Jace (11 page)

For a little while, Mara found
Jace’s touch so soothing she thought she might fall asleep. But oh how wrong
she was.

His hand slipped down to the
rounded curve of her shoulder. He stroked her, gently massaged her shoulder
muscles. Instead of making her relax, his touch had the opposite reaction. She
became alert. The temptation to turn her head the other way in his lap and pull
down his zipper was almost too much to bear. She ended up nuzzling into his
upper thigh in unsatisfied need.

The touch was simple but
sensual and achingly slow. He took his time but ever so slowly rubbed a warm
path down her arms. When he touched the bare skin of her forearms she gasped.
Luckily, Rocky was punching a dead cow so Jace couldn’t hear it. The last thing
she needed was for Jace to know the power he held over her.

Time moved at a snail’s pace.
Her body was on fire; it took all her strength not to wiggle her hips in need
like she wanted to. His touch was driving her mad. She no longer even tried to
keep her eyes open. She wanted to roll over on her back so he could really
touch her. But she didn’t dare move. Didn’t dare look up at him to see what
thoughts swirled around in his mind. If she saw arousal there she wouldn’t be
able to help herself. She might end up making love to him again—so not a good
idea. She wanted to keep her heart intact. Making love with Jace would only tear
her down piece by piece. But…if he went knuckle deep, she wouldn’t mind.

The thought of his fingers
buried knuckle deep inside her was too much and she did a little shimmy and
moan.

 Jace’s hand stilled from
where it’d been rubbing her stomach.
Please,
she wanted to beg.

Side to side he rubbed her
stomach. The cotton from her shirt swayed tantalizingly against her skin. It
was quite possibly one of the most erotic moments of her life. She lay there
panting, awaiting his next touch. So far his pattern had been gradual. Slowly
he was moving, touching her in more intimate places. First her hair, then her
arm, and stomach. What would be next? Her breasts? Down her shorts?

Please, God, say yes.

His hand still wouldn’t move.
Why did he stop?

Mara burrowed closer to his
body. Ever so slightly his fingers curled into her shirt. She held her breath,
silently telling what she needed.

And then he moved.

The arm that had been dangling
on the arm of the couch moved to thread through her hair. He rubbed her scalp
making her tingle and sigh. He made her feel like melted butter on the inside.
Then his fingers were curling and as they moved he pulled her shirt up her
torso. The rising shirt exposed her belly button, then her stomach. He kept
tugging it up without saying a word. He didn’t acknowledge his sensual torture
and neither did she. They were silent culprits to pleasure with the movie doing
all the talking for them.

His palm flattened against her
stomach. It was warm and calloused in places.

Mara fought the reaction to
suck in her stomach. She didn’t want to move and ruin this moment. Especially
since they were both pretending his hand wasn’t slipping up her bare ribcage to
stop just beneath her breast.

All the moisture evaporated
from her mouth. He held his hand there for agonizing minutes. Not moving just
leaving her wondering where and if he might touch her. When he finally moved he
took her breath away. His hand slid down her stomach. His hand settled in like
it was getting comfortable. His thumb hitched into her belly button, fingers
dangled over the tops of her shorts.

At his touch, her legs wanted
to spread so he could slide his hand down her underwear and touch her slick
lips. There was no denying her need now. It was far too great. Long, agonizing
minutes passed before he moved again.

Mara clung to his thigh with
stiff fingers. His fingers started drumming against her. He began with the
pinkie, lifted it and dropped it, then did the same thing with his next finger
and the next. Over and over. Blooming warmth pulsed inside her body. Arousal
softened her every move. Soon the drumming turned to strokes. Every now and
then the tip of one finger would slip just a hair beneath her shorts as if by
accident.

Mara was lost in pleasure. Her
breasts were heavy, swollen masses with puckered nipples needing to be touched.
He must have sensed her agitation because his fingers slipped beneath her
shorts. His hand kneaded her like a cat. The breath she was taking got stuck in
her throat.

He slid his hand down but it encountered
the line of her panties. Not to be thwarted, he dipped his fingers beneath the
band of her underwear and eased his fingers down her wet core.

Her mouth fell open as she
sucked in heavy breaths. They still didn’t acknowledge each other, never said a
word to each other, each pretending to watch the movie. Yet they weren’t
watching the movie. The need to open her legs and let his hand slide fully
between became too much to deny. She was lying on her side in an
S
pattern
so she simply lifted her left knee the barest of inches.

His hand slid fully to cup her
wetness. Her mouth stayed permanently open. There was no denying the rolling,
rocking rhythm of her hips. Not when he stuffed her his fingers, working them
inside her. His palm grazed her swollen bud back and forth, swaying. Then he
ground it against her, the motion so wicked.

She was surely squeezing the
life out of his thick thigh as she held on for dear life. The pleasure was too
intense, too good. She’d been too worked up from sucking on his cock earlier.
She could still remember how he’d started off so soft but then had turned hard
as stone in her mouth. Her channel clenched around his tunneling fingers at the
memory. His thigh muscles twitched in reaction.

They were locked in an erotic
symphony.

Her breaths caught again and
again as the pressure inside her grew. Hotter it burned her, sweat slicked her
skin, breaths were ragged. She needed more. Unable to stop herself, she trailed
her head further up his thigh until she rested against his stomach. She found
what she’d been searching for. His cock strained against his jeans. She pressed
into it with her cheek, feeling the heat of it pulse against her.

His hand worked her faster. For
a moment she thought she heard his ragged breathing, but when she strained to
hear, all she caught was Rocky Balboa talking.

IT was coming. The pleasure
zoomed in fast like a volcano about to explode.

“Oh! Oh! Oh!”
she
cried out.

His fingers slammed into her,
pushing her over the edge. The pleasure burst through her body in a rippling
wave, stealing her breath away only to slam it back into her lungs. She bowed
in his lap, hips bucking against his hand.

Afterward he softly petted her
lips until she came back down. She could go again but there was something she
wanted to do so much more.

Mara rolled over and rubbed her
cheek against his erection. The poor thing wanted to be freed. She squeezed him
once and Jace’s breaths grew heavy. She moaned a little and kissed his hard
shaft though his jeans. He gripped her head with the back of his hand and urged
her to do more. Mara moaned and gently sawed his thickness between her teeth.
She was rewarded with Jace’s hiss of breath.

She slowly crawled up his body.
His arms came around her. She pressed kisses up his chest over his shirt. Her
hands ran up his body and wrapped around his neck as she slid up against him.
His eyes were barely open. Burning arousal had him gripped by the fingertips.
Mara loved that look. She would remember it for the rest of her life.

“Jace,” she said on a breath.

She found his mouth her own,
swallowing his groan. He wrapped her up tight in his arms. Chests strained to
get closer. Mara pulled back from the kiss, holding his gorgeous, warm face in
her hands.

She waited for him to open his
eyes.

Then she said, “You’re right.
Apollo is better.” With one final kiss, she hopped off his lap. “Goodnight.”

“Wait, what?” His eyes flew
open as she backed away, grinning.

“Goodnight, Jace. Thank you for
the dinner and the movie. Oh, and for the orgasm too.” She sighed dreamily and
winked. “But I’m awfully tired.” She turned to him when she reached the
hallway. “Bye, bye now.”

Jace looked at the ceiling with
his mouth hanging open in disbelief. Mara giggled then slipped away to her room.
It was good to keep a man like him on edge. That was one way to do it.

Chapter 11

Mara found Jace cooking eggs
and toast in the kitchen. He’d showered that morning, as she could smell the
fresh soap clinging to him. He didn’t turn around to greet her or acknowledge
her in any way.

Maybe she shouldn’t have walked
away so flippantly last night. It looks like she’d brushed a nerve. She poured
her cup of coffee and faced him. He was stirring the eggs.

“Still mad, huh?” she asked.

He slowly shook his head side
to side.

It can’t be the first time a
woman left you with a hard-on you had to fix yourself.”

She was hoping that’d get a
response out of him but still he only shook his head and stirred his eggs.

Mara narrowed her eyes. “Listen,
I do feel a little bad, so I’m sorry.” There, an apology. Before she could say
anything, else he moved lightning fast. In a flash, he stepped into her space
getting into her face. Mara’s spine straightened as she looked up into Jace’s
face.

He looked pissed with his lips
pressed flat and eyes stern. He gathered her up in his arms and kissed her.
With his help, or really, at his
assistance
, he put her coffee cup on
the counter so she could free her hands to touch him. And she did hold him
close as he kissed her like he was teaching her a lesson.

The toast popped up with a
metal clang. Jace slowly ended the kiss. “Next time I won’t let you leave.”

That’s all he said about. Mara
was so flustered by his masculine statement that she didn’t know how to reply.
She ended up saying nothing. They ate breakfast and afterward she did the
dishes for him.

“I’d like to call my mom,” she
told him.

“You can use the house phone
since I have your cell off. Are you going to tell her about this?” he asked.

Mara made an uncomfortable
face. “I don’t think so. She’d be so worried. She’d want to come right over
here and guard me herself. She hates Corey. Maybe even more than I do. I’d
rather not tell her. Or maybe wait until it’s over.”

“I think that’s a smart idea.
Two of my team members will be dropping by today—Gio and Mac.”

“All right,” Mara said.

“They’ll be watching you for a
while. I need to get some work done and I can’t take you and I can’t leave you
alone. They work with me at SPS. Gio you met. I think he has a liking for your
friend Tia.” He grinned like he was remembering something funny.

“Where are you going? Why can’t
I go with you?” Already her stomach twisted with nerves. She didn’t want to be
in his house cooped up here by herself, let alone with two strangers.

“Gio and Mac finished setting
up your security system. They hired a cleaning company to come in and clean
your house. They said the things that were broken were boxed and placed in the
spare bedroom for you. For now though I need to check the footage, and talk to
my friend at the police department. I’m hoping for a break in this case.”

Oh, that’s right. Her house had
been ransacked by Corey. How was it she’d managed to forget that when she
finally could go home again it’d be to a bunch of broken junk?

“Okay,” she said much too
softly.

The doorbell rang making her
jump. “That’s them,” he said.

Jace came toward her heading
for the door. Mara stepped to the side but he went with her and then she was up
in his arms again kissing him. He kissed her like he wanted to imprint his kiss
on her forever. Like he cared. Her heart broke a little inside at the sweeping
beauty of it.

When he pulled away they were
both breathing raggedly. His eyes were bright. “I like you a lot, Mara. You
know that, right?”

She nodded. He stroked her
cheek then went to answer the door.

Gio, the Italian womanizer as
Mara now thought of him, strolled in with a nod in greeting. The other man
she’d never met. Jace said his name was Mac. He was broad shouldered but tall
with a lean waist. He had the body of a man who actively used his muscles all
the time. Fit and strong. His hair was a light blond and his facial features
looked European, like he had some Swedish in his blood.

He acknowledged her with a
look. That was all. He looked serious and grim without even a scowl or frown.

Jace grabbed her hand and led
her into the bedroom. When the door was closed he pulled her back into his
arms. “I’ll be gone all day, but I’ll call later to check in on you.”

Mara frowned. She was back in
his arms feeling safe and warm and good. She didn’t want it to end. The thought
of him leaving her was not a good one. She kissed him one last time for good
measure.

“I’m gonna miss you,” she
admitted quietly.

He gave her a toe-curling
smile. “Oh yeah?” He kissed her again.

“Yes,” she affirmed, her voice
breathy.

He placed another smooch on her
lips, this one harder. “I like you a lot Ms. Colgen.”

“I like you, Mr. Mathews.” A
stupid smile came over her face and there was nothing she could do to stop it. He
made her feel so happy sometimes.

One last time he pulled her in
for a tight, warm hug. Mara sighed as his arms closed around her, keeping her
safe. “I’ll be back later. When I get back I expect you to be in my bed.”

“Wha-what?” Mara asked,
startled. She pulled away from him, eyes wide.

“You heard me.” His head dipped
so he could kiss her again. “Your games are sexy and fun but I want to be with
you again. Unhurried and not on the damn floor. My bed. Tonight.”

He kissed her again and left
before she could so much as protest.

Mara called her mom and spent
two hours on the phone catching up with her. It was difficult not to tell her
what was going on her life. Her mom knew how much that house meant to her and
how crazy Corey was. That’s why she couldn’t tell her and cause all that worry.
Her whole life, Mara had felt this struggle to make things better for her mom
every time her mom worried about something.

The rest of the day had passed
hunky-dory, albeit boring. She’d watched TV with Gio as he tried not-so-subtly
to pick information about Tia from her. Mac had left to take a walk around the
house, or ‘perimeter’ as he called it. He never said much…at all.

“So, has she ever been
married?” Gio asked her during a commercial. They were watching the History Channel.

“Nope.”

“How old is she?”

“Thirty,” she answered.

“Hey, does she think I’m some
kind of slime ball? You should tell her I’m not, you know, put in a good one
for me.”

Mara shot him a glance and he rolled
his eyes. “Come on, all I did was tell how great her legs and ass are. Why is
it so bad that I complimented her? Hell, I’d take her out right now if she
didn’t look like she wanted my dick chopped off every time I looked at her,”
Gio said.

“You know, I think it may have
something to do with the fact that you made lewd comments at her, but I don’t
think she really would listen if I even did put in a good word for you.”

He shook his head like he
couldn’t believe any of this craziness. “She wore practically nothing. I love
it and tell her; so and I’m the bad guy. Shoot me in the head already.” He
stood and left the room, a foul scowl on his face.

Mara’s lips twitched with
stifled laughter. This was too good. The thing was, she could totally see Gio
and Tia together. They were both confident and loud. However, she was not going
anywhere near Tia while complimenting Gio. The last thing she wanted was to
have her head bitten off by Tia’s sharp teeth.

It had been five hours since
Jace left and he still wasn’t back. Mara grew bored with sitting there doing
nothing and decided to check out his house. In the living room there were
several pictures of Jace as a kid wearing a huge grin. Most of the pictures had
his mother in it. She was beautiful with a full head of black curly hair and
she looked like a woman who knew how to laugh. Yet there was pain in her eyes,
just beneath the surface. Mara recognized that glossy look. She’d worn it too
when she was with Corey. That picture must have been taken when Jace’s mother
was still with his father. What was the whole story behind that?

There were no pictures of his
father though. Little wonder why. The man had been violent; isn’t that what
Jace had alluded to?

Gio came into the room, spotted
her looking at the picture of Jace as a young twenty-something year old man
with his arm around his mom. Their heads were leaned in touching each other.

“Have you met April yet?” he
asked.

“Is that his mother’s name?”

“Yeah, she’s something.” Gio
grinned at the picture.

“How so?”

“She can make pie that brings
you to your knees.” He peered at her with one eyebrow arched and a very serious
expression in his yes.

“Oh well, that’s always nice.”

Just then, Mac came back
inside. He didn’t pay them any attention.

“She makes each of us our own pie
come Thanksgiving and Christmas time, don’t she, Mac?”

Mac finally looked at them. He
touched his stomach. “April’s pies?” Gio nodded and Mac’s eyes widened. The
first human response she’d seen out of him all day. She would almost dare to say
he looked enthusiastic at the mention of April’s pies.

“Her apple pie is
unparalleled,” Mac said. It was the first time Mara had ever heard him speak.
He had a deep, raspy voice with the edge of an accent she couldn’t place.
Definitely European. He sounded deadly serious, like if anyone disagreed with
him he might discreetly take them out back and put a bullet through the back of
their head. Mara shivered with a cold chill at the thought. The hair on her
arms stood up. There was definitely something deadly about Mac.

“Who cares about apple pie? You
can buy it anywhere. No, you gotta try her Italian chocolate cream pie. Best
damn pie you’ll ever eat in your life,” Gio said, nodding slowly. He looked
dazed as if he was thinking of chocolate pie right now.

“Why doesn’t he have any
pictures of his father?” Mara asked suddenly. She hadn’t meant to burst out
with it, but it happened, and couldn’t be taken back.

Mac simply left the room
leaving Gio to glare at him. Now Gio had to answer. He shrugged, started to speak,
then shrugged again. When he was done she felt like they’d just had a
conversation without using any words.

What his gestures said was
clear.
What is there to say? Well, I could say a few things on the matter
but it isn’t my place. So you’ll just have to talk to Jace.

“Is he alive?” she asked.

Gio nodded. “Oh yeah. He’s up
at—” he caught himself before revealing too much. “You’ll have to ask Jace
about that. It’s not my place to say.”

“Can you at least tell me---”

“Nope,” he interrupted. He
plopped down on the couch and turned a football game on. Immediately he shouted
out at a fumbled pass.

The telephone started ringing.
Mara ran into the kitchen to answer it, spotting Mac out on the back porch by
himself. She was breathless when she answered. “Jace Mathew’s residence.”

“I know who I’m calling, it’s
my own house.” It was Jace.

Mara cracked a smile. “When are
you coming back?”

“Why, do you miss me?” He
sounded entirely too pleased.

She scuffed. “Not at all. I’m
just bored and you’re funnier than either of these two.”

“Are you telling me Mac isn’t
busy chatting your ear off right now?” he sounded too disbelieving to be real.
She giggled.

“You know the man doesn’t talk.
Although I did learn he likes your mom’s apple pie,” she said.

She took the phone off the
receiver and headed back toward his bedroom, thinking about what he said before
he left today. He might have told her to be waiting for him tonight but she
didn’t know if she would do it or not. If she did then he might want to have
sex with her, to which she might not be able to say no, and if she couldn’t say
no, she’d definitely sleep with him and then she’d only fall in more love with
him.

Mara gasped and slapped her
hand over her mouth—hard. She jabbed a tooth in the process. Her gasp was loud
enough to get the attention of Mac outside. She glared at him when he looked at
her and he turned away.

“What’s wrong?” Jace asked,
alert.

“I…I stubbed my toe,” she lied.

“Did you?” He sounded
suspicious. She laughed it off.

“It’s nothing, I promise.
Besides, weren’t we talking about something?”

He didn’t say anything for a
moment. She shut herself in his bedroom to get some privacy.

The
L-
word rang in her
mind. Once she thought about it, it wouldn’t go away. It was like a bouncy ball
ricocheting around in her mind.
Do you love him? You love him. You better
not be in love with him, girl. What if he’s another Corey? What if he’s worse
than Corey? What if these wild feelings you have for him are so much bigger
than what you had for Corey? What are you going to do when he breaks your
heart?