by Starla Night
“Oh, no.” She stared at the bounty. “Uh oh.”
He froze. “Oh no? Uh oh?”
“I didn’t realize there was more coming. I thought it was one course.”
“You didn’t think I would provide you with more than one course?”
“Don’t be mad. This looks amazing. I’ll eat it for breakfast.”
Another frown creased his normally easy-going brows. “I have alternate breakfast options.”
“That’s great, but I don’t want this to go to waste. There are people starving in…in everywhere, actually. Ha ha.”
He didn’t smile back. “You will not starve here.”
“No! No, no. I’m so full I could fall asleep.” She patted her round belly and yawned. The pat was mimed, but the yawn turned real.
“If you and Liam are tired, I’ll show you your bedrooms.”
Liam dropped his leftover dinosaurs and hopped out of his seat.
Rose stood and stretched. “You should eat.”
“I’m fine.”
“We’ll wait.” She released her stretch with a tired shake. “Don’t be a martyr, Jasper. I stuffed my face while you worked; I can make myself useful while you eat.”
“Thank you, but it’s not necessary.”
“Come on. I just told you not to be a martyr.” She picked up Liam’s plate.
“No, Rose.” He paused, half out of the room, Liam behind him. “I’m a little nervous right now, so thank you, but I’ll wait.”
“You’re nervous?” She lowered Liam’s plate back to the table. “Why?”
He met her eye with a raised brow. His expression asked her if she was serious.
She was serious. “You said we can’t break your stuff, so—”
“I’ve been preparing for you to visit for years.” Anxiety broke Jasper’s voice like a dam cracking under pressure. “Today, you’re here, and even though I’ve thought hard about creating a space you will love, you don’t seem comfortable. First, I forgot Liam’s slippers, and then, I did not consider the hard furnishings in light of his safety. For food, I brought an appetizer, and you devoured it for fear of receiving nothing more.”
“Er, actually—”
“So that means, again, you doubt I can provide for your comfort or safety.” Jasper’s worry intensified. “Don’t be a martyr either, Rose. If you cannot accept my lair, and you doubt my abilities to provide for you as your mate, tell me the truth. Right now.”
Chapter Sixteen
Whoa.
Jasper was nervous? He was nervous?
Rose jammed a hand on her hip. “Jasper, that appetizer was nicer than any meal I’ve ever eaten in my life, so I ate it because I’m not used to multi-course, stuffed-duck-covered-in-gold meals. Right?”
“Stuffed duck covered in gold?”
“As an example, I mean. This place is really nice and really different. I told you I’d eat the leftovers for…well, there’s too much for breakfast, so I see lunch and maybe dinner tomorrow too.”
He eased his weight onto his heels. “I acquired it because I thought you would like it.”
“Right, and I do. I think. You know what? I’ll feel even more comfortable after I wash off today’s dirt in a nice, hot shower.”
He pinched his lips.
Uh oh. “No shower?”
“I thought you might like a bath…”
“Oh, a bath is fine! Totally fine. Sounds nice.” She followed him and Liam up the winding stairs. “I haven’t had a bath since Grandma moved to her duplex. The one in my apartment is so short, only Liam fits.”
The next floor unfolded into a large lounge-style family room with flat televisions. Jasper passed a palatial bathroom with spacious tub and shower, and opened on a bedroom with a pirate ship bed, a ball pit, a net piled with stuffed animals, walls coated in whiteboard paint, and huge multi-color foam blocks.
Liam lost his mind.
“The race car bed was the top seller,” Jasper confessed to her while Liam ran from one toy set to the next and flung the neat stacks into a single-level mess. “But this has more safety features and an electronic parrot.”
The parrot swung from the cloth-covered mast. Liam bopped it as he raced past. The felted machine clacked its beak and flapped its fuzzy feathers. “Awk! Polly wants an organic rosemary sea salt flatbread cracker!”
“I have those.” Jasper pressed a button on the light switch control panel. A mini-fridge pushed out of the far wall. On top sat a basket of crackers. The fridge door opened on bottled waters and healthy juices—as well as sugar-filled sodas, chocolate bars, espresso beans, and bins of candy.
Liam stopped in front of it in awe. “Oh.”
She smacked the button again. “No snacks after dinner.”
“Rose!” The mini-fridge reversed into its hidey-hole. “Aw.”
“And definitely no espresso.” She eyed Jasper. “We’ll discuss appropriate snacks later.”
“Liam told me his favorites yesterday.”
“Yeah, Grandma loves espresso beans, and she’s also not supposed to give a kid his age caffeine. Can you lock it?”
Jasper fiddled with the control panel. “Are these child locks? I always thought they were locked from adults so only a child could enter.”
“That’s ‘child-safe,’ and you see it on bottles of ridiculously hard-to-open medicine.”
“Really?”
“No, I’m making a joke. Please don’t give a kid anything that’s supposed to be child-safe.”
Liam threw himself on the ground. “But I’m thirsty!”
“So get yourself a glass of water.”
“I don’t want water. I want Sugar Bomb Cola!”
She crossed her arms. “Well, you know you don’t get Sugar Bomb Cola, so you have two choices right now. Thank Jasper and play nicely with these toys, or pack up and go home.”
Jasper blanched. “Rose, please don’t go home.”
Oh. Oops.
Liam watched their interaction intently.
She doubled down. “Well, it’s up to Liam.”
Jasper turned silent pleading eyes on Liam.
Liam stopped tantruming and stood. He raced to the giant blocks and threw them.
“What do you say?” Rose prompted.
“Thank you!” Liam shouted at the ceiling and threw more blocks.
“That’s as good as it gets.” She waited until she was sure he wasn’t paying attention, then rested her hand on Jasper’s forearm and lowered his voice. “I’m sorry. I usually give him two choices, but I wasn’t thinking. We wouldn’t really have left.”
He didn’t look reassured. “I’ll show you the bath.”
They left Liam in his new bedroom and crossed to the other side of the ship. A more extensive adult private lounge and walk-in closets ringed the master bedroom. A mammoth, gold, four-poster bed dominated the room.
She touched the warm, smooth metal. Was it real gold?
“It’s real,” Jasper assured her. “Some time ago you said rich humans sleep in beds of solid gold. I’m not sure this is true. It took a long time to source.”
She patted the duvet—fluffy as a snowdrift—and bounced on it. Also like a snowdrift, there were so many layers she couldn’t feel the mattress.
One wall displayed a tasteful mural of a dragonfly. “And the insect?”
“You rescued a similar creature while cleaning the windows. I saw this picture and thought of you.”
How sweet.
“And your bath?” He gestured for her to continue the tour.
She rose and followed him to the master bathroom. It was like a harem bath out of a painting.
Fountains trickled into a deep marble basin large enough to fit five or six people, with transparent water and gold tile accented in ivory. Sculpted sides encouraged lounging.
She knelt on the marble and dipped in her fingers. A perfect temperature, warm and inviting. Jasmine flowers perfumed the sweet air. “Now this is a bath. What are the tricks?”
Fountain gurgles changed to raindrops, then ocean waves, then plucked harp, then white noise. Wall tiles shimmered and resolved to an ocean horizon at sunset, turning the bath into an infinity pool.
She rotated the dial to make it into a hidden lagoon, a firefly-dotted pool in a glen, and a steaming mud bath hung on the side of a snow-capped mountain. “Where’s normal?”
Jasper pressed the center of the dial. The walls changed back to his spaceship.
Cool. “Okay, I’ll get busy. Where’s the soap and stuff?”
He pressed a hidden button on the wall. It tilted outward to reveal a rack of spa supplies. Refreshing bath salts, relaxing oils, glitter-filled powders, bottles of massage oil—
“Massage oil?” She raised a mock skeptical brow. “You know how to use that?”
“I studied massage.”
“You? Studied massage?”
“For two years.”
“Why?”
“Because you were too stressed. Your muscles ached. I thought about how I could help. My old team back in the Outer Rim had similar complaints and I could never help them, but Earth gave me the chance for self-exploration. I studied flower massage in Thailand.”
“Are you any good?”
His gaze trailed down her body. “You’ll have to tell me.”
Her body heated. Her breasts tingled imagining his hands treasuring her, and desire throbbed between her legs. She licked her lips, striving for a light-hearted tone. “Oh, yeah?”
“Here.” He stepped behind her. “What do you think?”
His wide hands covered her thin shoulders, and he pressed the knots with expert firmness.
Her muscles cried with sharp pain, shocked by his touch. She gasped. Then, her muscles released into a warm, sweet ache.
She’d always pressed her doubts inward, carried her fears in her lower back, and tried to compensate by shouldering any burden, even the ones that broke her. Now, Jasper reached into her world and touched deeper than anyone ever had.
Relaxation and healing washed away her past.
She collapsed onto the small stool and leaned against the tile, bracing herself with an unstoppable moan. Jasper found her sharp places, hunting them and washing away her pains, and melted her into a tingling puddle. Down the tightness of her spine, he massaged away years’ worth of tension, and up the taut cables of her neck, he released her from chronic arguments, nights kinked into the wrong position on the couch, and harsh eons of hanging her head in shame.
He did it without even asking for anything for himself. That was how he made her safe. His kindness wrapped around her like a firm, cottony embrace that healed her and she, for the first time ever, surrendered.
Jasper kneaded her gooey muscles like bread, and then, satisfied that he’d worked out the kinks, he stroked her.
Tears burned at the back of her eyes. She wasn’t used to tenderness, and she wasn’t used to reacting. She turned away so he wouldn’t see it, even though he was one of the few who would never use her weakness against her.
Jasper rose and stepped back. “Yes?”
She straightened and stretched, allowing herself to lean against him. Firm arousal strained his trousers. He made no move to hide it or to press against her, just letting his hunger exist. She dreamed of shucking her clothes, unzipping him, and caressing the hardness to return his massage in a different direction.
But she hesitated.
He stepped back, opened a small refrigerator embedded into the wall, and handed her a bottle. “Hydrate. Flush away toxins after a massage.”
She sipped the chilled liquid. It was tart and fruity, refreshing and healing. She concentrated on its coolness in her belly rather than the warmth between her tight thighs. “Thanks.”
He rummaged deeper, opened a box of chilled orchid blossoms, and released them into the bath. The delicate blossoms floated like an invitation. “Take as long as you want.”
She touched her sticky, sweaty outfit. “Soap?”
He opened a cabinet. Her home brands filled the row behind, as well as a vast selection of bars and body washes.
There was something behind it. She swung the shelf out to reveal a deeper organizational system.
Beyond rested hair shampoos designed for her. Jasper’s short hair was thick and straight, but hers was tight and coil, and this entire shelf was filled with thousands of dollars of products for her. Her usual brands, advanced curl repair, moisturizing, nurturing, and detangling shampoos, conditioners, oils, and creams. Yes, some were flecked or otherwise filled with gold. And behind that was a box of hair extensions in her colors plus the brushes, clips, and everything she’d need for any style, whether natural or tamed.
Unlike his siblings, who commented on her hair without realizing what went into it, he knew.
Jasper knew.
She found her voice. “You can’t use any of this stuff.”
“No.” He pointed to a small corner of the bottom shelf. “I use that.”
“But I have all these other bottles.”
“Experiment until you discover what you love.”
Her eyes prickled. He’d done that for her. “So…you know how to use any of it? The extensions, I mean. Or…”
“I watched online tutorials, and I asked around.” He shrugged, a little embarrassed. “The women at the salon laughed at me. They thought I had a daughter, but after I explained, they said to send you over because it wasn’t for a man to know, so I stopped intruding.”
Sure, she could imagine a salon of women laughing at the appearance of a random guy; but Jasper was so earnest, she wanted to shelter him from that unkindness. “Why study this? It doesn’t affect you.”
“You affect me.” He smiled and settled her into a warm, comforting embrace. “We’re a team. I’ll always do my all for my team.”
“Yeah, but…”
“The smallest change can make the biggest difference. And I don’t just want you to partner with me, I want you to thrive. That means taking care of all of you so you’re your best self with me, just like I am with you.”
“You’re your best self with me?”
“Of course.” He chuckled at her surprise. “You always answer, no matter how strange you find my question. You encouraged pursuits such as ‘hobbies’ and ‘self-reflection,’ and they have improved my life far beyond my expectations. Every day, you open my mind, my heart, and my soul.”
Her chin wrinkled. The lump formed in her throat. Like his massage had melted out the toxins of holding herself in all these years, his words melted the toxins armoring her heart.
“I never did anything like this for you.” She gestured at the ship, the luxurious bath, the supplies. “I don’t bring anything to our relationship besides stress.”
His chest rumbled with amusement. “You should take up self-reflection, too.”
Good point.
She looked back at the bath. The water was so inviting. “I’ve got to get Liam into bed soon.”
He checked his watch. “The same time as yesterday?”
“Minus the fighting, yeah.”
He clicked buttons on his watch. “I’ll let you know when my alarm goes off.”
Again, her heart wobbled dangerously. “You will?”
He moved to the door, honoring her privacy. “The lock is there. Enjoy.” He closed the door.
She clicked the lock, watching the green light turn to red, and then she slipped out of her clothes and into the bath. The waters enveloped her in a soothing liquid embrace. The last of her kinks dissolved as she rested her head on the smooth marble at the perfect angle to soak.
Jasper had pleasured her over her clothes. What would his bare hands feel like on her skin? With slippery massage oil scenting his heat?
Tingling heat pooled between her legs.
She picked an adventurous soap and sudsed it, then massaged the gold
-flecked creamy bubbles over her skin and rinsed clean. Wash day would be heaven. Had he studied scalp massage? She’d always been interested in trying passion or goddess rows. Rose rested her head against the wall and soaked. She felt like a goddess.
They drifted miles above the Earth, and her problems and responsibilities were equal miles away.
She could escape up here every night. Jasper’s spaceship could take her and Liam away. They could fly to the stars.
But maybe she didn’t need to.
Maybe, instead of scrambling from one failure to another, she was actually doing okay. Maybe, instead of scaring or irritating others, she inspired and built up their confidence. Maybe instead of having coworkers she kept distant and family that sucked her dry, she could trust a little more and set better boundaries.
Maybe she could stand her ground without fearing the ground would cave in.
If every day she bathed with million-dollar soap, slept on that solid gold bed, and wore the clothes Jasper hung in his closets, people would listen to her. Briar would bring her car back. The new apartments would lease to her grandma. The new boss would know her value.
She could be like her mom. Respected by everyone, even her enemies. A fighter.
Maybe.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
A knock sounded on the door followed by Jasper’s voice. “Rose? It’s Liam’s bedtime.”
“Be right there.” She oozed out of the bath feeling delicious, like goo, and toweled off on million-thread fluffy towels, then stuck her arms in the lavender robe and studied the lotions.
A fighter, like her mom, would take whatever lotion she wanted without worrying about price.
She hooked the fanciest bottle and slathered a soothing organic honey-scented cream on her soft skin.
A fighter wouldn’t worry about what others thought about her in a robe.
She swept out of the bathroom. The downy robe and slippers cupped her pampered, relaxed body.
Jasper reclined on the bedroom lounge chair reading. He rose and his gaze trailed into the crevice between her robe halves and the slit up to her thigh. She turned to pose—a fighter enjoyed the admiration of her loved ones without agonizing about her imperfections—and then continued on her purposeful journey to put Liam to bed. He would be a handful, as usual, but she was all ready.