19. Alec
Chapter nineteen
Alec
“You’re ready to leave?” I whisper, and she nods, an apologetic smile on her face. I tuck a strand of hair behind her ears and turn to my parents.
“Mom, Dad, thank you for lunch. Jasmine and I will leave now.” I rise to my feet, curling Jasmine’s arm around mine.
“Oh.” My dad walks toward us to give us a brief hug. “Jasmine, thank you for coming. It was lovely to meet you.”
“It was lovely to meet you, too,” Jasmine says and turns to my mother, who is still seated, her gaze deliberately turned away.
“Thank you for lunch, Mrs. Ace. It was nice to meet you.”
My mother doesn’t respond, and we don’t wait. I pull Jasmine out of the room and hurry out of the house and into our car. Jasmine visibly relaxes when we pull out of the compound, and it’s only then I realize how tense she really is .
“Jasmine…”
“Please, Alec,” she sighs. “I really want to be left alone. I need to think.”
“Left alone?” My heart slams in my chest. “You know damn well that I cannot leave you alone.”
Jasmine turns her head toward the window and keeps her attention there, away from me. I’m tempted to reach for her, but somehow, I decide to let her be. After all, she’s in the car with me.
Do I regret this lunch? No.
It was a necessary evil, and I’m glad I got it out of the way. One thing I know for sure is that we’re never going on another date with my family until they realize that Jasmine is my choice, and they’re not going to change that. Especially my mom!
“Jasmine, can we please talk?” I touch her arm, and she flinches and inches away until she’s on the other side of the seat.
“Jasmine, please don’t do this. You’re hurting me.”
“I’m sorry, Alec, I just need to think right now. There’s a lot of things going on with your family, and honestly, it’s scary.”
“I know. But let’s figure it out together.”
She doesn’t respond until we arrive home. As soon as Damien kills the engine, Jasmine sprints out of the car towards the front door. I chase after her.
“Jasmine! ”
I catch up with Jasmine at the base of the living room steps, but when I grab her arm, she jerks out of my hold. “Alec, your mother is horrible!”
“I know.”
“I cannot deal with her; she doesn’t like me.”
“She doesn’t matter.”
“It’s easy for you to say because she’s your mother, but when push comes to shove, you’ll always pick her.”
I shake my head. “I’m a man of my own, Jasmine. I make my own decisions and follow my path. This is the path I’ve chosen; it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. Please believe me.”
“Alec, I think we’re in way over our heads,” Jasmine says softly. Her voice is too calm. It sends warning bells to my brain. “What do you mean?”
“I think we should end this relationship,” she says, and my heart shatters into a million pieces.
“Jasmine, what?”
“Go be with Eve. Your parents are right. She has more to offer you. I swear it. Go be with her.”
“Jasmine—”
With one last look at me, Jasmine turns and runs up the stairs. I stand there staring long after she disappears.
“I take it that lunch didn’ t go well.”
I turn to see Damien standing at the door, concern evident on his face. “I’m sorry, Master Alec.”
“I cannot believe my mother!” I pace the living room angrily. “You know, I didn’t think she would accept Jasmine immediately, but at worst, I thought she would be standoffish, not downright rude and horrible.”
“That bad?”
“Worse!” I snap. “She kept bringing up Eve, speaking down on Jasmine and her parents; it was terrible.”
“Poor Jasmine. I’m sorry, Master Alec.”
“No, you’re not,” I accuse. “This is also what you wanted, remember?”
“No.” Damien shakes his head. “I want your happiness, and all that I did was because I was scared of the consequences, and look; it’s already happening. But it’s clear your happiness lies with Jasmine, so naturally, I’m throwing my support behind her.”
“I doubt Jasmine wants anything to do with me again today. Not after lunch.”
“Jasmine loves you,” Damien says. “She only said those things in the heat of the moment. She doesn’t mean them.”
“How do you know she loves me?”
“The way she looks at you,” Damien said, laughing. “The way she talks, acts, and everything she does. She loves you. ”
“Hmm.” I stop pacing. “So what are you saying?”
“I’m saying give her a few more minutes before going after her. You two can work something out. Your mother doesn’t know it all, and I also think she should stop making decisions for you.”
I eye Damien skeptically. “Who are you, and what have you done with Damien? And besides, you’ve never had a girlfriend; how do you know so much about women?”
“It’s a natural talent,” he says. “Women are wonderfully fragile, even the soundest of them all.” He stretches and yawns. “I have to pick up something in town. Do you need anything?”
“No.”
“Okay. See you later.” Damien exits the house, and I wait ten more minutes before going after Jasmine.
She’s curled on the bed, still wearing her dress. I still want to take it off her, but there are more essential things to discuss. I quickly take off my shoes and climb into bed, pulling her towards me until her back is against my chest. For a few seconds, neither of us says anything. Eventually, I break the silence.
“I’m not letting you go, Jasmine. I love you so much. It hurts to think how my life would be when you’re not there.”
“I’m just doing what I think is best for you.” Jasmine rolls in my arms to face me. “I don’t want you to have any problem with your family because of me.”
“I will have problems with the world because of you and still don’t care as long as you’re in my corner.”
“Alec…”
“I’m not even joking,” I answer. “Just stay with me, and everything else is secondary.”
“I’ll stay.” She nods. “I love you too. Can’t bear to see you hurt.”
“Don’t worry, Jas. We will get through this together. Forget about lunch. Don’t worry. By tomorrow, we will have so much fun, you will not even remember my mother’s name.”
Jasmine chuckles and rolls on top of me. “You seem to make a lot of promises these days.”
“And I intend to keep all of them.”
“How about you start with the one where you promised to take this dress off me? Hmm?”
Blood rushes straight to my rod, and I groan. “I thought you’d never ask. I was going crazy.”
My fingers immediately fly to the zipper at the back of her clothes and pull it down slowly until the straps fall down her arms, revealing her beautiful bare bosoms. I sit up and cradle them in my palms for a short while before lowering my head and grabbing one hard nub in my mouth. She thrashes and writhes underneath my ministration, and I enjoy her little whimpers a little too much.
As I suck, I use my other hand to drag her clothes off her body, leaving her bare and ready for my ravishing. Jasmine is so beautiful, and I mean this in every sense of the word. I trail my hand up her legs, stopping at the center of her heat. Jasmine grinds into me, moaning and begging for release.
I touch her clit, while grazing her nipple with my teeth. She’s a beautiful mess, and I can go on all day.
“Alec, please.”
“Soon, baby.” I sink one finger inside to stretch her, and she whimpers again. I add another finger and start to pump in and out of her. I tear my mouth away from Jasmine’s chest and trail my kisses up her neck and over her jaw. She tilts her neck to grant me more access, and I suck her skin into my mouth, desperate to give her a hickey.
“Alec…” Jasmine pushes me onto the bed and climbs on top of me. “Enough with the teasing.”
She drags my pants down my legs and frees my erection from the bondage of my briefs. Her fingers wrap around me, and I growl, pleasure skyrocketing through my blood like a virus. Slowly, Jasmine directs my shaft inside her, her eyes drifting closed when we finally sync together, our bodies coming together as one.
I wrap my fingers around her neck and pull her down for a kiss, and she bounces above me, taking as much pleasure as she gives. When we finally explode in an intense orgasm that rocks both our worlds, I’m reminded that no matter what happens, Jasmine belongs to me as I do to her.