AllFreeNovel
Share Us
This… This was fantastic too.
Jasper tucked one hand under my head, his thumb stroking over my cheek as he deepened the kiss. My pulse fluttered at the affection of the gesture.
Fondness and desire wound together in my chest. I trailed my fingers over the planes of muscle I’d been admiring moments ago, treasuring his hum of approval.
As I circled one of Jasper’s pert nipples with my thumb, he flicked his tongue into my mouth. Then he withdrew it to test the edges of his teeth against my lower lip with an eager nip.
Pleasure jolted through my body. I teased my fingers down to his waist and back up again, and Jasper responded by grasping my hip through the sheets. In a gesture I suspected was more instinctive than conscious, he yanked our groins together.
The second our bodies aligned, it was obvious we were both already hard. My erection pressed into his with a spike of deeper arousal—and Jasper froze.
His lips lingered against mine, but the rest of his frame had gone still. His breath stuttered over my skin.
We’d never done more than kiss when Lou wasn’t part of the equation. I was the first man Jasper had ever gotten intimate with. It wasn’t surprising he’d have moments of hesitation and awkwardness.
His mouth moved against mine again, more cautiously than before. I could still feel the tension that had tightened his muscles.
Did he think he had to push himself farther than he was comfortable with to please me? Had Imadehim believe that, nudged him to experiment more than he was really comfortable with?
It wouldn’t be the first time I’d overstepped with someone I cared about, too caught up in my own ideas of how our relationship should be to recognize their needs in time.
My stomach dropped. I returned Jasper’s kiss carefully and then eased back with a smile so he wouldn’t take my ending the make-out session as a rejection. I tugged my hips backward at the same time so I wasn’t imposing so much down below either.
Apparently I hadn’t been subtle enough in my withdrawal. Jasper blinked at me with obvious confusion. “Is something wrong?”
I could almost hear my sister calling me “Baka!” and making a rude gesture in my direction. Now I’d messed up in a totally different way.
I steadied my smile with all the genuine appreciation I could compel into it. “Of course not. I’m just starving. All that stomach grumbling can really ruin the mood.”
Jasper’s forehead furrowed, maybe because my stomach hadn’t actually grumbled. His gaze held me in place with its penetrating power. “You just want to get breakfast? Are you sure that—”
Before he could finish a question I’d have fumbled to answer, the bedroom door burst open. Rafael stood on the threshold, his massive form filling the doorway, his dark brown eyes unnervingly wild.
“Have either of you seen Lou?” he demanded. “Do you know where she went?”
As I took in his frantic state, my throat constricted. “No. She was already gone when I woke up. I thought she was with you.”
Jasper nodded, sitting upright. “Same. She isn’t in the apartment?”
Somehow Rafael’s expression managed to darken even more. I half-expected lightning to start crackling over his head.
“She was already gone whenIwoke up,” he said. “I thought she was getting takeout for breakfast to surprise us. But she’s been gone for a while—too long. I tried texting her five minutes ago, and it’s still showing as unread.”
My pulse stuttered. “It’s not like her to ignore you, is it?”
“No.” Rafael turned on his heel and stalked down the hall. “She wouldn’t have justleft. There’s no sign of anyone breaking in. How could they have without me noticing? Fuck!”
His obvious agitation set my own nerves on edge. I scrambled out of the bed and hastily tugged on my track pants.
Jasper followed, his eyes gone wide with worry. “This is her room. She left all her stuff—her suitcase.” He opened the closet, where several outfits including her skating costumes hung. “The clothes she’s unpacked.”
Rafael’s voice carried down the hall. “Her equipment bag is over here by the door. Skates are still in there and everything.”
Jasper hustled to the living room, and I followed at his heels. Rafael was just picking up the purse Lou had tucked into her duffel bag.
He pulled out her wallet and clicked it open. “She didn’t even take her cash or her ID.”
My gut knotted. I had no idea just how bad this situation could be. I’d still been wrapping my head around the idea of Lou as a mafia heir who could be targeted by stalkers and gangs. How much worse could things get?
