Owned (Office Intrigue Book 8) by Nicole Edwards (year 2 reading books TXT) 📗

was a fucking intern. When I tried to argue my case, no one believed me. The only saving grace was the fact no meds were missing. She hadn’t thought it all the way through, I guess. The chief gave me a choice to go to another hospital. So I did.”

“You didn’t leave because of me?”

His eyes held firm to mine. “Not initially, no. You were the reason I opted to leave Chicago. It took years for me to get over you.”

I brushed my knuckles over his cheek. “You did better than me, then. Because I never got over you.”

The tears that sprang to his eyes shocked me. I’d never seen Jasper cry, and it brought out my protective instinct.

“Don’t,” I commanded, wiping one stray tear with my thumb. “It’s the past, Jasper.”

He nodded, held my gaze.

“I love you,” I said. “Always have. Always will. Regardless of…” I motioned around the room, not sure what I was encompassing.

“I don’t want to be part of a triad,” he said softly. “It was fun for about a minute, but it’s not what I want.”

“I know.”

He frowned.

“I’ve been waiting for you to tell me.” I gripped his jaw with a firm hand. “You owe me that much, Jasper. We owe that to each other. If we can’t communicate…”

We both knew how that sentence ended, so I didn’t bother finishing it.

“Why do you think I clued Gideon in on what Cody wants?”

His forehead furrowed. “You did that?”

I nodded. “Figured I had to get him out of the way, or we had no chance of figuring this out. I wasn’t sure you were going to be straight with me.”

He didn’t say anything.

“Would you have?” I prompted, shifting so that I was lying on top of him, urging his legs apart with my knees. When he did what I wanted, I sat up, retrieved the lubricant that was still sitting on the nightstand after last night’s encounter.

“Yes,” he rasped, his gaze following my movements as I squirted lube in my hand, stroked my already hard cock.

“I’m not sure I believe you.”

With my cock in hand, I leaned over him, propped myself up with the other. Jasper helped by raising his knees, opening himself up to me.

Pressing my cock against his anus, I held myself there, staring down into the most beautiful green eyes I’d ever seen. They were so familiar but so different at the same time.

“You’re no longer that same man,” I told him. “I can see it in your eyes. But you’re still the same man I fell in love with.”

He didn’t look away, his eyes glittering with emotion.

“I want to know the man you are now,” I whispered. “But I’m not willing to go slow. Not after all the time we’ve wasted.”

Jasper nodded, as I pushed my hips forward, breaching the entrance to his body. He grunted softly, his ankles hooking behind my back.

“I love you,” I repeated. “I won’t stop loving you.”

He moaned softly when I rolled my hips, sinking deeper into his blessed heat.

“If you think you can one day love me back…”

“I love you still.” His eyes closed, mouth opening as I made love to him, slow, gentle, easy. “Never stopped, Titan.”

I’d never fully understood why some Doms preferred honorifics. I’d never used one again after Jasper. I guess because he was the one who’d come up with it. But when he referred to me that way, it filled me with something no one else could ever give me. A love only the two of us shared.

Shifting forward, I slid my arms beneath his shoulders, let him bear my weight as I moved inside him. I didn’t rush, content to be right here in the one place I’d always wanted to be.

“Love me, Jasper. It’s the only thing I’ve ever needed.”

His arms came around me, his mouth finding mine. And right there, with our bodies connected in the most intimate of ways, I fell in love with this man all over again.

THIRTY-EIGHT

TALON

By the following Wednesday, things had gotten back to normal. As normal as could be expected with all the changes that were underway, anyway.

Between Memphis and Tiegan getting settled into their new roles, Ransom taking over the resort and all that it encompassed, Zion and Braelyn putting their heads together to implement what I was learning were some rather impressive improvements, I found I had a little free time. The slower pace left me with time to come up with creative ideas of my own, most of which I’d used as a means of getting Braelyn naked.

Today was no exception.

Since she’d spent a majority of her day in meetings with Zion and Ransom, going over budgets for implementing automations to the resort, I had put my possessions to work rearranging the main balcony overlooking the ocean. While I spent a good amount of time on the balcony outside my bedroom, I rarely used this one, although I wasn’t sure why that was.

After a couple of hours of redesign and bringing in some furniture that had been moved to one of the many storage rooms, it was now a comfortable outdoor living space, complete with dining table, couch, and a double-wide tantric chair that I hoped would see quite a bit of action in the coming days and months.

Tonight I decided to put all the possessions on duty to tend to us, starting with having Auberon go down to the offices to retrieve Braelyn. While he did that, Ari and Rolphe set the table—wine, roses, candles, and linens. Bram and Corvin were on kitchen duty, preparing the meal. And Sim and Taurus were standing by to serve and cater to Braelyn’s every whim.

Because tonight was all about her.

Perhaps I was going out of my way to romance and seduce her, but I had my reasons. With Trent strategizing how to get Braelyn and Ransom’s parents out of the way, freeing them to move back to Chicago if they chose, I decided I would put forth my best efforts to show