by Eilish Rose
They had no idea how the air around them changed from uncertainty to intense and passionate.
Her lips trembled as she looked into his blue eyes which were drawing her in their depth.
“Answer me Kara,” he moved to her neck and placed a wet kiss just below her earlobe.
“No… no. I didn’t,” she moaned and her her arms tightened around his neck.
In that moment, Jasper wanted to kiss her senselessly; he wanted to taste her lips again. Ever since he kissed her during the ceremony, he was having thoughts of kissing her on their wedding night. He wanted to do a lot more things to her. He wanted to touch her body, explore it. But now, the things had changed. He couldn’t push her further as she was fighting her demons. She just had a gut wrenching nightmare!
He pushed himself up while staring in her green eyes. Her flushed face made him gulp, and he tightened his jaw controlling himself.
He sat straight, and caressed her cheeks. She place her hand on her stomach trying to feel a slight bump which is not noticeable to bare eye. Her mind started to wander about her child because William was the father— or rather, a sperm donor.
Jasper noticed the change in her expressions and he knew what she was thinking about. He placed his hand on hers— which was on the stomach. Her eyes jerked towards him.
“Don’t think so much. I’m here, let me,” she was having hard time dealing with this kind of Jasper. He was much tolerable when he was aloof to her, because this side was much dangerous and she knew she’d fall for this guy. His gaze, his touch was a lot like love. She was desperate for that feeling.
“Jasper, don’t make promises which will burden you.”
“I don’t make promises which I regret later.”
“This is not going to be easy. And I don’t know how the things will end.”
“I never backed down when things got tough, and I’m not planning to do it now. Even I don’t know how it’ll end, but I can tell you that I’ll not let you down.”
Kara sat up, and he helped her to settle against the headboard.
“Kara, I know this is a sore subject, but I want to know what happened to you or to Amelia.” Kara’s heart sped up when she heard him. “I can help you, just put your trust in me for once.”
“Please don’t… I can’t tell you. It’ll destroy everything,” she chocked.
“No Kara, your silence will only encourage him. You have to fight back.”
“What are you talking about?” Kara shook with fear because his words were hinting that he knew something.
“I’m not stupid, Kara. I know William has done something to you. All signs are there. I can help you,” he tried to reason with her.
“Don’t Jasper… please don’t ask something which I can’t do,” she pleaded.
“Okay, fine. Calm down. I won’t force you, but I’m not letting it go. I’ll make you trust me. One day, you’ll tell me, and that day will come sooner than you think,” he leaned forward and kissed her forehead lingering his lips there for several seconds, and Kara closed her eyes and a trail of tears ran down as it was getting harder to suppress her feelings. And this man was hell bent on melting her heart. A tiny part of her heart wanted to melt in his arms, wanted to feel secured in someone’s arms, wanted to call someone as hers. And Jasper was the only man who was capable of this.
He pushed back slightly, and grabbed her nape. He rubbed her nose with his before joining their foreheads.
Chapter 14 part 1
“Are you hungry?” Jasper asked.
“No, I—”
“Saying no to food won’t do any good, Kara. You’re eating for two.”
“Right now, I don’t want any food, I just want everything to go back to normal like it was two years ago. If it is too much to ask then I wish it to be like this morning. I can deal with everything, but this… this is sucking the life out of me. For what sins God is punishing me?” she was still trying to come to the terms of new developments, but it was not easy to ignore everything.
Kara pushed back when a sudden realization hit her. She tried to get up, but Jasper stopped her.
“What happened, Kara?” he had no idea what was going through her mind.
“I need to call… call her.” She started to look here and there for a phone.
Jasper cupped her face and made her look at him, ‘’whom do you want to call?” he asked in hope of discovering something.
“Amelia. She might be worr…worried about this… I mean… wo…worried about me.” She struggled to hold his gaze.
“Stop stressing Kara, she is fine. In fact, she is here. Downstairs,” although he replied in calm tone but inside he was burning with rage which was directed towards his brother. He really did hurt Amelia also. But to what extent? He had no idea. His patience was wearing off with the passage of time. He had to act fast but he was uncertain in what direction.
“She is here?” she asked in disbelief, and he nodded. “I want to see her. Can I?”
“Of, course, I’m going downstairs to order food—Mrs. Hudson is probably retired for the day. I send Am here. Okay?”
“Hmm..” She just hummed.
They just looked at each other in silence, no one moved away. Finally, Jasper stood up and went out.
==============================
“That was my ice cream,” Noah’s was irritated. Apparently, Amelia took the ice cream tub from Noah like a brat he called her few minutes ago.
“That’s what brats do,” she arched her brows at him while putting a spoon full of ice cream in her mouth.
“I’ll take my revenge, shorty.” She narrowed her eyes at last part.
“I’m not short, you are just tall like an elephant.”
Noah chocked on his saliva as he didn’t see it coming. All other men chuckled at him.
“If I’m an elephant, what you’ll call him, a giraffe. He is definitely taller than me,” Noah gestured towards Jasper who was leaning against the counter enjoying the show.
“Not a bad idea. Giraffes are cute!,” she exclaimed in happy tone. It was Jasper’s turn to be baffled, never in his life he thought someone would call him a giraffes.
“Wow! I’ll take that as a compliment,” he smirked in his cousin’s direction. “At least, giraffes are cute.” He shook his head while a smile played on his lips.
“And he is fat like an elephant,” she giggled pointing towards Noah.
Noah directed a murderous glare towards Amelia, but she only smiled cheekily.
Noah was about to say something when Jasper spoke, “what you guys want to eat? Is pizza fine with everyone?”
All agreed, and Amelia was more excited.
“Kara loves Chinese, and—,” Amelia looked around while speaking in a low voice. Jasper arched his eyebrow to signal her to continue.
“And she also loves red velvet cake,” she completed in a high pitched tone with a smile.
“Thanks.”
Then Jasper asked Amelia to go to Kara, and she happily went to her sister, but before going, she ate all the ice cream and gave empty carton to Noah. Ethan ordered the food for everyone, and all men sat in the living room.
“Ethan, you’re not in hurry to go to your home?” Noah asked.
“No, why would I?”
“Your wife must be waiting for you.”
“No, she is not.”
“Why?”
Noah was trying to make a conversation since he knew his cousin wouldn’t talk about William’s return in front of him, and it was important to fill in the silence while waiting for the food. But he was bad at interpreting the situations, and started asking Ethan about his marriage.
“Because she is gone.”
Everyone’s jaw dropped at his reply, shock visible on their faces. Both Aaron and Jasper knew about the nature of his marriage, and their brains were running all sort of scenarios.
“For few days,” Ethan spoke after few seconds, deliberately prolonging his reply. Both Jasper and Aaron’s expressions changed from sh
ocked to utterly pissed. But they didn’t say anything, and waited for him to continue. They knew he would.
“To her parents home. So, she is not waiting for me.” He finished and earned a tight punch on his bicep from Aaron.
“Bastard.” Jasper shook his head and Ethan chuckled.
“Be nice to her,” Noah said, studying the situation.
“I can’t, and change the topic because if you asked another question about my private life, I’ll choke you.” Ethan’s tone was as calm as sea.
The discussion shifted to politics and business. Then a man delivered a bag for Amelia which her parents sent for her.
When food arrived, Jasper asked both Amelia and Kara to join them in the dining room. Kara was confused as everyone was having pizza but she had Chinese food. She was about to pick chop sticks when Jasper gave her the fork, and she gave confused look to her husband. He just smiled at her. Kara was confused that how did he know that she didn’t know how to eat with chop sticks. And the red velvet cake was the cherry on the top. She was utterly baffled, but she made a mental note to ask him later.
Kara actually enjoyed everyone’s company. Jasper’s friends were extremely nice although they gave alpha male vibe which was quite intimidating but she didn’t feel threatened even for a second. At around ten in the night they all left, only Noah was staying.
Jasper offered Amelia to share room with Kara, but she declined and asked to have a guest room. Around eleven they all settled to their respective rooms.
Kara was nervous, she was about to share bed with her husband. This thought was enough to make her feel butterflies in her stomach.
They took turns taking shower. He was in towel when he came out, and Kara blushed when she saw him almost naked. Jasper cursed under breath when he realized how he walked out in front of her. And the deep blush was not helping him. He was used to sleep either in shorts or nothing. But tonight he had to sleep in clothes as he didn’t want to scare her.
His phone rang and it was his father. He cut the call and messaged him to call him later. Although he wanted to discuss a lot of things with his family, he was tired and had no energy. Besides, any mention of William would cause discomfort to Kara, and it was the last thing he wanted.
He settled under the covers and there was a foot and half gap between them. There was pin drop silence in the room, and their breathing sounds were audible.
Jasper was little surprised that she was much more relaxed after spending time with Amelia. He wondered what they talked, but he was not ready to start that discussion.
“Why are you being so nice to me Jasper?” her question broke the chain of his thoughts and he turned his head towards her.
“What do you mean?”
“You were not nice to me that day when our families proposed our marriage? You didn’t even say my name.”
“Do you really want to go down that memory lane?” he arched his eyebrow with little twitch at his mouth.
“I’m not sleepy, and I want distraction. This is the only topic I can think of. But you can rest. I mean you are tired.” She whispered.
“We can talk,” he jumped to the chance as he saw her talking a positive sign. She was opening to him. At least he could give he some answers, and he might get some out of her as well.
Chapter 14 part 2
“Yes, I wasn’t nice to you because I didn’t know you well, and I was dragged there by my parents. There were many things going on in my life that needed my attention. And then you glared at me all the time, you even ignored me when you reached home. I felt little offensive.” He told a part of his side of story deliberately missing the fact that he was actually investigating the accident.
“I didn’t ignore you. I just didn’t see you.” He chuckled at her answer.
“How could you didn’t see a big man like me in the room?” it was a rhetorical question, and Kara blushed at her stupidity.
“I wasn’t expecting you. You never came to my home whenever he used to come,” Kara’s voice shook at the last part and it didn’t go unnoticed by him.
“I’m sorry that I didn’t hang out with you when you were dating my brother. Actually, I was busy litigating in courts for my clients,” he looked at her intently, somewhat amused.
When Jasper said about dating, her mind started wandering to those dark places again and she went silent for some time. Her silence spoke millions of words, and Jasper saw despair in her eyes. He moved little closer and brushed his thumb at the seam of her bottom lip, and this action was enough to get her out of her misery.
Her eyes snapped to him, and his piercing gaze did things to her insanity.
Kara wondered that why she was feeling such things, and why her mind wasn’t screaming at her. After all he was a man who was being nice to her. Even, William was also nice to her in the beginning. Hell! Jasper was the brother of her rapist, still he was nowhere near that vile animal.
“Don’t torture yourself Kara,” he wiped a lone tear which she didn’t even realize she shed. “Share it with me, I’m ready to fight for you.” She shook her head, and her chin trembled. He was asking something she was not yet ready to share.
He sighed and turned on his back. After few seconds, he pushed aside the covers and sat up.
He grabbed her upper arms and made her sit as well. Kara was confused, and she let him to do whatever he intended to.
He, then, turned her back to him, and started to pull her nightshirt up.
Kara stilled for a second before jerking away from him, but he had other plans. He encircled one of his hands on her shoulder and pulled her back into his chest.
She was panting hard, “Relax, Kara. I’m not going to do anything. I just want to see it.”
“What?” a crooked voice escaped her lips.
He leaned closer to her ear, his breath fanning on her neck making her nervous.
“That day, in trial room, you said that I had not right to touch you in anyway, but today I have all the rights to touch you. And I also have all the rights to come into your personal space,” he reminded her the day when he was about to see the scar on her waist.
Jasper also knew he was treading into dangerous waters but he was desperate to have some answers. After seeing her this fearful, he was sure of one thing; she had gone through so much, and his brother played a part in this.
Kara’s breaths were ragged and she held his hand strongly, digging her nails in his forearm.
“Please Jasper, why a…are you doing th…this? I don’t ha..have the answers yet, and even if I have, I’m not re..ready to deal with this.” Her light stammering voice shook him, and he tightened his hold, partly because her nails were scrapping his skin raw.
“I won’t ask any questions Kara. Just let me see it.” He pleaded; he was not ready to give up yet.
She remained silent for few minutes, and he didn’t move. Her hold loosened, “okay, but you won’t say or tell anybody about this.” She turned to him slightly and looked into his blue eyes.
He nodded, and put his forehead on her collar bone, “tell me when you’re ready,” he gave her time to adjust with this.
“You can—” she couldn’t complete her sentence as a part of her past was going to be revealed for the first time, and that too in front of her husband who was practically a stranger to her. He straightened and held her waist, not pulling up the shirt.
Then, he started lifting it up, and his breath sucked out when he saw not just one but a few long burning marks on her lower body, extending to the right side of her waist.
His hands balled in fist. These were not from any accident, someone did this to her. William’s image came to his mind and a sudden rage engulfed him. He was conflicted because it was not easy to digest.
How could my brother do this to her! He screamed inside of his head. He was ready to go to him and kill his own brother, but a rational lawyer part of him stopped him because there was more to this. If Ethan’s words were right about him being clever because he was a crime
author, he would need to find everything on that man.
He couldn’t imagine what he would discover in the future, and how he was going to catch that man.
He was so deep in his thoughts that he didn’t see when Kara’s demeanor changed. She was stiff, hands fisted in balls. And she murmured some incoherent words. He tried to listen to those but they were rather muffled.
“I won’t…won’t wear—,” then a chocked cry escaped her mouth.
Jasper was quick enough to engulf her in his embrace although he knew his action might make her even more restless, but he was conflicted as well. He was getting to know a brother who he could never imagine in million years.
Kara buried her head in his chest while clutching the front of his shirt. She was trembling, and her breathing was rapid.
Jasper started rubbing his hand on her arms in gentle motion, and sometimes he caressed her black hair.
He started whispering sweet nothings while massaging her head.
When Kara relaxed, he made her look at him. He wanted to ask so many things, because his peace had been snatched, but her eyes spoke volumes as if they were pleading her case that she had forgotten what peace actually felt like.
He cupped her face, “you’re beautiful, inside out. Remember that these are the words spoken by your husband,” he wiped her tears before kissing her forehead.
She looked at him, green eyes baring her soul, “don’t make me feel things like this. I wouldn’t be able to recover if this shattered.”
“I won’t let it shatter, and I mean it.” She nodded unable to form any words.
Jasper pushed back a strand of her silky soft hair, and leaned closer. He was conflicted, he started feeling something for her, and he knew, after today his feelings were going to be much intensified.
He kissed her cheek; their closeness didn’t feel selfish even after he glimpsed a part of her dark past.
He ran his knuckles on her cheek and kept looking at her.
“Let’s sleep Kara, you need rest,” he said, not moving away from her and his minty breath fanned her face.