Page 54 of Unleashing Chaos

With a deep breath, I change clothes and re-enter the room. Jace is still lying in the same spot, propped against the headboard. I smile, probably too brightly.

“Hey, sorry, just had to get out of those clothes,” I say, sitting next to him, leaving a respectable distance between us.

We glance at each other from the corner of our eyes, and Jace licks his lips and tucks them between his teeth. “Is sleeping with me making you nervous? Remember, I can take the floor if that will help.”

I turn to him. “No. I’m not nervous. Really. Are you?”

He tilts his head side to side, pretending like he’s conflicted. But the sparkle in his eyes tells me he already knows his answer. “I don’t know. Are you going to grope me in my sleep? Am I going to wake up with you wrapped around me like a koala?” He leans forward so our eyes meet. “Are you going to want to cuddle?”

The tension in the air evaporates, chased away by his humor. I’m glad he isn’t taking this seriously because I feel a little stupid for not considering the sleeping arrangements before we got here. Demons don’t care about modesty or stifling their desires. My parents wouldn’t have expected us to worry about those things if we were truly dating.

I scoot toward him and say, “I’m big on consent, so I won’t grope you. But I might tangle my legs with yours. We did that on the couch that night. I don’t know if you know that.”

“I know and I remember how your legs felt.”

My head snaps in his direction and my cheeks redden. “What? You were awake?”

He lifts a brow and asks, “Weren’t you? Because if you were, I think my legs deserve an apology. I don’t recall you asking permission to give them a massage with your toes.”

I groan, falling face down into the mattress. “I didn’t even mean to! I was trying to figure out how the hell we ended up in that position and what body parts were where.” My voice is muffled into the pillow. “I’m sorry, Jace, I didn’t mean to grope your shins.” A snort escapes me as I hold back hysterical, unhinged laughter.

He laughs with me. “Would it make you feel better to know I liked it and the lust your brother sensed when he walked in the house was mine?”

My laughter stops and I gnaw on my bottom lip. “It does. I mean, I already knew it was yours—Lux had no problem sharing how ‘delectable’ you smelled. But it’s nice to know it wasn’t just a chemical reaction, that you actually liked me touching you,” I whisper.

“Don’t get too confident in your footsie skills. It’s been a while since I woke up with a woman. I’d forgotten how good it feels to have warm, soft skin next to mine.”

“I’d never known what it was like to wake up with someone beside me. You’re the first person I’ve ever slept next to,” I admit, chewing the inside of my cheek.

Jace eases down onto the mattress next to me, and the warmth radiating from him drifts to my side of the bed. It takes every ounce of my willpower not to move closer, to rest my head on his chest and trace my fingertips over his pecs. Just his presence has me acting out of sorts.

“How did you go so long without simple physical joys? You’ve got a good century on me, and you’ve experienced so little.”

I adjust on my side so I’m facing him and tuck my hands under my cheek. “There’s just no one I’ve ever wanted to share that stuff with before. I’ve had plenty of chances. But there’s been no person I’ve looked at and thought, ‘Yep, I want to sleep in the same bed with him and wake up with tangled limbs the next morning.’ Not until—” I stop and clear my throat. “Anyway, I’m ready to experience some things for sure.”

“I thought you were going to check off a few of those things with Cannon,” he begins, almost tentatively, like he’s afraid I’m going to shut him down. When I don’t, he continues. “You’re sure you don’t want to explore that? Cannon’s a stand-up guy. He’s smart, driven, funny . . . respectful. He’d be good to you, Desi.”

“Cannon is a good guy, you’re right. But even he admitted that he didn’t feel anything. And I don’t think that’s going to change.”

Jace’s brows tick upward. “Cannon said that?”

“Yeah, he agreed with me one hundred percent. That it was nice, but there were no fireworks. That we were better off as friends.”

“You two shouldn’t give up because of one kiss, Desi. A relationship is about way more than the physical. Sparks can ignite over time. It’s more important that you find someone who will always have your back—a true partner.”

“I understand that, but I want it all. The kiss with him was a fine first real kiss, but I’ve been more turned on by the spicy books I read. And like I said the other night . . . by what you and I shared through the window.” My face immediately flames with the mention of that night. “I need that kind of out-of-this-world chemistry too.”

“I think I need to take a look at these books you’re reading.”

“You should. They’re lifesavers on lonely nights. Or nights when there’s nothing going on across the way in your bedroom,” I tease.

Jace shoves me playfully and then gives a thoughtful hum. “I can’t believe that was your first real kiss. I can understand if you were from my realm why you might avoid acting on your sexual needs, but you’re from a place that’s so free with everything that humans are taught is wrong. How were you able to stifle that desire for so long?”

If I had been around a being I was as attracted to as I am Jace Wilder, I never would have been able to hold back. But that’s not how it’s been for me. “Because no one in Infernis has made me want to explore that part of myself. I don’t know, it’s like . . . like I’m waiting for that one fire that I can’t put out. And I hadn’t even seen a spark of it here. So, it wasn’t worth it to me. Which means that I am a very inexperienced demon,” I say with a sheepish shrug.

“I can now see why sleeping in the same bed as me might be a little unsettling.” He lifts his arm and pulls me in next to him. “But I promise I’ll behave and meet your need for cuddles. You have nothing to worry about, Desi.”

I snuggle into him and tuck my foot underneath his leg. “And just what do you think I might be worried about, Mr. Wilder?”

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