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“Unhand me, you fucking brute.” I struggle in his hold, but find myself rapidly backed up against the wall, my spine slamming into it and my wrists being smashed into the drywall above my head. A fraction of a second later, his warm hand grips my throat, squeezing it tightly.
“Do you think that my protectiveness ended when I fucked you?” he growls in my face. His eyes hold emotions I’ve never seen before. “Because I have news for you, sweetcheeks. When we became intimate, that’s the exact moment my protectiveness exploded out of this hemisphere.”
A grunt of agreement sounds from one of my guys, but I don’t dare break my gaze to find out who.
“You better damn well believe I’ll be inspecting you anytime I find you covered in blood. I’m the only one who’s allowed to play with your stunning ruby life force. Anyone else who thinks they can cut you will die before the night is finished.” His fingers tighten on my throat, cutting off my breathing. “Even if it’s someone you love. Do you understand me, Reginetta? I will kill Cole if any of this is yours.”
He might be choking me to get a point across, something I love no matter what the reason. But I know it’s his words that are making drops of desire accumulate between my legs. If he says much more, it’ll drip down my thighs.
“I’m okay, Vanner. None of it is mine. You can check.” I somehow wheeze the words even without the ability to breathe. His gaze loses the anger and I’m left staring into his fear. He might love playing with blood when we fuck, but it scared him to see me come home covered in it.
My dead little heart squeezes in my chest.
Raising my hand to his face, I palm his cheek and his tight hold on my throat becomes a possessive caress, his thumb swiping back and forth. “I promise, I’m fine,” I whisper again, knowing he needs the reassurance. His Adam’s apple bobs exaggeratedly as he takes a hard swallow, forcing his fears down deep where he doesn’t have to address them.
His hands tenderly travel over my skin. The one around my neck meets the other at my wrists, then guides my arms from above my head until they’re spread at my sides. Fingertips trail along my limbs, over my collarbones, around my breasts and settle on my hips where he stabilizes himself as he crouches to help me out of the pants bunched at my ankles. How he was able to strip me so fast is still mind boggling.
Finishing his inspection of my front, his hands push on my hips, encouraging me to spin around. His hands trail along me, leaving behind the softest, caring touches. It’s so at odds with the degrading man who fucks me with the barrel of his gun, but I’ll take any version of him that he wants to give. I’m learning more and more that my men can’t be kept in the boxes they started out in. Their emotions grow and evolve from day to day, exactly like mine seem to be doing.
Vulnerability flashes through me, making me want to run from the room for some unexplained reason, but I stand firm, giving Vander all the reassurance he needs that I’m uninjured. When he’s finished, his lips brush against my shoulder before pressing a light kiss below my ear.
“Thank you for letting me check. Now get yourself cleaned up before I have to retrace Cole’s marks with my own, using your blood.” He steps away, leaving a vortex of cold air. A shiver wracks my body, making me cross my arms and stare at my feet, searching for my clothes.
“No point in putting those back on,” Jasper’s rough voice sounds as his warm hand wraps around my elbow. “You need to get cleaned up and those need to be burned.”
Grayson stands with a hand over his mouth, his elbow propped up by his other arm crossed over his body. He stares at me for a moment and shakes his head. I get the distinct impression that he thinks he should be surprised by finding me like this, but he’s unsettled that this feels normal. Thankfully, I don’t find any disgust there. I’m not sure what I’d do if he was grossed out by this. We won’t tell him that I covered Cole’s cock in blood before he fucked me with it.
Jasper’s hand lands on the small of my back, guiding me through the house to make sure I don’t leave any evidence smudged against a wall or something. He doesn’t say a word as he ushers me across his room to the adjoining bathroom. The thin press of his lips has me wondering if he’s upset as he leaves me standing in front of the vanity and turns on the water in the shower.
Standing straight, Jasper holds my gaze as his hand reaches behind him and fists the back of his shirt. It’s over his head in a single smooth motion that reveals his sculpted core. I bite my lip, enjoying the view and mentally encouraging him to continue stripping.
“You going to shower with me?” I can’t help but ask. It’s the obvious next step, but I don’t want to get my hopes up unnecessarily. He pauses from unzipping his pants and fixes his glare on me. Something about it makes me freeze in place.
Within a heartbeat, Jasper closes the distance between us, his hand fisting my hair into a messy ponytail and twisting my body around until the counter bites into my hips. His lips brush against my ear as he says, “I want you to look long and hard at what we saw when you got home.”
He pauses, giving me time to take in the image of myself reflected in the mirror. Dried blood decorates my skin everywhere. There are only a few patches that don't have some hint of red. There’s even splatter on my eyelids like a morbid shadow with glitter in it. The only thing that might not be up to my standards is the way strands of my black hair clump together.
The corners of my lips wobble, working their way into a smile at the way I look. But before it comes to fruition, Jasper tugs on my hair, forcing my gaze to meet his in the glass. “This isn’t a chance for you to admire yourself.” Anger vibrates from him, making me realize how much he’s holding himself back. “I want you to see what we did. To take it in from our perspective.”
I gape at myself, trying in vain to find anything wrong. I’m fucking stunning. Cole and I worked together to make something exquisite. We should take pictures so they can be hung in galleries across the world.
“When you left, what did we think you were doing?” Jasper hisses when he realizes I’m not getting his point. He pins me in place, making sure my hips are anchored with nowhere to go then yanks on my hair, forcing my back to bend awkwardly until I’m staring at his face upside down.
“That we were going out to a bar for some drinks,” I reply after he gives a warning tug, wincing at the crick in my back.
“Right. What part of that says ‘I’ll be coming home covered in blood?’” he hisses.
I moan, wanting his hands on me. I’m naked. He’s halfway there. And yet he’s not touching me. My pussy clenches with desire, my thighs wet with arousal, and I’m dressed up to be fucked into tomorrow. Especially with how infuriated he is.
Angry fucking makes the best fucking. At least it does in my book. Should be the start of a rule somewhere…
“The part where you let Cole and I leave together,” I say innocently.
Jasper grunts, and I know I got him with that one. “While that might be true, you’re both adults. If you’re coming home covered in blood, you call us first before we have heart attacks thinking you’re hurt.”
He pauses, closes his eyes and takes several deep breaths. “I don’t want you to say another word until I tell you. Don’t fucking test me on this, Little Bird.” He moves swiftly to the shower, sticking his hand under the stream to test the temperature and then gestures me in.
Stripping his pants off, Jasper steps in behind me, pushing me under the rainfall. I stick out my lip in a pout, not wanting to get rid of my body paint just yet. I barely had enough time to appreciate it.
