“You have no idea how much I want you right now, Hayden.” His lips grazed her mouth, his voice a rumble of heat. “Too much.”

She’d deal with the pain of “right now” later. Hayden wrapped her hand around his shaft, and he groaned as he fumbled for his wallet. He thrust into her hand as if he couldn’t stop himself.

He felt around in his pocket and froze. “Shit!”

“What?”

“My wallet…it’s in the office with my phone.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “I don’t have a condom.”

Silence hung in the air between them, and suddenly Hayden laughed. She couldn’t stop. She laughed hysterically until tears gathered in her eyes, and Jace wiped them away with his thumbs, looking at her as if she’d lost her damn mind.

“I-I have a whole box.” She shook her head and laughed. “In Lilly’s car. I didn’t want to be unprepared.”

“You unprepared? Guess there’s a first time for everything, right?” He grinned and brushed a soft kiss against her lips. “What do we do now?”

The laughter died in her throat as she met Jace’s hungry gaze. She was on the pill and she trusted him, but she couldn’t pass up this opportunity. She wanted to see him beg. Wanted him to be as mindless and crazy for her as she was for him. She leaned up and ran her tongue along his top lip, and he growled. He gripped her hips, pulling her forward so that she could feel him between her legs, and they both gasped.

Hayden peeled his fingers from her hips and dropped to her knees. She licked the tip of his cock, and Jace groaned so loudly she could feel it like an electric current all the way down to her toes. “You don’t have to—”

She sucked him down deep, and his words morphed into a moan. She knew she didn’t have to. She wanted to. Jace had bossed her around and called the shots for years.

It was her turn.

A loud bang forced Hayden’s eyes wide open, and then the door moved behind her back. Jace looked down, meeting her panic-filled eyes, and his palm flew out to hold the door shut.

“Just a minute!” he choked out. He tucked himself back into his jeans and jerked her up by the wrist, then righted her dress to cover her. He smoothed his hands over her hair and kissed her forehead.

“You ready?” His voice sounded gruff.

She nodded, feeling dazed, and he took his hand away from the door.

“Dude, what the hell are you doing in here?” Nate shoved the door open and froze mid-step, his arms loaded with a big box. He looked back and forth between Jace and Hayden, raising a brow. “Did I interrupt?”

Jace averted his gaze, shoving his fingers through his mussed hair. Hayden smoothed her hands over her wrinkled dress, feeling her face heat.

“I came in to—”

“She came in to talk to me and kicked the doorstop out,” Jace cut in, grabbing his shirt off the floor and pulling it over his head. “She didn’t know about the knob. We’ve been stuck in here for hours. Thanks for the rescue, asshat.”

Nate’s grin earned him a death glare from his brother, but he just waltzed in and set the box down. “Yeah, you both look like you’re miserable.”

With escape possible and Nate analyzing her freshly sexed state, the room suddenly felt too small for the three of them. She couldn’t breathe. It didn’t matter if the world outside hadn’t existed a few minutes ago. It existed now. What the hell had she been thinking? She was leaving tomorrow! And Jace… She didn’t want to imagine a life that didn’t include Jace when she returned. Would he even be able to look at her after this? Go back to Sunday nights eating Chinese takeout on her couch as if nothing had ever happened? Because she didn’t think she could. Heart in her throat, Hayden snatched her clutch off the floor and pushed past Nate. “I…I need some air.”

She sped through the nearly empty club and made it a few steps into the parking lot before a warm hand seized her wrist, bringing her to a halt. “Hayden, wait.”

She couldn’t face him. Not yet. Maybe not ever. She scanned the parking lot for Lilly’s car, but it was gone. So much for girl code. Her assistant was probably cozied up with some frat boy, reliving her college days.

Jace spun her around and gripped her shoulders. The look in his eyes was frantic, desperate. She’d never seen Jace like this, hanging on by a thread. “What… Were you just going to leave?” He sounded angry, hurt, and confused. He gestured back at the club. “After all that?”

“No…I just want…”

“What?” His chest heaved, and he gripped her tighter. “What do you want?”

Did she want to leave it alone? Forget it? She looked up at Jace, at the light sprinkle of rain gathering in his hair, running down his temple. In twenty-six years, no one had ever managed to make her feel even a fraction of what Jace had in that room. She was scared as hell about what would happen when the sun shed light on the whole mess in the morning, but for right now…she wanted to finish what they had started. For tonight, she wanted to imagine that she could actually have this. That it could be real. The look in his eyes was almost enough to fool her into thinking it was true. She slid her hand up his chest and gripped the fabric of his shirt in her fist.

“I want you to take me home,” she whispered. “And I want you to stay.”

Chapter Six

Jace didn’t even remember the drive to Hayden’s apartment. Years from now, he was sure he’d only remember this. His mouth crushed against hers, conveying just how much he wanted her as he licked the rain from her lips. She fumbled blindly with her purse, searching for her keys. When she finally pulled them out, he grabbed them and opened the door, then kicked it shut behind them once they’d stumbled into the dark.

“Please tell me the movers haven’t taken your bed yet,” he murmured against her lips as her bottom hit the back of the sofa. He really wanted to take her on a bed. Laid out so he could see and taste every inch of her, worship her the way she deserved.

She smiled into his mouth. “You’re in luck,” she said. “The big stuff doesn’t get picked up until tomorrow.”

He grunted his approval, lifted her up, carried her down the hall, and kicked the bedroom door open. The smell of Hayden drowned his senses. Lavender and freshly washed linens. It smelled like the only home he ever wanted to know. He spotted a stack of her favorite prints propped against the wall and placed her on her feet. The black and white photo of the day Nate had come home from Afghanistan caught his eye. The seconds it had taken for his brother to walk out of that airport terminal to where Jace stood waiting had seemed like hours. But she’d caught the exact moment they’d been reunited. The moment neither of them had gotten with their father.

Jace stared at the frozen memory, his arms wrapped around Nate, his face buried in his shoulder, careful of the sling that cradled his brother’s broken arm. Nate had come home alive, but he hadn’t been the Nate Jace had grown up with, no matter how much he looked like himself in the picture. No, it had taken a fuck load of therapy and even more time to get his brother back to being a fraction of who he used to be. Was that what it would be like with Hayden? Would the things she saw while over there scar her? Ruin her? He couldn’t stand the thought of her being anything other than the vibrant, loving woman who was pushing his shirt up his chest at that very moment. When the shirt reached his neck, he jerked it over his head and tossed it to the floor.

“Are you okay?” She blinked up at him, long lashes framing her eyes. Cheeks flushed. Lush, pink lips swollen from their frenzied kissing. She usually wore her hair up, but tonight it was all undone in caramel waves he wanted to run his fingers through again and again. He touched her cheek, and she smiled, leaning in to his touch. He never thought he was capable of loving someone as much as he loved her, but he did. He loved her so much it fucking hurt.

“I am now,” he said, leaning down to brush his lips against hers. Hayden opened to him, giving as much as she took. Before long he was consuming her, needing her as much as he needed the air he was barely taking the time to breathe. It wasn’t enough. He ran his hands over her back until they found the zipper to her dress, and her breath hitched as he slid it down, letting the black fabric pool at her feet. He drank her in, every beautiful, flawless inch. She squirmed under his stare, and he wrapped his fingers into the sides of her panties.

“I want to see you,” he whispered. “All of you.”

She nodded and bit down on her bottom lip as he dragged her lacy black panties down her legs. She helped kick them off, and then he stood, shoving them in his pocket. If she was leaving him, she was leaving him with a fucking souvenir of the best night of his life. “Lie on the bed.”

She eagerly obeyed, inching her way up toward the pillows as he unzipped his jeans. Seeing her laid bare for him made his cock twitch with anticipation. She looked like a dream. This time, he pulled out his wallet and tossed the foil packet he’d needed earlier on the bed. Nothing short of a meteor slamming into the earth was going to stop this from happening. Jace shed his clothes and climbed over her. He caught one of her ankles, then kissed and licked his way up her leg. When he got between her thighs, she was shaking. He gave one long, hard lick and groaned from the taste. God help him…she was perfect. Almost sweet, like sugar melting on his tongue. He lingered there, feasting on her center until she cried out his name and dug her nails into his scalp.

“Please,” she moaned, arching her back.

He couldn’t stop his palms from sliding up her sides, seeking her breasts. He pressed his lips to her belly button, trying to gain control. If he didn’t, he was going to come before she ever touched him.

“I need you, Jace. Now.”

Damn, he would never get tired of hearing that. He wanted to push her to say it again. To hear her beg him for it, but he couldn’t when he needed this just as badly. He crawled up her body and sat on his knees, straddling her thighs. Hayden reached out, wrapping her hand around his cock.

“Hayden…” He groaned, closing his eyes. “Baby, I’m not going to last if you touch me right now.”

“Hurry,” she whimpered, working him up and down, stealing his focus. All sense fled his brain. He had only one train of thought. Taking her. Being inside her. Now. Right fucking now. He grabbed the foil packet off the bed. Hayden snatched it out of his hand and ripped it open, then rolled it on. His gaze was glued to her fingers working the rubber down his erection. He’d never been this hard. This ready. When he looked up, her hungry eyes mirrored the desire he felt.

“You’re sure?”

“Yes.” There was no hint of fear in her voice. Only certainty. She slid her hands over his tattooed skin like silk, tracing the old English above his heart. It thumped just a little harder for her just then, and he wondered if she could feel it damn near pounding out of his chest with love. For her.

He sucked in a breath, wanting to savor the moment, needing it to last. He didn’t break eye contact as he slipped his hands under her bottom and eased his way into her in one long stroke. And then he was gone. Jace’s head fell back with a moan. She fit him like a fucking glove, just like he always knew she would. They were like two pieces of a puzzle, finally sliding into the place they’d belonged all along. He slid out and back in slowly, letting her adjust to his size, but before long, she was whimpering, gripping his hips to urge him on. He wanted to feel more of her skin on him. Needed it. He lowered himself on top of her, grabbing her hands and lacing their fingers together above her head, before he kissed her long and deep.

“Oh God…” He groaned into her mouth, unable to hold it in.

“You feel so good,” she whispered against his lips. “I never knew it could be so—”