Page 94 of Dark and Dangerous

“Because I love you?” he asks, and I smile wider.

There’s such an innocence to Jace, a purity in his soul that makes me want to be better. Do better. Not just for him, but for me. The problem? I don’t know if I’ll ever live up to that standard. I kiss him just so I can hide my emotions. My fears. His hands settle on my butt, urging me closer as I run my tongue along the seam of his lips. I moan when his fingers curl, gripping me tighter, then again at the first stroke of our tongues. Needing more, I reach for the hem of his shirt, break the kiss just long enough to remove it completely. He’s so warm beneath mytouch. So solid. I run my fingertips down his chest, smiling against his lips when I pass the dip, dip, dip of his abs, and he reaches up, under my shirt, to my nape, then my hair. He tugs gently, forcing my head back so he can kiss my neck. His free hand glides up my side and over my breast, and then he uses his thumb to toy with my nipple. “Jace,” I moan, bearing down and pushing into him. I’m warm at the core, and he’s hard—so hard it rubs against mejust right.

He pulls back, just enough to remove my shirt, leaving me in just my underwear, and then his mouth is on my flesh, lips parted around the tip of my breasts, and I close my eyes, drift into euphoria. Within seconds, I’m wet, pulsing between my legs, and I let out a moan that ricochets off the walls around us.

Hands back on my ass, he lifts me up, then slowly lowers me onto my back. I watch as he crawls between my legs, carefully lays over me, his weight held up on one elbow. Then he grabs my thigh, brings it upward while his mouth meets mine again. He settles in between my legs, hand gripping my thigh as his cock glides against me, over and over, again and again, and it doesn’t take long for the sensation to build, to pool at my core. There are still layers of clothing between us, too many barriers, and I break the kiss, breathe through the pleasure building inside me. “Do you have a condom?”

Jace’s eyes open, meeting mine—confusion at first, and then understanding. “Are you sure, baby? I don’t want to take advantage of you while you’re?—”

“I’m sure,” I breathe out, nodding. “I love you, Jace. I want this.”

He nods, but doesn’t move right away.

I break eye contact, my insecurities kicking in. “Unless you don’t want to.”

“No, I do,” he’s quick to assure before moving away. “I just want you to be sure.”

“I am.” I clear the bag of food off the bed and get under the covers while he opens the drawer on his nightstand. “Could you turn off the light?”

He eyes me, confused.

“It’s just… if I can see into my bedroom, I’d hate for my dad?—”

“Say less,” he cuts in, and I giggle, wait to be shrouded in darkness before removing my underwear. Within seconds, I’m beneath him again, my entire body burning with desire while he works me to the edge with his fingers, then his mouth. “Jace,” I breathe out, gripping the blankets beside me. “I need you.”

He crawls up my body again, his mouth merging with mine, offering me a taste of my pleasure as I push his shorts down his hips, leaving him bare for me. He jerks back, moaning when I wrap my fingers around him.

“Condom?”

He tears into the packet, and I watch through the semidarkness as he slides it over him. My breath halts when he guides his cock through my folds, then slowly, carefully, pushes inside me. I stretch around him, biting my lip at the full sensation.

“Fuck,” he bites out, his teeth sinking into my shoulder. “You feel so fucking good.”

“So good,” I agree.

“I love you, Harlow.”

“Forever,” I promise into the darkness.

I’ll love him forever—beyond the life of the brightest stars in the skies… even when he stops feeling the same.

And as Jace lowers his lips to mine, gentle and soft, matching the way he thrusts into me, I get it now—why people want to wait.

Why Jacechoseto wait.

Because what we’re doing, what we’re sharing, doesn’t just meansomething.

It meanseverything.

57

Harlow

“Are you sure?” Jace asks, looking from my house to me. “I can speak to the professor. I’m sure it won’t be a problem.”

We’re sitting in his van at the front of my house, with the engine running, and I can sense Jace’s uncertainty in the tone of his voice. I didn’t want to go to school, for obvious reasons, and Jace would’ve stayed home too, but he has college classes today.

“It’s first thing…” Jace adds. “The test. It goes for an hour, and I can come straight back.”

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