A/N: This idea has been stuck in my head since the moment I woke up this morning, so I had to write it down. Everyone loves some good Clace action.
Rated T for language and some steamy fluff, k?
Clary's first sensation was a dull pounding behind her eyes. The second was someone clinging to her hand.
Jace. Of course it was Jace. She would recognize his presence in her sleep.
She felt like she'd been backed over by a truck several times, but the pain was tolerable, and she could feel the tingling of several iratze all over her body. Her head felt blurry, but Clary recalled that the group, her, Jace, Izzy, and Alec, had been shadow hunting a small pack of demons they received a tip on. She vaguely remembered clutching her seraph blade as a large black demon had come from the shadows, but after that it was dark.
She guessed she was lying in a bed in the Institute's infirmary. She knew opening her eyes would mean being blinded by the lights in the room, but it might be worth it to see Jace. She involuntarily tightened her fingers around his at the thought.
"Clary?" she heard Jace say, and felt a movement next to her as he leaned closer.
She forced herself to open her eyes, blinking groggily, but being rewarded with a look of concerned relief on Jace's heavenly face. He had dark circles under his eyes, and his golden hair was mussed like he'd been running his hand through it.
"Jace?" she croaked, her voice feeling cracked, like she hadn't spoken in days. "How long have I been out?"
"Two whole goddamn days. Do you know how much I've been freaking out?" His voice sounded pained, as he leaned forward, placing his palm against her face, running his thumb over her cheekbone affectionately.
She ignored his question, instead closing her eyes again and leaning into his hand, enjoying the feeling. Her other hand, still laced with Jace's, squeezed reassuringly. "What happened?"
He sat back and sighed, and she opened her eyes to look at him, mourning the loss of his touch and close proximity. "You were attacked by a Raum demon. He caught you off guard, and had already bitten you by the time I got to you and killed it. Magnus has been working out the poison since we brought you here." He grimaced as Clary sat up and winced in pain. "We've given you a few iratze and a rune to dull pain, but there's only so much it can do demonic injuries."
"Yeah, I know. I'll be fine. " She looked at the way his shoulders slumped, and the pronounced lines on his face that she could see even in the dimmed lights of the room. Judging by how dark it was outside the windows of the infirmary, Clary guessed that it was sometime in the middle of the night. "Are you okay?"
He looked up at her through his eyelashes, flashing his molten yellow eyes and catching her eyes. He stood up from the chair beside her bed before sitting down on the sheets next to her. He rose up his arm, tangling a fist into her hair. She inwardly groaned when she thought about what a mess her curls must be after sleeping for two days straight. Jace didn't seem to care, though. He was searching her face intensely, like he was trying to memorize her features. His eyes burned, unwavering, and Clary's lips parted as she felt her stomach drop. She hadn't kissed him in days, and her body was rebelling.
"I missed you, Clary. I sat here, watching you, hour after hour, wanting to talk to you and hear you laugh and kiss you, but you never woke up. And I was afraid you would never wake up."
"Jace," Clary said, "it was just a bad Raum bite. This sort of thing happens all of the time, and just because it's me doesn't mean you can-"
Jace shook his head, closing his eyes tightly. "I'm not trying to stop you from shadowhunting, don't worry. I'm past believing that I can make you do anything you don't want to do." His eyes opened, the same piercing gold staring into her. "But I realized that even two days without you felt like a lifetime. If I really lost you, I don't know what I would do with myself."
Clary looked at him, baring himself to her, and nearly made her heart explode. That this flawless man with his beautiful soul could feel this way about her was completely overwhelming. If she'd been standing, she probably would have melted into a pool at his feet. She felt like he'd stolen her ability to speak and move, but somehow she found the strength to lean forward to press her forehead against his, resting her hands on the back of his neck. "I love you, Jace."
He sucked in a breath, brushing his lips over hers. "I love you, Clary. More than you could ever know."
She pressed her mouth fully onto his lips, and he wound his arms around her back, pulling her flush with his chest, pushing her back so that she was lying against her pillows once more. She felt him settle his weight onto her, not enough to crush her, but enough for her to feel every inch of his body lined up with her own. She felt the all-consuming need to be closer to him, running her hands up his muscular back and down his arms as he kissed her. She tried to deepen his kiss to pull him even closer, and he responded enthusiastically, sucking on her bottom lip, eliciting a small moan from Clary, before meeting her waiting tongue. She entwined her fingers through his soft hair, the other hand tracing down his arm to grasp his hand, as he explored her waist and flat stomach.
He normally tried to restrain himself when they kissed, knowing that letting them loose on each other would be like setting fire to a forest and expecting things to stay under control. Clary was delighted to see that he was letting her push the boundaries today.
He spoke, startling her. "Is this hurting you? Are you still sore?" he clarified.
She nodded her head quickly, cheeks flaming and heart racing.
"Good," he seemed to growl, before capturing her lips once more, stealing her breath.
She felt him wrap one of his hands around her wrist before moving her arms above her head and pinning it there. His mouth moved to her shoulder as she caught her breath, nearly gasping for air as she craned her neck to the side to give him better access to the white skin of her throat. He placed little kisses along her collarbone, licking and biting the skin of her neck, making Clary wriggle and move her free hand from his hair to the hem of his shirt, trying desperately to tear the fabric from his waist.
She felt him grin against her skin before returning to her lips again, prying her small hand from the skin of his defined abdomen that she had exposed and pinning it next to her other arm above her head. She whimpered, trying to pull her arms free to touch him, but he had both her wrists firmly held in one of his strong hands.
He kissed her roughly on her mouth, before moving to lightly bite her earlobe, exhaling a jagged breath into the shell of her ear, causing a shiver to rip through her entire body. Not being able to touch him was torture, and he knew it.
His hand slipped under her shirt once more, splaying his fingers across her ribs, his thumbs lightly brushing the fabric of the bottom of her bra. Clary gasped and arched her back involuntarily, crushing her chest against Jace's, earning a small moan from Jace. Clary smirked, finding an advantage over him, even though she couldn't use her hands. She wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him closer and his eyes slid shut, his face dropping down into the hollow of her neck as he breathed roughly against her skin, his hands automatically going to her hips. He traced the skin there with his fingertips, gliding over the bone of her hip jutting out at her waist, and ghosting the line of her thin sleep shorts. Clary's head pressed back into the pillow as Jace dotted kisses underneath her chin. His fingers dipped just under the waistband of her shorts and her hips bucked up against him unwillingly, causing them both to moan, the sound echoing in the large space of the room.
"Fuck, Clary," he groaned. Jace's hand went to Clary's side to steady himself, his grasp on her wrists loosening momentarily, and she seized the opportunity to free herself, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding him close to her.
He raised his head up to face to look at her. His ragged breaths matched her own as he stared down with hooded lids into her wild green eyes. He brushed a piece of her hair off her forehead and cupped her cheek before kissing her sweetly, with a gentler sort of passion than she had felt from him before. She kissed him back, eager to continue, but he held the kiss back from deepening. She sighed into his mouth, knowing that he was right, and begrudgingly unhooked her legs from his hips. He slowed the kiss before detaching himself to lay a single kiss on the corners of her mouth, and then her forehead, his lips lingering on the skin there. She let her eyes slide closed, taking in a deep breath and breathing in Jace, the faint soap and spice smell that could not be anyone else but her Jace.
When she opened them, she saw Jace watching her curiously. She again noticed the deep bruised patched of skin ringing his eyes, and how his cheekbones were slightly sunken in, like he hadn't eaten in days. She frowned, and sat up. He flipped onto his back, lying back against a pillow. "When was the last time you ate, Jace?"
He shrugged, and continued to stare at her.
"Did you sleep at all in the last two days?" she asked.
He shook his head. "I didn't want to fall asleep until you had woken up. I didn't' want to leave you. If something happened, I wasn't there… And I wanted to be there when you woke up, so I was the first thing you saw."
"Jace," Clary breathed out, a small smile on her face. She leaned over to kiss him once, trying to tell him everything she couldn't put into words. As they did every time, his lips seemed to mold against hers, like a puzzle piece snapping into place. Pulling back, she cupped his cheek. "Well, I'm here now. I'm awake and I'm fine. You can sleep now."
He nodded, and pulled her down next to him. She curled into his side, cuddling up against him as he wrapped his arms around her, and soaked in his warmth. She laid a hand on his chest, balling some of the fabric of his shirt in her fist. She immediately felt a wave of exhaustion hit her like a wall.
"I love you, Clary," Jace said quietly, his deep voice vibrating his chest against her ear.
"I love you too, Jace," she whispered, before drifting off into the best sleep of her life.