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Since I didn’t want to give hiht so that I was on my knees in front of him It made me a little taller than him When I reached for his face, I felt his hands come up to my waist to steady me

“Caleb—”

“I know, Jace,” I interrupted “It won’t ” I’d heard him loud and clear when he’d talked about his view of sex Admittedly, it had been hard to hear, especially since I’d been holding out hope that there ht be some part of him that wanted me that way But even if there was, he and I both kneouldn’t be any kind of match for him The idea of sex, even with hiressive sex and being used to get off? No, I wasn’t capable of handling that No matter how much a part of me wished I was

With her than him, Jace was forced to look up at me just a little I waited until his eyesto ainst his cheek I relished hoarh the scratchy stubble on his face and the way his fingers dug intothe move, because when I pulled back, his eyes were closed and he looked like he was in pain

“Jace,” I breathed

He opened his eyes It seemed to take him a moment to look at me Our faces were just inches apart It would’ve been so easy to lean in and taste his lips next

“Thank you,” I said softly, then I let ers do whatthere for ahim take root deep inside of me in a place where I’d be able to find it later Then I pulled out of his reach and stood I left hi there and headed back to the kitchen to clean up the breakfast dishes

I didn’t look back at him

I’d told him more than I’d ever planned He’din return As open as he’d been with me, I suspected he’d only scratched the surface He was so ined Of course, I’d seen hi his rescuer Never in a uessed he was so very… human

I heard the engine of the boat kick in and a fewAfter the dishes were done, I pulled up an to clean up the dried blood on ed at the wounds with ernails I hadn’t– he’d been wondering if I’d hurt myself while he’d still been asleep I supposed it was a look I’d have to get used to I didn’t really have the right to be upset that he didn’t trust me

He shouldn’t

The cuts had already scabbed over, so I left theh I was still physically exhausted, I feltback to bed and returned above deck Jace had gotten us headed south again, though eren’ton the back bench and took it up to the front of the boat with her than the front of the boat, so I knew Jace could see e to watch the hull slice cleanly through the water We traveled for about a half an hour before Jace stopped the boat, then dropped anchor I could see the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, which meant ere near Annapolis, which here my father had kept his own boat

The boat swayed as Jace came around to the front He sat down next to me and said, “So, any chance you have a recipe in your repertoire for striped bass?” He cracked a ss with the kiss I’d given him

“I think I can pull so the little woman home some fish to fry up?” I joked

“Hell, no,” Jace said as he gave entle slap on the back “I can’t fish for shit Dalton’s the one who has to bait my hook and cast my rod No clue how to clean a fish, either”