“Jace, please don’t touch him…please… They’ll take you away from me again. I can’t go through that again!”
Jace turns and looks at me with wide eyes and throws his hands up. “I won’t touch him,” he says through ragged breaths.
I WOULDN’T SURVIVE IT
OUR EYES MEET, filled with fear, and I’m ready to hold her in my arms.
“I didn’t touch him, baby,” I say to her. Then I turn back to the guy with the camera and quietly tell him without her hearing, “I didn’t fucking touch you, but I’m very serious about anyone touching my girl. Back the fuck up, so I can put her in the car.”
He moves out of the way, and I turn back to Shay and pull her into me as everyone stares at us. I don’t give a fuck what any of these people think. I place my arm around her as she shakes like a fucking leaf and put her in the passenger seat of her car. Her skin looks pale, so I lean over and put her seatbelt on like I did earlier and kiss her forehead.
“Relax, baby.” I shut her door and walk briskly around to the driver’s side while cameras continue to flash, but I ignore them and slide into my seat. Wasting no time, I drive off. I grab Shay’s hand that is gripping her charm bracelet and place it in mine while she stares out the window.
“Baby, look at me.” Her eyes slide to mine slowly, and big fat crocodile tears are already falling down her cheeks as her pouty lip trembles. I pull over on the side of the road and push the release on her seatbelt. “Come here, pretty girl.” She wastes no time moving to my lap and burying her face in my neck. “No one is ever going to take me away from you again. I won’t ever let that happen to us. I wouldn’t survive it, Shay. I would never put you through that again.” She nods against my tear-filled neck. Letting a few minutes pass until her body relaxes, I just hold her on the side of the busy L.A. street. “Let me gets us home.” She slides off my lap and back into her seat.
“Okay.”
I put her hand back in mine, and she leans over, resting her head on my shoulder. I watch as she closes her eyes and holds on to her wrist full of love.
JUST FEEL MY LOVE
JACE OPENS THE door to the condo, and I walk straight past him to the bedroom with a big, dramatic sad sigh. A perfect day with my boy, only to be ruined because I chose to have a career in music. I should have chosen behind the microphone, not in front of it. I set my high heels onto the floor and start to shimmy out of this revealing dress.
“No, you don’t.” I hear behind me. I peek over my shoulder, and all sexy and strong, my boy leans against the bedroom doorframe. “Let’s talk. Then I’m taking you out of that dress.”
I stand in the middle of the room, and he swoops me up into his arms. With dangling bare feet, he walks me into the bathroom and sets me onto the vanity. I watch as he turns on the warm water and gets a washcloth out of the drawer. “What are you doing?” I ask as he puts the cloth under the water and rings it out.
“Taking all this mess off my beautiful girl.” Gently, he rubs the ruby red off my lips and smiles down at me. “Get it out,” he says, putting the cloth back under the water, then removing all the black under my eyes.
“Get what out?”
“All that built-up emotion you’ve been hanging on to.” He raises his eyebrows. “Get it out, pretty girl.”
“I saw you being taken off Cole and thrown into that cop car, bloody, and I couldn’t ever go through that again. I really don’t know how I survived being away from you. Every single day was a chore for me. I thought if that photographer pushed you…that…if you hit him, you’d be sent right back to prison.”
“No one’s going back to prison.” He kisses my forehead.
“But it scares me, Jace. Every time we’re out, I’m going to be afraid.”
“You can’t live in fear. I’m not going to put myself in that position ever again.”
“You just did with that photographer.”
“I was just letting him know he was overstepping my boundaries. I’m always going to protect you, but I wasn’t going to risk us.” I bite my lip, and with his finger he releases the hold. “I will always protect my girl.”
“I know you will.”
“That’s not all you’re thinking about, so keep going.”
“I hated recording our song while we were apart. Everyone was so excited about it, and I wasn’t because the one person the song is about couldn’t share in that excitement. I wanted you in that room with me.”
“You know I wouldn’t have been anywhere else.”
Rushed words and giving me a fresh face, he reaches over, opens my drawer, and pulls out my coconut chapstick. Jace rolls it all over my lips with a groan. Then he picks me up, walks me into our bedroom, and places me at the foot of our bed.
“Now the dress,” he says with a smirk, reaching behind me, unzipping the black lace and letting it fall to my feet. “What do you want?” He pulls his T-shirt over his head, revealing perfection, and unzips his jeans. Kicking off his shoes, he takes his pants off and lowers his boxers. “Tell me what you want, Shay,” he says again, laying me on our bed.
“Right now, I want my boy to make love to me.”
He leans down, pressing his perfect licked lips to my stomach, then drags my panties slowly down my legs.
“Trust me, you’re definitely getting that right now.” He gently opens my legs, making enough room to get between them. He’s making it really hard to concentrate.
I reach down and run my fingers through his hair. Warm breath makes its way up my neck as he rains soft kisses on my skin.
“I want us. I want what we dreamed about.”
“You’re going to always get what you want,” he whispers, lifting his head from my neck and then kissing my mouth.
“Get it all out, baby,” vibrates across my lips as he slowly makes his way inside me. I’m breathless now and totally unable to think. “I just…”
“Yeah, baby?”
“I just want you…me… That feels so good.”
“Stop wanting and start feeling how much love I have for you,” he says, thrusting slowly in and out of me. “We’ll figure everything else out, together—always together. We’ll make the right decisions for us.”
“Okay,” I say, closing my eyes as my boy loves me so tenderly.
“Just feel our love,” he whispers.
And I do. I let go of everything that keeps me up at night and just feel the boy whose touch is my one and only.
I WANT YOUR TOES IN THE SAND
I’VE LISTENED TO every single word she’s spoken, and I hear what she wants loud and clear, but right now, my dick has thoughts of its own that need to be met. One more long, slow thrust into my love, and I pull out and turn her over onto her stomach. She sucks in a breath when I put my arm under her and pull her perfect ass to me. “Get up on your knees.” She obeys with a giggle, and that only intensifies my already raging hard-on. “You just had me slow. Now I’m going to make love to you a little reckless.”
“Okay.” Makes it out of her mouth in a breathless tone.
“Remember, baby, it’s always love,” I say, rubbing her back with one hand and moving her long hair. I want to see her skin.
“I know,” she says, turning her face forward. I gently pull her hips into me and crash into her hard. I’m relentless as I dig my fingers into her hips and push into her over and over again. I have my own pent-up frustration and fear inside me, but I would never tell her that. I was so close to losing it today with that photographer. All I saw was knocking that motherfucker out and getting thrown back in prison, and it scared the shit out of me. I can’t ever be taken away from this girl again.
Light moans from Shay’s impending orgasm take me out of my fucked-up thoughts and bring me right back to where I need to be. Right here in this moment with my girl is my perfect place, and when she starts to tighten around me and quietly says my name over again and again, I can’t hold it any longer.
“I want your lips,” she says, but it’s muffled because he
r face is pressed into the pillow, and I can’t hear her the way I want to. We always kiss when we come together. I pull out, ready to explode, then turn her over quickly, back to where we started.
Shay yanks me down to her, and my girl makes love to my mouth so slowly as she pulls everything out of me. I start coming hard into her, with barely there thrusts, as she comes at the same time.
“Oh my God, Shay,” I say, practically falling into her. She wraps her arms around my back and rubs it soothingly. Out of breath, I put my arms around the back of her head and hold on to her, probably hurting her. When her hands find my hair, she pulls my face up off her and pushes it back. We stare at each other, and I tell her exactly what I’m thinking.
“Don’t be surprised if I just got you pregnant,” I say, breathing hard. She lightly strokes my back as I slow my breathing. “God, in the last twenty-four hours, we’ve made some serious love, pretty girl. I swear, we just started our family.”
“I’m still protected,” she says, kind of crushing my sweet thoughts.
“Even when I was in prison?”
“Yeah, it’s just a shot I have to get.”
“I don’t like you having to get shots.”
“Well, I kind of need to so we don’t have any surprises.”
“I like surprises,” I tease her with that grin she loves.
“Would you be okay with that?”
“I’d be so happy.”
Her smile is bright, and I can’t help but love the idea of starting our family already. Good timing? No, but, as long as I can take care of my girl and she gets what she wants, then it’s perfect timing. Shay and I are simple people. We like days at the beach and sunset nights. We’ve never worried about all that other bullshit. My girl wants to be a young mom, and we are young, and in love, and want a big family.
“Can you imagine how big our beach bag would be packing for a day at the beach with a baby?” She smiles.
Shay is going to be a great mom—the kind of mom I always dreamed I would’ve had growing up. Our children are going to be the luckiest kids in the world to have Shay as their mother. I get up off her so she can breathe again and fall on my back and face her.
“I need to talk about something with you, and then we need to head to your parents’ house for dinner, okay?” She nods and bites down on her bottom lip. “It’s not a bad thing,” I assure her.
“What is it?”
“It’s actually a really good thing.”
“What is it, Cliff?”
“Who the heck is Cliff?”
She giggles and reaches over, giving me a quick kiss. “You’re stalling like a cliffhanger.”
“Cliffhanger?”
“You know, when you get to the end of a book, and you’re left hanging to see what will happen next. That’s a cliffhanger.”
I pull her into me and kiss her hard. “Baby, you are the cutest thing ever.”
“What do you need to tell me, sloppy boy?”
“Well…”
“Don’t be a smarty pants,” she jokes.
“Okay, I think I have the answer to your prayers. Your dad and I talked about an opportunity that was presented to him—that he thought could be a really great way for you and I to work together.” She sucks in a soft sigh. “Did you tell your dad that we planned on making music together before I went to prison?”
“Maybe,” she says with blushing cheeks.
“I know you didn’t tell him about the kind of music I like to make with you.” I wiggle my eyebrows.
“Of course not, sexy music maker,” she teases, making me laugh. “I told him I taught you guitar when we were younger, and you were really good, and we wanted to make ‘real’ music together that the world could hear—not the music you like to make in the bedroom.”
“But, we make the best music together. The soft moans you make when you come undone in my arms is the sexiest music to my ears.” I put her loose hair behind her ear. “I know you wouldn’t tell your dad our bedroom secrets. I’m just messing with you. It’s for a soundtrack for an upcoming movie trilogy.”
“Oh my God!” she yells, making my ears ring. “That’s incredible, babe. What series is it?”
“All I know is it’s about a guy in a band,” I tell her, playing with her soft waves.
“I wonder if it’s the one I’m thinking it might be.”
“Which one is that?”
“The one my first book boyfriend ever is in!” she says.
“I thought that was the movie Beau was in?”
“No. I mean, yeah, he was, but this is my first rock star boyfriend ever.”
“How many book boyfriends have you had over the years?” I ask, pinching her butt.
“Ouch! Not many, jealous boy.”
I remember it’s a love triangle book, which probably means cheating, and I hate her excitement. “You liked that book?”
“Well, I hated the girl in it, and the fact that she wasn’t faithful drove me nuts throughout the whole book, but I just loved the tortured rock star.”
I chuckle. “You better not like cheating books.”
“It’s fictional, Jace,” she says with a roll of those pretty blue eyes.
“You know the party you came to when you got home and surprised me?”
“You mean, shocked-you-to-the-point-that-you-smacked-me-hard-on-the-face-party?”
“I’m sorry I hit you,” she says, letting all that excitement drain from her body.
“I shouldn’t have said that, and I totally deserved that smack.”
“I was just scared and relieved that you were okay, and my emotions got to me.” She runs her hand over my cheek.
“Don’t forget mad. You were really mad at me.”
“You’re right. I was furious with you, but I still shouldn’t have hit you.”
“Yes, you should’ve.”
“Can we not talk about that night? It makes me upset.”
“Yeah, baby, we don’t ever have to talk about that night again.”
“Good, but that was the producer, Mr. Standsen’s house. He’s the one producing that series. He came up to me at the party and introduced himself.”
“Well, it looks like he wants you to be a part of the soundtrack.”
“But, you said a project for us together.”
“They want a singer-songwriter to create the songs, and they really want a strong acoustic sound from a duet. Your dad had me come into Stark Records and play for him.”
“Is that the meeting you had?”
“Yup, and I worked with your guitar teacher you grew up playing with.”
“Adam?” she asks, and I nod.
“How’d my first guitar student do for the professionals?”
“I did really well.” I lean over and kiss her lips. “You really were the best teacher ever.”
“I can’t believe we are going to work together on a project like this,” she says excitedly.
“It’s the starting stages, and, of course, Mr. Standsen has to like what we create and how we sound, but if he does, we are locked into a pretty nice job for a few years. Do you know what that means?”
“What?”
“I’m going to write my girl’s name in the sand where we’ve always wanted to be.”
“A beach house?”
“I’m hoping I can afford one for you, but we haven’t even gotten to how much money a project like this will make us. I’m praying it will get my girl what she dreams of.”
“We don’t have to be right on the beach, Jace.”
“I want your toes in the sand, baby.”
“I just want my toes wrapped around yours,” she says so damn sweet.
“Go put some clothes on that sexy body so we can go to your parents’ house and discuss things with your dad.”
She jumps out of bed with so much excitement, I just know this is going to be the start of something really special. With sassy hips, she walks into the bathroom, and I put my hands behind my head. I need to marr
y my girl. I’ve wanted nothing more than to put a ring on her finger since she graduated high school. We’re young, but I don’t give a shit what others might think. This girl is my entire life, and I want everything we do from here on out to be with her as not just my girl, but my wife. I’ve fantasized about it since I met her. Why people wait is stupid to me. What the hell are we waiting for? I’ve always respected my girl, and I would have married her before we had sex, but yeah, I don’t think her parents would have let me marry her in high school. I can imagine that talk. “Hey, Mr. Stark, I really want to have sex with your daughter, so can I marry her because I always want to be respectful of my girl?”
Yeah, that wasn’t happening. We aren’t in school anymore, and we’ve already gone through obstacles that most couples our age would never survive. We are forever, and I want that ring on her finger to prove it.
DINNER WITH THE STARKS
WE WALK INTO MY parents’ house, hand-in-hand, only to be bombarded with a Tatum and Tristan encounter. “Give me my phone, Tate!” Tristan says, running down the stairs after Tatum.
Wide-eyed and completely out of breath, Tatum runs up to us and grabs Jace, causing him to release his hold on my hand. She wraps her arms around him and says, “Don’t let him hurt me!” Jace puts a protective arm around her, shielding her from Tristan as I grab what Tristan wants out of her hand. “Don’t give it to him, Shay!” she says, tucking her face into Jace’s chest as Tristan runs up and tries to pull her hair. Jace steps back so he can’t get her, but he still manages to yank her hair. “Ouch!” she screams as Jace starts laughing. “I’m telling Dad! You know you aren’t supposed to pull my hair, hair pulling boy!” she screams.
“Thanks for keeping her captive for me, Jace,” he says, grabbing his phone out of my hand and running away laughing. Tatum walks out of Jace’s embrace, tugging on her hair.
Questionable Love (A Love Beyond Labels #2) Page 38