Ace wasn't aware I had the biggest crush known to humankind on him.

It developed a few years back, around the time I turned fifteen. But I was too afraid to tell him; I couldn't risk our friendship ending over a silly crush. I wouldn't survive without him.

Plus, on the few occasions I did try to bring my feelings up, Ace always seemed to find a way to change the subject or distract me.

It made mornings like this one, filled with playful touches and flirty looks, all the more frustrating. Were best friends supposed to act like this?

I shoved his shoulder, trying to push him away from me to no avail. "Stop being ridiculous." I glanced at the clock on my nightstand once again.

I didn't necessarily want him to leave-I could stay in bed with him all day, no problem-but my parents were going to get suspicious if I didn't come down for breakfast soon.

"Okay, but seriously, you need to leave. My alarm didn't go off, and it's getting late."

"No," Ace grunted, still nuzzling up against the skin of my cheek.

"What do you mean 'no'?"

"I mean no."

I frowned, even as his strange behavior caused a delicious throbbing sensation between my legs and hot sparks to race down my spine.

Crap. I need to get it together.

"W-what's your problem this morning?" I stammered. "What if my parents come in and find you in here?"

"Don't care."

I scoffed. "You'll care when they put bars on my window to keep you from sleeping with me every night."

That got his attention.

He gripped my waist tightly, making my breath stall. "I don't care if your parents come in here and find me with you because they know that you're mine.

"And if they try to keep me away from you, I'll burn the world to the fucking ground."

I stared at him in shock. A moment of silence passed between us.

Then, as if he said nothing at all, he pressed his nose back to my cheek, continuing to rub it against me as he hummed in contentment.

Well, okay then. Time to change tactics, I guess.

"If you don't get out of my bed in the next five seconds, I will knee you in the balls so hard, your future children will come out deformed," I stated.

Ace stopped moving his nose against my skin. The temperature in the room lowered significantly.

With an unsettling slowness, Ace leaned back to look at me, tilting his head and narrowing his eyes. "I thought you knew better than to threaten me, Doe."

Usually, I did. I guess I had some sort of self-destructive urge this morning.

I swallowed my nerves. "Five," I started carefully.

His brow rose at the challenge.

"Four..."

He tugged me closer so our faces were right up against each other, our breath mixing. He was trying to intimidate me. I sucked in air, determined not to back down.

"Three," I continued slowly. "Two."

Ace watched me closely, seemingly unbothered by my countdown. In fact, he almost seemed to be enjoying himself. This only infuriated me further.

I shifted my leg back, preparing to strike.

"One."

Ace latched his mouth onto my throat.

I moaned in shock, immediately gripping his hair without thinking, my back arching, causing me to press my body closer to him.

I should have known it was going to happen. It was Ace's preferred method of turning me to mush, although he had many other techniques.

He knew I couldn't focus on anything but his lips when he kissed, licked, and sucked on my throat.

He started doing this when we were around fourteen years old. Every once in a while, he would pull me close without warning and start kissing my neck, effectively setting my body on fire.

What's worse is that he wouldn't stop until he left a hickey, sometimes several, refusing to let me go no matter what was going on around us.

My throat had been permanently covered in small bruises for three years.

The first time he did it came out of the blue, and I had felt shocked, ecstatic, and then mortified. In that order.

We'd been sitting in his living room, watching a movie, when, all of a sudden, he was on top of me. I don't think he'd ever touched me in a way that could be considered sexual before that.

The most embarrassing part, though, was that I had acted like a complete nutjob the moment his lips touched me. I'd moaned and pushed up against him, encouraging him, just like I was doing right now.

It had ended just as suddenly and confusingly, with Ace pulling away and turning back to the movie, acting as if nothing had happened.

Later, when I asked him why he had done it, he just shrugged. I could never get a real answer out of him. It was a little heartbreaking.

I couldn't stop blushing around him for a month after that, and my parents didn't look me in the eye, so obvious was the big, purple bruise he had left on my neck.

Although, I was grateful they never said anything. That was not a conversation I wanted to have. How could I explain that my best friend was giving me hickeys when I didn't understand it myself?

But with time, I didn't think it was so weird anymore. It's the way of people in Embermoon.

Ace's behavior made me pay more attention to others, and I would often see people licking each other, including friends. It was their way of showing affection.

It didn't mean Ace was interested in me in the same way I was interested in him, even if it did send my body into overdrive and steal all coherent thoughts from my head.

And so, whenever it happened, all I could do was wait for the delicious torture to end and hope I didn't embarrass myself too much in the meantime.

Ace nudged me with his head as he continued to kiss me, silently encouraging me to tilt my head to the side. I did so, giving him better access to my sensitive skin.

He was working on his favorite spot today. While all the other bruises he gave me came and went, Ace never let the space where my shoulder and neck connected go without a hickey.

It was probably because he knew what it did to me. Any time he so much as breathed on that spot, something in my brain short-circuited, and I became a puddle in his arms.

And, boy, was he taking advantage of that knowledge today.

I gasped when his tongue dipped out of his mouth and glided over my skin.

He hummed in approval and continued with his ministrations, pulling me closer to him with one hand while the other swept over my waist, around my butt, and over the back of my thigh.

He hooked my leg around his hip, which caused his knee to press up against my crotch. My eyes widened but I couldn't bring myself to move away, overwhelmed as I was by the sensations.

We had never done anything like this before.

And I liked it. A lot.

Something in me shifted. Warmth seeped through me, and wetness pooled from my core, surprising me. I was desperate for more.

Ace's mouth paused on my throat. He inhaled deeply, then whispered, "Finally." He tightened his grip on my hips until it was almost painful while still sucking on my throat.

Slowly, almost as if testing the waters, he tilted my pelvis down, gently grinding my crotch against his knee.

Electricity shot through me. I gasped.

2. Forbidden Desires

Ace grinned against my skin and repeated the motion again and again until we had an easy rhythm going as we gyrated against each other.

It took me a moment to realize what exactly he was doing to me and why it felt so good. He had found my clit and was now dry-humping me against him, rubbing the pulsing nub against his leg.

Heat arrowed down to the juncture between my thighs, leaving throbbing pleasure behind. I bit my lip to keep my moans in, even though I knew he hated it when I did that.

"Never keep your sweet noises from me," he always said. "I want to hear it when I make what's mine feel good."

Noticing my silence, Ace squeezed my hips in warning. I dropped my lip from between my teeth. He continued to guide my body against him, rocking me, and the whimpers came pouring out of me.

Why didn't we start doing this a long time ago?

Because you're just friends, you idiot! the voice of reason said in my head. ~This doesn't mean the same to him as it does to you!~

Our hormones are just getting the better of us. Yeah, that's all this is. Dumb teenage hormones.

At that realization, I froze. Oh God, what was I doing? I should not be doing this with Ace. At least, not until I worked up the courage to tell him how I really felt about him.

Ace growled against my throat when I tried to stop pressing down against him like my body so desperately wanted. My body screamed at me in protest.

Ace left open-mouthed kisses up the side of my neck until his lips were next to my ear. "Are you disobeying me, Doe?" his smooth voice whispered, causing tingles that reached my toes.

"I didn't hear you say anything," I replied breathlessly.

Ace didn't hesitate to explore the thin fabric of my panties as he glided his fingers across my butt and squeezed me roughly. I felt a blush redden my cheeks.

Suddenly, his hand connected with my ass, making a satisfying smacking noise. My skin stung. My jaw dropped.

Did he just...spank me?

"That was a warning. Little mates who act smart get punished and you're walking a fine line, my sweet Doe."

He gently kissed the shell of my ear and then began kneading the spot he'd just struck. "Stop worrying and just let go. You know what I want. Give it to me."

I wanted it too. Maybe he was right. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to just let go for a few minutes.

For a second, I wondered about what he had just called me, "little mate." I had never heard him call me before-

The thought was pushed out of my head when he abruptly grasped my hips once again and began rocking them against his knee much more feverishly than before.

I didn't fight him this time. I let my instincts take full control, and my eyes rolled back when he scraped his teeth against the spot on my neck he had been sucking on earlier.

My body arched into him, and stars danced behind my eyelids.

"Ace," I whimpered, gripping onto his shoulders for dear life. "Don't stop."

He licked my neck again, then bit down gently-not hard enough to break the skin but enough to send a shockwave of pleasure through my body before settling in my core, right where he was rubbing.

Low quakes of desire took hold of me, and an orgasm vibrated through my bones, forcing me into a state of euphoria I didn't even know existed. It was amazing. Life-changing. I never wanted it to end.

As I came down from the intense high, Ace kissed the spot beneath my ear while his hands danced lovingly along my waist and back.

"Do you know how fucking perfect you are?" His words made my heart flip. "So unbelievably perfect." Another kiss to my jaw. "And beautiful." The corner of my lips. "And all fucking mine."

My breathing hitched. Just when I was sure his lips were about to touch mine, I heard footsteps outside my bedroom door. I yanked my head away from his with a gasp, and Ace growled quietly.

"Ace!" I whispered.

I tried to push him away from me, but he still wouldn't budge.

"Doe?" my mom said from the other side of the door, knocking gently. "Are you still in bed?"

"Ace, hide!" I continued to struggle against him. "I'm not kidding! Hide!"

He tightened his hold on me. "No."

It was official. Ace had lost it.

"Oh my god," I whispered when my mom jiggled my doorknob, watching it start to turn in slow motion.

I did the only thing I could think of: I shoved my body up the bed so Ace's face was against my chest. Then I quickly threw the blanket over his massive body, covering him completely.

I just had to hope Mom would confuse him with some of the many blankets and pillows on my bed.

"Don't move!" I whispered to him just as my door opened and my mom stepped into the room.

"Dorothy!" she exclaimed. "What are you still doing in bed? Do you know what time it is? Ace is going to be here in twenty minutes!"

Speaking of Ace, his face was pressed right in between my boobs, his nose nuzzling up against my breastbone.

I blinked up at my mom, trying my hardest to act cool as Ace slid his hands underneath my shirt and over the bare skin of my rib cage and back.

"Um," I breathed out, "hi, Mom."

My mom frowned as she scanned me apprehensively. Under the covers, Ace's thumbs brushed underneath the skin of my breasts. I momentarily forgot how to breathe.

"Are you feeling okay?" she asked. "You look flushed."

I struggled to swallow; my throat was so dry. "I, uh..."

Ace slid his hands over the bottom of my breasts. I flicked him under the covers.

"I'm sick! I'm sick. I have a headache. That's why I'm still in bed. Just having a late morning, I guess."

It wasn't a total lie. I was prone to horrible headaches, and after the confusing events of the morning, I could feel a bad one forming at the base of my skull.

Ace didn't let the multiple flicks I delivered to the side of his head deter him and he slowly ran his nose over the exposed skin of my breasts, making it very clear that he didn't care if we got caught.

Thankfully, Mom showed no signs of catching on. "Oh, I'm sorry, honey."

My mom knew all about my headaches and how bad they could get. I could tell she felt for me.

I started getting them after I was in a horrible car accident when I was fifteen. I was sitting in the passenger seat of my dad's parked car, not wearing a seat belt, when someone rear-ended me.

I went through the windshield head first, and although I walked away, it was with a horrible concussion.

The whole event was so traumatic that I couldn't even remember it. I just remember waking up in a hospital, disoriented and in horrible pain, and not being able to get out of bed for an entire week.

Ever since, I suffered weekly, if not daily, migraines, especially when I was overthinking or stressed.

Like right now.

"Does Ace know?" my mom asked.

Ace began kissing around my left breast, the same way he had just been kissing my neck, very obviously planning on leaving a hickey there.

"Ace knows," I rushed to say, wishing my mom would leave the room so I could shove Ace off my bed and make good on my earlier promise to knee him in the balls. "Ace definitely knows. I...I texted him."

"Are you going to school? Is he still going to pick you up?"

Ace began sucking. My mouth dropped open. He'd never even seen my breasts before and now he had his mouth all over them. And with my mom in the room!

"Um, I don't know," I said.

Ace squeezed my sides roughly.

I squeaked. "I mean, yes! Yes, he's still coming over."

Her brow furrowed in suspicion. Mercifully, she didn't push me on the subject. "All right, you'd better be quick then."

I nodded. "Okay."

My mom gave me one last pointed look before she left.

The second the door closed behind her, I shoved Ace off me and practically flew from the bed.

He met my gaze with a grin and leaned back against my pillows, his arms folded behind his head. I gulped.

Eight-pack abs, well-defined chest, and broad, muscled shoulders.

My eyes followed the V that disappeared beneath the waistband of his boxers. How did he manage to look so masculine while surrounded by my girly pink and white bedding?

Don't get distracted, Doe!

"What the fuck was that?" I demanded.

Sure, I'd been waiting years for Ace to show that sort of interest in me, but I was also incredibly confused. Did this mean he wanted something more between us?

Ace's cocky grin turned into a scowl. "Foul words like that do not belong in a pretty mouth like yours. I don't want to hear you say something like that again."

He paused, his eyes scanning up and down my body, then he licked his lips. "And that was something we're going to be doing a lot more often."

I blinked. My head was absolutely throbbing now. I could hear the blood rushing in my ears. "W-which part?"

He climbed off the bed and prowled toward me, and again, I had to work not to get distracted by his sculpted body.

He moved with such confidence, not the least bit worried that I could see everything-and I mean everything- through the thin material of his boxers.

Not that it's difficult to spot. He's a big man.

Big everywhere.

And, lord help me, he was hard, too, his arousal clearly visible.

It wasn't the first time I had witnessed him with a morning wood; rather, it's a common occurrence when you sleep in the same bed as a teenage boy every night.

But this time felt different. It was almost like he was showing off for me, making sure I knew he'd enjoyed what had just happened between us as much as me.

He stopped mere inches away from me. "I think you know which part, little mate."

My skin prickled with awareness. There was that word again. "Mate?" I whispered.

A growl left his chest as he leaned down and placed a lingering kiss on my forehead. "Soon."

He stepped back. "I better get going. Don't want to be late for school. I'll be back in fifteen to pick you up."

Without providing any further explanation, he pulled on his pants and shirt from the night before and left through my bedroom window.

3. Tension and Temptation

Ace drove us to school in silence. Silence wasn't unusual with Ace. He was a quiet, brooding man, yet he commanded the attention of every room he entered and could quiet anyone with a single look.

Usually, I didn't mind how quiet he was. I liked doing all the talking. Ace was an incredible listener and, though careful with his words, gave great advice.

Today, however, his silence was unsettling. He was white-knuckling the steering wheel, his arm muscles taut. There was something on his mind.

I wanted to ask him about what we did this morning but I was too nervous to bring it up.

I didn't regret anything, but I wanted to know what he was thinking.

The way he touched me this morning was new and shocking and...good. It felt right.

But he was my best friend. And although what happened this morning made it seem like there might be something more between us, it could also have just been a fit of his teenage-boy hormones.

He called me his friend this morning, didn't he? Or...no, he called me his mate, whatever that meant.

But if he really only saw me as his "mate," why did it seem like he was seconds away from kissing me before my mother walked in?

Ugh, all of this was making my headache a million times worse. It thrummed behind my temples angrily, making my stomach roll. My migraines always developed at the most inconvenient times.

I'd gone to the doctor countless times and tried countless different medications to make them stop, but nothing ever helped. I was forced just to suffer through them until the horrible pain ended.

I gripped the edges of my seat as a wave of nausea hit me. I needed to pull myself together before Ace noticed something was wrong.

Ace hated it when I got headaches. He went into overprotective mode any time I was in pain.

If he knew what I was experiencing now, he would freak out and probably take me back home. That was the last thing I wanted. My thoughts would only spiral more if I was forced to lie in bed all day.

"Doe?" Ace asked. "Are you okay?"

Crap. "Yep," I replied. I kept my gaze through my passenger window, "I'm great."

I felt his eyes on my face, and I tensed the muscles around my mouth to keep my expression neutral.

"No, you're not. Something is wrong." He paused. "Fuck. You're getting a migraine, aren't you?"

I slumped in my chair. It was as if he could read my mind. "I'm fine. It's not that bad."

"I'm sorry, Doe." He spoke as if he were to blame for my pain. His eyes volleyed back and forth between me and the windshield. "Should I take you home? Would sleep help?"

I immediately shook my head. "I want to go to school. It'll be a good distraction."