AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Very carefully, she removed her hand from Anarchy's shoulder, only to clench it into a fist by her side. Although she was almost maintaining a calm façade, little licks of temper were smoking in her eyes, darkening the gray. Her lips pressed together into a straight line of bloodless white, and the muscles along her jaw were taut with stress.
Three...two...one...
"You fucking idiot!" she exploded, making Anarchy jump.
Jasper rolled his shoulders, preparing to carry the weight Connie desperately needed to offload. He said nothing, prayed Archie would keep her precious mouth shut, and simply waited for the rest of the deluge to blow out the retaining wall of Connie's emotional dam.
"You got out of the truck. What kind of idiot gets out of his goddamn truck when he's outnumbered by two professional killers? Do you have some superhero complex I don't know about? Or are you just so fucking laden with guilt over your childhood that subconsciously, you're suicidal on some level?"
Okay, then. Apparently, both barrels weren't enough for the Domme today—she was taking aim with a fucking missile launcher. Absorbing the blow, Jasper inclined his head. "Outnumbered but not outmatched. My skills might be rusty, but they're still there. My priority was getting Anarchy away from them."
Connie snarled. A full rack of white teeth flashed at him. "You have a foot, Jasper. Two, in fact. One of them should have been pressed to the gas pedal. You knew who you were up against—they'd just thrown a body in front of your truck. That should have been some indication of the lengths theywere willing to go to get their dirty hands on you and Anarchy."
The heart monitor picked up its monotonous beep as his own temper flared, sending a rush of adrenaline through his veins and flushing out the last dregs of morphine. "Yeah, I could've done that. I could have driven away, and they would have followed. The likelihood is, they'd have used their car as a battering ram and spun us off the road. If we'd collided with anything, it would have opened up the risk of Anarchy being hurt or killed. It wasn't a chance I was willing to take."
"But using yourself as a distraction was acceptable?"
Jasper inhaled slowly and turned his head to study Archie's bewildered expression. Still so innocent, despite everything. "Yes."
"I'm not going to win this, am I?"
"There's nothing towin, Connie. I made a decision for Anarchy's benefit, and it was the right one. Yes, it cost me, and it fucking cost her," he said with an apologetic squeeze of his fingers. "More than I ever imagined it would. If you had any inkling of the relief I felt when she drove away...you'd have made the same damn choice."
Some of the vicious tension in Connie's shoulders dissipated. Her fists relaxed enough for her to rub her hands over her face in frustration. "And the flying kick? Was that really necessary, Jasper? You're nearly forty years old, for God's sake."
"Hey!" Anarchy protested. "Forty isn't old!"
A baleful stare silenced the little sub's protests. "Not your fight, Archie."
"She's right, kitten. As much as I love you coming to my defense, you've already gone above and beyond. I've got this." Jasper frowned at Connie. "Hey! Forty isn't old!"
Both Liam and Anarchy snickered, but the Domme wasn't laughing. She just looked...done. Exhausted down to the bone. Jasper had been there, where fatigue stabbed icy fingers into the soul and just kept dragging it down and down until there was no light left to be seen.
"Obviously, you've chosen not to be serious about this, and I don't have the energy to hash it to pieces." Eyes dull now, Connie stepped forward and leaned over to press her cheek to his. "I love you, J, but you're an asshole. Get some rest."
Goddamn it. "Connie—"
"I have some errands to run, and Bodie to call in on before I head home to deal with Alicia." She didn't sound thrilled by any of it, and it reflected on her face. It was almost as though the thought of going home sucked another fraction of life from her. "Atticus had to take a phone call, but he shouldn't be long. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Connie," Jasper tried again, infusing some dominance into his tone.
But she just straightened and turned away, heading for the door. By the way Liam pushed off the wood and stepped aside, she was wearing her don't fuck with me nowface, yet her movements were calm as she simply opened the door and walked away.
"Fuck," Liam muttered. "I wasn't expecting that."
"No, me neither."
"Want me to go after her?"
She was a grown woman, Jasper reminded himself. A grown woman with a degree, a life, and a wicked backswing with a flogger. She was also in a bad place, hurting, and in need of a shoulder to lean on. She wasn't the kind of woman who divulged her own secrets, despite her profession. Maybe because of it. Adding burden to the shoulders of others wasn't in her nature, but she was adept at taking theirs onto her own.
Too adept.
"Yeah, go. Stick with her if you're brave enough. Do what you need to, Liam."
"Gotcha." With a quick double-tap of two fingers to his forehead in farewell, Liam slipped out of the room.
Jasper sighed and rested his head back against the pillows. Anarchy's hand was warm on his, and just her presence made everything seem...brighter. "So, kitten, why don't you tell me what happened last night? From the bits and pieces I've been told, it appears I owe you my life."
