I finally got Chapter 14 up. I've had so much stuff going on in my life that I just couldn't ignore. I was going to upload yesterday, but things came up that I couldn't ignore. So, here is the latest installment of my growing story. Please enjoy and review!

Clary has decided to continue her research in the basement with Jace. With Jace there to distract her, how far is Clary willing to go? How will she get through everything with her golden boyfriend there to get in her way? Will her dreams put a damper on their activities? Read on to find out...

Chapter 14

After the awkward conversation I try again to go to my house. This time no one is shooting at me, but this time I make sure to be prepared just in case anything does happen again. I don't feel like getting shot again. It's not the most pleasant feeling in the world.

Jace makes sure to stay close and his guard is up. I make sure all my weapons are fully loaded and ready to be used. I don't want to have to deal with more assassins. They're a pain in the ass to deal with. I know because people have told me I get annoying to be around when I get pissed off at something.

When we turn onto the street my house is on Jace takes my hand. "What do you think we're going to find there?"

"Knowing Luke, I'm guessing something life changing," I grimace.

Jace takes my hand as we walk up the path to the door. I turn the knob carefully and make sure to not make a sound. Jace follows me just as silently as we make our way down to the basement again. I left the security off this time. I don't want to go through the whole process of shutting it down again.

Once we're inside I start going through some papers. I grab the book Luke left specifically for me and hold it with me. I'm sure anything that will be significant to me will be in this book. I just want to look around a bit.

As I pick up some old letters I notice some with my mom's name. I pick them up and read them. They're written in regular language. My eyes widen as I realize what this is. I turn to Jace. "Jace, come look at this."

Jace walks over and looks at the letter. His eyebrows furrow. "This is a letter to Luke telling him your mother was admitted into some sort of clinic doing experimental treatment. It was to make stronger shadow hunters. I guess your mom got dragged into it… look at this address. That's Alicante. The ancient home land of shadow hunters. This definitely proves your mother was a shadow hunter."

I rub my hands over my face. "This is so strange. I need to read the book Luke left me. I'm sure he explains everything, but it might take a while to get through everything."

"Why?" Jace inquires while rereading the letter.

I look up and show Jace the book. "Who knows how Luke organized this. Maybe it won't take me that long to read, but figuring it out is a different matter. Luke always did like to make things more complicated than they should have been."

Jace nods slowly then sets the letter down with an amused look on his face. "Hey, Clary…"

I look up. "What is it?"

Jace walks over and traps me between him and a table. "We're all alone in your house. There's no one to stop us from doing anything if we wanted to do something."

I cross my arms. "And just what did you have in mind?"

Jace wraps his arms around my waist. "A little of this and a little of that. You know, regular things couple do when in their exploratory stages of their relationship."

I place my hand on Jace's chest without pushing him back. "That may be true for normal couples. We are not a normal couple though. You're an arrogant asshole who is a shadow hunter while I'm an ex assassin who just found out is also a shadow hunter and part Downworlder. I don't think it could get much stranger than that."

Jace just pulls me closer to him. "It makes our relationship all the more exciting. Don't tell me you don't want to be with me."

The look in Jace's eyes tells me that this is something he thinks about a lot. I'm with Jace now and that's all that matters. I reach up to stroke Jace's cheek. "Listen closely, Jace. I haven't been in a serious relationship in a very long time and even that turned out to be fake. I'm not in this relationship because of one kiss at a club. I'm with you because it's my last chance for love and you're my only hope for it. I've lost so much already I don't want to lose this one chance. I want you to be the one."

Jace's breath hitches. He grabs my hand and presses a kiss to it then smiles at me with his eyes shining happily. "Thank you, Clary."

Jace kisses me gently then lets me go back to work. I'm a little surprised at that. I open the book Luke specifically left for me and start reading. The first few pages are of him confessing to some things then doing the same for Jocelyn. I sigh as I read another page. "Honestly, what's so hard about telling the truth that parents feel the need to hide everything from their children?"

I speak my thought out loud without knowing it until Jace responds to me. "Parents don't truth people under the age of eighteen. Especially teenager such as ourselves."

A scowl spreads over my face. "It's still a pain in the ass. I was honest with Luke about being an assassin. Why couldn't he tell me the truth? I'm mature enough."

"Are you sure?" Jace arches a condescending eyebrow with a mischievous smirk on his face. "You may be mentally mature, but you still have a very innocent feel to you. I think Luke was still thinking of you as his little girl. He just wanted to protect you. That's what I think."

I cross my arms and frown deeply. "I'm going to ignore your first statement because you actually said something very profound just now. It's a moment that should be reveled in."

Jace walks over and strokes my cheek. "You're adorable when you pout like that."

I push Jace's hand away then move to the other side of the room while trying to hide my blush. I push my hair back then look through a pile of papers on a desk. I notice some are in our made up language while others are normal language. I guess I missed these the first time I was here because I was so excited about it. I take a deep breath and go through everything carefully and slowly.

The entire time Jace stands back and out of my way. I can tell he's watching me from the corner of my eye. It makes me a little nervous. I need to be focused completely about this. I don't want to miss something again and Jace really isn't helping me here.

As I search I go between some papers and the book. I turn the page and come to a page that's blank other than a few written lines. I frown because this is in a very difficult language for me. Romanian. I never got that language and it got on my nerves.

When Jace sees my frustrated expression he walks over to me and stands behind me. Jace starts massaging my shoulders. "What's the matter, baby?"

I point at the book. "This language. I can't read it. I don't know why Luke put it in here if he knew I can't read it."

"Shocking," Jace chuckles.

I elbow Jace then turn back to the book. "Seriously, Jace. I can't read this."

Jace leans down as his eyes move over the words a smile spreads across his lips. Jace looks back at me with a gleam of excitement in his golden eyes. "Don't worry about it, Clary. It's nothing of an importance. Just go on with your work."

Then I find more papers with Romanian. I think Luke did this to get on my nerves. Maybe that wasn't the reason, but it still gets on my nerves. I know Luke didn't want me looking through all this stuff on my own. Luke wanted me to have help. I think Jace is the perfect person for that.

I make Jace sit next to me and put him to work. It doesn't look like Jace minds it at all. We need to keep track of where we are and what we're working on so we don't miss anything. I want to figure this out as soon as possible. The only problem is that a lot of this is really vague. Only the person who wrote these would be able to truly understand it without having to go through all the paper work.

Damn it, Luke! Why did he have to make things so complicated!

The only upside to this is that I get to see Jace so focused. The concentrated look on his face makes Jace look really adorable. I sigh and set the book down gently. Jace looks up, losing the cute expression. "What's the matter?"

I rub my eyes. "I'm tired. I think I'm going to go upstairs to get some sleep."

I stretch up then cover my mouth as I yawn. Just as I'm about to get up Jace grabs me and lifts me into his arms. "I'm tired too. Let's go get some sleep."

"Only sleep!" I demand as Jace ascends the stairs.

Jace chuckles then pushes the door to my room open. Jace sets me down on the bed then sits next to me. I place a small kiss on his cheek then moves to the head of the bed so I can put my head on my pillow. Jace follows me and pulls me close to him with his arm thrown over my waist.

I lay my head on Jace's chest. "Hey, Jace?"

"Hmm?"

"Promise you'll be here when I wake up," I look away, blushing.

Jace strokes my cheek. "I promise."

I grab onto Jace's shirt as I cuddle into him. I don't want someone I care about going missing again. Right now there is no one else in my life so important to me. Sure I have new friends, but it's not the same. Jace knows how to comfort me. No one else can do that for me. It's hard to admit, but even Luke can't do that for me.

My eyes slowly begin drifting closed. I can feel Jace stoking my hair. It feels soothing. Jace leans down to whisper something in my ear. My vision has already gone hazy. The rest of my senses are already starting to shut down. I don't know what Jace says, but for some reason it makes me shiver.

I turn toward Jace more. In return, Jace wraps his arms tighter around me. For a moment longer I'm aware of the way Jace holds me protectively. It feels so good to be held in caring arms. Loving arms… arms so strong, but gentle at the same time.

Finally, I get to fall asleep it feels like I'm floating in air. Everything is full of light. The light pulls away to reveal a beautiful meadow. There are flowers everything. Then I see two figures sitting in the meadow. One is a man and the other a woman.

All of a sudden I'm transported so I'm right in front of them. They don't notice me. The light is so bright I can't see the faces. I squint and focus really hard. I take in every feature I can actually see.

I catch a glimpse of fiery red hair. My breath catches. I look at the woman's stomach. My eyes widen. She's laughing with a hand on her swollen belly.

The man flashes a familiar grin that makes the woman blush. I try to take a step forward, but something is pulling me away. I try to get more details. I see a flash of gold and an arrogant smile. My heart is going a mission miles an hour when I sit up suddenly.

My movement makes Jace stir. I remember the dream as I look down at a sleeping Jace. My face heats up at the thought. Then Jace opens his golden eyes slightly and looks at me. A sarcastic grin spreads across his face. "Well, isn't this a nice thing to wake up to. If you wanted to sleep on top of me all you needed to do was do it. I wouldn't mind it at all. It would just bring us one step closer to the ultimate level of our relationship. If you know what I mean. Why are you so red?"

While Jace was talking all I could think about was the dream I had. I crawl off the bed quickly. "I'm going to take a shower."

Jace sit sup with a smirk. "Trying to cool off after staring into my hotness, I see. I think I'll join you. It might defeat the purpose of why you're taking a shower, but it will be worth it."

I throw Jace a look. "Asshole."

After slamming the door on Jace's face I turn on the shower. I make it as cold as I can handle. Despite how much I hate agreeing with Jace I'm taking a shower for the very reason he thinks. That dream really didn't help anything either. I was already having a hard time around Jace. This is just making it worse.

When I finish my shower I wrap a towel around myself and realize I didn't bring any clothes with me in here. I sigh and put on the clothes I had on the night before and go into the room. Jace is still there, lying on my bed. I'm glad I decided against going out in just my towel. That would have been awkward… for me.

I grab some new clothes from my drawers and look at Jace. "Why don't you go downstairs and make yourself useful by making breakfast?"

Jace stands and walks over to me. He kisses me passionately then grins. "Alright."

Once Jace is gone I change my clothes then look at myself in the mirror. I look a little more tired than usual, but that's to be expected. I've been doing a lot lately and I haven't been getting enough rest. I know better than this.

As I descend the stairs I smell bacon and eggs, maybe even waffles. I sit at the table in the kitchen and watch as Jace finishes making the food. Jace sets a plate down in front of me and leans down to kiss me. "For my beautiful killer."

I blush then look down at the plate. "Don't say it like that. Killing isn't beautiful."

"It is when it's someone beautiful doing the killing," Jace pulls a chair around the table to sit next to me.

Jace comes in as close as possible, but Jace still doesn't seem to be happy with it. Jace grabs me and pulls me onto his lap. He smiles happily up at me. I roll my eyes. "You're so immature."

"Are you sure?" Jace smirks.

Jace grabs the back of my neck and pulls me down. Jace presses his lips firmly against mine. When I back away to gasp for air Jace takes advantage of my opened mouth to catch me in a kiss again. Jace lets his tongue slide into my mouth.

I moan against Jace's mouth. The corners of Jace's mouth turn up. I frown slightly and pull away. I give Jace a look. "What the hell is the matter with you?"

Jace wraps his arms around my waist. "I'm just enjoying how you're enjoying this."

"Whatever," I roll my eyes then move off his lap.

Then I go to eat my breakfast. Jace smiles at me then eats his own breakfast. I love bacon. It's the best. When I finish with the bacon that's on my plate I move on to the eggs then get seconds.

As I sit at the table again Jace arches an eyebrow. "It's a good thing you work out so much or you would get fat from all the food you eat all the time."

"It's because I work out so much that I eat so much," I make a face at Jace.

Jace reaches over and pokes my cheek. "Either way, I'm surprised such a tiny person can stuff her mouth with so much."

For a second it's silent. Then a perverted smile slides across Jace's face. It takes me a second to realize what he's smiling about. I smack Jace's arm. "You're sick."

I take my plate to the sink. Jace moves behind me and kisses my neck. "Stop being such a prude. I know you're not quite that innocent despite being a virgin… so have you ever-"

"Shut the hell up, Jace!" I snap.

"It's just a question," Jace struggles not to laugh.

I turn to face him. "Jace, I've done a lot of things, but I would not stoop so low as to do something like that."

Jace places his hands on my hips. "Because you're so pure and you were saving yourself for when you would finally met me."

"Don't flatter yourself," I push off his hands.

Jace refuses to let me go. "You know… I'm glad you haven't done anything like that. I was really hoping that I would be your first time for everything. It's better when only one of us is experienced."

My face heats up, but I don't pay any attention to it. I roll my eyes. "You're so immature. Now move so I can go downstairs and get back to work."

Jace doesn't move. He leans in so our lips are barely an inch away from each other. "Clary, being in a relationship during this time of our lives isn't going to be easy. Part of why I want to be with you is because of the challenge. I just want you to tell me again we will make it through this together."

I cup Jace's face between my hands. "Jace, I swear we'll get through this. Together. I won't let what we have fall apart because of a secret our parents were to stubborn to tell us about."

Jace leans his forehead against mine. "Clary, you're amazing."

I smile then lightly kiss him before backing away. "Come on, Jace. We need to get back to work if we're going to figure out what mess our parents left us in."

Jace takes my hand and lets me lead him down to the basement again. I would like to spend some time getting to know Jace better, but there will be time for that later. Right now there are some things that I want to figure out. Things I want to know that Luke obviously hid from me.

One thing I really want to know is how someone is able to get angel blood in the first place. I didn't think angels would stay still long enough for their blood to be taken. I also want to know where the demon blood came from too.

I sit at a desk and get back to work. It's going to take forever to get through everything, but it's going to be worth it. Just reading through the book would be enough, but I want to know as much as I can. It's a bad habit of mine. If I don't know everything I get really on edge. Luke would have written everything I needed to know in the book. I just need to know more.

While I'm reading a few hours later I notice Jace losing interest in what he's doing. I should have known. Jace is the kind to get bored really quickly with this sort of thing. Actually, Jace sort of stuck me as the kind of person who really likes to read.

I sigh and put down my book. "You're bored. Aren't you?"

Jace looks up then leans back against his chair. "I don't get why we have to read through all of this. Everything we need is in that book. We could be doing other, more fun, things like making out."

I roll my eyes then turn back to the book. "Jace, every detail we can get will be important. You can't think that it's a waste of time. You'll just see. It's just as important as everything else."

Jace shakes his head then stand to stretch. I catch a glimpse of his rock hard abs. I stare for a second before turning away. Whoa. For some reason a six pack is a turn on for me. Whenever I meet a guy they either don't have a six pack or have overdeveloped muscles with an eight pack I think is ridiculous. That second one is really disgusting. I like how Jace is the right balance of muscle.

Of course I would never tell Jace that. It would go to his head. I feel Jace grabs onto my shoulders to massage them. "Come on, Clary. Let's take a break. It's not going to hurt."

I moan with relief as Jace works out a knot in my neck. I sigh and look up. Jace leans down to kiss me. I enjoy the upside down kiss. When Jace pulls away I smile. "Alright. Just for a little bit. I don't want you getting carried away with it though."

Jace smirks then moves his hands down to stroke my arms. "Come on, baby. Where's the fun in that?"

I look up read to snap at Jace, but he cuts me off with his mouth. I grab the back of Jace's neck to pull him closer. Jace grabs my waist and pulls me up. Jace sits down with me straddling him. I push my hair back. "This isn't the first time I've been in this position."

Jace arches an eyebrow. "Oh, really?"

I wrap my arms around Jace's neck and move my hips closer. "Yeah, but it's the first time I'm actually enjoying it."

Jace grins and wraps his arms around my waist pulling me closer yet. "You should be enjoying it. I'm a dream for any girl. Even a girl as badass as you."

"You really know how to ruin a moment," I sigh.

Jace leans in to kiss me chastely. Then he deepens the kiss. I return it without thinking. I usually take charge of these situations because of my past, but this time I want someone else to take the lead. I'm just glad it's Jace. Despite how I hate it, I like that Jace is experienced. It just means it's going to get better from here on out.

I play with Jace's soft curls while we make out. I slide my tongue into Jace's mouth. It's the only sign of dominance I show. Everything else is Jace which I highly enjoy. I feel Jace's hands venture under my shirt and tracing circles on my back. I run my hands down Jace's chest.

Jace pulls back slightly and kisses me once more for good measure. "So, are you sure you don't want to make this short break a little longer?"

I bite my lip. "We should really get back to work…"

Jace smiles then leans in again. "It looks like you need a little more convincing."

With that Jace pulls me into another passionate kiss. I surrender completely. Jace pushes my shirt up slightly as his hands roam over the skin of my back and stomach. I press myself closer to Jace. I love the hardness of his body against mine. I grind my hips into his. Jace groans against my mouth. I smile at his reaction.

Jace smiles against my lips and it feels like the one he gets when he's thinking of something bad. I pull away, but before I can get away Jace lifts me and drops me onto the table. There, he pins my wrists down over my head. I shake my hair away from my face. "What do you think you're doing, Jace?"

"Payback," Jace smirks as he moves between my legs.

I frown slightly at Jace, but don't push him away. "Jace, seriously. You can't seriously be thinking about doing it here? I mean, really?"

Jace arches his eyebrow. "Why not? It should be fun."

I finally decide to take control and flip us over so I'm straddling Jace again. I pin his wrists this time. "Get your mind out of the bedroom and try to focus. We still have a lot of work to do."

"That's why we should take care of all the fun beforehand," Jace flips us over again.

I roll my eyes and push Jace off me. I sit in my chair again. "Jace, if you manage to get through another hour of work we can go to my room and make out for as long as you want."

Jace sits and picks up some papers. "You got a deal."

It turn out Jace can really focus if he wants to. Jace gets through a lot of the papers before long then he waits for me while bouncing his knee. "Come, Clary. You promise me a make out session and I expect you to deliver."

I throw him a look, but I'm a little excited too. I don't want to rush though. I read one more page carefully and it gets on Jace's nerves. I smirk. I'm sure I can keep Jace on edge until he finally gets me into bed with him. The image of sunlight and two laughing people in a meadow flashes through my mind. My face burns red hot. Damn it!

When I finally finish I close the book and sigh. So much crap to deal with in such a little amount of time. I know more about the situation, but we need to figure out the Downworlder's sigh of the story. Magnus and Simon could probably figure something out. Luke already stated his reasons as both a werewolf and as a human in the book. It still makes so little sense. Now I just need a fay's perspective.

Jace grabs me suddenly and lifts me into his arms. I laugh as he takes me upstairs. Jace walks upstairs and into my room. He sets me on my bed then settles next to me. Jace grabs my hand and weaves his fingers through mine. I meet Jace's lips and he graciously responds. I feel his arm drape over my waist.

Making out with Jace is way better than making out with stupid targets. It's much more intimate and warm. It sends shivers throughout my entire body. I place my hand on Jace's neck so I can play with his hair. I love the way it feels.

I pull away slightly do to my need for oxygen. I curse it then go back in for another kiss. Jace sticks his tongue in my mouth again. I rub my hands over Jace's incredibly toned chest. I guess that's what happens when someone fights demon's for living. It makes a person ripped. Jace pulls it off so well.

Jace pulls away first and smiles down at me. "Clary, did you know you're my first girlfriend?"

My eyebrows go up. "What!"

Jace arches his eyebrow. "Is it really that surprising?"

"A little," I smile.

Jace brushes my hair away from my face. "You're just that amazing. You must be happy that you managed to get someone as beautiful and all around badass as me."

I roll my eyes then pull Jace down for a kiss. "Well, you managed to ruin another moment, but it's sweet that you told me that. I promise to try not to use it as blackmail."

Jace just grins.