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“He calls me his princess.”
* * *
My eyes snapped open,and every muscle tensed as my heart hammered a staccato beat. Where was I? The room…this wasn’t my room. Movement next to me had me shifting to the side, and I turned to meet the storm in Jasper’s gray eyes.
Recognition, quickly followed by relief, trickled through me. I sank back into the pillows. Thanks to the fairy lights around the ceiling, the soft glow they gave off chased away the darkness. Some of their bedrooms still felt so new.
The soreness around my eyes had me rubbing a hand over my face. There was dampness on my cheeks. Had I been crying while I was asleep?
Jasper rolled onto his side, cupping my cheek gently. With care, he used his thumb to wipe away the tears.
“You’re safe.”
“I know,” I whispered, rawness crackling in my voice. Even if I had to keep reminding myself. “I know,” I repeated, and it came out more assertive this time. His whole expression gentled.
“What do you need?” The soft question soothed over some of the rougher places. My throat was sore, my eyes ached, and the fact I’d been crying hadn’t been lost on me. My nose was still a little stuffy.
“I don’t know,” I admitted, wrapping a hand around his nape. The heat radiating off his body had me curling toward him even as he blanketed me. The weight was what I wanted. All at once, I twined my arms around his neck even as he settled into the cradle of my legs.
Jasper nuzzled kisses over my face, then down to my throat. The butterfly light, barely-there contact, more than what I realized I needed. Each brush of his beard against my face or throat had me clinging tighter. The tension cording my muscles alternating between fire and ice.
It must have communicated because he nipped at my earlobe; the sharp little bite of pain grounded me. Then teased his tongue in whirls over my earlobe. “I’m here, Swan. You’re safe.”
Uncle Fuckbucket was the one who wanted me…
The chill skating under my skin threatened to slice through. Jasper lifted his head and searched my features. I had no idea what he was searching for, but then his mouth crashed down onto mine. Yes,thiswas what I needed.
Jasperwas what I needed. The glide of his skin against mine, where my legs wrapped around him, pulled my focus to the present. Moreover, the contact drowned out all those voices in my head.
“I’m here,” he repeated over and over in between kisses. The tears slipping from the corners of my eyes turned the kiss salty. Digging my fingers into his shoulders, I held on tight.
“Jas,” I whispered in between biting kisses. He lifted his head, his stormy eyes holding me captive. “I’m—” What was I? I was… Why did words have to be so hard? “I love you,” I said, finally. It didn’t seem like much to offer when he was blanketing me in warmth and strength. Even less when compared to how he seemed firm to stand between me and the rest of the world.
I barely even knew what time it was or when we came in here. I remembered the tears and hugging Kellan so tight. I remembered all of them being there, though at some point, I collapsed into sleep and woke up here.
Safe. Safe and not alone.
"I love you,” he whispered like a sacred promise. “I love you, and I have you. No one is taking you. You are not alone…”
So many words I needed to hear. I traced my fingers over his face. “How do you know what I need to hear?” How did he always know the right things to say?
He chuckled. The sound was dark and tempting even as he pushed his hips against the cradle of my thighs. Half-dressed as we were, it didn’t disguise the weight of his cock pressing against me or stop me from soaking through my panties in anticipation.
“I don’t always know the right things,” he teased, nuzzling another kiss to the corner of my mouth. “I can be a real bastard, remember?”
A giggle escaped, tear-drenched possibly, but still a laugh. “Oh, I have some experience with your bossy, asshole side.”
“Yeah, you do,” he said, nipping my lower lip. “Didn’t scare you. You just got right back in my face.”
Adoration filtered up through me.
“As for the rest, Swan…” He braced himself up on his elbows before tilting his head to kiss a path down my throat. The soft bristles of his beard tickled as he licked, bit, and sucked in between bites. My nipples went to painful tips. “Being alone…being abandoned…it’s the worst fucking feeling on the planet. We’ve all been there.”
The words arrested me.
“We’ve all lost.”
Tears burned anew in my eyes.
