Page 77 of Dark and Dangerous

Thunder claps, loud and forceful, and we pull apart just in time to see the lights go out in the house.

“Shit,” I murmur, dropping my hands.

“It might just be a fuse,” Jace says. “Wait for me inside.”

I run into the house, watching from the other side of the screen door as Jace runs to the side of the house to check the fuse box, thenreappears to go to his van and kill the lights before joining me in the house. “It’s not a fuse,” he remarks, his hair and clothes dripping water all over the floor. All over me.

“Come on,” I murmur, taking his hand and carefully leading us to the laundry room. It’s almost pitch black through the house—the only source of light streaming in through the windows comes from the intermittent strikes of lightning above. I lift the lid of the washing machine and strip off my shirt, dump it in there. “I’ll find something of my dad’s you can wear. You can’t stay in these clothes.” I struggle to slip off my sleep shorts, the wet fabric rolling and sticking to every bit of exposed flesh as I slide them off my legs. I realize I’m in nothing but my bralette and underwear, in front of Jace, but it’s dark in the room, and I doubt he’d be able to see much.

“Jace?”

He clears his throat.

“Shirt and shorts off. I don’t want you traipsing puddles throughout the house. And I think…” I feel around the room until I find the closet, then feel for the beach towels we keep in there. “I have towels,” I murmur, grabbing two of them.

In the darkness, I can make out his shape, and then there’s a loud thud, before he curses.

“What happened?”

“There’s no room in here, and I just hit something with my elbow… and I can’t get this fucking shirt—” My giggle cuts him off, and he grunts in response. “My fucking arms are stuck.”

I laugh full force, putting my hands out to help him. I find his abs first, and I flatten my palms on the solid muscle there before moving them higher, to his chest, and I ignore his gasp, his sharp intake of breath at my touch alone. His arms are next, and I step closer, our fronts touching, so I can reach higher, help move his shirt past his elbows, then over his head.

He’s hard.

I can feel the cold nylon pressed against my stomach, and I choke on a breath, try to control the shakiness of my exhale. Jace’s chest risesand falls with each rapid breath, and I can feel each one move against me, canheareach one fill the space around us.

His hands find my waist, creeping up and down, as if memorizing my shape. Droplets of water fall against my bare feet, and I lift my hands to the band of his shorts, slide the tips of my fingers beneath the fabric.

Jace stutters a breath, whispers a curse into the darkness. I lower the fabric, inch by inch, moving with it, until I’m on my knees in front of him. His hand’s in my hair, fisted, and I don’t know what he wants. Does he want me to stay put? Or…

“Did you say you had towels?” he asks, releasing my hair and pulling me from my daze.

“Yeah.” I try to level my breathing as I reach for the towels I’d dropped on the floor, before handing him one. We dry ourselves in silence, lost in our thoughts.

“I left my phone in my van,” he says. “Where’s yours? We should see if the whole town’s out. And I should probably check on my grandpa.”

“It’s up in my room.”

49

Harlow

Heat flies rapidly through my veins as Jace holds my hand and leads me through the house and up the stairs to my bedroom. As soon as the door’s shut behind us, he’s gently pushing me against it, and his hands areeverywhere. So is his mouth. He kisses me. With the strength of a thousand kisses, he consumes every part of me. For minutes, that’s all he does—traces my shape with his fingertips, inhales every single one of my exhales into his lungs until we’re both breathless. “I need to kiss you,” he says against my neck.

“You are.”

“Everywhere, Harlow. I need to taste you,everywhere.” And then he’s lifting me off my feet, and I land on my back, on my mattress, and he’s over me, his hot tongue setting my cold flesh ablaze. He moves from my neck, down to my breasts, over my bralette as he glides his hand up my side until his thumb strokes the underside of my breast. He stays there a moment, as if unsure.

“Please,” I urge. “Everything. Everywhere.”

It’s all he needs to hear. He lifts the thin fabric higher, his thumb sliding over my nipple, and I surge forward at the sensation. “Shit,” Iwhisper, right before he replaces his thumb with his mouth. Heat simmers in my bloodline, and I moan when he flicks his tongue, again and again, and then he moves to the other one to repeat the process. I writhe on the bed, fisting my covers to calm my body’s reaction to the pleasure he’s creating.

My center coils, and I squeeze my legs, try to relieve the pressure there. Jace lowers his hand, gripping my thigh and pulling my legs apart. His fingers find my warmth, stroking me over my underwear, and I tense when he pulls the crotch to the side so it’s skin on skin. He doesn’t enter me right away, just spreads my liquid pleasure higher, skimming my clit, then back down again. I canhearhow wet I am, and his single moan around my breasts shows his approval. For a long moment, he remains where he is, teasing me toward the edge, until he eventually moves, lowering himself down my body until he’s nothing but a silhouette standing at the foot of the bed.

I almost cry out in frustration, but then he grasps my ankles, pulling me to the edge of the mattress. Slowly, he removes my underwear completely, kissing a path down my leg as he does. And then he drops to his knees, his head between my thighs. The first stroke of his tongue splits me open for him, and I whisper expletives into the darkness when he licks my clit, takes it between his lips, and sucks.

Iburnon the inside, ignited by desire and kept alight by each and every stroke of his tongue. I can’t see him in the darkness, but the sound of every lick, over everykiss, every move of his fingers inside me is amplified, and suddenly there’s a soft glow as my lamp turns back on and the house comes to life. I gasp as I look down at Jace, his face between my legs, looking up at me,smilingas he flattens his tongue and makes a show of tasting the entire length of me. I come undone at the sight, my body convulsing, core pulsing against his tongue. He doesn’t stop. Not until I forcefully shove his head away. “I can’t take anymore.”

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