The Many Faces of Tully
First Night

I don’t understand why I ever thought I should push Jace away. I need him. I don’t care if it’s selfish of me. I’ve had such a bad time these past six years that I deserve this. I deserve to be happy. I deserve to be able to kiss, and be kissed by someone as amazing as Jace.

He’s kissing me back fiercely, as though he thought he was never going to kiss me again. As if the short amount of time I shut him out had starved him of my touch. His hands automatically wind into my hair, pulling my face closer to him. I don’t care that he knots my hair and accidentally pulls it; I just want to let him know I’m not going anywhere.

“I’m sorry,” I mumble against his lips. “I’m so sorry.”

He’s shaking his head, brushing his lips against mine. “Don’t be.” His warm breath washes over my face. “I knew why you did it. At least you know now that I need you more than you think you need to protect me.” He’s smiling.

“I need you more than you need to be protected,” I agree, and he starts kissing me again. He starts leaning up against me, forcing me back. I let him push me backwards until we are lying on his bed. My lips part with his, and I marvel how he even tastes clean. His breath is always warm and fresh, and he always tastes that way too. One could get used to kissing someone who never has bad breath.

We adjust so we are both lying completely on the bed; Jace’s knees are on either side of my thighs and his hands are on either side of my head, holding him up so I’m not crushed beneath his weight. I still feel his body against mine, and I want it closer, so I wrap my arms around his waist and pull him closer. I can feel his heart pounding in his chest, and know mine is beating just as hard. It’s the good kind of beating though, not in the ‘I’m about to explode’ kind of beating. I’ve never been further away from exploding.

I can feel his muscles through his shirt, but then again, that’s not good enough for me either. My hands find their way under his shirt and trace their way up his hard stomach, pulling his shirt up with them. When my hands make it up to his neck he sits up on his knees and tugs his shirt over his head and tosses it on the floor.

I smile at his bare chest. I’ve never seen him with his shirt off before, and it makes my pulse jump excitedly. I sit up, reach forward and trace my hands over the hard muscles on his stomach and chest. He even has that V on his hips, disappearing beneath his boxers that hang low on his hips, along with his jeans. The thought makes my stomach flutter, and my breath catches.

Jace raises an eyebrow at me, and I notice his chest is rising and falling somewhat rapidly too. I smile at him, and he returns it quickly. I raise my arms up, to indicate him to take off my shirt too. His breath comes out jaggedly as he reaches for the hem of my shirt and pulls it up slowly, revealing my stomach some more. I silently thank God that I’m wearing a lacy green bra with matching panties. This was in no way planned. I just like to match.

My shirt is lying on the floor next to his now, and I look up at him vulnerably. The way you do when someone is really seeing you for the first time. His lips are pressed into a hard line, and he’s trying to control his breathing through his nose. He reaches forward slowly until his fingers touch my cheekbone. He traces down to my jaw, to my neck, and I shiver. His hand is on the back of my neck now, pulling me into him again, kissing me roughly.

My hands go to his back, feeling his muscles there. My fingers trace down his spine and he shivers too. I can feel goose bumps blossoming where my fingers traced and my stomach warms considerably. His breath catches and I move my lips to his chest, tasting his skin there. Warm, smooth, hard, and salty. I notice he stops trying to control his breathing and is gasping for air, like I am.

Suddenly he is forcing me back into a lying position. He pushes my arms above my head and leans forward with them. I feel him kiss the ring on my thumb, and then down my hand. He kisses around my wrist, where one of my tattoos is, and then does the same on the right wrist. His lips go down my arm slightly until he hits the watch which had twisted so the face of it is on the inside of my arm. I feel it press into my skin as he kisses its face, and then he continues kissing down my arm. His lips are so soft and warm that I never want them to leave my skin. When he gets to my bicep, he skips over to my ear, and kisses the earring there. He kisses up my cheek, my lips, and then down my other cheek, skipping over to the panther tattooed on my bicep.

My heart is beating irregularly, and my breath keeps hitching and catching. His lips trace up my shoulder, making my lower back tingle, until he hits the string of the necklace and kisses down that, down my collarbone, until he hits the shark tooth. He uses its point as a guide and starts kissing down my sternum. I’m breathing loudly but I can’t seem to quiet down. His lips keep kissing down my torso until he reaches my belly button ring, which makes a moan escape from my lips.

It catches me off guard. I have never made a noise like that, but he is driving me crazy. He is kissing the parts of me that I care most about; my objects that I wear regularly. He wasn’t just kissing me, but my memories of them. The parts that I hold closest to my heart. I know girls like their ear nibbled, or their necks bitten or something, but this, this makes desire course through me in waves.

As soon as the noise escaped my throat, Jace looks up at me, and I see the desire in his eyes. I wonder if it is burning as brightly in my eyes. He shivers, which in turn made me shiver, both of us breathing heavily. We don’t say anything, but we don’t need to. We both know what the other wants. I use my powers to turn off the lights, and I hear him laugh, his breath tickling my stomach.

“Have I ever told you how much I love your powers?” he asks me. I just laugh. I feel the bed move as his weight adjusts and he’s suddenly kissing me again. How he found my lips in the dark, I don’t know. All I know is his skin burning against mine, his soft lips pressing into mine, and his strong sure hands actually shaking in anticipation.

It’s hot. That’s all I realize when I wake up. Uncomfortably hot. I’m about to try to kick off the covers when I realize I’m lying on my side, a position I normally don’t sleep in. I open my eyes and I’m confused at what I’m seeing. I look up and see Jace’s face and it dawns on me. I smile in memory, and at his arms wrapped around me, holding me to him, even in his sleep.

I look up, studying his face in sleep. His mouth hangs open ever so slightly, and he breaths deeply through his nose, no snoring. His face slack, but still somehow seeming kind. People tend to look vulnerable in sleep, but he doesn’t really look any more vulnerable than normal. You can really tell that Jace is always real with you. He never puts on a facade, to seem tougher than he is. He is always himself.

I smile even wider as he makes a small sleep noise and smacks his lips slightly. His arms suddenly tightened around me, pulling me closer to him, smashing my face into his chest. His body is putting off a lot of heat and I realize that’s why I’m uncomfortably hot. I am going to start sweating in no time if I stay trapped against his chest like this.

I start kissing his chest, hoping it will wake him up, remembering he is a light sleeper. Sure enough I hear him groaning as he unwraps his arm from me and stretches it out. I take my chance and pull away from him slightly. He looks at me quizzically for a second, and then a small smile spreads across his lips.

“So that wasn’t a dream?” Jace asks me.

“You have dreams about me?” I cock my head to the side, flattered.

He nods. “I’ll let you in on a secret though.” He leans closer to me, conspiratorially. “Reality is so much better than dreams.”

I beam at him. He takes his arm from beneath me and stretches it above his head. Afterwards, he starts shaking it out. “Although in dreams, I don’t get a dead arm.” I make an indignant noise in the back of my throat and smack his arm. “Hey, I would take a dead arm any time if it meant waking up next to you.” He leans forward and kisses me.

“You’re such a suck-up,” I reply.

Jace’s alarm goes off then. He sighs heavily and turns it off, frowning at the time. “Care to shower?” he looks at me. I laugh.

“I don’t have any clean clothes.”

“You can borrow some of mine. Besides, your room is right next door.” He scoots to the edge of his bed and puts his feet on the floor. I look at him, taking in his tousled hair, the sleep in his eyes that he is currently trying to rub out, and the creases of the pillow lined on his face. I look down, seeing his hard muscled abs, and his boxers hiding the V lines again. I smile.

“I think I’ll just take my walk of shame and take a moment to come back down to reality,” I decline his offer. It’s true though. I have to bring myself out of this perfect heaven and focus on our boring day.

“Shame?” Jace looks at me. “I don’t think it’s a walk of shame if we’re dating. And it’s hardly a walk at that. It’s like a scoot. Or a shuffle,” he teases me.

“Sorry. I didn’t know what to call it. I’ll go take my shuffle of pride and come down from my high.” I scoot to the edge of the bed too and start picking up my clothes to put on.

“I make you high?” he questions me. I stand up, pulling my jeans up. I turn and face him.

“Very.” I bend down and kiss him. “You are the most addictive drug known to mankind. One hit and you’re hooked. You’re stuck with me.” I scoop up my shirt from the floor and catch his smile as I pull it over my head. “Good thing I have such a strong will. Otherwise I wouldn’t be able to refuse offers, such as these. I know I’ll get my fix later.”

“I think you might be slightly more addicting. I think I might have to get my fix frequently,” he says, standing up and wrapping his arms around my waist. He kisses me deeply and almost makes me forget that I am trying to leave.

“Go shower,” I tell him. “You stink,” I lie. He just laughs and lets me go reluctantly.

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