JACE-1(Lane Brothers, Book 3)(29)
With a heavy heart I make my way to the bed and sink down on the edge, facing him with no small amount of trepidation and angst.
“When I left here I had to go back home and throw myself at my parents’ mercy. The thing is that Daddy was really very angry with me about leaving, and my mom, well she didn’t really care all that much, just followed Daddy’s lead in all things,” I explain, hating the sadness that comes into his eyes.
“It was my own fault. I could have stayed here and ignored the hurt and the pain. I just, I chose to go back, you know. But before I could go back home, Daddy made me promise to fulfill a business engagement that would solidify a relationship between himself and Timothy’s father, Charlie. I agreed. At that stage, I didn’t care anymore. I just wanted to go home and see something…familiar.”
“Tracy, babe, I am so, so—”
“Don’t be,” I interrupt, placing a finger over his lips when he goes to apologize again. “I made my own choices, Jace. I wanted to go home and fall back into the old patterns because it was easy and safe and nothing like the happy, free life I had here. So I agreed and we got engaged and everything was fine. Till Daddy took note and realized I was starting to care again and they’d lose me. I signed a contract to marry Timothy. If I don’t, I have to pay him two million dollars to void the agreement. If I get married to someone else, the amount doubles. So, you see, I can’t marry you. Not for another two years when the contract is up,” I explain. “Will you be okay waiting two years?”
“No.”
His voice has gone hard, as has his facial expression, and I pull my hand away from his face with a wince. See, I knew he’d be mad about this. I’m mad at me about this and I’m the fool who did it because I thought I was too smart for them all.
Turns out I’m not and I never will be, so—
“Trace, babe, do not take this the wrong way, but I fucking despise your father,” he growls, pulling me forward and onto his chest. “We’ll pay them and get rid of any obstacles in our way. I’m not waiting two years to marry you, and I sure as fuck will not allow our babies to be born without my name.”
“But—”
“Shh, I can easily afford four million dollars without even feeling it. Pop and Ma gave me and Roman a trust fund when we turned twenty-one. That coupled with the money I make and I’m not a poor man. We’ll pay them and then nail them both to the wall, Trace.”
Have I mentioned that I love this man? After all is said and done, I can finally just relax and do what I always wanted to do with my life.
Be a good wife and mother and have the five kids I always wanted and learn to cook and bake and do all the things Jace made me believe I can do.
“I totally love you, Jace Lane,” I whisper tearfully, leaning in to kiss him softly, being careful not to jostle his injured shoulder.
He kisses me back and pulls me closer to him, making me aware of the very large erection tenting the sheets beneath my stomach.
“Jace, we can’t,” I murmur, kissing him more deeply even as my mind protests my actions.
I’m flipped onto my back with him looming over me, a salacious grin spread across his face as he starts pulling my T-shirt up my belly and up over my breasts.
“We can. We have to, Trace. I’ve waited four years to touch you again, babe. Please, don’t make me wait anymore. Let me make love to you the way I’ve been dreaming about,” he begs, making my heart flutter.
Jace may not be perfect; he may be arrogant and an ass at times, and a whole host of other things that lot of women would not appreciate. But right here, right now, he is everything I ever dreamed he’d be and so much more.
“Make love to me then, and make me yours,” I whisper, rising up to kiss him with more heat than I’ve allowed myself before.
He responds with a groan and claims my mouth in a fiery, passionate kiss that leaves me breathless and panting when he rips his mouth away and pulls my shorts free.
No bra or panties means I’m naked and vulnerable as he leans up on his uninjured arm and gazes down at me with so much longing, I feel my sex and womb constrict.
I want him inside me, filling my every empty space, claiming me in a way that only he ever has or ever can. The fire I see burning in his gaze is enough to start that slow slide of arousal, and I moan when he bypasses my lips and instead latches on to my nipple, groaning when the bud hardens beneath his wet tongue.
“Oh, oh,” I moan, gripping at his hair when the feelings coalesce right where his mouth is and shoot to my sex to start up a steady pulse of need that quickly becomes too much for me to handle.