Dark Hearts (Light in the Dark 3)

Sure enough, Rose starts begging Jack to wake up, that someone’s there to rescue them, but my sweet little Jack Dawson has turned into a frozen popsicle.

She pries his hands off the door she’s floating on, kisses them, and watches him sink beneath the surface of the ocean.

“No,” I sob. “That’s not fair.”

Sobbing for a fictional character might be pathetic, but in that moment, I can’t bring myself to care. Jack Dawson was compassionate, daring, thrilling, and hot, and I have to mourn his fictional passing.

The door to the apartment opens and Jace startles. “Nova?” I try to get control of myself but Jack Dawson just died and these things take time. “Who the hell are you?” he snaps, flicking on a light. “Did you hurt her? Answer me!”

“Whoa! Whoa!” Joel raises his hands innocently with Jace towering above him. I still sit on the opposite end of the couch, hardly within touching distance of Joel, but I’m secretly pleased that Jace would come to my defense so easily. “We’re just watching a movie.” Joel points to the TV screen. Jace looks over his shoulder at the TV then to me. “You’re crying because the pretty boy died?”

“Jac

k was amazing,” I defend. “I haven’t seen this movie before,” I add. “I wasn’t expecting it.”

Jace laughs. “It’s Titanic. You know, based on the actual Titanic catastrophe where a whole lot of people died. I think it’s natural to expect people to die in the movie version.”

“Don’t be an ass.” I toss a throw pillow at his head but he dodges it easily.

Jace’s attention quickly zeroes back onto Joel. “Again, who the fuck are you and why are you in my apartment watching a movie with Nova?”

“I’m Joel—we have class together. We were working on a project and Nova mentioned she’d never seen Titanic so—”

“So, you thought you’d rectify that.” Jace nods to himself and then points at the door. “Get out.”

To me, Joel says with a smirk, “I thought you said there wasn’t a guy?”

Jace growls. “Out.”

Joel grabs his stuff and leaves while the movie continues to play in the background. Jace locks the door behind him and then turns to glower at me.

“No guy, huh?”

“Uh …” I stare at him in confusion as he slowly stalks forward.

He doesn’t stop until he’s right in front of me and then he bends so we’re eyelevel. I hold my breath as he leans in close so he can whisper in my ear. “I assure you, there’s very much a guy.”

I shiver as he pulls away. In a flash, he has my hair wrapped in his fist and he tilts my head back. I moan and his eyes dilate at the sound. “I’m not a jealous kind of guy, Nova. You make me crazy.”

I close my eyes and my tongue slips out to wet my lips.

I feel his lips graze my cheek, the slight stubble on his chin scratching my skin, and my eyes pop open again.

“What will it take for you to see that?”

His hold on my hair loosens and he moves his hand to my neck. I squeak when he jerks me forward so we’re nose to nose.

He stares at me for a moment before his lips crash against mine. I moan again and he presses his lips more firmly against mine.

“Mine,” he growls between kisses. “Remember that,” he whispers. “You’re mine,” he says huskily. His hands roam every available surface of my body.

I twine my arms around his neck and he lifts me up. My legs circle his waist as he carries me. I’m expecting the bed to hit my back, but I startle when I feel the hard press of the wall. Unexpected heat shoots through my body when I realize this fact. There’s something undeniably hot about the thought of him taking me against the wall. Like he’s too frantic to make it the few feet to the bed.

He fumbles with the button of my jeans and when he finds it and slides down the zipper he makes this happy little sound in the back of his throat. He loosens his grip on me so he can slide my jeans and underwear down my hips. I lean my head against the wall, my face tilted to the ceiling as I struggle for air. I hear the jingling of his belt and the sound of his zipper sliding down and I break out in a sweat all over.

“Condom,” he mutters. “Need a condom.”

“I’m on birth control,” I tell him, my voice barely above a zipper.