Page 33 of Imagine Me and You

“Maybe you could use a cloth?”

She smiled and grabbed a clean dish towel from the counter. “Yeah, I could do that.” There. That was more normal. Nitpicky Jace, who was freaky about his dishes, was strange but normal in his way.

“So what’s with the trying to be relaxed about me manhandling your stuff?” she asked.

“I’m making an effort to be flexible.”

“That’s weird, man. I’m not gonna lie.”

“You’re staying here. And I shouldn’t make you feel like an imposition.”

“Huh. Well. For the record, you don’t make me feel like an imposition, but thank you.”

“But you wouldn’t feel comfortable if you were staying here permanently.”

Something strange and heavy settled in her chest. “No. But I’m not.”

“No,” he said. “But...if you were, I couldn’t be tyrannical about everything.”

“But I’m not,” she said, feeling the need to affirm it.

“No,” he said again.

She set the bowl down in the sink. “Stop thinking so much,” she said, touching his cheek. “I can think of something that doesn’t require thinking at all.”

“Really?” The light in his eyes changed. It had been soft, almost sweet a moment ago. Not now. Now it was sharp. Predatory.

“Yes, really.”

She reached between them and grabbed his belt, tugging him forward. She ran her hands over his chest, confidence filling her. Because Jace was the most enthusiastic lover she’d ever had. Because he made her feel confident. Beautiful. More aggressive. And safe. Even when he took her to the edge, Jace made her feel safe.

She skimmed her fingers over his abs and nearly whimpered. He was so freaking hot.

With one hand, she worked at his belt buckle, the other enjoying all of his amazing muscles. Then she got frustrated with her one-handed technique and attacked the belt with both hands, pushing his pants and underwear down to the floor, dropping to her knees in front of him.

They hadn’t done this yet. She hadn’t. Because...stupidly maybe, it seemed so intimate. And now she wanted to taste him so bad she was shaking with the need for it. To bring it back down to sex—that was why. To stop him from saying all these sweet things. To stop him from talking about her living here full-time, like that could ever happen.

She cupped him, sliding her palm up and over his shaft, squeezing him gently before leaning in and tracing the head of his cock with her tongue. He sifted his fingers through her hair, tugging hard when she took him into her mouth.

A harsh curse escaped his lips, and he tugged harder as she moved her hand in time with her lips and tongue. And she likedit. This was raw. This was sex. This was something she could understand.

It was Jace, her lover. The man who made her feel like she could do anything to his body and he would like it. The man who whispered dirty promises in her ear at night.

Not the man she ate cupcakes with. Not the man who hated dog hair and kept a small vacuum in his pickup truck to take care of dirt.

This was the easiest way to put a sharp divide between those two men, and she needed the divide. Without it, things were too dangerous. Without it, Jace was everything.

She pushed that terrifying thought away and focused on pleasuring him. On how hot and hard he was, on how perfect. On how this had never, ever been an arousing act to her before, but had her on the brink now.

“Enough,” he growled, tugging lightly on her hair. She followed the motion, rising to her feet, breathing hard, her entire body shaking. “I need you,” he said, his voice rough.

He wrapped his arm around her waist and gripped her thigh with his other hand, lifting her and setting her on the counter with one smooth motion. He pushed her skirt up to her hips, his hands rough as he pulled her wool tights and then her panties down her legs.

He held her open to him, thrusting hard inside of her, kissing her deep, in time with his thrusts. His desperation fed hers, her heart hammering so hard she thought it would eventually come to a dead stop, too exhausted to beat once more.

He pulled away from her, then entered her again, slowly this time, his eyes on hers, intense, dark, predatory, but for some reason, the line between Jace, her friend, and Jace, her lover, blurred. And they became one man.

He became everything.

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