Page 49 of Take
He took off his shirt and my breath caught as I stared up at his perfectly muscled chest and carved abdomen.
He kicked off his boots and they went flying across the room, hitting the dresser. Something crashed to floor, but Jasper didn’t seem to notice, or if he did, he didn’t care. He was a wild animal trying to get at his prey, frantic that if he didn’t soon, it would disappear on him.
“Jasper. Untie me.”
“Fuck, no.” He growled and then disappeared into the bathroom where I heard drawers being opened and shut. When he emerged, I saw the condom package in his hand. He ripped it open with his teeth and then finally looked at me, shirt torn open, chest heaving, hands tied above my head.
He froze. Time stood still as we let our desire simmer over us. For those few seconds, we connected on a level neither of us expected.
I knew what he was feeling. I could see it in his smoldering grey eyes; it mirrored my own. It had been trickling from me since the day we met—there was no hiding or running from this.
The cockiness was gone and the anger had dissipated. And I saw the fear of what was between us. It also looked like he was about to run when he glanced at the door.
His brows lowered and there was a twitch in his jaw. I was losing him and despite knowing this was a bad idea, I wanted him. “I’m not going anywhere.” I gave him a playful smile as I tugged on the rope. “Kiss me, Jasper. I want you to kiss me and then I want your cock inside me.”
His eyes roamed the length of my body and there was anger and tension in him again. I knew what he was seeing—my scars. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see his disgust; afraid he’d walk away and leave me.
The bed sagged and then I gasped as his lips caressed one of the scars on my stomach near my belly button. Then another kiss on the one just under my right breast. His tongue slid over the raised surface and goose bumps scattered as I arched my back into him.
His hands settled on my hips to keep me still as the velvet heat of his tongue kissed every scar across my chest and abdomen and then . . . then he unsnapped my bra and drew my nipple into his mouth and suckled.
“Jasper,” I breathed.
His teeth grazed the sensitive peak as if in warning and then he bit down just enough to make me tense and moan. His mouth eased the throbbing pain with the tantalizing sweetness of his tongue before he repeated it on my other nipple.
Desperate to touch him, I pulled hard on the ropes, but his one hand came up and held my wrists down on the pillow. “Don’t fight, baby. Not this time.” His mouth claimed mine again and it was slow and hinted a teasing playfulness before it became forceful and claiming again.
It was then that I let him have everything—all of me. My need to escape, to have some control over this was washed away by his kiss, his touch and I let him devour me. And it was devouring as he took his time exploring my body, never once hesitating at my damaged skin.
“I’m not good for you.” His voice was ragged as he kissed my neck. “But I can’t stop.”
“I’m sure you say that to all the girls.” I tried to make light of it, but Jasper pulled back and his brows knit together.
“No, because I don’t care what they think. Just you, Max. Only you.” He sat up, his cock pressing against me, so I pushed up, needing him inside me.
“Did you really watch me for months?”
“Yeah.” Then he made a strangled groan. “Fuck, angel, I want to hand you the world, yet I can’t promise you anything.”
What he didn’t realize was he had already let me in by telling me that. “I don’t want promises.” I wanted truth and that was what he gave me by admitting he couldn’t promise me anything. “I want you. I’ve wanted you from the beginning.”
Silence. I waited, heart pumping madly, blood raging through my veins and desire throbbing between my legs.
“Jasper?” I was overflowing with anticipation of having him inside me again. And all this talk, listening to his low graveled voice, feeling his hands holding me . . . Jesus, I was sizzling.
The heat in his eyes blazed an inferno ready to assault, to wreak havoc with my body and set each piece of me on fire.
“Max,” he murmured, kissing me again.
The denial was over.
But there were no promises.
Just here and now.
His hand reached under my naked thigh and hoisted it up to his shoulder. My muscles stretched and ached, but the pain felt good as he used the bed for leverage and pressed hard into me with his weight.
It didn’t matter. I knew pain. I grew up with it and it was part of me. And for a second, I thought of Jasper spanking me and how it turned me on. Was it just him or was it the fight? Both. The shocking pain released a new kind of pleasure and suddenly I wanted that again. That harsh pain and pleasure that awakened me. Made me feel alive.