“Here, I think everything is ready,” Jace says as he begins loading our plates with food. I join him at the table.
“This looks really good. I love to eat food cooked on the grill, but if I’m in charge, everything tends to get burnt.”
He grins and finishes chewing a piece of red pepper. “Yeah, I hear you. I still do on occasion. It tends to depend on whether or not I get distracted on a call or doing something else.” He shrugs.
We sit at the table and my stomach grumbling again has me cutting a piece of chicken and tasting. The flavor bursts on my tongue with the creole dressing Jace used to coat the chicken. It’s spicy, but not too much that you can’t taste and enjoy the mixed flavors.
“This is good.” I sample another piece. “Actually, it’s really good.” I grin.
“I never get tired of this sauce. It’s one my mom would make when Ryder and I were kids growing up.”
“It’s homemade?”
“Yeah. Mom’s very protective of her recipe.”
Working my way through the chicken and peppers, I say, “This should be bottled and sold. She’d make a fortune.”
“Mom won’t part with it. My grandma passed it on to her and so on. Think I’m the fifth generation to have the recipe.”
I start on the small baked potato as we settle into a comfortable silence while we enjoy the peace of the evening. Most of all, I’m soaking up being with Jace, knowing that I’m going to be spending the night with him. At least, I hope tonight I am.
The thought of Jace in the thralls of a nightmare while I’m with him scares me because I know that it will kill me to leave him to deal with it himself. I’ve promised him that I’ll lock myself in his bathroom, or mine for that matter, and I will. It’s a promise that I have to keep no matter what because I know if I break it and he hurts me, he won’t ever be able to forgive himself.
I don’t want him having to live with hurting me, but I didn’t lie when I said that I trusted him. My only hope is that he eventually trusts himself.
Before I know it, everything on my plate has disappeared, including the lovely glass of rosé that Jace had poured me while he was cooking the food.
Laying my knife and fork across my plate, I look at Jace and meet his gaze. With a soft smile, I tell him, “That was delicious and probably the most I’ve eaten in days.”
He frowns. “Why haven’t you been eating?”
“I’ve had a lot on my mind…and I’ve been missing you.” I reach out, and offer my hand across the table, which he takes. “Don’t think too hard on it. We’ve talked and after we’ve walked through your trees and I’ve seen the fish and the surprise, you’re taking me to bed, and we’ll still be there in the morning.” Jumping to my feet, I tug him to his and grin. “I can’t wait to wake up with you in the morning. I’ve never had morning sex.”
“Savannah, you’re not helping.”
“What?” I question, innocently. He has a nice bulge going on behind his zipper, which I make sure to rub against when I lean in for a sweet kiss, albeit a brief one.
“C’mon.” He lifts me off my feet. “You’re going to love this.”
Back on my feet, Jace indicates for me to stay put as he runs off to the side of his house. Within seconds, his whole yard—orchard and water feature—is alight with tea lights. I’m left breathless with delighted excitement.
Jace moves back toward me and I throw myself into his arms, nearly knocking him off balance. “I love this, and it’s absolutely amazing.” I giggle like a schoolgirl.
“Let’s walk through.”
Jace tugs me to his side with his arm around my neck. I reach up and entwine my fingers with his while my other arm goes around his back. “This really is beautiful, Jace. You must be so proud that you’ve created this in your backyard.”
We start walking through the small orchard and I find that I can’t keep my head still. I’m following the string of tea lights that are just everywhere. It’s a girl’s dream to walk through here with her knight in shining armor.
“I guess I am,” Jace answers. “I had no idea I was capable of creating this until I started and refused to give up until it was finished.”
Arriving in front of the water feature, which is a large fountain with a mermaid perched on the top. I raise a brow at Jace.
He laughs. “You can’t have a dressed mermaid…besides it was Ryder’s idea.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” I shake my head, and move to trail my fingers in the water.
The pond is lit, making some of the fish look translucent and some seem larger than they are. This is the kind of place that I could so easily lose track of time in. It’s tranquil.
Chapter Twenty-One
Jace
With a belly full of nerves, I finally managed to drag Savannah away from the backyard, and have her in my bedroom. It’s the first time I’ve ever invited a woman inside my personal space and I’m full of hope that Savannah will be the only woman.
Although I’m assuming she must be as apprehensive as I am, she isn’t showing any nerves. Mine are obvious with the slight hesitation. I can’t stop my mind from wondering what she thinks.
My bedroom is nothing special, a king size bed takes up most of the room, although when I first moved in, Ryder had insisted that I make sure a wheelchair would fit—and it does. There is a walk in closet, two bedside tables, and a door leading to my bathroom. The bedroom is where I’m most comfortable and I guess the large TV on the wall gives that away.
It really is a guy’s room, and if Savannah is going to be staying over, I’m thinking that a change is needed. “It isn’t much,” I admit.
“It’s your room, Jace. I’d be worried if it was pink and frilly.” She grins, and I drop my ass to the bed.
I’m wanting my prosthesis off but she’s never seen the stump of my leg before and I find that I’m more hesitant than I should be. In the past I’ve always kept the stocking on to hide the scars. I mean this is Savannah, right? Plus, where the fuck has the hard ass detective gone? Nervous as fuck because of a woman. She isn’t any woman though—she’s the woman who constantly stands by my side.
“Hey, you.” Smiling, she goes down to her knees between my spread legs and rests her hands on the top of my thighs, beneath the leg of my shorts. “Are we really going to do this, Jace?”
Looking into her eyes, I see hope along with nerves.
Seeing her like this in the quiet of my room, I realize just how much tonight means to her, and it also hits me that I’ve probably hurt her a lot more than I thought by leaving her on the nights that I have. “Yes, we are, babe. I’m not going to lie and pretend everything is okay because my fear isn’t just going to disappear with a blink of an eye, even though we both wish it would. But, I have your promise, and if we take this real slow, I’m sure we’ll be fine.”
Reaching out, I caress the side of her face and smile when she burrows deeper into my palm. Her silken skin feels amazing against the rough texture of my fingers.
Not wanting her to watch me remove my prosthesis, I use my body to distract her, and move her to the bed. On my feet, I quickly shuck my cargo shorts and briefs, whipping my T-shirt over my head, I’m completely naked and available for her eyes to feast on.
Her hand on my cock causes my legs to quiver with delight, but as she travels back and forth over my length and starts to dip her head toward the bulging head, I remove her hand. “I’m too aroused for you to do that,” I explain.
“I think,” she moves from the bed so that she’s in front of me again, “that I have too many clothes on.” Savannah lets her dress fall to the floor, and my dick jerks and drips with arousal with just one look of her naked. She’s like a dream come true. All luscious curves, creamy white skin with freckles in places, and a slim waist, but her large breasts make my mouth water.
Reaching out to her, she takes a step back, so I raise a brow in question.
“I want you completely naked, Jace.”
�
�I’ll remove it…once you’re on the bed.”
She offers a sexy smile, and doesn’t just get on the bed, but slowly crawls into position on her hands and knees—the sexiest damn thing I’ve ever seen. Unable to resist, I spank her ass.
My eyes widen in surprise when she offers a husky moan in response.
Fuck!
“You liked that?”
She gives me a sultry, come-hither look over her shoulder. “Do it again and find out.”
Fuck me!
“Savannah,” I growl.
She giggles and that fucking does it.
Grasping her hips in a firm hold, I spank her—not too hard, just enough for her to feel a slight sting.
Her legs widen slightly as she drops her face into the bed…and what a damn view I get of her ass up in the air begging to be fucked, spanked, or fucking kissed.
My body right now is feeling more alive than I’ve felt in a long time, and as my breathing deepens with arousal, I run a finger along Savannah’s pussy lips. She quivers against that finger, which comes away soaked in her unique flavor. It bursts on my tongue as I lick my digit clean. My cock is hurting, it’s that hard and ready to detonate, but I want tonight to be long and slow—at the rate we’re going, long and slow won’t exist.
“Lie on your back,” I ask, but it comes out more like I’m begging than anything.
Savannah is one hot woman and all I want to do is pound into her tight pussy, which is hot and wet with arousal for me.
Seeing her spread out on my bed with her red hair spread out over my pillow is doing crazy things to my heart.
“Jace?”
Hearing my name, I drag my eyes from between her legs and meet her gaze.
“You going to look all night or come join me?” She distracts me by trailing her fingers up from the silken depths of her pussy to her breasts, where she rubs her nipples.
Instead of standing watching, I need to be doing.
With that thought in mind, I drop my ass on the bed, and with only slight hesitation, remove my prosthesis, along with the liner and sock. I leave them beside the night table, and keep my back to Savannah.
I feel her moving on the bed, and then she’s kneeling behind me, her knees on either side of my hips. Her arms wrap around me and her fingers splay on my chest as she holds me close. “I love you, Jace.” She places a tender kiss to my spine before resting her cheek against me. “I love you.”
Her words of love cause my heart to beat stronger than I’m sure it ever has before. I love her so damn much, and I don’t think she’s aware of how much more I’ve started to heal since I’ve known her.
“Will you lie on the bed and let me show you how much I love you?”
Feeling nervous, I meet her gaze over my shoulder and see the tears hovering in her eyes. I turn more into her arms and cupping her face, admit, “I can’t refuse you anything because I love you. You’re inside me and have been for a while now. Anything you ask, I’m yours.”
A tear escapes, which I catch with my tongue as I push her back on the bed and cover her delicious body with mine.
Our lips meet in a gentle caress before I dip inside her mouth, and then I’m lost. I surrender to the heat of her mouth—heaven.
Savannah pushes me onto my back, and breaking from our kiss, uses her mouth and hands as she caresses a trail of fire down my torso. I nearly jump from the bed when I feel her wet tongue lap at the crown of my dick before she traces the length.
My sac gets a tongue lashing seconds before she takes each ball in turn into her hot, little mouth. Unable to control the urge to thrust, my hips rock as a long groan bursts from my lips.
Her hands and mouth are trailing down my thigh, and then she works her way to the end of the bed, where she tickles around my toes and foot before moving back up and starting to work on my other thigh.
I know what she’s doing, and although she is distracting me, I’m fully aware that she’s getting closer and closer to the amputation site.
“Jace, look at me,” she whispers.
Meeting her gaze, our eyes stay locked together as she places kisses around the stump of my leg. “I love you,” she mouths between kisses.
My eyes fill with tears at her tenderness, and not wanting her to see, I close my eyes and hope they disappear—they don’t.
After she’s trailed her fingers over my scars, she works her way back up my body, making sure my dick and balls get plenty of attention. My dick has a mind of its own and won’t stop jerking with need or releasing pre-cum, which disappears on Savannah’s tongue as quickly as it appears.
As Savannah reaches my lips, she pauses before I feel her changing direction. So snapping my eyes open, I watch as she descends and kisses my face, her elbows supporting her at either side of my head.
“Make love to me.”
With my hands on her bottom, I roll over. Savannah spreads her thighs and wraps her legs around my hips, her feet dropping between my legs. In one thrust, I’m inside her—surrounded by the suction of her hot, wet pussy.
My face drops to the curve of her neck while I still and try to catch my breath. So many feelings are rushing through me—love, longing, hope, joy—and they’re all tied up with the woman whom I’m currently joined to.
Savannah wraps her arms around my neck, so I slide mine under her shoulders and cup her head. As I cover her mouth in hunger, my hips start to rock in a rhythm as old as time.
When Savannah cries out in release, and grips my bareback dick with her orgasm overtaking her, I follow her over into a climax of overwhelming fulfillment. With every after tremor I feel inside Savannah, my dick pulses in answer.
“I love you, Savannah,” I whisper into her neck. “Please don’t ever doubt how I feel about you, even when I’m a dick.”
She chuckles. “I won’t.”
Then sleep claims us.
Savannah
Waking, I roll over and find the bed empty. My initial reaction has my heart sinking with despair, until I realize that I’m in Jace’s bed, and that his side is still warm. So he can’t be far…and then, I smell bacon.
My stomach grumbles with delight. It’s been a long time since I’ve had bacon for breakfast, which makes me wonder what else he’s cooking out in his kitchen.
I also smile in happiness that we made it through our first night together without incident. I know his nightmares can happen at any time, but, at least, our first night was a success, which I hope will give Jace more confidence in us being together like this.
His words of love had touched something deep inside me. I’d felt his love and knew that he had to have major feelings for me in order to agree to me staying the night. It had just made my heart lighter hearing the words spoken. Even though I was the first one to say ‘I love you’ out loud, I wasn’t sure he’d repeat them.
One thing I do know about Jace is, he doesn’t say something if he doesn’t mean it.
When I’d said them, I’d felt that he needed something more from me. I’d felt his embarrassment at having to remove his prosthesis, and I’d very nearly backed down from wanting to see him free of everything. But in the end, I’d figured it would be easier for him in the future if we faced it together from the start. I hope with my words, and the way I’d kissed his lower leg, that he’ll believe that I’m not going to run off because of his leg.
I love him regardless, and he better believe it, because he doesn’t want to see a really pissed redhead.
Smiling to myself at that thought, I dash from the bed, grab my bag, and lock myself inside his bathroom.
Rooting around, I locate my clip and pin my hair up so that I don’t get it wet. It takes forever to dry so much hair and right now I want to be quick in the shower.
Entering the shower, I slide my finger over the dried semen on my thighs and sigh, remembering his touch and how gently he made love to me. Last night was tender and romantic all around, and I’ve already worked out that Jace is a romantic at heart.
He comes
with lots of baggage, but he’s so worth it. He’s a fighter and he’s made a life for himself when at the time, he probably didn’t know what the hell he was doing or how he was going to move on. But he has and I’m so damn proud of him.
After barely five minutes in the shower, I step out, quickly dry myself, and finish up my morning routine before I’m back in the bedroom looking for something to put on. I don’t want to dress yet, but I’m not walking around naked, either.
Spotting a discarded T-shirt of Jace’s, I pick it up from the floor and pull it on. It rests mid-thigh, but it’s my boobs that I’m unsure about. I don’t have the smallest rack and when I walk now that they’re unsupported in a bra, they…wobble. I guess I should be grateful that they’re firm and don’t droop—that will come after kids, I guess.
Ugh!
Not that Jace will have a problem with seeing my boobs swaying freely beneath his shirt. We might end up back in bed—I can hope.
Seeing Jace in the kitchen, now that I’ve come to join him, makes my heart sing and my thighs clench. He’s one sexy ass man. He has low-hung shorts on, and nothing else. My mouth goes dry while I’m watching the play of muscles over his back, but yeah, my eyes have a mind of their own and just want to see the shorts drop lower.
Then he turns and I do get an eye full. The hair surrounding his cock is showing above the waist of his shorts, but it’s the growing bulge, which looks to be free of briefs beneath, that has my eyes widening, and my own arousal throbbing.
“Savannah,” he croaks, clears his throat, then adds, “Breakfast is about ready. It’s better freshly cooked.”
“Hmm.” I’m not being very coherent, but he’s just too gorgeous to resist.
Ignoring his comment about breakfast, I walk around the counter and smile when he backs up, coming to a stop when he hits the cabinets. I don’t stop, and moving closer, I step up against him and rub my hips against his swollen dick while I reach up and drag his face down to me for a toe curling, good morning kiss.
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