All He Needs – Ace & Stephanie (Crossroads Book 10)

by Melanie Shawn

  She placed her hands on his chest, being careful not to put any pressure near the wound. Then she lifted up on her knees and maneuvered herself so that his head was at her entrance as he held himself in place. Her eyes shot down to where their bodies aligned as she slowly lowered herself down. She watched as inch by inch her body accepted him until he was completely inside of her, all the way to the base.

  Her inner walls clenched around him and she straightened, arching her back, taking a moment just to enjoy the sensation of being totally full before she started moving. It was one of the best feelings she could imagine. Ace filling her up, stretching her out. She felt satisfied in a way she had never experienced before. A way she’d never even dreamed was possible. She felt complete. Kind of like a part of her had always been missing and she had just now discovered what that missing puzzle piece was.

  When Ace was inside her, she could honestly believe that there was someone for everyone. That there were individuals who were meant to be together, to fit together like puzzle pieces, body and soul. She could easily believe in that moment that Ace was her one and only, her true soulmate. That they had been created specifically for each other and no one else.

  She felt his hands all over her body. As much as she wanted to witness every second of their coupling she kept her eyes closed so that she could more fully concentrate on every sensation that he was giving her as he explored the expanse of her skin. Every new place that he came in contact with, she would think – oh, that’s my favorite place for him to touch me.

  When he cupped her backside – that’s my favorite.

  When he ran his fingers up and down the side of her torso – oh, no, that’s my favorite.

  When she leaned down and he tangled his hands in her hair – oh, wow, no…now that’s my new favorite.

  But when he cupped her breasts and started tweaking her nipples her body was seized with a buzzing intensity and she knew for sure that was it. That was the winner. That was her absolute favorite of all.

  She heard a soft whimpering coming from the back of her throat at the sheer power of the pleasure that was coursing through her. With everyone else she’d been with, she was lucky to have one orgasm. It had always taken concentration and focus and she’d never had one through penetration. But now, she was fighting to hold out on her second release.

  Her hips began moving of their own accord, slowly at first, but quickly building to a faster rhythm. She let herself go completely in a way she’d never felt free to do before. No thinking. No second-guessing. She was operating entirely on instinct.

  She felt safe with Ace. That’s what allowed her to do that. She didn’t have to be the one in charge all the time. She didn’t have to be constantly alert. She trusted that he could take care of anything that came up—that he could take care of her. She may not trust that he’d be here tomorrow or next month, but she knew that when she was with him he’d take care of her. It wasn’t a conscious thought process. It was totally instinctual. But it was the thing that allowed her to give herself over entirely to mindless pleasure when she was with him. And she couldn’t get enough.

  “Oh…yes…it feels…so good…you feel…don’t…stop…good…yes…”

  In a distant corner of her mind, she heard the constant stream of patter that was coming out of her mouth. She was vaguely aware that she wasn’t making any sense.

  But the thing was, she didn’t even care. She was in a place beyond caring. All she wanted to do was feel. And Ace made her feel things and took her to places she never knew existed.

  Her body was pushing her to move faster and more franticly but she forced herself to slow down. The sensation was amazing, but she knew she didn’t want to lose herself and accidently hurt him. Sitting up straighter she began churning her hips back and forth in a swaying motion, squeezing her inner walls in rhythm.

  When she was fully upright she placed her hands back on her thighs and rose up, but before she could even complete one stroke up and down, Ace grabbed her breasts firmly in his hands and started rolling her nipples in between his thumb and forefinger. That was all it took to send her plummeting over the edge. Her orgasm tore through her like the Kool-Aid man through a wall, with all the force and power that would imply. Her muscles tensed and then trembled uncontrollably. She threw her head back and gasped in silent ecstasy.

  Even through the fog of her altered state, Ace’s voice hit her ears, encouraging her to crest to even higher planes of pleasure. “Yes, baby. That’s right. Come for me, baby.”

  Waves of pleasure crashed over her, tossing her to and fro, and she felt like she never wanted the onslaught to end. When it finally did, she collapsed in a tingling, gasping, sweaty heap on the bed next to him as he slid his arm around her and pulled her close.

  She laughed. “Wow. Just…holy wow. I don’t know how that was for your recovery, but for me that was good. Really good.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “It was really good,” he said. “You’re the best anesthetic there is. And I have a feeling I’m getting addicted to your high.”

  “I don’t think that’s medically possible, but thanks.” Shifting her arm she snuggled into him, wanting to absorb all of him that she could as her body melted against him and her heavy eyes closed.

  He pulled her even closer to him and ran his hand up and down her back.

  “It is,” he said. “Trust me.”

  Trust me. She did trust him. With her body. It was her heart that she wasn’t so sure of. She didn’t know if that was the last thing he said to her that night but it was the last word she heard before falling into a deep and, for once, completely peaceful sleep.

  Chapter 18

  Today was the first day that Ace truly felt like himself again. This morning he’d seen the doctor who’d cleared him to return to work with no restrictions. When he left there he’d stopped by the Elite Security office and let Seth know he was ready for his next assignment. After that he’d dropped in at The Plate for a meeting with his business partners. Got to spend some time in his garage working on his bike this afternoon and tonight he was taking Stephanie to dinner, finally.

  He shook out his wet hair as he crossed the room and sat on the edge of his bed. Bending over he was happy to feel only the slightest twinge of pain in his side as he bent down to put on his shoes. He wasn’t back to one hundred percent, but he could confidently say he was at ninety. And it was all thanks to Stephanie.

  Would he have gotten better without her care? Sure. But it wouldn’t have happened as fast as it had. Even after he’d returned home and she’d gone back to work, she was still taking care of him. Just this morning he’d woken up to breakfast on his porch. She’d worked the last three nights in a row and had taken the time to think of him this morning.

  He’d always bought into the philosophy that if something or someone seemed too good to be true then it was and they were. But she was the exception. She seemed too good to be true and the longer he knew her, the more time he spent with her, he found out she was actually better than she appeared.

  It was still hard to believe that she existed much less that they were, whatever they were. He wanted them to be together officially, but since she wasn’t ready, he could wait. He knew that they belonged with each other. It was a fact. He had scientific proof. Well, maybe not scientific, but there was a system.

  Growing up, when he and Grandma Lulu would watch her soap operas she liked to keep score of which couples had what it took to make it in the real world. The couples at the top of her leader board were, Luke and Laura from General Hospital, Tad and Dixie from All My Children and Bo and Hope from Days of our Lives.

  She rated them on whether or not they had the four Ls and Cs. He could still picture her in her rocking chair, sipping her tea and hear her telling him, “If you want a good relationship you gotta have the four Ls: love, lust, laughter and loyalty. And if you’re lucky enough to find that, then you gotta have the four Cs to build on that foundation: communication, compromis
e, compatibility, and conflict.”

  Grandma Lulu’s theory was that to have a successful relationship you had to start with being in love and lust, make each other laugh and be loyal. If you had checked off all of those boxes you could build a life if you could communicate, compromise, were compatible as friends and could resolve conflict. That was what she deemed everything you needed to last.

  Up until he’d moved to Harper’s Crossing he’d honestly believed he’d never find that. That kind of relationship was as rare as a white peacock, which he had seen once in Australia. All his life the only real life people that he’d known that had possessed the four Ls and Cs were his grandparents. But from what he’d witnessed in this small town, there were quite a few couples that would have scored pretty high on her scale.

  Ace had never held up any hope that he’d ever find what his grandparents shared. When he’d been with Kendall, he’d figured that two Ls and two Cs would be enough…he’d been wrong. They’d shared lust and love, and they could communicate and were compatible as friends. She wasn’t a big compromiser and as far as conflict went, Ace was pretty sure that she thrived on it. She’d never made him laugh and loyalty got tossed out the window when he’d answered the Facetime call and seen her having sex with his brother.

  But, in the short time he and Stephanie had known each other, in his opinion they proved they had all of those things. He knew he was falling in love with her and was pretty sure she was with him. The lust was a no-brainer, their chemistry was off the charts. She made him laugh and smile so much he’d actually popped a stitch. And he trusted her more than he’d ever trusted anyone, including his brothers in the Corps. That took care of the Ls.

  As far as the Cs went, they had communication on lock. They’d opened up to each other. Shared personal stories, dreams and fears. Compromise was a no-brainer. Four days ago he’d told her that he wanted more. Stephanie had made it clear that she wanted to take things day by day. They’d compromised. He’d agreed to go day by day and she’d agreed to dinner. They’d also ended up binge watching Netflix and running errands together, and it was clear they were compatible. There was no one else on earth he’d rather spend time with. Conflict hadn’t really come up, but he had faith that they would be able to put the other tools that they had at their disposal, namely communication and compromise, and handle anything that came their way. Which just left commitment…

  There was no doubt in Ace’s mind that she was the one for him. Now all he had to do was convince Stephanie that he was the one for her.

  His phone vibrated and he checked the time on his bedside clock. He was due to pick Stephanie up in twenty minutes. She’d worked the graveyard shift the night before and had been sleeping all day. Tonight was her night off, but he knew that she could be called in. He hoped that wasn’t the case, it had been almost twenty-four hours since he’d seen her beautiful face and he missed her.

  When he grabbed his phone and saw the number he was hit with equal parts relief and anxiousness. Stephanie wasn’t calling which meant they were still on for dinner. But Grant was. He’d been intending to speak to his brother and just hadn’t gotten around to it.

  Ace pressed the answer icon. “Hey.”

  “Ace?” Grant answered, clearly shocked to hear his brother’s voice.

  “Yeah, hey.” He may have had months to think about this conversation, but that didn’t mean he knew what to say. Since his brother was the one calling him, Ace hoped he would take the lead.

  “Oh…yeah…uh…sorry, I wasn’t expecting you to pick up. I just thought, you know, I would leave another message.”

  Two things struck Ace as he listened to his brother speak. One, he had never heard his brother sound this unsure of himself. Usually Grant was cocky and arrogant. Stumbling over his words and not knowing what to say wasn’t his style. And two, he missed him. Ace actually missed his older brother.

  “Did you want me to hang up so you can leave a message?”

  “No!” Grant exclaimed. “No. I just…I guess I’m not really sure what to say.”

  Honesty wasn’t one of his brother’s strong suits. Grant was a habitual liar. But, Ace believed him now. He believed that he really didn’t know what to say.

  After a few moments of silence that felt like an eternity, Ace figured if he didn’t speak up he’d be late to pick up Stephanie, and since she lived next door there really was no excuse for that.

  Clearing his throat as he rolled his shoulders back, he tried to sound as neutral as possible, “I’m sorry might be a good place to start.”

  “Oh yeah, I am!” Grant’s words rushed out. “I’m so sorry. I just didn’t think you’d want to hear that. I mean what I did…you know…it just… and how you found out. I can’t believe she did that. I was so mad at her. She wanted me to tell you and when I didn’t she just, I still can’t believe she did that.”

  “Wait.” Ace wasn’t sure he understood what his brother was saying. “The call. The Facetime. Kendall did that on purpose?”

  “I thought you…” Grant was silent for a minute. Then he let out a sigh. “Sorry, man. I thought you knew that. Yeah, she’d been threatening to tell you about us if I didn’t and I just didn’t know how so…she took matters into her own hands. You really didn’t know?”

  “No.” Ace hadn’t spoken to Kendall or Grant since the call, and he’d just assumed that it was an accident. But now that he knew it wasn’t, it made sense. She did love drama, which was just another reason they’d never had the four Cs. If there was conflict she wanted to get out a tent and camp there whereas Ace wanted to navigate through it as quickly as possible.

  “Oh, well, yeah. She wanted you to know and I guess she thought… I don’t know what she thought. She just does things…well, you know.”

  “Yeah. I know.”

  Another minute or so passed in heavy silence before Grant blurted out, “I love her. I love Kendall.”

  That was probably the last thing that Ace had expected to hear on this phone call.

  “I just didn’t want you to think that I would do that. That I would go behind your back if I didn’t love her. It doesn’t make it right, I know that. I’m still an asshole and a shitty brother, but, I needed you to know how I felt. I love her, man.”

  He could hear the raw pain in his brother’s voice. Grant had never been serious about anything in his life, but it was clear to Ace in that moment that he was about Kendall. In a strange way, Ace was happy for his brother. He just hoped that Kendall felt the same way about him.

  “I’m not sorry for falling in love with her, but I am sorry that we ever started anything while you two were together. That was wrong. I’m sorry. I know that doesn’t seem like enough. But I really am. I am man. I’m so sorr—”

  “Okay.” Ace decided to let his brother off the hook.

  “Okay?”

  “Yeah, okay.”

  “We’re okay?”

  “Yes. We’re okay.”

  Grant didn’t stop there. “And please don’t be mad at mom and dad. That article, it wasn’t like that. The piece was supposed to be about their charity work, not personal stuff. I was there and the interviewer baited them. He asked if they thought Kendall was with the right brother now, if they would’ve said no, it would’ve been…I don’t know but it wasn’t like they knew before you found out. They didn’t. And when I told them, they kicked me out of the house.”

  “You’re living at mom and dad’s?” Ace hadn’t been home in years, but he figured his brother would have his own place.

  “No. I mean they just kicked me out of their house. We were having dinner.”

  “Oh.” It shouldn’t, but that did actually make Ace feel better.

  “So will you talk to them? Call them?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Good. And I know you said we’re good but if there’s anything I can do, anything at all to make it up to you—”

  “Actually, there is one thing.” Grant had inherited his Grandma Lulu’s wedding ring
. When Ace had gotten engaged to Kendall, it hadn’t bothered him that Grant had inherited the ring, but now that he’d met Stephanie, that had changed. “Do you have Grandma Lulu’s ring?”

  Chapter 19

  Stephanie looked down at the navy blue dress that Simone had been appalled to see her in before the reopening. Simone wasn’t here but her voice was. All Stephanie could hear was her sister saying, “You’re wearing that?” Her answer tonight was the same as it had been when her sister had asked her. Yes. The only difference was there was no incredible black dress hanging in her closet that she could change into. Her wardrobe mainly consisted of scrubs, sweats, jeans and T-shirts. She owned two dresses. The LBD that Amber had designed and this maxi. Since she didn’t have time or money to go on a shopping spree, this was as good as it was going to get.

  Nerves bubbled up inside of her as she stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. She tried to calm down by reminding herself tonight wasn’t a big deal. She was just going to dinner with Ace.

  Ace.

  Even thinking his name caused the heat her body was producing to turn up and the jittery fizzing to overflow. She wasn’t sure what to do with the feelings she was having for him. As much as she tried to temper them, to diminish them, to contain them, they just kept multiplying at a speed she wasn’t comfortable with. What had started out as a simple crush had morphed into a not-so-simple infatuation. What began as pure lust she now feared had turned into real love.

  She’d told him that she wanted to take things one day at a time. Her plan had been not to overthink this relationship. She’d wanted to simply enjoy the time they spent with each other with no expectations that could lead to disappointment, no promises that could be broken, no dependence formed that could lead to abandonment.

  It felt like her entire life had been spent in damage control mode. When her dad left she’d tried to minimize the impact for her mom. When her mom left, she’d worked so hard to downplay the devastation for the twins. The problem with this situation was when Ace left she didn’t think she’d be able to do the same thing for herself that she’d done for her family.