For Richer, For Poorer （To Have or To Hold, Book Two）

CHAPTER 5

　　The conversation changed to lighter subjects, and instead of trying to ask him anymore questions, I decided to enjoy the night with Jace. It had been a while since we had eaten dinner together, and instead of getting all heavy about everything, it was lovely to enjoy a Saturday night out with a handsome man; a man whom I did happen to be head over heels for, in my own unique way. I’d received the answers to my questions about his brother and why Jace had been in Barbados at the time I had, so I was satisfied that I could ceasefire on asking anything else until another night.

　　“Would you like to dance?” Jace asked, motioning toward a dimly lit dancefloor that was in the backdrop of the restaurant setting.

　　“Yeah, that would be lovely,” I beamed, placing my champagne flute down.

　　Taking my hand in his, he led me over to the dancefloor, and sweeping me up into his embrace, he placed one hand around the small of my back, while holding my other hand in his. Swaying me along to the soft, melodic music, I let my cares drift away, and was taken back to dancing on the sand in Jace’s arms, and it had been the happiest I had ever been.

　　Locking into his green eyes, I could feel the intense pull that was soaring between us; pulling us into each other like a vibrant, invisible thread. Unexpectedly placing his lips on mine, I was swept away in my own world, where there was only me and him that existed. That blissful world, where no brothers and no cares were to be had at all, and I could’ve stayed there forever.

　　“I want you now,” he rasped into my ear, briefly pulling away from the kiss.

　　My stomach turned with the most ferocious butterflies, and all common sense flew out of the window. Remembering the nights of passion that we had once shared, I wasn’t saying no to this, and couldn’t wait to be at one with him again.

　　Taking his hand in mine, it was my turn to lead him outside of the restaurant, as Jace then stepped forward, eager for the valet to hurry up and bring his car to him. As soon as the car pulled up, I whipped around to the passenger side and got in, as Jace entered the driver’s side and made sure that I was comfortable.

　　Driving out to an unknown destination, I reached over and slid my hand up his thigh, and I could feel the clench of his erection underneath the fabric of his trousers. Pulling into a dense stretch of road, with only the beam of light from the headlights being our source of illumination, I unclipped my safety belt, as Jace reached over to me.

　　Brushing my hair behind my ear with his fingertips, the tension grew between us, as he reached over and pulled me into a smouldering kiss. Running my fingers through his luscious hair, we pulled each other closer. Pushing his chair back, I knelt up on my seat and kissed him with a passion that only came from wanting a person so much.

　　Running his hands up my body as I knelt up and cupped his face in my hands, I hooked my leg over the side of him, to straddle him on his lap. Draping my head back as he lay kisses down my chest, I had never wanted anyone so much in my life. With his hands gripping my back, I leant back on the steering wheel and savoured every touch from him.

　　Leaving tingles up my inner thighs, he lifted my dress, and I reached down as I continued to kiss him, undoing his fly in the process. Shuffling upwards, I pressed myself down and around him, and gasped with the sheer pleasure of becoming one with him again. I had missed him so much.

　　Hearing his groans below me and watching the ecstasy fill his cloudy irises, I thrust my hips backwards and forwards, toward the most blissful of ecliptic ends. Kissing up his neck and lightly sucking on his ear lobe, I could hear him gasp, as his hands pulled my hips deeper onto him.

　　Reaching the ultimate goal together, with the last throes of sheer satisfaction filling the sexually charged air around us, I sagged into his arms, to feel the pounding of my heart against his chest.

　　“I…” he whispered, holding me close to him.

　　“What?” I gently whispered back, not wanting to fracture the moment.

　　As he locked eyes with me, I saw the shift in emotion, and his face turned serious.

　　“We better get you home,” he replied in a shifty manner, moving me from his lap.

　　Taken aback by his sudden change in his mood, I manoeuvred myself from off his lap and back into the passenger seat. Watching him fixing himself and pulling up his fly as I placed my dress back down into position, I couldn’t fathom what was going on with him.

　　“What is wrong with you?” I snapped, feeling my already war-weary patience slip even further.

　　“What do you mean?” he asked, not daring to look in my direction.

　　“You know damn well what I mean! Will it be back to ignoring me again?” I huffed, fixing my shoe back into place.

　　“What? No, I…”

　　“Come on, Mr. Morgan! What excuses do you have now?” I eyed.

　　“Ugh, you’re impossible,” he growled, opening the driver’s door and stepping out of the car.

　　He wasn’t getting away that easily.

　　Following him on, I opened the passenger door and got out of the vehicle. A few paces from the car, he was leaning back, running his hands through his hair and looking up at the sky. Making my way to the front of the car, and briefly noting the mist running through the beam of the headlights, I stopped, wanting an explanation for his temperamental behaviour.

　　“I’m not impossible, Jace,” I began. “I think you’ll find that you’re talking about yourself. I find your half-answers and cryptic behaviour impossible to work out!”

　　He swept around on the spot, with his silhouette turning to me in the dark. “I told you that you didn’t deserve what I can’t give you, but you just…”

　　“Just what?! Sleep with you? Yeah, I gather now that I shouldn’t have bothered, because you seem to always want to push me to the side!”

　　Making his way over to me, he stopped inches away from my body and to my surprise, lifted his hand and cupped the side of my face. Looking up at the shadowy contours of his face, he was burdened with something that I either would never find out about, or wasn’t meant to know. Sensing the abyss seeping from his fingertips, that was buried deep inside of him, I knew there and then that I wasn’t meant to swim in the depths of his dark waters, and I wasn’t sure how to feel.

　　Without speaking a word, I could read exactly what was on his mind, and that was that he couldn’t, or didn’t want to be with me. Perhaps he could in a s****l sense, but certainly not in an emotional one.

　　Moving his hand away from my face, I’d had enough.

　　“Take me home,” I muttered, moving away from him and getting back into the car.

　　Sitting back in the passenger seat and folding my arms in defiance, to my amazement, Jace was still stood at the front of the car – stationary and with his head bowed. I was right, and I could tell from his expression that my almost telepathic read of the situation had been correct.

　　Shifting from standing at the front of the vehicle, he slowly got into the car in an exasperated fashion. Starting the engine, with only the soft hum of the radio playing out, Jace began the journey of taking me home.

　　With my heart breaking for what seemed like the millionth time in recent months, I looked over at him; the streetlights creating flashes of light on his perfect profile.

　　This beautifully burdened man would never truly be mine.