tangled up in blue

06

"What the hell are you doing in my room, Quinn?"

I stared up at him in shock, too stunned to even fight back.

I was in Jace's bed.

No one went in Jace's bed. Or, at least, they didn't leave intact.

Hovering above me, his eyes were boring into mine with that familiar, heated intensity. His hair was dangling in front of his eyes, begging to be touched. But just like the day before, I found I couldn't look away. I couldn't even turn my head so that his eyes lost their grip on me.

Instead, I lost myself.

What's wrong with you, Noah? Snap out of it.

I forced myself to blink, and then realized he was still waiting for an answer.

Still staring at me.

With his hand an inch away from my throat.

Fuck me.

He frowned, leaning back slightly.

"What... what did you just say?"

"What?" I asked, my face paling in horror.

"You... Why did you..."

I'd never seen Jace stammer before. Or look as in shock as he did right now. To be honest, I would have laughed.

You know, if it wasn't the single most embarrassing moment of my life.

I scrunched up my burning face in humiliation, wishing my hands were free so that I could either bury my head in them, punch myself, or better yet, punch him. Though knowing me, I'd probably break my wrist, and he wouldn't even get a bruise.

"Uh, I.. didn't mean to say that out loud. Wait, that sounds weird, cause I wasn't thinking about, er, you know. See, I wasn't actually saying fuck me. I mean, I did technically... say... fuck me... but, what I meant was, fuck me, as in fuck my life. You know? Not like, um..."

Jace's expression was unreadable. "Not like what, Quinn?"

I swallowed, my throat suddenly feeling like it hadn't tasted water in weeks. "Not like... an invitation." I let out a breathy laugh. "Obviously."

"Obviously." He said, his quiet voice low and his grip on my hands tightening.

A long moment of silence passed between us as I attempted to look anywhere but his face, which was when I noticed several completely horrifying things at once.

The first, was that my joggers were still around my ankles. I hadn't pulled them up. Instead, I was basically only in a t-shirt and boxers. And then, I noticed that he was only in boxers too.

Minus the t-shirt part.

I'd been so distracted by him grilling me and me being a complete dork and embarrassing myself, that I hadn't even noticed he was half naked.

His bare, toned chest was pressed against my torso, and his exposed legs were completely caging mine. In an instant, I became all too aware of the places our skin was touching.

The hand below my throat had relaxed slightly, and was now just pressed flat against the stretch of skin just above my chest. I could feel every movement of his fingers as they brushed up against me, there, and also on my stomach and wrists that he held against the bed. Besides his crumpled white sheets, Jace's golden skin glowing under the faint yellow light was the only thing I could feel. It was the only thing I could think about.

"Um, Jace," I managed to croak out.

"Yeah?" He said, his voice surprisingly hoarse, like mine. I could feel it rumbling through his body where his abs pressed upon me, and I liked how rough it was from being half asleep.