Page 71 of Take

And I did. I screamed. “Fuckkkk, Jasper.”

“That’s it, baby.” And that was when he stopped and stroked the burning pain, soft and gentle then slid his finger down my crack into the wetness and then . . .

I gasped as his finger drove inside me, my hands curling.

“I’m going to sink my cock into this.” He pushed another finger in and then thrust in and out. “And you’re going to tell me you’ll never do that again. You’ll never risk your life like that again.”

I knew what would happen if I refused, but I wouldn’t lie. Because I would do it again. “I can’t do that, Jasper.”

He pulled his fingers from my moisture and then his hand stoked over my butt again. I knew what was coming and my sex clenched. But the sting failed to come down on my ass. Instead, he flipped me over and tossed me backward so I landed on my back on the mattress.

He stood. I shifted up onto my elbows and watched him carefully as he slowly turned doing up his jeans. Doing up his jeans? What the hell?

“What are you doing?” I scrambled to my knees on the edge of the bed. “What’s wrong?”

He strode to the bathroom, the same bathroom where we’d first met, and grabbed his black t-shirt from the counter and pulled it over his head. Only then did he look at me and his expression was tight, unbending.

“You know what I do, right, Max? You know I get paid to kill.” I nodded. Yeah, of course I did. “Then I need you to agree to never do anything like that again. Because my shit, the people I deal with, I won’t have you coming after me if some fucker gets his hands on me.”

Now, I was angry and my heart pounded as I crawled off the bed. “You can’t dictate what I can and can’t do. I won’t hide anymore. I know how to handle myself and for once in my life, I can live.”

“Did you hear what you just said? Live, Max. Fuckin’ live.”

I walked toward him. He was braced and ready for me, looking like a large unmovable rock. “Yes. Live.” I shoved my hands into his chest. Of course it had no effect and he remained solid. “Live, Jasper. Whether one day or a thousand years, I want to live—with you. And if you’re going to continue to risk your life, then you can damn well expect me to risk mine in order to keep you.”

His determined expression faltered. It was a flicker of shock as his eyes widened briefly and then they narrowed again. “No,” he said. But the one word was gentle and no longer held the grip of resolve.

“Protecting me isn’t done by locking me away.” I rested my hands on his chest, feeling his steady heartbeat beneath my palms.

He took a deep breath. “They’ll use you against me.”

Like his sister. “Maybe. But it won’t be your fault. Just like what happened to Beth wasn’t.” His jaw tightened. “Jasper, love me, protect me, but let me love you and protect you, too.”

He ran his hand through his hair as his eyes locked with mine. “I can’t lose you.”

“Then you know why I’m fighting you on this. I can’t lose you either.”

“Fuck it.” He spun around and walked over to the dresser and tagged the phone. I had no idea what he was doing or who he’d call in the middle of our conversation, but when he put the phone to his ear, he looked at me, and it was the confident resolute man who always got his own way.

“Don’t send me anymore jobs,” he said into the phone then pressed end, not even waiting for a response and then he pressed a few more numbers and put the phone back to his ear. “Guise . . . yeah, I’m good. Yeah, she’s good, too . . . yeah, I will . . . tell Holden I’m with the Talde . . . fuck he’s here? Fine, I’ll tell him myself.” I heard an abrupt ‘about fuckin’ time’ through the phone, then Jasper pressed end and tossed it on the dresser.

I crossed my arms and the corners of my lips curved up. This was how he planned to win the argument. “No more jobs?”

He shook his head. “Nope.”

I saw the self-satisfied look on his face. Cocky bastard. “And you’re joining your brother’s Talde?”

He nodded. “Yep.”

And that meant he’d have Guise, Holden and the others I had yet to meet in the Talde, who’d protect me and I was guessing stop me from going after Jasper if he ever got himself in trouble. The thing was . . . he now had a Talde to stand behind him and protect him.

“You’re not always going to win when we disagree.”

He cocked a grin. “Yeah, I am, baby. Get used to it.” He strode back into the bathroom and came back out with a small, thin, square package which he ripped open with his teeth. Then he undid the top button of his jeans and lowered the zipper.

I pursed my lips together and watched as he slid off his jeans. He was naked underneath and already hard. I stood, throbbing, my breathing ragged as he slid the condom on. “And now I’m going to fuck you. On the bed, sunshine.”

Oh, I wanted to fuck him. God, I wanted to fuck him. And I was still pulsing and aching for him, but Jasper couldn’t get what he wanted all the time and despite me losing out on hot sex, I had to prove a point. I darted for the door.