Rocking Kin (Lucy & Harris, #3) - Terri Anne Browning Page 0,73

nipples were diamond-hard in my bra and my panties were soaked from just being that close to him, but having his nose rub so carefully over mine made my heart beat in a way that exhilarated me.

And it scared the hell out of me.

“You look beautiful in that dress, by the way.” I shivered again as he moved his hand off the wall to touch my exposed collarbone from my strapless ball gown. Yeah, a fucking ball gown. I had hated putting the damn thing on, but with Jace touching me so tenderly right then, I was glad I was wearing it. “I’d rather you were in jeans and an old T-shirt, though. That’s my real Kin. Not this made-up, Barbie-doll version,” he murmured. “I mean, you’re hot either way, babe, but I love the other Kin a hell of a lot more.”

Had he just said love? My desire-fogged mind couldn’t hold on to that thought for very long.

“Jace…” My voice came out husky, full of everything I was feeling and trying so hard to fight. “We shouldn’t be doing this.”

“The problem is that we should have been doing this all along, baby.” His nose skimmed across my cheek to my ear. “I ache from missing you, Kin. I ache so fucking bad and I need you to take the ache away.”

“Jace,” I whimpered when I felt his lips on my earlobe, his teeth sinking into my flesh in a way he had shown me could send me over the edge. “Please…stop. I-I’m not going to…um…oh, that feels good…Jace, stop. I won’t…ease any aches.” His aches were nothing compared to my own right then. I squirmed against him, feeling his ‘ache’ pulse against my stomach, which only made my own ache that much more intense.

“Bitch!”

I jerked at Angie’s high, angry tone. It was like being doused with a bucket of ice water. Turning my head away from Jace, I saw my stepsister standing toe to toe with Jillian in the middle of her flock. The beady eyes of Jillian’s friends were insulting as they accessed Angie like she was a bug to squash under their Louis Vuitton-ed heels. Jace followed my gaze, his body tensing for a reason other than our mutual need for each other all of a sudden.

The look on Angie’s face was wild. The angelic version was gone, replaced with one hundred percent devil, and the devil was ready to take on Jillian—who was more of a minion from Hell than anyone else I’d ever met.

“Sweet Jesus,” Jace muttered. “This isn’t gonna be pretty.”

I ducked under his arm and headed toward where my stepsister was drawing a large crowd. There was pure malice in Jillian’s eyes—with a hint of glee. Fucking hell, she was enjoying whatever was going on, and that told me that it was worse than I could even imagine, more than anything else could have.

“I won’t sit around while you talk about my sister like that,” Angie raged. “You have no right to judge anyone, you sanctimonious cunt.”

“Angie…” Caleb tried to intervene but one glare from his twin had him holding up his hands in surrender as he took a step back.

“I tell it how I see it, little girl.” Jillian’s smile was in place now and I could almost feel the heat as Angie’s rage built. “McKinley is a—”

Whatever she was going to call me was cut off as Angie took a step toward her, hands balled into tight fists at her sides raising to take a swing at Jillian’s expertly made-up face. Before she could hit the step-monster, Carter was there, pulling his daughter away from her intended target.

“I will destroy you,” Angie seethed. “I will cut off your fucking fake-ass tits and sell the saline bags to the highest bidder.” She struggled against her father’s hold. “Say it again, slut. Say it again, I dare you.”

The crowd around them was only growing bigger and I had to push my way through. By the time I reached them, Scott had appeared as well as both Georgia and Carolina. Georgia had a smug look on her face, but Carolina was frowning back and forth from Angie to her mother. I saw a few cameras flashing and realized that this was exactly what Jillian had wanted all along. She was going to get her Christmas wish when her picture was plastered on the morning edition of every tabloid in the country.

I felt a hand at my waist as I slowed down and realized Jace