I gulped.
His multifaceted hazel eyes fixed on me. No, not just on me.
On my lips.
“What?”
“You.”
And then Jace brought his hands to my cheeks, cupping them with gentle urgency, and pressed his lips to mine.
Jace’s kiss was warm and strong and urgent and all the things necessary for life.
I never wanted to stop kissing him. His lips were somehow both gentle and insistent, brushing against my own, then surging with the most perfect pressure that I flat outmoaned. I met his fervor with my own, desperately seeking purchase. My hands instantly threaded through his hair to grip the curly strands and hold on for dear life because I’d never, in my entire life, been kissed like this.
His lips opened and sucked on my bottom lip, a flash of his tongue teasing me, making me desperate. So yes, it was my tongue that licked at his bottom lip in response, eliciting a deep, exhaled moan from Jace.
His left hand slid from my cheek and through my hair, sending tingles through my scalp. His right arm dropped and wound around my back, pulling me in, pressing my body flush against his. My nipples went hard as our tongues caressed each other, licking and sucking, savoring each other, frenetic with want. A deep groan rumbled through Jace’s chest, my peaked nipples practically vibrating as they were pressed deliciously against the firm expanse of his muscular chest. A throb of pleasure pulsed in my clit. Out of breath, I tore my mouth away from his, dropping my hands to the solid countertop behind me.
His red hair was wildly mused from my grip, his lips swollen and pink.
“I’m too old for you,” I panted, chest heaving.
Jace’s response was to slide his hand further into my hair and cup the back of my head, pulling me so close our lips were millimeters apart.
“I think you have me confused with someone who gives a damn.”
And then he devoured my mouth again.
Full-on goosebumps erupted down my arms as his tongue stroked mine. I lost all deliberate thought, acting on pure need alone, throwing my arms around his neck, pressing my body against his. He closed his lips around my tongue and sucked, hard, causing my knees to buckle in pleasure. Jace hooked his arms underneath my butt and lifted, swiftly depositing me onto the island countertop in front of him.
We were both gasping for breath as Jace gripped my hips and leaned his forehead against mine.
“I’ve been dreaming of this since I first saw you,” he panted. “But I’ve been desperate, aching for you, the more I got to know you. Learning about you, laughing with you. Being with you like this . . .”
He trailed off, inching back so he could look into my hungry eyes.
What?!I wanted to shout.
He grabbed a stray lock of my hair that had fallen across my face, flashing a coy smile as he rubbed it between his fingers, then tucked it behind my ear.
“You’re all I want, Polly.” His words were genuine and true, his expression guileless. “The only question is, do you want me too?”
Yes.
The unspoken word hung in the air between us as I searched his face, my desire and longing a battle cry in my body. The typical internal battle, the one that warred between what had been drilled into me as right and appropriate versus what I wanted was no longer there. Jace’s words affirmed that he was here, in this moment, wanting me just as much as I wanted him, essentially melted away my reservations. And without them, I found that the bar of expectation that had been set for me had been broken down, whittled away until it offered no resistance. The war within myself was over before it began.
Maybe what I wanted wasn’t bad. Maybe what I wanted, was actually the right choice.
“Yes,” I whispered. A momentary look of shock passed over his features, followed by heat. Desire sparked in my belly, spreading throughout my body, soaking my center.
“Finally,” was what I thought I heard on an exhale when Jace captured my mouth in a fierce kiss. One of his hands braced on the counter behind me as the other cupped my cheek. I snaked my arms around his body, caressing the firm planes of his back.
He licked the seam of my mouth, and I instantly opened for him. I groaned on an exhale as we stroked and licked and sucked at each other’s mouths. I loved it. Each stroke of his tongue caused a small shiver of pleasure in my core.
I hadn’t French-kissed many people in my life, and to be honest, it wasn’t my favorite. This kiss with Jace obliterated any memory of any kiss I’d had in my entire life. If this was what kissing was like in France, I needed to go there. Immediately. Hats off to France, you know what the fuck you’re doing.
Jace’s lips trailed kisses across my cheek. When he moved to the skin below my ear, giving it a small, playful suck, a bolt of lust shot to my core causing me to arch my neck and gasp in bliss.
