Page 37

He simply leans down and kisses me again, slower this time, letting his fingers return to my hair. And when he finally pulls away, the teasing glint in his eyes is back.

"Now," he murmurs as one of his hands slips beneath the waistband of my shorts, "are you going to let me finish taking care of you, or do you plan to argue with me all night?"

I slip my hand behind his neck, my head falling back against the bench as he wraps his fingers around my cock. His warm hand closes over my bare skin, and a low groan escapes me.

"Shhh," he whispers, pressing a finger against my lips. "Don't wake the neighbors."

I bite his finger gently, earning a soft laugh. He strokes me slowly, his grip loose and teasing as he watches my face.

"You know what I was thinking about today?" he murmurs, leaning down to brush his lips against my ear. "While you and Nate were busy being miserable?"

"What?" I manage, my voice rough.

He shifts his weight, grinding against me slightly as his hand continues its slow rhythm. "I was thinking about how pretty Sloane looked when she caught you staring at her in that meeting last week."

My grip tightens on his neck. "Jace."

"Those big brown eyes going all wide when she realized you were watching her mouth."

He tightens his grip, twisting slightly on the upstroke, and I hiss through my teeth. The machine creaks beneath me as my shoulders press harder into the bench.

"And I was thinking," Jace continues, his voice dropping to something barely above a whisper, "about what she'd look like on her knees between your legs. Right where I am."

He bends down and kisses the corner of my mouth, featherlight, his thumb tracing the vein running along the underside of my cock. "Would you be patient with her, Eli?"

My hand finds his hip, fingers digging into the muscle. "Don't."

"Or," he kisses my jaw, my throat, the hollow where my pulse is hammering. "Would you just take what you want?"

Something inside me snaps.

One second I'm flat on my back with his hand wrapped around my cock, and the next I've got him by the waist, tossing him over my shoulder as if he weighs nothing. He lets out a surprised laugh that turns into a yelp when I squeeze his thigh hard enough to leave marks.

"Eli—"

I cross the distance of the gym in four long strides and drop him face down on the padded mats near the far wall. He tries to roll over, but I'm already on top of him, my weight pinning his hips, one hand fisting the back of his shirt and the other pressing his cheek into the mat.

"Fuck," he breathes, half-laughing, half-struggling.

"Shut up."

"Make me."

"You really should have brought lube," I murmur against his ear, my voice low enough that the words barely carry past the mat beneath us.

Jace goes still for exactly one heartbeat. Then his lips curve against the mat; I feel the shift, and it tells me everything I need to know.

"Check my left pocket."

My hand slides down the curve of his hip and into his pocket. The small, cool bottle is already there waiting. Of course he came prepared.

“You little shit.”

“I think what you meant to say was thank you for being so prepared, and you’re welcome.”

Humming, I pull the bottle out and set it beside his head where he can see it. My shorts come off first, kicked aside without care. Then my fingers hook into the waistband of his sweats and drag them down in one smooth motion, baring him to the humid air of the gym. His shirt follows, and I toss it onto the growing pile.

Near the corner of the mat, a tangle of resistance bands lies coiled. I reach over him, take the longest one, thick black latex, and let it slide through my fingers like rope.