Chapter 11
Jace could not stop thinking about the folder.
2009 – Legal Correspondence.
Whatever secrets it held, it was enough to make his skin prickle and his stomach twist. And it had almost been within his reach.
But Victor Crane walked in, and instead of answers, he’d walked out with questions pounding in his chest like fists.
Now, hours later, he sat on the edge of a leather couch in the lounge Elias had sent him to. The space was all rich wood, dim lighting, and understated luxury. The kind of room designed for power brokers to sip whiskey and sign million-dollar deals. Jace didn’t belong here—not really.
The door opened behind him.
He didn’t turn. He didn’t have to.
The energy shifted.
Elias.
"You didn’t leave," Elias said, voice low, silk over gravel.
Jace looked over his shoulder. Elias had taken off the suit jacket, and the top buttons of his shirt were undone, revealing a sliver of toned chest. His sleeves were still rolled up, veins prominent on his forearms. The man looked like he stepped out of a dream and into a storm.
"You said I could stay," Jace replied.
Elias stepped in, shutting the door behind him with a soft click. "I did. I just didn’t think you would."
"I wanted to see if generosity was your only surprise."
Elias chuckled, a low, dangerous sound. "You think I’m generous?"
"No," Jace said, standing up slowly. "I think you’re something else entirely."
Their eyes met.
The air between them crackled.
Elias moved closer.
Jace swallowed.
He could still feel the ghost of Elias’s touch from last night, still smell his cologne on his skin, and still remember the way his body had ached for him long after they were done.
But this wasn’t just lust. It wasn’t just sex.
Or was it love?
No.
It was destruction wrapped in silk sheets.
Jace had to get that file.
He had to get his revenge.
Jace reached up, brushing his hand lightly against Elias’s chest.
Elias caught his wrist gently, holding it between them. "Did you come just for the check or something else?"
Jace smiled, slow and wicked. "Maybe both."
Elias released his wrist and in the next breath, his hands were in Jace’s curls, mouth crashing against his.
It wasn’t soft. It wasn’t sweet.
It was want. It was need.
Jace pressed back, lips parting, teeth grazing. Elias kissed like he fought—with control, with force, with total possession. He backed Jace toward the wall, their bodies flush, hips aligned, heat surging between them.
Jace tugged at Elias’s shirt, desperate to feel skin, and Elias broke the kiss just long enough to yank it off. Jace ran his hands down Elias’s chest, tracing muscles, the faint trail of hair leading down his torso. The man was carved like a god, and he knew it.
"Do you always do this?" Jace whispered,"tease people who come to your office?"
Elias leaned in, his voice hot against Jace’s throat. "Only the ones I can’t resist."
Jace arched when Elias’s hands slid beneath his shirt, pushing it up and over his head. Their bare skin touched, and both of them stilled for a breath.
Then Elias lowered his mouth again, kissing down Jace’s jaw, his neck, his collarbone—savoring, marking.
Jace moaned softly, fingers digging into Elias’s back. His body betrayed him, fire licking through his veins even as his mind screamed that this was wrong, dangerous, a line he shouldn’t cross again.
But he crossed it anyway.
He wanted more.
Elias spun him, pressing him against the wall, lips trailing down his spine. Jace gasped, gripping the panelling as Elias sank to his knees, his breath hot against Jace’s lower back.
Clothes were peeled away.
Skin met skin.
And when Elias rose, when their eyes met again, it wasn’t a question of if. It was how long they could hold back before they both shattered.
They didn’t speak after that.
There were only gasps and moans, fingers and mouths, bodies locking and thrusting, rhythm, and heat. Jace lost himself in the feel of Elias, in the way the man touched him like he already knew his body inside and out.
He didn’t just take—he gave.
He worshipped.
And when they collapsed onto the couch afterward, breathless and drenched in sweat, Elias pulled Jace onto his chest and held him there.
Neither of them spoke.
For the first time, it felt like silence could be enough.
But Jace’s eyes were open.
In the back of his mind, the image of the folder still burned.
He was getting closer.
Too close.
And if Elias found out why he was really here—what he was really after—this whole thing would explode.
But for now, in Elias’s arms, with the taste of him still on his lips, Jace let the world fall away.
Just for one night.