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“You do, you stubborn asshole. It's right in there waiting for you to come to your goddamn senses!”
Temper and patience snapped. Jasper lunged forward, driving his fist into Braun's gut. The bigger man hardly moved, shoving him back only for Jasper to charge again with blood in his eye. Blows were blocked, but not once did Braun throw one of his own.
“Braun? What the fuck?”
Jasper's head snapped around at the sound of Atticus's voice booming across the parking lot. In an instant, all his hate and rage and self-loathing twisted into one giant grenade with the pin pulled, and it was thrown at the feet of a man he loved like a brother. A man guiding a sweet blonde submissive from the club, with her hair a mess and her face pale. Unhappiness tugged at the edges of her lips.
Anarchy.
“Loki, get hold of him.” Connie snapped orders as she stepped between Jasper and the club. “Braun, don't think you know best here. Take Jasper inside while I see Atticus and Anarchy to their cars.”
Anarchy's eyes met his, and the misery in hers was enough to douse the rage into dead embers. He shook off the firm grips of his friends, folded his arms across his chest. The vodka curdled in his belly until he wanted to throw it up and forget this night ever happened. But these were the steps he'd taken, the actions he'd put in place.
No one had forced him to drink to excess, no one held a gun to his head and made him give up the one thing he truly needed in his life. No, this was his own doing and now he was going to make things right. A silent promise was made before he broke eye contact with Anarchy, turning away from her and smacking Loki's hand from his arm again.
Digging into his pockets, he yanked out his keys and separated a small bunch from the rest. For a moment, he weighed them in his palm. Years of friendship and dominance and belonging were wrapped up in that cluster of keys. He felt the loss keenly as he handed them over to Braun. “Make sure she's taken care of, Braun. Like she's your own.”
“Jasper—”
He shook his head, unwilling to look either Braun or Loki in the eyes. They knew him well, but not as well as they believed. Leaving now would spare them the betrayal of finding out who he really was and where he came from.
Not walking in as straight a line as he would have liked, he had no choice but to abandon his beloved truck where it was. One of the most important rules in BDSM was safe, sane, and consensual. Getting behind the wheel was neither safe nor sane, and he wasn't selfish enough to risk anyone else's life but his own on the road.
The symbol of handing over the keys had rendered his friends mute; Jasper took advantage of it to take his leave. Not a backward glance did he spare—Anarchy's face would be sufficient to keep him from leaving if she wore the right expression.
“Jasper Fairfax, you get your ass back here pronto.”
He ignored Connie's shout, heard Braun tell him to stop being an idiot. Loki and Atticus's voices joined the fray, but not once did he catch the pretty voice he wanted to hear. And that... well, that just cemented the fact he was doing what was best.
He walked away from the club, the life he'd built, the peaceful place he'd come to love. He walked on gravel and asphalt, farmland and dirt tracks, until he finally stumbled to a halt in a green field and just lay down where he was. There wasn't much alcohol left in his system now; between the adrenaline surge he'd experienced, the cool night air, and the long trek on foot, he was damn near sober.
It wasn't a bad thing, really. When dawn came, he had a job to do, and he needed a clear head to do it.
It was time he went home.
*
As she watched Jasper trudge away, Anarchy couldn't hold onto her tears.
She'd spilled so many tonight, it was a wonder she had any left.
Her evening hadn't gone to plan. It was embarrassing enough she'd safeworded on the first thrust of Atticus's cock, too mired in guilt to go through with the scene, but from Jasper's expression, he knew she'd let Atticus inside her. The man standing in the parking lot hadn't been the Jasper she loved and thought of as her Master; he'd been a shadow, eaten away from the inside, and she was the one who'd caused him to hurt that way.
“You're just gonna let him walk away?” she asked miserably.
Atticus wrapped a thick arm around her waist and tugged her in close to his side. He didn't seem to be holding any grudges about her wailing the safeword to the entire club, even as her body quivered for more of his cock. She was grateful for his strength. “Jasper needs some time to himself to think, little bit. Chasing after him, trying to make him talk...it won't work, not now. He has to process a lot of shit you don't know about; he'll be back when he has everything in order. He'll come back tomorrow, and we can put you two back where you belong.”
Why couldn't she have fallen for Master Atticus instead of Jasper? He was so...down to earth about everything. Hell, the moment she said the safeword, he pulled out of her, untied her without hesitation, and let her sob out her guilt until she couldn't breathe. He was everything she should have wanted in a Master, yet the only one she thought about was now staggering off into the night.
Connie strode over to them, her curvaceous hips swaying in their natural rhythm. A deep frown marred her face, turning her gray eyes stormy, and her mouth wasn't bearing its usual smile. “Atticus, are you taking your charge home?”
He stroked a ginormous hand down her back from shoulders to mid-spine. “Anarchy had a good cry, but she's settled. I'm making sure she gets to her car so she can drive home, Connie. Our scene didn't go as planned, but it's been a stressful evening.”
“Hmm.” Connie's attention flicked away from the bruiser of a Master toward Jasper's receding figure, then back to Anarchy. She reached out and cupped Archie's chin, studying her eyes until Archie believed the Mistress could see every thought and memory in her head. “Drive her yourself, Att. She's far from calm, and we don't want any more incidents tonight. Don't argue, pretty girl,” she added with a small snap of authority. “You hide it well, I'll give you that, but I've been doing this a long time. Let Atticus take you home while we deal with Jasper.”
“I can manage, Mistress Connie—”
“What did I just say about arguing? I have enough to deal with tonight without worrying about you crashing into something. Atticus will take you home, and Loki will pick him up so Atticus can come back for his truck.” The grip on her chin gentled. “Be a good girl, Archie. You and I will talk the next time you come to play.”
