CHAPTER 78

“Why did you cry, baby?”

Just thinking back on all he’d said made her want to cry all over again. At his look of alarm, she realized she had teared up.

“Oh, Jace,” she whispered. “You can’t imagine how much it meant to me that you’d actually be willing to change who you are, what makes you who you are, because you think it’s what I want. And that you showed me the heart of you. But you have to understand, I want you. All of you. I don’t want a watered-down version of Jace. I want you. Controlling, dominant, arrogant, caring, loving, protective . . .” She trailed off, her voice husky with emotion and clouded with tears. “Do you understand?” she whispered.

He crushed her to him, still firmly embedded in her body. She could feel every heartbeat. He trembled against her as his hands tangled in her hair. Then he pulled away just enough to lean his forehead into hers, their mouths precariously close and their gazes hooded, connected.

“Don’t know what I’d do if I hadn’t found you,” he said i