by Caitlyn Dare
“You’re right.” James’ eyes go dark, and he reminds me so much of Cole in this moment, it’s a little unnerving. “But the Danforths are a powerful family, they could have made life very difficult for you.”
“Good thing I have you then, isn’t it?”
A beat passes as father and son remain locked in a silent standoff. James relents first, giving Ace a slight nod. “You’re right, it is. No one messes with the Jaggers.” His lip curves into a half-smirk.
“I’ll call Sarah and tell her you’re staying the night?”
“For real?” I can’t hide my grin.
“Something tells me Ace isn’t going to let you out of his sight, and I’m sure we’d all feel happier knowing you’re safe.” He rubs his jaw as if he’s not wholly convinced by the idea, but I’ll take it. I’ll take whatever I can get where Ace is concerned. “But don’t get comfortable, it’s just for the night. The doctor said you need to rest. I’m trusting you to do the right thing.” He levels Ace with a hard glare.
“I’ll be the best doctor you ever had.”
Oh, Jesus.
I clench my legs together.
James shakes his head, amusement crinkling his eyes. I don’t know when it happened, but things between the two of them seem calmer. Easier.
We watch as he heads for the door, but at the last second, he glances back. “Oh, and before I go, I heard an interesting rumor about the dance. Apparently, there was a video... you wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?” His brow arches, and I press my lips together, wondering how Ace will dig himself out of this hole.
I still don’t know how I feel about the video, but I can’t deny it felt good seeing Sterling Prep’s Queen Bee’s kingdom come crashing down around her.
“Nope.” Ace doesn’t even bother to hide his smirk. “No idea what you’re talking about. But given the things Michaela said about her classmates, it could have been anyone.”
James’ eyes narrow. “Very well. I’ll leave the two of you in peace.”
“He knows,” I say the second the door closes.
“And? James isn’t going to do shit, just like Michaela isn’t going to do shit.”
“You sound awfully sure of yourself.”
“Because I am, Princess. I may not live in the Heights anymore, but I’ll always be a Jagger. And I’ll always fight for what’s mine.”
My hands fist his t-shirt, pulling him down toward me. “So I’m yours then?”
Heat blazes in his frosty gaze. “Do you need reminding?”
My lips curve into a playful smile as I grip his jaw, brushing my lips over his. “I think that sounds like a very good idea.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Ace
Gripping Remi’s waist, I pull her so she’s laying on the couch and climb on top of her. I’m so fucking desperate for her that I can barely see straight. Add to that the fear that consumed me the moment I saw his hands on her earlier, and I lunge for her like a man possessed.
My tongue licks into her mouth hungrily. I kiss her deeper than I ever have before. I want her to feel everything she makes me feel. The fear of ever losing her. The passion and desire I have for her. The love that consumes me every minute of every day.
“Ace,” she moans, writhing beneath me, driving me to fucking insanity with the way her body rubs up against mine.
Reluctantly, I pull back slightly so I can look into her eyes. At no point have I managed to forget what we went through only yesterday. The image of him pinning her against the wall is burned in my mind.
I cup Remi’s cheek, rubbing my thumb over her soft skin. “Are you sure?” I hate to ask, but I’ve no idea what’s going on in her head after last night. She might say she’s forgiven me, but I’m fully aware that it might be because it’s the easiest of the issues to deal with right now.
“Yeah, I’m sure. Make me forget, Ace. I only want memories of your hands on me.”
“Fucking hell, Princess,” he groans. “What are you doing to me?”
Slipping my hands under her, I stand from the couch and pull her with me. She immediately wraps her arms and legs around me and I carry her to the bedroom.
All she’s wearing is one of my hoodies after I removed her dress from her when she was out of it last night, so in seconds she’s standing before me in just her underwear. It’s black lace to match the dress I bought her, and I immediately regret not being able to peel it from her body last night in more pleasurable circumstances.
“One day soon, I’m going to take you somewhere fancy and you’re going to wear that dress again.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. And then I’m going to drive you home and treat you as you should have been treated last night.”
“And how’s that?”
Tucking her hair behind her ear, I drop a kiss to the corner of her lips. “I’m going to kiss you like you’re the most precious thing in the world.” I make my way along her jaw. “I’m going to drive you crazy with my lips and my touch.” I brush my lips across her collarbone. “Then I’m going to slowly pull the zipper down and watch it fall from your body, because as good as it looked on you last night, I have a suspicion that it’ll look even better on my bedroom floor.”
“Then?” she asks, her voice no more than a breathy whisper.
I drop my lips to the swell of her breast, the exact spot when I first branded her. I bite down and she gasps, her hands coming up to hold me close to her.
“Oh God,” she whimpers.
“Then, once I’ve made you mine again, I’m going to kiss every inch of your sinful body.”
“Yes.”
I drag my lips across her breast but avoid the part she wants me to touch the most.
“Ace.” Her head drops back as I tease her.
I kiss down the valley between her breasts and drop to my knees in front of her. I lick and nip down her stomach until I dip my tongue into her navel.
“Ace, please.”
“Patience, Princess.”
Her fingers tangle in my hair as she tries to push me lower.
Taking the lace of her panties in my fists, I pull until the fabric rips and they fall away from her body. Looking up at her dilated pupils, I lick my lips, hungry for what comes next.
“You want to know what’s next, baby?”
“Yes.”
“Next I make you scream.” I push her gently, but hard enough that she falls back on the bed with a bounce.
I stand, quickly pulling my shirt off and push my sweats down my legs before dropping back down and wrapping my hands around her legs. I tug until her ass is over the edge.
My mouth waters at the sight of her before me. Swollen, slick, and so ready for me.
Throwing her legs over my shoulders, I dive for her.
“Ace,” she cries as I lick up the length of her. Her back arches as her hips grind to try to get more.
Moaning as her taste explodes on my tongue, I plunge two fingers inside her. “Fuck, Remi,” I groan against her as she clamps down on my fingers, trying to suck them deeper to get what she needs.
Curling them just right, I tease her clit with my tongue until she falls apart beneath me.
Fucking hell, I’ve missed her this week.
This is how it should always be. Just the two of us against the world.
I make a promise to myself there and then that I’m never going to go behind her back with anything ever again, even if it is for her own good.
I need to start getting used to having someone who’s willing to stand beside me and fight with me, because I don’t intend on letting her go any time soon.
Kissing my way back up her body, I grip her waist and push her up so I can settle myself between her thighs, exactly where I’m meant to be.
“I love you, Remi Tanner. I love you so fucking much. I’m never fucking letting you go. Ever.”
I don’t give her a chance to respond. My lips crash to hers and my tongue eagerly searches hers out to join
in, which she does instantly.
With her head cradled in one hand, I guide myself to her entrance with the other. My entire body tenses at the sensation of pushing inside her wet heat.
So. Fucking. Good.
“Remi, shit,” I mutter, pulling back from her lips for a moment so I can catch my breath.
“I want to make love to you. Give you all, everything you deserve. But I’m not sure I can keep it slow.”
“Don’t.” She reaches up and cups my cheek. “Give me everything you’ve got, Ace. Be the bad boy you are and take exactly what you need.”
“Fucking hell, Remi. I don’t fucking deserve you.”
“Yet I’m here anyway.”
I push into her again, and her lips part as I hit her so deep. “You feel that, baby?”
“Ace,” she moans, getting impatient.
“Me and you, Princess. Always.”
Sitting up, I slip my hands under her ass and tilt her up slightly. Then, I take exactly what I need. Her nails scratch down my thighs as I hit her deeper with each thrust of my hips.
“Ace. Fuck. I need… I need…”
“I know exactly what you need, baby.” I press my thumb to her clit and she immediately falls headfirst into her release. She squeezes me so tight, I’ve got no choice but to follow her over.
Still buried deep inside her, I drop forward and take her lips. My chest heaves, but I’m not ready to let her go just yet.
Dropping to my side, I pull her into me and rest my chin on the top of her head. Blowing out a long breath, I try to rid my mind of the image of Remi crowded against the wall while Bexley glared down at her. I tense with my need to find the cunt and to finish the job I started. My switchblade was right there. It would have been so easy to end it all. To put a stop to his weird obsession with Remi.
I should have fucking done more after the first time at his party. I should have… fuck.
“Stop overthinking, Ace. It’s done.”
My fists clench against her. “I could have stopped him before it got to this.”
“You weren’t to know this was going to happen. Besides, the fall was an accident.”
“Still, he could have hurt you… he could have—”
“Shh.” She presses her finger to my lips. “You can’t protect me from everything.”
“But I want to. I need to.”
“And I love you so much for that.”
Dropping my nose to her hair, I breathe her in, reminding myself that she’s safe and in my arms where she belongs.
It’s only a few minutes before her breathing evens out and her body relaxes against me.
I stay there for the longest time, just holding her and listening to her breathe. I think back over the last few weeks, wondering how I missed it.
Eventually, my stomach rumbles to the point that I can no longer ignore it, or my need for the bathroom. Gently, I pull my arm from beneath her and stand from the bed. Running my eyes down her curves, my cock stirs once again. I can’t fucking get enough of her.
Regretfully, I pull the sheet over her body before turning to the bathroom and pulling some sweats on so I can go up to the house for some food. Remi’s not eaten all day, so I decide to grab whatever I can from the refrigerator and bring it all back down for when she wakes.
I’ve no idea what time it is, but when I step through into the kitchen, I find Conner, Cole and Ellen sitting around the table eating.
“Here he is, our resident superhero,” Conner announces.
“Hardly,” I mutter.
“Do you have anything I can take down for Remi?” I ask Ellen.
“Of course. Take a seat, I’ll make something up for both of you.”
“It’s okay, I can—”
“Sit,” she says, giving me her stern eye.
I do as I’m told, secretly grateful that I don’t have to do anything.
“How’s she doing?” Conner asks.
“Fine. She’s sleeping.”
“From the fact that you’re half-dressed, I’m assuming that’s not all she’s been doing.”
“La, la, la, la,” Ellen sings from behind us.
“Sorry, Martha. We’ll keep it PG-13.”
“Appreciated.”
Silence falls over us for a few minutes before Conner says something that has me sitting up straighter in the chair.
“You had a chance to look at Remi’s cell yet?”
“No, why?”
“She said something about him messaging her. Stalking her or something. She wasn’t really with it, so I have no idea if she was talking sense or not.”
“Why the fuck are you only telling me this now?” I bark, pushing the chair out behind me, ready to race back to the pool house to look for evidence.
“It doesn't really matter now. He’s gone. He ain’t gonna be doing fuck all.”
“Not the point.”
“Here you go, sweetie,” Ellen says, placing two plates with giant sandwiches on it in front of me.
“Thank you,” I say with a smile that I don’t really feel. My expression hardens as I turn back to Conner. “You think of anything else, you fucking tell me, all right?”
“Sure thing, man. Now go look after your girl.”
I immediately do as he suggests and head back to the pool house. She’s still sleeping soundly when I poke my head into the bedroom after putting the plates down in the kitchen.
Searching for her purse, I finally find it down the side of the couch. I pull her cell out, tap in the code to unlock it and open her messages. The top one is from an unknown number. I open it and scroll up through the messages.
Creepy as fuck.
I think back to the message I received from her, where she told me to stop stalking her. That fucker was watching her. All along he was watching her, and she thought it was me.
Fuck.
Why would she think it’s me if she suspected it was Bexley?
She should know I wouldn’t hide in the shadows. If I want something, I fucking get it.
A shudder runs down my spine, knowing that that motherfucker had been following her, watching her. My fingers tighten on the cell with the need to do something about this.
But he’s gone. He can’t touch her anymore.
She’s safe.
I won’t let that motherfucker anywhere near her ever again.
Or anyone else, for that matter.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Remi
“I can feel you staring, Mom,” I sigh. We’re supposed to be watching the film, but every five seconds I feel her gaze flick to my face.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. It’s just when I think about what could have happened...” Her voice cracks, and I shuffle along the couch and reach for her hand.
“But it didn’t. I’m okay, Mom. I’m going to be okay.”
“I know, I just keep thinking what if Ace hadn't got there. What if—”
“Mom, you’ve got to let it go. I don’t think Bexley would have taken it any further. I just think he got all messed up in his head and—”
“Do not excuse him, sweetheart. He harassed you. By all accounts, he got aggressive with you on more than one occasion. That is not okay, Remi.” Tears stream down her cheeks. “Time and time again you tried to tell me what that boy was like, and I was so blinded by the Danforths’ reputation—”
“Mom, stop.” I let out an exasperated breath, and she slides her eyes to mine. They glitter regret and shame and other things I don’t want to see. “You can’t do this to yourself. What’s done is done. I’m not sitting here crying to myself, and you shouldn’t either.”
“Gosh, baby, you’re so strong. I don’t know how you do it.”
“Because I’ve had to, Mom. Michaela, the kids at school, they made me grow thick skin. And Bexley... well, I refuse to give him any more of my tears. He’s leaving Sterling Prep. Whatever James said worked. The Danforths feel it best that he finishes his education elsewhere. He can’t hurt me anymore.”
“That is... good, baby, but when I think about what he could have done to you,” she breathes, her body trembling.
“Mom.” I reach for her hand. “It’s okay.” The Danforths are rich, and in a place like Sterling Bay, money talks. Maybe Bexley does deserve worse, but for someone like him, taking everything from him—football, his life, his reputation—is enough.
It has to be.
“There’s something else, Mom... something I should have told you a long time ago.”
“Remi?” Fear washes over her, and I know this going to be a hard conversation. But she deserves to know the truth about her ex, and I need to cleanse that part of my life.
“This is going to be hard to hear, Mom...” I clasp her hand tighter and take a deep breath. “But it’s about Johnny.”
By the time I finished telling Mom about her ex-boyfriend’s seedy ways, she was a blubbering mess. In the end, I called James to come get her.
She left about thirty minutes later, wrapped in his arms, the two of them talking in hushed whispers. They asked me if I wanted to go with them and spend the night but the truth is, after everything, I need some space to process.
I wasn’t lying to Mom when I told her I’m done shedding tears over people who don’t deserve them, but it doesn’t change the fact that Bexley harassed me and Michaela tried to destroy me. It makes me wonder what I’ve done to deserve such a shitty life.
People talk about fate and destiny and some grand plan; well, if that’s the case, I want a refund, because the last five years have been nothing but heartache and disappointment.
But I also know I’m stronger now. I know my worth and what I deserve out of life. I have friends I trust in Hadley, Conner, and maybe even Cole.
And I have Ace.
I have a guy who will pick me up when I fall and hold me when I cry. A guy who would start a war for me despite the consequences.
A guy I’m excited to walk into the future with.
I’m not naive though. I know there’ll be road bumps along the way. It would be a boring kind of life if there weren’t.