Chapter Eight #2
And I watched him like a hawk. Jasper walked Henry to where I stood. As he stilled before me, towering high on Henry’s eighteen hands, he said, “What are you doing here?”
His voice and attitude were just as harsh and demeaning as they were earlier today, but I pushed that aside to say, “You still ride.” I caught the awe in my voice, but I didn’t care. Jasper hadn’t quit. I shook my head. “You are incredible.”
“You shouldn’t be here,” Jasper bit out, but I noticed a slight softening in his tone.
I lifted my hand and ran it along Henry’s nose. The champion stallion let me pet him. “You’re better than ever, Henry,” I said, like the horse could understand my compliment.
Jasper pulled on Henry’s reins and he stepped back, away from my touch.
As quick as a breath, Jasper kicked his legs over the saddle and dismounted.
When he hit the arena floor, he took hold of the reins below Henry’s mouth and walked his prize stallion through the big barn doors.
“Leave,” he hissed at me as he passed. “Now.”
But I couldn’t move. I was still in shock, in awe, in wonder of this man and his incredible horse.
Instead, I watched him go. In his all-black getup, Jasper looked imposing and mysterious.
He quickly untacked Henry and let his horse into his stall with fresh hay.
Jasper whipped off his hat, and after he’d put all his equipment away in the tack room, he came out and saw me still standing here.
His face became a thundercloud. “I told you to leave,” he said through clenched teeth. He walked to where I stood, power and dominance in his every step. His long black riding boots cocooned his muscled calves, and his thigh muscles flexed as he moved.
I walked back a few steps until my back hit a nearby wall. Jasper crowded me, and I was instantly accosted by his sandalwood and mint scent. It made me heady. He was scowling at me. But this time, I wasn’t backing down.
“Leave!” he said, more aggressively.
But I tipped my chin to his command and said, “Why are you hiding the fact you still ride?”
He stepped closer still, until his palms flattened on the wall behind me, caging me in. The air between us seemed to crackle, and I imagined lifting my hands, untying his belt, and dropping to my knees. Heat rushed through my veins and goose bumps broke out over my skin.
“Look at me!” he barked, and my eyes immediately snapped to his. His jaw clenched when I obeyed. His voice gravelly when he said, “Why do you keep breaking all the rules?”
I ignored him. I was a rule breaker. Sue me. I’d been called a lot worse. “You were incredible,” I said, my voice wrapped in awe. “I’ve never seen anyone jump like you on Henry.” I shook my head. “Your talent is being wasted, Jasper.”
His responding laugh was cold. His cheeks were heavily stubbled, and his hair was damp from where he’d sweated under his helmet. His hands balled into fists against the wall above me—he looked unhinged. Beautifully unhinged. “Get out, Ms. Oakley. And do not tell anyone I was here.”
“Hallie,” I bit back, feeling my blood begin to rise to boiling temperatures. “You only ever call me Ms. Oakley when you’re trying to create distance between us.”
“There is only distance between us!” he hissed, then laughed patronizingly. “Do not fool yourself into thinking there is anything happening here.”
I pushed on his chest, hard, but Jasper didn’t budge. He was granite. “I wouldn’t dare,” I snapped back. “You’re a miserable prick who doesn’t deserve my attention.”
I didn’t let my surprise show on my face, but I was startled by my vitriol.
I wasn’t a wallflower, I spoke my mind often, but when Jasper acted like this, like some overbearing and elitist asshole, some untapped warrior instinct inside of my soul rose up, battle ready and preparing to fight him like I’d never fought anyone before.
We breathed hard, eyes fixed on one another as our bodies were tense and taut.
This moment shouldn’t have been sexy, it shouldn’t have created air so thick between us that felt like it had its own pulse.
It shouldn’t have drawn us closer, but like a rope tied around our chests, it pulled us in, inch by inch, until I could feel his body heat against my breasts.
Shivers ran down my spine and gathered between my legs.
“Why do you keep looking at me like that?” Jasper asked, his voice cut like glass. “Why do your pupils dilate? Why do your nipples harden?” My shallow breaths became trapped in my throat. “Why does your skin flush and paint your cheeks with red?”
A hungry expression built on his face that I knew reflected my own, and I wished I could take a picture of him exactly like this.
Untamed, broken, and all his untethered need and lust for me laid bare.
My hands itched to touch him, to splay on his chest and feel his hard muscles shifting beneath.
I wanted him to lose all his careful control, rip off my clothes, and fuck me against the wall.
My need must have shown on my face, as Jasper’s teeth clenched, his jaw tensing like it was taking all the inner strength he had to hold himself back from doing just that.
His eyes closed, and he inhaled a deep breath.
When they opened again, he edged closer, so close that my tits brushed against his chest. I swallowed a moan and squeezed my thighs together to stop my traitorous clit from torturing me further by this treatment.
Jasper was breathless at our proximity; I was too.
“Tell me how much you like to watch me ride,” he said, his mouth near my ear.
“Yes,” I wanted to call out. “Let go. Let go of your self-imposed restraints and just feel. Stop fighting whatever this is.” “Tell me how much you want your legs wrapped around my waist as I push inside you.” He laughed one single husky laugh, and just at the sound I almost came on the spot.
“Tell me how much you want to feel my tongue between your legs, licking at your pussy until you’re screaming my name. ”
I was scalding to the touch. Sweat was trickling down my back, and I was so wet between my legs that if he pulled my riding tights down, he would be able to slip straight inside.
My cheeks felt on fire, and I was immobile, wanting him to dominate me, unleash the man he was inside . . . until Jasper’s lip traced the shell of my ear and he said, “But it will never fucking happen, Hallie. You came here to ride my horses, not me.”
Like a bucket of ice water had been dumped on my head, it took several seconds for his words to filter through me.
The asshole! My anger came over me swiftly and strongly and I wanted to tear him apart.
But instead, I forced my legs to move. I pushed past him with force, and this time, Jasper let me.
I rushed to the exit, feeling both livid and humiliated, when something made me turn to face him and say, “I can’t believe I was so wrong about you.
” I let those words circle around us, filling every inch of space with disappointment.
“I have idolized you for years, have only heard your reputation to be one of a gentleman. But this—” I waved my hand up and down his frozen frame.
“This? This version of you isn’t someone to admire.
” Jasper’s eyes widened and his nostrils flared.
“You are cruel, and you are bitter, and to discover the man who inspired me to ride is such a fucking dick . . .” I laughed sardonically now. “That is the real tragedy here.”
With that, I spun on my heels and rushed out into the cold night, ignoring the few stray tears that tracked down my cheeks and the sudden ache of emptiness that had burrowed into my heart.