What had she been thinking coming to Jace? But she knew. She was tired of being alone, tired of making all the decisions, and never knowing if they were right. She wanted someone to lean on, even if just for a moment. But in doing so, she might have made the worst mistake of her life.
All because she was scared, lonely, and needed Jace.
She should leave. Tonight. No returning to the hotel to gather the few meager items she had there. She would head back to Fort Worth and deal with the consequences of not having the money. She’d rather die than have Jace and his friends killed because of her. This was her family’s problem. No one else’s.
“If you leave, I’ll track you,” Jace said as he got to his feet and walked toward her. “I know that look on your face. You regret telling me anything. But know this, I lost you once, I’m not going to do it a second time.”
Taryn wanted to scream, to hit something. There was no good choice here. If she were smarter, stronger, she might have done things differently with Jerome and even Big Pete. But she had screwed that up royally.
Looking up and seeing Jace standing there had given her such hope that she had nearly flung herself at him. Jace was the only one who had never let her down. He’d been as steady and true as the giant live oak she had played on as a child in front of her house. She had instinctively known that Jace was the answer.
Even now, knowing he could die, she understood that he was her best chance for freedom. Yet she couldn’t allow him to do it. The time he had spent as a prisoner of war had left scars on his body and soul that would never heal. When they first met, he had told her that he was broken, but all she found was a gentle, kind, adoring man who showed her exactly what it was to be loved unconditionally.
He deserved better than her, and this fate she was leading him to.
“Did you hear me?” Jace asked. He closed the distance between them. “I’ll follow you. I know the license plate of your car. Between Ryan as Chief of Police and Danny as sheriff, there’s nowhere you can go that I won’t find you.”
Her heart raced, having him near. She stared into his hazel eyes and felt more tears threaten at the love she saw reflected there. She didn’t deserve Jace. The last thing he needed was more upheaval in his life. He had already lost so much of himself in the military. The fact that he was alive and hale spoke to the fighting spirit within him.
His hand brushed hers before his fingers trailed up her arm slowly. She forgot to breathe when his other hand came around to her lower back and pulled her close. How many nights had she dreamed of him? Holding her pillow and wishing it was him? Imagining his arms around her, cradling her so the world couldn’t touch her?
From the moment she had first seen Jace, she had been inexplicably drawn to him. He was like an unstoppable force that pulled people in. She hadn’t even tried to get away. The need to know him, to touch him had seized her, and the instant their eyes had met that long-ago night, she knew that she had known him—and loved him—in another life.
His nearness made her blood quicken through her veins as her body heated with need. The minute he looked down at her mouth and lowered his head to hers, she stopped breathing. No air flowed into her lungs until their lips met.
The chaos that had surrounded her these past years halted as if Jace’s very presence commanded the cosmos. His mouth moved over hers, teasing and tasting and nipping. She sighed and wrapped her arms around his neck. A moan rumbled through his chest as he held her firmly and slid his tongue between her lips.
An inferno of need and a longing so intense, so potent that the rest of the world ceased to exist, engulfed her. Jace kissed her as he did everything else—with everything that he had and was. He knew just how to hold her, how to move his hands over her back. When to deepen the kiss in a way that sent her already hungry body into overdrive.
His kiss was like a drug, and she was experiencing her first taste after what felt like an eternity. The future was uncertain, but she had tonight. In the arms of the man she loved so much that it hurt.
Tears fell down her cheeks as he ended the kiss. They were both breathless, their passions running high. Jace gently brushed away her tears with his fingertips. She smiled to let him know that they weren’t tears of sadness.
“I never thought I’d have you in my arms again,” he said.
The tears fell faster. “I didn’t either.”
“I don’t think I can let you go. Not tonight. Not ever.”
“You won’t have to if I’m holding onto you.”
This time when his mouth descended on hers, the kiss was fueled with desire that she couldn’t ignore. They tore at each other’s clothes until they were finally skin to skin. She didn’t have to tell him about her need because it was his, as well.
Jace pressed her against the wall, helped her wrap her legs around his waist, and was inside her in one thrust. Both of them stilled for a heartbeat, taking in the feeling of their bodies joined once more. When he began to move, all Taryn could think about was how right it felt to have his cock sliding in and out of her.
She threaded her fingers into his hair as their bodies moved as one. Their gazes locked as they got lost in each other’s eyes. Her breath hitched when she felt her orgasm building. A pleased smile graced Jace’s lips as he recognized that she was tumbling toward her climax. He shifted just slightly, and that’s all it took for her body to tighten as bliss filled her. Taryn clung to Jace as he shouted and climaxed, as well.
They clung to each other for several minutes, and then Jace pushed away from the wall and carried her to the sofa, lowering both of them down. With their bodies still joined, they lay entwined, his fingers brushing at her hair.
“I like it longer,” he said.
She smiled, so happy she thought her heart might burst.
“I meant what I said earlier. If you leave, I’ll follow you.”
She looked into his hazel eyes and nodded. “I know.”
“How long do you have before you need to return to them?”
“Two and a half days.”
“I’ve got the money, but I can’t get to it that quick. I’ll need to talk to a few people to see if I can get a short-term loan until I can pull the rest of the cash from my investments. I’ll start everything first thing in the morning. Hopefully, I’ll have all five hundred thousand for you by lunch. I take it you need to bring cash?”
Taryn nodded, her throat tight with emotion.
Jace paused and twirled a lock of her hair around his finger. “Stay here tonight. Please.”
“Are you worried I’ll leave?”
“You want help, but you don’t want me involved. And since you know I won’t give you the money otherwise, you’re telling me what I want to hear but are considering returning to these people alone. Tell me I’m wrong.”
Taryn drew in a shaky breath and looked at Jace. It was because she loved him so deeply that she was trying to do everything possible to keep him out of the shitstorm she was in. “I believe Payton is still alive. You’re right in saying that I need confirmation, which I’m going to get. Since I think she’s waiting for me, and I need the money, it means I also need you. Even if I would do anything possible to keep you out of all of this.”
He stared at her for a long, silent minute. Taryn prayed that she looked convincing because she was crying rivers of regret and guilt inside. The first time she’d left Clearview in the middle of the night, she had done so against her will. The second time would be her decision.