Half Truths

Take me away

  "Get me out of here." Simon's raspy voice came through the earpiece.

Clary fluffed a pillow behind her back and leaned against it while cradling her cell phone between her shoulder and ear. "Why are you whispering?" She grabbed her sketchbook and pencil from the nightstand next to the bed and balanced it on her knees.

"Because, if they hear me, they'll know I'm awake and they'll come in here."

"I thought you liked being taken care of? You're always trying to get me to do your laundry and bring you breakfast in bed."

"He sighed. "You don't understand. This is torture. Pure torture. You're my best friend! Save me!"

"You couldn't possibly be being overly dramatic now, could you?"

"Have you seen the saw movies? Simon paused. "Worse. So much worse."

"Are they breaking your ankles with sledgehammers?" Clary asked, biting her lip as she studied the lines of her latest drawing.A little more shading there, she thought to herself. Her finger glided over the rough paper, smoothing and blending the lead below.

"No," he grumbled.

"Then not worse than Saw. You lose."

"God Damn it," Simon said.

Clary laughed and lifted her pencil to scratch her head with the end when the door to the bedroom opened and Jace walked in. She looked up and couldn't help the smile that took over her face. He grinned back and dropped his bag on the floor next to the dresser before sitting on the end of the bed to remove his shoes.

"Tell you what, Si. We'll come get you tomorrow. Do you think you can survive one more night being coddled?" She stretched her leg out and poked Jace in the back with her toe. He turned and gave her a fake evil look. She covered the mouthpiece on the phone and giggled quietly.

Simon sighed. "I suppose. But why can't it be tonight?"

Clary poked Jace again, and this time he turned around, a mischievous grin on his face. "You're going to be sorry you did that, Spitfire," he said quietly, and grabbed a hold of her foot.

She raised her brows. "Because the apartment isn't quite ready yet. The cleaners are coming to do the floors tomorrow."

"What? You mean I'm not going to be able to see my beautiful bloodstain?"

Jace trailed his fingers lightly up the outside of Clary's calf and lowered his mouth to her ankle, his lips pressing softly against her skin and sending chills racing up her spine. Clary sucked in a breath and felt him smile against her leg.

"Simon, you're disgusting."

"Why? It's not every day I almost bleed to death on the floor. It would be like my badge of honor or something."

"You're a class A dick."

Jace reached up and grabbed her sketchbook, tossing it to the floor next to the bed as his lips grazed the sensitive skin on the inside of her knee. She closed her eyes and threaded her hands into his hair, the silky strands curling around her fingers. He continued slowly moving up her body, his mouth trailing along her inner thigh and his hand sliding up the outer.

"Clary?" Simon asked.

"Yeah?"

"Why are you breathing funny?"

"What?" Her eyes flew open and her grip tightened. Jace bit her inner thigh lightly in response and she gasped. He chuckled and wrapped his hand around her hip, pulling her down until her back hit the mattress.