Chapter 9
JASPER
My hand’s still pressed between her thighs, her body trembling against the wall, chest heaving, eyes glassy and wild. I don’t move—not yet. I want to feel her shudder, feel that last little aftershock. Only when her shaking stops do I finally slide my fingers out of her.
They’re dripping.
I hold her gaze as I bring my soaked fingers to my mouth and suck them clean. Taking my time and making sure she doesn’t look away. My tongue traces every inch, savoring her taste like it’s the only thing I’ll ever crave.
God, she tastes like sin. Like something I’ll never get enough of. I let my teeth graze the pad of my finger, sucking hard, letting her see just how much I enjoy it. Fuck, I’m so hard now it hurts.
“You have no idea how fucking sweet you are,” I murmur, eyes locked on hers. “I could live off this.”
She’s still shaking. I keep my arm around her waist, holding her up, refusing to let go of her. No one gets to see her like this. All wrecked, needy, and ruined but me.
Her legs are barely working as I press my lips to her ear. “Was that the first time you ever came that hard?” My voice is pure arrogance, pure hunger. “Because if it was, you better remember who did it to you.”
I watch the color in her cheeks, the way her lashes flutter as she tries to get herself under control. But she can’t, not with me still holding her, not with the memory of my fingers inside her and my mouth on her skin.
“Next time,” I whisper, hand tightening on her hip, “it’s going to be so much worse. You’re not walking back to that bus without my handprints on your body.” I let out an evil grin.
She’s mine now, and I’m never letting her forget it.
SAWYER
I think I might be dying.
Not the dying that flashes before your eyes, but the kind where everything inside you burns alive and all you can do is hold on for dear life. My knees are still shaking. My head is swimming. I’ve never experienced anything like that.
With Blake, it was always mechanical. Awkward. Quick. He never cared about what I wanted. I never got to touch myself during—and he sure didn’t care whether I got off. Blake was the type of guy who believed every girl came just from sex alone, a few grunts, and done.
But Jasper?
Fuck.
I can still feel him—his hand, his mouth, the way he looked at me like he could eat me alive and still not be satisfied. I’ve never been so out of control. My heart won’t slow down, and I don’t know if I want it to.
I push off the wall, trying to pull myself together. My thighs are weak, my hair is a mess, and my cheeks are still hot. My thoughts race, skipping wildly.
What just happened? What does this mean? Why do I want him to do it again, right here, in front of everyone?
He hasn’t moved away yet. His hand is still on my hip, thumb tracing lazy, possessive circles over my skin. I wonder if he can feel my pulse pounding there, as frantic as the beat from the stage.
“Still with me, Wicked Thing?” he murmurs. His eyes roam my face, like he’s memorizing every ruined piece of me.
I swallow hard and finally manage a whisper. “Yeah, I’m… here.” Liar. I’m everywhere. My head is still in the clouds, my body still throbbing with aftershocks.
He grins, so cockily. He's so fucking hot. He brushes his lips against my temple. “Good. Stay there.”
I can’t help the smile that slips out. It’s soft—real. The kind I haven’t worn in years.
Jasper, what are you doing to me?
I want to ask what this means—if it’s just another game to him. But the words won’t come. I’m too afraid of the answer.
Jasper slips his hand to the small of my back, steadying me as we step out of the shadows. The noise of the venue hits me full force, but nothing can drown out the feeling still thrumming in my veins.
We round the corner and rejoin the group. Ash, Jace, Silas, and Micah all clustered near the exit. The second they see us, every conversation dies. All eyes turn to me. To Jasper’s hand on my back. The flushed look on my face, my swollen lips, the way I can’t quite meet anyone’s gaze.
Ash raises my camera and snaps a picture of us as he whistles, low and knowing. Jace smirks, eyebrows raised in wicked amusement. Silas looks from me to Jasper and back again, mouth twitching. Even Micah has a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth.
They all know.
And as I try to gather my dignity and breathe like a normal person, Jasper leans in, lips brushing my ear. “Let them look. You’re mine now.”
Ash is the first to break the silence, a shit-eating grin spreading across his face. “Damn, Sawyer. You look like you just got run over by a tour bus—or maybe something a little more—hands-on.”
Jace’s eyes flick over me, smirk growing. “Or maybe she just had a religious experience backstage. Exorcism maybe. You good, Trouble? Need a minute to catch your breath?”
My cheeks heat.
Jace laughs and puts his hands up in surrender, but Ash leans in, winking. “Don’t worry. We’re all adults here. Well—some of us.” His eyes move to Jasper, who hasn’t moved an inch from my side, his stare making it very clear whose hands I’d been in.
Silas rolls his eyes and mutters, “Ignore them. They’re idiots.” But even he can’t hide the smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
Jasper doesn’t even look at them, just at me. The entire world could disappear, and I’d still feel him.
Ash is the first to break the tension, of course. He nudges Jace with his elbow. “Food and rides, anyone?”
Jace rolls his eyes, then turns to me. “You up for it, Sawyer? Or are you going to need Jasper to hold your hand the whole time?”
“Pretty sure he’d prefer her on his lap,” Ash mutters, grinning as Jasper flips him off without even looking.
“Let’s do it,” I say. I love carnival rides.
***
The sun is high, beating down on the festival grounds. My face is sticky from melted cotton candy, and there’s a smear of blue sugar on Jasper’s lips that he refuses to wipe off—he just keeps grinning every time I try to point it out.
Ash drags everyone to the Tilt-A-Whirl. “Come on! The best way to get the sugar out of your system is to spin it out.”
Jace groans, “That’s not how science works, Ash,” but he follows anyway, sunglasses slipping down his nose.
Jasper nudges me. “You up for it, or you want to hold my stuff and pretend to look cool?”
I shoot him a look. “I’ll ride if you promise not to puke on my shoes, Rockstar.”
“I promise nothing,” he grins, and I feel my stomach flip for reasons that have nothing to do with the carnival rides.
The ride leaves me breathless and a little dizzy—Jasper’s arm slung casually around my shoulders, steadying me when I stumble off. “Need a minute?” He teases.
Ash is already buying lemonade for the group. Jace and Micah are arguing about who’s the better shot at the ring toss. Silas is lurking in the shade, probably wondering how he got roped into this circus.
We wander through the food stalls; the boys daring each other to try deep-fried everything. Jasper slips away for a minute, giving my waist a little squeeze before he goes. “Don’t let Jace talk you into eating anything on a stick,” he calls back, grinning.
“Come on, Sawyer,” Jace says, holding out a deep-fried Twinkie. “Live a little.”
I shake my head. “I’d rather not die before the next venue, thanks.”
A few minutes later, Jasper returns, two burgers in hand. He hands one to me, his eyes soft. “Figured you’d want something real. You don’t look like a corn dog girl.”
I roll my eyes but take the burger anyway, grateful for something hearty after all this sugar and adrenaline. “You calling me boring?”
His lips twitch. “Not even a little.” His gaze drops to my lips, then back up. “Just making sure you’re taken care of.”
Ash slides up next to us, trying to steal a bite from my burger, and Jasper arches a brow—one silent look and Ash backs off, hands up.
Jace, catching the moment, snorts. “He doesn’t share well, Ash. Figured you’d have learned that by now.”
“Damn, alright, keep your food and your girl, Reign.”
We all collapse on the grass, legs stretched out, listening to music pulsing from the main stage. Jasper sits beside me, his thigh pressed against mine and his arm thrown lazily over the back of my shoulders as we eat. He glances down at me, his mouth quirking. “Still with me?”
I nod, mouth full. “Yeah, right here.”
The guys drift in and out of conversation, passing food and teasing each other. Ash tells a story about their last tour, Jace and Silas heckle every detail while Micah shakes his head, smiling quietly in the sun.
For a while, everything feels easy. I laugh until my stomach hurts, sticky with sweat and sugar, my body humming from too much adrenaline and too many looks from Jasper that say ‘you’re mine’.
But sitting there, I can’t help but think of another fair.
Cotton candy melting on my tongue, my sister’s laughter in my ear. I was a kid again, maybe nine, and the world seemed impossibly big and bright. My dad carried my younger sister on his shoulders so she could see over the crowd, and my stepmom handed me and her daughter our ride bracelets.
I remember all three of us riding the Gravitron, the lights spinning so fast, laughing and seeing who could turn upside down, and stay stuck to the wall the longest. Our parents are laughing as we stumble down the ramp to get right back in line for another go.
We rode every single ride we could, as many times as we could, even the ones that rattled and squealed.
Our favorite was the Zipper—a battered old deathtrap that everybody wondered why it was still being operated, but rode anyway.
They squished together in that tiny metal cage, my dad and I in the other, laughing so hard we could barely breathe.
We spun and rattled and screamed. The world turning upside down.
Metallica playing on a speaker was my favorite background fair noise.
My stepmom waited below, pretending not to worry, but grinning every time we made it through another loop.