Ignoring him, I marched down the hall to my room when the elevator door opened on my floor. Jace followed close behind. I swiped my card key and pushed inside. Jace followed me in and locked and deadbolted the door before wrapping his arms around me and pulling me against his chest.
“That’s not true,” Jace whispered in my ear. “You wanted to leave. I loved you enough to let you go.”
“Maybe I wanted you to follow me for once.”
“Poppy, guys are dense. You should have just said that.” Jace tightened his arms. “How would I have known that?”
I melted back into his arms. “Well, it doesn’t matter now. I moved back to Seattle a year ago.”
“I know.” Jace rested his chin on my neck. “Jen has been staying at my place with her girlfriend. She’s seen you around.”
“Oh.” All the fight went out of me. “Wait, she knows about me?”
“Of course. She knows about the most important people in my life.” He kissed along the back of my neck causing my entire body to ignite.
“Jace—”
“Oh, Alex.” Jace tightened his arms and buried his face in my nape like he was breathing me in. “You’re all I think about.”
“You’re all I think about too.” I conceded. “You know me better than anyone in the world.”
“Except Zoey.” Jace nibbled my ear.
“Better than Zoey, unlike her you have tasted every part of my body.” I turned to face him and clasped my arms around his neck.
Jace bent his lips to mine and kissed me softly over and over again. Cupping my head and weaving his strong fingers through my hair, he positioned my head so he could control the pace of our kisses.
Only Jace kissed me like this and dammit, his kisses were the only ones I ever wanted.
Dreamily, he sipped from the corner of my mouth, traced my lower lip with his tongue and then in one motion gripped my ass and hauled me up against him. Hooking my legs around his waist, I gyrated my molten core against his hard length. Our kisses turned sloppy and frantic.
“Please. I need—” I begged.
“Shh. Let me take care of you.” Jace’s erection pulsed against me, and he walked me to the bed to lay me down on my back.
In one fluid motion, he pulled my bikini briefs off, flung them to the floor, palmed under my knees, and pressed my legs apart. He devoured me like he hadn’t eaten in years.
My entire core was like a live electric wire, and each swipe of Jace’s tongue and nibble of his lips set off firecrackers. Madly grinding my pussy against his mouth while Jace suckled and moaned against me, I spread my legs as wide as they would go. He inserted two fingers to press against my G-spot and suctioned my clit in his mouth while dragging his tongue through my folds. I detonated like an atom bomb, screaming his name, bucking and gushing against his face.
“God, I missed you.” Jace murmured into my pussy, suckling my folds as I came down from the type of earthshattering orgasm I hadn’t experienced since the last time we were together.
I couldn’t speak. He kissed up my body and gave me a taste of my own release. “I don’t want anyone but you, Alex.”
“I don’t want anyone but you,” I echoed, pulling him down, needing to feel the weight of his body on mine.
Jace wrapped his arms around my upper body. His dick twitched against my stomach through his thin board shorts. We lay cuddled like that for a few minutes until he braced himself on his elbows on either side of my head and looked at me intently.
“Are you ready for me now?” Jace’s husky voice was tinged with passion. He touched his forehead to mine.
“Yes.” I tenderly stroked his messy hair, smoothing it back as it flopped over his brow.
“No.” Jace’s arms caged my upper body and his emerald eyes pierced my soul. “I don’t mean sex.”
My heart was beating so hard that I couldn’t tell if I was panicked, thrilled, relieved, or all three. All I knew was that I never wanted another man to touch me for as long as I lived.
So, scared. Scared was what I felt. It made me squirmy.
“I’m scared.” Shockingly, I somehow managed to express exactly how I was feeling.
Jace rolled off me and scooted up on the bed against the pillows, taking me with him and tucking me into his side. One arm encircled my body, holding me snugly to his side. With his other hand, he stroked my temples and cheek with his knuckles like a whisper.
“Well, I’m terrified too right now,” Jace said into the air.
“Why?”
“Because I told you how I felt in Italy. That I loved you. That I wanted to be with you—” He scrubbed his strong hand over his chin, his long, sun-streaked hair wild about his face. “I’d never said that to anyone before. I’ll never say it to anyone else.”
“I never allowed myself to believe it.” The truth of my words stung. I sagged against his chest.
“But you said you loved me too.” Jace blew out a frustrated breath. “I believed you.”
“Well, I meant it.” I deflated even further. I didn’t consider myself an insecure person. It stung being confronted with the reality that my subconscious self-doubt might have pushed away this gorgeous man. “I guess I didn’t trust that you did.”
Jace pondered what I said for a minute. “Christ! I asked you to go on tour with me. You have the most flexible fucking job in the world. I don’t even know what to say.”
“Jace. You know why. You can’t put this all on me.”
“Hey. Hey—Poppy. Geez. I’m really not trying to make you feel bad.” Jace’s voice softened. “Let me get this off my chest. Because we need to be honest with each other.”
“Okay.” I blinked back my escalating emotions. Inhaled and exhaled. I willed the lump in my throat to go away.
“When I asked you to come back to
