Page 41 of Edge of Control

“Nah, Tinder. I’m a little classier than that.” Jace gave me a smirk.

“Right, of course you are.”

“When I’m not getting my dick sucked at a bathhouse. Obviously.”

God damn it. The mention of his dick was making me hard.

“Glad you clarified.”

Jace chuckled. Even the sound was perfect. This man could have shouted a string of profanities at a school bus full of kids, and he still would have been flawless. It was made even more obvious outside of the shadows of Chained. When he had all his clothes on, when his charm still oozed from every pore.

I’d enjoyed my fair share of men. I had a handful of boyfriends in my past. None lasted more than a few months. I always grew bored of them. That was before my sister killed herself, before I was set adrift like a captainless ship cut from the anchor. Once that happened, then I had lost all interest in getting to know any other human being.Men became objects of pleasure for me and nothing else. I had found fun in some casual conversations and connections, but it was mostly all about them fucking me senseless, giving me their load and leaving me without a single string attached. There was something powerful in having a man fill me with cum, a man I’d likely never see or talk to again. Sure, I had a few that I’d see more than once, but for the most part, they were all pump and dumps.

Not Jace. No. Never Jace.

“So I guess you’re free now?” I asked. I already knew the answer. He could surprise me, of course, but I had a feeling he wouldn’t.

“I am, I am.”

“Nice. Want to hang out? I was thinking of walking through Chelsea Market.” That’s not at all what I’d been thinking of doing. I was still running off a high from killing Julie less than twenty-four hours ago. I was thinking of going home and slamming down shot after shot of tequila and seeing where the night took me. But now that I had another option in front of me, I decided to take that one instead.

“Sounds much better than the teeth pulling I just had to sit through. Let’s do it.”

“Perfect, let’s do it.”

Just like that, I had my reeled in my catch.

Now, to keep him on the hook.

Chapter 16

Jace Holloway

I couldn’t stop thinkingabout Theo edging me with his body.

I felt like a sick pervert. It was practically the only thought that coursed through me. There should have been a hundred other things I focused on. Namely, the Nevermore case that didn’t appear to be anywhere near getting solved. Even with the earlier revelation of finding the link between the mayor and the blackmail ring, all I could think about was Theo Glass and how his hole made me explode like I never had before.

It was nearing addiction territory.

I wondered if he would think I’m a freak if I told him? He was sexually liberal—that part of Theo was obvious—but the other parts were more obscured. I’d gotten to know his body and a little bit of his person in the bathhouse, but that barely scratched the surface of who this tattooed and devilishly hot man was.

Sitting across from my Tinder date had only made my impulse to message Theo stronger.

So when he walked across the front of the sushi restaurant, I could hardly believe it. It was like I’d manifested him, even though I didn’t really believe in all that bullshit. And it wasn’t because I didn’t try it, either. I had tried everything when my life was self-destructing. Therapy, prayers, self-help books, everything. But no amount of thinking and crystals and manifestations and comfortable rooms with white noise and gently concerned therapists would have saved my dad, or dug me out of my mountain of debt, or pieced together my broken relationship.

This wasn’t manifestation. Fate, maybe? God?

Something put Theo in my path, and I wasn’t about to second-guess it. I told my boring and stuck-up date that a friend needed my help, and I had to go. He didn’t look the slightest bit disappointed. He probably sensed I wasn’t into him, either.

I hadn’t really been into anyone since Derrick left me. Why? I’d given my entire heart and soul to my high school sweetheart, spent seven years with him, dedicated it all to him, only for him to leave me the second my life began to crumble.

Men were dogs. And yes, I was included in that. So why chase any of them?

Except for maybe Theo. Goddamn, I wanted to chase him until I had his tail in my mouth again.

We walked to the nearby Chelsea Market. He spoke to me about his day, how someone at work had annoyed the living shit out of him, how he had to take his cat to the vetfor a checkup, how he was thinking of picking up a new book to read.

None of it really landed, though.

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