Protection: A Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance (45 page)

“
I
’m really not
sure we should be leaving them alone,” Tessa fretted, biting her lip as she followed Jace out of the infirmary. Maddie had been sedated to keep her from finishing Jasper off in her rage, but that wouldn’t last long. Knowing the Shifter metabolism, she’d be up within the hour and probably twice as vicious.

“Maddie and Jasper or Camilla and the new guy?” Jace tossed over his shoulder as he walked.

“Well,” said Tessa, flustered. “Both, but I was referring to Maddie and Jasper. Camilla and the new guy are staying with Shaw and the new girl, Cassandra. Judging from the man’s reaction, the new isn’t about to let anything happen to my sister.”

Jace turned to give his mate a soft smile, holding out his hand to her. When Tessa slid her small hand into his large one, Jace had the overwhelming urge to pull her into his arms and rub his scent all over her body.

He stifled it, contenting himself with the knowledge that his mate, his female, had eyes for no man but him. Even now she pulled close and twined her arm with his, seeking his touch. So yes, the marking of territory wasn’t necessary. It could at least wait until they got back to his house, Jace thought with a smirk.

“You’re not listening to a word I’m saying, are you?” Tessa asked, cutting in on his thoughts. He looked down at her and saw that she was amused rather than irritated, and decided to play it out.

“I was busy thinking about what to do first when we get back to the house,” he said, a teasing grin on his face. Tessa eyed him with suspicion, her cheeks heating at his tone.

“Why does that sound dirty coming from you?” she asked.

“It must be my manly baritone. That or the fact that I’ve spent the last two hours of boring meetings thinking about all the ways I’ll have to have you in my house,” he said, his grin broadening.

“Jace!” Tessa said, her voice rising in a poor imitation of shock. She swatted his arm without any real force behind the blow. He took that as a sign that he should continue.

“Well, first of course there’s… what did you call it? My ‘orgy-sized’ shower? And then I was thinking about the couch, where we almost hooked up the first time…”

“Jace!” Tessa said again, but this time she wasn’t even trying to hide the desire darkening her eyes and flushing her skin. Her voice had deepened to a sexy purr, which only spurred him on.

“Then I thought about the kitchen island. I think that counter might be the perfect height to hit your G spot,” he mused aloud, playing at absentmindedness.

Tessa bit her lip and looked away, but not soon enough. Her scent, that wonderful Ascendant scent of apples and honey, washed over him and suredded his restraint. He needed to slow things down, or they wouldn’t make it the next two hundred yards to the house.

“Anyway,” he continued. “You were saying something about Maddie and Jasper?”

Tessa pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes, but followed his change of topic anyway.

“I was trying to say that you ought to be a little more concerned about your sister. She’s mated herself to some crazy Shifter she barely knows. Someone who is, according to you, incredibly dangerous. And yet you insisted on leaving them to work things out alone,” Tessa said, miffed.

“Would you accept someone else meddling in things between us?” Jace asked, glancing over at Tessa. She was frowning, but the flush and darkened eyes remained. God, his female was sexy.

“Well, no, but—” Tessa started.

“Exactly. Because it’s between mates. It would be like jumping in to break up a fight between two vicious dogs. Only a crazy person would do that,” Jace said.

“I can’t believe you let her exchange bites with him in the first place,” Tessa said, stubborn.

“My only problem with this whole thing is that he had a gun pointed at you. If it’s between you getting shot and Maddie getting saddled with a mate who’s as stubborn and dramatic as she is, I’m gonna let Maddie take one for the team. Especially if it’s something she clearly wanted anyway.”

“I didn’t see her jumping up and down to be mated. Like you said, he had a gun.”

Jace stopped, pulling Tessa to face him. He braced his hands on her hips, looking down into her face.

“Madeline Copeland has never once done anything she hasn’t wanted to do. There were a number of ways she could have handled that situation, but she chose this path. She must have her reasons, and I for one am choosing to respect that unless I see evidence of a real problem between them,” Jace explained, his eyes serious.

“She had to be tied to her infirmary bed to keep from hurting him. Does that not count as a problem?” Tessa asked, frowning.

“Jasper can defend himself against Maddie. To tell you the truth, I’m pretty sure it’s their way of flirting. The pattern goes all the way back to childhood, trust me.”

Tessa’s face softened, and she nodded.

“Okay. If you say to leave them alone, I will.”

With that she shimmied out of his embrace, catching his hand and pulling him toward the house. Jace was overwhelmed for a moment; he’d fought so long for her trust, and here she simply gave it freely. Looking at Tessa, seeing the changes they’d wrought in each other, was the biggest reason that he could let Maddie work through her situation without his help.

“What do you think about the new female, Cassandra?” Tessa asked as she crossed the front yard to the porch. Jace followed, a rumble building deep in his chest.

“You’re the only female I’m thinking about right now, and I can prove it,” he said, corralling her until her back was up against the front door.

“How would you do that?“ Tessa asked, her brow furrowing as she tried to keep up.

“Back at my office, I really did leave to get something I’d forgotten,” Jace said, producing a blue velveteen ring box from his pocket and showing it to Tessa.

Tessa’s jaw dropped. For a girl who was never without a quick response, she was acclimating well to speechlessness. Jace chuckled at her expression, turning the box in his hand.

“I had this whole plan, you see. You’ve accepted Shifter culture so well, you’ve been a great sport. I wanted to do something the human way for once,” he explained, watching Tessa’s face.

Tessa shook her head, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. She looked to be in complete disbelief, as if she didn’t understand the depth of his emotions at all.

“Don’t worry, I looked up how to propose to a human online. You’ll just have to tell me if I’m doing it wrong,” he said, only half-joking.

With that, Jace sunk to one knee. Tessa let out a flustered squawk, pressing the back of her hand to her mouth. Jace opened the box to reveal the most striking ring Tessa had ever seen, and silent tears began to run down her face.

“I just—” Tessa mumbled.

“Wait, wait. I think this is my part. Give me your hand,” Jace said, trying to cover his emotion-roughened voice with humor.

“What are you doing?!” Tessa asked, panic rising in her voice.

“Do you trust me?” Jace asked, looking up into her face.

“Yes—” Tessa started.

“Then let me do this the right way. Give me damned your hand, Tess.”

Tessa gave it to him, her face turning a sexy shade of pink. Jace cleared his throat, attempting to cover his nervousness.

“Tessa Anderson, would you do me the honor of being my mate?” he asked, looking up at her.

“I, uh. Yes?” Tessa replied.

“Did I do it right? Are you happy?” he asked, his voice betraying his nerves. He rose to his feet and reached out to his mate.

The next second Tessa flung herself at him, sniffling and laughing. Putting her arms around his neck, she buried her face against his chest and made nonsensical soggy noises of happiness.

Jace grinned, pulling her closer into his arms. A feeling of rightness flooded his senses, and in a flash he scooped Tessa up in his arms. Tessa’s hands and mouth were everywhere all the sudden, and he could barely focus. It took all his willpower to get her through the door and into the bedroom, where he placed her on the bed with gentle hands.

Jace stilled, pulling back a little.

“Tessa,” he said as she dropped greedy kisses on his neck.

“Mm?” was her response.

“Just hold off for a second,” Jace said, his voice tormented.

Tessa growled and tugged his shirt up, trying to expose more skin. She paid him no mind, and her need only made his desire stronger.

Jace’s big hands caught hers, stopping their explorations. Tessa pulled back from him, indignant.

“I swear, Jace Copeland. If you turn me down again, I won’t be responsible for my actions,” she warned.

“I’m not, Tessa. We just forgot something important,” he teased. He waved the ring box in front of her eyes, then popped it open and grasped her hand. Slipping it onto her finger, he grinned.

Tessa rolled her eyes but beamed right back at him. The ring was a hair too big, but Tessa barely even noticed it. Her eyes were only for her mate.

“Have I mentioned yet that I love you very much?” she asked, her eyes luminous with adoration.

“Actually, now that you mention it, no,” Jace laughed.

“I guess I didn’t think it needed saying,” she said, a rueful smile playing over her lips.

She pressed closer to Jace, murmuring her approval. Already her breaths were coming faster, making her incredible breasts rise and fall, tempting him. Digging in his pocket, he produced a quarter and held it out to her in his open palm.

“What’s this for?” Tessa asked, licking her lips as if nervous.

“I can’t decide where we should make love first, so I figured we’d flip a coin,” he said, expression deadpan.

Tessa gave a startled laugh, picking up the quarter. She gave him a teasing look, and then threw it over his shoulder onto the floor. Jace was confused for half a heartbeat, but then Tessa slid her arms around his neck and put her mouth just under his ear.

“That’s an easy one,” she breathed.

“Is it?” Jace said, reaching behind her to open the front door.

“I’m a dirty girl, so you should probably take me to the shower and clean me up,” she teased, catching his eye.

Jace didn’t even bother to respond, just scooped her up and made for the shower. His only pause was to kick the front door closed, and then Tessa was trying to peel off his clothes as he carried her to the bathroom. He hit the remote switch by the bathroom door, turning the water on before he set Tessa down on the marble counter. He pulled her tee shirt up and over her head, exposing her creamy pale skin and lacy ivory bra. He bit his lip to keep himself from putting bite marks all over her breasts and her lovely neck, marking his territory. Not that he wasn’t going to do that, just not quite yet.

She purred under his gaze and began trying to help him take his pants off, then stopped for a second and looked down at the counter.

“Did you know you’re missing a big chunk of marble here?” she said, looking amused.

Jace dropped a kiss on her shoulder and groaned when she made a soft noise in response.

“Remind me later to tell you why that’s your fault,” he said, halfway shredding her bra in an effort to remove it quickly. Jace had to force himself not to look at her full breasts and already-hardened pink nipples lest he lose every shred of dignity and self-control.

T
he room was heating
up quickly thanks to the now-steamy shower, and Jace was nearly out of his mind with need. Their hands flew as they rushed to discard the last scraps of their clothing.

They moved into the large, luxurious shower. Jace had to force himself to set her down and pull away from her to adjust all the shower heads to point into one corner. When he was done, he backed Tessa into that corner, not touching her yet, just enjoying the play of the water on her magnificent body.

Jace couldn’t help but reach down to stroke himself as he drank in the sight of his mate, her breath coming in pants as she waited for him to make the next move. Water flowed off her perfect curves, gleaming wickedly. Jace couldn’t remember ever being so damned thirsty in his whole life.

He felt her eyes travel down to his chest, his abs, then to his growing arousal. His female knew what she wanted, but he wasn’t ready to take it there yet. He wanted to touch her with his hands until she begged, to wring every drop of pleasure his mouth could produce until she wept with desire.

Jace moved forward until his body was only inches from Tessa’s, and he continued to drink in the sight of her. She squirmed under his gaze, more than ready for his touch. Reaching out, Jace brushed his fingertips just under her jaw, then at the sweet curve of her hip bone. Tessa watched with wide eyes as he trailed his caress upward over her ribcage and up to the curve of one breast.

Tessa bit her lip and leaned her head back, looking up at Jace with heavy-lidded eyes the color of an afternoon storm. Watching her teeth knead her bottom lip had Jace’s imagination running wild, thinking of where he’d like those lips to be next.

When he brushed his fingertips up to her hardened nipple, she opened her mouth just enough to let out the first little oh of pleasure.

“Damn,” he murmured. “I love it when you make that sound.”

Jace couldn’t help but move closer, he had to run his hands over every inch of her satiny skin. Tessa stretched up on her toes like a cat asking for a scratch, and Jace slanted his mouth over hers in response.

He felt Tessa’s small hands at his waist, exploring his hips and then his lower back, urging him on. Jace gave a low growl and she shivered, moaning into his mouth. His female was asking for more, and more she would get.

Breaking their kiss, Jace slid his hand under her jaw again and gently tilted her head back to expose the slender white column of her throat. He trailed kisses down the soft skin he found there, tasting and teasing. She obliged him by making a series of breathy gasps and writhing under his touch. Smiling, Jace nipped her neck and shoulder a few times, interspersing the love marks with simple kisses.

Shifting his hands once more to her ribcage, Jace cupped the fullness of her breasts in a slow movement. When Tessa shivered and moaned in answer, Jace ran his large, calloused thumbs over both her nipples. He could feel Tessa’s touch growing bolder, her hands clutching at his thighs and hips in search of yet more. She knew what she wanted, but Jace still had a surprise in mind.

Jace slid to his knees, giving his dismayed mate a devilish grin. She wrinkled her nose at him, but he just smirked and pushed her flush against the cool tile wall. Jace ran his hands down her stomach to her hips and leaned in to dip his tongue into her navel. She giggled, impertinent, and Jace nipped her hip bone. Before she finished making one of those sexy noises of hers, Jace’s hands were sliding down the outside of her thighs to the knee. He slid his hands back up her inner thighs as she shifted.

“What are you—” Tessa started to protest, but Jace just leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on her mound. She froze for a second, and Jace took the opportunity to nuzzle her soft curls, his hands shaping her inner thighs. His thumbs gently parted her flesh, and he rubbed the tip of his nose against her softness, testing.

“Oh— oh,” Tessa breathed, wobbling at the unexpected sensation. Jace chuckled, and removed his nose. Ignoring the shower’s spray, he kissed her once more and then explored her sweetness with his deft tongue. Tessa’s hands dug into his wet hair, which only made him more excited.

Her taste was already killing him, after only a few seconds. She was like hot, honeyed apples, crisp and clean and deadly to his senses. The way her hesitance melted away, the way she pressed her hips forward against his lips, made him wonder if he could cum just from tasting her perfect pussy.

He tongued her clitoris in gentle licks, eliciting a guttural moan. He experimented with a combination of licks, nuzzles, and rolls, trying to find what she liked best. Already her thighs and innermost muscles were clenching, close to release. Jace waited until she was mindless with need, then sucked gently on her most sensitive spot.

He groaned into her heated flesh, the taste of his mate making his body tense, his balls aching. He lapped up every bit that she offered, and still he needed more.

Tessa flew over the edge, crying out her pleasure as her shaky legs collapsed. Jace reached out and caught her before she hit the ground, amused that his mate’s eyes had just rolled up into her head. He knew what he was doing, sure, but he’d never actually made a woman faint before. He hadn’t really even had time to use some of his more advanced maneuvers.

Still hard as a rock, he cradled his mate against his body and stepped from the shower. Her eyes fluttered open as he set her down and wrapped her in a towel, and she gave him an adoring smile.

“Are you okay?” he teased, drying her off with another towel before giving himself the same treatment. His movements drew her gaze downward to his fully primed manhood, and she flushed prettily.

“We’re not finished yet, are we?” she asked, her gaze lifting back to his face. Jace couldn’t help but grin and shake his head, awed by his female.

“Not by a long shot, kitten.”

Her squawk of protest at the nickname was muffled as he swept her up and carried her to the bedroom. Dropping her on the bed, he tossed all their towels to the floor. As he settled next to her, she leaned up and caught his mouth in a demanding kiss. Those hands of hers were roaming again, this time successful in seeking out his cock.

Jace groaned and looked down, rapt. He watched Tessa run her fingers over the velvety skin of his cock, slipping below to explore his sack before taking him in her fist. Her hand was small enough that it couldn’t encircle his thick girth, which didn’t bother Jace one bit. She slid her hand up his length, smiling when he growled and thrust against her. Biting her lip, she gave him a nervous look before slipping down to the end of the bed.

Jace tensed as he realized her intention, preparing to stop her. He wanted to fuck her properly, but that mouth would surely ruin his plans.

Intentions be damned, all thought flew out the window the moment her hot little tongue touched the thick head of his dick, sampling. Jace let out a string of curses that would have made a sailor blush, but his sweet mate didn’t so much as bat an eyelash. Instead she slid her soft lips around the tip of his cock, running her tongue around, experimenting.

And that quickly, Jace had to pull himself away.

“I’m not finished!” she protested, pouting.

“Well I’m about to be if you don’t stop,” he scolded, pulling her back up to him.

Tessa leaned in and kissed him. He ran a hand down her flank to her inner thigh, seeking. She made another oh sound as he rolled her onto her back. He sought the center of her heat again, only to find her hot, wet, and more than ready. He rolled to center his body over hers, and she parted her legs for him. Settling himself against her core, Jace had to bite his lip when she wrapped her legs around him.

Using one hand, he guided himself to her opening but didn’t press in just yet. Jace wanted to make sure he didn’t hurt his mate by moving too fast. In slow, painstaking movements, he used all-too-short thrusts to work himself into her dampness.

Tessa, of course, had her own ideas. While he was busy restraining himself from pounding her until she screamed, she got tired of waiting. Using more muscle than he’d known she had, she flexed her thighs hard and pulled him all the way down in one rough stroke. They both cried out, and Jace looked at her to make sure she was unharmed. Wrinkling her nose, she smacked him on the arm.

“Quit stalling!” she ordered. Jace’s humorous snort of response was lost as he withdrew and plunged back in to the hilt, leaving her breathless with pleasure.

He set a faster rhythm than he’d planned, realizing that neither of them would last very long like this. Tessa moved under him, relentless, meeting each stroke as he pounded against her. Fissions of pleasure shot through his body, pooling heavily in his groin. When he started to feel Tessa’s innermost muscles clench, he grabbed both her knees and pressed them back toward her body to give himself access to her G spot.

He could feel the spongy spot of her inner lining, and guided each stroke to rub against it. In moments she was shaking like crazy, every muscle coiled on the verge of release. He stopped holding back his own orgasm, and was immediately on the brink. When Tessa cried out, half-sobbing his name, her sweet body clenching and milking his cock, a flood of pleasure washed through Jace. The release barreled through his body and mind, so intense that for several heartbeats he was blind to everything around him, deaf to his own shouts of pleasure.

Collapsing next to his mate, he pulled her closer and gasped for breath. Feeling her delicate heartbeat against his own, he closed his eyes and knew no more.