Jace (15 page)

Rage transformed his face with
an icy glaze only moments before his fist connected with her cheek. God, she
forgot how much being hit just hurt. How it sapped your strength.

Somehow she managed to stay
standing…and chuckling.

“I won’t go back with you.
Ever. You wanna know why I’m laughing? I’m laughing because you think I’ll just
go.”

He grinned. “You’re already
beat. Look at you, you can hardly stand.”

That made Mara snap up straight
and slam her knees tight. Her hands curled into fists with her nails ready to
claw. “You’re nothing to me. You don’t matter at all.”

His smile died. “That hurts,
Marabell. You know I don’t like it when you say mean things to me.”

Mara’s heart skipped a beat.
Not because of what Corey said but because Jace was standing up behind Corey.
He’d somehow gotten the ropes off. Blood soaked his shirt to his body, sweat
drenched his brow.

Jace took a step forward and
must have brushed against something because Mara and Corey heard it. That
single, little sound might as well be as loud as an explosion.

Thinking fast, Mara stepped
forward, grabbed Corey’s face and kissed him. He seemed so stunned he didn’t
know what to do. She didn’t want him to think about it, so she made it as real
as possible. She thrust her tongue in his mouth and kissed him like he was her
long-lost lover.

That gave Jace only a few
seconds but it was enough. Jace moved forward and struck. Corey jerked in her
arms. Mara’s eyes popped open.

Corey looked confused as his
grip on her loosened. Mara stepped back as Corey slid to his knees. “You little
bitch.”

Jace stood behind him with a
bloody knife. “Look away, Mara,” Jace said. There was something chilling in his
eyes.

“Don’t, Jace.”

He didn’t look at her. He only
looked down at Corey who began to crawl toward one of the guns that was on the
floor.

“Jace, just tie him up and
we’ll call the police.”

There was something dark in
Jace’s gaze. “Go upstairs, Mara.”

Mara watched Corey squirm a
little closer to that gun before intervening. She snatched up the gun. “I love
you and I’m sorry I didn’t say it like I should have earlier. I love you and I
want to be with you. Now come with me and let’s call the police, baby.”

Jace finally looked at her. He
blinked several times. With each blink the danger faded little by little. There
was a knock upstairs and voices. She recognized the sound of Gio’s voice.

“Help’s here,” she said.

“Obviously.” Jace’s lips
twitched. Mara couldn’t believe he was actually teasing her. Her lips twitched
too and they were both smiling as the cavalry came.

Chapter
14

Four days later

Jace’s house

Jace and Mara stepped into his house
for the first time since it was half-blown up by her psycho ex, Corey.

“It could be worse,” Mara said,
taking in the disaster that was his house.

Jace grimaced, not quite
feeling the same way. “I don’t have a deck and the back of my house has a blue tarp
covering it with bricks holding it down.”

“So you’re letting in a few
insects and rain leakage. No big deal.”

He gave her a look that stated
she was being ridiculous. Mara laughed and set down her hospital bag. They’d
both had a short stent in the hospital, but they’d come out alive and well. Now
there were other matters for them to discuss. Jace needed to figure out how to
get her to stay with him.

“God, I can’t wait to be back
to my house. I miss it so much!”

Jace’s heart throbbed. He
rubbed it, frowning. “Yeah.”

She smiled at him so brightly
it was difficult not to smile back. “I’m gonna go pack my things!” With a
squeal, she ran to her room.

Jace stood in his own house
feeling like an idiot. They hadn’t mentioned anything of love since that day.
They’d both been surrounded by mothers and his co-workers. His mom had baked
them two pies and Mara’s mom, after she heard what happened, drove out to the
hospital too. She brought enough chocolate truffles to last them a few
lifetimes. Of course they tasted so good, Jace doubted they’d last that long.

He heard her zipping her
suitcase. That sound conjured images of her wheeling her things out of his
house and he knew he couldn’t let the girl of his life go. Jace entered her
doorway. She didn’t turn.

“What’s up?” she asked, perky
as ever.

How could she be perky when she
was ripping his heart out if she left him?

“What are you doing?” he asked,
his voice strangely hoarse.

“I told you, silly, packing my
things. Why? Is something wrong?” She finally turned and saw his expression.
“What is it, baby?”

She wrapped her arms around him
and pressed a kiss to his chest. Jace simply held her. He let out a little
breath at how perfect it felt. She was in his house, safe, at home.

“I guess I’m a little unsure
what’s going on here.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because you’re packing your
things, Mara. Mind telling me why you’re doing that when we just got home from
the hospital?”

She pulled away, the smile
fading. “Why don’t you tell me what you think I’m doing?”

Jace stiffened. “You’re packing
your stuff so you can leave.”

She looked away, not meeting
his gaze. His gut clenched.

“Don’t toy with me right now,”
he said.

Mara looked up at him and
smiled. “How do you feel about babies?”

Jace jerked in confusion. “What
are you talking about?”

“I asked, how do you feel about
babies,” she said very slowly. “I said that because I’m going to have one in
about eight and a half months.”

Jace’s jaw dropped open, then
it snapped shut, then he staggered back a step and clutched at his chest. His
heart was about to burst out of him. “What?” he said dumbly.

She smiled at him—smiled! “We
didn’t use protection and now I’m full of Jace Mathew’s baby.”

“That’s an interesting way to
put it,” he said mildly.

She shrugged, hands touching
her belly. “Maybe I like the sound of all that.”

His stupid lips started smiling
as they always did around her. “Oh yeah? Maybe I do too.”

Her eyes lit up with a teasing
light. “Then maybe you should go pack too because we’re not staying here,
honey. I have my cottage, fairy tale house and I’m not leaving it for a house
with a hole in the back of it.”

“That’s all it takes to keep
you at my side?”

She pretended to think about
it. “You know, I’m not sure. I might need more.”

They were too far apart. He
rectified that by pulling her into his arms. There, that made him feel all
better, even as his heart went wild. “I love you, Mara.”

Her breath hitched—such a
beautiful sound—and she smiled. “I love you too, Jace. Now, why don’t you drive
me home in that big black truck of yours?”

He slid his hand over her
stomach, so flat now but already he was eager to see their baby grow inside
her. “Yes, ma’am.”

He leaned down and caught her
lips in a slow, sensual kiss.

“You know what’s next, right?” he
asked against her lips.

She shook her head. “No, what’s
that?”

He waited until she looked at
him. He didn’t even have to say it. With just his eyes he told her. And she
gasped.

“No, we can’t!”

“That’s right, sweetheart.
We’re getting married.”

Instead of frightening away,
Mara’s fear was gone. Her eyes lit up making joy coarse through his veins. “We
are not!”

“Yes we are.”

“You haven’t even asked!”

“I just did,” he said.

She slapped him playfully. “Did
not. You simply said we are like your word is law.”

He made a serious face. “Are
you saying you don’t actually want to spend the rest of your life with me?”

“I—I’m not saying that at all.
I’m saying…I don’t even know what I’m saying. Make love to me already, will
you?” Exasperated, she pulled him down for a wet kiss that curled his toes.

“I’d love to,” he said.

And so he did. Then he drove
them to her fairytale cottage that still needed to see some repairs after the
damage from Corey. Jace made love to her again, this time in her bed.

They cuddled on the bed
afterward with hands entwined. “Jace Mathews,” she said.

He grunted. He had his nose
buried in her sweet smelling hair—whatever shampoo she used he couldn’t get
enough of. Their bodies were warm and touching from head to toe. Life had never
been better.

“Mara Mathews,” she said
slowly.

He popped one tired eye open.
“What?”

“I’m testing it out. Before I
can say yes to you, I have to know if my name will sound good with yours.”

“You’ve got be kidding me,
babe.”

“I’m completely serious,” she
said.

“I was afraid of that.”

She chuckled, her belly
shaking. “Shut up. I’m listening. Mara Mathews. Mrs. Mara Mathews, sex toy
operator.”

“I like the sound of that,” he
whispered in her ear.

More giggles. He liked the
sound; it made him smile.

“Jace?”

“Yeah, baby?”

“I love you.”

“I love you too, babe.”

“Yes.”

Both eyes popped open and he
tilted her head toward him so he could look into her eyes. “What was that?”

She was smiling so huge her
cheeks had to hurt. “Yes, I want to marry you, Jace Mathews.”

Damn, but he started smiling
right back at her. “Smart choice.”

“You are so full of yourself.”
She burst out laughing, making the whole bed shake.

He fought his own laughter. “I
know what I want and what I want is you in my life for the rest of it. Because
if you’re not…because if you’re not, then life wouldn’t be worth living.”

Mara’s smile died as wetness
shined in her eyes. He hadn’t meant to say that. But it’d just come out. He was
glad it did though because she pulled him close and kissed him.

“We’re gonna be good,” she told
him.

And she was right. They did
real good.

Thank you for reading Jace. I hope
you enjoyed it. If you did, please help other readers to find this book:

1)  This book is lendable,
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Book 2 in the Bodyguards for Hire
series coming early 2014!
Find more of my titles at Barnes &
Noble
.

ALSO BY T. A. GREY

THE MacKELLEN ALPHAS

The Loneliest Alpha

THE KATEGAN ALPHAS

Breeding Cycle

Dark Awakening

Wicked Surrender

Eternal Temptation

Dark Seduction

Tempting Whispers

THE BELLUM SISTERS SERIES

Chains of Frost

Bonds of Fire

Ties That Bind

The Fallen King

THE UNTOUCHABLES

Take Me

STANDALONE WORKS

Capturing Jeron

Midnight Sex Shop

Ecstasy Overload

Evernight Romance Anthology –

‘The Vampire’s Mate’

Dedication

To Chuck, for being there and putting up with
me.

Acknowledgements

To the Alpha Squad, my awesome street team, my
editor, Lea Ellen, who is away diligent in cleaning up my messes, and my
supportive family.

About the Author

I love to write the kind of stories
that will keep you up late at night and make your heart pound. It's my goal to
make each new book better, more exciting, and more action-packed to keep thrilling
you. I'm always trying to push the boundaries with my imagination, and yours,
to create something new and different.

Open up one of my novels and you
will find hot, erotic stories that will make you laugh out loud, cry, and fly
through the pages. I write addictive love stories and I hope you like them.

Visit my website to learn more about
my books at 
www.tagrey.com
.

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