Page 14 of Jasper (Guardians of the North #5)
JASPER
Vanessa Steele is back where she belongs—in my house.
We barely make it inside before she attacks me. Our quickly discarded clothes end up scattered throughout the open concept living area as we practically rip them off one another. There’s too much urgency to wait until we reach my bedroom to undress one another.
Her panties—red lace this time—are the last to go. I fling them away, and they catch on the dining room chandelier.
We both laugh.
Then our lips crash together once again.
I lift her bare ass onto the kitchen counter and step between her open legs.
A silver heart-shaped pendant dangles on a chain between her bountiful tits, those pebbled nipples begging my mouth to be on them.
Except our lips are too busy alternating between crashing together and exploring each other’s naked bodies.
Her hand fists my cock, and I groan at the touch I’ve been craving for so fucking long.
“Vanessa—”
“I need you, Jasper,” she says, tugging me closer by my dick. She scoots to the very edge of the counter, bringing my length to her core. Using it to pleasure her swollen clit as she lathers me in her juices. She’s so fucking wet I nearly nut on the spot.
I watch in rapture as she rubs me against her, those sexy moans and whimpers nearly undoing me.
“I want you inside me,” she insists.
“Condoms are in?—”
“I’m on the pill,” she says. “Clean, too.”
“I’m clean, too.”
She raises an eyebrow at me, as though challenging my answer. It doesn’t stop her from rolling her hips against me as my swollen head rubs against her button.
“Funny thing about first dates that always end early,” I say against the side of her neck as I scrape my teeth against that hollow spot I remember so well. “There’s never any sex.”
“You haven’t gone four years?—”
I look her dead in the eye, delighting in the way her blue orbs turn to liquid heat. “So what if I have, sweetheart? Your pussy is the only pussy I want to call home.”
I position my swollen head at her entrance and thrust inside, gripping her hips to pull her close as I sink in deep.
Her nails dig into my shoulders as she cries out.
I pull out slowly and pummel back into her sopping wet channel.
“Touch yourself, sweetheart,” I demand.
Her lips crush to mine as she reaches between us, fingering her clit. I grip her ass and set the rhythm. Slow to pull out. Desperate to be back home. Slow, then savage. She rolls her hips, meeting me greedy thrust for greedy thrust.
During that weekend in Cape Cod, we made love slowly and sensually, we fucked hard, and everything in between. With Vanessa, it’s always been moment by moment, and I fucking love it.
I love her .
“Jasper!” she cries out, rubbing her finger against her swollen button like her life depends on it. I drive my cock into her harder, faster. I’m desperate to release myself inside her depths, but I won’t dare come until she does. She’ll always come first.
“Come for me,” I growl. “Come on my bare cock, Vanessa.”
She explodes.
Her cry of ecstasy will probably raise some concern with the neighbors, but their nosiness is a price I’m willing to pay. Her teeth dig into my shoulder as she rocks violently through her powerful orgasm.
I stop fighting my restraint.
I pummel into her over and over. Until finally, I still inside her. My release is so intense my legs shake and force me to fight for balance. Vanessa clings to me as hot ropes of cum fill her. Staking my claim—for good this time.
“I love you,” I say against her ear, no longer giving a fuck if my confession scares her. “I’ve loved you since that day I met you in Cape Cod.”
“Jasper, I?—”
Her body stiffens in my hold, and I sense the alarm.
“What’s wrong?”
“My necklace.”
I reluctantly pull back, freeing my cock from her slick heat, and stare down at her chest. The necklace her mother gave her is missing.
“It’s here somewhere,” I reassure her.
“Maybe I left it at the hotel,” she says, panic taking over.
I cup her cheek and turn her face until she looks at me. “You were wearing it a few minutes ago. I remember it dangling between your tits, sweetheart. We’ll find it.”
She nods, quickly at first, then slowly as the panic dissipates.
I lift her off the counter, and we find the necklace within minutes. It landed in a bowl of apples and oranges.
“The clasp broke,” she says, looking defeated.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’ll get it fixed?—”
“I need to go,” she says, suddenly scrambling to collect her clothes.
“Vanessa—”
“Please, Jasper. Please take me back to the hotel.”
I hate how fragile her voice sounds, as though the strongest woman I’ve ever met is seconds from breaking.
I hate even more that she wants to run away from me in this moment of rare vulnerability.
Is it the necklace or is it my unplanned confession about being in love with her that has her so skittish?
“If that’s what you want.”
“It is.”
“Vanessa—”
She reaches up and touches my cheek, forcing a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. “We still have one more day, Jasper.”
One more day .
Fuck that.
“Why don’t you date military men?” The question comes out harsher than I intend, causing her to flinch. But now that it’s out, I’m desperate to know the reason.
“My mom.”
“What about your mom?”
“She made me promise—on her deathbed. To never get involved with a military man. She didn’t want me to?—”
“That’s fucking stupid.”
Any warmth in her gaze turns to ice in a single heartbeat. “Take. Me. Back. Now .”
“Fine,” I say, feeling the frustration rise. This is the reason she’s avoided military men? Some fucking ridiculous deathbed wish that didn’t take into account who she might meet and fall in love with? I want to argue. I want to fight—then fuck—then fight some more.
But deep down I know this isn’t the way to convince her to stay.
It’s best if we both sleep on this.
Tomorrow, we can sort this out once and for all. I have one more day to convince her to follow her own heart. Because I’d bet my military career that the path leads right to loving me too.