She opened her mouth. A small moan escaped her lips.
“Tell me, Frankie.”
She was acutely aware every time he used her name when addressing her. Words…words…why couldn’t she find any right now?
He pushed against her with his chest, and she melted into his touch.
Shedidwant him. No matter what he thought of her, she still wanted him.
“I don’t want him.” Closing her eyes, she tried to gather her thoughts. “I want you, Jace.” She didn’t want him to leave. Ever. Didn’t want to hurt him again. Everything between them was happening so fast and yet, she felt it bone deep. It was real, a part of her. Finally, she breathed. “One night was never going to be enough.”
“Fuck, it wasn’t for me either, Princess.”
His grip on her tightened, and she could feel his erection push against the soft skin of her pussy. He leaned his face into hers, and she fought hard not to gasp as his lips lingered dangerously close to her ear. His warm breath danced over her skin.
“Just stay with me,” he whispered.
Tears pooled in her eyes again, but this time she didn’t let them fall as she buried her face in his neck. “I wish it were that easy,” she whispered back.
“Then let be,” he said. “If only for tonight.”
15
“You havegotto be shitting me.”
Jace let a long string of profanities rip under his breath, muttering into the darkness where he, Damon, and the other members of the Rochester division were now crouched outside Headquarters in the woods. Since Jace had last been here, security had increased tenfold. No doubt they’d likely found his lost phone and anticipated him coming.
Shit.
“Don’t tell me you were enough of a dipshit not to expect them to up security?” Trent hissed. Despite the harsh question, the Jersey transplant cast him a wry smile from beneath his ball cap, his wide-toothed, grin visible through the darkness with ease.
Jace growled softly, his eyes flashing to his wolf.
He wasnotin the mood for Trent’s goofing. Not tonight.
Not in the face of what they would soon be doing.
Breaking into Headquarters would put themallat risk. He’d warned his friends as much, but they hadn’t listened, had refused to hear any of his reasons—or in Trent’s words—his self-sacrificing bullshit. They’d all been far too ready to put their lives on the line for him, and who was he to contradict that decision?
He’d already placed them in a tough enough place with this whole mess.
Beside him, Ash exhaled, low and easy, just short of a whistle. He shook his head slowly, the movement as loose and languid as his Cajun drawl. “Damn it, I’ll never get used to that,” he said, glancing to Jace’s glowing gaze.
Trent snorted. “Ya think?”
Jace allowed his irises to change to their human form again. He was getting more used to making the change at will as of late. He wasn’t sure whether or not he hoped that meant good things were to come when he tried to shift. He still wasn’t exactly keen on the idea, but he’d go through with it. For his friends’ sakes. For the sake of the victims. To ensure they didn’t lose another innocent life to this senseless violence.
“Bite me,” he grumbled at Trent.
“Gladly,” Trent grinned, though his heart wasn’t in it.
“Used to it or not, cut the shit,” Damon growled from between them, his tone as cold as the frozen winter ground beneath their feet. “Both of you can it before one of the guards hears you.”
“We’re not within hearing distance,” Jace said confidently.
The other men’s eyes turned toward him in the darkness, the sound of his voice guiding them, though he could see all three of them clearly. He knew they couldn’t say the same.
“They’re talking about some stupid video game or something.” Jace shrugged, gesturing toward the men who stood guard. Even from here, he could hear every word the guards said. Like he was standing beside them, or at the very least nearby.