Ruthless Noble by Alley Ciz

CHAPTER 30

The rideto Carter’s place was spent in silence. It wasn’t necessarily an uncomfortable one, but it was charged nonetheless.

Jasper’s hand stayed on my thigh, his fingers threaded inside the strings of the frayed denim. I’d deny how much I liked it, but I don’t want to. I like it…a lot.

I know why I was quiet, and let me tell you…it’s quite a list.

First, I was in the midst of dealing with the aftermath that comes from a major realization—i.e., figuring out I’m in love.

Second, most of my brain cells are still currently melted from Jasper fucking me like an animal.

But the thing that has the few brain cells capable of working spinning is the barrage of fallout scenarios brought on by my actions tonight.

Carter is going to be…

Welp, honestly, I’m not sure I could even guess what he’s going to be like.

Then there was Jasper…quiet, stoic, couldn’t-stop-looking-at-me-while-I-drove, oh-crap-I-love-you-how-am-I-supposed-to-tell-you Jasper. I wish I could read his thoughts. Maybe if I had that skill, I wouldn’t be such a basket case worrying about how he feels about me.

Maybe you should write him a note. Do you love me? Check yes or no.

Gah!Look at me. When did I turn into this girl? The one who worries about if a boy likes her or not?

I ease off the gas when I pull onto my brother’s property and take the long way around the cars parked in the large lot before finally hitting the button that will open the garage door.

The fluorescent lights connected to motion sensors click on as the door rolls back, and I pull into one of the empty spots amongst the rest of the Royal fleet.

My movements are robotic as I engage the parking brake and hit the button to turn off the ignition. The sudden silence that descends in the absence of music playing and an engine purring feels claustrophobic.

“Princess?” I turn at the sound of Jasper’s voice, his astute eyes missing nothing as they take me in. “Unless you’re planning for round two, we should probably get out. Though”—his chin dimple gets deeper—“if that was your plan, we should have parked somewhere that isn’t owned by your brother.”

While the two of us have proved we excel at car sex—both inside and out—he’s got a point. Carter would straight-up murder him.

I did see Duke’s G Wagon out in the lot when we drove through it, so while I’m happy to note the playboy can follow directions, it’s more the fact that there aren’t any bodies strewn across the floor waiting for us that pleases me most. That should be a good sign of what’s to come.

Jasper takes my hand once we’re both out of Toothless, and there’s no missing the pointed way his thumb rubs the space of my missing ring.

He’s so damn pleased with himself it’s a fight not to have an outward reaction. There’s no point encouraging his inner alphahole.

Except when he lifts my hand to place a gentle kiss to the spot, I give in and give him what I’m sure Tessa would describe as a moony smile. I’m not exactly sure what that looks like, but my face feels different than ever before.

I’d panic if it didn’t seem like Jasper was suffering from the same affliction. Thankfully the softening around his eyes and the pinch to my knuckles as he squeezes them between his makes all those pesky symptoms wash away.

I stretch a thumb up to rub at the inside of his wrist, and with a lovesick smile still on my face, I take a step toward the basement door.

THWACK!

My arm is yanked and practically wrenched from its socket. Stumbling backward with the force, I lift my opposite arm to that one’s shoulder and turn to ask Jasper, “What the fuck?” only to come face-to-face with my brother.

Oh fuck.

Nostrils flaring, mouth a nonexistent line, vein pulsing in his temple, eyeball twitching—he’s seething.

He’s shaking out his right hand when I finally get a peek at Jasper and see the blood that finally dried around his lip is once again flowing free as he grips his jaw, working it side to side.

Freeing my hand from his, I slide in front of him. “Stop!” I shout and slam my hands onto my brother’s chest to keep him from going after Jasper a second time.

“What the fuck, Savvy?” Carter’s voice is an echoing boom inside the garage, the harsh tone reverberating in the vast space.

Well…shit. Seething may be too tame of a word to describe him as his chest heaves and bumps me, his shoulders rolling back as he uses the full extent of his height to tower over me.

Jasper coils an arm around my middle and tries to pull me behind him, but I only dig my heels in and widen my stance. Sure, if he really wanted to move me, he could do so easily. He has proven as much a multitude of times—though thinking about how he manhandled me into Duke’s G Wagon the first time he fucked me on school property is wholly inappropriate at this moment.

Carter pauses, his gaze taking in Jasper’s protective move. It takes a beat, but eventually, his head tilts to the side as the pieces start to come together.

Natalie loves to call Carter “nothing but a common thug,” but what she fails to see is how utterly brilliant he truly is. His ability to assess a situation and pivot if needed is unparalleled.

“You done?” I quirk a brow, my tone less than pleased.

“Don’t”—a finger stops a millimeter from my nose, my eyes crossing to see it—“you even start, Samantha.”

I hiss, my eyes narrowing demonically. It’s the worst when he calls me that. “How about”—I smack the hand out of my face—“you”—I poke him—“don’t, Carter Anthony.”

“You’re annoying,” he complains, but I see the chink in his armor.

“And you’re an overprotective ass, but I love you anyway.” I pat him on the chest. Behind me, Jasper snorts. “Don’t you start either, because you’re just an ass.”

That maddening smirk is quick to bloom on his stupidly handsome face, and it seems my recently discovered feelings haven’t made that urge to smack him disappear. Interesting.

“You love me anyway.” Jasper shrugs, throwing my own words back at me. Carter, proving his own assness, barks out a laugh.

“I do.”

Er…say what now?

Did those words really just come out of my mouth?

Based on the way Carter’s laughter has abruptly cut off and the What the fuck? slow blink he’s giving me, I say yes…yes they did.

Holy shit!

A vise squeezes around my lungs and a cold sweat breaks out along my skin, and oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.

You gone and done it now, Savvy.

I didn’t mean to say that. Why did I say that?

Holy crap, who is this person? Since when am I a neurotic mess? I’m Savvy King. I own my shit. I don’t act like a chickenshit.

Except…

This is my first time experiencing love. Sure, I love Tessa, my brother, and the Royals…but that’s different. This thing with Jasper? It’s the first time I’ve really had to deal with feelings bigger than myself.

I’m just…not sure I’m capable enough or ready to handle something like this given all the other shit I’m currently dealing with.

Maybe I can play it off like it was just a figure of speech?

Yeah, yeah, that’s a good plan.

But then I get a look at Jasper.

His smile is unrestrained, eyes lit up like it’s the first time it’s actually reaching them. I let out a gasp at the sight only to have it swallowed by his mouth when he snaps an arm out and snatches me by the nape.

Carter grumbles in the background, but I ignore it, not letting anything ruin this moment.

Jasper’s fingers spear into my hair, probably destroying my ponytail more than he already did earlier, but again…I don’t care.

I push up onto my toes, my body fusing with his, my arms locking tight around his neck, holding on for dear life as our kiss deepens. If I’m doing this, I’m going to do it with the savage intensity and vigor I’m famous for.

“Damn right you do, Princess,” Jasper says against my lips, but I’m too dazed from that kiss to chastise his cocky ass.

Keeping with the theme of acting out of character—for both of us—Jasper tucks me against his side with an arm hooked over my shoulders while I wrap an arm behind his back before we give our attention over to Carter.

My brother runs a hand across his mouth then grabs at the back of his neck. A giddy zing zaps through me because I do so love catching the king off guard.

Huh?Guess that’s something else I have in common with Jasper since he seems to live for knocking me off balance. What a jerk.

“You just had to go and complicate an already fucked-up situation, didn’t you, Savvy?” Carter accuses.

I shrug beneath Jasper’s heavy arm. It’s not like it was a choice or anything. You can’t help who you fall in love with. Well…shit. Guess I’ve absorbed more of Tessa’s hopeless romanticism than I realized.

In one long stride, Carter gets in Jasper’s face, the tip of one of his vintage Jordans stepping onto the pristine white of Jasper’s Uptown without apology. “You hurt, fuck with, or ever disrespect my sister again…there won’t be anywhere on this planet you could go that I wouldn’t find you. You feel me?”

I hold my breath, both not to choke on all the testosterone clogging the air and because I’m not entirely sure how Jasper will react.

“I’m pretty sure if I ever did her wrong, Savvy would be more than capable of doling out her own punishment.” Damn right. “Stop holding your breath,” he chastises, cutting into my preening.

“And you’ll do best to remember that particular detail about our little savage.” With that, Carter turns on his heel and calls for us to follow him into the basement.

“Booyah!” Tessa throws her arms in the air and dances in her seat as soon as we step inside the basement. “Suck it, Chuckie.” She makes double finger guns, sound effects and all, before using both arms to rake in a massive pile of poker chips.

A quick glance shows that with Chuck’s loss, they’ll be able to combine both tables into one.

Chuck groans, burying his face in his hands. “It’s already weird that I spend my poker nights with a minor, Tessa. Can you not make it worse by saying things like that?”

Used to the antics between these two, most of the room chuckles but doesn’t comment. Key word there: most.

Duke, my dear, sweet, doesn’t know how to heed a warning fake fiancé slides into the free chair next to Tessa and drops his arm around her, batting his baby blues with his hand propped on his fist. “I’ll take you up on that offer.”

Oh, stupid, stupid boy.

In a flurry of movement, bodies swarm around Tessa. Wes is the closest and shoves Duke clear out of his seat, while JT, two more Royals, and two star players for the U of J—one football, one basketball—glare down at the cocky playboy sprawled on the ground.

“I tried to warn you,” I singsong as I pass him. “Should have listened, boo.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.” Wes snags my wrist, stopping me. “And where did you disappear to, ma reine?”

I chance a glance at Jasper, the amusement from Duke facing the metaphorical Tessa firing squad fading with a flattening of his mouth when he hears what Wes calls me.

“I had a Salvatore to straighten out.” I slip myself free and finish closing the distance to the freezer to pull out one of the gel ice packs.

I wince when I make it back to Jasper; his lip is starting to resemble an open pomegranate after the latest hit to it courtesy of my brother.

Jasper hisses when I press the pack to his face and mouth “Sorry” as his hand comes up to cup the back of mine to help me hold it in place.

“Wait…” Duke calls out, still on the floor like a turtle stuck on its shell. “That asshat’s last name is Salvatore?”

“Mmhmm,” I answer but keep my eyes locked with Jasper’s, enjoying the ball of warmth that forms in my gut as we silently communicate.

He’s an idiot, his chin dip says.

He’s your friend,the press of my lips returns.

He’s your fiancé,the roll of his eyes volleys back.

Touché, asshole, the suck of my teeth answers, letting him have the final “word” as he blows me a kiss.

“I totally called it,” Tessa screeches.

Yeah, I’m in for one hell of an I told you so conversation in the very near future.

“How does a person with Salvatore for a last name end up with Brian as a first name?” Duke muses, finally jumping to his feet, hands held out in front of him as he slowly backs away from the macho show of force glaring daggers at him.

“It’s his maternal grandfather’s name.” Chuck is the one who answers.

A hand slipping over the curve of my waist brings my attention off those giving a small Blackwell history lesson and back to Jasper, dropping my forehead to rest against his chest.

Stomping footsteps have the majority of us looking toward the basement stairs, and I jerk upright at the sight of two uniformed police officers entering the room behind Leo.

What the hell?

Everyone from Blackwell—me, the Royals, Tessa and JT, Kay, and on and on—whip around to the one person who should be able to shed some light on the new arrivals.

“Mr. King,” says the one leading the charge as he approaches my brother, and more than one person in the room snorts at the formality.

I am not one of them.

Nope, instead, I’m freaking the fuck out.

I clutch the sides of Jasper’s hoodie, using him as my anchor because it feels like I’m about to live out my worst nightmare.

“Johnson?” Chuck ambles over from his seat at the other poker table. “What seems the be the problem?”

“We got a report about a possible kidnapping, Mr. Mayor.”

“What?” Jasper whispers, but I shush him, going as far as putting a finger across his lips while my heart trips at the word kidnapping.

“This is a joke, right?” Carter asks, his gaze jerking to Jasper. “Is BA pranking BP alumni now?”

“What?” Jasper stutters out a laugh only to cut it off when he gets hit with the full weight of the Carter King glare.

“I’m sorry, sir, this isn’t a joke. We received a call from a Mrs. Natalie St. James that you’re holding her daughter Samantha here against her will.”

Oh my god.

No, no, no, no, no.

What is she doing? I’ve done everything she’s asked. Why is she going after Carter now? And kidnapping? Fucking kidnapping? Is this bitch for real?

Jesus Christ, if I thought I was going to give myself an asthma attack worrying about Jasper before I even realized the depths of my feelings, this right here is a prime contender to flip that switch.

Jasper kneads his way up the length of my spine until he’s gripping my nape, grounding me in the here and now while Carter, Chuck, and both officers confer with each other.

Releasing my hold on Jasper, I move to my brother’s side. If ever we needed to present a united front, that time is now.

“I’m not here against my will. I live here,” I inform the officer. Though it may not necessarily be true-true at the moment, I’m not really worried about semantics.

Officer Johnson takes note of Chuck’s clear lack of concern about the accusations against my brother before turning almost regretful eyes my way. “I apologize, Miss St. James, but your mother was adamant she has sole custody of you and that you are still a minor.”

Goddammit.

I had to go and have a late birthday.

I’m so over this woman messing with my life.