Page 61 of Jace
“I’m on the pill and got tested after I caught pencil dick cheating. Thankfully, I was clear and have been dating dildos ever since.” Her happy face bends, worried. “And you?”
“Oh, so you wantthatkind of explanation?”
She winces. “Is that prying? Or violating your privacy?”
“I’m tested and clear. And less than an hour ago, I watched your pretty pussy lips milk my dick until I splattered my pecs with cum. We’rewaypast prying and privacy. Ask whatever you want, Viv.” I brush golden strands from her face. “My life and heart are open to you.”
Oh, damn.Here comes that adorable face she makes. It’s the one that’d make me sing a musical in the middle of Meeting Street for her. The one where her blue eyes blink while her pink lips quiver, all overcome with sweet emotions.
“Do you really mean that?”
“You know how they say photographers chase the light?”
“Yes. They say light makes the normal magical.” She reaches for my cheek, tracing its contour. “Like you.”
This is what I mean.My heart flips. I brush the back of my fingers over her soft cheek. “Well, you’re my light, Vivian Tate. I can’t see my heart without you.”
“Jace.” There’s that adorable look again. Eyes blinking. Lip quivering. This time, a tear escapes, wetting her hair. I wipe it away as she asks, “Do you know why I became a photographer?”
“Your mom, right? Aurora Tate is a living legend.”
Her smile is softly proud. “She is, but you can’t make someone follow in your footsteps; I started my own path. I became a photographer to search for love through my lens, and now…” She traces my lips. “I don’t need a camera anymore.”
“Jesus, Vivian.” I seek her lips. They’ll give me the breath I need because she just ripped mine away.
And there’s that word again: love. It’s right here, waiting for us to completely claim it together, and never look back.
She lets me kiss her, starting my search for everything inside her. Everything that yearns between us, but she pulls back. “You’re going to make me bawl in bliss.”
“And?” I lean in, kissing her jaw, licking the salt from her happy tears.
“And we know how we feel, Jace. We know we’re together.” I kiss her neck as she sighs. “Right?”
I angle back, leaving her no doubt. “Fucking right and forever, Viv. If that scares you, I’m sorry, but it’s the truth between us.”
She runs her fingers through my waves. Like petting a lion, I could fucking purr. “So we need to talk about how we’ll do this,” she says. “Me and you. Because I have baggage and you’re a package deal.”
“A package deal?”
“Six brothers, one sister, a Bratva father, and a ruthless enemy. Am I leaving anything out?”
I’m not mad. She’s right. If I’m going to keep her by my side—which by God and my gun, I am—Vivian deserves to know everything.
She presses, “So let’s try this again; where do we start?”
“I was born on December first, and?—”
“Jace.”
I laugh. “Sorry. You’re too cute when you’re pissed.”
“I’m not pissed off.” Her eyes sparkle. “But I need to know. I’m not some sheltered artist. I’ve been to war zones with my mother and did natural disaster relief with my dad. I know the world can be brutal; I just need to know more about the Bratva.”
“Okay, good place to start.” I wrap my leg over hers. “Bratva means band of brothers, and that’s us. Brothers who’ve been hiding in plain sight from our father for decades. I was almost six when we escaped Moscow to come here.”
“All by yourselves?”
“No, with our mom. She’s like a lioness, and we were her cubs.”
