Chapter 8 - Nikki #2
“Sure.” He stepped forward, closing the gap between them. His eyes remained locked on her. “And I’m your husband.”
“And that makes you qualified to dictate who I get to spend time with?” she asked, her chin tilted up toward him.
“Considering the kind of person who is going after you? Yes. I’m doing all of this to protect you,” he said with that stubborn edge to his voice that made her clench her teeth and frustration boil through her. Couldn’t he see how controlling he was being?
After that initial jolt of rage, she was suddenly aware of just how small the room was, how close the two of them were.
At this distance, she could see his individual eyelashes.
She could see the faint silver scar that followed the line of his jawbone.
It would take no effort at all to step forward and close that gap between them, to lose herself in him.
The thought came seemingly from nowhere, and was so surprising and yet so acute that she nearly had to shake her head to clear it.
She coughed and glanced away, willing herself to get a grip.
She needed this insanity with him to end.
She couldn’t have him continuing to dictate her life like this. She couldn’t get distracted.
“Look, I need you to please just give me some space,” she said, forcing out the thoughts of how close they were and how she wanted to run her hands along his arms. “I get that you want to keep me safe, and I appreciate that. But this is getting to be too much. You need to knock it off. Now.”
She forced herself to look at him and almost instantly regretted it.
A wild desire for him seemed to eclipse her anger, even if only for a couple of seconds.
She kept imagining what it would feel like for him to run his hands along her sides, for him to press her against the wall, press his body against hers.
Closing her eyes to squeeze out the image, to will it to go back to whatever unhelpful place it had come from, she took another deep breath, her fingers flexing.
“Please,” she said. She hated the begging edge to her tone. It made her feel small and weak, but it was the only thing she could think to say that might get him to understand what he was doing to her. “Just give me some space to breathe, or I’m going to go insane.”
He let out a slow exhale through his nose, arms folded. He considered her, his look piercing through her. Once again, she wondered what it would be like if one of them closed that space, if she let him wrap his arms around her.
“I can’t do that, Nikki,” he said.
The words pierced through that lust that had been creeping through her. Her jaw tightened. She folded her arms, glowering.
“Why not?” she asked. “You have no proof he’s even in the area anymore. You don’t know if he’s even coming after me. You probably scared him off, and he isn’t coming anywhere near the pack ever again.”
“I’m not taking that risk,” he said.
She groaned to bite back a scream, rubbing her face. She glared up at him.
“Why?” she hissed. “Why do you even care? You barely know me. Why does any of this even matter to you?”
He didn’t answer. He looked at her as if she were some sort of inexplicable puzzle, as if he shouldn’t have to explain that, like she should already know. But she didn’t. She couldn’t fathom what was running through Jasper’s head, why he was so insistent on protecting her.
“Does it matter why?” he finally asked after what felt like an eternity. “I’m trying to help.”
“I didn’t ask for your help,” she snapped, bristling, her temper finally beginning to simmer over.
His eyes narrowed. “Would you rather I have let him drag you off?”
“No,” she admitted. “But that doesn’t give you an excuse to keep me locked in a cage.”
“I’m not keeping you locked in a cage,” he argued. “I’m just trying to look after you.”
“Is that what you think you’re doing? Because it sure as hell doesn’t feel like it. You wouldn’t be able to stand it if someone was doing this to you.”
She wasn’t used to sticking up for herself. It felt foreign, but she needed Jasper to understand. She needed him to see things from her perspective.
Instead of answering, Jasper remained silent, watching her, drinking her in. Why did he have to be so close? She could practically feel the heat radiating off him. And there was that look he was giving her, like he was seeing her in some new, fascinating light.
“I’m still not changing my mind,” he said. “I’m not going to stop looking out for you.”
Her eyes narrowed, and once again, she had to bite back her scream.
“You’re impossible,” she said. “You already forced me to marry you. I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt for a bit, but now you won’t even let me live my life. You might think you’re saving me, but you’re no better than the other men who’ve tried controlling me.”
She had never spoken to anyone like this before, and it felt freeing, to an extent. All the weeks of frustration had finally forced her to a boiling point, but the outburst still surprised her. Based on the stunned look on Jasper’s face, it had surprised him as well.
“I’m trying to help you,” he said gently.
“Well, it’s not working,” she said. “I know what you’re trying to do, and I can appreciate that. But you’re keeping me prisoner. At this point, it’s not too far off from what Lucas has been trying to do.”
Jasper’s expression mutated into anger, petulance. Rage rippled through his body, through his eyes. He went dangerously still. There was something both alluring and unsettling in the intense look he gave her. Despite herself, heat prickled along her body.
“Fine,” he snapped. “I’m going back to the pack house. I’ve got work to do there. I’ll see you tonight when you get off work.”
“You don’t have to walk me home,” she said.
He pretended he didn’t hear her. Instead, he opened the door to the small room and marched out, leaving her alone.