It should make me happy that she’s capitulating. It means less fighting so I can focus my energy on other things. It means I can keep Jasmine safe.
It means I can keep her.
But as I stand there and watch her put herself to rights, the wrongness of this situation nags at me. I want Jasmine. No shit, I want Jasmine. Until I had her, that was the only thing that mattered. Now?
I want her to choose me.
I almost laugh out loud at the idiocy of the thought. Jasmine might like the way she comes on my cock, but if all things were in balance, she’d walk away and never look back. She has her sights set on things outside this world we move in, and I’d be a monster to hold her to the shadows when she was obviously meant to walk in the sunshine.
I am a monster.
I shrug out of my jacket and wrap it around her. It’s not that cold outside, but I like the sight of her in my clothes. A statement, yes, but for once, I don’t give a fuck who might see. It settles something in my chest. “I have one thing to take care of and then we’re leaving.”
Her gaze sharpens. “You want to talk to Hades.”
No point in lying to her. It doesn’t even occur to me to try. “Ali shouldn’t have been able to get past the security.” I need to know if he’s that good, or if Hades has his own reasons for letting the man in, and I need to know it soon. Jasmine’s safety hangs in the balance.
She meets my gaze. “I’d like to come with you.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to deny her. Ali got into the room, so I’m hardly going to leave her here, but I know for a fact that Meg and the other two women in Hades’s inner circle wind down in the early mornings in the lounge. I don’t trust anyone, but Hades and his people care about reputation above all else. Even if he’d playing two sides against the middle, he won’t hand over someone under his protection.
He’ll just pretend not to know anything about it after Ali snatches her.
Jasmine touches my arm. “I’ll remember the rules.”
Eyes down. Silent.
It should please me. She’s taken to submission so goddamn naturally. But I can barely breathe past the jagged feeling in my throat. “No.” The word seems to surprise her as much as it surprises me. I take her hand and place it in the crook of my arm. “No, this concerns you as much as it concerns me. More.”
“Jafar.” She finally looks up at me. Even with her expression intentionally smoothed out, there are marks of weariness around her eyes and the faintest tremble in where her fingers touch my arm. Ali was in the room with her, close enough to do or say something that left her physically sick. I can’t think about that too hard or I’m going to lose my shit.
I should have been there.
I want to bundle her up, to do something to make her feel safe, to put her feet back on solid ground. It’s not in my skillset. I destroy things. I don’t protect them. I clear my throat. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here.”
She frowns at me as if she’s never seen me before. “If he came through that door while you were in bed with me, he could have killed you.”
As much as I wish I could say otherwise, when she and I are fucking, I’m so wrapped up in her, an elephant could stampede through the room and I’d be none the wiser. “It doesn’t matter.”
It does matter. She’s mine to conquer, yes, but more importantly, she’s mine to protect. “He won’t get to you again.”
For a second, I think she might fight me just for the sake of fighting. I can’t blame her for the urge. A cornered animal will swipe out at friend and foe alike. I’m still not sure which I am for this woman. Both. Neither. I want to burn this new fucking uncertainty inside me to ash and let it blow away in the wind. It won’t happen as long as I’m touching her, and leaving her alone in this moment isn’t an option. She needs me. She might cut out her own tongue before she admits it, but it’s the damn truth.
“Ready?”
She nods slowly. “I wish you hadn’t torn my dress. It feels like visiting a king in my underwear.”
“Baby girl, you are essentially in your underwear.” I lean down and murmur in her ear. “And you loved it when I ripped your clothes off. It had you wet and begging for my cock before I had even touched your pussy.”
She shivers. “I like what I like.” As simple as that.