mature content (wink wink) ahead

KIMBERLY

Jace's voice rumbled through my body. "I know you're awake. You're shit at lying."

I mentally rolled my eyes, not wanting to untangle myself from him. My head was resting against his bare chest, pillowed by his obnoxious pecs. My leg was thrown across his body, giving him no option to escape.

I've become attached to cuddling with him. I knew I would, which was the whole point of having the amendment.

One of his hands came down to rub my bare thigh as his other arm was draped across my shoulder.

Who in their right mind would want to get up from this?

"No," I mumbled, my cheek squished against his skin.

"I will launch you, woman," he replied, trying to shrug me off. "It's getting late."

I pinched his bicep, getting an effective yelp out of him. "Who do you think will win in a fight? You or Vivi?"

The question has been on my mind since Effie and I discussed it. Now was as good a time as any to ask. If Jace was fazed by my sudden subject change or the ridiculous question, he didn't act like it.

"Depends on what kind of fight it is," he replied. "If it's purely physical, I might have the upper hand. Weapons or a mental fight... that's all her. Wait... why am I fighting her?"

"No reason."

"You're insane, you know that?" He finally used the upper body strength he had to lift me up and have me straddling his chest.

"As if you'd prefer me any other way," I laughed. "I need to stop by my old apartment today," I announced, stroking my hands up and down his chest.

"Why?" he asked, copying the same motions on my thigh.

The sensations of it all made it hard for me to concentrate on giving a sensible answer. Involuntarily, my hips started moving against him, taking every ounce of strength within me to suppress a moan. "Clothes," I breathed out.

His hands trailed to my inner thigh, lightly grazing over my core. "Did you forget what I said in Brazil?" He took my silence as a window for him to continue. "You look better without them."

Jace swallowed the moan I let out when I felt his dick twitch under me. The kiss was rushed, hurried, desperate.

Everything I was feeling and more.

Jace resisted when I tried pulling back, causing me to grab him by his hair. I didn't think it was possible for him to be more aroused, but he was. "Do you want to shower with me?"

He groaned, dropping his head. In mere seconds, he was up, wrapping my legs around him and rushing to the bathroom.

♕♕♕

A couple hours later, we finally pulled up to the apartment.

Sadly, Vivi wasn't home, and she wouldn't tell me who she was out with. Understandably, I was upset at first, but I decided that she'd tell me when she was comfortable with it. Until then, no matter how hard it was, I'd be patient.

God, it was impossible.

"Why do you need to come here for clothes?" Jace asked as I pulled him into the apartment.

I rolled my eyes at his tone. "When I was moving my stuff over, I left a lot of clothes behind. There's a lot of stuff I haven't worn yet, so I'm back for my little babies."

He shrugged. "I still don't see the need for them."

"No matter how much you want it, it's not socially acceptable for me to walk around naked."

He rumbled, "Don't even think about walking around other people naked. Plus, I meant you have enough clothes at home."

"I know," I relented. "But I like options and dressing up makes me happy."

"Fine," he replied. "Where's Vivian?"

I blew out a breath, mumbling, "She's on a date. Can you believe she didn't tell me who she's seeing? I've heard about this mysterious girl for the past couple of months and nada."

"It's probably Van."

I stopped in my tracks, turning around to face him. "What did you just say?"

He made an 'oh shit!' face. "I don't think I was supposed to tell you." I raised my eyebrows at him threateningly. "I guess we're going to find out the answer to your question this morning sooner than expected. But when you were in the hospital, I called Vivian to let her know. I heard Van's voice in the background, and they came to the hospital together."

I walked up the stairs to my old room, Jace trailing behind me. "Why didn't she tell me?"

"I think she didn't want to overwhelm you," Jace supplied. "You were in the hospital, Venus."

"I know, it's just... she's my best friend," I muttered. "I guess I'll just wait for her to tell me soon."

"Good girl," he replied, kissing my head. "Now, go play dress up."

"Jackass," I snorted but still made my way to the closest, breathing in the smell of my clothes.

It was so euphoric.

Mom was the reason my love of clothes started. Back in Spain, Mom used to model to help pay her bills. Unlike me, she didn't like it too much, but she loved seeing the designers and stylists at work. The hard work and skill that goes into creating lasting trends and clothes that fit into those trends was an exhilarating thrill.

Personally, I would never be able to do what they do, but I have a deep appreciation for them.

When Mom and I used to go to Spain, she would visit the old fashion house she worked at. I remember seeing the clothes come to life so vividly. One of Mom's friends who was a designer would make me a smaller version of whatever ensemble she was working on.

That's where my love for fashion started.

I put on this baby pink, satin minidress and left the closet to see Jace resting on the bed with his arms behind his head.

Hot.

I walked in front of him, stopping by the bar cart in the corner of the room for a burning shot of tequila.

Yep... hits like it always does.

"Kimberly," he warned in a low tone that did nothing to help the burning desire between my thighs.

"I know... I know," I caved. "But hey, I made it this far without dying."

"That's not really a high standard," he snapped.

I rolled my eyes. "It's just one drink, and I've been really good." It was true. I haven't drank in the past couple of weeks. Granted, the accident and concussion prevented me from it, but I've been decently okay with minimal alcohol in my system. I was getting better. "But tell me what you think about the dress."

He gave me a pointed look before trailing his eyes down my body, resting them on my chest. "Keep it."

"Oh, you really like it," I replied, eyeing his bulge.

"Shut up," he grumbled as I laughed on my way back to the closest.

I took another shot of confidence before donning on my next outfit.

This continued on for a few more outfits, and thankfully—unlike the first time I took him shopping with me—he actually gave decent responses.

The growing pile of clothes to take back with me was glaring evidence.

"It's a little risqué," I called out to Jace after seeing my next outfit in the mirror.

Little was an understatement. This was one of the sexiest pieces of lingerie that I owned. In fact, I never let a man see me in it, only keeping it reserved for my late-night self-pleasuring sessions.

It was a beautiful, strappy red set with two cut-outs of lace barely covering my breasts. The bottoms were similar, only having stretchy lace on the sides, connecting the front to the back. But the best part of it were the pearl shoulder straps, which added a sense of elegance to it.

I swear if he rips this...

"You act like that would prevent me from wanting to see you in it," Jace replied, laughing. "Come out already, Venus."

So I did.

I would remember the sight of his jaw dropping and eyes widening for a long time. Jace groaned, dropping his head back and rubbing his hands across his face. "Fuck, baby."

He haphazardly dragged himself to the foot of the bed where I was standing before pulling me close. His eyes darkened as his fingers traced my exposed skin, mesmerized by how it felt.

"I'm guessing you like it," I purred innocently.

Jace pulled me up for a kiss with urgency, completely unfazed considering he lifted me off the ground. He broke off the kiss, placing open-mouthed ones along my jaw, breathing me in. "You don't know how badly I wanted to fuck you in here the night of our engagement party."

"Let's remedy that now."

"No," he snorted, pulling back. My jaw slacked in shock and before I could ask why, he replied, "I can taste the alcohol on your lips, Venus."

"I'm fine, jackass. I had my last shot like... almost an hour ago," I whined.

He shot me the look, making me reluctantly keep my mouth shut. "Remember what I said... when I fuck you, I don't want a single thing preventing you from feeling me inside you. Now, sit down." He nudged his head towards the bench in the middle of us.

Rolling my eyes, I sat. "How long are you making me wait?"

He sauntered back to the headboard, bringing his wrist up to check his watch.

That shouldn't turn me on as much as it does.

"Ten minutes," he replied. "And don't touch yourself."

"You're an asshole," I muttered, crossing my arms.

He starts unbuttoning his shirt, tugging it off. "I'm your asshole."

"What are you doing?" I asked hesitantly.

I swear if he...

And he did it.

The jackass pulled his pants down. His fitted black boxers invaded my vision, showing his painful erection. "Making use of the ten minutes. I don't like wasting time, Venus."

I bit my bottom lip as he started shrugging his boxers off. "I could've already been helping you with that."

"You already are," he groaned, fisting his cock.

The waterfall that just came out of me was atrocious. But there was something so incredibly erotic about watching a man come undone in front of you.

With his large, calloused hand, Jace kept his eyes on me as he slowly stroked up and down his shaft, breathing hard. He swiped at the precum leaking from his tip, using it to help him stroke faster and harder.

The room was filled with his sharp breaths and my heavy breathing as I silently waited for the minutes to pass by.

"Is the time up yet?" I begged.

"No," he murmured, squeezing at the base. "Keep this in mind the next time you drink and torture me with that."

"Fuck you," I whined again.

He snorted. "You wish you were."

I've spent enough time with Jace to know when he was seconds away from climaxing, but he slowed down, waiting for me. The glide of his hand became lazy... expectant.

I was moments away from losing my mind, desperate to taste him again.

After what seemed like an eternity, he commanded, "Crawl to me, Venus."

I sprang up like a jack-in-the box, rushing to him on all-fours. I was about to take his cock into my mouth when he grabbed my hair, pressing his lips to mine.

"I want you to ride me," he breathed next to my ear. "Hard and fast, baby."

In my stunned state, Jace took action, pushing my panties aside to line me up against his throbbing erection. Without hesitation, he slammed me down onto him, dragging a loud moan out of me. His hands were stroking my hips as he helped me get into the right pace.

I moved against him, grinding my hips against his. I took Jace's hands and dragged them up my body, giving him a better feel of my soft skin and the intricate lace. Through the delicate fabric, he pinched my nippes, gently moving the fabric aside to see how hard they were, aching for his attention.

Every so often, Jace would lift me up before pounding into me again. "Fuck, baby. Your pretty little cunt takes me so well. Do you feel that, Kimberly?" He pulled me down, wrapping his hand around my throat. "You're made for me."

That's all it took for me to come apart. It was getting embarrassing how much he affected me.

Even though he'd been touching himself longer, he still waited for me to finish before letting himself finish. That's a real man.

With me still straddling him, Jace asked, "How mad would you be if I ripped this off of you." He was tracing the lace covering my chest with extra interest.

"I will kill you," I deadpanned.

He simply laughed, lowering me onto the bed so he was on top of me. "My violent wife"—he pecked my lips—"you're so beautiful when you think about killing me."

I stuck my tongue at him, but the jackass just swooped down and bit it gently. Carefully, he unhooked the bra at the back, slowly pulling the straps down—tracing each of the pearls—before flinging it across the room.

My protest was quickly swallowed by his mouth, as he palmed my breasts and pushed my legs apart. When he pulled back, I glared at him. "Did you forget my threat?"

"No," he smirked, "I just really wanted to see you naked."

I bit the inside of my cheek to prevent me from smiling, but it only made him smile harder.

"Hold your tits together," he demanded.

"Right into it then," I retorted, still obliging. I didn't know why I bothered acting like I was going to protest, but something about Jace made the brat in me act up.

He slipped his dick out from inside me, placing it at the root of my breasts. He was still covered in both of our climaxes, and I couldn't help the heat that rushed to my cheeks just thinking about it.

I watched as his tip disappeared between my breasts before showing up inches away from my mouth. Jace continued the motion, his arms flexed on both sides of my head as he let out deep groans.

"I'll never get used to this," he growled out with his eyes closed. "You really don't know what you do to me, baby."

"I think I have a clue," I whispered.

For the second time in the last hour, Jace came... this time all over me.

I couldn't find a single ounce in me that was bothered by this. With a lot of the previous men I had been with, I wouldn't let a single one of them finish on me, but there was an overwhelming, possessive part of me that reveled in this.

I wanted him to see me like this, belonging to him.

Because, when I saw that look in his eyes, I knew he belonged to me too.

♕♕♕

A steamy shower later, Jace was helping me put all the clothes into suitcases to make it easier for us to bring everything home.

I was clearing out my shoe cabinet when my eyes fell across the box I haven't seen in years.

I almost forgot about it.

"You good?" Jace asked from the door before walking behind me. "What's that?"

There was no simple way to answer that. This box contained memories of who I was, who I didn't want to be anymore.

I opened the box, flipping through each of the letters, remembering the contents of each of them. I don't think I was strong enough to pick up a single letter and read it, seeing as it contained a lot of dark thoughts.

I was finally feeling better, the thoughts in these letters feeling like a lifetime ago.

But the last letter wasn't one of mine.

The last letter was one I swore I wouldn't—no, couldn't—read, no matter how much Vivi begged me to.

For a moment, I contemplated lying to Jace and telling him that it was nothing. But that wasn't who I was trying to be. That wasn't who we were now.

"Memories," I answered truthfully. "They're memories from a dark time in my life."

Jace didn't persist, but he looked at me with worry in his eyes, silent questions swirling through his warm hazel irises.

I'm going to be okay. I'm going to be okay. I'm going to be okay.

***

i know i mentioned this before, but the fact that we're almost at the end is while. according to my calculations (my nerd is showing), there's like five chapters left.

like damn man.

anywho, i've been waiting for this chapter for a hot minute.

also, i love the next one.

love, zia.