my throat. Then my jaw. By the time he found my mouth, he was more awake and I was significantly less interested in starting the day like a responsible adult.
His lips moved over mine, slow and sleep-warm. No urgency. No hiding. No adrenaline because we had ten minutes before we had to become strangers in a hallway.
Just Jace in our bed, kissing me awake like he had nowhere else to be.
His weight settled over me, solid and familiar. He had one hand braced beside my head and the other at the back of my neck, thumb rubbing absently under my ear. He always touched like that now, even half asleep. Like some part of him was still checking that I was there.
I slid my hands under the hem of his shirt and up his back.
He hummed into my mouth.
“You taste like sleep,” I said.
He lifted his head an inch. “Romantic.”
“You started this with one eye open.”
“I was aiming for sexy and mysterious.”
“You drooled on my shoulder.”
His blue eyes narrowed. “That was vulnerability.”
I laughed, which made him smile despite himself. That smile still had the power to rearrange me. A little crooked. Too bright. Less guarded than it used to be. Not carefree, because Jace was not built that way, but easier. There was room in him now. Space around the noise.
He kissed me again, deeper this time, tongue sliding against mine, hips shifting down in a lazy grind that made my hands tighten on his back.
“BBQ,” I reminded him against his mouth.
“Hours away.”
“You set three alarms for prep.”
“I did that because future me is ambitious and present me is horny.”
“Present you promised Tessa we would not be late to our own house.”
His mouth paused on mine. “I hate that woman’s influence on our household.”
“You invited her.”
“She brings good potato salad and emotional surveillance. It’s complicated.”
I was about to respond when a crash hit the hallway.
Jace froze.
