“I can never stay away from you,” Jace murmured. “It’s like you’ve cast a spell on me.”
“Do you really want to stay away?”
“No, but I also don’t want to keep going back and forth like this. It is so unsettling.”
“Don’t you think once you tell everyone what you’re going through it will be easier?”
“Of course, but I’ve backed myself in a corner. We’ve kept things secret for too long. Now I’m not telling them another huge, life-changing event.” Jace pinched his nose like he had a headache. “I feel like I’m under so much pressure, I’m not sure what to do. I’m going to lose my bandmates’ trust.”
“They will always be there for you. You know that deep down.”
Jace just stared.
“I will too.”
“I don’t know.” Jace rubbed his eyes. “Truthfully? I don’t want to hurt you, I don’t think you will if she’s mine, Alex.”
My suspicions were confirmed. It didn’t make it hurt any less.
“You’ve always been very clear that you don’t want kids. If I have a kid, you won’t stay. Or you’ll try, but it won’t be for you and you’ll leave after she becomes attached to you. I’ve read all about this.”
My adamancy about motherhood had affected him more than I realized. To me, I was making a passing comment in the moment. Jace and I hadn’t made promises to each other back then. “I felt that way years ago! Do you really think that I’d leave you?”
“Well, she’s a baby. Her mother’s dead.” Jace regarded me. “Are you telling me that you’ve changed your mind? That you are willing to be a mother to a child that isn’t yours when you didn’t even want to have your own baby?”
My breath caught at his bluntness. I was speechless.
His green eyes bored into mine. He didn’t say anything either.
“Wow.” I rotated my body so we were face-to-face. “I thought we were past our trust issues, but I guess we aren’t.”
“Alex, you were traumatized when you thought you were pregnant.” Jace’s arms tightened around me. “I don’t think you realize how much you freaked out about having a baby. You were adamant that you didn’t ever want children. With me. You didn’t want my child if I’d be on the road. How could I ever expect you to change your mind? For a baby that isn’t yours?”
“I’m not going to lie. The thought is terrifying.” I put my finger on his lips when he tried to interrupt. “But, I’m sure that you are just as terrified, if not more.”
“I am.”
“And I want to be with you, whatever that means.”
Jace stared at me for a while, then he bent down to slowly explore my lips with his. Our tongues touched, and we made out lazily. Our legs tangled together, and our hands stroked all over each other’s bodies. Soon enough, I could feel my studly man’s erection against my thigh, and I reached down to stroke him over his board shorts. Sex was our outlet.
“I want to make love to you, Poppy,” Jace breathed, his forehead touching mine.
I wasted no time shimmying off the couch and removing my clothes in record time. “Yes.”
Standing naked before him, as always, I never got enough of the way Jace looked at me with utter adoration. Reaching back over his shoulder, he grabbed his T-shirt and it was off and on the ground in one motion.
Placing his hands on my hips, Jace moved me to stand in between his knees and kissed my stomach, laving my belly button ring with his tongue. Moving lower, he covered my hipbones and mound with soft flickers of kisses until I was thrusting my hips against his mouth. His hands stroked up and down my outer and then inner thighs until I spread my legs wider. Using his thumbs, he spread my pussy lips and nuzzled and suckled my folds until my breath was ragged. When I was close, he sucked my clit in between his lips and flicked his tongue back and forth until I detonated.
Jace kissed my stomach before standing and leading us into the bedroom. “Let’s go to bed.”
Crawling under the covers, I reached for Jace’s hard cock. Jace tipped my chin up with his finger and gave me a slow, soulful kiss, which was so scorching hot, I wrapped my arms around him to make sure our bodies were as close as they could possibly be. Positioning himself in between my legs, Jace gripped his shaft and flicked the tip against my opening before plunging inside of me.
Cradling my head between his strong forearms, Jace covered my body with his and thrust his cock inside me. Our foreheads touched again. I reached up to grip his biceps as our bodies moved together. Taking my hands in his, he brought our arms above our heads and we stared into each other’s eyes. Jace’s hips rolled against mine, his cock filled me over and over again. Hooking my legs around his, I locked my ankles around his lower back while we chased our release.
Jace pushed up on his forearms and drove harder and more deeply into me. My legs fell to the sides of him, and he pressed his body to mine. My hips jutted up to meet him, and with each pass, his shaft rubbed against my G-spot, and I clamped my inner walls around him. His head snapped back. His face contorted with rapture. My own orgasm spread through me like wildfire, and I gripped his ass to hold him against me when I came apart.
“I. Fucking. Love. You,” Jace shouted with each thrust. Then he exploded his release and collapsed in a heap on top of me.
“I. Fucking. Love. You. Too.” I kissed each word on his temple.
We lay together, kissing in the afterglow until Jace softened and slipped out of me. He rolled off me, flopped back against the pillows,
