All Good Things(85)

"When I met you, I thought you were just like my family." I admitted, and he flinched. "It was, partly, the reason I stayed away from you. I thought you cared only for money and materials...but I'm not so sure anymore."

"What was the other reason?" He asked. "The reason you wanted to stay away from me?"

"You made me feel things no one else ever had." I blushed profusely at my admittance and sipped my wine, hoping to cool my heated blood.

Jace cocked his head, his mouth quirked in a grin. "What did I make you feel, Olivia?"

I held his eyes with my own. I felt entirely bared to him as I stared into his eyes...into his soul. "Alive."

***

My heart stuttered. It actually stuttered, skipping a beat before resuming, at the thrilling pace of a runners' pulse. The way she looked at me through her lashes, her eyes so clear and...trusting. It winded me.

She said I made her feel alive. Like no one ever had before. The concept was difficult to wrap my mind around. When I first saw her in the back of the taxi, her chocolate hair falling in waves over her shoulder and her cherry lips tipped up at the corners in a sultry, subtle smile...well, she was the essence of life. How could she say she hadn't felt alive before meeting me? She was what made me feel alive.

The moment I saw her eyes for the first time, the flash of emotion and purity in their depths...I had been lost, and yet, so very found. She breathed life into my dark, withered soul, without any realization or effort. She brought me back from the brink of oblivion...the hell that had become my life. In Olivia, I found cause to find myself again. She was the reason for my newfound happiness. I was aware my affections bordered on the fringes of obsession...but within the danger of my feelings...there was another, unfamiliar feeling lurking. I cared for her in a way I thought impossible. I would do anything for her. I would give anything for her. She owned me. And, I wanted to own her.

The waiter arrived with our food, interrupting my rash thought and I breathed out a breath of release. What did this woman do to me? She affected me in every way, shocked me at every turn and made me burn with the need to touch her every second. In the moments I spent away from her, she claimed my mind. I could barely concentrate on anything but getting back to her.

"Is there anything else, Sir?" The waiter pulled my attention from Olivia and I shook my head.

"We're fine. Thank you." My tone was clipped. I hadn't meant it to be, but it was, none-the-less.

I watched as he nodded before walking brusquely away. My gaze swept the restaurant and then settled back on Olivia. I watched as she forked the pasta, popping a noodle into her mouth. She closed her eyes in appreciation of the flavors and my cock jumped. It was an irritable, and yet, amusing sensation.

"Do you like it?" I asked. My voice was husky and thick. Her eyes widened as she looked up at me and smiled. Fuck, she was gorgeous. She was perfect in all her imperfections. Everything she did held me captivated. I was completely, and utterly, enthralled by her. If she asked, I knew there was nothing I could deny her. I would walk across the desert sand, barefoot, if she requested.

Olivia nodded. "I do like it." She gestured to my untouched dish. "Don't you?"

"I'm certain I will find it satisfactory." I replied tightly. I willed away the demanding erection that stressed the fabric of my pants as I watched the silk of her shirt pull tight against her breasts as she shifted.

"Now it's you who is gloomy." She narrowed her eyes. "Is there something bothering you?" Red bloomed in her cheeks. "Did I say something wrong?"

Well shit. She thought I was mad about her earlier admission? I couldn't be more pleased about it. I made her feel alive in this big, dreary world, where living day to day often felt like a chore. I was fucking thrilled. If I could stand on a Manhattan rooftop and shout to the skyline I was the reason she was happy and feeling alive...well, I would. I wanted to, forever, be the one to give her what she needed to be happy. I wanted to prove to the world I was capable of making her smile; I wanted to prove to the world, this beautiful woman before me, was mine.

"No, Angel." I smiled. "You didn't say anything wrong."





Chapter 22

My heart raced a thousand miles an hour as I stared at Jace from across the table. The expression on his face was one I had never seen before. I didn't know what to make of it. He called me Angel. He only ever called me Angel when we were in the bedroom. Outside of the bedroom, he used my name. I couldn't help but wonder why he was calling me Angel...and in the middle of a fairly busy restaurant.

What did he want?

"Jace," I breathed in a shaky breath. "You're acting...different."