Chapter 11
Savannah glowed from the inside out. Energy flowed through every cell of her body. Never in her life had she felt so light and free. There had always been something holding her back in the darkness. It was as if she peeked around corners and would scurry back into her hiding place if someone dared to glance her way. There were many spiritual lessons learned along the way during her hard life—some had been her lessons alone while others had been generational wounds in need of healing. She had blamed others for keeping her small and unseen just as she’d blamed all her previous rodeo bosses, including Mama Wedgefield, for holding her back as a rodeo clown. What she really wanted to do was wow the crowds on horseback, racing around barrels at breakneck speed. She’d yearned for that spotlight.
But no one else was to blame for that; just as she was not to blame for the carnage created by Manea.
That was the wisdom the Lakota spirits had imparted to her. Not just how to deal with a wayward demon, but how to defeat her own inner demons. The power had been hers all along.
Pulling Jasper along behind her, she yearned to reveal all this to him. But Savannah didn’t wish to wait a moment longer. She had taken control at the pond with him, just like she’d always wanted to do. Now she would take control of the rest of her life.
“Where are we going?”
It was the fifth time he’d asked, and she should probably give him some information. However, being the one with all the answers gave her a heady feeling she wasn’t ready to part with yet, so she shushed him instead.
They had reached the barn toward the back of the arena, where they kept the calves. She cracked the door open to peer inside. It was vacant except for the animals. The smell of fresh hay tickled her nose. She shoved the door completely open and dragged Jasper inside, quietly shutting it behind him.
She turned back to him to see his brows furrowed together, staring at her with questions, and if she didn’t know any better—a tad bit of carnal craving.
Ugh, saving the world can wait a few minutes!
Before she could talk herself out of it, Savannah shoved Jasper against the barn door, stepped up to him, and raised herself on her tip toes. Never breaking her gaze from his, she leaned closer until her lips brushed his but withheld full contact.
“Do you want me?”
“God help me, yes. I do.” His voice was ragged and husky and sent tendrils of heat down her spine and out to her extremities, pooling low in her core. “But…”
She refused to allow any but’s, any should’s, and should nots to keep her from what she—what they both—wanted so desperately. Instead, she ceased his words by lowering her head to trail the tip of her tongue up the side of his neck all the way to his earlobe, capturing it between her teeth.
“Say it,” she whispered.
Jasper’s throat bobbed as he swallowed down what she hoped was the last of his restraint.
“Say it.” She allowed one hand to reach around his neck to pull him closer, while the other hand fisted the soft material of his shirt.
Jasper let out a jagged breath in one long exhale. His hands reached around to cup her ass, lifting her until she was pressed against the raging evidence of what he wanted. “You know I do.”
That wasn’t good enough and she wouldn’t allow him to get away with taking the easy route. “Say it, then,” she purred, rubbing up against the hard length of him, constrained by those damn jeans.
“More than anything…” His voice trailed off.
“More than anything, what?”
Savannah wanted the words. Needed the words. And she was worth the words.
Jasper’s head fell back, his eyes raised to the heavens. Her palms splayed across the rigid muscles of his chest, and the thrumming of his heartbeat kicked up erratically. A shudder ran through his body.
“May the Lord help me, but I want you with every fiber of my being. I should…”
Nope. She wasn’t going to allow the should nots to ruin this for her, or for him.
She took his face in her hands, pulled him forward, and pressed her lips to his in a chaste kiss. She muttered between her lips, “Then prove it.”
His glacial-blue eyes shot open to stare at her. His mouth opened to say or ask something, but she shut him up. Her tongue teased the corner of his lips, then swept to the other side to do the same, before nipping at his lower lip and demanding full access. His guttural groan response empowered her. She was in control, and she liked it. Just as she had been at the pond—the one time in her entire life she had taken the initiative—she allowed that surge of power to fuel her own passion.
The last time had been heated and frenzied sex. Now, she wanted to experience the full power and exquisite pleasure of being made love to by the object of her fantasies.
She pulled back, separating their mouths by a fraction of an inch. “I said, prove it.”
Jasper’s face broke out into his signature, swoon-worthy grin and mischief danced in his eyes. “As you wish, my love.”
Shivers of delight swept over her body. Not only had he not balked at her demand, but he had replaced little one with my love. Her heart soared out of her chest and into the skies.
“You sure? Here? This isn’t exactly moonlight, candles, and rose petals.” He chuckled as one hand moved from her ass to wave around the barn.
She giggled in return. “There will never be that for us. What we have is here and now. So yes… I’m sure and yes… Here.”
He answered with a quick shrug and then yanked her against his body. His lips smashed down on hers, demanding yet gentle. He deepened the kiss further, one hand inching up to hold the back of her neck. Shockwaves reverberated through to her toes. His other hand slipped between them, undoing every button with slow proficiency.
Impatiently, Savannah ripped the front of Jasper’s shirt until she could place both her hands over his bare chest, then trail down his ripped abdominal muscles to linger suggestively at the top button of his jeans.
He groaned again but grabbed her hand to stop her progress. He shook his head, tsking. “Patience, my dear. Patience. This time, I want to enjoy every delectable inch of you. Don’t rush me.”
She gulped a huge inhale of stale barn air as he promptly returned to the removal of her clothes.
“Maybe”—she barely managed to squeak out— “we should find a vacant stall or something.”
Again, he shook his head in disapproval. “Not. Yet.”
His fingers swept her shirt off as if it was gossamer silk, then reached up to cup each of her breasts. They strained against the lacy cups now separating them from him. Savannah gasped when both his thumbs swept up to circle her nipples through the fabric. A red-hot wave of wanton pleasure washed over her body. The need to feel him completely—skin to skin—was driving her insane. Even the sheerest of materials between them felt coarse and uncomfortable.
Jasper’s lips captured her own. He slid a hand around to her back. One flick of his thumb and the offending bra released her from its bindings. Savannah wriggled to remove it completely from her body while never dragging her lips from his. After several moments of squirming, he backed away enough to allow the bra to fall off her arms to the dirt and straw covered floor. Just as quickly, he pulled her back to him, so her naked chest pressed against his own.
But his shirt still needed to go—now. Ignoring his early warning, she reached up with both hands and yanked the shirt down, turning the sleeves inside out, and tugging them over his large hands.
Oh, the heaven of brushing up against his hardened, chiseled chest. Her sensitive nipples ached for his touch. Hearing or sensing that need, Jasper pulled her around until her back was up against the rough barn wall. His large hands pinned her there. He bent over to trail his lips over the heated skin of her neck, nipping and licking as he went ever so slowly. When he reached her shoulders, the kisses continued over her clavicle to the dip underneath her throat. Farther down he traveled to the valley between her breasts. A hum came from his chest.
She curled her fingers into his wavy, jet-black hair to guide his head where she so desperately needed his touch, and to hurry things along as she was near to bursting into flames with the heat of her arousal. Enthralled, she watched Jasper turn his head to look up at her with a truly wicked smile.
When he reverted his attention back to her chest, his nose nuzzled first one breast and then the other, before trailing his tongue around one of her peaked nipples. He then changed course to pay homage to her other breast. First licking around, then flicking his tongue over the nipple, eliciting a cry of anguish from her.
Savannah wanted more. She wanted him to make love to her like this all day, every day. Her primal need to have his cock inside her obliterated what little patience she had.
But Jasper was in no mood to compromise as he pressed her further back against the wall, capturing her hands over her head to keep her compliant and still. His tongue lightly tickled her skin, proceeding to her other breast to lavish it with the same devotion. Fire burned in Savannah’s core, so intense she could have sworn lava now slicked her lacy underwear.
Finally, his mouth captured a nipple fully, nipping, sucking, swirling his tongue over it. Her pants resounded in her ears. Jasper growled in reaction to her whimpers.
Still, he patiently teased and tortured her to the verge of an explosive release, then he pulled back. “Not yet, my love. I have much deeper plans for you.”
Her heart again leaped from her chest at the words, my love. The rest of her quaked at the implication of his deeper plans.
Waiting on her breaths to calm, Jasper returned to kissing her senseless while his hands roamed over her naked torso, skimming the top hem of her jeans with his thumb. Several minutes passed and he made no other move. Growing impatient, Savannah reached down to flick the top button undone herself.
“I see we may need to focus on correcting your lack of restraint.” He grinned coyly at her.
The way he said restraint had her heart beating faster. Even more so when Jasper reached over to his left and dragged something off a hook—a rope.
Now what does he plan to do with that?
He grabbed her at the waist and twirled her around. No objection formed on her lips. In seconds, her wrists were snugly tied behind her. His hands came up to the cup her breasts from behind as the hardened, full length of him pressed against her ass. He kissed her backside as tenderly and deliciously as he had her front, but thankfully didn’t take as long to get down to her waist again. With a low rumble emitting from his chest, he reached around and finished undoing the fastening of her jeans, but he didn’t immediately pull them down and off.
The palm of one hand pressed against her core through the thin material of her panties, rubbing ever so slightly. The swollen muscles there throbbed with urgency. A whimpering moan escaped her. She wanted—needed—more. If he didn’t take her fully soon, Savannah felt like she’d collapse from so much longing for a release.
Oh! A finger strayed further down, teasing the material away from her skin. As that finger pressed between her folds, her knees gave way. Jasper’s other hand came up to hold her upright while that one finger traced circles around her clit, then unexpectedly plunged inside her. It pumped in and out. His other fingers soon joined in. One by one, they entered her, leaving his thumb to circle and coax the sensitive nub of nerves just above her opening to near maddening release. Her hips rocked forward and back in tune with his ministrations, growing more erratic and frenzied until she was sure she would burst.
But just as her panting reached the second before she crescendoed over the edge, Jasper stopped and pulled his fingers out of her. Her frustration mounted until he stood. When they were eye to eye, he lifted his fingers to his mouth and sucked on them.
“Mmm, tastes like forbidden nectar.” He licked her wetness off his fingers with a low moan of pleasure. It nearly undid her completely.
How much torture could she withstand? Yes, she wanted him to make love to her like he had never made love to any other woman, but she was wild with the need to have his cock pumping inside her, just as his fingers had done.
When she strained to work the ropes off her wrists, Jasper pressed her harder against the wall. “Not yet. I’m going to relish every inch of you. Every. Inch. I’m going to bring us both to the brink over and over. Only when the heavens themselves open to us will I allow this glorious moment to end.” At that, he kissed her so deeply, the sensation rippled out to the ends of her soul.
If he thought this interim teasing was cooling her down, he was dead wrong.
Once again, Jasper pulled away from their kiss and kneeled in front of her. First, he removed one boot, then the other. His eyes gleamed devilishly, gazing up at her while his hands yanked down her jeans. He lifted her one foot, then the other to pull them off and toss them into a nearby haystack, followed by her black lace panties.
There she was—completely, utterly naked in front of him. He stepped back, his eyes roaming up and down as he appraised her. Instinctively, Savannah yearned to cover herself, but with her hands tied behind her back, she was vulnerable to him.
“My God, you are gorgeous!” Jasper kneeled again in front of her. His arms wrapped around her as he planted kisses along her abdomen, sending the butterflies in her stomach into a frenzy. The way he was touching her made her feel adored, wanted, and loved.
Still, a fragment of her mind whispered: He’s going to leave you again. And then you’ll be alone. If he truly loved you, he would stay. Love doesn’t leave.
She cursed her thoughts. Yes, she knew the words were true. He would never stay. But her soul would not deny herself this little piece of heaven to keep as her own for the rest of her life.
A shiver went through her body as his mouth lowered. His tongue flicked inside her belly button and then trailed straight down. One strong hand came up to prompt her legs to widen and her hips to arc toward him. That hand then wrapped around her ass, holding her in place. He would not allow her to fall, that she knew. The other hand lightly preceded where his mouth traveled until two fingers spread her lips apart. He held them open for his tongue to flick over her clit, then sucked it into his mouth. Her body convulsed and her hips thrust forward. If it had not been for his other arm holding her up, she surely would have collapsed.
Suddenly, he stopped again.
“Shit! For the sake of my sanity, fuck me already!” She wanted to shout her frustration.
“Hold on, just a second. I need to find someplace to…” He didn’t finish his sentence but went peeking into unlocked stalls, leaving her naked and unfulfilled. “Ah, here!”
He walked back, swooped her up in his arms, and carried her to a small pen with fresh hay. It appeared clean, as much as a room in a barn could be, with a chair and small desk in the far corner. Thankfully, it did not look like it had ever been used to store animals but was more of an office.
Jasper shook off a blanket covering a saddle and placed in over the lump of hay, then deposited her unceremoniously on top of it. “Not the Ritz Carlton, but we’ll have to make it work to our advantage.”
She bolted up to object to being treated like a ragdoll, only to have him push her back on the blanket with one hand. “Now, where were we?” The grin he flashed her spoke of mischief, but so far, she enjoyed his kind of mischief.
Again, he kneeled in front of her. Jasper spread her legs apart and shoved one hand under her ass to lift her up for him to feast upon. And feast, he did. His tongue lavished her folds, teased her clit, and probed her opening—first, with little licks at the edge, before plunging deeper. Her hips rocked forward, pressing into his face.
As if this torture wasn’t enough, his other hand slid, joining with his tongue. His thumb returned to coaxing her clit to the edge of madness as his tongue played with the rest of her core. Up, up, and farther up, she sped to her climax. Then… he stopped.
“For fuck’s sake!” Savi screamed in desperation.
A grin spread across Jasper’s face, now slick with her essence. “As you wish.”
He stood, bent over to pick her up, and carried her to the tiny wooden desk. Plopping her on the edge, he undid his jeans and shucked them down to his knees.
Savannah eyed his long, hard, and pulsing cock with wanton desire.
Instinctively, she pulled up her feet and leaned back, granting him full access to all of her. She begged with her eyes for him to ram into her with all the force of their combined desires.
Instead, Jasper gently pressed forward until the tip of him stopped at her entrance. His own breath came in ragged gulps.
“Are you sure?”
When her eyes met his, she nearly melted. The sight of this man—a fucking gorgeous man—with his heart wide open in the expanse of his eyes, nearly undid her right then. Despite her own thoughts reminding her that he could never love her, she saw love reflecting back to her with such intensity, it broke her heart.
She smiled, tears welling up in her eyes. “Yes.” It was barely a whisper.
With a nod, Jasper plunged deep into her. Neither of them could hold back the storm of passion any longer as their bodies fervently rocked together. Deeper and faster with every stroke. Once, he tried to stay the tide as they both neared the end, but she wrapped her legs around his ass cheeks and thrust him back inside her, not allowing him an escape.
He was hers and she was his. And this was their moment.
Jasper slammed into her with such force, the table underneath her cracked. Still, Savannah refused to let him go.
Wilder, more erratic, with such ferocity, they climbed to the peak together. Both roared as they tumbled over the edge into the primal abyss.