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{(Cut from Ascension, Chapter 2. Jace's moment in Aida's cabin, gone uninterrupted...)}
When Jace heard Aida's cry, he'd been on his feet and out of his cabin before he had even woken up completely. A mixture of sea sickness and lingering sleepiness made his steps uneven and clumsy, but he moved as fast as he could as to Aida's cabin, rapping smartly on the door.
"Did you just call me?" he said through the old wood. Inside, Aida stumbled to her feet, and crossed the small room to open the door.
Jace's dark blue eyes raked over her, looking for any sign that she had been harmed, but other than being thoroughly ruffled from sleep, she seemed okay. She was rubbing her eyes ferociously, as though trying to erase a bad image.
"Gorgeous! Are you alright?" Jace demanded, now stepping in to scour her cabin. The door swung shut behind him due to the rocking of the ship. "Did someone break in?! Was it the long elf? I never liked the guy! He looks at you all weird…"
"No, Jace…" Aida mumbled. "Calm down. It was just a dream…I'm sorry I woke you up."
The mischievous side of him couldn't pass that one up.
"Dream?" he winked. "What kind of dream made you scream my name like that?"
Aida scowled and rolled her eyes, but there was still something off about her. She looked shaken, and seeing that, Jace softened and took her hand. He didn't like seeing her that way; as anything but the stubborn, fearless girl he had met in the Wandering Tree all those months ago. It scared him when she turned vulnerable, because it reminded him that not even she could fight off everything the world threw at her. That's why he needed to be with her. All the time, if he could have any say in it. She needed someone to share her burden, but she wouldn't be one to ask.
"Are you alright, though?" he asked gently. "You look pale…well…paler?"
"It's nothing," she said, smiling too brightly. "You know I'm a tough girl!"
He didn't know how he knew, but it was very clear to him that she was lying through her teeth, and that wide grin was as fake as the "gold" earrings the captain had given her the day before. Still, he wasn't sure that it would be wise to challenge her openly about that, so he gave her chin an affectionate chuck.
"Try to get some sleep, gorgeous," he suggested. "I'll stand guard outside your door, okay? I won't let anyone hurt you."
She bit her lip and glanced to the side, her cheeks darkening in color.
"You don't have to guard outside…" she murmured.
Maybe it was that cute pink blush in her cheeks. Maybe it was that innocent look in her eyes. Maybe it was the fact that she was just so damn beautiful it physically hurt him, but Jace found that he couldn't mind their distance any longer. He caught her wrist with one hand and backed her against the door, pinning her with his hips. Her breath caught in her throat.
"Where, gorgeous?" he whispered roughly, his free hand cupping her chin and tilting her face up toward his.
Her beautiful green eyes were closed to slits, and her breathing was deeper. His own body felt hot; too hot, like he was about to burst into flames.
"Where do you want me to guard you?" he pressed, leaning in just a little closer, until their breaths mingled on their lips. "I'll be anywhere you want me to be."
Aida's free hand was lying limply against his chest, but as he leaned in, it snaked up his torso and around his neck, to tangle in the honey blonde hair at the base of his head. Her nails slid against his scalp, and he shuddered, a groan issuing from low in his throat. That heat was only increasing. Any second now, and surely he would be consumed in a furious inferno.
"I'll do anything you want me to do." His voice was almost nonexistent, but in the silence of the cabin, every husky word seemed loud. "You are the one girl, Aida…The one girl that I'm ready to die for…"
Her rosy lips were parted, and Jace felt something dangerous inside him tighten. He leaned in, and his next words were whispered against her lips, his mouth just barely brushing hers.
"Dammit," he moaned. "I love you, Aida."
Jace didn't need an answer, and he wouldn't have gotten one in any case, because in that instant he closed the minimal distance and crushed her lips to his. Oh, by the old kings, he'd forgotten how sweet her kisses were. How raw and passionate, how they seemed to burn him without causing pain. Her arm, still wrapped around his shoulders with her hand in his hair, tightened, and she pulled herself more tightly to him, arching her back against his torso. Eanna, but she felt incredible.
"Jace," she whispered hoarsely, breaking away.
"Mm?" he murmured, sliding his lips slowly along her jaw.
"I…I love you…too…"
He paused, his heart skipping a beat, then smiled against her skin.
"Of course you do," he responded, letting his breath feather out across her collar bone. "How could you not love such a handsome, charming knight like me?"
"Idiot," she said affectionately.
"But I'm your idiot," he reasoned, and began trailing his mouth down her neck to kiss the spot where it joined her shoulder. She shivered, and her hand tightened in his hair, pulling his face back to hers. He followed easily, nipping her lower lip before meeting her mouth in a much deeper kiss.
The heat inside him blaze hotter than ever when he felt the tip of her tongue trace the shape of his lips slowly, and he retaliated by pulling her tongue into his mouth and sucking. Her soft moan was enough to make him lose his mind. His hands slid slowly down her body, following every line and every curve until he reached her hips, and he picked her up higher, until she was almost level with him. His hands slid down her thighs to hook behind her knees, and he guided them up until her legs wrapped around his waist. Her ankles hooked behind his back, and his arms wrapped around her again, hands tangling in her soft silver hair.
Not once did he think about being gentle, or careful. He knew Aida didn't need that. He knew with the upmost certainty that Aida was hardly a delicate flower, and she could take everything he gave her and more. He wasn't worried that she wouldn't be able to handle his fierce, almost violent passion. He trusted her with all of his strength, because he believed in the resolve of hers. She was strong, and he knew it, and so he kissed her with everything he had, not holding anything back. In a rare turn of events, Jace won the battle their tongues fought, he and scoured the inside of her mouth. Her fingers tangled in his hair, tugging insistently.
"Aida," he said roughly, breaking away for just a moment, and burying his face in the curve of her neck. "If I don't stop now, I'm not going to."
She was silent. Her chest was heaving against his.
"Jace…" she panted.
He kissed her again, pressing her against the wooden door. This was getting very dangerous, but he couldn't help it. It just felt so perfect.
He gave her another chance to speak, sliding his mouth along her jaw line again and nipping her ear.
"We…can't…" she said weakly, but her hold on him didn't loosen. "We can't…not here…"
"You're gonna have to try harder, gorgeous," Jace whispered against her ear. "You're not convincing me that I should stop."
"Would a knee…to the manhood…convince you?" she wondered.
"No need to go that far," he grinned. He came back, and brushed a kiss across her lips again, before setting her carefully back on her feet. A chuckle bubbled up inside him before he could stop it, because she looked like a total mess, and it was all his fault. Her hair was rumpled and knotted, her clothes disheveled, and eyes were foggy, and she had never—in his opinion—looked more beautiful, or more seductive. She raised an eyebrow when she caught him looking.
"See something you like?" she challenged. Jace felt his lips curl up into a dirty grin.
"Oh, I see a whole lot I like," he answered. Then the leer fell away, to be replaced by a much softer smile, and he leaned down to kiss her forehead. "Try to get some sleep, gorgeous. I'll be right here when you wake up. I promise."
She looked up at him, and slid her arms around his waist, hiding her face in his chest. Amused, Jace chuckled and swung her up, off of the ground and into his arms. She yelped in surprise, but didn't squirm much as he carried her to her bed and set her down, holding up the blankets so that she could worm beneath them.
"Room for two," she noted, scooting back against the wall to give him some space.
"Didn't need the invitation, gorgeous," he winked, and laid down on his side, facing her.
The bed was too big, in his opinion, even though he'd groaned when he saw the one in his cabin. There was just too much empty space between him and Aida. Well, that could be fixed easily enough, at least. One arm reached out and snagged her around the waist, dragging her against his chest so that they lay back-to-front, he cradling her body with his.
"Jace…" she warned. His chuckle puffed up the hair on the back of her neck.
"Don't worry," he said, arm tightening around her. "I told you I'd do anything you wanted me to, and that goes the other way. I won't do something you don't want. Knight's honor."
She hesitated, then snuggled back into him. His thumb stroked the back of her hand lightly where it sat on her stomach.
"Jace?"
"Mm?"
"I meant it."
"Meant what?"
"I love you."
He paused, and then kissed the back of her neck.
"I love you more, gorgeous," he answered softly.
"And Jace?"
"Yeah?"
"Quit calling me gorgeous."