Shattered Dreams (Boys of Bellerose, #3)(20)
Closing the bathroom door, I moved toward the shower, turning it on as hot as I could handle, hoping that would ease the pounding of my headache. The painkillers should kick in soon, but until they did, the throb grew steadily worse.
Sinking to the floor, I drew my knees up toward my chest, wrapped my arms around them, and let the water pour over me as I thought about yesterday. Such a perfect day, but Jace’s actions this morning proved that our truce was already over. He wasn’t playing nice, and I would do the same because he was an asshole who needed a constant reminder that he wasn’t truly a god.
When I had hogged enough of the hot water, I switched it to a little cooler and quickly washed my hair and shaved all the parts of my body that needed shaving before I got out. After wrapping a towel around myself, I brushed my teeth at the sink and dried my hair quickly with the hairdryer in the vanity. Everything I needed was always around when I was with the boys, and it wasn’t as if I’d forgotten the life where I barely scraped by and could only wash my hair weekly to try and conserve products, but the memory was dulling.
Now I just needed these nightmares to fuck off and the therapy sessions to end, and life would be amazing. Okay, sure, there were probably multiple mafia families still trying to murder me, but for some reason it didn’t feel like that was my greatest concern at the moment.
Here, I was safe, and I would enjoy it for as long as possible.
Dressed in jeans and a sweater, minimal makeup on and my hair hanging loose down my back, I left the room and found that the boys were back to their song composing from last night. Midnight blue eyes met mine when I stepped into the room, and Jace shot a scowl my way. “We’re on a deadline, Bellerose. Maybe you can hurry the fuck up with whatever you’re doing in the shower next time.”
My return smile was so sweet his teeth should be hurting. “Oh, Jace, sweetheart, it takes a really long time for me to orgasm when you’re in the house. Something about your presence just kills it for me. Hence the long shower.”
The blue in his eyes faded further, and I barely kept my laughter from spilling free, especially when Rhett barked out a laugh. Before Jace could snap back, I spun and headed for the kitchen. If I was going to deal with his toxic ass, I needed coffee by the boatload. Thankfully, the headache had subsided at this point, but it’d be back soon enough if I didn’t hydrate and caffeinate.
Some wonderful person had left the pot half full, so I filled my cup, adding in some creamer and sugar for the extra hit of energy, and sank back against the bench to enjoy it in private. The Christmas decorations were still scattered around; no one had cleaned away the festivity yet. And since they were still working on the song, I wondered if today would end up being as nice as yesterday.
Vague hope, of course, as I spun to add more coffee to my mug, only to find strong arms banding in on either side of me, trapping me against the kitchen bench. Without turning, I knew it was Jace. Fuck, I knew every muscled curve of his bronze skin, even if his body was bigger and harder these days.
“What the fuck do you want?” I grumbled, still facing the bench as I sucked down another gulp of coffee. “Can’t you just go back to making bad music and leave me alone.”
He remained infuriatingly silent, while still not releasing me from his hold. When I couldn’t take the tension any longer, I turned in the very small circle he’d left me and immediately wished I hadn’t. His face was too beautiful, and he used it as a weapon far too often. Those eyes, once again a deep, rich blue, bored into me. He leaned in closer, until our faces were scant inches apart. “Did you really make yourself come?” he murmured, the husky tones of his voice stronger since he’d been singing. “In the shower. Thinking of me.”
Swallowing roughly, I almost dropped the coffee but somehow managed to catch the handle again. “I—” I cleared my throat. “I think you misinterpreted what I was saying out there.”
I sounded breathless, but I got the whole sentence out, which would have to do.
White teeth flashed as his lips tilted up—it wasn’t a comforting smile. It was a predator scenting his prey while realizing he was close enough to kill. “We both know the truth, Rose. There’s never been another who could get you off like me.”
In some ways that was true, but in others, his bandmates were proving it wrong every damn day. “Angelo could,” I reminded him.
Jace didn’t bite like he might normally. Those two fuckers being best bros again was going to be a real issue for me. “Not like me. Or at least not like me and him together.”
Fuck. I couldn’t argue there. I was apparently built to enjoy multiple men in the bedroom.
“What do you want, Jace?” I snapped, needing to change the subject. “What the fuck is the point of this?”
Something flickered across his expression, like a brief moment of unease or uncertainty, before it vanished under his cocky smirk. “Just to remind you that no matter how much you try to run from the past, it’s still here and it’s not going anywhere.”
Throwing the mug onto the bench made the last of my precious coffee swish over the side, but that was a small price to pay for being able to slam my hands against his chest and push him away.
Or attempt to push him away.
All that actually happened was I got closer, and Jace leaned into me more, until we were pressed together from the chest down. Chests that heaved as we fought for breath, the proximity enough to have me shaking.