Silence blooms between us, heavy and charged. The kind of silence you only get right before everything changes.
The water is still now, she’s not moving and neither am I.
Slowly, her hand lifts. Her fingertips skim the surface between us, sending a ripple toward me. I meet her halfway, one hand sliding gently under the water to rest beneath her hand. Not grabbing, not pulling, just touching.
Her eyes flutter down to where we’re touching before she looks back up at me.
And that’s all it takes for me to close the distance.
One second she’s floating across from me, and the next, I’ve got one hand on her waist, pulling her into me. I’ve been waiting ten months for this moment.
Her skin glides against mine, hot, wet, and electric.Her bare chest presses against me, her hands fly to my biceps and her eyes hold mine.
As soon as I move, she gasps. It’s a sharp, involuntary sound. Because she feels it. She feels me, hard and pressed against her stomach.
Her breath stutters, eyes going wide, lips parted just enough for me to see her tongue coming out to wet her lips.
There’s nothing between us but water and tension. And fuck, I’m so hard it hurts. I slide my other arm around her back, drawing her in until every inch of her body is against mine. Her legs float up, brushing mine under the surface, and then, on instinct, pure and reckless, she wraps them around my waist.
“Fuck,” I exhale sharp, nearly groaning.
Her arms lock around my shoulders, her nails scratching through my hair, like she’s bracing herself. Like she knows what’s coming.
“Jace,” she whispers. “We shouldn’t be doing this.”
I love hearing her say my name.
“I know,” I murmur but I don’t stop. Instead, I do the thing I’ve been wanting to do since Halloween night. My hand slidesaround to the back of her neck, and I tug her towards me until my mouth crashes into hers.
A foreign, long forgotten feeling crashes over me – lust, excitement, desire, and bliss all at once. My pulse spikes, my chest swelling like it’s too full to hold everything I’m feeling. Her lips are wet, salty, and soft. But the kiss is anything but. It’s tongue, teeth, and heat. A kiss that tastes like desperation and ten months of wanting. Like raspberry wine and longing.
Her hips shift and I know she feels my cock again, straining, grinding between us. She gasps into my mouth—and it wrecks me. That little sound, caught between surprise and need, splits something wide open in me.
I’ve known for a while now—somewhere between her late-night confessions and the way she laughs with her whole damn body. Between her fire and her softness. That stubborn mouth, those mischievous eyes. Every part of her forces me to stop pretending that this is just lust.
I’m in love with her.
And now that it’s hit, there’s no dragging myself back. No reason left to lie to myself anymore.
My hands continue to roam, dragging down her spine, cupping her ass underwater as I grind into her once and feel her thighs tremble around me. She moans – a barely there sound that makes my world tilt.
I bite her bottom lip, tug it, release it, then kiss her again, deeper, slower.
She clings to me like she’s drowning and I’m the only thing keeping her afloat.
Every glance. Every fight. Every goddamn text. It all led here. To her shaking in my arms. To this kiss that feels like it’s rewriting fate.
When I finally pull back, I rest my forehead against hers, breathing hard. Her chest rises and falls in sync with mine, our lips a breath apart, her eyes closed.
And when she finally opens them and looks at me, I see it. She’s not afraid of admitting how much she wants me anymore, not looking at me like I’m something dirty she should be resisting. She’s looking at me with every bit of honesty she has.
And that’s the hottest fucking thing I’ve ever seen.
Chapter ten
~MELODY~
Jace pulls back just barely. Just enough for the breeze to slip between us and for me to feel the sting of being kissed senseless.
