Jace stood right before her, so close she could feel the feverish heat lapping off him in waves, sending every hair on her body shivering. His eyes glowed with something she'd never seen before – desire, admiration, lust and…hunger. The intent of his gaze frightened her. She wanted to reach out and touch him, when he suddenly sank onto one knee. Her mouth dropped.
In his hands was a glittering, diamond ring. The ring she'd drawn in her sketchbook of her dream ring.
"Clary," he said in a low voice, "will you marry me?"
She opened her mouth, but no matter how hard she tried, no sound came out. She tried to nod, to mouth yes, but her body refused.
After a moment of silence, Jace frowned in disappointment, his eyebrows drawn together. Something unreadable darkened his eyes until they were almost black, and he abruptly stood up.
"I see."
He backed slowly away from her in solid, determined steps, his eyes never leaving hers.
She wanted to cry out in anguish. Couldn't he see what she wanted? What he was doing to her?
A pair of arms wrapped around him, dragging him into the darkness. The faces of Kaelie and Aline danced in her vision as Jace disappeared completely.
…
Clary woke up in bed, sweating and panting, her sheets tangled in her legs. Sunlight poured through her bedroom window – which meant she was late to work.
Whatever.Itwasanintensedream.Veryintense.
She stumbled out of bed, her hair a rat's nest, and ran to the bathroom, brushing her teeth quickly. The last time she'd been late hadn't been good…it'd been the car crash.
And the first time she'd met Jace.
God,he'dmadeabigimpressionthefirsttime, she smiled as she poured cereal into the bowl of milk.
Maybe too much of an impression.
But the dream…it'd creeped her out so bad. Aline, and Kaelie, their faces snickering, evil, triumphant. Jace, disappearing like mist.
Maybe, Clary thought, maybe the dream was a warning. Warning her to be careful around Jace, that she was going way too fast with him, that he was going to break her heart, or that this wasn't going to end well for either of them.
She felt things spinning out of her control whenever she was around him. He was like a drug to her senses, and just by being around him, it was like a flap had closed over the sensible part of her mind.
Timetobemorecareful.Takethingsslower.
She was still thinking this as she walked into the room an hour later, and it was the reason why she pulled away after Jace kissed her hello. He frowned.
Hedidn'tdoanything…itwasthedream.
"We have a client," she said, feeling a bit guilty. "I don't want to get my makeup messed up."
Luckily, Jace didn't question further. "Alright. You okay, though? Never seen you late before."
Clary smiled, shaking her head. "I'm fine. C'mon. We have a client to take care of."
"Right." His eyes teased her. "Remember. The rules."
…
The woman was fat, Clary analyzed. And she wore way, way too much makeup. It was like she was drowning in it, the lipstick the wrong shade of red, the eye shadow at completely odds with her complexion and, not to mention, outfit.
And then she realized – she'd been doing this with previous female clients. And now she knew the reason. It was because of Jace and his "skills." But now that the rules were out, there was nothing to worry about.
"Hi," the woman greeted them, staring at Jace as if he was her favorite a chocolate chip cookie.
Clary felt like drawing her lips back in a snarl and pouncing onto the woman, just to put her in the right place. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew this pettiness wasn't like her, yet when Jace placed his hand on the small part of her back, guiding her to a chair, she couldn't help the satisfied smirk that stretched from ear to ear.
The woman's eyes zeroed in on Jace's overt, intimate gesture.
Ha.
Jace flashed a brief but uninterested smile at the woman, more out of politeness than anything, and the woman blushed. All of a sudden, the animal in Clary sprang to life again.
"Hi, I'm Clary," she said through gritted teeth. Better to finish as soon as possible.
"I'm Jace." Jace sent her a look. Clary glared defiantly back. So what if she was a little protective? It wasn't like he was the King of Generosity either.
The woman pulled out a chair. "Nice to meet you. I'm Miranda."
"As you know," Jace said, "we're here to introduce you to our best-selling product, Demon Spray. We'll lead you through the benefits of having this, and compare it to other antiviral software. Hopefully, in the end, you'll consider buying it from us."
"The way Demon Spray protects the computer is very unique. It first plants…"
…
"Wow," Jace said as they drove toward MC for an update to Valentine on their progress. "That was the first serious meeting we've had in forever."
"The first serious meeting we've had. Period." Clary scoffed.
Jace laughed, and when he did, she felt a familiar bubbling feeling rising in her stomach.
Ohno.Notagain.
She glanced at Jace out of the corner of the eye and found that he was looking at her. Their eyes made contact. She blushed and averted them quickly, instead reaching over and turning on the radio. Jace opened his mouth to say something, but the blaring music cut him off and his mouth became a thin line for the rest of the ride.
They pulled silently into MC's parking lot. Jace jerked his chin toward the towering building. "Let's rock this baby," he grinned, washing away any previous awkwardness between them.
So typical, Clary thought. So Jace.
And she lov – likedhim for it.
Yes. Liked was the word.
"That's bullshit."
Clary jumped a feet into the air.
Holyshit.Hecanreadminds?
"Sorry?" she squeaked, her eyes huge as she spun around to face Jace. And Sebastian.
Jace smirked. "Not talking to you, Dorothy."
She slapped him upside the head, lightly. "I thought I told you to drop that!"
His lips quirked up as he tilted his head, pretending to think. "Oh really?"
"Wayland," Sebastian suddenly interrupted. They'd completely forgotten about him. "I told you that the Phillies were losing. Go check if you don't believe me."
"Dammit, they can't be!" He thudded away.
Clary watched him go, laughing. "Next time, use something related to Harry Potter. He'd go berserk."
Sebastian chuckled. "Smart girl," he said, patting her lightly on the head. "I didn't even think of that."
She turned toward him, suddenly aware of how close he was standing. And how his eyes were assessing her from head to toe. He didn't even bother hiding it.
God, he was even worse than Jace.
"Uhmm…"
"Hey, Clary," he said, pushing a shock of black hair from his eyes. "Remember that lunch-date you promised me a long time ago?"
Lunch-date?Idistinctlyrememberitwasjust "gettingtogetherforlunch."
"Uh…yeah?" No?
He smiled. "Want to grab some Chipotle tomorrow, since it's obviously too late today."
DoesitlooklikeIwantto?
But then…it'd help her slow things down with Jace. Maybe Jace would back off a little.
Or maybe he would get all possessive and freak out. Ugh.
"Sure," Clary smiled back, taking the risk.
"Sure to what?" Another voice asked. She gulped, spinning around slowly. Jace slid his arms around her waist, drawing her against him. Placing her hands on his chest, and ignoring how good his muscles felt, she pushed away from him, meeting Sebastian's inky black eyes that betrayed none of his emotions.
They glittered, silently communicating with her. I'lljustleaveyoutoexplainit.
"Later, Wayland," he said, clapping Jace on the shoulder before sauntering away.
Jace looked back down at her, drawing her in again. "So…what did you agree to?"
Her fingers curled into balls against his shirt as she swallowed hard, avoiding his eyes. "A lunch-date."
Jace pushed away so fast she stumbled back slightly. Oh, God, how she missed his warmth and closeness. "A what?"
She dared a look up, flinching inwardly at his slightly-narrowed eyes. "You heard me."
He exhaled, wiping a hand over his face. And just that quickly, any emotion was erased. Jace chuckled quietly, turning away. "I should've known he'd do that. C'mon, Valentine's gonna be pissed that we're late again."
…
It was already dark as they pulled out of SAI. They'd worked extra late today, having been notified last second on a brand-new client that they needed to meet with. Clary rolled down the window, sighing heavily. On top of everything, Jace had been a little odd all afternoon.
"They could have planned her for tomorrow," she said, breaking the silence. "Instead of having us stay until 7."
A second's pause. "Yeah."
Silence once more.
Okay, Clary thought, a little peevishly. Fine with me.
"She asked hella questions," he said abruptly.
"Yeah," she agreed, sliding Jace a sideways look, which he responded by sticking his tongue out. They laughed, and started to talk naturally about other things, teasing and playfully pushing.
Jace automatically steered the car toward her street.
"Hey! Why my house all the time?" Clary blurted, realizing by a suddenly revelation that it was her house every single time he decided to stay over for dinner. "Do you think I like freeloaders?"
Jace's eyes suddenly lit up in the dark, glowing gold. And she knew that he could be thinking of nothing good. "You want my house?"
He turned the car, driving the opposite way of her place. Clary felt her eyes grow wide. "Jace!"
He sent her a foxy, flirty smile, not one inch of it missing the badboy perfection. "Calm it," he winked. "Don't you want to see my house? You've never been in it before."
Jace's house was alright, she decided as she explored the house while Jace prepared dinner. It was a house, rare in NYC, and it must have been hella expensive. The living room was huge, messy with scattered papers everywhere, a misplaced shoe, cookie crumbs, and empty bags of chips. So when Clary sneaked down the dark hallway to his room, she was already prepared for the disasterous mess.
She opened the door quietly. And stopped in her tracks, mouth open.
Because the room was in pristine condition. The sheets clean and white, the bed made, the bookshelf neat, and the desk ordered. Nothing was haywire. Nothing was the least bit messy. It put her room to shame.
A touch of lips trailed along her shoulder. "Like what you see?" Jace's arms wrapped around her waist and he buried his head in the crook of her neck, breathing in deeply. She tried to pull back, but couldn't, and was glad that the lights were off, or else he'd see her madly blushing.
"Not a good idea," he murmured, tugging on the collar of her shirt. "We're in my territory."
"Territory?" She managed a shaky laugh. "You sound so primitive."
Jace growled at her, and grinning, grabbed her hand and led her to the brightly lit kitchen. "Dinner is served."
"Box macaroni and cheese. Nice." Clary sat down.
Something mischievous sparkled in his eyes. "With a can of beer for both."
He placed two cans in front of them, clinking his to hers in cheers. Both of them tilted their heads back. She downed almost a fourth of hers in one gulp.
"Oh yeah?" Jace raised an eyebrow, drinking the rest of it in one gulp.
Not willing to be defeated, Clary grabbed another bottle, popping the cap open and pressing it to her lips, gulping half of it down. She grinned at Jace, both eyebrows raised, challenging.
He grabbed the bottle from her hands, and as she watched him finish it and lick his lips, she felt a desire to touch so strong it threatened to rip her apart. Jace's feverish bright eyes met hers over the rim of the bottle.
In a second, he'd flipped the light off, drenching them in darkness. She tried to force herself to say don'teven, but instead, somehow her lips crashed onto his and they were kissing, a raw melding of mouths, hot and furious, with her pressing him to the wall.
Jace groaned, and she pressed closer against him, loving the rush of desire he inflicted on her. Her nails raked against his torso as she committed every muscle to memory, and he bit her neck in response.
Later she'd realize that alcohol really messed with her system.
His hand slipped under her shirt, sliding up, drawing patterns on her sensitive skin, circling her naval. A string in her coiled so tightly and suddenly, she felt a need to cross her legs. But she didn't, instead rubbing furiously against Jace.
"Bedroom," he growled, stumbling with her and collapsing onto the bed, moving over her, kissing her fiercely.
Their clothes came off in a rush, like a competition, with ripping and tearing sounds, their hot skins sliding against one another and it felt so good. Clary closed her eyes as he pushed her over the edge, gasping out his name, and let the world spin into darkness and pleasure.
Ehehe…yeah. So they did it. Sorry if its not that good, but I was in kinda a rush. Anyway, dreams dreams dreams.. lol in Off Limits it was Jace. Now Clary….
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