I don’t even know what he looks like. I don’t even know if he’s real.
But Jace? He’s standing in front of me. As real as it gets.
I lock my eyes on his face like it’s the only safe place to look—even though that isn’t safe either.
“Talk to me,” he says, voice low and calm.
“I can’t do this.” I swallow hard, chest rising too fast. I open my mouth again, and out spills the first excuse I can cling to. “You’re... you’re my brother’s teammate,” I say. “And judging by what I’ve seen, and what he’s said, you’re like, his best friend.”
He stares at me for a silent moment before his lips slowly curl into a smile. A wicked, dark smile.
“Mm,” he hums, tilting his head. “His best friend,” he echoes, like he’s tasting the words. “And yet here you are—breathless and shaking because you want this as much as I do.”
His hand slides up, knuckles grazing my jaw.
“You think I don’t know how bad you want this?” he whispers, leaning down until his lips brush over mine. “You think I couldn’t tell how wet you got for me in there?”
His breath is hot on my mouth, and I’m slipping. Fast.
I try to recover.
“If Dom finds out—”
“You don’t get it yet, do you?” He tilts his head, smiling like a sinner. His hand brushes my hip, so light I flinch.
“Your brother can’t stop me, Melody.” He presses forward until his lips are against my ear. “And clearly, he can’t stop you either,” he murmurs.
My knees buckle.
Jace, as if sensing it, wraps a strong arm around my waist to hold me upright.
“Which means there’s something else that’s stopping you,” he says slowly, voice curling like smoke around my throat. “Orsomeoneelse in that beautiful head of yours.”
Everything inside me freezes. It’s like he reached into my chest and crushed my lungs with one hand.
My silence stretches between us before his mouth curves into a sad little smile. Almost... knowing, like my silence is confirmation.
Then it shifts.
The sadness—and what replaces it—is something seductive and dangerous.
He tilts his head, eyes slowly dragging down my body.
“Well,” Jace murmurs, “he’s not the one who just had your legs wrapped around him.”
“Jace,” I plead, not even sure what I’m pleading for. I’m positive he wouldn’t stop me if I just turned and walked away, but my feet stay buried in the sand in front of him, and my thighs clench instinctively.
His mouth hovers over mine a moment longer before he moves slowly, as if testing if I’ll back away. Instead, I feel myself inching closer until my lips meet his halfway.
I feel that same electric pull low in my stomach the moment his mouth is on mine again. His hand slides into my hair, thumb grazing my jaw. He kisses me like he’s proving a point with every stroke of his tongue.
My mind is screaming Ghost—but my body…
I whimper as he presses closer and I feel him again—hard and thick against me like a promise.
I have to stop this before I’m too far gone. So I do the first thing I can think of and bite his bottom lip. Hard.
He jerks back with a groan, blood beading on his mouth.
