Desire (37 page)

43

Jace

Piper jerks and takes a deep breath, but she doesn’t wake up.
We haven’t moved an inch. My hand is still resting on the small of her back where it was last night when we cuddled afterwards. I never fucking cuddle afterwards. Maddy hated it too, it was one of those warning signs that made her seem perfect at the time. But I liked it with Piper. A lot. Way too fucking much actually, I still kind of feel like a wuss right now.

I sure didn’t give a shit last night. That was the best sex I’ve ever had by far. It still had that first time rush without the awkwardness mixed together with all the intensity of real
ly caring about her without the been-here-done-this familiarity. No one has ever looked at me like that when I fucked them. I almost told her that I loved her in the middle of it.

I was hoping we’d wait longer because it
might help my case when this all goes to shit. But it wouldn’t have been natural, that was just the right moment. It was perfect. So it will be that much worse when I lose it all. Lose her. I’m going to have one of those Isaac style rage out panic attack things if I keep thinking about it, but I can’t stop.

Of course Piper’s eyes pop open at the wors
t moment possible. She smiles at me so trustingly that I have to stop looking at her.

“What’s wrong?” she asks, yawning as she sits up on her elbows. I pull my arm out from underneath her and sit on the end
of the bed, unable to answer. That beautiful smile falls off her face as her chin drops and she covers up with my sheet. Our eyes meet for a moment, but she pulls hers away when I don’t say anything and then I see her face harden up the way it used to be when we first met. “Oh. I get it.”

“Piper…”

“It’s fine. Experiment failed. You told me you have a tendency to lose interest, at least I was forewarned.” Is she getting out of bed? “I’ll spare you the I-have-to-go-to-work speech,” she says, her voice cracking.

I still can’t think o
f anything to say, so I just kiss her. Over and over and over until I start to choke up a little bit. Wrapping my arms around her hips, I sink down until my head is in her lap with my face nestled against her stomach.

“What has gotten into you, Jace?”

I kiss her belly and pull myself closer. “I’m not sure.”

“Well, you’re being ridiculously cute right now,” she murmurs
, running her fingers through my hair.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“Fucking this up.”

“You haven’t fucked anything up.”

“Not yet, but I will. That’
s what I do.”
I already did
. “I don’t want to, but I will, and I’m extremely fucking sorry, Piper.”

“
Geez.” Laughing, she drops her face down to kiss me, but her boobs are in the way and my head is trapped between them and her thighs. What a great place to get stuck. She doesn’t keep me there for long, flipping out of my arms and landing on her side so that we’re face to face but looking at each other upside down. Her arms stretch up to find my hands as she kisses me. “You know what? The next time I get pissed off at you, I’m going to remember this moment right now.”

“No you won’t.”

“Yes, I will. I promise. You might be a natural born jerk, but you are incredibly sweet, too. That’s what makes you so fucking perfect.”

Upside down kissing is so weird. “I really want this,” I whisper. “
You
. I swear, I really do.”

“You are getting way t
oo heavy right now. Everything is fine.”
No, it’s not.
“Hey, you know what we need to do?”

“What?”

Piper gets that look in her eyes, the one that means she’s about to do something bad, so it’s not incredibly surprising when she lets one of my hands go and grabs my dick. Upside down hand jobs are weird too. “I think we need to have all that naughty, hedonistic sex we’ve been putting off to lighten the mood.”

“Maybe you’re right,” I groan.
Piper scoots up to get a better grip, pushing her tits in my face. She can be extremely convincing when she wants to be.

“Wanna start in the shower?”

“Yes,” I gasp, my eyes rolling back. She is really fucking amazing at this.

“Then catch me.” Giggling, she lets m
e go right before I explode and jumps out of the bed.

I can’t get over to her fast enough. It's not especially hedonistic, but it’s definitely naughty.
Even when it’s playful, it still feels different with her than it has with anyone else. She keeps looking at me like that. And I can’t stop thinking about how it’s all bound to fall apart.

44

Maya

Th
ank God this class is finally over. I haven’t seen Isaac yet, but we can talk now and there’s a chance we can hang out in the virtual world all day. We might even get a few hours
without
my little brother around. Isaac actually loves it when he tags along, but sometimes it drives me crazy.

I’m so excited my hands are shaking and I can barely type in my password, squealing loudly when I see that he’s already logged on.
Yay!

Hey sexy
, he messages me as his character virtually kisses mine.

Hi! XOXO :)

How was your morning?

Good. I miss you so so
so much.

Me too. What are you doing tonight?
he asks.

My pulse starts to race as I desperately try not to get my hopes up and fail.
You’re going to call me at midnight, right?

No. I’m going to SEE you at midnight.

I read that wrong, I had to. It’s just too good to be true.
ARE YOU SERIOUS?!!!!!!

Of course, I wouldn’t mess with you. I have to leave @ 3, so it’s a tease, but I don’t care.

SQUEEEEEE!!!!

I can’t wait to hear that for real.

He logs off at 7:00 to get ready for work. By 11:00 I’m basically just staring at the door waiting for him with AJ in my lap. But midnight comes and goes without the knock I’m expecting. Or a text. I shouldn’t have let myself get this excited, but I’m not quite ready to give up hope. Any minute now.

45

Jace

Isaac was supposed to be here four hours ago. He’s not at the club and Sloane isn’t answering her phone. Where the hell is he
? I told him this was too risky to come see her this soon. I see sketchy people at the club all the time, I know that psycho bitch Gloria has someone watching him there. He said they worked their shit out,
again
, but they never will. I don’t really blame him for trying though, it’s been a long time and he’s going nuts. So is Maya.

“Are you sure this is the place?” A woman’s voice asks
in the hallway. Oliver jumps out of his chair and closes the door to the surveillance room.

“Of course I’m fucking sure,” Isaac spits back. “Just knock on the door.”

When I open it, I’m face to face with Sloane who looks completely overwhelmed. Isaac’s arm is around her shoulders, his head slumped forward as if he’s intoxicated. Good cover. But once we’re inside, he doesn’t drop the limp and I see the swelling in the side of his face.

“What the fuck happened?”

“Well, Jace,” Sloane says. “We obviously need to work on parking lot security because somebody beat the fuck out of Isaac next to his car.”

“What? Who?”

“The cameras didn’t catch them. He parks outside the field of view on purpose. I was supposed to show up after he left and I found him on the ground unconscious.”

“Did you see them?” I ask Isaac.

“No. I think one of them hit me over the back of the head. I don’t remember shit,” he answers hoarsely. Slowly, he lifts his face. One eye is nearly swollen shut. His lip is split and bleeding, the side of his face so swollen it wouldn’t surprise me if his jaw was broken. And his breathing is off, his breaths short and choppy.

“
What the fuck are you doing here? Why didn’t you take him to a hospital?”

“That
is exactly what I did!” Sloane informs me. “I left after they checked him in and he
snuck out.
”

“I checked my
self out against medical advice,” Isaac says. “Signed the form and everything.”

“You are so full of shit! You were hiding in the bushes when I pulled up.”

“I was just being careful. A car followed us to the fucking hospital.”

“All the more reason to
stay
in the fucking hospital, Isaac.” Shaking her head, she rolls her eyes at me. I know the feeling. “Well, that and the
concussion
. Along with the
four
cracked ribs. Oh, and the goddamned
punctured lung
!”

“Punctured lung?”

“They aren’t sure about that,” Isaac tells me.

“Because you left before they did the scan thingy!”

“Why the hell did you let him leave?”

“I didn’t
! He started walking away and totally freaked out on me. You know how he gets.”

“Sloane, we are taking him back. Now.”

“I’m right fucking here, you know,” he laughs.

“Not for long.
” I step towards him, but even hunched over with one good eye and lung, he’s still going to put one hell of a fight. I’ll probably do a lot more damage dragging him there. There’s a tranquilizer gun in the bedroom, but who knows what he’s on or what they gave him at the hospital and how it will interact. Motherfucker!

“I need to see her,” Isaac whispers. “Please help me.”

“I’m trying to fucking help you, man.”

“I mean help me get over there. I don’t want her to see Sloane and… I might fall.”

“Isaac…”

“I will crawl on my fucking ha
nds and knees across the street. You know I will.”

This isn’t the best time to tell him that Luke
’s had someone watching the place for the last three days. Or that he came over and hurt the cat. He looks so desperate and he’s already here. If anyone can convince him to seek medical treatment, Maya can. “Are you sure you want her to see you like this?”

“No,” Isaac chokes, grabbing his side. “But it might be the last time I ever see her at all.”

“Fuck. Let me get my shoes on,” I groan as he smiles at me. At least he still has all his teeth.

“You’re fucking kidding
, right?” Sloane protests. “You were supposed to help me convince him to go back to the hospital. Or force him.”

“I am.” I shrug at her, disappearing into the bedroom. Sloane starts begging him to reconsider. “Is
that dude still out there?”

“Yep,” Oliver answers. “But he’s asleep
on the job.”

“Give me your shoes.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes. I needed the excuse. Don’t tell him anything.
Anything
,” I say.

“How fucked up is he?”

“Really fucked up. She’ll convince him to go.”

“What are you going to tell Piper?”

“That I had to go into work and found him passed out on the sidewalk when I came home.”

Smirking, Oliver nods.
“You are getting way too good at the lying.”

“Don’t remind
me.” I finish tying his shoes and slip back into the living room. Isaac is leaning against the door, his eyes closed as Sloane chastises him. “Alright, let’s go.”

“I can’t fucking believe this
,” she snaps.

“Sloane
, you can go home. I’ll take care of it.”

“Look at his face,” she
says frantically, her lips trembling. “He’s getting pale, he has to go back now.”

“I know. He will, don’t worry about it.” I give her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “I’ll call you when we get there.”

Isaac won’t let me help him walk to the car and he actually does a pretty good job on his own. “If this is a trick, I’ll open the door and roll out of the car, I swear to God,” he says.

“It’s not a trick,
Isaac. I’m just going around the block. I’ll take you to see her. But you need to go to the fucking hospital before we end up calling an ambulance and make a scene.”

“It’s not that bad
. Those doctors just saw dollar signs when they saw how good my insurance is.”

“Jesus, Isaac. You have a fucking concussion, you could slip into a coma in your sleep. Do you really want Maya to wake up next to your dead body?”

“I’m not going to sleep.”

He has got to be fucking kidding.
“There is no way in hell you are cleared for sexual activity, dude.”

“That’s not what I meant. Just get me inside.”

“Well, do me a favor and act like you’re drunk, okay? Help me fucking sell this to the neighbors.”

“
Fine,” he sighs, throwing his arm over my shoulder and putting most of his weight on me. I wrap my arm around his ribs and he flinches. His flank feels mushy and it’s hard to support him. Maya is going to freak her shit.