Jace kissed me relentlessly as my body climbed higher and higher up the rungs of ecstasy. I moved my hands over the carved contours of his immaculate chest before dipping them into the collar of his dress shirt. The skin of his back was hot against my fingertips and as his strokes quickened, my nails bit into his shoulder blades.
My body had become a bundle of over stimulated nerves in only a few short moments. Every inch of skin over my body was charged as my insides quaked in desperate search of release.
"Come for me, Angel." Jace begged.
Those words were all I needed to come undone in his hand.
Completely.
My body slouched against the wall as I breathed in deep breaths of the warm air that had been trapped in the elevator with us. It tasted of Jace. It tasted delicious. Decadent.
My eyes opened to find Jace staring down at me with tender care alight in his spectacular eyes. My heart swelled to a point of pain and I pressed my lips shut tightly to keep from speaking the three little words with the power to ruin everything.
"From now on, do not argue with me. Do not deny me." His words were stiff, but in his eyes there was emotion so potent, my breath caught. "If this proves anything, it's that you cannot resist me. You cannot resist this."
I sighed heavily. Jace was right. I couldn't resist him. I didn't want to resist him...but I wanted so much more then he was giving to me. God, I only wanted his love. Everything else was irrelevant. I understood this part of Jace that craved the power control provided him. I recognized the need within his eyes, as the same need plaguing my own father. The only difference was, unlike my father, Jace seemed to strive for more. Within his quest for control he was slowly, but surely, picking away at the stone barrier he'd built up around his heart. I couldn't help but wonder if he even realized his guard was crumbling...I hoped; no, I prayed, it would crumble faster.
There was no doubt in my mind I would wait for Jace until the end of time. However long it took him to accept the affections of another as his equal partner, I would wait. I loved him. I couldn't turn away from him for something so simple as a consuming need to control every minute aspect of his life and surroundings.
In all his faults...he was the embodiment of perfection.
Jace took my silence as acceptance of his harsh words. He pressed his lips to my forehead in a fleeting kiss that warmed my heart, before he turned to tend to the elevator. As it started its climb to his penthouse, I couldn't help but think, actions spoke so much louder than words. Jace might talk all high and mighty with his need to control everything, including me. But, his gentle kisses and frantic house calls in the middle of the night with white-hot chocolate proved to me, what I realized, he might not yet recognize. Jace cared deeply for me. He might not be in love with me...but, he cared for me in a way that frightened him. If he weren't so determined to show me how my will could bend at his whims, then I might believe otherwise. But, his near frantic need to prove to himself he had me hooked, only served to prove to me just how deeply his feelings for me were rooted.
The elevator door rolled open. Jace grasped hold of my hand as he pulled me gently from the box. He swiped his key card into the door and swung it open. Still, he didn't release my hand. I kicked off my flats and waited for instruction on where to find the clothing he had purchased for me.
"Come." He tugged my hand, leading me to the stairs. "I will show you to your room."
My room? He gave me my very own room? What for? I wanted to question him, but I couldn't find it within me to search for appropriate words...or, even my voice. I was still reeling from his hot touch in the elevator, to his cool words afterward. It seemed everything Jace did resulted in my mind reeling.
I followed him through the hall and my heart jolted when he stopped at a door closest to his bedroom. He turned to face me, his eyes dark and smoky.
"I wanted you to be as close as I could get you." He gestured to the door and I bit my tongue from pointing out his room would have been more effective in getting me closer.
I nodded in response. A frown pulled at his brows as he turned to open the door to 'my bedroom'.
It was beautiful. It was the complete opposite to his. Everything was warm and cozy feeling. The color scheme was golden brown and beige with pops of burnt orange. It was serene. Just looking at the dormant fireplace and the intimate seating area made me want to curl up in my most comfortable, heinous pair of pink fleece pajamas with a steaming cup of white hot chocolate.
"Do you like it?" Jace asked huskily from behind me. I nodded. "I chose these colors because they are how you make me feel inside." His tone lowered and when I turned to look at him, I saw his discomfort shining clear in his eyes. "You make me feel warm."